Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Sometimes, life doesn’t go the way you want it. We all have bad weeks.

But yesterday was rough for many of the Blog’s teammates in the newspaper business.

While we were in Milwaukee watching Manny Parra pitch like Cy Young and the bullpen blow up like Ruben Quevedo, some of our friends were being told they were getting laid off.

We never got a chance to say goodbye, so we are going to do it here, today. While we loved all of the people who left us, there are two that we need to highlight because of their affiliations with prep sports.

We’re not sure if we can get fired for doing this, but we need to honor these people. Plus, if we get fired for it, we feel Blog nation will picket the area and get our job back for us.



Bob VanEnkenvoort, Business Editor

VanEnkenvoort is a former West De Pere football player who often talked fondly of playing for Phantoms coach Bill Turnquist, which tells you a few things, most notably that Turnquist is pretty old and probably should be inducted into our Hall of Fame soon.

VanEnkenvoort was a great teammate, both with the Phantoms and at the newspaper. We had a lot in common, since we both had stints as the editor/photographer/lay out person/ad sales guy/and overall beeeeatch at the Brillion News back in the day.

Perhaps the only thing we didn’t have in common was that he loved that stint in Brillion. We lasted one month before we ran away and went to sell vacuum cleaners for a day.

We never told Bob that we hated working there, because we thought it would disappoint him. But, Bob, we hated working there.

Ask anyone around these parts, and they will tell you that Bob was the first dude to greet you in the morning.

“Hey, Scottie, how’s it going?” Bob said while walking by our desk every day.

“Great, Bob, how about you?” we said, never caring that he called us Scottie and actually coming around to like it.

It often was a short conversation, yes, but it was the thought that counted.

During some of those stops at our desk, Bob would want to talk West De Pere sports, and then every once in a while would share an experience of his playing days. We learned more about the Phantoms from Bob than anyone else, including Phantom Alum.

But the thing we will miss most about Bob is his sneezing fits. Some people sneeze and they are done. Other people are what we call “Two sneezers,” following up one sneeze with another one immediately after.

Bob?

Bob put us all to shame. Two sneezes for Bob was a bad day. In fact, we never heard him only have a two-sneezer.

When Bob started sneezing, we instantly went back to our childhood and pretended we were Count von Count from Sesame Street.

“One sneeze. Two sneeze. Three sneeze. Four sneeze. Five sneeze. That is five sneezes. Ah-ah-ah-ah!”

We never got to hear Bob hit six sneezes, but we knew it would happen one day. If Chet Ripley can polish off the Old 96er (Great Outdoors, 1988), we knew Bob could hit six sneezes.

We’re going to miss you, Bob. Kudos, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, to you.

"Having worked for Bob directly for more than two years he was dedicated to this job, a hard worker and a popular employee among his peers," said Nate Phelps, a business reporter. "He was here everyday toiling away at whatever duties were tossed his way without complaint -- more than I can say about myself. He also had one hell of a CD collection he was willing to loan out."





Terry Robert Anderson, Community Conversation reporter

The long-time Press-Gazette veteran was simply called “TA” by us. The guy always had a story idea ready and waiting for you.

Sometimes we took him up on it, sometimes we didn’t. But we always loved when TA would come up and start talking some prep sports with us.

He had one particular story that he often shared that had a vulgar term in it – it had to do with some term a coach he interviewed used – and he repeated the story two to four times over the past couple of years like a family member who tells the same story every Christmas and just doesn’t realize that everyone already knows it.

TA told it the same way each time, and with the same vulgarity, and his voice actually seemed to get louder as he would tell it.

We’ll never forget how Weston Lee Hod and the Blog always knew when TA was starting the story, and how we began to fidget in our seats and nervously laugh each time, praying unsuccessfully that TA wouldn’t use the vulgarity, or at least whisper it when it came time to say it.

He never did. It was bold. It was crisp. It was very, very clear.

But that was TA.

TA’s biggest contribution to prep sports came about four years ago, when former Press-Gazette prep reporter Mike Spofford moved on and we had no full-time preps guy on hand.

TA helped out for a year, covering cross country, football, wrestling and track and field while also diving into the major conference realignment news that eventually brought us, among other things, the 12-team Fox River Classic Conference.

Perhaps the biggest thing we learned from TA was that it always rains during track and field regionals and that you should bring a rain coat with you to the event.

Kudos to you, Terry.

Conclusion

The List of those to honor:
Bob VanEnkenvoort
Terry Anderson
Barb Janesh
Diane Robb
Chris Heimerman

Kudos to everybody who took the time to read about a few good men that you might not have known personally, but probably read at some point during your time in the Green Bay area.

Even if you don’t know these two men, we would sincerely ask you to wish them good luck in the comment section.

Do if for them. Do it for yourself. Do it for us.

This story really begins in late May, around the time the high school baseball season was gearing up for the playoffs.

We had done a story about one of the top teams in the area in preparation, and we were feeling good the next morning when it appeared in print.

We had even done an interview for the story while driving home from Wrigley Field around 10 p.m. two days before, showing an effort even the most cold-hearted manager would appreciate.

“We really nailed that one, hit it out of the ballpark,” we told ourselves the day it appeared in the paper while doing a dance of joy. “That one. That one was a great story.”

Just kidding. Let’s move on.

Later that afternoon, as we were returning to our desk after completing a sale on a bag of Kellogg’s Rice Snacks – Carmel Corn style, which also included a heart sticker indicating they were supposed to be good for you – Press-Gazette sports reporter Robert Edward Demovsky motioned for us to come over to his desk.

Demovsky was on the phone, taking a call from a woman about the baseball story we had written.

The mother – we will call her Mother Theresa – was not happy with the focus of the story.

Mother Theresa didn’t think we had given enough credit to a certain part of the baseball team. Demovsky was nice, but like anything not related to his beat, we could tell he didn’t care.

Demvosky, meanwhile, had written down the number that appeared on his caller ID. That is what you tend to do when a caller is rambling and you don’t care about the subject. You start to doodle on some paper.

There have been times in the past when we will get done with a 10-minute call from a fan in Boston who’s telling us what he thinks of the Packers, and we’ll notice that we have written our name on a piece of paper 100 times.

Demovsky finally hung up the phone, and told us about the call. Seems this woman was a big fan of this local team we had written about, and didn’t think we gave enough credit to some of the players. She stressed one of them.

“Demovsky,” we said. “Go to reverse lookup on whitepages.com, and type that number you wrote down in. (We) guarantee you that it will be the mother of the kid.”

Demovsky looked shocked.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

He went to whitepages.com and put the number in.

The information came up, and Demovsky’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree on Hanukkah. (Blog note: Yes, we understand it’s not called a Christmas tree. Work with us here).

“You were right!” Demovsky exclaimed, which was highlighted by the exclamation point we just used. “How did you know that?”

We felt bad for Demovsky. That was the oldest routine used by a prep parent in the book. When you’re going to college to be a prep writer, the first thing you learn is that parents will call to vent about their kid, and sometimes those parents will identify themselves as somebody else.

Memo to all parents: You’ve got to be more careful in this day and age. If you’re going to call and act like you are someone else, you must Star 67 that puppy before entering the phone number.

“I can’t believe it,” said Demovsky, who once played in the same golf tournament as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and also once sustained a career-ending knee injury in the final seconds of a recreational league basketball game, which caused him to yell, ‘Ow. Ow. My leg. My leg. Help me.”

Now, fast forward to a few weeks later, after our all-area baseball team was released in the paper.

As we have said in the past, we hate doing all-area teams. Can’t stand them. It’s basically like spending your days trying to do the best job you can on these suckers, only to know you’re going to get blasted by someone(s) when the story comes out.

We had a choice to make at a particular position. It was a difficult one. We happened to talk this situation over with one area coach not affiliated with either of the players on the two teams.

We gave one of them the nod over Mother Theresa’s son.

“We’re going to get a call from this mother tomorrow,” we told ourselves.

But we had to do what we had to do. We couldn’t allow the knowledge that we’d get a phone call stop us from doing what we thought was right. It’s just an all-area team, after all. There is no criteria. We could put anybody on there and it’s not wrong.

The next day, as we were returning from our desk after purchasing a 45 cent cup of Mountain Dew that had a little brown syrup in it, Press-Gazette sports reporter Weston Lee Hod had just hung up the phone.

“I just took a hit for you,” said Hod, who hadn’t been this pumped since attending the “Hannah Montana” movie in the spring.

We knew right away who it was he had just hung up with. Again, Mother Theresa had indicated to Hod that she was just a fan. Hod, being a prep guy himself, already had written down the number and checked it. It was her. Again.

But the content in this call hurt. Like, actually hurt.

Among the highlights that Hod wrote down that Mother Theresa had said about us: We are a terrible human being. We should be fired. Everyone that bought the paper should be given their money back for the garbage story that day.

We aren’t going to lie. We felt sad for a few seconds.

If you cut us, do we not bleed? If you hit us, do we not go "Ouch?” If you tell us we suck, are we not Brewers fans?

It’s one thing to bash us for our picks. It’s another to call in and tell people we are a terrible human being. Because of an all-area team?

This lady doesn’t even know us. We’ve never met. She doesn’t know how we treat people or how we care about them. After all, if we were part of someone’s teddy bear collection, we would be the lovable one.

But does she know that? No. Do we come to her work and trash her without knowing her? No. Do we call her names even though we've never met her? At least before this incident? No.

We know Mother Theresa has been on the Blog before, as she referenced a comment we made about De Pere coach Dennis Riddle. We said that although Riddle recently retired, we think like Brett Favre that we will believe it when we see it. The guy loves baseball so much.

“How dare he compare Dennis Riddle to Brett Favre,” the woman allegedly told Hod.

How dare you, Mother Theresa, be so mean.

That's right, MT. You didn't think we knew it was you, did you? Well, we did. And you're a real mean person on account of what you said. (Leave it to Beaver, 1958)

This story really doesn’t have a great ending. That’s about it. But we like to share these experiences, because you’re a part of our life. It also again gives us a reason to appreciate prep coaches, all of whom have to put up with this stuff all the time. Give these people a damn raise. And while you're at it, give us one, too. Or, um, at least let us keep our job.

Kudos to prep coaches. Kudos to all of you. Kudos to Mother Theresa, who we just might be getting another phone call from very soon.

Blog note: This is the first in a series in which the Blog will catch up with a former local athlete, coach, athletic trainer, athletic director, stats man or team manager from the past, unless it's the only time we do this. Then it's not a series but just a blog entry.

He went about his business in a quiet way, never one to attract attention to himself or the job he did for the Luxemburg-Casco girls basketball team.

But while former LC coach Mike Schanhofer got most of the credit for the Spartans' success during his Hall-of-Fame career at LC – he won three WIAA Division 2 state titles and 13 Packerland Conference championships in 26 years – it was another former LC product that had a hand in some of the glory.

His name? Craig Voelker

His role? He helped support the girls basketball team during his time as a student at LC earlier this decade, while also becoming one of the best stats man in the business.

You needed the rebound total for Blog Hall of Famer Rachel Porath? He had it. You needed the points scored by Trisha Legois? You went to him.

Voelker was instrumental in helping to lead the Spartans to the state title in 2004. We’re pretty sure he was already the stats guy on the team that year, unless it was the season after that. If he wasn’t on that team, which we really think he was, his accomplishments aren’t as important. But they are still pretty cool.

Voelker is about to take on a new role this fall, when he will join the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team as an assistant coach.

If there is one thing to know about Voelker and his life, it’s that dreams really can come true if you work hard enough and believe in yourself.

You’ve got Rudy to your right. And, now, you have Voelker to your left.

“I hope that (my) story gives other students that can't play a sport a hope that they can still be a part or even coach a sport that they want to be a part of,” said Voelker, who is known as a little Rudy with some Tony Robbins mixed in.

Until he achieves his ultimate dream like Rudy did when he got to play in a game or when Robbins did when he got to appear in “Shallow Hal,” Voelker continues his work with the Milwaukee Brewers this summer, where he sells tickets to a fair weather fan base.

We caught up with Voelker for a chat recently.

First, tell us again what you are doing with the Milwaukee Brewers this summer, how you got the job.

I sell tickets at the phone/window center. I deal with a lot of people every day. I got the job by applying on brewers.com. As far as the job goes, it's a blast. Waking up every morning and being able to say that I am going to the home of the Brewers is pretty cool.

Are you attending UW-Whitewater or did you go to college elsewhere?

I started going to college at Milwaukee Area Technical College in the fall of 2007 to save some money and to accomplish my general studies. The school had four locations and the location I was at was small but had plenty of diversity.

You were a famous stat guy for L-C, is the Whitewater gig your first coaching job?

This is not my first coaching job. In high school I coached 5th and 6th boys basketball for four years. I had a fun group to coach and, as far as I know, most of the players I coached are still playing basketball today.

Then, when I moved to Milwaukee for school, I coached 6th-7th-8th grade boys and girls basketball. I have to admit that coaching in Milwaukee is tougher than expected. All of the kids were great but some had extra responsibilities that made them put basketball toward the back of their priority list.

I am not trying to say that they didn't give their all because they did, but sometimes I knew that they had other things on their mind that weren't basketball related. Nonetheless, they were a great group of kids and I would coach them all again if given the opportunity.

How did it come about with UW-Whitewater?

The UW-Whitewater opportunity happened because I got an "itch" to learn more about basketball. I sent an e-mail to Coach Keri Carollo and asked her if she would be interested in bringing me on as an assistant coach. She wanted to interview me and then I was in. This season I will be just watching and hopefully next year adding more responsibilities.

Do you hope this is the stepping stone for another job at some point?

I really hope that this is a stepping stone. One day I would like to be a respected coach in the state or even in the country, but first thing first, I have to master the basics at UW-Whitewater.

What is your ultimate goal?

To become a college coach at a Division I school. Which school, I don't have a preference because any school can become great in one year if the players believe in their coach.

Another question people ask is if I would coach in the NBA or WNBA and I tell them I don't want to because money becomes such a factor that coaches get fired because a "franchise" player didn't like the way they coached or the team wasn't giving them enough money.

All in all, after being the statistician for L-C in football, girls basketball, and baseball, I realized that if I wanted anything I must go out there and get it; nothing comes easily anymore.

We've got great news for you! Really, really great news.

We think you've done such a great job this school year of contributing to the blog and being supportive, that we have decided to give you a one week vacation from us starting Monday.

It must be difficult at times to put up with us. You might even say we annoy you. Which got us thinking: Since we're not going to be in the office this week, we're giving you a well-earned break!

So, don't bother coming on here until June 29. Actually, come on here and give us the Blog hit.

There will be plenty of things to look forward to after your one week vacation, including:

-- Signing up for the Blog's 2009 High School Fantasy Football League.

-- Blog episode Part II: Playing Home Run Derby with former Green Bay East standout Marc Shield (provided his schedule works with ours).

-- Catching up with former Luxemburg-Casco stats man Craig Voelker.

-- Hod gets prepared to attend Jonas Brothers concert.

Kudos to all of you. Hope you have a great vacation. Remember to send us a postcard.

"This might be the year we have had more depth in our pitching than we have had in a long time... We can probably run five, six guys out there to get deep into the playoffs.

Our expectations are pretty big, but we know getting in there that all the teams are pretty good and have high expectations. We will take them one at a time."

-- Bay Port baseball coach Mike Simoens, June 15, 2009


It’s not every day a high school sports team wins a WIAA state championship.

Until Thursday night, when the Bay Port baseball team won a Division 1 state title with a 3-2 win over Wilmot, Bay Port had never had even one of those days. In any sport. Evah.

But that’s now over.

The Pirates and all of their programs ripped the monkey off their backs, the same monkey that Steve Young ripped off his back when the 49ers won a Super Bowl and the same monkey A-Rod tore off his roided back when he led the Yankees to a World Series championship. Oh, wait. Never mind.

Bay Port entered state playing well, and it showed. The Pirates pretty much did everything right.

Sean Grabig, AJ Gaura and Logan Peot turned in the best back-to-back-to-back pitching performances we’ve seen since Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz did it routinely for the Atlanta Braves.

Bay Port had some huge clutch hits, including Josh Jaro’s two-run double in the quarterfinals, Dom “$#!*” Utrie’s game-winning hit in the semifinal and Zac Peterson’s suicide squeeze to end the championship game.

They also had great fielding, including Brad Klimek’s leaping catch at second base in the seventh inning of the title game that helped keep the contest at 2-2.

We remember talking to Bay Port coach Mike Simoens last week, and how confident he sounded with a team led by that really good pitching. It wasn’t just normal coach speak, either. Everybody is going to say they feel good and strong entering a state tournament. But we could just tell this guy actually meant what he said.

Props to Simoens for turning Bay Port into a champion. He was instrumental in helping to build the program up from the ground floor, and now he’s able to bask in the glow of all the hard work.

He also becomes a free agent at just the right time, although we assume he will re-sign with Bay Port over the offseason.

We’d hope at this point that all fans would give the Pirates the credit they have earned. It’s not a fluke to get to the state tournament and win three games while there.

They are the best Division 1 team in the state today.

Kudos to them.

News and notes:

The Blog was able to acquire a major item for our 2009 auction, one that could go for hundreds: A game-used baseball from the title game. While athletic director Otis Chambers had the ball that was used for the last out, we were able to negotiate to get one of the balls used in the game. While it’s probably illegal to have it in our possession, you have a chance to now own it provided the WIAA doesn't come to your house looking for it back. It would make a great Christmas gift…

De Pere softball coach Dale Klimek was at the game, and we were able to speak to him for a few minutes afterward. Great, great guy, and not just because he told us he reads the Blog. Klimek was there to support his son, Brad. Brad is one of the best base runners we’ve seen this season, conjuring up images of former Cleveland Indians star Willie Mays Hayes, who stole more than 100 bases in 1989. Dale, meanwhile, was wearing a bunch of Bay Port stuff, but was expected to shift back to De Pere gear as early as today….

We also talked to radio legend Murphy in the Morning afterward. He was there to support his son, catcher Andrew Murphy. It’s always a treat for the Blog to talk with Murphy in the Morning. We grew up listening to him, and now he knows our name. It’s a great feeling. We hope to still be as cool as Murphy when we get really old, too….

Bay Port athletic director Otis Chambers, who is up for AD of the year by Inside Wisconsin Sports, was nervous before the championship game. He had been pacing for much of the day. “I went home and killed some time, because I didn’t want to get here at 3:30 and just be sitting here,” Chambers said. Chambers finally has the monkey off his back, too, earning his first championship as general manager of the Pirates….

WFRV sports reporter Nick Goddard was as giddy as a school girl hours after Bay Port won its championship. Goddard, a former Bay Port football player, has waited his whole life to see the Pirates get some gold. “As an alum, I’m just extremely proud to see a Bay Port team win a state title,” Goddard said in a text message at 1:15 a.m. “To be able to cover it makes it even more special. Congrats to young Si and his team.” ….

It was confirmed that Simoens is the brother-in-law of Ashwaubenon athletic director David Paul Steavpack. We panicked when we got it confirmed as we tried to think if we’ve ever ripped on Steavpack while talking to Simoens. Then we remembered: We would never rip on Steavpack, so we were in the clear. “I am so happy for Mike,” Steavpack said. “He has been the silent winner over at Bay Port for over 15 years. Not much attention comes his way, but he deserves it.”

Former Bay Port basketball and lacrosse star Branden Tachick was seen in the crowd. Tachick, who will play basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire next season and likely will have his name spelled “Brandon” a few times, was sporting a Kobe Bryant jersey….

Logan Peot, who started the title game and pitched six strong innings, was one of a few players signing autographs near the railing after the game. No, seriously. The dude was signing autographs for some little kids, who were handing him baseballs. Priceless. Not the moment, of course. His autograph. …

Former Bay Port football player Declan “Don King” O’Connell -- one of the Bay Port super fans at state basketball in 2008 who helped spark a heated debate on the Blog that year -- had a front row seat to watch the Pirates win gold. O’Connell reportedly was a guest of Ultimate Fighting legend Chuck Liddell, who was not seen at Fox Cities Stadium.




The Blog salutes the Bay Port baseball team



Seniors
Ryan Hynes
Brad Klimek
Logan Peot
Spencer Peot
Josh Jaro
Andrew Murphy
Sean Grabig

Juniors
Sam Messenger
Dominic Putala
Zac Peterson
Dom Utrie
AJ Gaura

Sophomores
Ethan Bemowski
Josh Sommer
Marshall Zahn

Freshmen
Ben Messenger
Joey Calewarts
Lucas Lindow

Coaches
Mike Simoens
Harvey Knutson
Mark Hebert
Jeff Luedke
Jon Jagler
Jesse Wiltzius
Paul Alexander
Greg Basthemer

Pep Band Director
Luther Appel

Team managers
Chris Pamperin
Jake Hurrish

Stat dude
Ken Woolums

Athletic trainer
Julie Phelps

What we are about to say might sound ridiculous, but it might just be true.

The Bay Port pitching combo of Sean Grabig and AJ Gaura has become the best duo since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were doing their thing while leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a World Series title in 2001.

You heard it here first: Grabig and Gaura are this generation’s Johnson and Schilling.

And now, just like Arizona, Grabig, Gaura and the rest of the Bay Port baseball team is just one win away from a championship ring, which would leave them just nine rings behind Phil Jackson, five behind Michael Jordan and three behind Kobe Bryant.

In case you missed it, the Pirates continued their dominance at the WIAA Division 1 state tournament on Tuesday, beating Sun Prairie in a state quarterfinal game and then Middleton in a semifinal game that ended just after midnight.

The Pirates are playing like a team right now, and all the parts appear to be working.

You’ve got Grabig throwing seven quality innings against Sun Prairie and throwing out a guy at home from the outfield against Middleton. You’ve got Gaura pitching lights out in the semifinal game, striking out nine batters.

How about Josh Jaro and his big two-run double in the first inning in the quarterfinals? Or Andrew Murphy coming up with a huge RBI double in the semifinals? How about the base-running of Brad Klimek, who scored the game-winning run against Middleton?

And who can forget about Dom Utrie’s single that brought Klimek home, the biggest hit since Bucky Dent took one out against Mike Torrez. Those in Middleton are yelling Dom “x$*%#” Utrie right about now.

Bay Port will play Wilmot Union in the title game tomorrow in the venue that A-Rod and David Ortiz made famous.

Kudos to everybody associated with the Pirates.

News and notes: Radio legend Murphy in the Morning, who recently was named the Best of the Bay for favorite radio personality, was at the game to watch Andrew Murphy play. He wasn’t scouting him – Andrew is already going to play at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh – but was supporting him because that’s his son. Kudos to Murphy for still being at the ballpark past midnight. He told us that he wakes up at 3 a.m. for his morning show, which meant he wasn’t getting much sleep on this night. Murphy confirmed to us that he wasn’t going to call in sick. Although we didn’t get up in time to see if he was on the radio this morning, we figure he was. Kudos to that guy. Kudos to his son for gunning down a runner at second and coming up with a few big hits over the two games. We compared him to Johnny Bench. …

It wasn’t as big as a Lakers game, but there were some huge Bay Port stars out in full force on Tuesday. Among those spotted at the game: Bay Port football coaches Mike Williquette (who we think looks a bit like Superman in that mug to the right) and Al Schlies, basketball coach Nate “90210” Rykal and his father-in-law, athletic secretary Suzie Stevens and athletic director Otis Chambers. Chambers, looking fit and tan -- at least tan -- was still basking in the glow of recently being nominated for athletic director of the year by Inside Wisconsin Sports Magazine. …

Also spotted at the conclusion of the semifinal game: Ashwaubenon athletic director David Paul Steavpack. Kudos to that guy for supporting another area team. Either that, or he just wanted to be reminded of what a winner looked like. Wow. That was totally just a joke, and you all know it. Calm down …

Bay Port’s secret weapon could be Ken Woolums, the team manager for sports such as football, basketball and baseball. Whatever this guy touches, it turns to gold. He was talking earlier in the school year about serving as a basketball manager for the University of Minnesota, but when we talked to him last time, he told us he ended up deciding to do something else. We can’t remember what, and when we saw him yesterday, we forgot to ask. We love that guy, though. He’s also smart. This year alone, he was set to take five AP classes, one year after taking three. The dude started his senior year with 12 college credits. We haven’t seen something this impressive since Doogie Howser was making his rounds. …

Las Vegas has Bay Port as a slight favorite against Wilmot, but we don't advocate gambling unless you are 18 or older or just using Oatmeal Cream Pies as your chips.

Dan Lukes has gone from an observer to a participant in the baseball world over the past week with the start of his De Pere American Legion season.

Lukes, one of the most successful managers in the game right now, stopped by Monday morning to offer his takes, including Bay Port's trip to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament, his Algoma Wolves losing in a sectional championship and just what he was thinking wearing that sweater to the De Pere-Kimberly sectional semifinal.

Before anything else, we need to talk about the Bay Port baseball team. It's a huge accomplishment getting to state. How are you feeling about the Pirates' chances?

They're playing well, obviously. With (Sean) Grabig on the mound they certainly will be in the game with Sun Prairie. If you can win that first game, then who knows what happens from there.

What makes Grabig such a quality pitcher, from what you have seen? He was the co-player of the year in the Fox River Classic Conference and has been one of the league's best pitchers over the past two seasons.

He's left-handed, which is a big plus. He's also added some quality off-speed pitches to really keep hitters off balance. I saw both De Pere-Bay Port games this year and he was much, much sharper in the second game (a 1-0 loss) than in the first game (a 6-3 loss).

As much as this will hurt you, we have to ask: Are you over Algoma's loss from last week in the sectional championship game, a game in which they had a good lead going into the final inning but couldn't hold on?

That was tough to stomach listening on the radio. To let a chance like that slip away...it's tough.

You grew up in Algoma. In a small community like that, does a big loss sting around the community for a lot longer?

Well, it was a tough year for the Wolves. The football team went .500 in the conference but got left out of the playoffs. The girls' basketball team went undefeated and then got fouled out of the tournament against Roncalli. The softball team got ambushed, again, by Sevastopol. And then the baseball team let a state berth, and maybe a state title, slip through its fingers. Not a fun year.

Let's talk a little Legion. The season has just started for your ballclub. Do the Panthers have a chance to repeat as Class AAA state champions this season?

Well, someone told me the other day, "You're never happy with your team in June." Do we have a chance to repeat? Well, we will have to get to the state tournament first. There's too many quality teams around here this year to take going to state for granted, not that I ever do, anyway.

Who was the person that told you that the other day?

Maz.

Can you tell people who Maz is, Dan?

Really? Everyone knows Maz. But for those who don't, Maz is Don Maslinski. Maz hired me at St. Norbert when he was the athletics director here, and he's now spearheading the fundraising for the new athletics complex here at St. Norbert. Maz was a long-time teacher, administrator and coach at Ashwaubenon before coming over to St. Norbert.

Is he a man who should end up in the Blog Hall of Fame at some point?

I would think so. The guy's been involved in area sports for almost 45 years.

Back to Legion. We have heard from sources that De Pere standout Brent Jorgensen will not be playing on the team this season. He has to head over to the University of Minnesota-Duluth for football purposes. How big of a blow is that to the team?

Well, it's no secret. It's a loss for us on the mound, since he was one of our key guys down the stretch last season. But, it will also give someone else an opportunity. Guys have always stepped up in the past for us when counted on and I expect that to be no different this year.

Were you surprised when Jorgensen told you, or did you always know he likely wouldn't be around for this season?

The last regular-season football game at Sheboygan South, he played so well that walking out of the park that night I knew pretty much then he'd be playing college football.

There are going to be plenty of teams that will test themselves against you this season. Can you give us a few opposing teams that should have a good Legion season in 2009?

All of the Class AAA teams in the area will be tough to beat this year.
The Bluejays already showed that against us in Friday before we rallied. Southwest will be good, they have a ton of college guys back. The Shockers also have a lot of 19-year-olds returning, as does Marinette. And, Bay Port and Ashwaubenon combined this year so the Ash Port conglomeration should be very talented.

Talk about that rally over the Bluejays for a second.

We were down 12-6 going into the bottom of the seventh in a very long game. I think we started the bottom of the seventh at about 8:10 in a game that started at 5:30. So daylight was getting scarce. Mikole Pierce led off the inning with a long home run, and then a few batters later we cut it to 12-10 with runners on second and third with no outs. A few more hitters later it was 12-12 and then we ended up winning it. Once the snowball started rolling downhill it was tough to stop.

On to the pros. Blog Hall of Famer Jason Berken has struggled over his past two starts. We will talk more about that in our weekly pro update, but what is your take on the last week or so?

I didn't get to see Friday's game because we had a game, but from what I read in the Baltimore paper Jason said he felt comfortable, but that comfortable doesn't get you outs. As with any young player in the big leagues for the first time, it's a learning process. Mat Gamel is only hitting .225 for the Brewers, but that doesn't mean he can't play at that level. It will come.

Last question. What was the thought process on that sweater you wore to the De Pere-Kimberly game last week? Any story behind it?

I don't even remember what sweater/sweatshirt I was wearing. That was almost a week ago. I can't remember back that far.

It was purple with some brown on it. You know, the hideous one.

I think that was a purple Clemson t-shirt with orange lettering.

As always, thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

No problem, Meat.

“It wasn’t meant to be a full-blown jack(butt). There is a difference between saying jack(butt) and then really saying jack(butt). You know what I mean? Does that make sense?”
-- Green Bay East softball coach Tom Zimdars, May 2009

It’s a day of kudos for area softball teams.

Luxemburg-Casco completed an amazing run through the regional and sectionals – it included a 3-0 regional final win over Southern Door, the No. 1 ranked team in Division 2 – by beating Winneconne in a sectional championship on Thursday.

L-C, which also happens to be the same school attended by Blog Hall of Famer Terry Jorgensen, is making its second trip to state and the first since 1998.

The Spartans proved many things during the tournament, including that you don’t need blog karma to get to state. It’s not that we wouldn’t have given the team some karma, it’s just that we never talked to anybody on the squad to do it.

Kudos to L-C. Perhaps the only tough part is that we believe the school already graduated, thus no students get to use the excuse of wanting to cheer on their classmates at state to get out of school.

Spartans pitcher Danielle Deterville, meanwhile, was a mix of Sandy Koufax and Roger Clemens – a pre-injured Koufax and pre-roided up Clemens – in sectional play. She struck out 25 batters in two games.

“I wasn’t expecting to throw both games, but after the first game, the adrenaline kept me going,” Deterville told one of our sister papers.

L-C will play Al Toon in a state semifinal game at 8 p.m. on Friday. Rather, it will play Altoona. That was pretty funny, no?

Let's move on.

Green Bay East coach Tom Zimdars and his Red Devils also deserve some kudos for getting to the sectional championship game for the second time in school history. They lost to Appleton East 3-0, but it was a nice accomplishment for the school to get to within one game of state.

The Red Devils advanced with a 3-2 win over Pulaski in a sectional semifinal, this after the Red Raiders’ pitcher lost a pop up in the sun with two outs in the seventh inning and then watched Kayla Bunday and Eli Zimmerman score to win.

Kayla is the sister of former Red Devils basketball standout Stefanie, who now is playing at St. Norbert College. Kudos to Kayla for continuing the strong family tradition of good athletes.

Eli, meanwhile, showed some great softball hustle despite being a young player. The sophomore never stopped running from second base on the pop up and was able to score that winning run because of it.

Kudos to Zimdars for also yelling to Zimmerman to keep running, showing his head was into the game.

We are not sure if Eli is the sister of Katie and Kristin Zimmerman, both of whom were East standouts.

Katie is now a basketball player at Michigan Tech while Kristin plays at SNC. If Eli is a sister, kudos on the Zimmerman family for continuing to produce babies that end up doing well in high school athletics. They also had a son who tore it up at East, too.

If it’s not a sibling, kudos to Eli for having the same last name as the Zimmerman family.

Kudos to the three Red Devils seniors, which include Lindsey Herman, Bunday and Shine Huwe, who has the best first name we’ve ever heard at the prep level. And, no, it’s not a nickname. Kudos to Shine’s sister, Charity, for also having a slick first name.

Finally, kudos go out to the Pulaski team. It’s difficult to not feel bad for Pulaski coach Billi Jo Vertz, who has been very cool throughout her tenure with the Red Raiders. The team has gotten so close to state in the recent past, and it just hasn’t all come together for them.

“Billi is such a class act as a coach over there,” Zimdars said.

Kudos to Vertz. Kudos to seniors Hannah Miller, Karisa Laskowski, Kimberly Uelmen, Kendra Bliese, Jennifer Bukowiec and standout pitcher Stephanie Wozniak.

Kudos also to sophomore Brooke Lauritizen, who is going to have a great career with the Red Raiders.

It was a magical week for all three of our local professional baseball players. We hope you enjoy our first baseball update. If you don't, that's OK, too.

Jason Berken, Baltimore Orioles

The Blog Hall of Famer keeps getting better.

Berken made his Major League debut last Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays, earning a win after allowing two runs over five innings.

That was nothing compared to Sunday, when he went seven innings and allowed just one run and four hits in a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Berken allowed his first home run to Curtis Granderson, and although it’s weird, we think it’s kind of cool to say that Berken allowed a homer to a dude who in 2007 joined Willie Mays and Frank Schulte as the only players to ever have at least 20 homers, 20 triples, 20 doubles and 20 stolen bases in a season.

Kudos to both Berken and Granderson. But more kudos to Berken.

“Jason looked a lot more relaxed than he did on Tuesday,” said Dan Lukes, Berken’s former manager who attended the Blue Jays game. “Obviously you can tell a lot more from watching on TV than in person, but I thought his command was much better.

“His pitches weren't catching too much of the plate. The pitch Granderson hit out rode up a little bit and Granderson's been on a hot streak and he hit it out. But you can't ask for much more than what he did. He gave up one run in seven innings against one of the top teams in baseball. I'm looking forward to his next start already.”

We still are debating if the people of Baltimore and those around the country are giving Berken enough props.

On rotoworld.com, a major fantasy sports website, the writers posted this:

"Berken struck out two, walked two, and gave up four hits. The lone run scored on a homer by Curtis Granderson. Berken also looked strong against the Blue Jays earlier in the week, but he doesn't have the stuff to be of long-term use to the Orioles. He's not a recommended AL-only league play.”

They soon will find out what most of Blog Nation already knows: Berken is a future Cy Young winner, perhaps as early as this season. He also is a favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year.

“Let's put it this way, the only people Jason needs to impress are the Orioles brass,” Lukes said. “I told (Berken’s wife and former A-Rod admirer) Emily last week that it's time I quit reading Orioles message boards and blogs.

“So many people who aren't knowledgeable about the nuances of the game pass their opinions off, and it's irritating to read. So I for one am just going to quit reading that stuff. He's been written off how many times in his career: too small to pitch in Division I, he's from Wisconsin, he won't recover from Tommy John surgery, his stuff isn't good enough for pro ball, etc. The list of things said by naysayers is endless.

"I do know this much: There are a lot of guys who are more talented than Jason who will never sniff a big-league mound because they don't have his focus and work ethic. Those are the sorts of things baseball executives notice, but the average fan might not. The Orioles, or any pro team for that matter, just aren't going to hand starts to a guy who isn't in their long-term plans. He's had two good outings, and myself and 99.8 percent of De Pere is very proud of him. For a guy who was never first-team all-conference in baseball in high school, I would say he's done quite fine.”

Berken is enjoying his first ever Major League road trip and should start against the Oakland A’s later this week.


Greg Reinhard, Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs)

Reinhard has moved back to the bullpen after a short stint in the starting rotation for the Class AAA team.

The former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Marinette standout is 1-1 with a 3.73 earned-run average in 31 1/3 innings of work.

The 6-foot-2, 215- pound right-hander appeared in two games last week. He had a rough outing against Sacramento, giving up five runs, four hits and two walks while not recording an out.

He rebounded against Memphis on Saturday, striking out five and allowing one run in three innings.


Erik Cordier, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Atlanta Braves)

The former Southern Door star is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA and has made eight starts for the Braves' High Class A team.

In 31 1/3 innings, Cordier has struck out 28 batters.

The right-hander had a great outing on Sunday, when he allowed just one run over 6 1/3 innings to lead the Pelicans to a 3-1 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

It was the greatest one day vacation in Blog history.

Along with Press-Gazette reporter Weston Lee Hod, we had an opportunity last week during our vacation to track down the filming locations of some of the greatest movies of all-time.

Home Alone. Breakfast Club. Risky Business. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Home Alone 3.

Twelve hours. Seven movies. Thirteen filming spots.

Along the way, there were enough adventures and stories to last a life time.

The bullet proof glass. The gun. The funnel cloud.

Indeed, it was an amazing trip. More importantly, it’s great to be back people. You missed us, and we missed you.

Until our next vacation in a year – unless we get fired before then – enjoy reading about our vacation of 2009. Or don’t. Or read some of it and then stop. Or perhaps read some now and some later. In the end, just read something. Like the newspaper. Not online but in print form.

After today, get ready for another year of blogging about high school sports and whatever else we decide to do.

Again, you missed us. But we are back, and that’s a good thing.


Running a bit late

Hod and the Blog had decided on an 8:30 a.m. departure time last Thursday. We know Hod is not a morning person, and we offered to start out as late as 10 a.m.

But Hod requested the 8:30 start, so we went with that. He was to meet us at our estate, and we’d drive from there.

As the clock turned to 8:30 that morning, there was no Hod at our estate. By 8:37, we knew something had gone wrong.

We texted Hod.

“Seven minutes late, you son of a (female dog),” we wrote.

Hod texted back at 8:41 a.m.

“Slept thqu (sic) alarm V but I’m up,” he wrote.

We weren’t happy.

“You haven’t even showered yet, have you?” we accused him.

Hod didn’t text back.

Eleven more minutes passed.

“Yeah I have,” Hod finally responded. “Leaving in a sec.”

Hod then decided to stop at Starbucks before making his way over. He finally arrived after a long wait in line for his coffee.

With that, he jumped in our car and we were off.








On the road

After a few hours on the road, Hod and the Blog stopped off at a Cousins Subs a little past Milwaukee. During our 20-minute stop, Hod hit the bathroom three times. To be fair, two times were to wash his hands.

But he did something a bit weird during his first trip. He made a move we had never seen before that day.

The bathroom was a regular size bathroom that was equipped to have several people in it. But Hod treated it like one of those single bathrooms you might see in a gas station, the ones you don’t want to use unless Mother Nature is really winning the battle.

So, Hod goes into this luxurious bathroom, and he locks the door. We had ordered the subs while he was away, and now we were going to the bathroom to wash our hands.

But we couldn’t get in because Hod decided he wanted the whole place to himself. After pounding on the door and rattling the handle in hopes of freaking out Hod, we began to walk away. The door finally opened and Hod apologized.

“It had a lock on it,” he said.

It had a lock on it, so Hod figured why not?

After some quality subs, we went into the gas station portion of the place to get a Snickers bar for the road. We weren’t real comforted by the fact that there was bullet proof glass surrounding the clerk, so we gave him a dollar and got out of there.









We really enjoyed that Snickers Bar, though. We need to look into getting them as a sponsor.













As we arrived in Illinois, we had to pay the first of two tolls to use its roads. The first one cost us $1.50. We were more than happy to pay it.














Our smile soon went away. For the record, we want our money back. Right after paying the toll, Hod and the Blog got into a traffic jam. It was one lane the whole way. Not cool to charge us for that.












"That was really worth it," Hod said sarcastically once we were moving again.

Thankfully, we would be at our first location soon enough.







Home Alone


Release date: Nov. 16, 1990
Money earned: $281,493,907

We aren’t going to lie. Home Alone is one of our favorite movies of all-time.

OK. OK. It is our favorite movie of all-time. It made almost $300 million at the box office, so we aren’t the only ones who enjoy the flick.

We make sure to watch it every Christmas and once watched it 22 straight nights. But that’s a bit misleading, because we started playing it while going to sleep, and never actually watched the whole thing before nodding off. Currently, we are experiencing the same thing with Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Anyway, we had been to the Home Alone house once before -- it was with former Green Bay East baseball standout Jake Delahaut, who was the starter in the Red Devils' only state baseball game and is getting married in September -- but it was a quick trip and we never felt like we got the full effect of the house.

So, we were back. And it was like we were there for the first time again. For Hod, it was his first time. And you never forget your first time.

We parked the car on a side street in the nice town of Winnetka, and turned the corner onto Lincoln Avenue. We couldn’t contain our excitement when the house came into view. It was like a tourist seeing Lambeau Field for the first time.










A few seconds later, we perhaps took our love for this thing a bit too far.










But it wasn't just us. Hod was pretty pumped, too.










Like prep coaches, we never think Mitch Murphy gets the proper love from fans. But that kid played a huge role in making the movie. He was the kid from next door who came over the morning the family was leaving for the airport, and he accidentally got counted as one of the kids during a head count.

That’s not all.

His house not only gets robbed by Marv and Harry -- giving them the infamous nickname the "Wet Bandits," -- but it plays the pivotal part at the end of the movie, when Marv and Harry are beat with a shovel by the old man across the street after they had caught Kevin and hung him from a door.

There was no way we were going to hit the Home Alone house without paying respect to Murphy’s house, too. It's located right across the street.









We then visited the pharmacy store where Kevin runs out without paying for his tooth brush and is chased by a cop. The only problem? It’s a Panera Bread Company now, and that really diminished the cool factor for us.

We went inside Panera to use the bathroom while Hod ordered himself a strawberry smoothie, but we stopped in our tracks when we saw a man with a gun enter the store and go into the bathroom first. True story. It was a cop, but still.









The park in which Kevin gets away from the cop looks very much the same. Add an ice rink and some snow, and it felt like we were being chased ourselves.









Hod recaptured the scene in which Kevin is running over the railroad tracks. Some casual fans won’t remember this, but this was a great part. Hod almost looks like Macaulay Culkin here, or at least Kieran Culkin, who everyone knows wets the bed if he has too much to drink. Kudos to Hod.










We couldn’t go to the Home Alone locations without making one last stop at the church, where Kevin hides from Marv and Harry while disguising himself as a wise man or something. This was a pretty great moment for both of us.













This had nothing to do with the movie, but check out this picture below. Get out your reading glasses. Notice anything? Anything at all? Do you? Do you? And, no, the bank is not getting robbed.















Home Alone 3

Release date: Dec. 12, 1997
Money earned: $30,672,357

We entered into a brief disagreement with Hod on the way to the Home Alone 3 house. Hod said Home Alone 3 never even made it to the theater, and we vehemently disagreed. There is no way Home Alone 3 would be packaged in a three-pack set with Home Alone and Home Alone 2 if it was a straight-to-video release. Hod looked it up on his phone. We were right. It banked a cool $30 million while in the theater.

That said, let’s go quickly over this house. Even we were a bit embarrassed to be getting our picture in front of it, although we did enjoy this flick. Something to at least consider: Scarlett Johansson was in this movie and at this house, which still made us the big winner.









Below is the old lady’s house in Home Alone 3. Her name was Mrs. Hess and she was as grumpy as De Pere athletic director Jeff Byczek until the end of the movie. You don’t even know Mrs. Hess. Let's get outta here.














Breakfast Club

Release date: Feb. 15, 1985
Money earned: $51,525,171

The Breakfast Club is one of Hod’s favorite movies, so he was excited about traveling to the football field made famous at the end of the movie by John Bender (Judd Nelson).

The football field from the movie is located at Glenbrook North High School in Illinois. We are going to try to get a Blog interview with the coach for the team at some point this season to see what it's like to play on such a famous field.

The library and exterior of the school in the Breakfast Club, meanwhile, is located at Maine North High School. But that school no longer is a school and is instead a police station. We decided not to go there and just hit the football field.









Hod even recreated the Bender moment that ended the movie. You know, this one.







We couldn't get on the field because it was locked. But Hod still was pretty emotional while doing this. Of course, Hod also was emotional watching “Hannah Montana." The moral of this story? Hod's emotional.













Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Release date: November 25, 1987
Money earned: $48,171,770

This is one of the great, underappreciated movies of our time. Putting Steve Martin and John Candy in a movie is like having Ken Golomski and Bill Turnquist on the same coaching staff. It’s pretty powerful.

We stopped at the house owned by Neal Page (Martin), the one at the end of the movie that Page and Del Griffith (Candy) end up at for Thanksgiving dinner.

This house actually was put on the market last March for $2,773,000. No way this house is worth almost $3 million. Then again, how many houses did Neal Page live in?

The owners of the house have told people that every Halloween, children ask them if they are aware that their house was in a movie.

They are aware.

















Uncle Buck

Release date: August 16, 1989
Money earned: $63,914,578




Any Uncle Buck watcher recognizes that picture of his 1975 Mercury Marquis Brougham. The house, meanwhile, appears in the movie plenty of times, and it remains in good shape 20 years after the film was released.

No offense to the owners of the Planes, Trains & Automobiles house, but this house would be worth more than that one. Plus, the roof on this one is still holding up a bit better. The roof on the other one? Not so much. But both could use new ones, in our opinion.
















Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Release date: June 11, 1986
Money earned: $68,963,373

The most bizarre location on the trip?

That would be Cameron Frye's house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Like the Planes, Trains & Automobiles house, this one also is on the market. It might be on the market for a loooong time.

The price? $2.3 million.

Again, not worth it. Not. Worth. It.

Hod and the Blog agreed that people paying this price would be paying $2.2 million to say this is the house Cameron lived in. Pictures of the inside -- provided by the company looking to sell it -- look pretty cool, but it’s still a weird pad. We couldn’t even figure out how to get to the glass pavilion that housed all the cars in the movie, including a red Ferrari that crashed through the windows and plunged down to a ravine below.

















Risky Business

Release date: August 5, 1983
Money earned: $63,541,777

Getting to the Risky Business house took some work, this despite being in the same neighborhood as Cameron’s house. The two houses are five blocks from each other.

The house is located on Linden Street in Highland Park, and let’s just say Linden Street is going through some major construction right now. We were forced to park the car about seven blocks away because where we were going, there were no roads. (Back to the Future, 1985).

Hod and the Blog began our walk toward the house when we heard a dog and a civilian walking behind us. We thought the civilian might be getting ready to tell us to get out of the neighborhood – we didn’t look rich enough to be here and looked like we were scouting houses to rob them - but instead a lady walked past us with her dog and smiled.

We tend to have that effect on women, plus Hod was looking pretty sharp with his Brewers hat. Let’s move on.

“You know, I was happy to see her and the dog,” Hod said a few seconds after the woman greeted us. “If it weren’t for them, I would feel like we had dropped off the face of the earth.”

We had to agree. This neighborhood had no cars driving by us. No people. Nothing except for two construction workers seven blocks away who weren’t actually doing any constructing.

We finally arrived at the house and took a few quick pictures. The house has changed a bit, since they built something over the roof of it. But it was pretty much the same place Tom Cruise made famous.











Hod had never seen Risky Business, so the impact on him was little. Had this been the house from “Hannah Montana,” he might have ended up wetting his pants.

Since it was nearing the 5 p.m. hour, we felt it would be best to start the walk back to our car and make our way home to the friendly people of Green Bay.

The sky, meanwhile, was getting dark.........


Heading home

After a long day, we were both ready to get home. But any time Hod and the Blog go somewhere, things can’t be easy.

It couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes into our journey home that Hod and the Blog knew they were in trouble.

The sky was dark. It looked as angry as Dave Johnson in a gas station without hot dogs. It was as threatening as a parent upset with us for not putting their kid in our basketball rankings.

It also didn’t help that Hod is not fond of storms. When it starts to rain, Hod runs for cover. He has good reason, since two of his relatives had their lives come to a jolting and quick end after being struck by lightning.

While that is nothing to laugh at or joke about, you have to wonder what the percentages are of having two relatives, in separate situations, get clipped by lightning.

And then it hit us.

Not lightning, silly, but a scary thought.

Although we didn’t say anything to Hod, we started to think about what the percentages would be for three Hod’s to get hit by lightning. Since we were right next to Hod, we started quietly freaking out.

Moral of the story? When lightning strikes, run the hell away from Hod.

Anyway, as if Hod wasn’t already aware, we pointed out the dark sky to him.









And then it got worse. Hod thought we were just trying to scare him when we told him we thought a tornado was approaching. But we weren't kidding. It was getting as bad as a Chris Becker team trying to beat a Bob Rickard's one, folks.








We can’t speak for you, but we have never seen a tornado in person. We’ve seen them in the movies and television specials, but we never saw one live. Both Hod and the Blog were starting to get worried, and it didn’t help that we were stuck in traffic.

We closed our eyes for a second and listened for a train sound. That’s what people who have been in a tornado say it sounds like.

We then turned to Hod and started to devise a game plan. If this tornado was coming, we had to be prepared. We asked Hod if he was ready to get out of the car and run.

His next two statements baffled us.

“Well, I’m not just going to leave you here,” Hod said.

We felt good about that, but also concerned that Hod wasn’t understanding the plan very well. It was as if Hod thought we were going to tell him to run while we stayed in the car and got swept away. We planned on running too, fool!

We told Hod that, and then he followed up with another unbelievable statement due to the circumstances.

“We can’t just leave the car here,” Hod said.

Quick review: A tornado is approaching. We are going to get picked up and spun around until we either throw up or die. We had never heard on those TV specials about how many people end up dead after being picked up by a tornado, but we figured the percentages were even higher than a Hod getting hit by lightning.

Yet, here was Hod, worried about us leaving the car parked in the road.

We indicated to Hod that if a tornado was to approach, let’s not worry too much about leaving the car behind.

We again closed our eyes. There still was no train sound.

But that funnel cloud that now was appearing in front of us? Yeah, that wasn’t good.








OK. Fine. So that is a picture of a tornado found on Google, although some of you were startled when you saw it. Admit it.

You must understand something, though. When you're in the car and stuck in traffic and the weather looks tornadic – that probably isn’t a real term – your mind starts to play with you.

Below is the actual picture. This could have developed into, or maybe already was, a funnel cloud. We assume you’d agree?








At one point, Hod thought we might have to pull to the side of the road. Not to find a ditch, but because we couldn't see anything.








Then something crazy happened. Just when we both thought our time on earth was pretty much wrapping up, God decided there were more blogs that had to still be written.

It stopped raining. The wind no longer threatened to pick up the car. The possible funnel cloud disappeared.

Suddenly, there was light again.








A few minutes later, the sun was out in full force. Hod and the Blog were smiling again. We were still in one piece. We felt good. And we didn’t have to abandon the car.

In retrospect, Hod and the Blog weren’t actually scared about a tornado. We were just having fun. Fun.









Finally making our way home safe, the long day had started to get to both of us. We began the day a bit later than we had wanted thanks to Hod not hearing his alarm clock, but we both were still feeling good in those morning hours.

Both of us were singing a lot during the car ride to Illinois - including the theme song from Breakfast Club that was being done in unison – but after a long day, the last thing you want is to hear the person next to you singing.

To be fair, Hod is a pretty OK singer. And one person that knows the Blog recently commented on how much better of a singer we have become. Over the past month or so, we feel we’ve really found our range and have been pretty sparkling.

But Hod had heard enough and asked us to stop singing “Every time you go away” by Paul Young, which is the theme song to Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Yeah, it’s a girly song, but it was stuck in our head since we were at the house.

Hod also had heard enough of us singing about what Fat Boy Slim was doing in Heaven, and it’s not something we can publish here.

In turn, Hod was getting on our nerves, too. When he started singing some song that had the artist counting to four, Hod would count to four on his fingers and then basically snap his wrist when he got to four.

He did this twice and perhaps three times.

There was an instance when we thought about punching Hod in the face – just an open hand slap perhaps, as we have nothing against him – but we aren't down with violence.

But when he started belting out the National Anthem -- and he did belt it - we had had enough.

We knew we had to get Hod home before he busted out “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, the theme song from "Hannah Montana."

Wait a minute. He did bust that out, but we may or may not have joined him for the chorus. Memo to self: Ponder taking out that last line.

Anyway, our eyes were getting tired, and we were beat.









We finally arrived home at 9:24 p.m. It was a great day filled with excitement. Hod got into his car and left for home. We went inside, put on Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and fell asleep soon after.

If any of you ever have a chance to do something like this, we highly recommend it.

Kudos to you. Kudos to us. Kudos to vacation. Kudos to having someone special to go to a movie with. Perhaps most of all, kudos to movie locations.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

NCAA basketball would be proud right about now.

With high school football teams opening training camp tomorrow, the Ashwaubenon Jaguars are getting a jump on the area by having their first practice at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

The practice is scheduled to go for 1 hour, 30 minutes on the field that Aaron Stecker made famous.

Ashwaubenon coach Mark Jonas, in his first year at the helm, sure has come up with a way to make a statement. Some people might think it’s crazy. We think it’s a great idea.

We’ve never heard of another team doing this. We know the Jaguars never did it under Blog Hall of Famer Ken Golomski, but that likely had more to do with the fact that Golomski had other places to be around midnight and some dollar bills to spend.

“The kids are excited about it, and that’s the positive thing Mark has,” Ashwaubenon athletic director David Paul Steavpack said. “Talk to kids, and the kids really like him.”

The Blog, along with Press-Gazette sports reporter Weston Lee Hod, plan to be out at practice and will perhaps be taking some pictures to show everybody here tomorrow.

Kudos to the Jaguars for doing something fun. Kudos to us for telling you about it.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

(EDITORS NOTE: The Blog can't post pictures because it's not working. We apologize for that. The Blog without pictures is like Dave Johnson without a hot dog, Ken Golomski without some dollar bills or Chris Becker without his music.)

It’s finally here. You’ve been waiting for it. We’ve been waiting for it. Weston Lee Hod certainly has been waiting for it.

No, it’s not the “Hannah Montana” movie being released on DVD that has Hod so excited. It’s the return of perhaps the greatest fantasy football league in the country, or also known as the Blog’s High School Fantasy Football season: Year 2.

Behind former De Pere quarterback Brent Jorgensen and the Redbirds’ passing game, Hod won the first league title in 2008.

But he will have some tough competition this season from fellow blog commenters, as well as celebrity general mangers in Manitowoc sports reporters Steve “Big Sexy” Clark and Matt Wellens.

The rules are simple: You sign up for a team in the comment section (give yourself a team name) of this blog entry and then wait until draft day, when each team will select a quarterback position, a running back position, a wide receiver position, a kicking position, a defense and a coach.

Like last season, you are not selecting individual players, but rather a whole team. For example, you would draft the Green Bay West running game or the Green Bay Preble passing game, not an individual West or Preble player.

There also is a new wrinkle this season, with trades among teams allowed.

As always, WFRV sports reporter Nick Goddard will offer his takes every Monday regarding the happenings around area football.

Good luck. The winner will get a prize that we haven’t decided on yet. You can sign up between now and Monday at 9 a.m.

Getting to know Manitowoc’s Steve Clark

(Blog note: We had to get Clark involved in our fantasy football league this season. We love this guy).

What’s it like to be a celebrity participant in the 2009 high school football fantasy league?

It's humbling. Truly humbling. I have always considered this blog to be the trendsetter, the Debbie Gibson of the 1980s if you will, of the blog world. And to be associated with it in any respect, is more than one goateed, short-haired person could ask for. I feel as proud as Ted Stryker did after safely landing that jumbo-jet filled with sick people -- including co-pilot Roger Murdock, not Kareem Abdul Jabbar -- on a foggy Chicago night.

Do you feel pressure to do well considering you’re supposed to be an expert?

Not really, because I don't consider myself an expert on high school fantasy football. I consider myself an expert on my beautiful wife, Rhonda, my two amazing kids Everett and Elizabeth, my overly-energetic beagle, Tipper, and how to make a tasty ham-and-potato casserole for the family. That's it. That's where my expertise lies.

Not to give away any of your secrets, but who do you plan to select with your first pick?

This is tough. First of all because I am rookie to all of this and don't know how it all works. Secondly, because (shameless plug warning) there are so many talented athletes in the Lakeshore area alone, whether to choose the Lincoln passing game or the Valders running game or the Roncalli defense or Manitowoc Lutheran special teams or a group from Two Rivers, Mishicot, Reedsville or Kiel is going to be a tough choice.

Finally, I will always be a Berlin Indian at heart and like the time I picked the Packers' defense in the second round of a fantasy football league, my allegiances may show in the way I draft. (Editor's note: Berlin will not be an eligible team to select).

Matt Wellens also is a celebrity general manager. Tell us a little about that dude, too.

He likes hockey but still as all his teeth, which is curious. He hales from Winneconne, but lacks the athletic prowess of the most famous (in my mind) former Wolve, Tom Ristow.

His favorite baseball team is the Atlanta Braves, and when they are winning he shouts out "Go Larry" indiscriminately. And he rudely makes fun of me for my work CD collection which includes Hillary Duff, Eminem, the soundtrack from Phantom of the Opera and Barry Manilow.

Tell people about your preps blog during the prep season, and why they should visit you guys. Any link you can provide would be great, as we like to spread the love around.

Well, first off I consider it a second-cousin's former roommate type relation to the fine work that you do on the blog. But I digest ... it usually appears fresh on Sunday nights as a recap of some of highlights of the week in Manitowoc County prep sports and a look at the week ahead. You can find it www.htrnews.com along with Matt Wellens' blog and our coverage of Manitowoc County high school sports.

Why is your nickname “Big Sexy?” Wait. Did we give you that nickname?

To quote Matthew Perry in a Friends episode after Matt LeBlanc spouted out the end of J-Man and Channy's place: "Who calls us that?"

And wasn't that a nickname of a wrestler? As a kid my parents saddled me with the moniker "Why can't you be more like your sister?" and in high school it was "Bless You" (I had a lot of allergies during my high school years). Since then, the name that stuck the longest was given to me by Scott Zaldivar while playing for the Marshfield Chapparells ... "Reno." As in Steve-a-"Reno."

You attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. We have heard from some sources in the past that you were quite the character while there. Any stories you can share? Anything regarding a couch?

A couch? Hmmm, nothing comes to mind actually on that topic, but that was like 87 years ago when I was at Whitewater, so I won't deny it. I have plenty of stories from 17-year collegiate career (just kidding, I made it through in five).

I got to see Dennis Bogacz's senior season when he lit up the then-WSUC only to have the Warhawks playoff run end with a missed extra point; I was a part of a league champion intramural basketball team in a 5-10 and Under League (playing second fiddle to one Bill Huber).

I used to have fun in Drumlin dining hall, pretending to sneeze and then flinging a pickle slice on some unsuspecting person; I attended more all-night Sheephead games my first two years than I did math classes; and I worked for the college radio station as a DJ for a semester at the time when Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark died. When told of the demise of Steve Clark, our station manager reportedly responded, "Well, who can we get to cover his shift?"

Steve Clark everyone.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Laura Hawk became famous with college football fans in 2006, when she attended the Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Notre Dame.

That game was a family affair for her.

Her future husband and current Packers linebacker, A.J. Hawk, was playing for Ohio State.

Her brother, Brady Quinn, was the quarterback for Notre Dame and eventually was drafted by the Cleveland Browns.

Not wanting to pick between the two, Laura wore a nifty half-and-half jersey that was half a Quinn and half a Hawk.

Three hours later, the television cameras had shown Laura and her jersey approximately 352 times.

That day was all Notre Dame. All Ohio State. All Laura Hawk. And not necessarily in that order.

A few years later, with the Packers and Browns playing in a preseason game at Lambeau Field on Saturday night, Laura told us she has decided not to wear a jersey for the game.

We recently had contacted her about the possibility of doing a blog interview, but we did not try to convince Laura to do it by telling her that those who make appearances on here often receive good karma. We did not want to taint the process, instead preferring that Laura do the interview because she wanted to.

When she agreed a few hours after we e-mailed her with an interview request, we figured she knew all about the Blog and wanted to be a part of the biggest show in town.

OK. So that wasn’t the case. She just turned out to be a pretty swell girl on account of her being willing to do an interview with us. Kudos to her.

We are even thinking about asking her to do a “Ask Laura Hawk” Q&A on here during the football season where she would answer your questions, but we didn’t want to push our luck so soon.

On a side note, we once saw Brady Quinn throw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game, just a short while before he was drafted by the Browns.

As he was walking to his bus after the game, a line of fans began following him down the sidewalk. One fan was trying to run after him to get his autograph and ran straight into a garbage can. True story.

On another side note, former Green Bay East baseball player Brian Ellison – who sometimes tips over while playing baseball due to vertigo and once grabbed his arm in fake pain because he overthrew first by 15 feet and was embarrassed -- refuses to trade A.J. Hawk in his fantasy league despite attempts by several owners.

Jake Delahaut – a former East standout who started the only state game for the Red Devils and is getting married in September – has Brady Quinn in the same league and refuses to trade him because he’s a Notre Dame fan and has a picture of Brady on his refrigerator. Go figure.

Anyway, enjoy the interview with Laura Hawk. There is a chance that we should be calling her Laura Quinn-Hawk, but we forgot to ask her how she rolls with that.



We have been told that our preps blog is the hottest one in the country. Had you ever heard of us before we contacted you?

No, but I’m glad I’ve been introduced now! (Blog note: Ouch.)


How did A.J. and you meet?

We met through a mutual friend one Christmas break our sophomore year of college but didn’t start dating until after our junior year.


Who proposed marriage to who? And was the answer yes right away?

AJ proposed on March 3 in 2006. I was surprised and said yes immediately. He did it down by a river in Columbus because we love water and are always looking at the homes on the water in Columbus.


When you get mad at A.J., do you call him Aaron James?

Haha. No. I call him AJ because I usually call him Age. So he knows I mean business when I call him AJ!

There is an episode of the "Brady Bunch" where Marsha goes out with a boy named Jerry Rogers, the quarterback for the rival team. Greg Brady tells Marsha that Jerry only is going out with her to try to get Greg’s playbook. When you were dating A.J., did your brother, Brady, ever address concerns that he may just be interested in you in order to get a look at Notre Dame’s playbook?

Ha, yeah. Brady was never fond of the idea of me dating an athlete in the first place, so I’m sure he had many theories on why AJ was dating me, but he couldn’t be more pleased with his brother-in-law now. They get along great and AJ has done a good job filling that big brother role since Brady is the only boy between two girls in our family!! (Blog note: Brady and Laura also have a sister, Kelly).


We believe A.J. recently said that you regret wearing that jersey where half of it was Ohio State and the other half was Notre Dame. If true, why do you regret it?

I enjoyed wearing that jersey at the time but I received a lot of scrutiny for it and that’s where I think the regret came in. I won’t be making one this time.


Thanks to the talent of A.J. and yourself, the Hawk family has made quite a bit of money at a young age. We’ve always wondered, how do people stay motivated and goal oriented when they’ve already got more money then they will ever need?

AJ and I look at things in a long term perspective. We are only 25 and 26, we have a lifetime of uncertainty ahead of us and the average child costs $200,000 to raise and we want to have a few of our own and adopt a few.

We like to stay motivated for our future and the future of our kids. You never know what kind of things life will throw at you whether that be an illness, a family member in need, etc.

AJ and I (I own and interior design and blinds business) both will remain to work for those reasons. We are always motivated so we can give back to others, more importantly!

Is there anything you and A.J. have bought – big or small - that a few months later you wondered why the heck you got it?

Well, let’s see, our first house in Green Bay I guess. We moved out six months later to live on the water here, so I wish we would have rented our first season until we knew where we wanted to live.


We once saw a group of fans ask A.J. for his autograph. He didn’t walk over to the fence where they were at......he sprinted over. We had never seen anything like it. We personally have never seen him turn down an autograph request. Does he value his relationship with fans?

Absolutely, fans are the reason he is where he is. You always give back to the fans, that goes without question! Brady is usually the same way, they are grateful for all the support they receive.


If you were forced to marry another defensive player on the Packers because A.J. wasn’t available or decided he just couldn’t be with someone whose brother played for the Irish, who would it be and why?

Haha, no offense to the other guys but AJ is the only one for me! I tell him all the time if I hadn’t married him I’d be in some big city working and focusing on my career. I definitely wouldn’t have married another athlete, it was just something about him that is so special. He's like no one else!!


As the wife and brother of NFL players, do you sometimes feel like you lose your own identity? Like, all the questions are about your husband and brother and not you? We kind of feel bad, because we kind of did the same thing.

No, I never feel bad because I’m so proud of what they both have become through hard work and dedication. They are amazing and have committed their life to their sports. I’m very prideful of the both of them and never feel like my identity is lost. I am who I am to my family and friends who knew me long before all this, and that’s who matters most.



Rapid fire time. Laura Hawk picks the favorite of the two.

Home Alone or Home Alone 2? Home Alone

Friends or Seinfeld? Friends

Blog Hall of Fame or NFL Hall of Fame? NFL Hall of Fame (Blog note: Ouch again).

Green Bay Notre Dame or Green Bay Preble? Green Bay Notre Dame

John Nowak or Ken Golomski? John Nowak. Hall of Fame coach, correct? (Blog note: Correct).

Dinner or movie? Dinner

Mountain Dew or Pepsi? Pepsi

A.J. Hawk or Brady Quinn? Both

Brady Quinn or Kelly Quinn? Haha, both. They are both amazing athletes!!

Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre? Brett's a legend. We like the Favre's a lot, but Aaron is our QB now and practically part of our family! We love Aaron!

A.J. with long hair or A.J. with short hair? Long hair

Our Blog or another Blog? Your Blog! (Blog note: Finally! Winner winner, chicken dinner!).

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

The teams are set. The owners are in. The draft is right around the corner.

The Blog’s High School Fantasy Football League has a record 12 teams for the 2009 season, but things just got a whole lot more interesting.

For the first time in Blog fantasy history, the league has been separated into two divisions with six teams each, much like the Fox River Classic Conference.

Teams will play an eight-game schedule, with the winner of the Meredith Salenger Division playing the winner of the Laura Hawk Division in the first ever Blog Bowl in Week 9.

The competition looks fierce, especially with the addition of team owner Marc Shield.

Shield, who will play baseball at Elmhurst College this season, was the starting quarterback for Green Bay East in 2008 and now will use that expertise as a first-year general manager. Here’s hoping he has better success than Matt Millen.

Eleven teams are out to take down the Phenomenal Ones, who won the first ever championship last season under the direction of Weston Lee Hod.

But that was before “Hannah Montana” came out in the theater, and who knows how much work Hod has put into the draft now that the movie is out on DVD and all his time is used watching that.

Good luck to everyone. The draft will begin on Wednesday at 9 a.m. and probably will take a week thanks to the slowness of some owners in making their picks. The draft order is below.

Each team’s schedule, meanwhile, will be posted next week.

All squads will select one quarterback position, one running back position, one wideout position, one kicking position, one defense and one coach.

A touchdown catch, pass or run will count as six points, as will a touchdown by your defense. If your defense posts a shutout, you get an additional six points.

A field goal is three points and an extra kick one point. If your coach wins on a given week, you earn six points.

All positions, defenses and coaches must be from the Fox River Classic Conference, Bay Conference or the Packerland/Olympian Conference.

(Blog note: We just made up team names for Steve Clark and Matt Wellens, our celebrity general managers. They can change them before the season if they wish)

Meredith Salenger Division

12x Bay Conference Champs (team owner: Phantom Alum)
Turny’s Terriors (team owner: Phant-astic)
GBEast6 (team owner: Marc Shield)
NDA All The Way (team owner: T-Rep)
A. Kros the Field (team owner: Andrew Rosenbaum)
Liverpool Reds (team owner: avalanchegal3083)


Laura Hawk Division

Team Offensive Line (team owner: Bridman5000)
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes (team owner: Andrew Pekarek)
Free Mr. Clark (team owner: Steve Clark)
The Wellens Run (team owner: Matt Wellens)
The Phenomenal Ones (team owner: Weston Lee Hod)
Evandad’s Evergreens (team owner: Jeff Ash).


Draft order

First round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

Need example 1,567 that high school coaches don’t get enough praise and certainly don’t get paid enough?

We are here to tell you a story about Luxemburg-Casco football coach Mike Snowberry, who we placed a call to Monday night in hopes of asking him a few questions about his team.

The one great thing about calling a prep coach at home is that, like Forrest Gump and that damn chocolate, you really never know what you are going to get.

We once got to enjoy listening to the wife of former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

We also once got to hear the wife of Blog Hall of Famer Ken Golomski, the great Monica Golomski, call him “G.”

But we never expected to find Snowberry in the state we found him in last night.

After placing a call to his estate, the phone rang a few times before a man picked up.

“Hello,” a voice said, stumbling.

We were confused.

“Is Mike there?” we said.

A brief second went by before the man spoke again.

“This is,” he said.

We have talked to Mike Snowberry, and this did not sound like Mike Snowberry the L-C football coach, which is why we asked that exact question.

“Is this the L-C football coach?” we said.

“Yes, it is,” Snowberry responded.

We are telling you, this did not sound like Snowberry.

“Wait a minute,” we told him. “Were you sleeping?”

This guy sounded out of it.

“Actually, I was,” Snowberry said. “Just taking a little cat nap. Don’t worry, I’m going to go to bed in 20 minutes.”

This was 7:24 p.m. It was early evening.

We had no idea this guy would already be going to bed. We aren’t sure if Snowberry has any children, but it’s a good bet that if he does, even the little baby Snowberry’s weren’t ready for bed yet.

“Wow,” we said. “(We) feel terrible.”

Snowberry always has been a great guy to deal with, always taking the time to answer questions. He again reassured us that it was no problem that we had just woke him.

“That’s how bad training camp is, isn’t it?” we asked.

We learned that Snowberry often is up by 5:30 a.m., when he goes to the school and gets practice ready to go.

“It is what it is,” he said.

“(We) apologize,” we said. “(We) thought you still might be up at 7:24 on a Monday.”

It’s almost as if Snowberry felt guilty.

“No, I should be,” he said, still trying to shake the cobwebs from his voice. “For some reason, I’m tired.”

We didn’t know what to do.

“Um, would you be able to answer a couple of questions in the next two minutes, or are you kind of woozy right now?” we asked.

Snowberry was a trooper.

“No,” he said. “I’m fine. Shoot.”

We began asking questions, yet still feeling bad that we woke this guy up after what appeared to be a long day.

After a few minutes, we asked Snowberry how many returning starters he had on both sides of the ball for this season.

“Ummmmmm,” Snowberry said. “One, two, three, four, five……”

Snowberry stopped counting. Snowberry stopped saying anything.

We panicked. We were sure this guy had just fallen asleep on the other end.

Eight seconds came and went.

As you know, when you’re on the phone or perhaps appearing on television, eight seconds of silence is an eternity.

Then, just like that, he was back.

“Five on offense,” Snowberry said, finishing his statement.

Then he starts counting the defensive guys returning.

“And, one, two….....,” Snowberry said.

Oh, no. Not again.

We thought Snowberry drifted off again, but after a few seconds, we heard some mumbling. He was asking himself if a certain player had played defense last season. After another second, he decided to himself the player hadn’t.

Then 13 more seconds of silence. We are not joking. Count that. Thirteen seconds. Thirteen seconds.

We clearly were losing Snowberry. We had to help him out. This guy was basically sleep talking on us.

“Two for sur….” he said, before pausing. “Two for sure. Ummmm, on defense, why can’t I…..”

One more stumble. We had to step in. We saw what happened when Rocky threw in the towel a few seconds too late in that Apollo-Drago fight. Wasn't going to happen here. Not on our watch.

“So, not a lot of guys coming back on defense, huh?” we said, not wanting him to have to go any further.

“No,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of guys on defense.”

We asked Snowberry a few more questions and thanked him for his time. He was able to tell us no problem, but we have no doubt this guy fell right back asleep and might not even remember the conversation with us.

Kudos to Snowberry for being a dedicated coach. Kudos to all prep coaches who practically donate their time to help kids have a better life. Kudos to us for praising prep coaches.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Andrew Rosenbaum is now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field --
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes --
10. Turny’s Terriors --
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions --

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

In doing some research the other day, we discovered that the West De Pere football team -- the same team led by future Blog Hall of Famer Bill Turnquist -- is on the cusp of some major history.

If the Phantoms can win at least a share of the Bay Conference championship this season, they will become the first team to ever win at least a share of four straight Bay titles.

The history of the Bay goes back to 1970, so you can see why the feat would be quite impressive.

West De Pere will have its work cut out to accomplish the task. Seymour and Denmark both should be tough, and that scrappy New London team always presents a challenge.

The Phantoms will be helped by the return of senior running back Beau Bellmore, who reminds us a lot of Carolina Panthers star DeAngelo Williams.

We don’t like to compare high school players to NFL players – OK, yeah we do – but we’d bet that Bellmore at this stage was better than D-Will when he was a senior.

If Bellmore ever makes it to the NFL, expect to see him in a Warrick Dunn role. Although Bellmore is small – he is just 5-foot-9 – he plays with some heart.

If the Phantoms can win the Bay, meanwhile, the calls to put Turnquist into the Hall of Fame if he’s not already in will be Pete Rose-like. Or at least Shoeless Joe Jackson-like.

Kudos to everybody in the Bay Conference. Kudos to us for doing research. Kudos to you for supporting your local prep team.

Bay Conference football champions

1970: Oconto
1971: West De Pere
1972: De Pere
1973: West De Pere
1974: Marinette
1975: Marinette
1976: Clintonville
1977: Marinette
1978: Clintonville
1979: Ashwaubenon/Marinette/West De Pere
1980: Pulaski
1981: Clintonville/West De Pere
1982: New London/West De Pere
1983: West De Pere
1984: New London
1985: Seymour
1986: Bay Port
1987: Clintonville/West De Pere
1988: West De Pere
1989: Marinette
1990: Ashwaubenon
1991: Pulaski/Seymour
1992: De Pere
1993: Ashwaubenon/Marinette
1994: Marinette
1995: De Pere
1996: Seymour
1997: West De Pere
1998: Pulaski
1999: Marinette
2000: Marinette/Ashwaubenon/De Pere
2001: Bay Port/Ashwaubenon
2002: Ashwaubenon
2003: Bay Port
2004: Ashwaubenon
2005: De Pere
2006: West De Pere
2007: West De Pere/New London/Denmark
2008: West De Pere

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Liverpool is now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Hod is now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Liverpool Reds now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay passing

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay receiving
GBEast6 -- Green Bay Preble defense
Free Mr. Clark -- Brillion defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Gibraltar receiving
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Lawn Gnomes now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay passing

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay receiving
GBEast6 -- Green Bay Preble defense
Free Mr. Clark -- Brillion defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Gibraltar receiving
Liverpool Reds -- Algoma passing game
The Wellens Run -- West De Pere defense
ND All The Way -- Notre Dame defense
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere defense
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Southern Door passing
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon defense
Team Offensive Line --
12x Bay Conference champions -- Bay Port receiving

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Bill Turnquist, West De Pere
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Bill Ehnerd and Steve Klister, Wrightstown
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

We’ve never accused Manitowoc sports editor Steve Clark of being a smart guy.

Yeah, we love him and think he’s cool. Yeah, we think he could get plenty of ladies if he weren’t married. And, yeah, he’s an even funnier guy than Joe Pesci.

But smart? That was not a word we ever used to describe him.

Until now.

Clark has made a challenge to the Blog. A challenge that we have accepted. He has sent an explanation of the challenge to us, which we will share with you now.

From the desk of Steven Clark:

Starting Friday and lasting for 60 days (from the first Friday of the prep football season until the first round of the WIAA football playoffs), Mr. Venci and I will be engaged in an online high-five contest.

Here’s how it works. A blog high-five is simply the act of typing in “high-five” in the comment section at the end of a blog. Over the span of the contest, whoever registers the most high-fives is the winner. Pretty simple.

The rules are: 1) We are only allowed to accept one high-five per screen name, per blog. If one of us does three blogs in a day, then you can give us three high-fives. If we do one blog a day, you can still give us three high-fives, but only one will count; 2) Neither Mr. Venci or I can offer rewards for high-fives. We can encourage blog readers to give high-fives, but can offer nothing for them; 3) High-fives can be received on any blog that appears on the Web site, whether it is about sports or not; and 4) No touching of the hair or face (sorry, I watched Will Ferrell’s Anchorman over the weekend).

The reward for winning: Lunch at the loser’s expense and the posting of an autographed picture of the winner on the loser’s blog. The winner will be announced in the days after the contest ends.

You see what this guy is doing, right? He is well aware that our preps blog is the hottest in the country, and he’s basically trying to get exposure for his blog by linking his with ours.

We are expected to win. We should win. We have some of the most powerful blog commenter’s around. We also have Laura Hawk and Meredith Salenger. Most of all, we have Ken Golomski.

It's often not a good business decision to take a challenge where you are the overwhelming favorite. After all, we have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Meanwhile, Clark is the big winner either way. If he loses, he still got major exposure for his Blog. Kind of like some rec league team getting to go up against the Yankees.

If he wins, well, that could put his Blog on the map forever.

“I’m guessing he thinks because of his paper’s larger circulation and because of his well-established blog — it even has a Hall of Fame and a sponsor, we just have Matt Wellens and a half-eaten Milky Way— he figures he’s got this victory all wrapped up,” Clark told his readers in an obvious attempt to motivate them by playing the small market card.

“He needs to be taken down off the lace-covered, chartreuse pedestal he sits on in Green Bay and I need your help to do it. Tell your friends. Tell your parents. Tell your teachers. Tell your fortune-tellers. Tell anyone who will listen that, starting Friday, their high-fives are needed.”

Clark pretty much is correct in everything he said, although there is little question he used a dictionary to say it. We also agreed 100 percent with him on another point: We have a sponsor and he doesn’t. Again, we have a sponsor and he doesn’t.

Beginning Friday and lasting 60 days, let’s just humor the poor dude.

This is David vs. Goliath. And, in this case, Goliath is going to make David his little beeatch.

Kudos to you since we know you’ll give way more high-fives. Kudos to us for helping out a poor blog by lending them our name. Kudos to us again for that.

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Evandad’s Evergreens now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay passing

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay receiving
GBEast6 -- Green Bay Preble defense
Free Mr. Clark -- Brillion defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Gibraltar receiving
Liverpool Reds -- Algoma passing game
The Wellens Run -- West De Pere defense
ND All The Way -- Notre Dame defense
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere defense
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Southern Door passing
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon defense
Team Offensive Line --
12x Bay Conference champions -- Bay Port receiving

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Bill Turnquist, West De Pere
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Bill Ehnerd and Steve Klister, Wrightstown
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee kicking game
A. Kros The Field -- Brian Rabas, De Pere
ND All The Way -- Oconto receiving
The Wellens Run -- Mike Breckheimer, Hilbert
Liverpool Reds -- Bay Port defense
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones
GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds
The Wellens Run
ND All The Way
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

As many of you probably know, legendary Green Bay Notre Dame football coach John “Papa John” Nowak recently underwent single bypass heart surgery due to some blockage.

Nowak is doing fine but still is in the hospital. He won’t be on the sideline this Friday for the season opener against De Pere, ending a Brett Favre-like streak.

Nowak is entering his 19th season with the Tritons and was inducted into the Wisconsin Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004.

As some of his players likely can tell you, Nowak can be a pretty scary guy. And that’s what we love about him. He's an old school coach and one that still can put the fear of God into you. Kudos to him on that.

Nowak could be back coaching by the end of the season, and we wish him well on his recovery.

Although this is not the proper blog to say this in, we think his son, Shawn, is overrated in basketball.

We played two years with him on a local team, and when he wasn’t grabbing his chronically injured knee he was driving the lane and missing layups.

While he looked like an athlete and had movements like an athlete, the end result never seemed positive.

Great guy, though.

Anyway, Blog nation again would like to extend our best wishes to Coach Nowak. We all will see him coaching again soon.

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Drew Rosenbaum now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay passing

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay receiving
GBEast6 -- Green Bay Preble defense
Free Mr. Clark -- Brillion defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Gibraltar receiving
Liverpool Reds -- Algoma passing game
The Wellens Run -- West De Pere defense
ND All The Way -- Notre Dame defense
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere defense
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Southern Door passing
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon defense
Team Offensive Line --
12x Bay Conference champions -- Bay Port receiving

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Bill Turnquist, West De Pere
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Bill Ehnerd and Steve Klister, Wrightstown
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee kicking game
A. Kros The Field -- Brian Rabas, De Pere
ND All The Way -- Oconto receiving
The Wellens Run -- Mike Breckheimer, Hilbert
Liverpool Reds -- Bay Port defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Mark Jonas, Ashwaubenon
Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc Lutheran kicking game
GB East6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame kicking game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Kurt Flaten, Kewaunee

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble kicking game
GBEast6 -- Algoma receiving
Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc Roncalli receiving
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Denmark defense
Liverpool Reds -- Mike Williquette, Bay Port
The Wellens Run -- Sheboygan South receiving
ND All The Way -- John Nowak and Notre Dame staff
A. Kros The Field
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
A. Kros The Field
ND All The Way
The Wellens Run
Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens
Free Mr. Clark
GB East6
The Phenomenal Ones

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

The Green Bay East and Green Bay West football teams will meet for the 104th time on Friday.

The game will be at 7 p.m. at City Stadium, and it doesn’t get much better than this for history buffs.

East has won the last 11 games in the series, including a 41-13 win at Del Marcelle Stadium last season.

Here are some news and notes that won’t really help get you ready for the game, but will give you some inside access you wouldn’t have if we weren’t giving it to you.


East coach Nast upset with former player

Green Bay East coach Brian “Nasty” Nast told the Blog Thursday afternoon that he was not happy with former East quarterback Marc Shield.

Shield, who will play baseball at Elmhurst College this season, is a first-year general manager in the Blog’s fantasy football league.

Shield, however, has yet to select anything – not the running backs, the quarterbacks, even the coach – from his alma mater. He attempted to select the East wideout game on Thursday, despite already having selected the Algoma one.

We happened to be near Green Bay Preble earlier this week when we spotted Shield walking with either former Preble tennis standout Morgan Weuve or her little sister, Taylor Weuve.

We think it was Taylor but it could have been Morgan. We get them confused.

What is important is that Shield almost seemed like he was getting a thrill by going East-less during the draft process. He even knew Nast would get upset with him.

He was right.

“I see that he’s not being real kind to us,” Nast said. “You look at it and, we haven’t been great but we have been solid in fantasy football. I think we should be. …at least the guy should back our own team. I don’t want a homer or anything, but a little love is all I’m asking for.”

Shield provided more insult to Red Devils nation by jokingly announcing like Brett Favre that he was coming back to play this season…..and was going to sign with the Wildcats. He even made up a picture and e-mailed it to us.

Funny guy, that Shield.

Shield finally came around when asked for a prediction for the East-West game.

“East is going to continue the streak, 21-12,” he said. “Look for the East defense to cause West to have some costly turnovers.”

Wacek makes return

Some of you may know Frank Wacek. Many of you don’t.

But the first-year secondary coach for the Wildcats will be making a homecoming of sorts on Friday when he returns to City Stadium.

Wacek was a star defensive back under John Kolstad in the 1990s. He told reporters in 2005 that the East-West rivalry never was that big to him.

“I felt the coaches thought it was a bigger rivalry,” Wacek said at the time. “To me, it was no different than playing Southwest or Sheboygan North.

“Preble was our biggest rivalry because we knew most of the people on the team from living on the same side of town and playing against them in other sports like baseball.”

Wacek declined to answer questions about his homecoming on Thursday.

Maybe he didn’t want to rile up West coach Harry Sydney, or perhaps it’s too emotional of a time for him.

On another note, Wacek plays for the East River Knights in a local baseball league, and so far this year:

1. He has been thrown out at first base after hitting a single to right field.

2. He attempted to field a ball near the outfield fence while playing in left field and slipped. He then somehow got his foot caught underneath the fence as the runner took an extra base.

Perhaps best of all?

3. While he was in the on-deck circle, a bat with a weighted donut flew out of his hands and past first base.

“After it went flying, the dude walked into the dugout, kind of like trying to blend in,” said one of the Knights.

Kudos to Mr. Belongia

This game always reminds us of the 100th anniversary game a few years ago, when our former business teacher, Mr. Belongia, helped organize the festivities surrounding the celebration.

We always admired the guy as a teacher -- we only had one disagreement with him after he got upset and accused us of making a mockery of his fantasy basketball assignment by selecting odd players. It's an allegation we still deny years later -- but we also admire him for his appreciation of history and his hard work in making people aware of it.

There is a good chance Mr. Belongia will be watching his son, Casey, play for Ashwaubenon on Friday night. But even if he isn’t there, kudos to him for helping to make the rivalry a bit more appreciated.

McMahon makes prediction

De Pere Journal editor Todd McMahon weighed in with his pick for Friday.

"East 23, West 21," McMahon said.

This guy is as smart as Jimmy the Greek was, but without the controversial comments. We would take what he says and run to Vegas with Ken Golomski to place a bet, but we don't condone betting on here.

Impressive resumes

Both head coaches in the East-West game have some playing experience themselves.

Nast was a standout at Bay Port High School, while Sydney won two Super Bowls as an NFL player and once threw a touchdown pass to Jerry Rice.

Head coaches in the East-West game

Green Bay East

Otto Tenner, 1905
John Coonen, 1907-1908
Charles Beyer, 1909-1911
Richard Hints, 1912-1913
Carroll Nelson, 1914
Don Vaughan, 1915
Joe Hoeffel/E.R. DeBoth, 1916
Albert Weiser, 1917
Art Schmaehl, 1918
Curly Lambeau, 1919-1921
Chester Wiley, 1922-1929
Louis Means, 1930-1935
Tom Hearden, 1936-1942
D.R. McMasters, 1943-1945
Al Reed, 1946-1960
Al Mancheski, 1961-1966
Gene Bray, 1967-1982
Dave Neubauer, 1983-1986
John Kolstad, 1987-1996, 1998-2006
Bob Gaulke, 1997
Brian Nast 2007-present

Green Bay West

Will McNerney, 1905
Wilson Charles, 1907
Charles Cole, 1908
Willard Hodge, 1909
Edmund Yahr, 1910
Harold "Murph" White, 1911-1914, 1923-1932
Charles Maloney, 1915
Bill Ryan, 1916-1917, 1919
Gus Rosenow, 1918
Jack Dalton, 1920
W.S. Nordby, 1921
John Loos, 1922
Ivan "Tiny" Cahoon, 1933-1937
Lars Thune, 1938-1944
F.L. "Frosty" Ferzacca, 1945-1953
John Biolo, 1954-1965
Jerry Dufek, 1966-1970
Earl "Mike" Miller, 1971-1986
Mike Williquette, 1987-1996
Dan Seidel, 1997-2000
Mike Framke, 2001
Bill Paris, 2002-2004
Chris Witteck, 2005-2007
Harry Sydney, 2008-present

The GBBFFL announced its 2009 schedule on Thursday morning.

With the draft almost complete – the Blog announced a free for all earlier in the day to get the thing done with – the new season promises to be the most exciting yet.

A record 12 teams signed up for the league, which will end with the winner of the Laura Hawk Division going up against the winner of the Meredith Salenger Division in Blog Bowl I on Oct. 22.

“I predict a quick start to the season by Evandad’s Evergreens (operated by Press-Gazette veteran Jeff Ash) since the team’s owner may be the single most knowledgeable prep mind in the last four decades,” Ombudsman Corey Wilson said. “Other than that bold prediction I plan to be glued to the GBBFFL standings at least once per month.”

Indeed, Ash has a brother who is a football coach at Waupaca and could have inside trader knowledge. However, that is allowed in this league.

Good luck to all.

Week 1

Phenomenal Ones vs. Free Mr. Clark
GBEast6 vs. Evandad’s Evergreens
Liverpool Reds vs. Wellens Run
ND All The Way vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Team Offensive Line vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
A. Kros The Field vs. Turny’s Terrior


Week 2

Phenomenal Ones vs. Liverpool Reds
GBEast6 vs. Wellens Run
Free Mr. Clark vs. Evandad’s Evergreens
ND All The Way vs. Team Offensive Line
Kros The Field vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes vs. Turny’s Terriors


Week 3

Phenomenal Ones vs. GBEast6
Free Mr. Clark vs. Liverpool Reds
Evandad’s Evergreens vs. Wellens Run
ND All The Way vs. A. Kros The Field
Turny’s Terriors vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
Team Offensive Line vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes


Week 4

Phenomenal Ones vs. Evandad’s Evergreens
GBEast6 vs. Liverpool Reds
Free Mr. Clark vs. Wellens Run
ND All The Way vs. Turny’s Terriors
12x Bay Conference champions vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Kros The Field vs. Team Offensive Line


Week 5

Phenomenal Ones vs. Wellens Run
GBEast6 vs. Free Mr. Clark
Evandad’s Evergreens vs. Liverpool Reds
ND All The Way vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
Kros The Field vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Turny’s Terriors vs. Team Offensive Line


Week 6

Phenomenal Ones vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
GBEast6 vs. Team Offensive Line
Free Mr. Clark vs. Turny’s Terriors
Evandad’s Evergreens vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Liverpool Reds vs. A. Kros The Field
Wellens Run vs. ND All The Way


Week 7

Phenomenal Ones vs. Turny’s Terriors
GBEast6 vs. ND All The Way
Free Mr. Clark vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Evandad’s Evergreens vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
Liverpool Reds vs. Team Offensive Line
Wellens Run vs. A. Kros The Field


Week 8

Phenomenal Ones vs. A. Kros the Field
GBEast6 vs. Turny’s Terriors
Free Mr. Clark vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
Evandad’s Evergreens vs. ND All The Way
Liverpool Reds vs. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes
Wellens Run vs. Team Offensive Line

Week 9

Blog Bowl I

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Update: FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW!

Please feel free to make your remaining picks in the comment section at any time. You slow fools.


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Drew Rosenbaum now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay passing

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay receiving
GBEast6 -- Green Bay Preble defense
Free Mr. Clark -- Brillion defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Gibraltar receiving
Liverpool Reds -- Algoma passing game
The Wellens Run -- West De Pere defense
ND All The Way -- Notre Dame defense
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere defense
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Southern Door passing
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon defense
Team Offensive Line --
12x Bay Conference champions -- Bay Port receiving

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Bill Turnquist, West De Pere
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Bill Ehnerd and Steve Klister, Wrightstown
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee kicking game
A. Kros The Field -- Brian Rabas, De Pere
ND All The Way --
The Wellens Run -- Mike Breckheimer, Hilbert
Liverpool Reds -- Bay Port defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Mark Jonas, Ashwaubenon
Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc Lutheran kicking game
GB East6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame kicking game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Kurt Flaten, Kewaunee

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble kicking game
GBEast6 -- Algoma receiving
Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc Roncalli receiving
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Denmark defense
Liverpool Reds -- Mike Williquette, Bay Port
The Wellens Run -- Sheboygan South receiving
ND All The Way -- John Nowak and Notre Dame staff
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere kicking game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Mike Snowberry, L-C
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon kicking
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions --

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Hortonville defense
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Green Bay Notre Dame receiving
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Algoma defense
A. Kros The Field -- Green Bay Southwest passing
ND All The Way -- Seymour kicking game
The Wellens Run -- Bay Port kicking
Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere kicking
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Green Bay East kicking game
Free Mr. Clark -- Pete Kittel, Brillion
GB East6 -- Brian Nast, Green Bay East
The Phenomenal Ones -- Kewaunee defense

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

(Blog note: An update on the high-five contest with Manty after one day: Green Bay 23, Mantiwoc 6.

We e-mailed Steve Clark to see if he wanted to give up.

"I may be down, but definitely not out," he said. "Besides, I've got some "strategies" planned. You don't think I'd enter into this without some kind of plan, do you?"

Poor guy. He's going to have to come up with gimmicks to stay in this race. Please continue to give us high-fives in the comment section so we can make him cry.)

Sometimes, things don't make sense.

This would be one of those times.

As you all know, there aren't many people who know more about wrestling than West De Pere wrestling coach David "Coach B" Bernarde.

But who knew the guy was even better at picking the outcome of football games?

Coach B turned in a slick first week in the Blog's football pick'em challenge, topping the field with a 4-1 record. His only loss came in the West De Pere-Seymour game. And, well, it's kind of understandable, don't you think?

"As far as the rest of my picks go, I guess somebody forgot to tell the kids they weren't supposed to win those games," Bernarde said. "My favorite thing about high school sports is the rising up. That spirit in a kid that says 'I will prevail.' For the most part, those were some great battles. A bunch of kids did a whole lot of growing up last night."

Bernarde earned $1 and a 2009 University of Notre Dame media guide for his win. Congrats to Coach B.

It was a tough opening week, meanwhile, for several of our blog commenter's and ourselves. No excuses. We didn't get it done. But we will be back next week and plan to do better.

Week 1 results

Coach Bernarde 4-1
Mr. Statman 3-2
Avalanchegal3083 3-2
Phanman 2-3
T-Rep 1-4
Phantom Alum 1-4
Phant-astic 1-4
Retro 1-4
Blog 1-4

(Blog note: Today is the first day of our high-five contest with Manty. If you are a registered blog commenter, please just give us a high-five in the comment section so we can crush the hopes and dreams of Steven Clark)

The Blog likes to give away money, and we also like to promote reading.

So, we are combining our two efforts this season in the “Beat the Blog football pick’em challenge."

The rules? You simply have to do a better job picking selected games each week than the Blog. If you do, you will be eligible to win both a buck and a book.

If more than one person beats us in a given week – likely not likely – a name will be picked out of a hat to determine the big winner.

The winner of a given week, however, has to pick up their prize before the next Friday’s games, or the buck goes back into our bank and the book back on our desk.

Week 1 Prize: One dollar and a 2009 University of Notre Dame football media guide.

The games to pick

Green Bay Preble vs. Green Bay Southwest

The Hornets are one of the favorites to win the 12-team Fox River Classic Conference. At the same time, we have seen Southwest pull off some upsets at its home field.

In a battle between Preble coach Pat Prochnow and Southwest’s Bryce Paup, we’ve got to go with the two decades of coaching experience.

If this were an autograph chase, Paup would be the big winner.

Preble gets this one, though.




De Pere at Green Bay Notre Dame

It’s tough to think the Tritons, who have won 13 straight games in league play, will allow themselves to lose in the debut of their new field and with coach John Nowak being sidelined after bypass surgery. The players know that if they would lose tonight, Nowak would get out of his bed and whoop their tail by Saturday.

You can never underestimate the heart of a De Pere team, though. We’ve seen the Birds win too many big games. But they are breaking in a few players at key spots, and it will take some time. Unless they win. Then it didn’t take much time at all.

Notre Dame is the pick.



West De Pere at Seymour

We shouldn’t pick against West De Pere. We shouldn’t pick against West De Pere. We shouldn’t pick against West De Pere.

But we are going to. We’ve always believed that until somebody beats West De Pere, you have to keep picking the Phantoms. But there always is a time for a changing of the guard. This might be that time.

The Thunder has so many key players back from last season, and this one is at home. As long as it doesn't get behind early and fall apart, the Thunder is about to make a major statement.



Green Bay East vs. Green Bay West

The Red Devils have controlled this series recently, having won the last 11 meetings.

But something is going on with the Wildcats right now. We think their new spread offense might cause the Red Devils some problems. At the same time, we can’t pick against an East team playing at home. It also beat West 41-13 last season.

There was some tense feelings at the end of that game, when we thought West coach Harry Sydney was going to attempt to strangle an East assistant coach. But we don’t have to revisit that here, even though we sort of just did.

Just know this: An MMA fight between Sydney and East coach Brian “Nasty” Nast would be a great draw for charity.



Kewaunee at Denmark

These two teams were old Packerland Conference rivals before Denmark moved to the Bay.

This always is a great game. Two great coaches. Two great fan bases. Two great bands. At least Kewaunee has a great band. We are not sure if Denmark has one. If it does, it’s great.

Like Seymour, the Vikings have some impact ballplayers coming back from last season. Of course, so does Kewaunee.

We are picking Denmark in this one.

(Blog note: Today starts the high-five program in which we are competing with Mantiowoc for blog commenter's high-fives. If you are a registered blog commenter, please just type in a high-five in the comment section so that Manty doesn't think it can beat the most powerful preps blog in the world. Thank you.)

David "Digger" Schlough, one of the most famous umpires in the area, has been named a general manager in the Blog's Fantasy Football League.

Schlough takes over Team Offensive Line, a team that originally was organized by Bridfan5000.

"Well, let's see how I can do," said Schlough, who also changed his team name to "The Ump."

His picks are as follows:

Green Bay Notre Dame quarterback
Wrightstown running back
West De Pere receiving
Denmark kicking
Green Bay Southwest defense
Pat Prochnow, Green Bay Preble

"Come on, Venci! I was patiently waiting for my turn to pick, and then as soon as I am at school and away from my computer, that's when you say free for all, and now my team is dead. Not cool."

-- Blog favorite T-Rep, Aug. 25, 2008


Update: FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW! FREE FOR ALL BEGINS NOW!

Please feel free to make your remaining picks in the comment section at any time. You slow fools.


Let the train wreck begin.

The best thing about the Blog’s fantasy football high school league is that it’s the best league in the nation.

The worst thing about it is that the draft takes a looooonnng time.

Take last year, when it moved so slow through the first three or four days that the general managers around the league started to get upset. So, we made it a free for all, with teams getting to take whoever they wanted and perhaps not caring about the draft order.

It upset blog favorite T-Rep, who patiently was waiting to make his picks but had to leave for a while, only to come back and see that every position had basically been drafted.

That might happen again this year. We hope to have all the teams filled by next Wednesday. If not, well, T-Rep doesn’t want to know.

Good luck to all.

Drew Rosenbaum now on the clock. Please place your selection in the comment section.

All positions must be from the Fox River Classic, Bay or Packerland/Olympian.

Draft list
1 quarterback position
1 running back position
1 wide receiver position
1 defense
1 kicking game
1 coach

First round

1. The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble running game
2. GBEast6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame running game
3. Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc passing game
4. Evandad’s Evergreens -- Seymour running game
5. Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere running game
6. The Wellens Run -- Oconto running game
7. ND All The Way -- De Pere running game
8. A. Kros The Field -- Bay Port running game
9. Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee running game
10. Turny’s Terriors -- Denmark running game
11. Team Offensive Line --
12. 12x Bay Conference champions -- Seymour passing game

Second round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Ashwaubenon running game
Team Offensive Line --
Turny’s Terriors -- Kewaunee passing game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Manitowoc receiving game
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere receiving game
ND All The Way -- Kewaunee receiving game
The Wellens Run -- De Pere passing game
Liverpool Reds -- Ashwaubenon's receiving game
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Oconto passing game
Free Mr. Clark -- Hilbert running game
GB East6 -- Ashwaubenon passing game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay passing

Third round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Sturgeon Bay receiving
GBEast6 -- Green Bay Preble defense
Free Mr. Clark -- Brillion defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Gibraltar receiving
Liverpool Reds -- Algoma passing game
The Wellens Run -- West De Pere defense
ND All The Way -- Notre Dame defense
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere defense
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Southern Door passing
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon defense
Team Offensive Line --
12x Bay Conference champions -- Bay Port receiving

Fourth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Bill Turnquist, West De Pere
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Bill Ehnerd and Steve Klister, Wrightstown
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Kewaunee kicking game
A. Kros The Field -- Brian Rabas, De Pere
ND All The Way -- Gibraltar passing
The Wellens Run -- Mike Breckheimer, Hilbert
Liverpool Reds -- Bay Port defense
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Mark Jonas, Ashwaubenon
Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc Lutheran kicking game
GB East6 -- Green Bay Notre Dame kicking game
The Phenomenal Ones -- Kurt Flaten, Kewaunee

Fifth round

The Phenomenal Ones -- Green Bay Preble kicking game
GBEast6 -- Algoma receiving
Free Mr. Clark -- Manitowoc Roncalli receiving
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Denmark defense
Liverpool Reds -- Mike Williquette, Bay Port
The Wellens Run -- Sheboygan South receiving
ND All The Way -- John Nowak and Notre Dame staff
A. Kros The Field -- De Pere kicking game
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Mike Snowberry, L-C
Turny’s Terriors -- Ashwaubenon kicking
Team Offensive Line
12x Bay Conference champions -- Brillion kicker

Sixth round

12x Bay Conference champions -- Hortonville defense
Team Offensive Line
Turny’s Terriors -- Green Bay Notre Dame receiving
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes -- Algoma defense
A. Kros The Field -- Green Bay Southwest passing
ND All The Way -- Seymour kicking game
The Wellens Run -- Bay Port kicking
Liverpool Reds -- West De Pere kicking
Evandad’s Evergreens -- Green Bay East kicking game
Free Mr. Clark -- Pete Kittel, Brillion
GB East6 -- Brian Nast, Green Bay East
The Phenomenal Ones -- Kewaunee defense

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

(Blog note: If you could give a high-five, that would be awesome)

One down, eight to go.

The prep football season literally opened with a bang last Friday, with several games delayed due to lightning.

We are both happy and pleased to report that Weston Lee Hod nor anyone in his family was struck by any type of electricity.

Once the games got going, there were plenty of notable performances and big moments.

As we often like to do, it’s time to give some area players some kudos.

The high-five

1. Alex Laepp, Ashwaubenon

At least for one night, Laepp made the Jaguars faithful forget about Aaron Stecker. While the school likely won’t be retiring Laepp’s number any time soon, he busted out of the gate with 101 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-0 win over Sheboygan North.

While the competition will get a bit tougher in the coming weeks, Laepp had a game to remember.

2. Alex Griepentrog, De Pere

We have no chance to ever pronounce AG’s last name correctly. None.

But watching the film, the quarterback showed a rifle arm in the Redbirds’ 22-20 win over Green Bay Notre Dame. Not since Brent Jorgensen last season have we seen an arm this good.

De Pere coach Brian Rabas told us in training camp that while his team may not throw as much as they did last year, airing the ball out would still be part of the offense. We now see why.

AG threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winner to Camden "Lake" Eure as time expired. Horrible nickname we just gave Eure. Wow.

3. David Ihlenfeldt, Green Bay Notre Dame

The little cousin of former Notre Dame star Steven Denis, Ihlenfeldt entered the season considered one of the best running backs in the 12-team Fox River Classic Conference. He didn’t diminish those expectations against De Pere, rushing for 261 yards on 39 carries and scoring two TDs.

4. Tyler Mosupye, Green Bay West

We’ve said it before, and we will say it again: Mosupye reminds us of a young Randall Cunningham.

The guy was all over the place in the Wildcats’ 28-21 overtime win against Green Bay East, rushing for two touchdowns and finding Kyle Vesser for a 34-yard TD strike.

The spread offense is suited to Mosupye’s skills. This kid could be a stud by the end of the season.

5. Craig Kirchman, Algoma

The Wolves could win the Packerland/Olympian-Small title this season, and Kirchman would be a big reason why. The standout returned a punt 68 yards for a TD and also scored on a 63-yard TD run to spark the Wolves to a 20-6 win over Hilbert.




Blog Kudos of the Week


Green Bay Southwest defense

The Trojans were able to keep Preble out of the end zone in their 7-3 win. At this rate, Southwest would allow just 27 points total this season. That likely would put the Trojans back in the playoffs for a second straight season.

Brian Rabas, De Pere

This Redbirds squad was supposed to be down in 2009, but Rabas and his bunch scored a big upset with its victory over the Tritons.

We’ve thought the young Rabas was a good coach from the moment we saw him last season, and that has not changed. For the record, the old Rabas was a pretty darn good coach, too. For the record, the oldest Rabas might have been the best coach in the entire family.

Bottom line? The Rabas family knows how to coach up a team.

Offensive lines

There are plenty of big running performances every week, and although it’s clichй to mention this, don’t forget that it’s because of the offensive lines that the RB’s can enjoy the success they do. Kudos to the big dudes up front.




Facts of the Week


Fact of the Week 1

Although Notre Dame lost to the Redbirds, its record 13-game conference winning streak still is intact. As you all know, all the season openers in the FRCC were considered non-conference showdowns.


Fact of the Week 2

The Tritons' Joseph Weiss, who has read every blog entry since our inception except for the soccer ones, caught a 29-yard TD pass against the Redbirds.

Fact of the Week 3

The first two facts of the week were about Notre Dame. That will not make some people happy.

Fact of the Week 4

Kewaunee and Alogma will meet for the 117th time on Friday in a series that dates back to 1899. The Indians lead the all-time series 69-40-7.

Fact of the Week 5

Green Bay West beat Green Bay East for the first time in 12 years with its 28-21 win on Friday.

Close friends of Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker recently have expressed concern about the behavior of the beloved coach.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married on November 7th to some chick he recently proposed to.... Strike the chick part. We get yelled at sometimes for that.

Becker, who is scheduled to get married to some hottie he recently proposed to, already is starting to let his woman run over him much like Mike Bettiga – the father of former Blog basketball player of the year Kate Bettiga – does.

The difference?

Bettiga makes major coin, has an office the size of most houses and once had Joe Theismann over for dinner.

Becker doesn’t have an office, often gets his butt kicked by Green Bay Notre Dame coach Bob Rickards and has to impress the ladies with some cheap rendition of an "Air Supply" song in which he belts out that he’s all out of love as a way to get them to feel sympathetic. It often follows with a hug and a marriage.

According to sources, Becker recently gave in to his fiancee, not only allowing her to move into his estate in West De Pere but also letting her demolish his University of North Carolina theme bathroom.

Becker is a huge Tar Heels fan and actually sports a real tattoo to honor the school.

“Well, I have the whole basement rec room area with the ping pong table, the big screen TV, the video games, the dart board,” Becker said. “It’s plastered with (North Carolina) pictures and stickers, bandannas and blankets.

“(The bathroom) was easy to give up.”

Whatever, sissy.

Becker sounded like a washed-up prizefighter who’s taken a few too many shots to the head, although it’s more likely a few too many losses to Rickards.

Becker and his bride recently registered for their wedding – i.e., told people where to buy them stuff whether they are attending the wedding or not – at places such as Kohl's.

While there, the happy couple found a new bathroom arrangement that both appeared to agree on. But it was more likely the woman telling Becker that he liked it.

If the wife says something, that’s the way it goes. We’ve seen this before, a hundred times over. Like the time we were talking to former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson and his wife started yelling at him for leaving all the lights on in the house.

You think he left the lights on? Ah, no. They were turned off faster than it takes Ken Golomksi to get a dollar bill out of his wallet while at a cheap club in Vegas.

“It’s not girly at all,” said Becker, who recently was caught on tape singing “Edith the Elephant.” “It.....it works. It’s very contemporary.

“The shower curtain has all of these circles on it.”

Well then.

“I have won other battles in the house,” Becker insisted. “As I’ve learned, a happy wife means a happy life. So, I’m starting it a little early.

“There are certain things that she really, really wants that I can’t stand, so I’ve vetoed certain things. This thing is a mini-battle that really didn’t bother me. There are no flowers, no girly stuff.”

For one second, we actually had no problem with Becker. We even respected him and appreciated the fact that he was compromising with the love of his life.

We’ve always been told a marriage is about two people who love each other compromising things to make the other happy, which apparently in some cases means that you have to go see “Hannah Montana” at your local theatre.

That’s all cool. And if Becker would have just stopped there, we would have been fine. But he had to add something at the end. He just had to.

“Unfortunately, since I don’t have a summer job, we have been watching a lot of designing shows on TV,” Becker said. “There....."

We’re out. We’re done with this.

Cue Edith.

(Blog note: If you could give a high-five, that would be awesome)

One down, eight to go.

The prep football season literally opened with a bang last Friday, with several games delayed due to lightning.

We are both happy and pleased to report that Weston Lee Hod nor anyone in his family was struck by any type of electricity.

Once the games got going, there were plenty of notable performances and big moments.

As we often like to do, it’s time to give some area players some kudos.

The high-five

1. Alex Lepp, Ashwaubenon

At least for one night, Lepp made the Jaguars faithful forget about Aaron Stecker. While the school likely won’t be retiring Laepp’s number any time soon, he busted out of the gate with 101 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-0 win over Sheboygan North.

While the competition will get a bit tougher in the coming weeks, Lepp had a game to remember.

2. Alex Griepentrog, De Pere

We have no chance to ever pronounce AG’s last name correctly. None.

But watching the film, the quarterback showed a rifle arm in the Redbirds’ 22-20 win over Green Bay Notre Dame. Not since Brent Jorgensen last season have we seen an arm this good.

De Pere coach Brian Rabas told us in training camp that while his team may not throw as much as they did last year, airing the ball out would still be part of the offense. We now see why.

AG threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winner to Camden "Lake" Eure as time expired. Horrible nickname we just gave Eure. Wow.

3. David Ihlenfeldt, Green Bay Notre Dame

The little cousin of former Notre Dame star Steven Denis, Ihlenfeldt entered the season considered one of the best running backs in the 12-team Fox River Classic Conference. He didn’t diminish those expectations against De Pere, rushing for 261 yards on 39 carries and scoring two TDs.

4. Tyler Mosupye, Green Bay West

We’ve said it before, and we will say it again: Mosupye reminds us of a young Randall Cunningham.

The guy was all over the place in the Wildcats’ 28-21 overtime win against Green Bay East, rushing for two touchdowns and finding Kyle Vesser for a 34-yard TD strike.

The spread offense is suited to Mosupye’s skills. This kid could be a stud by the end of the season.

5. Craig Kirchman, Algoma

The Wolves could win the Packerland/Olympian-Small title this season, and Kirchman would be a big reason why. The standout returned a punt 68 yards for a TD and also scored on a 63-yard TD run to spark the Wolves to a 20-6 win over Hilbert.




Blog Kudos of the Week


Green Bay Southwest defense

The Trojans were able to keep Preble out of the end zone in their 7-3 win. At this rate, Southwest would allow just 27 points total this season. That likely would put the Trojans back in the playoffs for a second straight season.

Brian Rabas, De Pere

This Redbirds squad was supposed to be down in 2009, but Rabas and his bunch scored a big upset with its victory over the Tritons.

We’ve thought the young Rabas was a good coach from the moment we saw him last season, and that has not changed. For the record, the old Rabas was a pretty darn good coach, too. For the record, the oldest Rabas might have been the best coach in the entire family.

Bottom line? The Rabas family knows how to coach up a team.

Offensive lines

There are plenty of big running performances every week, and although it’s clichй to mention this, don’t forget that it’s because of the offensive lines that the RB’s can enjoy the success they do. Kudos to the big dudes up front.




Facts of the Week


Fact of the Week 1

Although Notre Dame lost to the Redbirds, its record 13-game conference winning streak still is intact. As you all know, all the season openers in the FRCC were considered non-conference showdowns.


Fact of the Week 2

The Tritons' Joseph Weiss, who has read every blog entry since our inception except for the soccer ones, caught a 29-yard TD pass against the Redbirds.

Fact of the Week 3

The first two facts of the week were about Notre Dame. That will not make some people happy.

Fact of the Week 4

Kewaunee and Alogma will meet for the 117th time on Friday in a series that dates back to 1899. The Indians lead the all-time series 69-40-7.

Fact of the Week 5

Green Bay West beat Green Bay East for the first time in 12 years with its 28-21 win on Friday.

In what was supposed to be a joyous Blog day on Wednesday – we announced the premiere of a new prep show on the Green Bay Press-Gazette website – instead turned into a nightmare.

But to fully understand, we quickly need to take you back to our high school years.

Picture this if you will: The Blog is taking a Spanish test at Green Bay East one afternoon around April or May. Spanish was a rough subject for us, and we will admit, we had panicked even before entering the classroom that day.

So, before class we took the time to write answers on the back of our hand. Not a good idea, and we don't endorse cheating on here.

Anyway, Mrs. Robokoff must have seen us sneaking a peek during the test, because she approached our desk and asked to see our hand. We turned it over, and there was ink and words all over the place.

Garcias. Mundo. Gente. You name it, it was on there.

“Give me your test, and go wash your hands, Jose,” Robokoff said.

It was a horrible momento for Jose. Which translates to “It was a horrible moment.”

You feel really weird and a bit dirty after being caught cheating on a test.

We hadn’t had that feeling again until Wednesday, when the executive editor of the Press-Gazette approached our desk. To put that in context, it’s like being a scrub on the Yankees and having George Steinbrenner come talk to you.

He wanted to know about this sponsorship thing we had with the Puddle Duck. We told him our sponsorship was just for fun.

He didn’t laugh.

“Get it off of there,” he said, adding that the advertising department was not overly pleased after leaning that we had gotten our own sponsorship.

We were embarrassed. We were scared. We were confused.

Truth is, we probably should have known going out and getting our own sponsor wasn’t the way they do things in the real world. We probably should have known that we weren’t supposed to draw up our own contracts, even if we made sure everyone knew they were fake. We probably should have known that after the fake contract was signed, that we shouldn’t have leaped to hug the person who signed it.

It had always been our dream to have a sponsor. When we finally found a good fit, we went for it.

The Puddle Duck, owned by the sister duo of Connie and Linda, were warm and inviting. For all the blog owners – including Ombudsman Corey Wilson who owns 48.5 percent of this place -- it just seemed right.


We were proud to say we had a sponsor. We liked to throw it in the face of other Blog’s, most notably the one run by Steve Clark in Manitowoc. We have a sponsor, we would say, and you don’t.

But we no longer have a sponsor. You no longer will see a Puddle Duck reference at the end of our blog entries.

We were in the wrong and take full responsibility for our actions.

We also need to make some apologies before we move forward.

Blog readers: You have all given us a great deal of support, and we are sorry for any embarrassment this might cause you. Without you, we are nothing. We will work day and night to regain your trust.

The Press-Gazette sports staff: Our work reflects on all of you. We most apologize to our boss, Mike Vandermause, who has been nothing but supportive of us during our time at the paper. We don’t apologize as much to Weston Lee Hod, because he embarrassed himself far worse than this by seeing “Hannah Montana.”

The Press-Gazette advertising department: It might be a stereotype to say this, but all of you are great-looking people. You do a top-notch job, and none of you need help selling ads and sponsorships. From now on, we will leave this to you guys and gals.

We also want to take the time to apologize to a number of prep personalties:

Sorry to...... Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker for always showing the video of you singing “Edith the Elephant” and making fun of you for never being able to beat a Bob Rickards team.

Sorry to....... Mike Bettiga for always saying that your wife runs over you.

Sorry to..... former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson for telling everybody that your wife yelled at you for leaving all the lights on in the house.

Sorry to ... Green Bay East football coach Brian “Nasty” Nast for once showing a big picture of your face on a popsicle stick that former East star Marc Shield made. Shield should apolgoize too, though.

Sorry to..... Blog Hall of Famer Ken Golomski for always telling people what you do with that stack of dollar bills when you go to Vegas with your brothers.

Sorry to....Former Bay Port standout Jake Hottenstine for telling everyone you couldn’t shoot free throws and then showing them documented evidence of it.

Sorry to ....Bay Port basketball coach Nate Rykal for always calling you “90210" and making Brandon Walsh and Dylan McKay comments in every blog story about you.

Sorry to. ....East softball coach Tim Zimdars for telling everybody that you called us a jack(butt).

Sorry to ... former De Pere girls basketball coach Dave Johnson for telling everybody that you were caught eating a gas station hot dog and calling you the Sausage King of the Midwest in every blog after that.

Sorry to......Former Green Bay East baseball player Brian Ellison for always saying that you have vertigo and tip over while playing in the field, and that you once grabbed your arm in fake pain because you overthrew the first baseman by 10 feet on a potential double play ball.

We also are sorry to the Puddle Duck, which got caught up in this mess with us.

The Duck, however, was kind enough to send us a statement after we informed them of the news:

As important as this sponsorship was to us, we had to take a step back and say,"Can we as a business devote as much time to this Blog as it deserves?

I had to hire an additional staff member to act as our agent, especially during the on-going *high five* contest. It was a fabulous run while it lasted. We feel it a privilege to help raise and dress all those future prep athletes and will continue to support the Blog in every way possible. This comes from our heart. Thank you Blog and thank you readers.

Connie and Linda, everyone. Both are bueno personas.

So, again, we are sorry for any pain this has caused. We do not want a high-five for this blog entry, as we don’t deserve it. OK. Fine. Maybe just give us a couple.

High-five contest update
Green Bay 64
Manitowoc 12
Days remaining: 55

It’s a non-Blog venture, but it doesn’t mean we still aren’t excited about it.

The Blog’s sister publication, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, has commissioned a new preps show this season called “Preps on Demand.”

"Hannah Montana" fan Weston Lee Hod and the Blog are co-hosts in the gig, with Ombudsman Corey Wilson as the top-notch producer.

We all feel this is a great way to feature players and coaches and sort of keep you updated on what’s happening in the area.

"I'm hoping that this new production has some flavorful content that will both entertain and inform viewers about their local teams, players and coaches," Wilson said. "And if the show is cancelled for any reason in the near future, I'm sure they will find something else for me to do."

There was a premiere of the first episode earlier this morning at a launch party, and now the show can be viewed on the Press-Gazette website. We have provided a link for you so that you don’t have to attempt to find it. Just copy and paste that bad boy.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090902/GPG0205/90901143&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL&template=mogulus

The first week is filled with stars, notably Seymour football coach Matt Molle and Bay Port athletic director Otis “Don’t call me Dennis” Chambers.

Molle discusses the Thunder's big win over West De De Pere in a season opener, defends Seymour as the official hamburger capital of the world and tells our viewers whether he cried tears of joy after arriving home on Friday night from the big win.

Chambers, meanwhile, took part in our first ever “Five for the Program” promotion, in which we challenge a local athlete, coach or AD to a contest. If we lose, we donate $5 to that school’s program.

The original contest was to tell De Pere athletic director Jeff Byczek five jokes to see if we could get him to laugh or smile. Byczek declined the invite and told us to go to Ashwaubenon athletic director David Paul Steavpack.

David Paul Steavpack declined and said we should check with Chambers, the Fox River Classic Conference commissioner.

Chambers agreed. We told him five (stupid) jokes about Byczek. Did he laugh? Did he not laugh?

Tune in and find out. Or don’t. Either way, kudos to you for being a good person. If you get a chance, tell someone you love them today.

Before the 2009 Blog High School Fantasy Football season began last week, Ombudsman Corey Wilson told a group of reporters that his pick to win the first ever Blog Bowl was long-time area fan Jeff Ash.

Wilson went as far as to say Ash is one of the most knowledgeable prep minds in Green Bay.

Looks like Wilson might be right.

Ash and his Evandad's Evergreens scored the second-highest point total in Week 1, defeating Marc Shield and GBEast 6 in a 51-18 win.

The win wasn't without its controversy, though. After the game, Ash had a few choice words that didn't go over well with everybody.

"Coaches are overrated," said Ash, although nobody had asked him. "Didn't see any coaches score touchdowns."

The reaction from league fans wasn't overly positive for Ash. One even called him a loser.

"My dad coached high school basketball for 22 years and I saw first hand the impact he had on hundreds of kids lives," said a fan that wrote into the Blog. "Our family admired the hard work and long hours he put in so me and my sister could go to college.

"Loser."

See, we told you.

While Ash may not be making many fans, he certainly looks poised to do big things this season.

There is no word yet on whether Ash will face a fine or possible suspension for his comments. The Blog advocates the work high school coaches do, and we may have to go Roger Goodell on him.

Anyway, kudos to all Week 1 winners, including Andrew Rosenbaum. The former De Pere graduate scored a league-high 52 points.


Week 1 scores

Free Mr. Clark 39
Phenomenal Ones 27


Evandad's Evergreens 51
GBEast6 18


Wellens Run 35
Liverpool Reds 32


Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes 39
ND All The Way 25


12x Bay Conference champions 39
The Ump 18


A. Kros The Field 52
Turny’s Terriors 36


Meredith Salenger Division

12x Bay Conference Champs 1-0
A. Kros the Field 1-0
Turny’s Terriors 0-1
GBEast6 0-1
NDA All The Way 0-1
Liverpool Reds 0-1


Laura Hawk Division

Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes 1-0
Free Mr. Clark 1-0
The Wellens Run 1-0
Evandad’s Evergreens 1-0
The Ump 0-1
The Phenomenal Ones 0-1

Week 2 schedule

Phenomenal Ones vs. Liverpool Reds
GBEast6 vs. Wellens Run
Free Mr. Clark vs. Evandad’s Evergreens
ND All The Way vs. Team Offensive Line
Kros The Field vs. 12x Bay Conference champions
Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes vs. Turny’s Terriors


Week 1 point totals for each team


The Phenomenal Ones (27)
QB: Sturgeon Bay (6)
RB: Preble (0)
WR: Sturgeon Bay(6)
K: Preble (3)
D: Kewaunee (6)
Coach: Kurt Flaten (6)

GBEast6 (18)
QB: Ashwaubenon (6)
RB: Notre Dame (12)
WR: Algoma (0)
K: Notre Dame (0)
D: Preble (0)
Coach: Brian Nast (0)

Free Mr. Clark (39)
QB: Manitowoc (12)
RB: Hilbert (6)
WR: Manitowoc Roncalli (6)
K: Manitowoc Lutheran (3)
D: Brillion (6)
Coach: Pete Kittel (6)

Evandad’s Evergreens (51)
QB: Oconto (18)
RB: Seymour (18)
WR: Gibraltar (6)
K: East (3)
D: Denmark (0)
Coach: Mark Jonas (6)

Liverpool Reds (32)
QB: Algoma (0)
RB: West De Pere (12)
WR: Ashwaubenon (6)
K: West De Pere (8)
D: Bay Port (0)
Coach: Mike Williquette (6)

The Wellens Run (35)
QB: De Pere (12)
RB: Oconto (12)
WR: Sheboygan South (6)
K: Bay Port (5)
D: West De Pere (0)
Coach: Mike Breckheimer, Hilbert (0)

ND All The Way (25)
QB: Gibraltar (6)
RB: De Pere (0)
WR: Kewaunee (18)
K: Seymour (1)
D: Notre Dame (0)
Coach: John Nowak (0)

A. Kros The Field (52)
QB: Southwest (0)
RB: Bay Port (30)
WR: De Pere (12)
K: De Pere (4)
D: De Pere (0)
Coach: Brian Rabas (6)

Lakeshore Lawn Gnomes (39)
QB: Southern Door (12)
RB: Kewaunee (6)
WR: Manitowoc (12)
K: Kewaunee (3)
D: Algoma (0)
Coach: Mike Snowberry (6)

Turny’s Terriors (36)
QB: Kewaunee (18)
RB: Denmark (0)
WR: Notre Dame (6)
K: Ashwaubenon (6)
D: Ashwaubenon (6)
Coach: Wrightstown (0)

The Ump (18)
QB: Notre Dame (6)
RB: Wrightstown (6)
WR: West De Pere (0)
K: Denmark (0)
D: Southwest (6)
Coach: Pat Prochnow (0)

12x Bay Conference champions (39)
QB: Seymour (6)
RB: Ashwaubenon (30)
WR: Bay Port (0)
K: Brillion (3)
D: Hortonville (0)
Coach: Bill Turnquist (0)

High-five update
Green Bay 77
Manitowoc 15

Days remaining: 54

Note: Clark has added a few people to his high-five list, including former Press-Gazette employee Bill Huber. Huber liked to take shots behind our back, so he may recruit a few others to the Manty blog. Be warned.

It might not be the biggest game on the high school football schedule this week, but it will be the most historical one.

And since we love history, we encourage anybody not going to some other game to attend the Algoma at Kewaunee showdown on Friday.

It will be the 117th meeting between the two teams, and it will be the last one for a while now that the Packerland/Olympian-Small will add N.E.W. Lutheran in 2010 to form a 10-team league with Algoma and eight other squads. It will eliminate the possibility of playing a game against the Indians.

We have never seen an Algoma-Kewaunee game, but from what we hear, it’s epic.

Mayheu vs. Rabas. Flaten vs. Vandervest.

No rivalry has been this heated since the Greasers took on the Socs.

“It’s been a huge rivalry,” Kewaunee coach Kurt Flaten confirmed. “I think both teams, there is such a rivalry – a friendly rivalry – between the two towns, not just in football but everything.

“There is a lot of friendly bantering that goes on. The football game traditionally has been the center of the rivalry between the two towns.”

Good luck to both teams and towns.

Perhaps after this game, for the first time ever, the people from Algoma and Kewaunee can unite and go get something to eat at the same place, perhaps sharing old stories about the rivalry and giving each other compliments.

What: Algoma vs. Kewaunee
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Kewaunee

The 116 previous games (this is provided by Kewaunee. So, the L’s are Algoma wins and the W’s are Kewaunee’s. The Indians lead the all-time series 69-40-7.

1899 L 17 – 5
1900 W 12 – 0
1901 W 17 – 2
1902 L 0 – 6
1903 W 6 – 0
1904 L 55 – 0
1905 W 5 – 0
1906 L 0 – 11
1909 W 15 – 5
1909 L 0 – 5
1909 T 0 – 0
1910 T 0 – 0
1910 W 10 – 5
1911 L 5 – 17
1912 L 7 – 16
1912 W 30 – 6
1913 W 12 – 0
1913 L 7 – 14
1914 W 45 – 0
1915 L 0 – 21
1915 L 0 – 7
1916 T 0 – 0
1916 T 0 – 0
1917 W 72 – 0
1917 W 90 – 0
1919 L 6 – 14
1919 W 19 – 7
1920 W 12 – 7
1920 W 39 – 7
1921 W 40 – 14
1923 T 0 – 0
1924 L 6 – 7
1925 L 0 – 50
1926 L 23 – 8
1927 W 16 – 6
1928 W 35 – 0
1929 W 39 – 0
1930 W 35 – 6
1931 W 19 – 0
1932 W 20 – 0
1933 W 13 – 0
1934 W 3 – 0
1935 W 33 – 0
1936 W 27 – 0
1937 W 20 – 0
1938 W 33 – 13
1939 W 19 – 12
1940 W 12 – 0
1941 L 0 – 12
1942 W 19 – 14
1943 W 33 – 7
1943 W 48 – 0
1944 W 6 – 0
1945 W 6 – 0
1946 L 25 – 0
1947 W 19 – 0
1948 L 0 – 20
1949 T 13 – 13
1950 W 12 – 0
1951 W 25 – 14
1952 L 13 – 26
1953 L 0 – 20
1954 L 20 – 25
1955 L 13 – 14
1956 L 0 – 34
1957 L 0 – 19
1958 L 7 – 31
1959 L 0 – 32
1960 L 0 – 20
1963 W 7 – 6
1964 T 6 – 6
1965 W 26 – 0
1966 W 18 – 0
1967 W 20 – 7
1968 W 35 – 7
1969 W 22 – 0
1970 W 49 – 8
1971 W 13 – 12
1972 W 37 – 7
1973 W 7 – 3
1974 L 7 – 20
1975 W 31 – 0
1976 W 10 – 0
1977 L 14 – 16
1978 L 6 – 47
1979 W 6 – 0
1980 W 21 – 7
1981 L 0 – 27
1982 L 6 – 7
1983 L 0 – 3
1984 L 0 – 3 OT
1985 W 7 – 6
1986 W 34 – 0
1987 L 0 – 14
1988 W 14 – 7
1989 W 22 – 6
1990 W 46 – 0
1991 W 14 – 0
1992 L 12 – 14
1993 L 0 – 21
1994 L 7 – 12
1995 W 24 – 13
1996 W 35 – 12
1997 L 16 – 21
1998 L 6 – 34
1999 W 13 – 8
2000 W 18 – 13
2001 W 22 – 20 OT
*2001 W 21 - 6
2002 W 32 – 14
2003 L 14 – 31
2004 W 24 – 0
2005 W 46 - 7
2006 W 35 – 0
2007 W 42-7
2008 W 38-14

In what was supposed to be a joyous Blog day on Wednesday – we announced the premiere of a new prep show on the Green Bay Press-Gazette website – instead turned into a nightmare.

But to fully understand, we quickly need to take you back to our high school years.

Picture this if you will: The Blog is taking a Spanish test at Green Bay East one afternoon around April or May. Spanish was a rough subject for us, and we will admit, we had panicked even before entering the classroom that day.

So, before class we took the time to write answers on the back of our hand. Not a good idea, and we don't endorse cheating on here.

Anyway, Mrs. Robokoff must have seen us sneaking a peek during the test, because she approached our desk and asked to see our hand. We turned it over, and there was ink and words all over the place.

Garcias. Mundo. Gente. You name it, it was on there.

“Give me your test, and go wash your hands, Jose,” Robokoff said.

It was a horrible momento for Jose. Which translates to “It was a horrible moment.”

You feel really weird and a bit dirty after being caught cheating on a test.

We hadn’t had that feeling again until Wednesday, when the executive editor of the Press-Gazette approached our desk. To put that in context, it’s like being a scrub on the Yankees and having George Steinbrenner come talk to you.

He wanted to know about this sponsorship thing we had with the Puddle Duck. We told him our sponsorship was just for fun.

He didn’t laugh.

“Get it off of there,” he said, adding that the advertising department was not overly pleased after leaning that we had gotten our own sponsorship.

We were embarrassed. We were scared. We were confused.

Truth is, we probably should have known going out and getting our own sponsor wasn’t the way they do things in the real world. We probably should have known that we weren’t supposed to draw up our own contracts, even if we made sure everyone knew they were fake. We probably should have known that after the fake contract was signed, that we shouldn’t have leaped to hug the person who signed it.

It had always been our dream to have a sponsor. When we finally found a good fit, we went for it.

The Puddle Duck, owned by the sister duo of Connie and Linda, were warm and inviting. For all the blog owners – including Ombudsman Corey Wilson who owns 48.5 percent of this place -- it just seemed right.


We were proud to say we had a sponsor. We liked to throw it in the face of other Blog’s, most notably the one run by Steve Clark in Manitowoc. We have a sponsor, we would say, and you don’t.

But we no longer have a sponsor. You no longer will see a Puddle Duck reference at the end of our blog entries.

We were in the wrong and take full responsibility for our actions.

We also need to make some apologies before we move forward.

Blog readers: You have all given us a great deal of support, and we are sorry for any embarrassment this might cause you. Without you, we are nothing. We will work day and night to regain your trust.

The Press-Gazette sports staff: Our work reflects on all of you. We most apologize to our boss, Mike Vandermause, who has been nothing but supportive of us during our time at the paper. We don’t apologize as much to Weston Lee Hod, because he embarrassed himself far worse than this by seeing “Hannah Montana.”

The Press-Gazette advertising department: It might be a stereotype to say this, but all of you are great-looking people. You do a top-notch job, and none of you need help selling ads and sponsorships. From now on, we will leave this to you guys and gals.

We also want to take the time to apologize to a number of prep personalties:

Sorry to...... Green Bay Preble soccer coach Chris Becker for always showing the video of you singing “Edith the Elephant” and making fun of you for never being able to beat a Bob Rickards team.

Sorry to....... Mike Bettiga for always saying that your wife runs over you.

Sorry to..... former Ashwaubenon football coach Larry Nelson for telling everybody that your wife yelled at you for leaving all the lights on in the house.

Sorry to ... Green Bay East football coach Brian “Nasty” Nast for once showing a big picture of your face on a popsicle stick that former East star Marc Shield made. Shield should apolgoize too, though.

Sorry to..... Blog Hall of Famer Ken Golomski for always telling people what you do with that stack of dollar bills when you go to Vegas with your brothers.

Sorry to....Former Bay Port standout Jake Hottenstine for telling everyone you couldn’t shoot free throws and then showing them documented evidence of it.

Sorry to ....Bay Port basketball coach Nate Rykal for always calling you “90210" and making Brandon Walsh and Dylan McKay comments in every blog story about you.

Sorry to. ....East softball coach Tim Zimdars for telling everybody that you called us a jack(butt).

Sorry to ... former De Pere girls basketball coach Dave Johnson for telling everybody that you were caught eating a gas station hot dog and calling you the Hot Dog King of the Midwest in every blog after that.

Sorry to......Former Green Bay East baseball player Brian Ellison for always saying that you have vertigo and tip over while playing in the field, and that you once grabbed your arm in fake pain because you overthrew the first baseman by 10 feet on a potential double play ball.

We also are sorry to the Puddle Duck, which got caught up in this mess with us.

The Duck, however, was kind enough to send us a statement after we informed them of the news:

As important as this sponsorship was to us, we had to take a step back and say,"Can we as a business devote as much time to this Blog as it deserves?

I had to hire an additional staff member to act as our agent, especially during the on-going *high five* contest. It was a fabulous run while it lasted. We feel it a privilege to help raise and dress all those future prep athletes and will continue to support the Blog in every way possible. This comes from our heart. Thank you Blog and thank you readers.

Connie and Linda, everyone. Both are bueno personas.

So, again, we are sorry for any pain this has caused. We do not want a high-five for this blog entry, as we don’t deserve it. OK. Fine. Maybe just give us a couple.

High-five contest
Green Bay 99
Manitowoc 17
Days remaining: 53

It’s time to redeem ourselves after a 1-4 showing in Week 1 of the Blog’s football pick’em contest.

But the games are difficult in Week 2, which is why the winner of this week will receive two books along with a buck.

West De Pere wrestling coach David “Coach B” Bernarde is coming off a great first week, but he did not pick up either his dollar or his book at the Press-Gazette offices this week. So, it goes back into the pot.

Good luck to all.

Week 2 prize: $1, “Dreaming Baseball,” a novel by some dude named James T. Farrell and “The Road to Hockeytown” which is an autobiography of some guy named Jimmy Devellano’s 40 years in the NHL.

Games to pick

Ashwaubenon v. De Pere: We really don’t know who to pick. It could go either way. But we will pick the Jaguars just because they have won the last three regular-season meetings and ran the ball well in a Week 1 win over a rebuilding Sheboygan North team.

When the Blog says “Alex” you say “Lepp.”

But De Pere has its own Alex in Griepentrog, a strong-armed quarterback with a tough last name. So be careful who you pick.




Denmark at West De Pere: We didn’t pick the Phantoms last week, but we are going to pick them this week. They have too much talent and too much pride to start the season 0-2.

It’s a must-win for West De Pere if it wants to contend for the Bay Conference championship. The Vikings can be a very good team, so this won’t be easy.




Manitowoc at Green Bay Notre Dame: Two of the favorites in the Fox River Classic Conference clash in this one. The Ships are coming off a 20-19 win over Pulaski last week, while the Tritons were beaten on the final play of the game by De Pere.

We feel the Tritons running game will be more effective than a potent Manitowoc passing game.

Notre Dame gets the win.




Green Bay West at Sheboygan North: We liked what we saw of the Wildcats last week in their win over Green Bay East, and we are looking for them to start 2-0.

With Tyler Mosupye running the spread offense and Ryan Verdegan pounding the rock inside, West will be a little too much for the Golden Raiders. At least we think.




Bay Port at Green Bay Preble: It’s tough to imagine the Hornets falling to 0-2 to start the season, but the Pirates are a pretty darn good ballclub coming off a non-conference win over Sheboygan South last week.

The Hornets did not score a touchdown in a 7-3 loss to Green Bay Southwest. Until they prove they can put some points on the board, we’ve got to go with Bay Port here.

High-Five update
Green Bay 114
Manitowoc 19
Days remaining: 49

The Blog loves good causes. We love people who take the time for good causes. Simply put, we love good people.

Bay Port football player Jake Stadler would be one of those people.

He has joined the “A Pair & A Spare: Brown County’s Undercover Challenge” drive, which is a community wide collection of new socks and underwear for those in need. This year’s collection begins on Tuesday and goes through September 30.

Stadler has taken up the cause in Howard-Suamico. He has organized a challenge between the Bay Port and Pulaski football fans at this Friday’s game at Bay Port. Stadler wrote a letter to Pulaski High School with the official challenge.

“Fans will be asked to donate items to this worthy cause,” he said. “As we collect the donated items, we will be posting a mascot of either a Pirate or Red Raider. In addition, fans can show their support for their favorite player by writing the player’s number on the mascot.”

Stadler also wrote about the need for some socks and underwear for people who might be down on their luck.

“Did you know that new socks and new underwear are among the most requested and least donated items at thrift stores, school social worker and counselor offices and homeless shelters?” Stadler wrote. “Think about it. It makes perfect sense. In today’s throwaway society, few people ever donate used socks and literally no one (thankfully) ever donates used underwear to the very types of stores or agencies where those in need obtain their clothes.

"When faced with a limited budget that must go for food, shelter or medici