By Steve Rhodes
“Right after he became the second closer in Marlins history to record 30 saves in two different seasons, Leo Nunez was summoned into the office of manager Jack McKeon and told he was traded,” Clark Spencer writes for the Miami Herald.
“‘Good luck,’ McKeon told him. ‘You’re going to Chicago.’
“‘The Cubs?’ Nunez asked, his face turning pale.
“At that point, McKeon and Nunez’s teammates could hide the joke no longer and broke out in laughter.”
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“Rival executives are puzzled by Hendry doing nothing except opening a spot for Tyler Colvin,” Phil Rogers writes for the Tribune.
Maybe he was being held hostage by the Tea Party.
Debt Deal
Jim Hendry’s negotiating skills vs. Barack Obama’s negotiating skills. Discuss.
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“Obviously, there are some things that need to change. (It’s) not so much moving a piece here and there will make a huge difference. I’m talking more about our culture, our way of being, (our) way of thinking, our energy.”
Barack Obama or Tony Pena?
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“Republicans will surely be emboldened by the way Mr. Obama keeps folding in the face of their threats,” Paul Krugman writes for the New York Times. “He surrendered last December, extending all the Bush tax cuts; he surrendered in the spring when they threatened to shut down the government; and he has now surrendered on a grand scale to raw extortion over the debt ceiling.
“Maybe it’s just me, but I see a pattern here . . . Make no mistake about it, what we’re witnessing here is a catastrophe on multiple levels.”
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“I have got to clear this up,” Joe Scarborough says. “Mika heard two days ago on Capitol Hill Democrats all saying the same thing. And that is, this president has been invisible, he is not a leader. They said this all behind closed doors. Democratic leaders, Democratic rank-and-file. In fact, 40, 50 of the most powerful Democrats on the Hill. I will just stop right there. The complaints were all the same. The president has vanished. He has left us here alone again like he did with health care. Where is he? Now, they didn’t call him a loser, but they sure as hell didn’t call him a leader.”
LollaVanecko
“[I]f Lollapalooza wasn’t already enough of a financial bonanza for its promoters, who grossed more than $21 million last year, City Hall and Cook County government officials are doing their part to boost the festival’s bottom line, even as they struggle with their own budget crises, which threaten to result in layoffs of city and county workers,” the Sun-Times reports.
“For a seventh straight year, the city and county are exempting Lollapalooza from paying the amusement taxes normally imposed on arts and athletic performances and even movies.
“That will save the promoters – Austin, Texas-based C3 Presents LLC – more than $1 million in taxes on the 270,000 tickets sold for this years’s festival, which opens Friday.
“Lollapalooza got its latest waiver from the city’s 5 percent amusement tax in the waning days of the administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose nephew Mark Vanecko has been a lobbyist and lawyer for the festival promoters, helping to negotiate their current 10-year contract with the Chicago Park District.”
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See also: Lollapalooza, Liquor Sales, and The Mayor’s Nephew.
And: Rahm Emanuel’s Cozy Ties To Ticketmaster/Live Nation and Lollapalooza
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Back to the Sun-Times:
“The promoters declined a request for an interview, saying in an e-mail: ‘Thank you for your inquiry. At this time, we are completely focused on producing the best festival possible.'”
We are just so focused on producing the best festival possible that I could barely compose this e-mail! But thanks for asking!
Wasting Away Again In Vaneckoville
“When Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville landed a 10-year lease at Navy Pier last fall, it needed a liquor license from City Hall,” the Sun-Times reports.
“So the bar and restaurant turned to attorney Mark Vanecko, a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley who had helped other bars and restaurants get liquor licenses from City Hall.”
And, of course:
“Neither Vanecko nor other representatives of Margaritaville returned calls seeking comment.”
It’s none of our business.
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Just a reminder to readers: Mark Vanecko is the subject of these stories, but his brother Richard is the one who punched David Koschman. His other brother, Robert, is also feeding at the trough.
World-Class Competition
“Toronto and Chicago both have a little less than 3 million residents,” WBEZ reports. “Toronto has 60 murders a year. Chicago has 450.”
Turn Up The Volume . . .
. . . and you can hear McCartney’s second show tonight. (Tip from Astralopry.)
Every Chicago Team Officially Cub-Like
* SportsMonday: Spencer For Kruetz Is Offensive.
* The White Sox Report: Exit Edwin, Enter Alejandro
* The Cub Factor: Spoiler Alert
Water Balloon Challenge 2011
At the Chicago Okaniwans’ Picnic.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
They played at a venue near you.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Beyond revenue.
Posted on August 1, 2011