Replacement Referees

So it has been almost two days now and I have calmed down some now.  Went through and entire range of emotions---anger, rage, disbelief, sadness among others.  The poor guys have been taking grief for the whole season, and rightfully so.  They simply are not up to the task.  I see the one guy is a high school ref, the other guy gets fired from the lingerie league--what kind of penalties are you calling there?  Sad that it came to that.
 How about the money that betters won/lost?  Millions in Vegas because of the spread and what not, and then you have the folks in all the different pools and fantasy leagues and such.  No wonder everyone is hacked off.  Then you have to wonder about the other effects of "The Call".  What about if the Packers don't make the playoffs, or if they do, what if they don't host a playoff game ?  They say the economic impact for that happening would be around 8 million bucks.  Maybe not that big of deal in New York City, but huge in northern Wisconsin.  Playoff money and endorsement deals or the players?  Who knows.  Fines?  Would figure they are coming.

The poor refereeing affects the entire league.  Standings will be skewed.  Guys may get hurt.  The whole league is starting to be a joke.  So what to do?  How about making the job a full time gig.  Pay 'em ninety or a hundred grand or whatever.  Make them train, know all the rules frontwards and backwards.  Make them study film, pay the good ones extra for the playoffs, and be done with it.  Get some younger guys, ones who can keep up with the players.  You don't need bankers and lawyers doing a weekend job for the extra cash.  Get some spare guys ready in case of injury and to keep refs on top of their game, or they could be replaced.  Don't know what it would cost in salary and expenses, but it would certainly be better than using the clowns they have now.....

I see that the league and the referees may be near a deal.  This isn't going to change what has happened, and if I hear one person say something about good coming out of the GB-Seattle game I think I will become ill.  It will be interesting to see the effects of this "loss" throughout the rest of the season.  Here's hoping the Pack can overcome the "calls" of the last game, and that Seattle gets what is coming to them as well....

ACLU

I am now angry at the ACLU.  They have done many things over the years, some I have agreed with, some not.  But now they have gone too far......

Thanks to the ACLU, father-daughter dances are now banned in Rhode Island, as "gender discrimination".  Probably will take hold everywhere now.  Apparently a single mother complained that her daughter was prevented from attending the father-daughter dance.  Now I feel for kids who for whatever reason don't have two parents.  I think it makes it tough on them.  But to complain to the ACLU because your kid can't go to a dance?  C'mon. 

I have some "news" for some of the people out there.  As much as we'd like it, not everyone gets to do everything.  You may not like it, and it may not be "fair", but it is a fact of life.  People have different opportunities.  Some people have more money, some have more smarts, others more athletically inclined, others come from better home lives.  This seems to me like one of those situations where "If I can't have it, nobody else can either".  Well wah....life ain't always fair.  Get used to it.

I remember going to the father-daughter dance with my daughter when she was in the fifth grade.  I had a wonderful time, and hope she did too.  And guess what?  Not all the girls had a father there.  I saw other relatives, friends, and even mothers....I don't recall anyone complaining.  I suppose my friend Jim should have been angry, because he only had sons.  Probably should have cancelled the event because he couldn't participate.  Yeah right.  With all the problems going around, this is what they choose to sue about?  Maybe the University (public, I mention it) will have a father-daughter dance---I'd be there in a minute....

Food Rationing?

So I've been reading about how the United States is grossly overweight as a whole, and how the problem is only getting worse.  There are some scary stats out there about how the obesity problem will continue to affect the health care system.  Is there a problem?  I would say yes.  How are we dealing with it?

By mandating what we feed the kids for lunch at school?  They are now limiting choices, counting calories for the kids, stuff like this.  The problem is that the kids aren't all put together the same.  You've got kids playing linebacker on the football team trying to get by on the same calorie count as the hundred pound girl on student council.  Now I know that you can bring your own lunch..  I also know there are a lot of kids who depend on a school lunch for their main meal of the day. 

Now I think I know what they are trying to do.  They want the kids to eat more fruit and vegetables.  They want people to eat healthier, and they think that by only offering "healthy" alternatives at the school lunch people will learn to eat better.  So here is my question.  What has happened to personal responsibility?  What has happened to taking responsibility for your kids health?  Why are we depending on some bureaucrat somewhere telling us what we can or can't eat?  Or how much of it?  I know there are too many fast food places around, and sometimes it's a pain to cook.  I also know that you shouldn't eat garbage all the time, but I think you need to be able to make your own choices too.

So now they are telling the kids how to eat healthy at lunch.  They won't let me buy a giant Coke in New York City any more.  What's next?  Can only eat seafood on Friday, gotta have meatloaf on Monday?  Gonna limit how much water I can drink?  As a nation we are fat, so we limit student lunch calorie input because it's better for health in the long run.  Well what about smoking, or drinking?  Not so good for the health either I think.  Wondering where it's going to end.  Whaddya think? 

Stuff

Recently I've begun to think about where the Mrs. and I are going to live when we get done with the working times of our lives.  When the kids aren't around here this place is sure large and empty.  There are rooms around here that we don't even go into for weeks.  I am sure we don't need a place this big, but.....

What to do with all the stuff?  We've been here for almost twenty years now.  I am a saver.  I think that as soon as I get rid of something I'm going to need it.  We have accumulated all kinds of things.  We have boxes of stuff that we are saving for the kids.  We have boxes of stuff that was saved for us by our parents.  I know there are boxes of stuff that we moved in here nineteen some odd years ago that HAVE NOT moved!  So the Mrs. and I have decided that things have got to go. 

This is not going to be that easy.  The clutter, that won't be so tough.  The books, newspapers and magazines, those things only have memories for me, and I'll look at them as they go.  The stuff saved for different projects, well the projects probably aren't going to happen so it's time to let go of all that stuff.  The yard decorations, well I'm not as motivated anymore, so some of that stuff might just as well be tossed as well.  But that stuff is all easy.  We are hanging on to a lot of stuff thinking maybe someday the kids will want it or need it.  Furniture and tools, and some of their old clothes that were so cute on them.  Will they need it, or want it?  Who knows.....

Then there is the house itself.  When we moved in here, I said that's it, next time I move it's feet first.  Well my thoughts on this have evolved some.  This place is too big for two people to live in.  Too much yard to maintain, too much house to clean (for the Mrs., not me!).  We have great neighbors, like it here in the Falls, but I sure don't like winter as much as I used to.  Where we are going to live is a decision for later, but I don't want to be that last of the "originals" in the neighborhood either.

So what's the plan?  We'll sell some stuff off, toss some stuff out, give some stuff away.  We are going to think long and hard about any new major purchases like furniture, and I'll remember what a mess it was going through my dad's stuff when he passed and get started on weeding stuff out now to save others the headache later on.  I'll miss all my stuff, but I'll get over it.  I think....

GREEN BAY PACKERS

I am a fan of the Green Bay Packers.  So was my father, grandfather, in laws, aunts and uncles, mom, wife and kids.  We are all in around here.  One of my earliest memories is of the '65 championship game.  Packers beat the Browns.  I was five.  I remember the mud, thinking that the Pack could outsmart the Browns because the 15 on Starr could be confused with the 5 on Horning, and cutting out all the pictures from the papers in the following days.

I watched a lot of Packer games with my Dad when I was a kid.  Hot ham sandwiches and chips were usually the meal of the day.  We would pick the winners of all the games and then see how good of predictors we were.  We had a good run with the teams of the 60's with the Super Bowls and all, and then of course everything went down hill.  Oh well. 

I remember the first Packer game I went to.  It was in November of 1969.  Dad and I went to Milwaukee County Stadium and watched the Pack lose to the New York football Giants.  I sat in the top row of the right field bleachers, right on the end of the row closest to the grandstand.  Froze half to death.  It was fun.  Went to number of games over the years in Milwaukee.  Finally got to Lambeau when I got to college.  Don't recall much of that. 

It was hard being a Packer fan for a long time.  Boy there were some cruddy teams from the late 60's to the early 90's.  No players wanted to be there, coaching was bad, people were happy when the Pack got to .500---or near it.  The fans kept going to the games though.  Finally we got Wolf and Holmgren and Favre.  Success finally returned.  Happy days.  We had a big Super Bowl party and the kids were running all over the place and it sure was fun.  Thought it would last a long time, alas it was not to be.  But one Super Bowl win was better than none.  One of my favorite memories of Stew (the boy)  was after the Packers lost the Super Bowl in 1997.  I was (understandably) in a sour mood, but he told me "At least the Packers usually win."  Boy if he had lived through the Bengston, Starr, Gregg coaching eras.....

I have many memories of the Pack, both good and bad.  I hate the Bears and Cowboys.  I don't like the Lions or Vikings, don't have many strong feelings about any other teams.  I can still name most of the players (and their numbers!) from the great 60's teams ( that's how I learned my times tables).  Heck I even know obscure guys from the rotten 70's teams.  I remember the first time I took Stew to Lambeau (beat Phiily 6-3) and the last (lost to the Texans--the Texans??).  We've been to the Hall of Fame, and tail gated in the stadium lot in the middle of summer.  I remember games with the neighbors in the street, in bars, and alone in front of the set.  Spent a lot of time and money on the Pack.  That's how it is when you're part owner ya' know. 

So the Packers are pretty good again, have been for a number of years.  Plenty of good players, considered one of the better teams in the league.  Won another Super Bowl a couple of years ago.  Haven't had very many "bad" seasons for 20 some odd years now.  As I have aged I try not to let the results get to me as much as they once did, but tonight will find me in front of the TV rooting them on, hopefully to victory.  I'll be happy if they win, angry if they lose (especially to the damn Bears!), but either way I'll still be a fan of the Gren Bay Packers!!!

What's Going On......

So what's going on around here?  Things are actually a little quiet.  And that's not necessarily a bad thing.  The kids have been gone for a couple of weeks now.  I don't hear from them much, so I imagine they are well.  Miss them lots.  The Mrs. is back to work, and busy, so there are times I don't see much of her.  The fests and fairs are over, but there are still plenty of concerts to consider.  We'll see.  As much as the folks around here would like to think different, the Brewers aren't going to make the playoffs. 

Ah but the Packers start playing Sunday.  That will be front page news come Monday.  People have such high expectations (myself included!), but I am sure there will be some disappointment along the way.  And it always makes for long days when the Pack loses.  People are in a sour mood, the days seem to take forever, just not a good thing.  I always laugh when people say "we" regarding the favorite sports teams.  "We played great". " We won big".  Always wonder what part of the team they are.  Hopefully the Packers win more than they lose, make the playoffs and go from there.

Oh there is a presidential election on the horizon.  It's about 60 days away now.  Millions to be spent, mud to be slung, all the while problems need to be solved.  I think that it's about time we have a little compromising.  Nobody is all right, nobody it all wrong.  We need to find some common ground and get to work on the problems or we'll all be doomed.  Check your history.

I've got some volleyball games to announce in the next couple of weeks.  Don't know how I really got into this, but I'll be doing the play by play for the local cable outlet.  It's fun to keep in touch with the high school, but there are fewer and fewer kids there I know.  I'll do some stuff this year, maybe a little next year, but that will probably do it.

Looking forward to Mel's Pig Roast at the end of the month.  Such a great event for great causes (Google it if you'd like more information).  Tom and Nancy do such a great job, and I always like seeing who I'm going to run into.  Hopefully we'll have nice weather and a great day.

That's about it around here for now.  Have to start thinking about getting the house and yard ready for the winter (hope we have winter like last year!),  and there are a few other projects to look at.  There will be some dinners and shows with neighbors, and we'll just take it as it comes for awhile.  Ta ta for now.....

 

That Was Fun......but.....

Well Chuckapalooza has come and gone again.  Twenty years of Labor Day weekend parties.  It was great to see some old friends, Mary and Julie, Dan and Chris, Shoobie and a special appearance from Ken.  Nice to see them all.  Of course the neighbors were here, and some co-workers as well.  Big thanks to Super Dave for the beer and great fireworks show.  That was a real treat.  Plenty of food and beer, and the weather as always was wonderful.   If you didn't have a good time it's your own darn fault.

Now for the but.  This may have been the last hurrah for the ' Palooza.  Although it may be a surprise to some, there is a lot of time and work put into the party.  The Mrs. does a lot of chasing shopping and planning things.  We gotta get the chairs and the tables and the tents and whatnot.  And the setting up and getting ready is the easy part.  Cleanup the day after is really a pain in the butt.  And this year was actually pretty easy (especially for me)--  The Mrs. did most of it, but putting all the stuff away is a chore. 

And most of the kids are gone!  This was conceived as a kind of family picnic type thing, and there aren't really many families showing up anymore!  People have other things to do, don't seem to want to make the trek here to the Falls.  And I don't blame them.  I'm thinking I might have other things I want to do as well.  It is the end of summer after all.

So we'll see.  All good tings come to and end.  If you asked me right now I'd say this is a wrap.  Heck, even Jerry had to retire from the Labor Day gig.  I'm sure I'll have different thoughts as the date rolls around, but if this was it we sure have had a good run.  Hope everyone has enjoyed it as much as we have.