Christian Zavisca

Chicago Marathon do's and do-not-do's

Sammy Wanjiru won the Chicago Marathon in record time, which is no surprise because Sammy Wanjuru is an awesome running machine who destroyed the field at Beijing in the 2008 Olympics.

But the first line in the accompanying Sun-Times story left me shaking my head: "With a wave of his hand, Sammy Wanjiru nearly showboated away history and $100,000 Sunday."

The writer goes on to describe Wanjiru's down-the-stretch transgression by saying Wanjiru "turned slightly and waved to the throngs on Columbus Drive before breaking the tape."

That does not sound like showboating to me. That sounds like a happy guy waving to the crowd.

Anyway, Wanjiru won in two hours, five minutes and 41 seconds, setting the American and Chicago records by one second.

My friend Tom finished in 3:42:11. Cograts to him and the other worthy competitors. He wrote about the marathon a few days before the event in the Post-Tribune.

This makes me immediately stop reading

I'll put my media critic's hat on for a moment when discussing this story in the Chicago Tribune on the Critical Mass downtown bicycle protests.

A groom was driving down Michigan Avenue to his wedding rehearsal dinner on a Friday night this past summer when he found himself engulfed by a sea of bicycles.

Angry that he would be made late, he started yelling, only to have half a dozen cyclists surround his car and verbally assault him for traveling by four wheels.

The groom had stumbled upon Critical Mass, the monthly event that sees up to 3,000 bikers riding through Chicago's streets, running lights and blocking traffic, all with a somewhat reluctant police escort.

"Riding your bike is fine, but taking over the streets like that is out of control," said the driver, who asked that his name not be used. "I can't believe the police allow it to happen."

Really? Leading off a story with an anonymous quote? You can't find a similar anecdote on the record, or convince the guy to give his name?

This is something that drove me nuts as a newspaper editor. Easy anonymity creates a number of problems. If it's so easily granted, why would anyone ever want to give his or her name to a reporter? And for readers: Why would they believe a thing this source has to say?

An officer and another motorist are also sort of haphazardly quoted anonymously later in the story (I went back and skimmed the rest of it while writing this). Big shock. Maybe it's just me, and most readers don't care. But I wonder.

Steve Dahl, Phil Rosenthal, and Chicago

I grew up in South Bend, Ind., on the fringes of the Chicago media market. And I worked as a sports writer and news editor in Michigan City, Ind., which is about 40 minutes from The Loop.

When I think of Chicago, I think of three guys: Steve Dahl, Phil Rosenthal, and Roger Ebert. Steve, a radio icon, has been off the air for many months. I'm very much looking forward to his return. His podcast is set to launch today.

And I am looking forward to moving back to the Midwest.

I'm wishing Steve all the best, and I'm excited to move back to northern Indiana.

Steve Dahl is back in the air

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl returns to the air with an hourlong daily podcast.

The Stever has been off the air since Dec. 5. Chicago media columnist Phil Rosenthal writes about the circumstances of Dahl's exit here.

Rosenthal describes Dahl's style:

Dahl, 54, has been a seminal figure in the radio business both as a solo performer and as part of a team over the years, including pairings with Garry Meier and Buzz Kilman, his most recent partner.

Seen as an influence on Howard Stern and others, Dahl was among the first to return radio, which had become a time-temperature-song medium, to something approaching theater of the mind. He did not have a classic old-school radio voice, but that was part of bringing a certain "reality" to the air, taking listeners into his world, his head and behind the scenes at the stations where he worked.

He complemented that with song parodies, a cast of characters he invented or impersonated and other comedy bits.

Steve is most famous nationally for his central role in the craziness Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park.

I've been a Steve Dahl fan for years, and when I moved from the Midwest to Knoxville, Tenn., in 2005, his radio show's podcasts were a nice reminder of home. I'm excited that he'll be back on the air as I move back to Chicagoland shortly. In the meantime I've been listening to The Brendan & Pete Show, a podcast by two of Dahl's former crew members.

And if Steve still Google Alerts his name and happens to be reading this: Good luck and welcome back!