hawing

I'll root for the both of us. Assuming the Idaho State players are in Wisconsin by now, I assume they will play the game even if a lot of spectators can't get here. It might be a good night for upper deck fans to move to unoccupied seats downstairs. We share a 100 level ticket package with someone else and we're never asked to show our tickets to an usher. We are taking our tickets to work tomorrow in case we decide to stay on campus until game time. Madison is currently getting what I like to call a "sitcom snow": midsize flakes, slowly falling, like you see on the Christmas episodes of sitcoms and other TV shows (even series where snow should not fall, like Beverly Hills, 90210).

Since lunch today, I've received email at work telling me: - To be careful outside because it's already icy in Madison (from our head of maintenance) - To not expect our daily courier delivery of returned books on Tuesday - That the Office of State Employment Relations is implementing their Inclement Weather Policy. This means that state agencies are expected to maintain "essential services" (which pretty much means my office is open tomorrow, regardless of the weather) but that state employees should notify their supervisors if they don't think they can safely get to work. All this advance freaking-out makes me kind of wonder if the storm will be less than advertised - just in a Murphy's Law type sense.

That picture made me a Billy Spiers fan too! though I was in college by then. Circle of life. And principessa, that guy you're dating sounds like the kind of guy who should be posting around here. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

No offense, but with the other thread having slightly more posts so far, I'm going to lock this one. Edit: not counting mine! (Toby's quicker than I am)

I'd be interested to know how many (if any) jerseys were actually moved at those asking prices. I mean, I was prepared for an increase from the $75-and-up from last year, but more than doubling the price of the lowest-profile jerseys - and the selection was certainly low-profile names, for the most part - let's say it's hard to imagine anyone springing for jerseys at those prices. I know, I'm preaching to the choir.

Oh, think big - go for the Zombie Nail Gun 5000. Every time I catch a cold, and have an ugly cough for a few weeks after, I wish there were either a power washer or a snake that could be used on human throats - just unclog the mucus right out of there.

I paid little to no attention to baseball, including the Brewers, until the start of the 1982 season, when I was 16. My theory is that, being a teenager, I no longer wanted to follow what seemingly everyone else in my life was following, i.e. the Packers. So I picked something else. I'm sure it helped that 1982 turned out to be a pretty good season for the Brewers, but I have diary entries from 1982 that show I was paying attention early in the season (before the Brewers really took off), so I don't think I was turned on solely by the win-loss record. I don't remember following the 1981 Brewers, so I don't think their half-season success was what lured me. I do remember making a chart for the family refrigerator numbered 1-240, and crossing off a number after every Brewer home run. (They were on pace to break the then-major league record of 240 home runs in a season; they got to 216.) Maybe back then, I was a chick who dug the long ball. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

I was completely ready to provide this link. Indeed, if you don't mind, panthernick, I'm going to edit your thread title to make it just a bit more descriptive.

That's Meltdown Bradley, if you're JP.

Our next door neighbor recently bought his first snowblower. He is so excited to have one that in each of the three snowfalls Madison has had in the last week, he has snowblown not only his sidewalk and driveway, but also our sidewalks (we have a corner lot) and driveway, and the sidewalk of the neighbor on the other side of us, around the corner from him. This does not bug me, and would not bug me if his enthusiasm continues.

They had Rickie and Corey for sure. I would guess also J.J. and Prince, though maybe others can verify that. Edit: I forgot to mention in my other clubhouse sale post that spending $100 at the sale apparently gets you a voucher for the 2008 season DVD. At least, they had a pad of voucher forms at the checkout. All it takes is half a batboy jersey...

I am a fan of the Maid-Rite, and I remember the Frost-top being in Janesville, back in the day. Tip: Nifty 50's in Madison, in a strip mall on Odana Road (a few blocks east of West Towne) has what are essentially Maid-Rite sandwiches. The owners parted ways with the franchise a few years ago, but their secret spice combination is still the original maid-rite recipe - Maid-Rite has since changed its formula a bit.

I don't want to sound all jaded, but compared to the last couple of years, the sale was a bit of a letdown. Jerseys for 2007 has-beens starting at $200? Including the batboy jerseys? There were several names I would have considered at last year's prices (Mench, Koskie, Graffanino, and I did think of sgt when I saw the Grosses). But they're asking too much for what they were offering. For the sake of weekend shoppers, I hope they lower the prices on game-used items. Maybe they could reasonably ask $200 for the jerseys worn during the actual wild card year, but that's not what was on the floor. If you are a Brewer fan who has gone this far into 2008 without postseason merchandise, I think it's still a worthwhile trip (in case that helps you, jschris). There are a LOT of Wild Card/postseason t-shirts - the gray locker room style, the navy shirts with gold lettering, and the October Fest 2008 shirts. Those are all in the $10 range, I think, and some styles were available in women's and kid sizes. There are also Wild Card pennants, bumperstickers and key chains for $1 each, and Gameday programs from the NLDS games for $2 each. The playoff hoodies were gone by noon. There are also a lot of big-head bobbleheads, should you be into that particular product line. The cap selection was mostly weird - the previously mentioned black caps were the worst example. The most standard-looking caps tended to be adjustable, not fitted, and the fitted caps tended to either be odd designs or odd sizes. By noon, I did not see ASG or flag caps, but I could have simply overlooked them. I did find a youth cap for my youngest nephew, though, which was my goal of the day; and my unique buy was the Russell Branyan locker nameplate ($60). Honestly, it was almost a bigger thrill to be offered Gilles' Frozen Custard t-shirts when we went to lunch. We arrived during their "power hour" and were almost the only customers there. I guess when you have a record year, or at least a big year, for merchandise sales, you're bound to have less left over the following off-season.

Ah, you don't want to be in the crazy rush anyway. I'm guessing we'll arrive mid-morning, I hope in the 10:00 hour, and of course will be stopping for lunch at Gilles after. We saw Bud and his black Lexus last year; maybe we will again. I might even wear a Brewerfan shirt.

I hope Howry has the opportunity to pitch to Ryan Braun on opening day 2009.

Well, if I ever see someone wearing a Winkelsas jersey at a game, I'll have to overcome my fear of asking someone if they're a bf.net poster (the fear is if they're not). Imagine the value, on this site at least, of a Branyan jersey. Sigh. I miss him already.

The Fazoli's breadsticks are pretty good, if only in a comfort-food sense. I'm not really a fan of the rest of their food, though.

Not necessarily. It was 2000 or so that Madison set a December snowfall record, but then that was almost it for the season.

My hopes are high that EdgarDiazRocks will have the opportunity to snap some awesome photos of the Muscle in Safeco. Thanks for another round of memories, Russell.

Madison's had small flakes falling steadily since about 8:30 AM. Coming back from lunch, I had that awesome sensation of icy sand being flung in my face. I'd estimate by now the campus area has a few inches on the ground.

Logan's right. Look past the big zoom number on the packaging to make sure it's optical, not only digital. Have you thought already about how large a camera you want? There are a bunch of models that will fit in your pocket, but they tend to be not too powerful in the zoom department (which may be fine if you mostly take closeup shots of your friends and family, or landscape type photos like a crowd shot at Miller Park - but they probably won't get you a nice close shot of Manny Parra on the mound). I have a mid-size Kodak, which I like as an object but I don't much care for the software that comes with it. Like logan3825, I often wish I had sprung for more zoom.

The Brewers issued a press release today with details about hours, location, etc. Friday and Saturday (12/5-6) from 9:00 AM-7:00 PM, Sunday 12/7 from 10-5. Enter by the Hot Corner and apparently they'll have directions posted to get you to the lower level and the visitors' clubhouse. (Last year there were no posted directions; we took the elevator near the Fan Zone to the lower level.) In past years I've seen extras of stadium giveaway items, but I wonder if there would be much of that this year - since just about every giveaway game was a sellout. They'll have postseason stuff (it says so in the press release), perhaps t-shirts for players who aren't coming back, odds and ends that didn't sell at regular price. Things like that tend to go for pretty cheap - more like rummage sale type prices. Last year you could get magnets, keychains, etc. in the "25th anniversary of 1982" logo for like $1 each. The game used stuff will be uber-pricey for big names. Last year you could drop $2000 for a Braun jersey, $500 or so for the likes of Hart or Hardy. I can only imagine what anything bearing the name Sabathia would cost. Game used items for, um, lesser names (think Chad Moeller or Julian Tavarez) would be a lot less. For example, last year the batboy jerseys were like $75, as were such memorable names as Nick Leyva, Joe Winkelsas, and (as sgtcluels will remind us) Gabe Gross. Lineup cards were available last year, as Ross points out. We got one two years ago for like $30 and I believe they cost a good bit more last year. I'm sure the best items not requiring a mortgage to buy will be snapped up early, hopefully by fans and not exclusively by the ebay crowd. Coming from out of town, we've never arrived at the opening hour, yet have always found something interesting without breaking the bank. The press release mentions the free 2008 season DVD if you spend $100, but it looks like they mean $100 spent in the Fan Zone (not at the clubhouse sale) during December. This is the same DVD that people who attended the October 4 NLDS game got a voucher for. The DVD will be available starting December 15 and will include not only 30 minutes of 2008 highlights, but the full FSN broadcast of the September 28 clincher game. So, now I'm pumped up for Friday. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Before our train trip to Boston this spring, the S.O. surprised me with a couple of baseball books that we both really enjoyed: Working at the Ballpark : the fascinating lives of baseball people - from peanut vendors and broadcasters to players and managers In the Ballpark : the working lives of baseball people Each is a collection of interviews with people who work or worked in baseball. I would classify each as 'light reading' because you can read one at a time or a bunch at a time, without there being a "plot" to follow. As a bonus to Brewerfan types, each book has a few interviews of particular interest to Brewers fans. Working at the Ballpark includes interviews with Derrick Turnbow, the guy who suits up as Bernie Brewer, a Miller Park beer vendor, Jeromy Burnitz (as a Pirate), and Doug Mansolino (as an Astro coach). In the Ballpark includes an interview with Dean Taylor (as a Braves GM). But I enjoyed most if not all of the other interviews too. Both books were great choices to help us pass the time on the train, and get us in the mood for the baseball season (like that's hard to do in April, but you get the idea). And they're both in paperback, so whoever buys them for you isn't set back much. Win win! I recommend them both, and this is coming from a librarian who can't believe how many baseball books are out there.

So, Jamar Fletcher saved you from being a Gopher. I'd say you owe him a fruit basket.

Oh, NMF, you've got to flesh that out for us a little.