It was 13 years ago Sunday that Charlie Sykes was busted for shooting off illegal fireworks with woman-not-then-his-wife-but-periodic-radio-guest-under-pseudonym-Liz Woodhouse Janet Riordan.
That wasn't disclosed until the following January, after The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tim Cuprisin had been lying to his listeners about the identity of Woodhouse, er Riordan (and yes, the Brawler apologizes for not honoring this anniversary earlier).
Because it's always fun to revisit the past of the moralist Sykes, here's an excerpt from Cup's Jan. 16, 1997 column:
But remember when Charlie was nabbed in Whitefish Bay last August for shooting off illegal fireworks? At the time, he said he was with a family friend from West Bend.
Yep, Riordan lives in West Bend.
A check of the police log from the Aug. 2 fireworks caper showed Charlie Sykes' name there right next to Janet Riordan's name. Whitefish Bay police say they were the only two people on the beach in Big Bay Park at 9:45 p.m, 45 minutes after closing time.
It's still unclear why Charlie played this cloak-and-dagger game.
Would being a member of Charlie's panel really hurt someone's chances of getting a singing gig? After all, he has said that expressing her political views might just hurt "Liz Woodhouse's" career.
Last Thursday, after the "Liz" flap first hit the paper, Charlie tried to say she was just a regular listener bringing a regular listener's perspective to the show. But remember, regular listeners didn't even know she wasn't really named "Liz Woodhouse" until the silly stunt was exposed.
Besides, as a researcher for Charlie, she's more than a regular listener.
In a brief phone conversation last week, Charlie wouldn't confirm or deny anything about "Liz Woodhouse." He said if he identified her, he would do so on the radio, not in the newspaper.
I told him I didn't get why he hadn't made it clear right from the start that he was using a non-expert for his panel of insiders. That would have been an interesting gimmick that could have been a big hit with his audience.
Answered Charlie: "There are a lot of things you don't get."
"There's a lot of things you don't get." Always the tough guy!
Happy belated anniversary, Charlie!
oh, look what I found...a citation...
http://www.wisopinion.com/blogs/eyeonwi/sykes001.pdf
Posted by: Cory Liebmann | August 06, 2009 at 06:25 AM