By Steve Rhodes
1. One more reason to hate Fall Out Boy, and especially glam boy Petey Wentz.
2. A groovy impeachment poll.
3. Readership surveys must show that the Sun-Times gets a return on its investment in Jay Mariotti.
Posted on June 18, 2008
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
I’m on a bit of a weird schedule today so I’m not sure if there will be a Papers column, but I might have something here later, as well as at Division Street.
In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the site, including today’s new comic book post from our very own Max Eddy. Even if you aren’t a comic book fan, look at the artwork. Later!
Posted on June 17, 2008
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
The playoff at Torrey Pines begins at 11 a.m. on ESPN. NBC takes over at 1 p.m. The forecast is mid-70s. After all, it’s in San Diego.
Beachwood Baseball
* Jordan faxing in “I’m Back” this was not. In The White Sox Report.
* The team will start the week playing a game that doesn’t count and end the week with games that will count too much. In The Cub Factor.
* “I’m running out of superlatives for the Cubs at this point,” our very own Jim Coffman writes, “but so far the Cardinals are an even better story.” In SportsMonday.
Posted on June 16, 2008
The Weekend Desk Report
By Natasha Julius
We’d rather not watch the key stories this weekend, but Whitey’s gonna make us.
Market Update
Thanks in large part to significant gains in Gas Costs and Inflation, Doomsday futures are once again through the roof.
Posted on June 14, 2008
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
1. I thought “Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner” was pretty good.
2. “A document filed in March with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Smith will exit Tribune Co. with severance and other benefits of $4.7 million and a payment of $2.1 million to settle up his ownership stake in the privatized Tribune Co,” the Tribune reports.
“The company will also provide a ‘gross-up’ benefit estimated in the document at $2.6 million to cover any extra taxes Smith might incur as a result of the severance deal.”
The “gross-up” thing is too easy, right?
3. “Tribune Co. boss Sam Zell has leased the 23rd floor of the Tribune Tower, the company’s former executive suite, to a new investment firm headed by his sister, Leah Zell Wanger,” Crain’s reports.
How will he measure her productivity?
Posted on June 13, 2008
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
John Kass calls him Richard Shortshanks today, but I think I’ll start calling him Mayor Hee-Haw. To wit (via video from Chicago Tonight last night):
“That wasn’t the vote count we had coming in today,” Ald. Brendan Reilly said. “There was a lot of deal-making and arm-twisting going on.”
REPORTER: Was there a lot of horse-trading?
DALEY: “Reilly did a good job, he did a lot of horse-trading . . . No horse-trading, no hee-haw. Heh heh heh. This is bigger than you and I. This is about your children.”
UNASKED: Do you deny, then, that you offered any benefits to aldermen in exchange for their vote?
UNASKED: If the museum would locate somewhere else, would that somehow not be about the children?
UNASKED: Please answer the question.
UNASKED: Are you a bald-faced liar?
LEAD I DIDN’T SEE IN THE PAPER TODAY: “Mayor Richard M. Daley refused to acknowledge Wednesday that he traded future ward projects in exchange for votes in favor of the Children’s Museum’s proposed move to Grant Park. Nor would the mayor say how much those favors will cost taxpayers.”
Posted on June 12, 2008
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Today is the big day, sort of. The city council is scheduled to vote on the Chicago Children’s Museum’s horrible proposal to move to Grant Park. Predictions are already arriving here at Beachwood HQ.
The Beachwood Sportsbook currently has the Over/Under at 30 votes in favor.
That’s Richie
The Boy Mayor has another gem in the Tribune today:
“The way you portray it, no one wants any Children’s Museum and Millennium Park and all the other things.”
Challenge to Daley: Name a single person in this fight who just plain doesn’t want the Children’s Museum anywhere.
“That’s part of leadership.”
What, lying? Or stupidity?
“You know, I will fight for children more than your newspaper will.”
Yes, you care way more about children than everybody else. That’s why you let them live in buildings inspected by teenagers.
“I really believe in children.”
Did David Axelrod write that line for you? Or did it just pop into your head?
Posted on June 11, 2008
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
For what it’s worth, aldermen Berny Stone and George Cardenas predicted last night on Chicago Tonight an overwhelming victory for the Children’s Museum at Wednesday’s city council meeting.
Brendan Reilly and Sandi Jackson, on the other hand, tepidly predicted a narrow win for their side.
Perhaps more interesting was the clear difference between Reilly/Jackson and Stone/Cardenas: one pair appeared smart, articulate and on-point, while the other pair looked like idiots. I’m sure you can figure out which was which.
Here’s a snippet of their discussion with some additional commentary from the Beachwood HQ Viewing Lounge.
Posted on June 10, 2008
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
* Pot, urination, towel drills and Sam Zell. You should see what goes on at Wrigley when the team is on the road. In The Cub Factor.
* Orlando Cabrera’s greatest sin. In The White Sox Report.
* One Coach To Hire. In SportsMonday.
Our very own Jim Coffman notes: “Oh, by they way, I think Gangler predicted a Zambrano meltdown in his last Cub Factor and I predicted last week that the Collins thing would fall through (at the same time beat writers at both papers were saying it was just a matter of days before Collins was hired). We don’t just write sports, we write future sports!”
Posted on June 9, 2008
The Weekend Desk Report
By Natasha Julius
We’re roasting hot at the Desk this weekend. No, seriously, we are.
Market Update
Corporate America saw its largest-ever surge on the Rational Panic Index, joining Half of Asia among the week’s biggest gainers. Analysts predict growth for these new tigers could soon outpace the record gains posted by Everyone Else on Earth.
Posted on June 7, 2008