An Era Coming To An End In Chicago Radio

(taken from northtonorth.com)

Hello everyone, I am now done at the Score. I met with management this past Friday and since I wouldn’t accept the deal they offered; they told me I wasn’t allowed to be on the air anymore. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye so here goes… I wanted to say my 16 1/2 years with the Score were awesome. When I was on the air, it was unreal. To be able to entertain, have fun, and sometimes get serious… well you never knew what would happen on a daily basis. I want to thank all the listeners and callers who not only laughed at me but with me. I heard from a lot of you over the years, and good or bad, I always welcomed your comments. To do radio in my hometown at such a great station was an honor. To all the people I used to work with and I work with now, I say thank you. To the advertisers on my show and on the station who were always with me thank you for being there. Without you, there is no station. The sales staff at the Score was always second to none; we made some bucks together. Thanks to you guys too. You’ll be hearing from us real soon. Keep your eyes and ears open and stay tuned. On behalf of Be-Be, Lucky, myself, and everyone associated with us, thank you once again. -Mike North

Exercise Diary: Day Two

I planned to start working out to compliment my dieting on Monday. Unfortunately, the baby kept wifey and I up for almost then entire night, so I was far too exhausted to exhaust myself first thing in the morning on Monday and I pushed it until Tuesday. After a good night’s sleep, I got up at 9:30 to get my work in. I did a vigorous mile on the elliptical and then started a mobility workout laid out by the Titleist Performance Institute. For the uninitiated, that site is pretty spectacular, particularly because it is absolutely FREE to join. It is chock full of videos ranging from swing drills to exercise and stretches and weights for the golfer who is looking to repair or elevate his/her game.

That’s right…I’m using a workout plan specifically designed to help golfers.

Would you expect anything less?

In all fairness, though, the stretching routine I am doing (Mobility Workout A for those of you who sign up for a FREE account) is no joke and as I sit here and type this having just completed my routine, I am in all sorts of pain in places that I didn’t know I had - which is good. It probably doesn’t help that I am doing a few more reps than the workout guidelines recommend, but I like to push myself and feel like I am actually accomplishing something.

I have decided that my years of inactivity has rendered my body stiff and unyielding, so instead of focusing on morphing myself into Bruce Lee, it would benefit me to work on my range of motion as I lose weight. Chasing my daughter around playgrounds and trying to squeeze my fat and unflexible ass down tube slides with her has become embarrassing, so I will hold off on the serious weight training until I am at my target weight (which I haven’t even set yet). I feel like my upper body gets enough of a workout slinging mops and pushing around 2000 rpm buffing machines all day and my lower body tackles far more stairs than the average bloke (I refuse to take the elevator at work unless I am moving something I cannot carry), so for the time being, I am going to work on being able to touch my toes before I work on being able to bench 400 lbs.

Stretching fucking hurts.

Election ‘08 - Decision MySpace

It seems that the likely candidates to win their party’s nominations for the presidency of the United States in 2008 are John McCain and Barack Obama. For those of you who don’t know me, I don’t care for politics. I don’t know anything about politics and I don’t really want to know anything about politics. All I know is that, no matter who gets elected, gas prices will still be too high, taxes will still exist and we will still not have free national health care.

What I know and have seen of both McCain and Obama, I must admit that I like. Both are intelligent and well-spoken, and, because I don’t give a rat’s ass about policy, I would not have a problem voting for either of them. Which brings up a question.

For whom should I vote?

It seems the only way to decide on this “most important” of decisions is to refer to what is easily the most important social barometer of our times - MySpace.

Lazarus

Back from the dead. Figure it is about time I start blorging on my blorg again. Expect posts on the following:

PS3
PS3 games
Blu-Ray
Beer
Whiskey
Golf
Sports
Movies
Fatherhood
Misc.

Thank you those who have read this blorg and will continue to read it.

All 3 of you.

About the stunning lack of updates…

I am working two jobs now. Monday-Friday, I get up at 4:30 am and I do not get home until 6:30 or 7 pm. By that time, I am pretty fucking wiped and I just want to spend time with my wife and daughter.

I will try to put in a little extra effort now that I am getting slightly more used to my schedule, but it’s been pretty damn hard to find the time.

I gotta start buying lottery tickets.

Tell me wha-wha-wha-wha-what’s yo’ fantasy?

For the first time in 4 years, I am taking the plunge into fantasy sports. I signed up for a fantasy baseball league in 2003, and after about a month I was burnt out and didn’t check the roster again the rest of the season. My inactivity combined with names like Mark Bellhorn, Fernando Vina and Rob Nen lead to a last place finish in the league, unsurprisingly. Prior to 2003, I played in a fantasy football league, which was a little more fun, as it was lower maintenance, but I still found myself losing interest around week 12 or so. I actually tried to set up a league of my own the season after, but none of my friends signed up, and that was the last time I tried to play any fantasy football.

I was approached (via text message, of course) by my good friend Jims this week, though, and asked to join a fantasy football league he was in. I was reluctant. He said that it was all for fun and real laid back, but I still was kinda lukewarm on the idea. Then he informed me that his team was named the Jon-Benet Rams, and I decided that I definitely had to sign up. That is the kind of thing that tickles my fancy…silliness.

The Internet

So this site has been hurting for content lately, as you may have noticed. I have been working on a three or four fairly large posts for a while now and I was hoping to complete and release at least one or two of them by the end of last week. A combination of many events prevented me from doing so. Most of them were the typical time constraints of being a husband, father and full-time employee who loves to golf. There was one tragic, unfortunate event that diverted my attention, though, and I figured I should devote some time to it.

Things to come

I’ve asked a couple of completely biased people to write first half season reviews for both the Sox and Cubs, so I will try to have those posted sometime before the All Star Break is over. I will add in my own little insights and snide remarks, of course.

I hope to have more guest contributors on all topics in the not-to-distant future, as well. My buddy Mark has agreed to help me with Bulls “coverage.” He has already given me his thoughts on the Joakim Noah draft, and I will be consulting him if/when any off season deals are made.

I’ve got some thoughts on the Blackhawks I would like to get to soon. There is some new music I have been listening to and even a dvd review or two I want to write about.

Traffic for the site has gone up a little bit in the past week or two and I hope to have some new material up by week’s end, for those of you who crave something more than my golf scores.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to drop me a line if you want to contribute.

superfanthony @ gmail . com

Cubs trade Barrett

This is yet unconfirmed, but the airwaves and internet are abuzz with talk about the Cubs having traded the ever-punchy catcher Michael Barrett to the San Diego Padres. The original deal was reported to have been for catcher Rob Bowen and bullpenner Scott Linebrink, but now it sounds as though Linebrink is not a part of the deal, and minor league outfielder Kyler Burke is.

Regardless of who is coming back to Chicago, all I can say is that I am thankful that Jim Hendry dealt him before the Crosstown Classic, so we do not have to hear about the stupid crap that went down between Barrett and Pierzynski.

Whatever the reason, it has grown increasingly clear that Lou Piniella does not like Barrett, and has been sitting him in favor of ancient minor leaguer Koyie Hill, who provides a better glove behind the plate but little else. Barrett’s defensive liabilities have become all the more glaring this season since Barrett has seemingly forgotten how to hit.

Also, Cubs fans, it should be noted that the Cubs did not trade Barrett for Bruce Bowen or Kyler Burke. The Cubs traded Barrett just to get rid of Michael Barrett, and they happen to be getting those two players in return. This has to be a setup for a larger move, as the troika of Hill, Bowen and Blanco do not provide you with a legitimate tandem of catchers that can get a contending team through the last half of the season in the National League.

In the end, I suppose you want to have a #1 catcher who the ace of your staff likes to throw to.

Hopefully, this is just a setup to bring in Braves backup Jarrod Saltalamacchia, whom I love.

Linkage. CBS Sportsline. FOX Sports

edit: I just realized that this trade has slightly bigger implications than just getting rid of a guy that noone on the team liked…it also shows that Jim Hendry is willing to admit he was wrong. He plucked Barrett from the Expos and considered Michael to be a hidden gem - a testament to his own value and abilities as a scout. Not only that, but it also shows that he is making an effort to get on the same page as his manager, which is the kind of thing that can greatly improve this team.

edit edit: Ky-ky-klyer jokes!

God Bless Our American Sense Of Entitlement & Revenge!

The following is copied verbatim from my friend James’ MySpace page. He introduced me to this amazing man and his amazing story, and I will let his words do the talking.

One year ago today, a real american hero was born. Marvin Heemeyer, fed up with small town politics, decided to take matters into his own hands. He spent a year reinforcing a bulldozer with inch thick steel plates, concrete, rifles and cameras and then set out on a path of rightous destruction, destorying the homes and busniesses of those that wronged him.

What makes Marvin and his Killdozer a hero, instead of a random crazy person was the fact that no one was harmed during his rampage, save himself from a self inflicted bulletwound when the Killdozer finally collapsed under it’s own awesomness.

The police were powerless agianst it. Their bullets couldn’t penetrate it’s hide, construction vehicles sent to stop his progress were brushed off as annoyances. Marvin had a mission and he wouldn’t rest until it was complete.

So today, June 4th, tip a glass to Marvin Heemeyer and his Killdozer. A simple man who had enough of small town corruption who used ingenuity and American know how to wreak his vengeance.

——————-

Marvin Heemeyer
Born: 1952
Birthplace: Castlewood, SD
Died: 4-Jun-2004
Location of death: Granby, CO
Cause of death: Suicide
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Criminal
Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Killdozer pilot
Military service: USAF (1969)



After years of enmity with the city council over the construction of a concrete plant near his store, Marvin Heemeyer drove an armored Caterpillar DR-9 bulldozer through downtown Granby, CO, pulverizing several buildings before turning a gun on himself. After lobbying unsuccessfully against the construction of the plant, Heemeyer found his muffler shop cut off from the rest of town, his business curtailed.

Heemeyer purchased a bulldozer with the intention of building a road connecting his store to the main road, but city council members rejected his proposal. Over the next two years, he proceeded to fortify the bulldozer, armoring it with concrete sandwiched between half-inch thick steel plates. Thus enclosed, he wired an ingenious network of cameras so he could see outside on a pair of old televisions. Inside, he mounted powerful fans to blow away dust from the air slits and gun portals, and kept a stock of beverages in a cooler.

On the afternoon of 4 June 2004, Heemeyer decided to put his plan into action, and took the finished killdozer on a long, lumbering joyride through the concrete plant, the town hall, and several businesses and homes before becoming stuck in the rubble of a collapsed warehouse. By that time, the killdozer was surrounded, and a swat team was firing bullet after bullet at the hull of the beast, only to see the shots ricochet off pitifully while Heemeyer, armed with a rifle, returned fire. After a ten minute standoff, the bulldozer went silent.

Police used a series of explosive charges to pierce the killdozer’s armor, to no avail. By six o’clock the next morning, workers had finally cut open a hole in the using a torch; inside, they found Heemeyer’s lifeless body, dead of a single gunshot to the head. Incredibly, no one else was injured in the rampage.

Heemeyer’s attack, though premeditated, apparently had nothing to do with the 1974 TV movie Killdozer, directed by Jerry London and based on a book by Theodore Sturgeon; or, for that matter, the band Killdozer.

Above text shamelessly stolen from NNDB

Photos from the Killdozer rampage.