WOW! What a day for BREAKING NEWS! If you live in or around Chicago, you know what I mean. Without any delay, let's get right to it...
- The Night They Drove Old Dusty Down - A big stormcloud has been swirling over Wrigley Field for the last 24 hours as a major realighnment of the Chicago Cubs gets underway after a usual last place finish for the season. The Tribune Company which owns the ball club have already advised the top brass that this next manager should be hand picked with money being no object. Well, before they open up their checkbooks to find a cure for Cubthritis that has afflicted the team for it's entire existance...maybe letting Dusty go so soon wasn't such a good idea. If there's a mountain of money available, here's an idea: Spend it on some new players that will stick around to play more than a month. Is it really Dusty's fault that after playing only a few weeks at a time some key players got shelved with injuries for the rest of the season? Hey, you can only do so much with what you have. Yes, a bunch of crippled people on a baseball field will guarantee a last place finish. Don't cry any tears for Dusty however, there's already talk that his suitcases are on a plane headed back to San Francisco where he came from. Meanwhile, look for Johnny woo-woo to take over in the interim.
- That brings me to this...baseball in Chicago is over, but I have my own idea for a new baseball jersey replica for the Cub fan on your Christmas list (shown above). Reporters gathered in front of old Wrigley Field today to ask teary eyed fans what they think about today's news. A few said they were upset, but most said they didn't care who's going to fill Dusty's size 11's next. Nope. It doesn't matter. They'll bask in the hot summer sun in the bleachers shirtless and drinking Budweiser no matter where the Cubs are in the standings. Right. The World Champion (for a few weeks yet) White Sox? After the best attendance record ever, let's see how many of next year's games are sellouts. Remember the Chicago Bulls of the 1990's where people would give their unborn child for a ticket even if your head was bumping the roof of the United Center? In 2005, they were going five for ten bucks courtside! The moral here? Obviously the Cub fans are going to Wrigley to party. Everywhere else, the people are going for the game.
- Too strong for Cheech and Chong? - I was just telling myself the other day that it's been quite some time since George Michael has been in the news. I thought, maybe he finally got his act together. I knew he was finishing an album and planning a tour...and then, WHAM! Right out of the blue, George makes the news on The E! Channel's website. Once again, George has screwed up with the drugs. Someone going down an isolated road in a London suburb in the middle of the night came upon a car stopped on the road with a man slumped over the steering wheel horn blaring. A call was made to the cops who discovered the guy was under the influence of something and passed out while driving. Then they realized it was George Michael who after a few slaps in the face woke up and said he was out at a Club and letting off steam. A sandwich bag was found in his pocket containing marijuana and later failed a drug test. So I asked myself, "Is that it?" Boy, the London police must really be dumb to think someone can pass out from smoking JUST marijuana. In any case, we wish Mr. Michael a speedy trip through rehab so he can get back on the road to belt out his twenty year old songs!
- No meat, no drinks, no snakes for Alice - For our Jewish friends out there, today is the day of atonement known as "Yom Kippur". Alice Cooper is a Jew, so no Old Country Buffet for him today. Others who will be fasting today include William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Jerry Seinfeld and Ben and his Dad Jerry Stiller. Some big entertainers on the list include Barry Mannilow, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and of course, Adam Sandler. Happy Yom Kippur to you all!
