Cubs 10th Inning

Now that the Chicago Cubs have a different owner from the radio station it has an identity with for many years, WGN has dropped its popular Sports Central nightly call-in show in favor of "Cubs 10th Inning." It is no surprise to see WGN step up their commitment to the North Side baseball club. As Tom Ricketts and his family take over ownership of the Cubs, new revenue streams are important. And one possibility would be selling the radio rights to a higher bidder. WGN and the Cubs have a deep relationship, and the Tribune company would not want to lose the city's most popular team.

A Good Listen

A week ago while driving home from work I was listening to WGN, AM 720 out of Chicago. At this time of the year I frequently listen to this station on my commute to get caught up on the latest Chicago Cubs news, as they are the flagship station of my beloved team. On this day following the latest sports news of the day by Dave Kaplan, afternoon host Steve Cochran asked him to stay and relay the following story. Well worth a listen at the following link...

Cubs - Astros

One last opportunity to take in a game at the Friendly Confines before the football season officially begins. Monday's night was the first of a four game series between the first place Chicago Cubs and the surging Houston Astros.

This Monday game was under the lights.
Thanks to a college friend, Brett Dolan, the radio play-by-play voice of the Houston Astros, we were treated to a trip to the broadcast booth before the game. Brett is a native of Adair, Iowa.

The tiny Houston broadcast booth looks into the voice of the Cubs, WGN's Ron Santo and Pat Hughes.

Des Moines native and Olympic Gold Medalist, Shawn Johnson threw out the first pitch as well as leading the crowd in Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the Seventh Inning Stretch.

It started out as a pitcher's duel between the clubs' aces. Tied at one heading into the 13th, Alfonso Soriano hit a walk-off Grand Slam to give the Cubs the 5-1 win and keeping them in first place. However with a long drive back to Iowa, eleven innings were all we could handle.

Science Project

With temperatures dropping to as much as thirty below throughout the state of Iowa, we tried a simple science project that many others had been doing. I had first heard about it on AM-720, WGN Chicago. We took 8oz of boiling hot water and threw it into the sub zero air. The adjacent picture shows the result. Water quickly turned into steam and crystals.
WGN Meterologist, Tom Skilling said this air mass originated over Sieberia four weeks ago and now has make its way into the midwest. We compared our temperature to that of Anchorage, Alaska. While Cedar Rapids was reporting a high of -29F, the Alaskan metropolitan area reached 38 above zero. A difference of more than sixty degrees.
Weather is the talk all around the country. However while watching the Sony Hawaii Open from Oahu, golfers had to deal with winds over 60mph. Winds ferocious enough to cause many of the local schools in the area to let out early. I think we'd be satisfied with that weather around here.