Chris Zorich and Softball

Chris Zorich grew up near me on the far south side of Chicago. He was an only child of African American and Croatian descent raised by his mother. After attending Chicago Vocational High School he went on to star at the University of Notre Dame. 

The Chicago Bears selected him in the second round of the 1991 draft. He played with the Bears from 1991-97, although he split the last season with the Washington Redskins. He went on to earn his law degree. Zorich has been very active in his community.

I met Zorich a few times, but this time, Tony and I had a chance to chat a bit more with him. Our Notre Dame softball shirts sparked a conversation. Zorich was quite a fan of college softball. He mentioned watching Oklahoma years ago and when Tony mentioned Keilani Ricketts, Zorich lit up. He remembered her. I asked about him playing 16 inch, a Chicago favorite. He said he only played that for fun and not in a real organized fashion. I would bet, especially in his prime, he could slug a ball!

At 57, Zorich till looks in great shape. His forearms and chest are quite impressive. When he put his arms on our shoulders, I felt like a kid next to him.

Zorich has been one of my favorite Bears for his heart and play. He's a great guy and is on my list of interview wants.

Tony, Chris Zorich and me in Schaumburg, IL-May 2026.

 

Talking Travel with Patricia Kara

Actress and tv host Patricia Kara returned to Global Traveler for her second Talking Travel interview. As she stated in our first interview, travel is her favorite subject.

Perhaps best known for her role as briefcase #9 model on television's Deal Or No Deal, Kara wrote "Dream On...Now Deliver" (notice the DOND acronym connection) about the entertainment business. On the surface it is a guide for making it and staying in show business, but there are plenty of other life lessons in the book.

On September 9 (notice the 9 connection), Kara will release "Open the Case," her book about her time on the popular game show. She promises it will be full of great pictures and stories. One story not in the book is the obstacles she overcame to finish it. She temporarily lost much of the content due to a computer issue. Fortunately, all was saved, but the release was delayed. Ever the positive and creative person, Kara decided 9/9 would be the perfect date to release the book.

It's always fun talking to Kara. Just like her live events, it's like being with an old friend.

You can watch the interview on the GT YouTube channel. I hope you'll enjoy it and subscribe. More subs, mean more fun content.

Friend Encounters: Jennie Finch and Kevin

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

The Bandits are back! I continue celebrating the return of pro softball to Chicago.

Jennie Finch is one of the greatest softball players of all time. She starred at the University of Arizona, won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and pitched for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch from 2005 to 2010.

Unfortunately, her time with the Bandits ended before I started covering the team. Still, I got to know Jennie from her many visits back. I also had the pleasure of an interview with her on one of those visits. Jennie is like softball royalty every time she is here.

It seems like Jennie might be here more often this summer. The Bandits are back and Jennie is working with the league.

Someone who was here a long time, but is gone now, is super fan Kevin. Despite not returning lately, Kevin is still part of the old guard, a group of loyalists called "old crusties." Kevn moved on to calmer pastures in the Dakotas. He is missed, but we exchange fun messages regularly.

Kevin got a picture with Jennie during one of her visits. I might have taken this photo because I remember us hanging out in the area taking pictures.

If Jennie returns this year, chance are I will get another photo with her. I'll be one of hundreds to do so, but Jennie never complains. She is a real gem.

For more info on AU, go to auprosports.com. For more info on Jennie, go to jenniefinch.com.

Jennie and Kevin in Roseomont, IL-August 2016.

Celebrity Jersey Cards #806: Kim Cljisters & Gigi Fernandez

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series featuring celebrities wearing sports jerseys. We continue our season-long romp through every MLB team.

Kim Cljisters is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She took a few absences due to injuries and other reasons, but always came back strong. At one point, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 20 weeks, and as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 4 weeks. Cljisters earned a Celebrity Jersey Card from her ceremonial pitch for the New York Mets. Probably more accurately, she got it from her swings in batting practice. I'm willing to bet she did pretty good there, too.

Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. Fernández reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles in 1991 and '93-95 and a career-high singles ranking of world No. 17 in 1991. In 1999, she was named Puerto Rico's "Female Athlete of the Century." Her cousin is José Ferrer, a Puerto Rican actor, Oscar Winner and director. Fernandez tossed a ceremonial pitch for the Mets to gain her Celebrity Jersey Card. 

Talking Travel with Jennifer Weatherhead

Direct from Toronto, Canada, travel expert Jennifer Weatherhead is my latest interview guest on Talking Travel for Global Traveler. living up to her expert label, Weatherhead delivered hacks, tips, trends and more.

Feeling the lure of travel, Weatherhead left ELLE Canada to dive full-time into the travel industry. Through years of travel and research, Weatherhead earned her expert status. She is often the go-to person when media outlets need to discuss travel and not just in Canada.

We discussed all of this as well as her hometown in our interview. Without sounding like a sales pitch, Weatherhead spoke highly of Toronto. Having been there a few times, I also agree with her about the beauty and friendliness there.

Go to the GT YouTube channel for this interview and all the other great travel content. The more subscribers we get (and it's free to subscribe) the more interesting content we can produce.

Pro Volleyball: Symone Abbott

Symone Abbott grew up in Northville, Michigan, near-ish Detroit. Like her father, she went to Northwestern in Illinois, a fact I discussed with Symone during media sessions in the Athletes Unlimited 2021 season. Those media sessions can be found at On the Beat With Athletes Unlimited.

Symone had a stellar career at Northwestern. Following NU sports in general, I had heard of Symone, but I had nt seen her in action until Athletes Unlimited debuted its volleyball league earlier this year. I wish I would have attended some NU volleyball games though, because after watching AU, I really got into it. Symone, who also played for Karayolları Spor Kulübü in Turkey and for clubs in Italy and France, finished the AU season in 27th place (out of 46 players).

One of the fun topics I discussed with Symone was her love of Chicago. She ever stated she is living in Chicago this summer. She talked about loving the food and atmosphere here.

Go to AUProSports.com for more info on all of the AU sports leagues. Follow Symone on  social media to get updates on her career, including her last few years playing in Italy.

Symone Abbott and me-March 2021.

Celebrity Jersey Cards Special Edition #805: WWE FIFA Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series featuring celebrities wearing sports jerseys. With the World Cup starting today, I produced some Special Edition WWE FIFA Celebrity Jersey Cards.

I realize Becky Lynch isn't in a sports jersey, which is the point of this series, however I can bend the rules for one of my favorites. Plus she is in FIFA gear and is paired with her husband and fellow wrestler Seth Rollins. Born in Limerick, Lynch started training in 2002. After taking a hiatus for several years, she eventually signed with the WWE in 2013. Since then, she has carved a Hall of Fame career. Lynch and Rollins make one of the most successful married couples in wrestling history. I had the pleasure of meeting both. They were very engaging and Lynch surprised me with her knowledge of football, of which Rollins ia a huge fan. Rollins even joked she might know more than him.

Born in Iowa, Colby Lopez made his pro wrestling debut when he was 19. As Seth Rollins, he has done everything in the WWE, much like his wife. Rollins is a noted Chicago Bears fan. Not just a bandwagon fan, Rollins knows his stuff and has been on sports radio discussing his favorite team.

Catching Up with Andrew McCarthy

Back in the 1980s when I was watching Andrew McCarthy in movies, I never thought I would interview him. Fast forward 40 years and I have interviewed him multiple times.

I admit, several years ago I had no idea he became a travel writer. I attended a travel show and there he was, giving a presentation on travel. He was promoting Walking with Sam, a story of his walk in Spain with his son. It was a great lecture and later I saw the book was great, too. It was about his relationship with his son, with travel (a lot of travel) as the backdrop..

I immediately wanted to interview him for Global Traveler. It was a great fit and should get lots of views. To my surprise, his people set it up quickly. Since then, I have seen, chatted with and interviewed him a few times. He is extremely nice and very passionate about travel.

After my last interview with him, he did a book chat close to me. Afterwards, when I chatted with him, the first thing he did was ask how the interview was. How cool of him.

McCarthy is a very talented writer. I have read all of his books and enjoyed each one.

My latest interview with him is at Talking Travel with Andrew McCarthy. While you are there, please subscribe to the Global Traveler YouTube channel, too.

Andrew McCarthy and me in Winnetka, IL-April 2026.

Mr. Zubaz at Squared Circle Expo

Today, I feature one of the unsung heroes of the Squared Circle Expo wrestling convention. Ed (aka Mr. Zubaz) is one of the four promoters who make this a great event.

I have actually known Ed's wife Hardcore Heather longer than I know Ed. I might have crossed paths with both at a horror convention we all attended years ago, but I got to know Heather during her stints in Resistance Pro Wrestling. I don't think Ed was ever there or at least I never met him there.

There is more to Ed than his ever-present Zubaz. I do applaud him for his determination in wearing them. Ed is a mostly-retired wrestler. More importantly, as I wrote, he is one of the promoters of SCX.

As a longtime wrestling fan, wrestler and convention attendee, Ed has the knowledge and connections to make SCX great. The Fantastic Four make a great combo, each with a different strength. I don't know for sure, but I am guessing Ed is one of the main (if not the main) booker for the wrestling matches ending Saturday. Those matches are always some of the best matches I have seen. Last year, in particular, had awesome matches. That card was capable of standing with any wrestling card anywhere.

During the event, Ed usually doesn't have much free time as SCX business keeps him hopping. He does however always make time for a quick chat and selfie. In short, Ed is a good dude and I appreciate his friendship and all he does.

For more info on SCX, go to squaredcirclex.com. Check back here for my recurring coverage.

Ed and me in Indianapolis, IN-March 2026.

Friend Encounters: Abby Ramirez and Chris

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League is back. More important to Chicago, the Chicago Bandits are back.

After a few years of AU Softball being played under fantasy-league type rules, AUSL debuted last year, bringing back traditional softball. Four teams played the season in Rosemont, including the Bandits, but none had a designated city affiliation. In the offseason, it was finally announced the Bandits would belong to Chicago, while the other three teams, plus two new teams, found their homes elsewhere.

Abby Ramirez played for the previous version of the Chicago Bandits. She also played in the first two seasons of AU. The Chicago-area native starred at the University of Michigan, before returning to Chicago to play pro ball. She currently is an assistant coach for DePaul.

That is where long time Bandits fan Chris saw her. The Blue Demons hosted the Dome Tournament in February. Of course, Chris had to get a picture with Abby. Despite retiring from active play about four years ago, Abby is still extremely popular with Chicago fans. Everyone loves Abby and rightly so.

Chris is very popular, too. He is well-known for taking hundreds of pictures at every game and also for his cowbell.  A constant presence at all Bandits or AU games in Rosemont, Chris is part of the old guard. He goes back farther than me, but I am still part of the "Old Crusties" group with him, Tony, Kevin and a few others.

Go to auprosports.com for more info on the league and depaulbluedemons.com for more info on Abby and the Blue Demons. Check back here for my recurring coverage of both.

Chris and Abby in Rosemont, IL-February 2026