Sunday reading

... Here it is another Sunday. And I'm wondering where the weekend went ...

... On Friday, we grilled out and shared a night on our deck with good friends Laura and Kevin. The conversation was so good, the sun set without us barely noticing ...

... On Saturday, I soaked up the sun and worked in our yard. And then we went off to see Mom and Pops, who were camping not far out of the city ... It seemed like a good idea -- until we got out of the car were mowed down by a buzz kill of mosquitoes. We rushed Phoebe inside the camper ... and all of joined in shortly after. Instead of an ideal night around a campfire, we spend it inside playing Uno ... Pops played a buzz kill of his own; he won six of the eight hands we played ...

Today, we did church (Phoebs slept the whole service again ... ). I did a baseball practice ... And Mom and Pops came to our place. But the thunder and rain chased us inside once more, and we settled for watching the Brewers finish of the Orioles ...

And how 'bout those Cubs ... After becoming the victims of a hard-fought sweep in Tampa Bay last week ( ... Dang, Tampa is good this year; that series was every bit as tough as I figured it might be ...), the Cubbies came out swinging this weekend. Aramis won it in the ninth on Friday ... Then I got to catch that rocking fourth inning and yesterday's thriller ... And now they're blasting the Sox again tonight as I write this ... But let's not talk about September until we get there, OK?

Here's two weeks worth of stories that caught my eyes ...

But first, this one says it all: Is everything spinning out of control? Can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in American psyche is under assault

Sports & Baseball ...
a Cubs documents: Wrigley condition not dire
a The Bringer Of The Big Heat ... A good one from the SI archives about Nolan Ryan.
a A Jones For Hitting: Chipper Jones, the baddest switch-hitter since Mickey Mantle
a Spirit of '77 for White Sox, Cubs
a Guillen swap sides? No way
a Met fan squawks about Willie Randolph firing, sends Wilpons chickens
a The Catch: Super Bowl moment small part of Tyree's journey
a Rodgers savoring honeymoon as Packers' starting QB ... A good one from my friend Raechel.
a Verdict still out on Kobe's legacy ... Compare him to Michael Jordan all you want, but they'll never be equals.
a Watching Tiger, Kobe compete on same day

Music ...
a Alanis Morissette continues channeling her anger
a Another Somebody Sung Somebody's Song Wrong

Politics ...
a Obama, or Osama? Hotmail glitch
a In Her Own Time

TV ...
a 'Big Bird' Caroll Spinney Still Flocking to Sesame Street

The Internet ...
a 'Geek girl' helps keep Mozilla safe in scary times
a The Fate of The Sentence: Is the Writing On the Wall? ... Interesting.
a The Web makes us antsy readers, not deep thinkers ... Also quite interesting.

The media ...
a The L.A. Times's Human Wrecking Ball
a Katie Couric shows her ‘nerd’ side ... Quite amusing.
a Will Viacom nuke the YouTube clip of CBS' Lara Logan ... Also quite amusing.
a Tom Brokaw: 'Meet the Press' til Nov. 4
a Tim Russert: the details about what caused his death

The Onion ...
a Mariners Fire Whiffing Coach
a Cricket Located
a Fantasy Baseball Owner Rips Team In Media
a Falling Down Laundry Chute And Breaking Neck Remains America's No. 548,221 Killer

Travel ...
a America's Unkempt Front Yard
a Fake But Fun Destinations

Life & other stuff ...
a How a lake went down the drain
a Men fillet Charlie the Tuna statue in Oregon
a Nike sneaks logo onto the lakefront path ... Not cool.
a More Schools Trying Separation of the Sexes
a Looking to Avoid Aggressive Drivers? Check Those Bumpers
a Your friends? They're dead.

Sunday reading

... After my game this morning, Kates and I spent the day on our deck, playing with Phoebe and enjoying the GOR-geous weather ...

And now I'm watching Sunday night baseball.

I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

Here's some of the best stories I read over the last week ...

Sports ...
a Historic season looms for Chicago baseball
a Cursed-to-first Rays, White Sox buoyed by offseason deals
a Hitting .400 isn't last crusade for Atlanta's accomplished Jones
a Embattled McLaren, Randolph, Yost fight on
a In NBA playoffs, less ink means more viewers
a Packers to deliver old locker to Favre

Politics ...
a Ex-press secretary bashes Bush
a Book: Rice kept 'her hands clean'
a Hillary Clinton's 'critical decision'
a Obama Practices Looking-Off-Into-Future Pose ... From The Onion. Ha-larious.

The Internet ...
a Blog posts photos from lost cameras to find owners
a MySpace gets its mojo back by opening door to developers

Life & other stuff ...
a Principal's blunder holds good lessons ... One of the biggest stories around Chicagoland last week. The pincipal eventually was demoted.
a Stonehenge was a royal family's burial site, researchers say
a Lowly pencil still the write tool
a N.Y. Hopes to Ensure Smooth Pedaling for Bike Commuters

Sunday reading

Some of the good reads that piqued my interest during the last week ...

Sports ...
a Small fish tries big pond: Undersized TE aims to beat odds ... This one came from my friend Chris, who knows my allegiance to the Northwest Bearcats. Mike Peterson's a darn good football player, and I'd love to see the Packers keep him.

TV ...
a 'Back to You' is solidly anchored in comedy

Politics ...
a Networks Dismiss Hillary Landslide
a Why the Press Turned on Obama
a Hillary Clinton gets her own Letterman Top 10 list

The Internet & media
a In the Internet Age, AM Radio Needs Fine-Tuning

Life & other (cool) stuff
a At 107, Livermore centennial lightbulb is still a real live wire ... Kates and I saw this story on the news the other night. So cool!
a Putting Words and Music to Her Life
a Couple's cozy car turns heads, saves them money
a One-man concert against high gas prices draws a crowd, and the police

Sunday reading

The good reads that caught my eyes over the last couple weeks ...

Baseball ...
a Cubs' selection Sunday fast approaching
a Piniella settles on batting order
a Wrigley Field sale to state looking like latest Cubs loser
a Lasorda and the Dodgers say goodbye to Vero Beach
a Emotional day at Dodgertown for Lasorda
a Do-it-all Bill Hall returns to infield for Brewers' new defensive look
a Brewers slugger Prince Fielder now eating a Field of Greens
a Q & A with Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio
a Brewers owner: Yost dynamic leader who gives stability to club
a Japan Trip on for Red Sox, Athletics ... an extraordinary move indeed.
a Keeping up with Jones: Aside from closer, Tigers' bullpen is a big concern ... Not good.
a Why it's so Grand to be Tigers' Granderson
a Nobody's calling for Barry Bonds, and the phone won't start ringing soon
a Suspicion lingers in wake of Report
a Nats' Food Will Tag More Home Bases

Other sports ...
a Knight's ESPN gig could provide a bleeping good time ... From what I've seen, it has been.
a Rodgers ready to play for Packers

TV ...
a TV series alter time

Music ...
a Apple Said to Weigh Unlimited Music Deal
a Nine Inch Nails scares up sales with 'Ghosts'
a Judge Portrays McCartney's Ex As 'Out of Control'
a Judge says Heather Mills 'her own worst enemy'

Politics ...
a '3 a.m. call' Clinton-ad actress gets rude awakening
a What we don't know about Obama hurts him

Media & the Internet ...
a Wikipedia starts to look a bit less wiki
a In a newspaper war, we must mind our p's and q's ... an update from the Trib's big contest win.

Travel ...
a Mount St. Helens' booming history
a Restoring the Mall From 'Disgrace' to Showcase

Life & other stuff ...
a Hey, It's Your Funeral
a Dump the penny
a Starbucks tips ruling is made to order for baristas
a Neighbor 'ghosts' haunt drama on deadly summer ... I remember that summer -- and the heat -- well. It was the first time I'd ever been to Chicago, and every night on the news there were reports of more deaths ...

Onion read

Packers Tell Fans They Gave Favre To A Nice Farm Family

GREEN BAY, WI—The Green Bay Packers addressed questions concerning the current status, future plans, and whereabouts of recently retired quarterback Brett Favre by announcing Monday that they had sent him to the country to live on a...

4 gone

So Brett Favre made it official yesterday. He’s retiring.

Man, I’ve watched the thing like a five or six times and I’m still getting choked up ...



We watched it all live on the TV in our office. Actually, I had logged on to the watch it on the Packers Web site … Then Brett broke down barely 10 seconds into the thing, I saw the crowd gathering around our office TV and I joined the group for the spectacle …

Few of us expected him to be so emotional … At times we were ready to cry with him. And there were moments we just laughed, stunned at the flood of tears. And, of course, some of the women were all ga-ga about how cute Brett looked …

At one point, my friend Laura deadpanned “I should call him … ” and reached for the phone as if she was about to call Brett Favre right there in the middle of his press conference and convince him not to retire. “Don’t do it!” she shouted … It was a hilarious moment.

Throughout the news conference, Brett had some super quotes, too. One of them I wrote down: "See life through the windshield and not through the rearview mirror."

But I’m not backing off my initial thoughts when I heard the news of Brett’s decision the other day, and he made it clear today – it was time. And I applaud Brett for recognizing that and leaving at the top of his game.

Sure it sucks, but this season – Super Bowl, or not – was a phenomenal ride for Brett, the Green Bay Packers and all of us fans. There are too many variables in the NFL for the Packers to guarantee another season like it. The team would have to stay healthy, other teams would have to have off years, all the stars would have to align …

And I wasn’t so sure that was going to happen.

Good reads ...
a Favre makes retirement official
a With Favre's departure, Pack hands keys to Rodgers
a Another season probably wasn't worth grind for Favre
a Strain of being an icon won out over love of the game
a A showman to the end, Favre retires right on time
a Photos: Brett Favre Through The Years
a Photos: Memorable Farewells
a Frank Caliendo on Favre's retirement

Brett is retiring

So long Brett.

One of my cohorts just answered the phone and told the person on the other end, "Yeah, we're all crying here."

Ah, well. Considering the thrill ride that was last season, I'm content with it.

You done good, Brett.

More to come.

Sunday reading

Kates and I now have a crib and a stroller for Baby ... Guess what I'll be setting up the next couple of nights?

Fun, fun, fun.

Here's my good reads from the past week ...

Sports ...
a Brett Favre retirement announcement an error
a 10 Truths: Loss of Moss would sink Patriots
a Clemens leaves Astros camp in Florida
a Fiery Milledge reflects Nationals' untapped potential
a Improved fitness tops 10 biggest spring training lies
a Michigan State's Tom Izzo complains about Big Ten Network ... good for him.

The Oscars ...
a Brad Renfro Excluded From Oscar Tribute
a Ratings sink for Oscars

The Internet ...
a The Wisdom of the Chaperones

Politics ...
a Finding Political Strength in the Power of Words
a Obama error: NBC reprimands employee for using picture of bin Laden behind Obama story

Life & other stuff ...
a Mt. St. Helens holds her fire
a Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
a Starbucks: Did the training help? ... the best reading here is the readers' comments. I'm with the nay-sayers.

The mourning after

Yeah, we watched the Packers game last night. Wore our Packers pride and cheered our hearts out ...

And lost.

Not a whole lot you can do.

Plaxico Burress played the game of his life. And Eli Manning is finally playing consistently well ...

The Packers didn't establish a running game, and gave up on it way too early ...

It was a game of missed opportunities. Fumbles the Packers had right under their grips and didn't pick up. Balls that should have been intercepted when they sailed over a Giants receiver and dropped in front of four guys in green and yellow closing in on the receiver ...

The Packers watched two missed field goals by the Giants, and still couldn't capitalize ... Given all that had happened -- and hadn't happened -- you knew Lawrence Tynes was destined to hit that winning field goal -- whether it was 47 yards or 77 yards. Another classic championship game ending.

On the bright side ... It was a fantastically-fun season, which few people could have seen coming at this time last year. Brett Favre recaptured some of his old magic, and we discovered some new fan favorites too in Ryan Grant and that dazzling receiving core ... And Last week's "Snow Globe" game was the perfect ride before the crash.

Just like the Brewers so-close-but-not-close-enough season.

Course, me being the superstitious sports fan, I'm finding excuses all over the place ... The Packers being on the cover of Sports Illustrated last week. The fact Kates and I wore our Packers sweatshirts today -- after we hadn't worn them the entire season. The fact that my office prepared and reserved an extra batch of Packers material to last through the Super Bowl...

Sigh.

Nope, not a whole lot you can do.

Except get into rooting for the Jayhawks. And remembering that pitchers and catchers report in a few weeks.

Packers reads ...
a It's the chill of victory
a Bitter pill for Favre, Packers to swallow
a Father arrested for forcing son to wear Green Bay Packers jersey
a Packers fans show their love ... and craziness ... another good one from my friend Raechel.
a Giants, Pats endure cold, advance to Super Bowl
a Packersnews.com

God's country

My mother passed this on today ...

Terry Bradshaw was in New England to announce a football game one weekend when he noticed a special telephone near the Patriots' bench. He asked quarterback Tom Brady what it was used for and was told it was a hotline to God. Terry asked if he could use it. Brady replied, "Sure, but it will cost you $200." Terry scratched his head, then thought, "What the heck, I need help picking games." He pulled out his wallet and paid $200. Terry's picks were perfect that week.

The next week, Terry was in Indianapolis when he noticed that same kind of phone on the Colts bench.He asked what the telephone was for and Manning told him, "It's a hotline to God if you want to use it, it will cost you $500." Recalling the previous week, Terry pulled out his wallet without hesitation and made the call. Terry's picks were perfect again that week.

Last weekend, Terry was in Green Bay, when he noticed the same kind of telephone by the Packers' bench. He asked Brett Favre, "Is that the hotline to God?" Favre said, "Yes, and if you want to use it, it will cost you 50 cents." Terry looked incredulously at Favre and said, "Wait a second, I just paid $200 in New England and $500 in Indianapolis to use the same phone to God! Why do the Packers only charge 50 cents?" Favre replied, "Because in Green Bay, it's a local call...Welcome to God's Country."

Sunday reading

What a weekend for football ...

That Packers-Seahawks game!? Awesome ... Kates and I were putting our Christmas decorations away as we watched it, but with all that snow it seemed like we should have been putting them up! Ryan Grant was phenomenal. The whole season has been phenomenal ...

As Kates and I were out for lunch today we over heard an older man say "The only thing the Bears did this year was teach the Packers how to play in the snow." Got that right. If Green Bay would have done just a few things differently in their three losses, we could very well be talking about two perfect teams in the NFL this year ...

And then did anyone think the Patriots were going to lose? Right.

Then today. As we settled in for the games I mused out loud that if everything fell into place, next weekend would be a doozy: Patriots-Colts. Cowboys-Packers ... Ah, but it wasn't meant to be ...

I was rooting for the Colts, though I'm not entirely surprised the Chargers took care of them ... and then! How' bout them Giants!? I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard us hoopin' and hollerin' when R.W. McQuarters intercepted Tony Romo's final pass. Kates and I looked at each other, slapped a high five and chimed "See ya in Green Bay!"

Good stuff.

Catching up on several weeks worth of good reads. Here they are ...

Sports ...
a Which teams got their holiday wishes?
a Dawson getting robbed worse than Santo ... It doesn't matter. They both deserve to get in.
a Price high for Orioles' Roberts: But Cubs seem ready to add Marshall to get quality leadoff man ... Sounds like a good deal to me ... as long as it doesn't include Matt Murton.
a Alderman wary of Wrigley deal ... I kind of side with the alderman on this one. No one wants to see Wrigley turn into some schmaltzy, over-commercialized ballpark -- at least no more than it is already.
a Dope Springs Eternal ... Good stuff from my friend Matt.
a Favre in charge: There's just no beating St. Brett ... Fercripesakes! Have I mentioned how much fun we're having this season!? My friend Raechel sent this one ...

Media & the Internet ...
a Zero tolerance on the air: Even Woods' defense can't keep golf analyst from paying for remark
a Sun-Times wrestles with new reality
a Chicago Sun-Times newsroom layoffs only just beginning
a William Shatner and Priceline.com have both benefited from his stint as company spokesman
a People Are Doing Double-Takes, And Taking Action, As Web Snapshots Are Nabbed for Commercial Uses

Politics ...
a CLASS PRESIDENT 2008 ... a good perspective.
a Obama: Judge Him by His Laws
a Obama Tries to Prove Electability to Blacks in S.C.
a Parties Trading Places
a High-profile backers offer message and momentum
a Presidential Pet Display Finds a Place to Park ... now this is an exhibit I could really dig.
a Playing That '70s Funk Again, but Not in a Good Way ... Interesting how history repeats itself.
a Women Are Never Front-Runners

TV & Entertainment ...
a Ad-Libbing Late-Night Shows' Return ...Letterman and "A Daily Show" haven't been too bad so far ... Letterman shaving his beard during the show and having Goose Gossage deliver a Top 10 list? Not bad at all.
a Letterman, Leno, Conan and Kimmel return to late night talk shows
a Late-night hosts back on schedule: Audience may prove tough to draw back ... I could see it.
a Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had their jokes ready. Clearly there was some writing going on
a A sequel with the same ending: As they did in the '88 writers strike, the studios are pushing themselves out of the picture
a Jamie Lynn Spears is not the first teen to have a baby
a As Scripts Run Out, Reality Kicks In
a A TV Lover's Lament ... Um. I don't miss it so much.
a 'Daisies' is lone new broadcast TV show to earn Globe nod ... Ok. I am missing 'Daisies.'
a Writers' Work Stoppage Will Soon Have Quite an Impact. Here's What's at Stake
a Katherine Heigl: outspoken
a Rainn Wilson: My Life During the Strike

Music ...
a The industry watches Radiohead's experiment as the album arrives on CD months after its online release
a Hannah Montana's double -- Report: Transformation to Miley Cyrus during concert involves stand-in ... interesting revelation. And in related (ludicrous!) news: Mom Apologizes for Hannah Montana Essay

Life & other stuff ...
a City residents can trade in Christmas trees
a Last Air Jordans? Nike unveils 23rd Air Jordan ... and I've never ever owned a pair.
a Tata Reveals World's Cheapest Car
a 15 Weirdest Work Stories of 2007
a Picturing the World, Around Us ... Saw this exhibit several weeks ago. It's good stuff.
a C'mon, Get Happy? It's Easier Said Than Done
a 50 things I've learned in 50 years, a partial list in no particular order
a Make it a new year, not just another year ... a New Year's resolution all of us should live by.

Songs in the key of life ... and sports

Nothing like starting the day before dawn. With shoveling ... And ending it long after dusk. With shoveling.

I hate winter. My back hates it too. And my knees.

I've never wanted a snow blower so badly.

... We got a solid couple inches of snow on Saturday, you may recall. And last night we got blasted with the second part of the storm. 10 inches. ... Kates woke me up at 6 this morning to go out and shovel; by then several inches had fallen and it was still coming. It took me about an hour to complete the job (we have a good sized two-car driveway and sidewalks on two sides of our house), before I went in to warm up and get myself ready for work -- only to see everything I cleared completely re-covered with snow by the time I came back out to leave for work. Grrrr!

And it proceeded to snow long and hard all morning ...

So when Kates and I finally arrived home about 7:30 tonight, I knew I had my work cutout for me again.

It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the dang plows, either. This year, it seems, they're plowing even closer to the curb -- which means less snow left on the roadway and more of it blocking the edge of our driveway. Beginning with the weekend storm, it's taken me almost as much time to remove the gargantuan chunks of snow left by the plows as it's taken me to shovel the rest of the driveway ... and when we came home tonight, it was obvious the plows had come through again because there at the end of our driveway was another blockade of snow ...

No problem. My little Neon punched through it like a tank.

Good thing it's powdery snow.

* * *

I've been wanting to say something about that Patriots-Ravens game the other night ... I only caught the fourth quarter, but ...

Holy cow! The Patriots survived -- or the Ravens botched -- four fourth downs during that final New England drive. Geez, the Ravens had Tom Brady stopped! Stuffed! on a fourth-and-one, only to have whistles blown in the Ravens defense's faces because one of their coaches had called a timeout ... Then the Ravens had the Pats stopped again on a run, only to have a Pats lineman called for a false start and Brady got another chance, which they converted. And a fourth fourth down play resulted in a holding call, before the Pats finally found the end zone for the 27-24 win ...

It was an incredible thing to watch ... And I'm not gonna lie -- I want to see the Patriots go 16-0. They're a classy team to watch, and I want to be able to say I remember when ...

* * *

... I opened our mailbox tonight, and there it was -- the issue I'd been waiting for -- Brett Favre in all his green and gold, as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.

The cover is an instant classic.

I can hardly wait to read it ...

I was talking with a friend about the Packers over supper tonight, and he nailed it when he said it was hard for him to remember a more enjoyable Packers season. Sure the great seasons during the mid-to-late '90s were fun, but those were kind of expected. This year has been made even more spectacular by the fact that almost nobody forecasted Farve's and the Packers' success ... It's been a heckuva ride.

Speaking of nailing it, this read, sent to me this week by my friend Raechel, is a classic too ... If only there were more like Brett. Then again, perhaps it's a good thing there's not. We'd probably take Brett for granted too ...

* * *

Saving my favorite for last ...

The winter baseball meetings. While everyone else was obsessing over Johan Santana (Over-rated ...) The Tigers quietly were going after the guy I was looking at this offseason as the best player available or on the block -- and then they not only swiped Miguel Cabrera, they got Dontrelle Willis too!! (Read it from the Tigers here.)

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.

Lordy, lordy. I'm still trying to catch my breath.

And I'd almost forgotten the wonderful Edgar Renteria deal ... I can smell a Tigers World Championship right now ... It could be sweet.

In the mean time ...

I like this Cubs deal ...

It was fun while it lasted

Game over. Cowboys win 37-27. Packers fall to 10-2 (although, they should be 11-1. Stupid Bears game).

Turns out the Packers almost pulled it out in the second half. And they might have, had it not been for a tricky pass interference call ...

But hey, that Aaron Rodgers didn't do too bad for being thrown into the game after Brett Favre went down. The Packers were down by 17 when Rodgers entered the game, but he got the Pack back in the game and kept the team in it until the last minute. As the TV analyst just said, Green Bay has had a tough time in Dallas, but tonight might have been the best 10-point loss they've ever had ...

Now we all hold our breath that Brett can recover...

I'm going to bed.

Love 'em, hate 'em

That’s just great. Brett Favre is hurt. And this Packers-Cowboys game is turning into a route … for the Cowboys. Terrel Owens just scored, dumped popcorn in his helmet and the Cowboys are up 21-10.

Kates and I are being as vocal as ever tonight, too. I'm not sure our television has ever taken so much abuse ...

“I hate the Cowboys!” Kates just yelled. You should have heard the venom in her voice.

I laughed. “What did the Cowboys ever do to you?”

“They’re cocky!” She paused. “And they don’t have real grass! Just like the Vikings. I don‘t like them either!”

She’d never admit to being a sports fan. But she never ceases to amaze me with the things she learns and picks up …

A Wisconsinite's dictionary

A co-worker passed this on to me recently... I couldn't think of a better time to post it than tonight with the big Packers-Cowboys game.

My grandparents always used the Davenport reference and I've never understood it. (What are you talking about Grandma!? It's a couch!)

AIN-A-HEY: Placed at the end of a profound statement; as in "isn't it?" "Cold out, aina hey?"

BART: A Green Bay institution who doesn't need a last name; (see"Vince"). "Me and Dad saw Bart sneak into da endzone 'gainst Dallas! DAT was cold, aina hey?"

BELIEVE-YOU-ME: Attached to the beginning or end of a statement, makes it more credible; as in,"Really!" "Belive you me, dat was REALLY cold!"

BLAZE-ORANGE: What deer hunters and cold-weather Packers fans wear at Lambeau Field. Also a popular color for jail uniforms.

BORN IN A BARN?: A sarcastic question which usually means you left the door open or could not correctly differentiate between an alewive and a 'schmelt'. Youse guys was dipnettin' for da schmelt in Lake 'Sconsin?!? What, ya born in a barn?"

BORROW: Used in place of lend, as in, "Could youse borrow me a couple two-tree bucks, yahhey?"

BRAT: A sausage; a Wisconsin tail gate favorite; doesn't have anything to do with a spoiled kid.

BUBBLER: To the rest of the world outside Wisconsin's borders it is known as a drinking fountain. "I gotta get me a drink, once. Where's da bubbler?"

BUDGE: To merge without permission; cut in; as in "Don't you budge in line for a brat, I was here first!"

CHEESEHEAD: Someone from Wisconsin; see, "Cheddarhead." ALSO a cool wedge hat, known fer savin' da lives of udderwize planecrash victims!

CHEESE CURD: Small pieces of fresh cheese that squeak when you bite into them if der fresh.

COMEER ONCE: A request for the presence of another Cheddarhead. "Comeer once and help me lift dis half-barrel."

CRIPES: A Wisconsin expletive. "Oh, cripes, what kinda play was dat?"

CRIPES-SAKE: A mild Wisconsin expletive. "For cripes-sake, dat walleye just trowed my hook".

CRIPES-SAKES-ALMIGHTY: A wild Wisconsin expletive. "Cripes-sakes-almighty, what da heck kinda pitch was dat what he smacked over da wall once. What a rubber-arm, hey?"

DA: Aubstitute for words beginning with "THE" as in "Da guy over dere in da Bears shirt dere."

DAVENPORT: What your mom called 'the sofa'; a couch. "Go sit on da Davenport once and I'll be witcha in a couple-two-tree minutes."

FAIR-TA-MIDDLIN: Not bad or great, just "O.K." "How'sit bitin?""Oh, fair-ta-middlin."

FISH FRY: A Friday night dining ritual in Wisconsin.

FLEET FARM: A Cheddarhead's answer to Bloomingdales.

FROZEN TUNDRA: Lambeau Field.

GEEEZ!: Another Wisconsin expletive. "Geeez, der goes da game. Throw a strike once a couple times, will ya hey?"

GOAHEAD (Alt: "Go'head"): Proceed; as in, "go'head and back up your car dere."

GOTS: Used in place of "have;" as in "I gots my tickets to watch da Packers play on da FrozenTundra."

HEY: Placed at the beginning or end of phrases for emphasis, as in, "Hey, how 'bout dem Packers?" or "Hows about dem Packers, hey!"

HUMDINGER: A beauty; as in "dat croppy youse caught up-nort is a real humdinger."

M'WAKEE: Wisconsin's largest city; located just down the lake ( Lake Mitchigan) from T'rivers and Man'twoc. Also known as " Cream City"

N-SO?: A word inserted at the end of a statement; (sometimes pronounced as AIN-SO), used as a substitute for "isn't that right?" or "Correct?" "Kopps make good custard, ain-so?" (also can use "aina" or "aina hey" instead. Linguistically probably originates from the German "nicht wahr?", "nicht?" or "gel?", which Germanic-speaking people use to substantiate a statement they feel is correct.

POLKA: The national dance of Wisconsin. The best ones are Polka masses and Slurry Store Polkas (don't ask).

'SCANSIN: The state where Cheeseheads are from.

SKEETER: Wisconsin's state bird. Usually preceeded by "Ouch!" as in "Ouch!" "Skeeter?" "Yah, hey!"

STOP-AND-GO LIGHTS: What everyone else refers to as traffic signals or stop lights. "Mayville only has one stop-an-go light." (Notice, in defense of 'skanin, dat des lights aren't just stop lights. Dey tell ya when to go, too, aina?)

WHERE-ABOUTS: Locality; proximity; as in, "where-abouts are youse-guys from?"

UP NORT: Where Wisconsinites go on vacation.

VINCE: The other Green Bay icon who doesn't need a last name for instant recognition; (see "Bart"). Recently "Brett" and "Reggie" were also added to this category.

Playing catchup...

So the Red Sox won the World Series Sunday night ...

What can you say? Sure I was rooting for the Rockies -- they were the sentimental favorite. But, don't get me wrong, I've been a Red Sox fan for awhile now, too. They're darn good (as the analysts said afterward, get ready world, this is going to be the team to beat for years to come. No more curses in Boston...), and they pretty much knocked the purple mountain majesty out of the Rockies ...

* * *

Thank you Jacoby Ellsbury. For my free taco, that is ... In case you missed it, and I know many of you did, Ellsbury, the lovable Red Sox rookie stole second base in Game 2. Even if you were paying moderate attention to that game, it was easy to miss. It wasn't at all a significant point in the game, and Ellsbury swiped it without even drawing a throw ... But, hey, it was enough for Taco Bell to offer everyone in the country a free taco between the hours of 2 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday ...

So, on Tuesday, at about 2:15, I took a jaunt to a local Taco Bell for my free taco ... Going in, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the parking lot be packed!? Would the drive-thru be a dozen cars deep? Would I have to fear being trampled?

Turns out, my car was one of two in the parking lot. I went inside the store and waited as another couple placed their order; clearly they had no knowledge of the free taco. Then, the cashier asked them, "Would you like your free taco?" The man looked at his companion, shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. The woman -- she declined the free taco.

My turn. I stepped to the register. Ordered a taco supreme for my cohort Laura, soft taco for myself and a Mountain Dew to go with it. And then I added "And yes, I want my free taco."

The cheery cashier replied, "Ok, I was waiting to see how you were going to order and then I was going to ask."

"Yep. I'm a big baseball fan, so I know all about it."

The cheery cashier then went on to tell me all about her and her boyfriend cheering and getting excited about Monday night's Packers game. Sure, it was a great game, but how she thought that had anything to do with the Worlds Series, a stolen base and free tacos, I'm not so sure ...

I took my free taco back to work and noted it was the best free taco I'd ever tasted ...

I should have gone for more. It didn't occur to me until afterward, when I got this e-mail from my friend Matt, that I could have hit up every Taco Bell in the city for a free taco and no one would have known ...

I outsmarted Taco Bell. I just pulled up to the drive-thru and said “I’d like my free taco.” And she said, “Would you like something to drink with that?” Me again: “Nope, just the free taco.” And then I peeled out of there! Woo Hoo!

Actually, I don’t think I really outsmarted Taco Bell. But I did enjoy my tasty free taco. And I really wanted to drive back through again.

Dang. I could have done my run at 2, and again on my way home just before 5. Next year.

* * *

So Joe Torre's going to manage the Dodgers!? Nice ... I'm happy, thrilled really. But it's a well-known fact Torre didn't exactly have a stellar managerial record before arriving at Yankee Stadium. Now we'll get to see what he's really made of ...

And the Tigers got Edgar Renteria!? Also nice. Now they just need Craig Counsell, Moises Alou and Jeff Conine and they'll really be the '97 Marlins reincarnated. They've already got Dombrowski, Leyland and Sheffield ... Too bad Livan Hernandez and Kevin Brown are washed up.

And Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract. I still can't blame him ... Even then, I'm still debating in my head whether I'd want him on my team ... It's always interesting with A-Rod.

More good reads ...
a Schilling: 'Realistic chance' I won't be back ... That sucks. I'll be really sorry to see Schilling leave Boston ... But what's this!? He's interested in coming to Milwaukee!? Oh, tell me more!!
a Papelbon a hit on Letterman ... I watched this last night. Good stuff. Is it just me, or does anyone else think Papelbon's just a little bit nuts?
a 2007: 'A great year for baseball' ... I second that. My highlights: Verlander's no-hitter. The Red Sox four straight home runs. Sammy Sosa's 600th. Barry Bonds 756th -- sigh. And of course the Brewers and the pennant races, not to mention my two games in one day. Oh, and the whole 'winter ball' experience ...

* * *

How about that Packers game on Monday night!?!

It was a snoozefest until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. For the better part of the contest, the game was only background noise as I worked on other things; I paid more attention to Deanna Favre's interview with Kornheiser and the gang in the broadcast booth then I did during other play in the first three quarters ...

Then Kates joined me and we took a seat to see the Broncos scramble and kick the tying field goal in the final five seconds. How amazing -- and comical -- was that replay of the players running on/off the field and hastily getting in position for that kick!?

Seeing the end of regulation, Kates announced she had to go to bed and went upstairs, while I remained in front of the TV, determined to stay it out ... No sooner had Kates gotten up the stairs, Brett Favre was airing it up to Greg Jennings, who pulled it in and ran it in for the winning score ... I bolted up the stairs and was running down our hallway, hands in the air -- like Favre running down field to meet his teammates -- shouting the details to Kates as I turned on our bedroom TV so we could catch the replays together ...

Ah, Brett Favre.

I don't know what Mike McCarthy told him before the season, but the guy is throwing better this season than he has in years. I take back everything I said a couple years ago about Favre and retirement ...


* * *

I spent Monday in Chicago. (Woo hoo!) Saw the new "Maps" exhibit at the Field Museum ...

Kinda fascinating.

When my cohort Liz pitched the idea of me tagging along with her and one of my editors to review the exhibit, I wasn't that excited. I mean, c'mon, how exciting can maps really be?

The exhibit is comprised of more than 100 significant and rare maps, spanning hundreds of years from those carved on stone tablets to today's computerized images ... (The Trib has a great online interactive...)

The highlights in my eyes included a map from the 1930s of London's underground rail system, a significant map because the rail system's simple, rectangular design became the template for other large city systems ...

Another gem was a colorful heart-shaped globe, that was more a beautiful piece of art than a usable map. Still, it was made more captivating in that the shapes, sizes and proximity of the continents remained exact even with the distortion of the globe ...

We saw a road map of the United States in the 1930s. What made this one so fascinating was that the map had been used during one family's series of vacations. With no interstate highways, the map was colored with red and blue lines tracing routes they took to various destinations, including the year of the vacation route ...

There was a map used to draw the boundaries of the new United States after the Revolutionary War, a map on which the negotiators had outlined the U.S. boundaries in red and gave it to England's King George III ...

There was Charles Lindbergh's flight map. Maps drawn by Abraham Lincoln and Leonardo da Vinci ...

But the one that had us all talking during our train ride back: An Inuit's pencil sketch, done in the 1800s, of a series of islands he'd drawn based on what he observed while kayaking. And next to that pencil drawing, a recent satellite image of the same islands; the pencil drawing was astonishingly accurate ...

* * *

Some of the radio stations started playing Christmas music yesterday. On Nov. 1.

Fa la la la blah!

Relaxed and ready.

Kates and I went to the farm this weekend to celebrate our anniversary and get away from the city life …

It was great. We caught up on some movies. Read. Hiked. Caught up on sleep. And ate … a lot of good food.

Now we're relaxed and refreshed for a new week.

Although it was weird not to have a little dog running round the house with us for the weekend.

And I didn’t like not having cable TV to watch the baseball -- but we did manage to flip on a radio late Saturday night to find out the D-Backs swept the Cubs. Figures. But you won’t see me shedding any tears over this one; I was never sure the Cubs belonged this year …

Oh yeah, and it’s 70 degrees outside … I’m wearing shorts -- during the first weekend of October in central Wisconsin. Unreal.

So about those movies …

The Girl in the Café … Not at all what we expected, and yet it was one of the most inspiring movies I’ve seen in a long time. From the writer of “Love Actually,” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the movie features a Lawrence, a private and reserved man who has dedicated his life to working for the UK … One day he walks into a crowded café, the only open seat is next to a young woman, Gina, who is just as private … The two have barely known each other when Lawrence invites Gina to the G8 Summit in Iceland. There, the relationship between Lawrence and Gina flourishes, and Lawrence speaks his mind about the issues of poverty to Gina -- but not to world leaders at the summit. In the end, Gina’s not afraid to make her displeasure of the policies known … It’s slow-moving, but it’s wonderfully acted and it’s worth it, in my opinion …

North Country … Humbling. A fantastic story that will get your blood curdling at how badly the women working in this Minnesota mine were treated. Great performances by Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand … A worth watch.

Little Black Book … A hideously funny and immoral movie about a girl /associate producer of a trashy daytime talk show (Brittany Murphy) who gets a hold of her boyfriend’s palm pilot. She starts contacting his ex-girlfriends. She weaves a web of lies. And it all leads to a colossal, humiliating ending that plays out on live TV … Also starring Ron Livingston, Holly Hunter, Kathy Bates and Bob the dog … A decent watch.

And on Sunday night, we watched the Packers game!? … The Packers dominated the first half (Is it just me or is Brett Favre playing like a completely different quarterback this year!?), and they could have buried the Bears had it not been for James Jones’ two fumbles … which allowed the Bears to stay in the game and eventally take the touchdown lead in the fourth quarter …

But, hey, we didn't care. There's no worries or cares when you're on the farm.

There's only one September ...

I'm feeling like I've said this before, but how great of a weekend was this for baseball!?!

And I know I've said this before: This is the most exciting baseball season we've seen since at least 1998 ...

Kates and I spent our weekend making the rounds to each of the parents' houses, and the baseball was always on. Going in, we knew this was going to be a make-it-or-break-it weekend...

Friday night was Applebees takeout with Kates' parents. And then the Brewers-Reds game ... When we turned it on, the Brew Crew already was down 5-0 and Ben Sheets had been plucked from the game in favor of Chris Capuano (Chris Capuano!?! ... ugh...). We got to see Prince Fielder tie the franchise home run mark, and Capuano actually pitched better than he had in months, but the comeback fell short ... The Brewers lost. The Cubs had beaten the Cardinals. The Brewers fall 1.5 games back from the Cubs, and the Cardinals -- thankfully -- lose their eighth straight to go six games back ...

I switch channels ...

To the Red Sox-Yanees game. It was 10:30 at night and that game was in the eighth inning. We had just missed a Jason Giambi home run, but with a 7-3 lead the Red Sox appeared to be cruising ...

Right ... Robinson Cano homered for the Yankees. Melky Cabrera walked. Johnny Damon doubled. Derek Jeter singled. Bobby Abreu doubled. And Alex Rodriguez singled to give the Yankees a 8-7 lead ...

Kates was already asleep on my shoulder. And I went lights-out for the ninth, only to make up to the postgame highlights.

That was Friday night.

* * *

On Saturday, it was off to my parents' place ...

For lunch, I brought Culver's; Kates brought Arby's (... hey, we were road trippin' ...). We had some sit-down time with Mom & Pops ... and then it was time for another Cubs-Cardinals game. The first of a doubleheader, actually ...

The Cardinals were looking good ... Then Alfonso Soriano whacked a two-run homer to win it. Alfonso!!

On to the Red Sox-Yankees game ... What started out as a captivating pitcher's dual between Josh Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang turned into a Yankee-drubbing (lovely!) in the blink of an eye ...

We watched until the eighth, and then it was time for Kates and I to hit the road again ... Flipping between the Cubs-Cardinals nightcap and the Brewers-Reds games all the way home ...

I figured the Cardinals couldn't keep losing the way they had been; they took their game. And I figured the Brewers couldn't let themselves slip any further; they took their game too with Prince hitting another home run to become the single-season record holder for the Brewers.

So the Cubs still lead. But the Brewers are just one back. And the Cardinals are all but done at six games back.

* * *

On Sunday, Kates and I threw the Packers-Giants game into the mix as we did some shopping and worked around the house ...

To be honest, I didn't watch the Packers that closely. But they looked good enough to me. And a 35-13 win can't tell me anything less ... I'll take it.

Didn't catch any of the Brewers game. But they won, and I'll take that too.

I did, however, listen to almost all of the Cubs-Reds game. And the Cubs won ...

Driving to the hardware store for some supplies and listening to the jubilee of Pat and Ron celebrating the fact the Cubs were heading back to Wrigley in first place, I couldn't keep the smile from leaking on to my face. It was then then it hit me: Hey, it's either going to be the Cubs or the Brewers winning this thing, this has been one HECK of a pennant race and I'm going to be having a ball no matter which one makes it ...

Of course, I wasn't done yet. The Red Sox and Yankees were on Sunday Night Baseball (lovely!) ...

And it was a classic as usual.

... Curt Schilling against Roger Clemens (no two pitchers had gone against each other with more wins in the history of Fenway Park ...)

... Game is tied 1-1 heading into the eighth. Then Derek "Mr. Clutch" Jeter launches a 3-run homer over the Green Monster to silence the Red Sox nation ...

... Jeter had fouled off pitch after pitch, and Jason Varitek went to the mound after almost every one to talk with Schilling. Jon Miller offered up an interesting stat that put to rest one of the thoughts swirling in my head all weekend long: The average American League game lasts about 2 hours and 53 minutes. The average Red Sox-Yankees game lasts 3 hours and 33 minutes -- because there's so much strategy and thinking that goes into each pitch.

... The Red Sox start mounting a comeback in the bottom of the ninth ... Against Mariano Rivera (... Need I say again how horribly overrated I think Mariano Rivera is!?! Every time a broadcast team starts gushing about him I want to run to throw a baseball at the TV ... He's not invincible people = 2001 World Series.)

... Then Rivera loads of the bases for (insert dramatic music here) David Ortiz. (More dramatic music here.) ... A couple weeks ago, Matty and I were discussing who we thought the three most exciting players were in baseball right now. I answered Vladimir Guerrero, Prince Fielder and David Ortiz. Prince had come through for me this weekend, I hadn't been paying much attention to Vlady, but surely Big Papi was going to come through here, I thought ...

He struck out ... oooooooooooooooh! I sigh with the Red Sox Nation ...

And so ends my latest baseball weekend.

* * *

... So I caught this story on MLB.com today ... and once again, I'm wondering, how much more fun can this get!?

What in the world has happened to the standings everywhere else? Five minutes ago, it seems, it was two Wild Card races and a pair of National League division races. Now every division but the AL West has a race, half of baseball is still alive, it looks like a seventh straight year with a new world champ, tiebreaker-scenario talk will soon be all the rage and someone will be crying more tears of joy than Jamie Pressly.

Uh. Yeah!!

A week ago I figured my ultimate postseason was out of reach. Now, anything could happen ...

If the Red Sox and Yankees meet again, it would be in the AL Championship Series. You know what those are like, and it could happen again. Any wild guess will do. The Cubs and Indians could meet in a battle of the two teams with the longest world championship droughts in the Majors, and the Cubs could win it all for the first time since 1908. The Brewers could win it all for the first time, and so could the Padres or Rockies. It could be another Subway Series, it could be 1986 revisited with Mets-Red Sox, or Grady Little could come back to Fenway with the Dodgers.

I might pee my pants.

That is, if it's a Cubs-Indians world series. Or even a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Or if the Brewers or Dodgers even make it to the World Series.

The Rivalry never seems to disappoint when it comes to drama. Fans who went to sleep Friday night assuming the Red Sox had won the opener easily awoke on Saturday to hear about an epic Yankee comeback. Saturday was the day Josh Beckett one-upped Chien-Mien Wang, and then Sunday was a fabulous Roger Clemens-Schilling pitching duel (representing the most-ever combined victories by two starters at Fenway) that Jeter broke up. And what an amazing finish, with Big Papi just loaded up for a grand slam walk-off against a closer he had beaten before. This time, Rivera won.

Like I said -- I watched every one. And no, I was not dissappointed.

Last year, the Tigers basically gave away this division at home on the final weekend, their hopes spoiled by Kansas City while Minnesota clinched. Of course, Detroit took advantage of its Wild Card berth instead, making it to the club's first Fall Classic since 1984. Those Tigers seem determined to do things different in 2007, and now it remains to be seen whether their momentum will stretch across an entire fortnight ...

Guess where Cleveland plays on the final weekend of the season? Kansas City. The Royals won at the Jake on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep, but if the AL Central is still a race on the last weekend, it would be too ironic.

Too ironic.

There's only one October. There's only two weeks left in the regular season.

And I looooooove this commercial ...