Thanks for having us, Dave. Now, about that jacket...As many of you heard last night, Dolan, Chuck, and I made our radio debut on David Kaplan’s Sports Central show on WGN 720. If you missed it, and you want to hear the whole thing, thanks to C-C-Cats, it can be found HERE. First, many thanks to David Kaplan. Considering the grief he has taken from me and Dolan in the past, not only was it ballsy to have us on his show, but he, his producer Jordan, and his intern Jeff were very gracious hosts, made the whole process very easy, and bought us Lou Malnati’s pizza. Hooray! Thanks, as well, to all of you who tuned in (and tried to call in). The response was, apparently, overwhelmingly positive, and the phone lines were flooded from the minute we got on the show, much to the delight of Kaplan, Jordan, and Jeff. I believe the only regular who made it onto the show was HJE‘s very own Mike D., who sneaked in a subtle “FYC” during his call. Honestly, though, I have a feeling your response is what elicited a second invitation onto the show, so I really appreciate it. On to the recap. ReKap? Whatever.

Dolan, Chuck, and I were given instructions by Kaplan to park in the Tribune Tower parking lot and to say that we were there to be on Sports Central. If you’ve never seen the Tribune Tower parking lot, you might not understand why I drove past it twice. I was expecting a giant gate shaped like Paul Sullivan’s head which, when you pull up to it, lowers its mouth to let you in. Instead, it looked like any one-level self-park in the city. There was no guard tower, no armed guards, no bronzed Ron Santo toupee. There was, however, a gate, and a button. I rolled up to the gate on my third time around the block, and hit the button. Either I looked official, or security at the Tribune was the first thing they cut out before they declared bankruptcy (more on that later), because the gate swung open without a word from me.

Dolan and Chuck were just a few minutes behind me, so we decided to meet up at the Billy Goat Tavern to prepare for the show. And by “prepare,” we mean, “drink beer and glance at the three sheets of statistics Chuck brought.” Seriously, Chuck? Homework? Dolan and I wondered if this whole invitation was some ploy by Kap to lure us into his office and blackjack us over the backs of our necks while Chuck just laughed about how that would be a nice Hanukkah present for he and Kap.

At about 6:30, we climbed the steps up to the Tribune Tower. After Chuck tried to take us in through the servants’ entrance (Rule 10.17(c) applies, apparently, even when it comes to building entrances), we finally made it through the revolving doors and into the swanky lobby of the Tribune Tower.

The guard greeted us and called Kap’s staff to come collect the lost-looking gentlemen from their mothers’ basements. Jordan did just that, and led us back to their offices. After giving us a quick tour of our surroundings, they offered us pizza. Dolan and I were worried that it might be poisoned pizza, so we waited until Chuck had a few slices until we dove in. Not poisoned. We were off to a good start.

Since Kap was finishing up his show on Comcast Sports Net, he didn’t arrive until about 6:55. He was friendly and engaging, and we whipped through a few warm-up sports topics before heading into the studio at about 7:01 (didn’t the show start at 7:00?). There, we met Steve Cochran, who referred to us as Blogger Number One, Blogger Number Two, and Blogger Number Three. I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss book.

We were in what I assume is the main studio, so there was a nice, plate glass window showing us the happenings on Michigan Avenue and allowing for the perfect opportunity for a pressed ham. And you guys (and gals, since this is America in the 2000′s, dammit) failed us miserably in that regard.

We took our seats (Chuck stealing the one with access to a computer), adjusted our headsets, Dolan Tweeted that we were about to go on, and before you know it, we were off.

You can hear exactly what happened on the link above, so I’ll just make some general comments about it.

  • It was great being in the studio. Kap made it very obvious who he was addressing, and being able to see everyone made it far easier to not step on one another’s toes. I may not always agree with Kap’s opinions or excessive use of exclamation points, but he’s a damn good moderator and host.
  • Especially considering Kap had come directly from his appearance on Comcast, he was very well-prepared and asked questions that were fun to answer.
  • Chuck knows everything about the financial side of the Cubs.
  • The first segment was something like 25 minutes long, but it felt like 2 minutes. I was having a blast, and the time absolutely flew by.
  • Even though we only got around to three calls, all three calls were excellent. I admit I was disappointed that we didn’t get scolded by any blue hairs (though I like to imagine their reactions if they actually came to HJE.
  • Kap pronounced my name correctly (since the mystery is over; “BAD KERMIT” is an anagram of “MIKE BRADT”) and gave all three of us not only multiple plugs for our sites, but also the opportunity to explain the sites’ names.
  • Dolan is funny.
  • Kap gave us an extra half hour on the show, which was terrific.

After the show ended, Dolan, Chuck, and I said our good-byes to Kap and the staff and wound our way back through the labyrinth that is the Tribune Tower. After somehow stumbling into the cafeteria and bumping into the cleaning staff (“No, we don’t have time for a jog.”), we found the exit, complete with the perfect stereotype of a sleeping security guard protecting it. Good night, sweet prince.

Again, thanks to Kap and the WGN staff for being so great to us. Thanks to Dolan for setting the thing up in the first place. Thanks to all of you guys for making it a success. It really sounded like Kap wants to have us on the show again before the season starts, so I will, of course, let you know if this is going to happen again.