After listening to the replay of the show, and having some time to digest what we heard at 2 a.m. on Friday, I feel I can better describe how I feel about Maureen leaving, and the events of Friday's show.

To summarize, Lino offhandedly mentioned that Fr. Jim was named in the acknowledgments of his book "Sinner" (pre-order links on the side of the page) but Maureen was not, with Lino saying that he felt like he could trust Fr. Jim more. After some bickering back and forth, with Maureen hurt beyond belief that Lino included people like Secular Jim in the book and not her, despite her working for Lino for years.

It was then revealed that Maureen is leaving the show AGAIN, with her news being the bad news that Lino was cranky about a few weeks ago. It wasn't something that Maureen actively sought, but an opportunity that just came up and pays a LOT more money for her to work at home. We can't speak for Lino at our blog, but we are very supportive of Maureen's decision: it's not as if fans of TCGS are pitching in for her retirement fund or savings account. If the job will give her and Danny better financial security, then she would be nuts to not go for it.

Throughout the final hour of the show, Lino and Maureen shared their true feelings on the matter, which seemed healthy for them (maybe not so much for the listeners). In short, Lino felt hurt and took the decision to leave personally. And to Lino's credit, he apologized for leaving her out of the book, saying that he didn't realize it would cause so much hurt (and is now putting her back in the book). It was the right thing to do, and constitutes one of the fan blog's three yearly allowances to say he was wrong (we have two posts left to do that).

And while we're generally supportive of Lino, we gotta ask, "Are you nuts?" How in the world WOULDN'T that hurt? I would be hurt if I was in Lino's shoes as well (heartbroken is how he put it), but it's not as if the friendship has to die when Maureen leaves the show. The feeling we got from listening is that Lino felt like Maureen was severing a friendship by leaving the show, whereas Maureen was sad to quit but just couldn't pass up a better opportunity. We hope that Lino and Maureen were able to fully patch things up before the weekend commenced.

Lino also said that he didn't want to do the show without Maureen. As nuts as this sounds, we see his point. Maureen isn't the on-air talent, but is a very integral part to it's success (go back and listen to shows without her in the producer chair for evidence of her value). There have been many instances of successful TV shows going into the ground after a popular character leaves. The quality varies (M*A*S*H stayed popular after McLean Stevenson left, but 8 Simple Rules after John Ritter's departure went south quickly), so if Lino felt like he couldn't create the best show possible without an integral character, then from that viewpoint I would say that Lino quitting would be a great idea.

We of course would be devastated if the show ended, and we all tune in for Lino Rulli first and foremost (so don't take this as saying that Lino by himself is crap). But from an entertainment standpoint, if Lino's show ended on a high note, that would be better closure for us fans than a show that dragged on and was gutted of all quality as time passed.

It wasn't clarified, but there's a good chance that Friday will be Maureen's last day on the radio. Thankfully I'm on vacation this week, so I'll hopefully get to enjoy her appearances more.

Stumbled upon this little gem. Actually I saw it on Maureen's Facebook feed, so I didn't have to look very hard. But she and her husband Danny were shown on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman eating some crazy looking egg. The Video (which I am unable to embed on this post) says things I could never describe with the written word.

Vacation... That is where Lino and crew are this week-when we are at home, working, slaving away to earn the twenty bucks for our Sirius XM radios.

An important note for all listeners. BLAME LOU AND MAUREEN! That's right, we all know how much Lino likes to vacation, but this one is all on the producers... Lou and Maureen both had scheduled this week off for themselves forcing the show to take the week off. I think Lino is great, but if he were left with no producers the show would be lots of talking to himself and being the only one laughing at his jokes. No Lou"Board Master" Ruggieri to hit the Laugh Track... sad, sad, sad. No Maureen "Smarter than a Bad Catholic" McMurray to throw under the bus... sad, sad, sad.

Maureen said on Facebook that she will be spending her time off in Mexico. Lou is probably catching up on his sleep since he works 14 jobs. Lino is in Peru with Brett getting lost I am sure. I hope they get a nice break full of relaxation and rejuvenation, 'cause I expect them to be full-on, back-at-it, when they return.

I also expect cool souvenirs- Key Chain, Magnet, the tackier the better.. YOU HEAR ME? Ok, so I won't get any cool presents because, well, who wants to lug something back from vacation for family let alone a practical stranger... but a girl can dream!

Have fun Catholic Guy Crew, wherever you are this week. The Fans will just have to survive without you for a week. It will be a week of "Best Of" shows but we all know a Best Of The Catholic Guy Show is better than NO Catholic Guy Show.

I know many of us look for alternate radio stations when a replay is one we have heard before. Remember to check the Catholic Channel (sirius 159/xm117) before switching in case it is one you haven't heard... OR it is the one when Heather, dustin and I were in studio (No one should miss that!) You never know when you will catch a little Catholic Guy Replay Love. If you find the replay is one you don't want to listen to I would recommend The Message, Classic Vinyl, The Blend, or The Highway (being some of my favorites)...

We should all say a little prayer of thanksgiving that The Catholic Channel is smart enough not to play Gus Lloyd in TGCS spot when they are away! Yes, I encourage you all to pray for this.


With a wink and a smile,
;)Ambassador Allicia

Youtube video with Lino Rulli's amazing "Most of the Shows Are Better" song he performed in honor of producer Maureen McMurray's birthday. Video is a slide show of Maureen photos.

Welcome back to the revamped Catholicguyshow.com, the No. 1 place for Lino Rulli!

We took a week off to play around with the design, catch our breath, and focus on a new direction for the blog.

We've added some new things, such as an imbedded Yahoo! Media Player that will easily let you play episodes of Lino At Large (click on the play buttons next to the titles and be amazed!). New polls will be added each week, along with photos for the picture album.

Along with new features and a cleaner, easier to navigate site, we have new faces on the blog! Allicia, the Catholic Guy show ambassador, will be lending her writing to the blog. And we've also gotten some sort of official stamp of approval, as Lou Ruggieri and Maureen McMurray, producers of the show, are members of the blog. And as you can see from the post under mine, Maureen has already added behind the scenes pictures for our enjoyment.

We hope that the week we took off was worth it, as you, the reader and fan of Lino Rulli, should have a much better experience when you visit catholicguyshow.com

Thank you for your support. In the words of the immortal Gus Lloyd, God bless you brother/sister!

WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
WELCOME BACK MAUREEN!
(tune in now and listen to the fun!)

The fact that this is even a topic on the Catholic Guy Show is a testament to the universality of Catholicism, and the fact that fried bologna sandwiches taste so good is a testament to God's greatness.

Maybe Maureen can bring some on her first day back for Lino to sample and enjoy.

I realize that everyone doesn't catch all 3 hours of Cathtainment daily, so as I sat down to listen to Maureen's call in to the show, I thought "wouldn't it be nice if I took the time to record and post it for the avid long time fans who missed it?" It was nice of me BTW, let me know if it was worth my effort by commenting ;-) For the PM (Post Maureen) listeners, what you hear is what typically occurred daily on TCGS when Maureen was producing. Lino and Maureen often bickered like a old married couple. Yesterday, I thought she was a little sassier, though. I suppose not fearing losing your job gives one confidence.

I, however, will be eternally grateful to Maureen. She helped fulfill a dream for me. Unfortunately, in the process, crushed all future aspiration for fans of Lino Rulli. Knowing Maureen's aversion to sending out prizes, I was able to finagle my way into the studio. I told her I was going to be in NYC and since I hadn't received my Popener could I just stop by the studio to get it. As a testament to her producing skills. she not only said yes but thought it would be a great idea to have a listener on the air. BTW, Fan club Dan was scheduled for the day before. I was the lone blogger at the time and I was suppose to represent every fan. I never heard from Maureen again until about an hour before the show when she called me and told me the details of what was going to happen, what I was going to do, etc. Once at the studio, I did none of those things. Expectantly nervous, I was thrown of by this and had a subpar appearance. Henceforth, Lino has since decided no more listeners in the studio. Such is my legacy. However, I am on a very short list of one-shot-wonder guests of the show.

Strangely, I still look back on the whole incident as one of my greater moments in life. So Maureen if you read this, a sincere thanks and congrats.

On the show today, in honor of Seize the Day host Gus Loyd, Christine has been given an alias, new last name. Loyd.
Great fit, and thanks to Ryan from New York for suggesting the name.
And now, Lino got word that Maureen, who quit The Catholic Guy show for National Public Radio, has lost her job at the new radio show. Here is part of Maureen's email:
"So my new job, well I gotta confess. NPR pulled the funding of the show. Seriously, I've sort of been in shock. I've only been there a few weeks... and we're done... I've got a paid three week vacation...I don't have a steady job...I'll probably be back at Sirius soon."
Would love to see Maureen back at Sirius. Just not in Ryan's position. He's a much better producer that we've grown to love.

by dustin (the Boston Celtics fan)

As I sit here at work, knowing that I will be working straight through Memorial Day (Sat, Sun, and Mon: keep me in mind next time you read your local newspaper this weekend), I have to recommend 'Fully Alive' with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak.

The show is a calming influence while work gets hectic by the minute. The two have great chemistry, and the conversation and topics the show covers are very intriguing and enjoyable to listen to.

And the slight shot at Maureen was great.

"Unlike some shows on The Catholic Channel, we actually send out our prizes," Susan joked. Zing!

Catch the show Monday through Friday nights at 10 p.m. eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius channel 159.

The picture says it all.
Maureen: I'm going to work at NPR!
The response:

A search for Maureen McMurray brings up very little on the internet. However, I'm guessing that her first day as producer could be Monday, which in that case, she might pop up in the show credits.

Yes, we seem a little stalkerish. But c'mon, I know some of us are curious to find out who our favorite producer ditched us for.

2:51 p.m. Central We're live, ticking away the final moments of 'Across The Nation' with host Bob Dunning, discussing Obama's nomination. Lino should be on in about five minutes to promote the Maureen's final show. Here's what we do know about what kind of show it will be:

• We will have the winning entry from the "Write Maureen's Resignation Letter" contest.
• Yesterday, Maureen said that the last day would be like the last day of school, with no actual work being done, so she might not answer any phones today.

That's really all for now. We'll find out soon!

2:57 p.m. "This is the big goodbye show," Lino said during the promotional portion of Dunning's show. "Pray for her soul." Indeed we will.

3:03 p.m. "Some sad bittersweet happenings here," Lino says to start the show. "Our producer Maureen McMurray who is with us right now is quitting...you have to do the next three hours of the show, you can't just leave." Lino just said we should be taking a lot of calls today, so it should be a call-filled show. And then, just Lino and Lou.

3:05 p.m. Lino has just promised many special guests. We'll probably be saddled with Gus though, or some of the regulars. Can't see a big name dropping by today, except for maybe Tom Falcone or Jim Breuer. Rulli also just stated that the goal at the end of the show today would be to make Maureen cry, so we should be getting some sweet sendoff. "Could pull hair out of your eyebrows until you cry," Lino said.

3:09 p.m. Looks like Danny and Maureen have dinner plans after the show. Any chance for a proposal? I say no, but hopefully we'd still find out, despite McMurray's departure tonight.

3:12 p.m. Maureen is reading some of the entries to the aforementioned resignation letter contest. One stated, "I'm going to be sittin with satan at the public radio station," and had a bunch of rhymes. Another one said gave some basic number stats, Mastercard commercial-style, followed up with "Hearing that you and Lou and our listeners are going to miss me? Priceless ... Thank you for letting me believe that just Jesus rolled the stone away." Lino also had Maureen yell anything she wanted for recording purposes, with Maureen dropping a bunch of lines on him. We should have the spirit of Maureen live on for quite some time.

3:19 p.m. Looks like U.S. Army Sergeant Paul's rosary made it, and by the description, it sounded really nice (the rosary was made with precious stones from Afghanistan). Hopefully Lino lets us know how you can contact Paul, so maybe you could buy a rosary from him yourself. "This is gorgeous," McMurray said of Paul's wonderful gift.

3:27 p.m. One listener, Shawn, sent T-shirts from the New Orleans Jazz Festival, along with a picture of himself and a Bishop, so we wouldn't think he was a weird person. Man, I wish I had thought to send a gift. Looks like Lou got a gift, addressed to "Stud." The anonymous gift was a supply of Jones Soda (great soda), to which Lou informed us that he got into a argument with a listener about the existence of Jones Soda. Wow, we have good memory spans.

3:28 p.m. Lou just went to get the promised first guest. They joked earlier, and brought out nobody, a reference to Maureen's birthday, when no guests showed up. As to who the guest is, Maureen had no idea, although I think they are actually serious about having someone this time.

3:30 p.m. Maureen begrudgingly guessed that "A family member" was the guest. After Lou took his sweet, precious time, Lou brought back ..... Nobody. Ouch.

3:35 p.m. Wheel of News time, with Maureen's great intro. It almost reminds me of the scene from Waynes World, where the show went corporate with Noah's Arcade, and they had some lame Michael-Bolton esque rocker singing "Waynes World! Wayne's World! Party time! Excellent!" I hope someone picked up that reference, otherwise, I've just shown myself to be an incompetent, out of touch guy. After further thought, I just described myself to a tee.

3:47 p.m. Dr. Dario, who won an award for bedside manner during college, agreed with Lino that men should get engagement rings back after broken relationships. As a formerly engaged man, I have to agree with him. But part of me is thinking now, if everything is lining up for Maureen to get proposed to on the air? Reading a story about engagement rings from the wheel of news, joking with Maureen about having a guest..maybe it's just me, but i could see them "joking" about a guest coming in, Maureen not believing them at all, and Danny, who is already supposed to meet her at studio after the show for dinner, pops in early and proposes. I think that would be a great way to send Maureen off, and I could see Lino and Lou, out of the goodness of their hearts, setting that up. We await with baited breath.

4:04 p.m. Lino still promising special guests. But having delivered nothing twice, my hope for Danny proposing is dwindling. However, with Lino keeping at this, I can't believe that he would not deliver at some point today, even if it's late in the show after so many disappointments.

4:10 p.m. Gus's song was replayed, with the gem of the line "At least old Lino, he never kissed you, Oh Maureen, we're gonna miss you."

4:11 p.m. The special guest is Ron, the program-director! Didn't think she'd get to say goodbye to him, but Ron came through after so many disappointments of his own. "It's been nice to see her here every day," Ron said. Ron gave Maureen a Proclamation of Gratitude, complete with a stamp! Ron read the proclamation over the air, which part of it read, "do hereby declare May 7 to be forever known as Maureen McMurray day."

4:18 p.m. Ron expressed his gratitude to Maureen. After a holy hug and kiss, he said, "You have been a really important part of this channel from day one, and you will be missed...On behalf of the Holy Father himself, who just called off the air, we wish to offer you the best in your new job ... NPR is very lucky to have you."

4:25 p.m. Maureen nailed all seven sacraments in first question of The Inquisition, besting Big Guns Jack. Major props to Maureen for nailing this one on the last day. I couldn't even get all of them.

4:40 p.m. We're on to question six, and Maureen is ahead by one. I really hope she wins this one.

4:46 p.m. We're really into this one, with the score tied up between Maureen and the listeners. and my Sirius radio keeps losing signal. Even though the antenna is actually sitting outside, in the open, with no structures hanging over it, it still loses signal on occasion, which is irritating. Wrangler John just got hung up on, and for some reason, that's my favorite part of the show. For question nine, Melanie from Texas has to figure out how many books are in the Old Testament. (39 is my guess, although I could be really wrong, like that time I moved to Pittsburgh). 46 was the correct answer from Maureen, with Melanie throwing her son under the bus, saying that 54 was his answer, not hers.

4:54 p.m. Maureen took the game, besting the listeners 5-4! She did get the last question wrong, concerning the brothers of thunder (the listener said Macabee, she said Andrew and James). "Crazy, I can't believe it," Maureen said of her victory. I'm so glad I'm keeping up with this, instead of building B-section pages, wondering why BluMunkee hates me.

4:58 p.m. It's time for another very special guest. It would be great if it was Breur, just for the randomness and the fact that Jim's show ends at 5, but I don't know if this is another joke or not. As Lou opens the door slowly, it's .... nobody. C'mon Lino, give us Danny and a proposal! Regardless, we're down to one hour of TCG show, with Maureen's crying being on top of Lino's list of things to do. We've also got the contest winner set to be unveiled. It should be a great hour of Maureen after the break and the news!

5:05 p.m. Apparently Lino Rulli is a cheapskate, because he didn't pay for Maureen's breakfast this morning. I think this signifies that something big will happen in this final hour. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but Lino will do something really nice for Maureen by 7 p.m. eastern, 6 p.m. central. Maybe Lino should have paid for breakfast. It's disturbing and sad!

5:12 p.m. It's the late Tom Falcone! Agnostic Tom showed up to surprise Maureen, and now Lino is cranking out the charity factor. There was also a sympathy card thrown in for Maureen, which should get the tears cranking out. Hopefully we'll get pics of those tears streaming down her face. It also got Maureen to call her mom back, which she did to gripe about Lino not paying, and apologize for Lino being a cheapskate (I still think he should have paid, but I guess I am not forgiving enough).

5:20 p.m. We've got momma McMurray on the show, who found it in her heart to forgive Lino for being a cheapskate over the $11 breakfast. Mom also said that Maureen always defends the faith at home, even wishing that Lino was there to help defend the faith. We've also got many mentions of linofans.com, none of which insult lazy Dan! We're definitely making progress.

5:24 p.m. Danny is in the building! Oh please give us a proposal!

5:28 p.m. Apparently Danny was privy to Lino's cheapskateness earlier in the day, receiving a text message proclaiming such (Lino is apparently taking Maureen and everyone out to dinner tonight and is paying, so he's really not a cheapskate). Danny does have a great sense of humor though, joking around with Lino ('I thought the show was all about you' he said to Lino after Lino said the show was all about faith and forgiveness).

5:38 p.m. "You've seen the pope 3-4 times in person...and you were mad I didn't pay for an $11 omelot," Lino told Maureen. The group of people Lino gathered today was a nice send-off... Tom, Ron earlier, Danny ... they all make for a nice last show with Maureen. One caller had a brilliant idea: "The Catholic Guy" with Lou, along with Maureen the producer and Tom answering phones...and no Lino to be found. I'd compare that to the Bulls after Michael Jordan retired, but that might be giving Lino a little too much credit.

5:44 p.m. "May the Lord bless you and keep you," Deacon Joe blessed Maureen on the way out. Nice. Then he got hung up on. Nice.

5:45 p.m. 15 more minutes. This depresses me to no end.

5:53 p.m. Poor Maureen...she's starting to cry due to guilt from not thinking anyone was going to do anything for her. But regardless, I don't think we're going to get that proposal, but maybe tonight at dinner? Can't wait to find out tomorrow.

5:56 p.m. Maureen's final words: "When I first got this job, I had no idea what it was going to be ... I did learn so much from this show and channel, and yes, I don't know what else to say because I'm going to start crying." And from Lino: "My first real gig in radio ... the success of this show, the show wouldn't be successful without you."

6:00 p.m.


That's midnight striking on the best producer saying goodbye to us. God bless you Maureen.
We will always have a special place in our heart where we love you. Thank you.

In just a few hours, we'll be without Maureen. It's 12:45 p.m. central time, which means that Maureen will be done with The Catholic Guy in five hours and fifteen minutes.

We'll see you in about 2 hours and 15 minutes for the live-blogging. Until then, give Bob Dunning a listen. After the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, he should put on a great show.