Awful TV interviews tainting 7th inning at Wrigley
Actually, the singing can stay; it's those celebrity TV visits that have to go
July 9, 2009
BY DAN MCNEIL

It took 2½ years, but give Cubs manager Lou Piniella a virtual hug for demoting enigmatic left fielder Alfonso Soriano in the batting order. Now it's time to find a solution for another issue that has vexed Chicago for a decade.

After digesting Erik Estrada's ''Take Me Out to the Ball Game,'' and the subsequent visit with Len Kasper and Bob Brenly in the television booth Monday, I realized that getting Carlos Marmol to throw strikes is not the most pressing concern in Wrigleyville.

Time for a good, old-fashioned town meeting on this heatedly debated guest-conductor thing.

Actually, I'm fine with whomever the Cubs deem worthy of grabbing the microphone to sing. If racer Jeff Gordon incenses the locals for calling the shrine ''Wrigley Stadium,'' so what?

The unpredictability of who sings and what they butcher is part of the attraction for most of us. Therein lies the payoff.

And there is nothing divine about this song. It's a song with double negatives, one that extols the virtues of ballpark fare. It's a fun song and reaches all generations. It is not sacrilegious to scratch or burp when ''Take Me Out'' is being belted.

Matter of fact, overserved former Bears and Blackhawks have been among the well-received crooners. If we truly want to pay homage to Harry Caray, the guy responsible for making ''The Stretch'' so indelibly etched in the culture here, we must continue to throw the party he never wanted to leave.

Bring back as many blurping, incoherent ex-jocks and washed up rock stars as you can find. I want Ozzy Osbourne back. Give me Jim McMahon, beer cup full of chew spit and all.

Lighten up, naysayers. Music is good for the soul. Advocating fun is fun. Let the singing continue.

The bigger problem is fixing the TV visit when the Cubs are hitting in the bottom of the seventh.

While Estrada was praising adult film star Ron Jeremy, oddly intermingled with a pitch for his task force against Internet predators, a Cubs hitter took a count to 3-2 before Kasper could get a word in. I'd tell you which Cub, but I can't recall, as I was learning Jeremy also is a skilled pianist. Oh, by the way, the Cubs were trying to add to a two-run lead.

Awkwardness that morphs into crawling skin seldom rears its head in a baseball broadcast. The tangent on which the motorcycle-driving supercop from the '70s traveled -- the serious and sensitive issue of child pornography -- felt like 30 seconds of a dentist's drill without a gum number.

Solutions aren't that difficult

Too often, fly-by guests have an agenda, and close games get ignored. It's terribly annoying, almost as loathsome as the ''I'm too cool for this, but I'll do it anyway since I'm here'' approach taken annually by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.

Enough already. Fix this. And remedies are as plentiful as the ways the Cubs strand runners.

The simplest solution is having the affable and versatile Kasper and Brenly record an interview before the game. Producers then can take the best 10- to 20-second chunks and roll 'em out during mound visits or pitching changes.

No critical at-bats are missed. No exposing an indifferent participant. Everybody wins, right?

Not really. There are those who revel in uncomfortable, pull-the-covers-up-over-the-head television. And sometimes those moments produce instant gold, like in 2001 when McMahon had to inform analyst Joe Carter that former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle (Mac's adversary) was, in fact, dead (since 1996) and that they hadn't stayed in touch.

I'm good with keeping ''live'' spontaneity, but the interviews should be conducted several innings earlier. The potential for deliciously bad moments still would exist, without the fear of an overzealous guest redirecting the focus from a tight game in the seventh when the Cubs are rallying.

And the Cubs are smart to continue inviting A-listers who get it. We like willing participants -- like Chicago actors William Petersen and Vince Vaughn -- who express an appreciation of the game while not getting in the way of it. Engaging but deferential guests should be the only ones who make the cut.

Let's start with Cubs-Cards

The town is assembled. Motions have been made. These are solutions that make everybody a little happier, and they could be employed Friday when the Cardinals hit town.

Ooh, Cubs and Cardinals. That smacks of the Mayor of Rush Street, doesn't it?

Lemme hear ya. Good and loud. Ahh, one ... ahh, two ... ahh, three. ...

Dan McNeil hosts a sports-talk show from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays on WSCR-AM (670).

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Although I agree with getting rid of the stretch singer 1000%, I am going to take you to task on this one.

I'm sure your former ESPN 1000 Afternoon Saloon partner H. Teinowitz will have a blast reading this column because he has had these thoughts for the LAST 5 YEARS!!!

I realize your new show is taking up a lot of your time but I know you're scraping for ideas when you start ripping H. Teinowitz off!!

YOU NEED TO DO YOUR JOB, DAN, A LOT BETTER!

Linda S.

Beautiful!

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It comes up every time there's an embarrassing rendition or an embarrassing interview. I specifically remember MJH having John McDonough on the show to discuss it (maybe after Steve McMichael? Ozzy Osbourne?) and they were laughing at Harry and saying the only reason Harry wanted the tradition stopped was because he was never asked to sing.

I guess an old idea, after it's not acted on for a certain period of time, becomes new again.

I've said it many times before, but why can't they just play a recording of Harry Caray doing it? That's what they did when he missed some games late in his career. I am sure he has turned over in his grave too many times to count, why not give him a fitting tribute and still be able to keep the tradition going?

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The fact that there have been complaints for years and nothing's been done about it and that after a particularly bad rendition, everyone's talking about it the next day indicates to me the Cubs are just fine with it the way it is now.

Is there any singer canadian or otherwise that hasnt done it?

Seconded.

Doing my best to be troll free on this board.

Someone can just call me when either make a worthy post. I won't be waiting by the phone.

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Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

We'll be sure to let you know when Mac posts so you can get your tissues and lotion ready.

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Meh - not one of your better offerings today Gloopy.

I know you can do better.

I think the whole man crush on Mac has run it's course here - it's getting kind of over played.

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Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

I thought it was really an uninspiring read. It's an old subject that gets mulled over too often. Mac, you have to work a bit harder to come up with something better than this. I get the feeling you were stumped when trying to figure out what to write about and just went with something that always gets some calls, when the subject comes up on radio. You are better than this.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I hate the 7th inning stretch... It caters to old women and frat boys...

Dave, don't tell me you are turning your affections elsewhere? Does this mean Mac will have to wipe his own ass now?
I've been told, Mac won't wipe his ass for less than $350K or is that roll out of bed? Hell, I can't remember which is which.
Either way, you may need to rethink your position, if you will, as it were. Otherwise, Mac may suffer from an epic case of swamp ass.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I think the whole man crush on Mac has run it's course here - it's getting kind of over played.[/quote]
Dave, don't tell me you are turning your affections elsewhere? Does this mean Mac will have to wipe his own ass now?
I've been told, Mac won't wipe his ass for less than $350K or is that roll out of bed? Hell, I can't remember which is which.
Either way, you may need to rethink your position, if you will, as it were. Otherwise, Mac may suffer from an epic case of swamp ass.[/quote]

Now see Gloopy you can learn something from Reason here. He actually brings it in this comment. Won't wipe his ass for less than 350K - now that's funny.

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Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

Mac's columns are so disjointed.

I hate the singing but it's ok. Let's have a town meeting. The interviews suck, so let's tape them earlier and jam them into the game somewhere.

If you are going to have a column Mac, make a point.

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I enjoy Mac's show moreso than his column, but I think I can make that comment about any journalist in the opposite. I enjoyed Mariotti's columns and hated his show. Same thing for Telander, Mully, Hanley, etc. I think the difficulty involved in Mac's case is conveying the edgy personality that he has on his radio show into a column while still making cogent and interesting points.

That is the closest I have ever come to criticizing Mac. I feel so dirty and shameful...

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Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

It seemed like Mac's collumn was better when he was "on vacation". Now, he has so much going on again and it's not like on AM1000, where it was on cruise control the last few years. Perhaps it's slipped a bit on the list of priorities and not being given the consideration it had previously.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I think columnists, Dan included, who don't do it for a living are hit or miss reads. I like Dan and have followed his show for years, but for me his "fire and passion" doesn't translate well to a column most of the time. Grammatically it's fine - he knows very well how to quip and prose and proper use of verb predicates and the like, but it just doesn't scream "must read" to me. But, there are few columnists who do, so take it for what you will.

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Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

Well written article. I didn't find Estrada's comments weird, so the subject is a little off to me.

I think he has trouble picking a subject. Why don't you guys that are complaining give an idea instead of complaining.

It's much more fun for certain people to be haters and point to Mac's supposed "aloofness" and "better than everyone else" attitude that they prey on and I don't think anything could be farther from the truth.

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Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

He's getting paid a fair amount of money to do that himself. Besides, there was a fair amount of legitimate criticism directed at his style of writing after his first few columns appeared that he did not accept.

He needs to let the Eddie Vedder stuff go, too. It got tiresome hearing about it on his show and it's unfortunate that he's carried it over into his column.

I think writing is one of the toughest things to do especially if you are not given a subject. He is not a true columnist and this is a challenge fo him. All things considered I think he is doing a adequate/good job. He did accept and use some of the criticisms to improve. Maybe not all or your ideas but he has the right to do that.

I'll send you sawbucks if you can write a weekly column as good or better. I don't think you could do it for 8 weeks.

He is very critical (and often incorrect in his criticism) of other people's writing, usage, grammar, etc. He also said he received a chilly welcome from his new "colleagues" at the Sun-Times because they were jealous of him when I think his boorish attitude was most likely responsible. He promoted himself as being an outstanding writer too often and for too long to merely be adequate.



I think a lot of people on this board could do a better job if it was their job.

You could at least link to his column rather than copy&pasting it wholesale.

It's a well-written and considered piece. It reminds me of John Canzano more than Jay Mariotti.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

If he wants to write about many topics, then he should write like Sneed or Larry King and divide smaller thoughts into smaller, digestable pieces.

His current work is rambling and disjointed.

His columns are like his radio show, many little bursts of thoughts, yet no deep analysis. He should use his columns to back up some of the thoughts he blabbers about. But that would actually take some work and some time. It's obvious that he justs throws it together in about 10 minutes.

Do some deeper homework Macky. And here's some advice, when you write a column have a point.

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That's a good thought and I've never looked at it like that. He could do some deeper analysis of things he has already discussed. I think what might hold him back from that is some folks saying he is using his column as an extension of his show. Some of the reading audience might not get that because they don't listen and those that listen might say he is repeating himself.

It's fair to say he could dig a little deeper in his columns no matter the topic. For somebody with a strong personality he isn't stepping out on the ledge much. So that was a good point.

Wow,how can Mac win! Deep Analysis? It's sports & it's the newspaper that smells bad!
He did a fine job in his column. He did break things down,by offering up an idea. Interviews should be pre-recorded and "fit" into the game. Mac's new show with Speigel
is a good listen & has brought me back to WSCR. I WAS not a Mac fan,either on ESPN.

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