Dealey Plaza, the Cotton Bowl, and the New Cowboys Stadium

Hey UnderDs!  What’s good?  So the big 101D experiment is on the move again, up in Boston, Massachusetts this time to spend a snowy Holiday.  Everybody’s been talking about the big storms up there in the North East, while we were enjoying much more hospitable weather down in Texas.  Dallas was a fun town to explore for a few weeks, but it’s time to move on.  Gone are the BBQ joints, endless criss-crossing highways, cowboy hats, and an eerily quiet Dealey Plaza, where the former Texas School Book Depository still stands.  Our hotel was only a few blocks away from that infamous curve; brown picket fence, neatly trimmed grassy knoll, and ominous granite triple underpass all in such close proximity to one another.  The scene looks very much the same today as it looked that day in 1963; the way we remember those grainy photographs in the history books.   Of course today the Book Depository goes by another name and the six floor no longer houses school text, but rather a museum dedicated to the JFK legacy and its tragic and abrupt end that day in November.  I’d been to the museum a few times before and it is always stirring, saddening, and… frustrating.  This time was no exception, but I wanted to go again to see what was new, and to take Kisha of course. 

The sporting events side of things has taken a back seat lately to other more important matters.  For instance I decided (some might say, shockingly) against two straight opportunities to see the Mavericks play on consecutive Monday nights (our dark nights) and opted instead first for a night of Holiday Cookie Decorating at Kristen Beth Williams’ place (super DUPER fun and my first time ever), and second to shoot a Happy Hour Guys episode with the Great Jimmy Ludwig at a Beer Imporium called The Flying Saucer in downtown Ft Worth.  It was my first time taking the trip over (due west on I30) to the “sister-city” and I was impressed with their beautifully quaint and cultural downtown.  Now I understand why many people that I’ve met from the Ft Worth area throughout the years are careful to distinguish their city; “I am NOT from Dallas” :)

Our theatre was in Dallas; the Dallas Music Hall at Texas State Park, a fair-ground flush with a host of museums, theatres and cultural sites, Including the famous Cotton Bowl, with which we basically shared a parking lot  :)  And although I was unable to make it out to the new Cowboys stadium for a Sunday game against the San Diego Chargers, (again, 4 show weekends a killer for football watching :) I was able to take a tour the following Sunday, one day after the Cowboy’s impressive and improbable win against the previously undefeated New Orleans Saints.  Oh yes, the Cowboy Backers are beaming with confidence at the moment (a stark contrast from the week before when they rather unbelievably lost their 16th straight game in December!)

And oh MY, are they proud of their new stadium!!!  The New Cowboys Stadium, which, by the way, is the Largest structure of it’s kind on earth (and it also sports the largest HD TV in the world as well, for those that are interested in such things. Its almost TWICE as big as the second biggest.)  Well, I should say that some are proud of the new digs.  I was able to hang out one night with my friend Stacey Oristano who grew up just down the street in Arlington and was in town from LA for the Holidays (AND who’s father, Mark, has called Cowboy games on the radio for the last 30 years or so) and she expressed some embarrassment at the mention of the new stadium that screams of excess and impersonability.  She may have even used the term ‘monstrosity.’

I suppose that like Stacey, many lifelong cowboy fans have a significant emotional attachment to the old Texas Stadium (already reduced to rubble…  i.e. a brand spankin’ new parking lot! :) and will miss its little quirks and “flaws” while begrudgingly trying to accept their new uber sleek, utterly sterile, UFO space-station of a home.  At the old Texas Stadium they used to say that God was able to watch the games every Sunday through the hole in the roof (Apparently that actually IS what they used to teach in Sunday school, y’know if He didn’t have anything ELSE to do :)  My tour guide mentioned that at the new stadium though, even if the roof is opened, God would not be able to look down and see the game because of the enormous, afore-mentioned HD Video screen, hovering above the field.  Hmmmm, you think that’s worth the risk?  There’s no word yet on how the big man is taking the latest blow to his ego.  Although, one would think that He of all omnipotent beings would be able to see through the obstruction to watch a Cowboy game (if He were so inclined… or REclined… if He is like most typical NFL fans that I know, Ba-DUM CHiEEE!!!)  More realistically though, He has probably sprung for the NFL ticket in recent years enabling him to choose from a whole host of different games, which raises the question that I think we’ve all been secretly wondering about the NFL TV Package… does GOD get a discount?  Either way, to ease the minds and hearts of good Christian Cowboy fans, Jerry Jones had the old Cowboy STAR placed on TOP of the Thick HD Screen, so when God DOES look down through the hole in the roof, he can at least see the famous Silver Star of the Cowboys.  Oh well, I guess we all have to endure disappointment from time to time.  Oh, and check out Mark Oristano's new book A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football.  Funny Stuff!!!

While I was at the stadium, the grounds crew was breaking down the configuration from a Basketball game the previous night, when the UT Longhorns beat UNC 103-90, so the stadium can adapt to house almost any type of event (naturally including Monster Truck! :)  This year’s NBA all-star game will be there, as well as next years Superbowl, and starting this year the famous Cotton Bowl will no longer be played at... the Cotton Bowl.  For the first time since 1937 it will be played somewhere else.   Guess where!… Yup, that Giant UFO in Arlington.  The new order is here.  And Texas does it Bigger.  Get with it! :)

Boston is NExT... and a beautifully Snowy CHRISTMAS!!!
Catch ya soon on the UnderDogs :)
Thanks for reading!
Jeff

Detroit and Austin...

Welcome back to the Underdogs ladies and gentlemen. It's been a while, I know :) 
During our brief hiatus (inbetween posts) the 101D crew played Detroit (at the Fox Theatre, directly across the street from the Lions' And Tigers' stadiums, oh MY) and the great city of Austin Texas where the LongHorns rule, and the music scene is aLways pOppin! 

So chillin and "slackin" in Austin for Thanksgiving week was a whole lot of fun.  I got to hang out with my old friend Brian Snyder for the week while he showed us a lot of the local spots.  Aaaaaand for those of you that don't know... BumBumBumBUUUUMMM...  In an incredibly cooooL recent twist of fate, my girlfriend Lakisha booked a replacement role in the show and joined our tour in Detroit... (No indication yet on how much this development will effect my sports watching opportunities from town to town, although it is becoming clear that I don't own the remote control anymore :)  Aaaah, what a wONDerful problem to have!!! (Actually Kisha is usually very understanding and kind to me in this regard... AND, I daresay she even enJOYed herself on Friday night when we were fortunate enough to catch Kobe's Miracle Buzzerbeater to beat Miami by one in the StaplesCenter, All those Championship banners easily visable in the wideshot... Um, Lakers Banners, not Clippers... Incase there was any confusion ;) I mention this also because my availability to watch NBA games this year has been so limited, that i felt an odd satisfaction that night while actually watching a game LIVE... Breem, Jackson, and VanGundy on the call too! First time since June! Felt GooD... Anyway Austin was her first full week with the company, and we are HAPPY to HAVE her!!!  And by we I mean ME :)  Hi Kisha!!!

The last time I was in Austin, almost three years ago, I was able to go to my first ever NBA Developmental League game; the Austin Toros vs the Colorado 14ers. While watching that game I sparked up a conversation with some guy, who turned out to be David Kahn, one of the owners of the team, and former GM of the Indiana Pacers.  He asked me if I would write a testimonial for their website to promote the team and the fan experience, y'know, something like 500 words or so... I think I wrote 3000 :) anyway, you can read it here if you like. After the game, while with the Toros PR director Perri Travillion, I had the opportunity to meet Dennis Johnson, the great Boston Celtic point guard who was coaching the Toros at the time. Sadly, he died very unexpectedly shortly after that in February, following a practice.  While talking and laughing with Travillion in the parking lot, he suddenly collapsed and never regained consciousness. DJ was finally inducted, posthumously, to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 after years of being left out.  I'm currently reading Jackie MacMullan's book When the Game Was Ours about the great Magic Johnson/Larry Bird rivalry of the 70's and 80's, and in that book Magic says that DJ was the best defender he ever had to play against.   

This time around in Austin however there was no opportunity to see the Toros run or any UT sporting events while in town, but I am proud to say that some 101D cast members ran in the Annual Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot.  
(Um... I didn't run in the race, but I did root for my fellow 101peeps and cheered them on while they ran...  From my bed :)

ANYWAY, Currently we are in the Big D... Dallas, Texas for three weeks playing the Music Hall at Fair Park (right next to the Cotton Bowl!!!)  The Big 12 had their championship game here over the weekend, and those previously mentioned UT LongHorns from Austin squeeeeeeked past my boy Steve Barth's Nebraska Cornhuskers to claim a spot in the BCS Championship game... Against, who you ask?... the Alabama Crimson Tide. Ugh. The same Crimson Tide that Blasted my Gators in Atlanta this weekend in the SEC Championship. Ugh!  It was certainly a devistating loss for UF, and for our senior quarterback Tim Tebow, but it was also clear to every Gator watching that our arch-rivals really deserved it this time. There I said it. UGH!!! That was weird. Moving onnnn :)


The Plan for this weekend is to hopefully hit up the Dallas/San Diego game at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday inbetween shows. Just being in that stadium for a few quarters would be sweet.
I'll let you knoooooow ;)

Thanks for Dropping by
All the Best,
Underdogs OUT

The PaperClips Live at Staples...

So being in LA has its upside; like flawless blue-sky weather for 15 straight days, lots of options for entertainment or festive gatherings, and picturesque scenery everywhere you turn.  Since I came here 15 days ago I’ve been able to see my friend Stacey rock out with her band Thick as Thieves at Café Was, my buddy Ben’s Girlfriend, Ellyn Daniels (A wonderful up-and-coming comic) do stand-up at the Three of Clubs (Also where Mike (Jon Favreau) met Lorraine (Heather Graham) in Swingers' second to last scene :)  There was NFL ticket Sunday at my friend Nate’s place, lots of friendly dogs at my Cousin Kev’s place, and great food and drink with my Cousin Jen at my Uncle Terry and Aunt Peg's place.  Kisha and I took a hike up to the Hollywood sign, had Mexican on the Santa Monica Pier, and even had time to swing down toward San Diego to Encinitas to visit with my sister, bro-in-law, and my awesome Niece, Alessa!  All of these things were wonderful.  It’s been the most amazing visit.  But there was no way… I was going to leave LA without… well, you guessed it… taking a trip downtown to see the Los Angeles Clippers.

Live and in Person!!! :)

For those of you that don’t know, the Clippers have been without a doubt the WORST team in the history of the National Basketball Association.  I mean, it’s not even really a matter of opinion at this point.  Lifetime-achievement-wise, no team has been so consistently dismal (in so many ways) for so long.  And as if the universe really has no sense of humor (or perhaps a great one) in an extremely cruel geographic coincidence, they share a city (and an Arena) with perhaps the GREATEST of all teams in NBA History, and the current Champion.  I don’t even have to list their name here, they are THAT well known, respected, and admired.  They have consistently won throughout the eras, have had a seemingly endless stream of all-stars, Hall-of-famers, great coaches, and of course, famous fans.  Big, Brash, Flashy, Cocky, Good.  Soooo LA.

Anyway, you would think that living in this great shadow, for the last 25 years or so (since migrating north from the smaller market San Diego) would be a point of contention for the afterthought Clips, but it seems the opposite has been true.  Never has losing been so contently accepted (with the obvious exception of the Chicago Cubs) and even expected.  Including the early years (Buffalo Braves from 1970-78, and San Diego Clippers from 1978-84) the franchise has a cumulative record of 1146-2020!  That’s a winning percentage of .362!  Ugh.  Seemingly resigned to their second-citizenry position in LA, the team has perennially frustrated their fans with inept management, questionable coaching, and poor playing…  it’s the triFEcta!  It’s as if you could miraculously perFECt underachievement, and then Personify it!  Just check out Bill Simmons' take on it.  Anyway, when you add all of this up it unequivocally and undeniably makes YOUR Los Angeles Clippers… cue the timpani (bum bum bum bum BuuuuM)…. the ULTIMATE Underdog!!!  So we gotta go support!  I mean, after all, it’s not the current players fault that the franchise has a horrid history.  Lets live in the NOW people! :)

Or not.  Haha.  So my partner-in-crime (willing or Not so) Kisha, and I headed down the 5 to the arena to check out the game and during the course of the evening a couple of things became crystal clear.  Maybe there really is something to this curse stuff.  Basically three predictable things happened that night at Staples center.  First the arena was half full (or less) as the meek fans in Red and Blue tried with all their might to avoid glancing UP at the 15 Lakers Championship Banners looming up in the arena rafters.  Secondly, the main gift shop that you can walk through when you first come in to Staples is stocked with 80% Lakers Gear.  A psychological killer???   And third, most importantly, the Paper Clips choked away the game against a young and very flawed Oklahoma City Thunder.  Remember I mentioned their inept coaching earlier?  Well, one of the main contributors to that sentiment is their terrible current coach, Mike Dunleavy (the only other time I’d been to a Clippers Game in 2006, THIS coach intentionally tanked a game late in the season, to set up a more favorable playoff matchup. And although it may have been slightly forgivable since they have only been to the playoffs 7 times in 40 years and have never even come close to a championship, losing on purpose is always a sports-karma no-no; Much worse than breaking a mirror or opening an umbrella indoors.  The universe does not forget :)

All of that aside, the ever-stubborn Dunleavy refused to acknowledge that his previously hot-shooting Center, Chris Kaman, was clearly having an OFF night (Like VERY off) and continued to run the offense through the guy like he was Mike Jordan!  Ugh!  It was obvious to everybody in the gym that Baron Davis and even RICKY Davis were having much better shooting nights.  Painfully, the crowd had to endure Kaman forcing the issue late on 3 consecutive possessions, and each time failing miserably.  Even out of timeouts this was happening, which means one thing.  The coach is no good.  UGH. 

The night was still lots of fun though!  It was great to see the rejuvenated Baron Davis and Marcus Camby for the Clips and of course the wonderYouth Kevin Durant for the Thunder, who is quickly becoming one of the best offensive players in the game.  But what stuck out the most is that the Clippers are the same old Clips.  Yes, their two best young players, Eric Gordan and Blake Griffin are hurt right now, but until Dunleavy shuffles off out of the picture nothing good will happen with this team.  Underdog for sure!  But Likeable Underdog?  Ummmm, not yet.  Not until MikeD leaves anyway. 

Oh, and before I go, I wanna drop a quick quote.  I shot a text out to my boy Daryl Brown (a diehard Laker fan whom I like to give a hard time to) while at the game asking him where I should mail him his gift (a Clipper’s hat.)   He responded, “Unless that hat is purple and gold and has world champs written on it… lol I’ll pass.”  YOUCh.  You see the Arrogance of the Laker Fans???  They're SPOILed, right??... and the PaperClips are INVISIBLE in LA  :)

Thems the facts!  And we Love this stuff.  Underdogs OuT!

Oh, and ONE MORE thing... Kisha doesn't like Condiments... and we got a hotdog :)  Some of that relish might have creeped over a bit...

The Break...

Hi Everybody!  So I'm 6 days into our break from tour and LOVINg LA so far.  The weather has been perfect every day since I got here on monday.... (unlike the RAIn we had virtually EVERy day in Minneapolis, Appleton, and Atlanta :)  I've been able to catch up with lots of friends and family so far in the area, but I haven't made the trip downtown to the Staples Center yet for a Clipper game.  Might have to be next week.

Meanwhile it's a lot easier to watch College Football when you don't have to do shows :)  Plus, they are on much earlier out here.. so all you have to do is just roll out of bed and turn on the TV... is that reason number 1, 362 to move to the west coast???  So far Iowa is no longer unbeaten, and LSU vs Alabama is shaping up to be a classic.  Gators on at 4!!!  Hopefully we can handle Vandy...

OH! and I got a chance to see the new film Black Dynamite  here in Burbank.  WaxPoetics did the soundtrack and it is GREAT!  Check it out if you get time, it's in limited cities.  You will not be disappointed if you go!  Very Funny :)

Otherwise, I hope all is well, wherever you currently find yourself.  Our tour resumes on Nov 16th in Detroit.  Anybody gonna be there?  I'm eagerly anticipating Lion-Mania!!!

Seeya Sooooon,

Jeff

Halloween Games

Brett Favre Wins!!!  Wow, wow.  How about that guy, showing up at Lambeau yesterday?  40 years old?  Retired 4 or 5 times already?  No problem.  He looked like a little kid out there jumping up and down and pumping up his teammates.  You know those Packer Backers had to be a little befuddled.  Obviously upset that their team was losing but, way down deep, I bet that most were probably a little bit proud of their old horse.  Asking too much?  Too soon?  Maybe.  Well, probably.  But even still, it’s a good story.  For life.  And Life is more important than football, some would say.  Anyway, It looks like the Vikings might be for real after all.  Like for REAL for real :)  That’s just what it looks like.  Sorry to all my Packer Peeps!

So the 101D is currently on a two week break until Nov 16^th when we re-up in Detroit.  And today I came out to LA to be with my girlfriend and later to visit my sister in San Diego.  (Also the Lakers and Clippers play home games here for the whole two weeks, which is pretty cool.  Doesn’t it seem like the Lakers NEVER play on the road?  They are Always at home!  I know because it’s always on tv and Jack Nicholson is always there… or the android that looks like Jack Nicholson and always wears those wraparound shades… is there.  Aw, I kid Jack.  There’s nothin wrong with being an android.  They have wonderful fashion sense  :)

So aaanywayz, I’m chillin at a lounge in Universal City at the moment watching the Monday night game between New Orleans and Atlanta.  (And trying to ignore the OTHER game on the tvs… something about a Series of Worlds or something, weird ugly teams playing in pin stripes, from Phili and New York apparently. Baseball is DEAD!)  I said earlier in this blog that I don’t do fantasy sports, and that is true.  But, I do do a little bit of what I like to call “fake-fantasy.”  There is a free game on espn.com, (where I spend just a little too much time reading about all of this wonderful stuff that doesn’t really matter in life :)  The game is called GridIron Challenge that some friends and I do every year because it’s low commitment level, and easy, and who ever is leading the pack gets to talk smack.  It’s basically fantasy football for people who don’t really have the time or the inclination to do fantasy football.  It’s like fantasy-lite.  Every week you pick 2 quarterbacks, 2 running backs, 2 WideOuts, a Tight End, and Kicker, and a defense, and hope for the best.  Well I’ve got three guys left and they’re all playing in this game tonight… which adds some intrigue.  So essentially, if fate is smiling on me today, 3 people that I’ve never met before, and almost certainly will never meet, playing a game thousands of miles away, that has nothing to do with me at all, on teams that I don’t even CARE about, will somehow make me feel good or bad about myself and allow me to either gloat or sulk in shame within my group of similar folk.  Very few girls get this :) These are strange times indeed!

 

Incidentally, they’re playing in the SuperDome in New Orleans tonight.  I saw the Saints play the Bears there once back when I was in highschool.  It really gets LOUD in there!  Those domes, boy.  So strange.  It’s like an out-of-body experience.  It’s like 80,000 people, all in the same room, preTENDing that they are outside :)  Nothing like mass-self-delusion.  It’s sports man.  It makes us crazy.  Just ask any Mets fan… okay that’s a different kind of delusion.  Aaaaah, We love this stuff!  Take care of yourself!!! :)

Oh and before the 101D took a break for two weeks... we had a Halloween party.  ZOyiKeS!!!  It was FUNNNN!!!

  Oh and uh... I should mention, it got a little cRaZY.

Introducing the newly crowned Miss 101D 2009 Ladies and Gentlemen!!!  Cue the music please.

Lambeau Field and the Packers Vs Vikings

Hey Everybody.  So the last time I checked in with you lot I was talking about the Appleton museum and the Packer Mania that keeps a tight grip on this northern Wisconsin region.  But one thing I didn’t know, that I just found out recently, is that our hotel, the Paper Valley Radisson, ALWAYS houses the visiting team when the Packers have a home game!  So, according to Daniel, the Paper Valley Radisson Sports Bar Bartender, (‘Sup Daniel!) the Saturday night before a home game is Notorious for multiple, random fire alarms, siren wailing, or whatever other sleep disrupting hijinks that can be imagined by the diehard (or maybe slightly unbalanced) Pack fans, throughout the night and into the wee small hours of the morning.  Makes sense.  But can you imagine the outpouring THIS week (sliiiiightly hotel sanctioned or not) of diehard Cheese-Heads to disrupt the sleep of the hated Minnesota Vikings and… wait, what was their quarterback’s name again???  WHAT?  How did we get caught up in the middle of this stuff Again??? Noooobody’s sleeping at Paper Valley on Saturday night!  Although, I bet you Brett’s gonna stay somewhere else.  He’s gotta know the way it would go down after 16 years playing here… (and Maybe he still has some friends around town :)  maaaaaybe.

Anyway… when “said” visiting team is ready to make the trip to the game, they will drive the 25 minutes or so up the 41 to the frozen (or not-so-frozen) Tundra of LAMBeAU Field; the hallowed ground that has housed the Packers for the 

last 53 years.  And on Friday my boy Mike and I made the trip for ourselves…  It was a miserable day.  Cold, rainy, AND windy, and, Magically, the normal stadium tours were unavailable for the few hours that we were there (we had to be back by 2 for cleanup rehearsal :)  I was okay with it for two reasons.  One, I wasn’t dressed for the rain and cold, and two, the Packer Hall of Fame was open AND indoors.  And it’s really a fun place to visit. 

The Packers have been playing football since 1919, when some guy named Curly Lambeau formed a team with some his friends. At that time Curly worked at the Indian Packing Company in town, and one day he talked the IPC into giving him permission to use their athletic field for practice, and to provide the team with jerseys and some equipment.  So initially the club was identified in its early publicity as a project of the company (later the ACME packing co)… and they were thus named.  In 1921 they joined the NFL, and the REST… as they say, is history.  They’ve got 25 players in the NFL hall of fame!  19 Divisional Championships, 9 NFL Championships, and 3 Super Bowl Championships later, we have the Packers as we know them today.  A team, uniquely owned by their own fans (and perhaps the most loyal fans anywhere), playing in the smallest market in American Professional Sports, with Brett Favre at the helm… oh I mean, uh… with Aaron Rodgers at the helm… and… wait a minute, this can’t be right… Brett Favre coming to town with the rival Vikings… WHAT?  You canNOT write this stuff!  :)

Obviously the Packer Hall of Fame will one day include Favre, and even today pays plenty of homage to their ironman of 16 years.  I’ve actually visited Lambeau once before, when I was a kid in 1989, back when the Packers quarterback was a guy named Don Majikowski… that’s right, remember the MaJik mAn?  At that time the Packers were in about a 20 year funk among the leagues cellar-dwellers, and even though Majikowski is in the Packer Hall of Fame, the museum itself seems to be in denial about those years.  They tend to skip right from Bart Starr to Brett Favre.  I enjoyed that.  It’s understandable.

And THEN of course there’s Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach for which, oh by the way, the NFL Championship Trophy is named!  Last week I mentioned that, while dining at his steakhouse, I could only think of one of his famous quotes.  Well predictably, the Packer Hall of Fame had a few more.  Here’s a couple standouts:

“Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.”   

“If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

“I don't think there's a punch-line scheduled, is there?”

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”

 “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”

 And my personal favorite: “We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time.”

 We’ll see who runs out of time on Sunday.  The Packers?  Or Brett Favre?

Thanks for Hangin with the Underdogs  :)

 

Appleton Sports the 101D!

So life in Appleton continues, and the 101D machine continues to chug along healthily.  We are playing the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center downtown, just up the street from Lawrence University; a beautiful and historic school that opened it’s doors in 1847… and of it’s first 7 students, 3 of them were women.  Alriiiight.  Not bad Wisconsin :) 

Right off of campus sits the grand Castle-Looking Local History Museum (also known as the Houdini Museum because of a permanent exhibit upstairs dedicated to the legendary hometown Hero.)  Interestingly, Harry Houdini was not born here and he actually only lived here for 4 years from age 3 to 7, when his father, the first Rabbi in Appleton, was fired for not speaking English well enough.  YoUCH!  So the destitute family made their way to New York where  “Harry”, originally named Erik Weisz, eventually became world famous.  Even though he was born in Budapest he always told people he was born in Appleton… so I suppose that goes a little ways toward justifying a town claiming a hero who only lived there for 4 early years.  Otherwise it’s a bit of a stretch.  Sorry Appleton, LOVE you :)  Anyways, the OTHER exhibit at the History Museum was… you guessed it.  SPORTS, and the impact on local culture!  Nice, NOW we’re back on track…

The exhibit was very cool.  It featured lots of interesting local sports history... like a pic of an 18 year old Alex Rodriguez, who played his first professional baseball game here as a member of the Appleton Foxes, a minor-league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.  Like Houdini, I’m sure Alex didn’t stay local very long either!  

Surely, one day, A-Rod will be enshrined upstairs, next to Houdini, as the great Post-Season CHOKE artist!… aw, I kid my Yankee-fan friends.  Actually, I feel like he’s ruining his legacy by being GOOD in this year’s playoffs.  C’mon Alex, where’s the consistency?  Ugh.  Enough about baseball, it’s still dead to me… Heck, if we get a Yankee/Phillies world series I’m gonna cremate it!  (I know, I know… enough sour grapes, silly Mets fan.) 

Aaaaanyways, the museum also featured a look at the evolution of Cheerleader cheers from the 1920’s (hilarious), a tribute to a Local Green Bay Packer fan who only missed 11 games in 71 years!  Wow.  Good job GUY!  Also there was a giant picture of The Lawrence University 1901 Football team (which went undefeated that year!) with interesting related artifacts (Including some archaic headgear they used back in the day that looked kinda like something from the

Hannibal Lecter collection.)  AND, my personal favorite, a 1901 letter from concerned University brass claiming that football was simply too dangerous of a game and that colleges should not continue sponsoring teams!  How about that??  Could you IMAGINE a world withOUT college FOOTBALL???  The world as we know it would be COMPLETELY out of WHACK!!  “Marty, MaRTy!!!”

Oh and speaking of College Football, it’s Saturday again and the Gators are on in 2 minutes.  UnFORtunately, I have to head back to the theatre 20 minutes after THAT!  WHAT???  :(  See I told you that life on the road can be tough!  I mean, c’mon people!  GATORS!!!???  UGH.  WHO schedules these shows???  Oh well :)

Hope all is good Y’all.  And hopefully wherever you are you have as much BRATwurst as you desire… kind of like we have here in Wisconsin.  MmmMmmmmmm  :) thanks for chillin!

Jeff