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THE NEBBISH GOT NERVE
Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg wrote an odd column-about-nothing for last Friday's edition. Neil wrote about his lunch with a friend who works for the Chicago tribune. They were talking about who Chicago's Icons were. This exchange caught my attention:
"Walter Jacobson!'' Person X said. We paused. Jacobson has been around forever. He's certainly bonded to Chicago as much as any TV anchor. And yet. I suggested that perhaps he is too loathsome for legend status. My friend disagreed. "Don't you think he's too pathetic to be hated?'' he/she asked, and I was forced to yield the point. Either way, not icon material. The sort of people we were talking about made you feel good just to see them. Jack Brickhouse gave off a warm glow. So no Walter. Now, it would be easy for me to go on and on and on about the irony of Neil Steinberg to be calling someone else loathsome. I mean--this is the same guy who hid behind the pseudonym "Ed Gold" while bashing Bob Greene in the Chicago Reader. I think most would agree that hiding like that is cowardly (though insiders apparently knew exactly who Gold was), and many would find that loathsome as well. Walter Jacobson's career as a newsman in Chicago is stellar. He doesn't need anyone to defend him because his achievements speak for themselves. For over 29 years and to this day, he fights for the average person through his Perspectives and special reports. In an age where credibility means little to TV News Directors, Walter is one of the last hard-news journalists in existence who work 8-10 hours a day on the very stories he reports. I defy anyone to explain why Walter is "loathsome". If I had to come up with an example of "loathsome," (outside of Jerry Springer maybe), the easiest place to look is Cleveland-native Steinberg. The sickening way in which he relished the downfall of Bob Greene gave all a glimpse of his blackened cardiac muscle. True, Greene did some despicable things, but Steinberg relished and reveled in Greene's downfall to the point that I can actually picture Steinberg today leaving messages on Greene's answering machine asking if his wife is home--then laughing demonically before hanging up. I give the remark about Walter being "pathetic" a pass as it makes little sense knowing the source. Jacobson has won many awards throughout his career and has been very successful at what he's done. Neil Steinberg is a prick from Ohio. Okay, that's a double-negative with "prick" and "from Ohio" being synonymous, but I use it here for emphasis. Steinberg should be talking about Ohio icons-like Woody Hayes and Bob Greene. While that's damning enough, let's face it--his career and credibility does not match up to that of Walter, who at least has the respect of his peers. Plus, Steinberg is the kind of guy that Urkel would pick on in school. So there. You can email Neil Steinberg at: nsteinberg@suntimes.com |
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MUSINGS
RedEye is looking to pay people $30 for taking a survey. Sign up for the survey and if they ask you to be in it, you get the $30. Hey, 30 bucks is 30 bucks, so why not.
Time to make people cringe. Stella Foster wrote an interesting piece in Wednesday's Sun-Times about her departed boss. A few things (that I put in Bold) caught my eye: NO NEED TO WAIT UNTIL THE BODY IS COLD... I have to face the loss of my beloved boss of 34 years, the wonderfully kind and affable Irv Kupcinet -- aka Kup, aka Mr. Chicago -- who passed away on Monday at 3:10 p.m. with family and friends by his side. I started writing this story on Sunday evening... THE WORST KEPT SECRET IN TOWN... Now I sit here in this hospital and Kup is gone. I am contemplating what my life will be like after working so many enjoyable years with such a great man as Kup. For the past four years, I have been doing most of the writing on the column, while consulting with my boss. I'm left with two questions: 1. Since she's been doing most of the writing on the column for four years, should Kup still be credited in the final statistics for writing the column all that time? 2. When she starts her own column in the paper, will it be called "Kup's Column" for continuity (see "Dear Abby", "Ann Landers", etc.) or will it have a new, snappy title? Call me crass, call me tacky and tell me I should have more respect but Kup wasn't anything special to my generation or to me so I Must Ask these Questions. I do, however, appreciate his contribution and history. So, I'm flipping through the RedEye and stop at the "EyeContact" column by Liz Crokin. It's essentially a mindless party column. The only difference between it and "Susanna's Night Out" in the Sun-Times is that Susanna Homan fills the space with pictures instead of trite copy. In fact, both Liz and Susanna have strikingly similar physical characteristics to me: both look to be short and very average-looking with a pre-pubescent look. I would think that if you were going to have a column about the Chicago party scene, you'd want someone more glamorous doing it instead of someone who looks like a 15 year-old girl. I've had an idea for a way the Sun-Times could try to grow circulation-I think it can work. Okay, so the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, right? And the newspapers are stuffed with store sales flyers, right? So, why doesn't the Sun-Times use THAT day to drop FREE papers on the porches of some non-subscribers? My thinking is that if they tell the advertisers ahead of time that the print run for that day will be…say…50% higher than usual, I assume they can get a higher ad rate for that day's inserts. Pick a couple under-subscribing zip codes and instruct the delivery people to drop the papers at all residences. Use a "Compliments of the Sun-Times" plastic sleeve that also has a cheap subscription offer so that people know it's not a mistake. I'm thinking that most of those who get the paper will at least look at the sale paper inserts, and some will even read the paper. Check the subscription rate for a couple weeks after that and see if it worked. Just a thought. I find Dennis Miller very entertaining and enlightening. I'm actually watching Fox's "Boston Public" just to see Dennis' scenes as he makes a several-episode guest appearance. I'm very excited in hearing the news that he will do a Monday-Thursday show on CNBC starting in January. By then I should be able to figure out where CNBC is on my cable. I think HBO made a mistake in canceling Dennis' weekly show and I an eagerly awaiting his new CNBC show. A couple months ago I lamented the exit of Amanda Puck from WTTW's "Check Please" show because she's a total babe and I could care less about food talk. While I certainly do miss seeing the charming and delightful Amanda on the air, last month I was accidentally watching Channel 11 one night and caught Check Please with new host Alpana Singh. Oh my. They replaced one hottie with another gorgeous woman. The CP Producers seem to have a talent for finding intelligent, witty, funny and personable women to host the show. I can't remember what they were talking about-something about food I think, but I was definitely enthralled by Alpana. She's a Master Sommelier at Everest, which means she's one of the top experts in wine at one of Chicago's top restaurants. She's got the skills. I'll definitely be watching Check Please regularly. Might even look into wine classes. In the meantime, if you want to know more about this fabulous person, check out: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?page_id=1090 http://www.freep.com/features/food/dffill7_20031007.htm http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/2476.html http://www.wttw.com/checkplease/ Here's a picture of her And another Okay, I'm done now. |
