They did the mash, they did the Monster Mash ...
Great to see "The Kid" throw out the first pitch in Sunday's Milwaukee Brewers baseball game, via tape delay. Prince Fielder, Tony Plush and the gang ate it up. Flipping between Ryan Braun and Aaron Rodgers in high def. Heaven, I'm in heaven ...
Saw every game of the 1982 playoffs against Mr. October and the Angels and then the St. Louis Cardinals. Nothing like being there to really feel the electricity. The opening game enjoyed the only sunny day; it misted for all the remaining games, as I remember.
Will be lucky to see just one playoff game this time around but I have my name in the lottery.
I was eligible for divisional series tickets that became available Tuesday at 9 a.m. But I tarried until 3 that afternoon at which time the only tickets available were two box seats at $200 each. In minutes, even those disappeared and it was standing room only at $25 a pop.
Would there even be major league baseball in Milwaukee today were it not for Miller Park's enclosed stadium? Much less a magnet for 3 million fans? Or a future Hall of Famer signed for life? The answers are no, not hardly, and no way. Bud Selig deserves his statue out in front of the park.
It was wrong for the state legislature to decree a tax on five counties without a local referendum. Better statewide ... but still ....
Badgers over Nebraska! Number 4 in the nation? I remember when the Portage Plumber was the best thing about the football team, back when the Big 10 was the Big 2 (Ohio State and Michigan).
People laughed back in the late 1980s when Tommy Thompson predicted that the Wisconsin Badgers would go to the Rose Bowl and the Green Bay Packers the Super Bowl. Now it's expected. A cheerleader, they called him. It was supposed to be a term of derision.
That'll learn 'em!
"In case you needed further proof of the American education system's failings, especially in poor and minority communities ..."
A mother in chains. Why? Because she sought a better school for her two daughters. Where is the NAACP? (The Wall Street Journal has the story.)
Here in town, Madison Prep made peace with the devil. I'm disappointed but Kaleem Caire can read the local political landscape and bit the bullet, agreeing to bow to Madison's union-only teachers cartel. Job One is to get the charter school up and running. The day of reckoning with the selfish union will come, but later rather than sooner. (Wisconsin State Journal: "Prep school agrees to employ union staff.")
Better P.C. than ABCs?
At some point, the last vestige of the Little Jimmy Doyle years will be expunged. Another laudable step has been taken in that direction. A Waukesha County judge has ruled that the state's effort to strip Mukwonago High School of its Indians nickname was unconstitutional. (The Green Bay Press-Gazette story.)
Circuit Judge Donald Hassin Jr. granted summary judgment Thursday in favor of residents who challenged the 2010 state law that allowed complaints about Indian nicknames and mascots.
Hassin agreed that the law, as applied in the case against Mukwonago schools, was unconstitutional because the decision maker -- a DPIemployee named Paul Sherman -- had an impermissibly high risk of bias.
We do not name our sports teams after that which we despise but that which we admire. Stoughton Vikings, DeForest Norsemen, Atlanta (Milwaukee) Braves (not "cowards"), Wisconsin Badgers (not bluff rats), Milwaukee Pius XI Popes (their girls' teams are called, incongruously enough, the Lady Popes).
It is better to look good ...
Never mind my snarky subhead ... The dung-throwers on The Daily Page Forum regularly attack my emphasis on appropriate attire. Now that elected school boards can actually operate their schools (except in Madison and Milwaukee), three suburban Milwaukee school districts are requiring their teachers to come to school no worse looking than their students.
"We know that professional attire reflects a lot on the image that students have of their professors or teachers, and I think that their dress should be aligned with their role as an educator," a district administrator at Nicolet told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Is that so hard to understand?
You make do with what you have
One of the nicest people in the world, my old boss Dave Zweifel (Note: You're "Dave," I'm "David") lauds Marvin Windows. They do build a quality product. (I replaced my 1950s-era sheet-o'-glass front picture window with cottage-style panels of operable panes.) They are a privately owned, conscientious company, Dave says. Now, consider that we're in the midst of the Great Recession; housing starts are not starting, money is tight.
The company has had to cut workers' pay, reduce the match it has made for 401(k) savings and suspend its profit-sharing bonuses, including for the owners. But it has steadfastly refused to fire people.
In point of fact, Marvin cut salaries by 5% and "reduced" the 401(k) match to zero. In other words, Marvin eliminated its retirement contribution. As have many companies, including (ahem) many newspapers at one time or another. (More layoffs at the Journal-Sentinel, as reported by the union.)
No layoffs in state government. But Scott Walker is a schmuck?
Hey kids, catch my act on Miss Vicky's show this Monday afternoon from 5 to 6.
Blaska's Blog is 100% Listeria free!
