Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A Programming Note

Four years ago I founded the website Just One Bad Century, a site devoted to Chicago Cubs history and Chicago Cubs fans.

That same year I wrote the lyrics to a song intended to fire up the troops. It was called "We can wait 100 years"; a parody of the Proclaimer's hit "I Can Walk 500 Miles".

It got a bunch of airplay on Chicago radio that season: John Landecker played it on WLS, and Johnny B played it on the Loop (WLUP-FM 97.9).

Well this year Brandmeier started playing it on his show again (he's now on WGN) when he was hyping a Cubs song contest. He mentioned on the air that he wished the writer would update the song for him, because it mentions people no longer around (like Lou Piniella and Kosuke Fukodome).

So, I rewrote the words, and the guy that sings it, Tom Latourette, went into the studio to re-record it. (I will be posting the new version on the website soon.)

In the meantime, you can hear it live on WGN radio tomorrow morning at 8:00. Tom will be singing it live on Johnny B's remote broadcast from outside Wrigley Field. I will also be on hand to lend moral support. Please tune in--it should be fun.

Here's the original song for those of you that don't remember it...

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Cubs 365, February 29

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On Leap day in 1944, Cub fan Dennis Farina was born.

He was a Chicago cop, working as a consultant on cop movies, when he got the acting bug. His first major role: playing a Chicago cop.

He has since gone on to have a distinguished acting career with some classic films and television series among his credits, including "Midnight Run", "Get Shorty", "Saving Private Ryan", "The Mod Squad", "Police Story" and "Law and Order."

But he's also made no secret of his love for the Chicago Cubs. He didn't just play an avid fan alongside Dennis Franz in the play "The Bleacher Bums" for a few years. He lived it.

In 2006, he narrated the Cubs documentary "Wait Til Next Year" for HBO. He also contributed to the film "This Old Cub" in 2004.

And when he comes back to his hometown of Chicago, he makes the pilgrimage to that shrine on the North Side.

Because Dennis Farina is a Cubs fan.