High school sports in Northeastern Wisconsin

When prep parents attack: Summer edition

2009-07-06T10:53:00.008-05:00

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.

Championship manager Mike Simoens spending summer teaching little brats how to drive

2009-06-30T13:15:00.007-05:00

So, what happens when you become the area’s most-coveted and talked about prep coach? When you go to a restaurant and people point and whisper, then ask for an autograph and offer to buy your meal?

If you’re Bay Port baseball coach Mike Simoens, you simply do what you’ve always done around this time every summer: You teach a drivers education class.

If anybody thought Simoens would get a big head after leading the Pirates to the WIAA Division 1 state championship earlier this month, think again.

The day after Bay Port won, he was on his way to Michigan to watch the Ash Port American Legion team play.

Now, he’s teaching the youths in Suamico how to drive, reminding them to keep both hands on the wheel while checking their rearview mirror every three seconds until they get their license. After that, they are free to drive with their knees while they balance the hamburger in one hand and the cell phone in the other.

When contacted by the Blog on Tuesday, Simoens told us he’s been teaching young people how to drive for 21 years now, doing both classroom and behind-the-wheel work.

“Only two small accidents during that time,” said Simoens, whose little sister once got her leg run over by the father of Weston Lee Hod in a non-related bicycle accident, a memory they all laugh about to this day now that the wheel marks are no longer visible on her legs.

One of them involved former Bay Port player Jeff Luedke. In an incident that happened around 1991, a teenage Luedke backed up his car. Instead of backing up and driving away cleanly, he hit a light pole standard.

Luedke’s reward?

Years later, Simoens made him his pitching coach. It’s a good thing Luedke is teaching young men how to throw a curve rather than how to drive Miss Daisy.

Luedke's accident was just a small blemish in Simoens’ career. He never thought for once to give up drivers ed after the incident.

“I think it’s important for coaches and teachers to be involved in the school district,” said Bay Port athletic director Otis Chambers, who is a candidate to be the Athletic Director of the Year by Inside Wisconsin Sports magazine. “If that means coaching, if that means teaching drivers ed, I think all those things are important for a teacher to be involved in.”

We give Young Si – that’s what the Bay Port folks call Simoens – a lot of credit for doing so many things in his free time. The guy could be sitting at home and sipping some lemonade after bringing home a championship, but he instead continues to help others out.

But, seriously, take a well-earned vacation already.

“I try to get away with the family for a week around the fourth of July – and then a week in August before school starts,” Simoens said. “I’m not much of a fixer upper at home so I try to stay busy in the summer with Legion ball, working on the diamonds and drivers ed.

“Our fall Little League starts in mid-August, so I’ll work on that starting next week. I enjoy it all.”

We didn’t ask Simoens about the fact that he’s entering his free agent year at just the right time.

Simoens is free to join another ballclub – we’d imagine several AD’s are salivating at the thought of hiring him – but Chambers did not sound concerned that Young Si would be leaving the program any time soon.

Although we’ve had several conversations in the past with Chambers regarding our belief that schools should sign coaches to long-term contracts, we’d have to agree that Simoens is a good bet to return.

However, if De Pere coach Dennis Riddle retires like we think he’s going to, we’d imagine a bidding war between good friends Chambers and Jeff Byczek, the AD at De Pere, could break out.

Chambers and Byczek, along with Ashwaubenon AD David Paul Steavpack and former Pulaski AD Don Tolkacz, were seen having dinner together at a swank Green Bay restaurant on Monday night, although we are told it had nothing to do with Simoens. And we would assume, although we didn't ask, that they didn't expense the dinner to any of the school districts.

“Mike is a veteran,” Chambers said. “He’s coached a lot of sports here. He’s seen a lot. We are just happy to have him as part of our staff and community.”

Does Chambers worry about another team trying to lure Simoens?

“Not on a guy like that,” Chambers said. “Mike is a Pirate. He’s always been a Pirate.”

And a gosh darn good drivers ed teacher, too.

Catching up with: Legendary Luxemburg-Casco stat man Craig Voelker

2009-06-29T16:46:00.002-05:00

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.

Blog gives its readers a vacation!

2009-06-21T19:33:00.004-05:00

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.

The 'Port makes Green Bay area proud, wins state baseball championship

2009-06-19T11:50:00.009-05:00

"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

The 'Port is one win away from a championship

2009-06-17T11:53:00.003-05:00

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 talks area baseball

2009-06-15T10:36:00.004-05:00

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.

Otis Chambers named an athletic director of the year by Wisconsin Inside Sports; won't tell blog how he got the nickname "Otis"

2009-06-11T11:18:00.007-05:00

In breaking news, Bay Port athletic director Otis Chambers will be featured in an upcoming issue of “Inside Wisconsin Sports.”

Chambers will be profiled by the magazine along with six other athletic directors from around the state that are vying for the athletic director of the year.

The AD of the year will be announced in November. Chambers has already been named the District IV athletic director of the year.

“It’s a great honor to be mentioned by your peers as one of the best,” Chambers told us in an exclusive interview.

Kudos to Chambers on the honor. The magazine e-mailed us for a quote on Chambers, and we lied and told them that he is one of the most approachable and helpful athletic directors we have ever known. He’s also an honest guy and will tell you the truth when asked a question.

Just kidding. That’s how we really felt.

While the AD of the year honor was well-deserved, we also are trying to figure out how Chambers got the nickname “Otis.” For those of you who don’t know, Otis is not Chambers’ real first name. It’s Dennis, as in, Dennis Chambers.

Dennis Chambers does not sound as cool as Otis Chambers in our opinion, but we don’t believe that’s why Dennis is called Otis.

We asked Otis this a few months ago, and he wouldn’t tell us why. Instead, Dennis told us to find out ourselves why he’s called Otis.

“It’s just part of history,” Chambers said at the time.

Just when did Dennis start to be called Otis?

“Oh, I don’t even remember,” Otis said. “Thirty years ago. Forty years ago. People just started calling me that.”

So, is Dennis another name for Otis? Like William and Bill?

“No,” Otis said. “Not at all.”

We wouldn’t let it go.

“There has to be a reason why people started calling you Otis,” we said.

Dennis agreed.

“There may be,” he said.

“You don’t want to tell me, because you’re worried it will end up on the blog,” we said.

“That’s right,” Dennis said. “I’m worried about what I said already.”

Now we were on to something.

“You did something bad in your younger years,” we said. “Was it a criminal act?”

Chambers began to laugh.

“The records have been expunged,” he said. “There is a statute of limitations and all records have been expunged at this time.”

Somebody out there has to know why Dennis is called Otis. A blog prize could be at stake.

“See what they say,” Chambers said. “I don’t think anybody is going to know.”

Hot Dog King Dave Johnson presented with golden weenie award

2009-06-09T10:37:00.010-05:00

As many of you know, the De Pere community recently had a roast for legendary girls basketball coach Dave Johnson, who resigned earlier this year after nine seasons and three state appearances with the Redbirds.

From what we hear, it was a star-studded event with some of the most famous people in Northeastern Wisconsin showing up to praise the Hot Dog King of the Midwest, who has become as popular in De Pere as Abe Froman is in Chicago.

The biggest moment of the night, however, occurred when Mike Bettiga, the father of former Ashwaubenon basketball standout Kaitlyn Bettiga and a man who once had Joe Theismann and his wife over for dinner, presented Johnson with the first ever Blog award.

It was a golden weenie glued to a plaque that was painted in De Pere colors. The award was commissioned by the blog and made by a former De Pere student who we think did a great job with the display. Although there was some concern that the weenie would fall off due to a questionable glue job, the picture would seem to indicate that it maintained long enough for Johnson to hold it up and pose for a picture.

"It's like the Golden Apple award, only different," said our blog source who snapped this picture and might be one of the funniest people you will ever know. "We felt the blog presence during the event on Saturday night."

Kudos to everybody who attended. That includes Yo Adrian's father, Mr. Ritchie, who was willing to plaster his phone number and e-mail address all over the place before the event, as he was given the responsibility of selling tickets.

As of now, there are no reports of any rude phone calls or spam e-mails. Kudos to everybody for that.

Todd Steffen, the father of Claire "3-Ball" Steffen and Erin "I'm going to state in soccer" Steffen, also was able to get authentic signatures of Johnson for our Blog auction later this summer. He even provided pictures of the signing.

"I had Johnson sign a few "Dave Johnson Family Guy" limited unframed versions, that he agreed, under stressful last minute negotiations, to forward to the blog, for resale, provided they would go to a charitable cause and not be part of some Sports Memorabilia Money Making Ponzi scheme," Steffen said. "And there is to be no resale attempt, under penalty of the law, on eBay, Craig's List or any other Internet retail resale provider."

"Sorry, couldn't get the long line of people waiting to get Johnson autographed paraphernalia and him signing and the large poster in the background all in one photo. I tried my best," Steffen said. "Remember, please remind folks that these are of no value unless authenticated and signed by Dave Johnson, Family Guy. I will send the “official” autographed copies to you in 1st class, high priority mail, or have them delivered in a Brinks Security Truck."

Kudos to Steffen for coming through for all of us. The Johnson autographs should be a big draw in the auction, right up there with the Prince Fielder signed mini helmet.

Area baseball update: Blog Hall of Famer struggles in third start, gets to meet a legend

2009-06-08T13:49:00.005-05:00

Jason Berken, Baltimore Orioles

Mrs. Berken probably said there would be days like these.

Blog Hall of Famer Jason Berken struggled in his third start in the Major Leagues on Saturday night. He allowed nine earned runs in just over three innings of work in a loss to the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum, home of former Bash Brothers and fellow juicers Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Although it wasn’t a good outing, we still think it’s cool that Berken had an opportunity to give up an RBI double to Jason Giambi.

According to the Baltimore Orioles' official website, Berken is the probable starter against the Atlanta Braves in Baltimore on Friday night. He will take on Braves rookie sensation Tommy Hanson, who had a rough debut against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

The real story of the week was not about Berken getting shelled during his Oakland start. It actually was a few days earlier, when the team was in Seattle and Berken met Ken Griffey Jr.

It’s those types of situations we care most about. It’s cool that Berken is pitching in MLB, but we more love hearing the stories about being in the MLB, like how Berken got to take his first trip to California last week, how he had a 43-inch plasma television in his swank hotel room in San Francisco, how one of his teammates told him to be in the lobby to get fitted for a suit, and yes, how he got to meet one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

“When he started walking over, I was like, ‘That’s Ken Griffey,” Berken said about meeting the Kid before the Orioles played the Mariners. “He was just so chill. So cool. He was like, ‘Hey man, how are you doing?'

“That’s the best player of our generation.”

It's also Ombudsman Corey Wilson's favorite all-time player.

Whether he stays in the majors for the rest of his career or whether he never throws another baseball again, these are the type of lifelong memories that can never be taken away from Berken.

We haven’t met Griffey Jr. while being a member of the Orioles. You haven’t met Griffey Jr. while being a member of the Orioles. Berken has met Griffey Jr. while being a member of the Orioles.

That makes him the big winner.

Greg Reinhard, Iowa Cubs

The former Marinette standout had two quality outings in relief for the Class AAA team of the Chicago Cubs.

The right-hander pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball on Wednesday against Nashville, allowing one hit and striking out two.

He then struck out three batters in two scoreless innings against Round Rock on Sunday, including getting Houston Astros catcher J.R. Towles on a pop-up.

Reinhard is 1-1 with a 3.28 earned-run average in 17 appearances for Iowa.

Some people on here wouldn’t be impressed with Reinhard because he’s only pitching in Class AAA -- you know who you are -- but we ain’t one of them.

We have Reinhard making his MLB debut sometime in 2009, but will not ask him for any free tickets.

Erik Cordier, Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Class A pitcher for the Atlanta Braves made one start last week, getting a no decision after going 3 1/3 innings and allowing one run in four hits against the Potomac Nationals.

Cordier is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA.

Luxemburg-Casco goes to state; Blog issues several kudos to area teams

2009-06-05T11:16:00.005-05:00

“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.

Tennis scout drops by to talk about WIAA state tournament

2009-06-03T12:29:00.006-05:00

It's that time of year again.

You have been waiting for it. We have been waiting for it. The child of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf has been waiting for it.

It's the WIAA state boys tennis tournament, taking place Thursday through Saturday this week. As always, our area is loaded with talented players who will take their game to the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, hoping to become the next Pete Sampras or Michael Koval.

What better way to celebrate the occasion than having a chat with our own tennis scout, who has become a polarizing figure on these boards and who inadvertently helped get tennis coverage on here suspended for more than six months after somebody wrote us a hand-written letter to complain about him.

But why are we bringing that up again? It's a happy time for tennis. So, sit back and enjoy.

Austin Jiang of Bay Port is making a trip to state for the third time but is still looking for his first win there. We have to imagine you think this is the year?

Yes. In fairness, Austin had tough draws the first two years and was an underdog both times. This year he is the favorite in Round 1. Round 2 is close on paper, the younger brother of the Madison kid (Gilmore) who beat Austin when he was a sophomore. Pay attention to that round.

How will the Pirates players fair individually at this tournament?

Austin is a clear favorite. Kevin Lewis is playing the second place finisher at the Oconomowoc sectional. Usually, the winner of the second flight at the GB sectional would be an underdog against someone finishing that high.

Kevin is a special No. 2 and last year's experience at the Nielsen (Tennis Stadium in Madison) helps him. I think he has a good chance.

Jake McDonald and Eric Linskens are playing Neenah's No. 2 team, but Neenah is the New York Yankees of NE WI tennis. Jake and Eric also have a good chance. Austin wins and one of the other two flights also gets a win, Bayport goes 2-1 on Thursday (I would love to be ridiculed on the blog by some Bay Port fan gloating over their 3-0 record on Thursday).

Michael Gillespie of De Pere seems to have made the transition well to singles this season and now is at state. How do you feel he will do in Madison?

Michael has elevated his game. He was the second best area player to Austin at the end of the year and not everyone would have predicted that in April. Four of his seven losses were to Mr. Jiang and two of them went three sets.

I like his chances against the Waukesha kid on Thursday. The winner gets the No. 1seed, defending state champion and UW-Madison bound Billy Bertha of Marquette. If young Gillespie gets to that round, he should enjoy the moment and have a great learning experience.

Can Andy Wall of Green Bay Notre Dame make some noise in the Division 2 field?

Andy can make a run. Mr. Wall got upset in last year's sectional and has been waiting for this.

As a seed, Andy is favored on Thursday over a talented frosh from New Berlin. In Round 2, Andy would face a La Crosse Acquinas senior who won his sectional or a quality Roncalli player he has already beaten, either match would be worth the $6 admission and Andy has a good chance in Round 2.

The winner of that draws the No.1 seed, Nick Buckley, who defeated Michael Koval in the finals last year, Buckley will likely repeat but if not, he won't be beaten until the finals.

How great is the environment at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison?

The Nielsen is wonderful for viewing tennis. A dozen indoor courts with good viewing for all and always 12 quality matches to watch. It is easy to wander around to keep abreast of scores. At 2:00, I will be monitoring Gillespie (first match on), Jiang and several other non-area matches; other area matches will follow with Notre Dame and Division 2 going deep into the evening.

One final question. What did you think of De Pere beating Bay Port to get to the team state tournament?

I didn't see De Pere's upset coming. On your last tennis blog, I picked DP to finish a distant 2nd to BP at sectionals. More recently, I predicted DP to finish 3rd to BP and Appleton North. Your tennis scout is not good enough to coach, the DP coaches knew the upset could happen. BP has dominated area tennis at the top of the lineup for two years but DP was deeper, they picked up 21 points at the No. 3 and No. 4 slots to BP's 10, with huge wins at No. 3 doubles (Leo Zehren/Logan Thiem) and No. 4 singles (Spanky Glover).

You want drama? The results from those flight 3-4 matches played at 4 Seasons arrived at Western Racquet Club into the second set at No. 1 doubles. Everyone knew then that the winner of No. 1 doubles was team state bound.

DP was down a set. The last two sets were wonderfully played, given the importance of the match, it was the most dramatic tennis I have ever watched live. It could have gone either way.

Mathew Zellner, McDonald, and Linskens all played quality tennis but Spencer Strand was on fire, playing the best tennis of his young life; DP eeked out both sets.

I felt badly for the Bay Port team, coaches, and fans; when you expect to win, it makes losing all the harder. Jake and Eric were the top conference and area doubles team. They finished 2-1 against DP, winning five of the seven sets played between the two teams. It is easy to forget the first five sets played in the rivalry, but it isn't fair to do so.

Kudos to both teams and the players still competing from Notre Dame, Southwest and Preble.

Good luck to all individual entrants and DP's team the following week (DP's first time ever qualifying for team state).

-- The Scout is a long-time area tennis observer who resides in Wisconsin and is a big fan of Oscar Robertson.

Meredith Salenger sends kudos on Blog's 500th entry: "I will love you forever"

2009-06-03T10:30:00.004-05:00

Award-winning actress Meredith Salenger, who was inducted into the Blog Hall of Fame in June of 2008, sent congratulations to the Blog on Tuesday night regarding our 500th post.

Salenger, who recently made a cameo in Disney’s “Race to Witch” Mountain and became a household name after her role as Lainie Diamond in “Dream a Little Dream” with Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, once told us that we were cute not once, not twice, but three times.

“This blog has confirmed that there are talented writers out there - yes, I mean you,” Salenger said. “This blog is fun, funny and well written. And you look like Obama, so I will love you forever.”

Salenger recently appeared in an episode of “24” and now has her own Twitter page.

Kudos to her.

History in the making: Blog celebrates 500th entry

2009-06-02T11:34:00.008-05:00

This is a special day in Blog history.

We are celebrating our 500th blog entry, a feat accomplished by many but never by us until today.

Although this place is not even 2-years-old yet, we imagine you feel like it’s been around forever. The Blog is part of your life now. You have your family. Your dog. Your teachers and co-workers.

And then you have us. When your day isn’t going so well and you need a cyber hug, you know you can come here and get some love.

There have been hundreds of people who have made this place special and turned this into the hottest preps blog in the country.

We could not have done it without you. Maybe some of it, but not all of it. We thank you for that.

We are not sure how long this Blog will last, but kudos to us for getting to the 500 milestone. While that number doesn’t mean what it used to due to the rampant use of steroids, it’s still a pretty special mark.

Kudos to us. Kudos to you. Kudos to everybody who has ever given us a blog hit.

We don’t like praise. Like Ashwaubenon athletic director David Steavpack, we are very embarrassed by it. That said, we now ask you to take the time to leave a comment about how much we have meant to you.

"I never thought I'd see this day," said Press-Gazette reporter and blog favorite Weston Lee Hod, who recently was suspended 10 working days for going to see Hannah Montana. "Honestly, I thought you would've given up by now, but the blog truly is a testament to your perseverance and endless sense of wacky humor."

Special kudos go out to, and in no particular order (if you're not mentioned, it doesn't mean you're not really important. It just means we forgot).

Ken Golomski
David “Coach B” Bernarde
Bob Rickards
Chris Becker
Jason Berken
Meredith Salenger
Michael J. Fox
Ombudsman Corey Wilson
Dan Lukes
Amanda Brooker
Rob Demovsky
Weston Lee Hod
Nick Goddard
John Maino
Dave Johnson
Mike Bettiga
Marc Shield
Nate Rykal
Otis Chambers
Todd Steffen
Jake Hottenstine
Andrew Rosenbaum
James “Jimmy” Albers
Joe Vanden Avond
Ben Vanden Avond
Todd McMahon
Greg Reinhard
Brent Jorgensen
Larry Nelson
Kevin Penza
Murphy in the Morning
Katie Bettiga
Tom Zimdars
Brad Fischer
Hillary Basten
Tennis Scout
Mr. and Mrs. Turriff
Phantom Alum
T-Rep
Hoopin
Bob Knight
Retro

Bay Port lacrosse team reaches Final Four

2009-06-01T17:02:00.003-05:00

The Bay Port lacrosse team, along with coach and Blog contributor Amanda Brooker, can't be stopped. They can't even be contained.

The Pirates advanced to the Final Four after beating Neenah in three overtimes on Saturday and continue a magical run they hope ends with a championship.

"Scored right off the third OT face off in a textbook fastbreak play, three attack set up in an L, faceoff guy passes off then defenseman slides to him, keep moving the ball as the defense slides to backdoor the goalie," Brooker said. "It was really exciting and the kids from both teams gave it everything they got."

We've always said on here that there is nothing more exciting than a three attack set up in an L with the faceoff guy doing something while the defender does something else and they keep moving as the defense goes somewhere and the one team scores. It's pretty amazing.

Anyway, Bay Port was headed to Wausau today for a sectional game. The winner of that game will host Waunakee while the loser travels to Arrowhead later this week. The state final will be in Neenah on Saturday.

"I love the heart and spirit of this team," Brooker said. "Throughout the season they have given me everything they have. But we can't come out flat. If we start out strong, they have the ability to keep the momentum and take on any team in the state.

"Every team is beatable. We've beaten Wausau, and they've beaten us this season. We lost to Waunakee twice at a tournament - the first time only by two, the second time was after five lacrosse games, dinner at Old Country Buffet, and a hotel stay - we just ran out of gas.

"We know the tendencies of these two teams and can use that to our advantage (and they know ours as well). Arrowhead is a powerhouse, but they play a similar game to us because of the type of athlete they have - more speed than size. That could work to our advantage as well."

Kudos to all the Final Four teams. Kudos to lacrosse. Kudos to us for writing about lacrosse. Kudos to the Old Country Buffet.

Baseball update: Berken is pitching in the Major Leagues; Reinhard and Cordier working their way up

2009-06-01T14:33:00.006-05:00

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.

Come on down! Amy Proctor named girls coach at Green Bay Preble

2009-05-29T10:56:00.002-05:00

In breaking blog news, we are reporting that former Lawrence University women’s basketball coach Amy Proctor has been named the new girls coach at Green Bay Preble.

She replaces Barry Harris.

Proctor is a former Green Bay West and St. Norbert College standout and should do an amazing job with the Hornets.

But her basketball resume isn’t what is most important about Proctor.

It’s that she once appeared on the “Price is Right” back in 2004, rubbing elbows with the legendary Bob Barker.

Proctor got to spin the big wheel and made it to the showcase showdown that was worth $20,850. She ended up being the big winner, getting a trip for two to Hawaii, a camper, a computer, two guitars and a dresser.

Kudos to Proctor on the new job. But, really, kudos to her for appearing on the “Price is Right.”

McNiff named girls basketball coach at De Pere

2009-05-28T12:39:00.004-05:00

In breaking blog news, Kelly McNiff has been named the new girls basketball coach at De Pere.

McNiff, a former University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh standout, replaces Dave Johnson.

Johnson -- the Hot Dog King of the Midwest who has overtaken Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago, in popularity -- resigned in April after nine seasons with the Redbirds.

McNiff has been the head coach at Green Bay Southwest the past two seasons but is familiar with the Redbirds’ program. She was the junior varsity coach for five seasons at De Pere before taking over at Southwest in 2007.

“We’re excited to have Kelly rejoin our staff,” said De Pere athletic director Jeff Byczek, who is up for induction into the Blog Hall of Fame in June. “Kelly has the passion, knowledge and commitment to strengthen the tradition of success at De Pere. We believe Kelly is the best fit for the Redbirds girls basketball program.”

Kudos to McNiff on getting the job.

Former baseball star James Albers recovering from gallbladder removal

2009-05-28T11:14:00.012-05:00

Former West De Pere baseball standout James “Jimmy” Albers is resting comfortably at his estate in Illinois today after undergoing surgery to remove his gallbladder on Wednesday.

Albers helped lead the De Pere American Legion team to the Class AAA state title in 1999.

He was the winning pitcher in the championship game while also being named to the all tournament team.

Albers had been experiencing gallstones for almost two months and had two recent attacks over the last couple weeks.

The surgery lasted approximately one hour, but Albers said it took him an additional seven hours to wake up from the anastasia, although we are not 100 percent sure that's how you spell anastasia.

This is the third time Albers has been put to sleep in order to have surgery performed. He also has had a knee scoped and had surgery to remove a staph infection from his leg.

Albers said that there is no threat of additional stones because there is no place for them to accumulate.

“The worst thing is the needles,” said Albers, who also mentioned that he had to have his chest shaved. “I cringe. I can’t take needles. But as soon as the IV is in your arm for a couple of hours, you don’t notice it.”

All in all, it seems like a good day to be Albers with the threat of stones no longer around.

“God, you’re a dork,” he said. “I love it. I love it.”

Albers, who was named the Press-Gazette’s 2007 statistician of the year, said he’s bored sitting at home and is watching reruns of “ER” and the Ellen Show. He will take the rest of the week off and return to work on Monday a new man.

The blog wishes Albers a quick recovery, and we also ask that you give him some get well soon comments since he can read them all today while in bed.

Kudos to Albers. Kudos to you. Not kudos to gallstones.

Area legends and others talk about Blog Hall of Famer Jason Berken's big debut

2009-05-27T11:12:00.009-05:00

As many of you already know, Blog Hall of Famer Jason Berken made his Major League debut on Tuesday night, beating the Toronto Blue Jays after allowing just two runs in five innings.

Berken (1-0) likely is beginning to get some early Cy Young consideration.

The area is buzzing about Berken today, and we thought we'd get some of Green Bay's most famous people, along with other guests, to weigh in on Berken one day after the magic at Camden Yards.

My son Andrew and I watched it at Buffalo Wild Wings last night. Very proud of Jason, I thought his control and location was very good.

The key to his success was the way he kept his composure when things got a little dicey. That’s the mark of a great pitcher.

-- Murphy in the Morning, radio legend who used to predict the sex of a baby but won't do it anymore.

I was just thinking about how close he is to having his own bobble head doll.

-- Brian Ellison, current East River Knights utility infielder and former Green Bay East standout who used to live next to Berken's sister.

There’s no way anyone would have been able to tell it was his first major league game if they didn’t know it. Amazing composure, even when the pitching coach went out to talk with him in the 5th inning…he seemed tremendously confident. I’m glad to see my advice to him yesterday worked well. I told him to announce his presence with authority…! Did you see that first pitch???? Damn right. I’m looking forward to the game used cleats he is giving me. I think I might walk around the press gazette office with them on.

-- John Maino, radio legend but not as famous as Murphy

I think Jason is a great testament to the ability of an individual to never give up at something he loves. He had a surgery that could’ve derailed his career, but persevered through it and is being rewarded for it at the highest level. I wish him the best of luck and will enjoy playing with him in MLB 2009: The Show.

-- Weston Lee Hod, Press-Gazette sports reporter who got suspended from the blog for 10 working days for going to see "Hannah Montana."

Only 299 more wins to go to the Hall of Fame.

-- Dan Lukes, De Pere American Legion manager

I'd catch myself looking up at the TV and thinking, "Holy cow, that's Berken!" And then, "Holy cow, he's got great stuff!" It sounds strange because of course he has great stuff, he's in the show. But when you follow a guy's journey through the minors, it's a rarity to actually see him throw.

I could toss a bunch of adjectives out there - aggressive, poised, solid, fearless - all of which apply, but for me, I was most impressed by the fact that he pitched to contact. He played to the natural advantage of the pitcher over the batter. He threw strikes and was rewarded for it. It was a really nice outing.

-- Nick Vitrano,radio legend and former SNC tennis player

I didn't see the whole thing, but I saw the fifth inning where he got out of that bases loaded jam, getting Scott Rolen out. I thought he showed a lot of poise. Bottom line? Two runs in five innings, that's about as well as you can ask for in his first Major League start.

-- Nick Goddard, WFRV sports reporter who once tackled Berken in a football game

I don't know Jason personally, but what a great story. To get to the big leagues is a difficult task and you have to be impressed that Jason Berken was able to make it, start and win! A night he'll never forget I'm sure. Our Sports Information Director at St. Norbert College, Dan Lukes, is good friends with Jason and was at Camden Yards to watch and then celebrate in his victory. Lukes coached Berken in legion ball. A night Dan will never forget as well.

-- Mike Counter, former radio legend and the senior production specialist at St. Norbert College who clearly is not a Blog reader

First of all I can tell you right now I'll be fighting John Maino for the game-used cleats. I too am pleased with Berken's performance. I think each guy who follows Berken's journey sort of inserts himself in his shoes. Most of us all had dreams of being in the Big Leagues and the closest I got was Big League Chew.

I have to think that Jason at least earned himself another couple of shots to show his field manager, and Orioles management, his stuff. It'll be really special if he can hang around for awhile and start to earn a name for himself.

-- Ombudsman Corey Wilson

The most important thing was his poise. We’ve had guys before come up and they’ve had just as good of stuff. But there’s more to it than just having stuff and having tools. It’s the ability to focus, the ability to not get out of control, stay in your lane, looking like you fit.

-- Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembly

It was a dream come true. I wish I could have pitched deeper in the game, but it was a battle all night. Fortunately, the team played great and got me through it.

-- Jason Berken, Baltimore Orioles pitcher

Lukes from Baltimore: Play Ball!

2009-05-26T14:45:00.004-05:00

Dan Lukes doesn't pretend to be Tom Mahoney.

But the long-time De Pere American Legion manager, who is in Baltimore to see Jason Berken's Major League debut against the Toronto Blue Jays tonight, told us in an exclusive interview this afternoon that he expects the game to be played despite some possible rain.

"If you're coaching baseball, you at least know how to read the weather map and the radar," said Lukes, who wasn't pointing to a green screen at the time. "There might be some showers tonight, but it takes a lot to rain out a big league game.

"I think we will see baseball at some point tonight. It hasn't rained since this morning, so I think we will be OK."

Lukes made the trip to Maryland with former Legion player and standout bowler, Joe Vanden Avond.

The duo, along with the Stauber's of De Pere, checked out the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Tickets for that place, according to its website, is $29.95.

"It was OK," Lukes said. "It wasn't fantastic. But the Inner Harbor was nice. They did a nice job of fixing that up."

Lukes, meanwhile, already has his tickets bought for tonight's game. He exchanged some brief text messages with Berken this morning.

"You want to see him do well," said Lukes, who is a former manager of Berken's. "People who know a lot more than I do think he can do the job. What is there to be nervous about? In the end, it's just a game."

So says the guy who gets to sit in the stands watching the guy who has to pitch in a stadium that Cal Ripken, Jr. played in. So says the guy who doesn't have to face Vernon Wells.

Just kidding.

Lukes is excited for a good friend, as is all of Blog nation.

"Hard work pays off in the end," Lukes said. "And good things happen to good people. When you put those two together, it's not surprising.

"Obviously, you are happy. But distractions to him have always been like the buzzing of flies. I'm sure he will be focused and ready to go tonight."

Kudos to Berken. Kudos to Lukes. Kudos to you. Kudos to us for getting Tom Mahoney in a blog entry.

2009-05-25T18:57:00.003-05:00

Stop the presses: Berken to the Bigs!!!!!!!

2009-05-25T09:35:00.006-05:00

Blog karma really does work.

In the biggest Blog breaking news we've ever delivered, we are reporting that former West De Pere standout and Blog Hall of Famer Jason Berken has been promoted to the Major Leagues today.

Berken will start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

The right-hander has been a frequent contributor to the blog over the past two years with his popular "Berken Diary" series as well as taking fans inside the game by providing the Blog with quotes after his starts.

It is not surprising that somebody who gave so much time to the Blog would now be seeing the benefits of it. You scratch our backs, we just might help get you to The Show.

We would like to congratulate Berken on achieving the dream we always knew he'd realize. It was just a matter of time. Now, that time is here.

It's been interesting to follow one guy for so long and see him make his way from college to the minors to the MLB. It's crazy. Berken is all growns up now. (Swingers, 1996).

"I’m never going to be content with just getting there," Berken said. "I’ll never be content ever. But no matter what happens, I’m pitching in the Big Leagues. No matter what happens, until the day I die, I can say that I pitched in the Big Leagues."

Berken not only will get his own probaseballreference.com page as soon as he throws a pitch, and he not only will forever be in the books as a Major League Baseball player.

But the guy will appear in a video game this week when one of the most popular games of all-time, "MLB 09 The Show" updates its online rosters and places Berken on Baltimore. Seriously, the dude is going to be in a video game. It doesn't get more powerful than that.

Berken will have several family and friends in attendance tomorrow, including De Pere American Legion manager Dan Lukes and former Legion player Joe Vanden Avond, who likely will cry when Berken gets his first out.

"It's great," said Lukes, who has managed one more Big Leaguer than many of us except for West De Pere coach Sean Gibbons. "It's going to be really cool when he walks out to the mound tomorrow."

Kudos to Berken. Kudos to you for supporting him. Kudos to West De Pere students, coaches and fans. Kudos to Mr. and Mrs. Berken for coming up with the right combination of X and Y chromosomes. Kudos to Emily Berken for sticking with her husband and not leaving him for Alex Rodriguez. Kudos to us for knowing way back when that this guy would make it to the MLB and signing him to a blog friendly contract before he became famous. Kudos to us again for that move. Kudos to everyone.

Baseball chat with Dan Lukes

2009-05-21T13:47:00.004-05:00

De Pere American Legion manager Dan Lukes stopped by today to participate in his final regular-season baseball chat of 2009.

Good luck to all area baseball teams with the tournament right around the corner.

How about your Algoma Wolves, one win away from winning the outright Packerland Conference title. What has been the key this season?

How about the alma mater (which stands by Michigan's proud waters, rolling waves of blue)! Last Friday I took a drive up to Sturgeon Bay for the big Algoma-Sturgeon Bay clash. It is the only time I've seen them play this year, but what I saw in that game was pretty good. They made almost all the plays defensively, and got good pitching from Jake Lebotte. Their hitters also made pretty good contact off of Nate Anschutz, when they hit the ball it was usually squared up. Algoma is also strong up the middle with a good catcher, good middle infield and good centerfielder. I would be surprised if they didn't make some noise in the D-4 tournament.

Did the Bay Conference shape up pretty much how you thought? You picked Hortonville to win the league, and you're half right so far.

Well, as of this moment Hortonville and West De Pere both stand at 11-3. Should they both win today, the winner of their game next Tuesday will win the league championship outright. Behind those two, it's certainly a big logjam.

Are you impressed with the way the Phantoms have held strong?

They had a little rough stretch a few weeks ago but they've played pretty well since then. They've gotten good pitching and make the plays defensively, and if you can do those two things well you'll have a chance to beat anybody.

Green Bay Southwest beat De Pere since our last chat. How big of a win is that for any program, when you beat perhaps the best team in the area?

A wise man once told me, "There are no upsets in baseball." I wasn't at that game, but Southwest pitched well and played good defense that day. Like I just said, when you do that you can beat anybody. The team that can do it consistently usually wins a lot more than they lose. Those that can't, don't.

Who was the wise man?

That one I remember. It was Larry Spaeth.

Tell us about Mr. Spaeth, if you could.

Well, he had four sons go through the high school and Legion program in De Pere - Brett, Bryan, Andy and Nic. He's a great baseball man and even though he hasn't had a son in the Legion program since 2003, he's still involved with a lot of behind the scenes work with Steve Wilmet. Larry handles all the apparel stuff with our guys, and it's one less thing I have to worry about.

We are sure you're rooting hard for De Pere come tournament time. But the Redbirds will have their work cut out for them if and when they meet Kimberly. Dan, can anybody really beat the Papermakers in this sectional if they play up to their potential?

Should that matchup happen, it will be a great game. Watching that one from the party deck at Joannes will be a treat, and it will be nice to watch a game like that without having to make any decisions!

Anybody can be beat on any given day. De Pere will have a challenge with Kimberly, but Kimberly will also have a challenge facing De Pere. I do know this, De Pere will not be going into that game intimidated.

It's a confident bunch of guys and I know both sides are looking forward to seeing who comes out on top. Anything can happen in a seven-inning, single-elimination baseball playoff. One bad inning and your goose is cooked.

What do you think of Kimberly ace Brad Schrieber, who will pitch at Purdue? The dude appears to be lights out.

He's a big horse, no question about it. He's pretty solid and in his last two starts he's thrown a two-hitter of Appleton West and a one-hitter of Oshkosh West - two good programs. He doesn't walk many guys either.

With the tournament beginning soon, we are going to put you on the spot. We want some predictions.

What area team(s) will advance to the state tournament next month?

De Pere, West De Pere and Algoma, of course!

We will wrap up the chat by asking you how the De Pere Legion program is shaping up for 2009. You excited by the potential?

We have a tough schedule, and with playing a lot of games we'll find out our pitching depth in a hurry. We're the smallest Class AAA team by enrollment in Brown County now, so we'll see if we can get to state somehow. We're just a small Class AAA team just trying to get by.

Becker again looks to take down Rickards

2009-05-21T10:09:00.003-05:00

It’s a soccer game being billed like a boxing match.

Becker vs. Rickards, Part III

Not since the Rumble in the Jungle has a showdown been so anticipated.

Becker and his Green Bay Preble soccer team will host Rickards and Green Bay Notre Dame tonight in the semifinal round of the Fox River Classic Conference tournament.

The winner will play at either Bay Port or De Pere at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

It’s just the second meeting between Becker and Rickards since the two went up against each other in the Blog’s basketball challenge tournaments in March.

Becker delivered a knockout punch back then, winning the girls tournament challenge over Rickards, who failed to even make it to the Final Four.

This is different. After winning the basketball challenge, Becker remained humble. He mentioned at the time that Rickards still has two WIAA state championships to his zero.

Perhaps this is the time for Becker to start marking a name for himself in the world of girls soccer after taking over the program this season. Beating a good friend and rival in Rickards would be huge.

“Bob has had my number the last two times our teams have played,” Becker said. “You have to look at the percentages...one of these times it has to go my way.

“I'm debating to put my Edith the Elephant song on our warm up tape to try and distract them. I need some sort of edge. We both will have our teams ready to play and it will be a great battle between our two teams. I will leave with a quote "The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team" and being on the blog of course. Go Hornets!”

You can always count on Becker to have some sort of inspirational line, and he didn’t disappoint.

Rickards, meanwhile, respects both Preble and Becker. But until Becker rises up and beats him on the field like he did in the basketball challenge, we are not sure how scared he really is of the man who sings about elephants.

“On paper, we are very similar,” Rickards said. "Our goal for/against are very close. We were lucky to get an overtime win early in the year. I am sure Chris and the Preble program would like to get revenge.

“So we will prepare for everything including the kitchen sink to be thrown at us. Playing on the road will be difficult, but I am sure our program will be up to the challenge.”

Our pick?

That’s a difficult one. There is a lot of blog karma being thrown around in this match.

You’ve got Becker, who rode the karma to the boys state tournament last season.

You’ve got Rickards, who rode the karma to a Division 2 boys state title.

You also have Notre Dame senior Megan “When I score a goal the other team yells” Schuette playing for the Tritons.

Schuette was one of more than 50 Notre Dame students to get their picture taken with the Blog last year, helping to deliver 50 pizzas worth over $200 to Notre Dame in the “Get 50 pictures with the Blog and get pizza delivered to your school” contest.

Good luck to both teams.

Also, good luck to both De Pere and Bay Port. As all soccer fans know, those two teams have become the biggest and best rival in the area over the past two seasons.

The Redbirds and Pirates shared the FRCC championship last season, and then Bay Port went to the Division 1 state tournament after beating De Pere in a sectional semifinal and Kimberly in the championship.

Kudos to both De Pere coach Trish “I never answer my cell phone” Rhodes and Bay Port coach Brooke “I believe in Blog karma,” Mraz.

Two good coaches. Two good people. Two good teams.

Kudos to soccer. Kudos to soccer coaches who coach the sport despite not being paid great money for the service. Kudos to us for giving kudos to soccer and soccer coaches.