UWSP Women's Basketball coach Shirley Egner has won 500 games in her career. 359 of them have come in Stevens Point where she is ranked 2nd all time in the WIAC conference after 20 years. The Pointers gave Egner number 500 last night witha 68-48 victory over Viterbo. The Pointers have won at least 18 games each of the past 9 years. They are abck in actioin Friday night. Congrats on reaching a true milestone!

It might have benna great matchup. Devin Harris returning to his hometown to face newest Bucks star Brandon Jennings as the New Jersey Nets face Milwaukee.. Unfortunatley it looks like Harris will miss the game with an injury. The Nets are 0-10 and face a Bucks squad off to their best start in some time.

Did you watch the 24 hours of College hoops yesterday? Unless you're a degenerate gambler I'm betting not. Number one ranked Kansas avoided an upset when Memphis missed a three pointer at the buzzer. It was a rematch of the 2008 championship game.

Songs of the Day

Dance to the Music-Sly & Family Stone (1968) this was a cleaned up version of Stone's psychedelic soul but it did what it was supposed to do...break them thru to the mainstream. Even some of the Motown acts like the Temptations tried the new formula and hit the top of the charts. Sly Stone was  a talented guy whose drug abuse killed his career.

Dancin Fool-Frank Zappa (1979) Zappa lampoons the disco culture with this tune from the "Sheik Yerbouti" LP. Zappa's wit can be ham-handed at times but you get the point. And he can really play guitar.

TK

For years the Milwaukee Bucks have flown under the radar of most sports fans. The team just hasn't been very good and even in the years when they put together a decent roster they would suffer injuries or defensive problems that would flush a season down the drain. Could this year be different? The Bucks have an intruiging roster with alot of newcomers and 7 foreign born players. The most exciting newbie is of course Brandon Jennings who went right from high school to the European pro league. It seems to have worked for him. He has been inconsistent with his shot at times but reports are that he works incredibly hard to get better. I'm not sure scoring 55 points in the first month of his NBA career is necessarily a good thing...but it certainly shows what he's capable of on a good night. We might not be able to pronounce all of the new names but if they make the Bucks a legitimate playoff contender, we'll learn. They lost a tough one last night as Dirk Novitski hit a jumper at the buzzer in OT to give the Mavs the victory. Milwaukee is still 5-3 to start the season.

Casey McGehee only gets one vote for Rookie of the Year? He was better than that considering there was no breakout stars in either league this year. Unless you're a fantasy player you might have problems naming the teams of Chris Coghlan and Andrew Bailey, this years winners (answer below)

More from my Motown Studio tour. When Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson we're trying to get a sound they liked theyr recorded in different places in the house (bathroom included) but they thought the sound wqas too flat. They wanted a fuller echoey sound but didn't know how to produce it until someone suggested cutting a hole in the ceiling to create a bigger  sound....they did ...it worked and the first low-tech echo chamber was created...and the hole in the ceiling is still there and they demonstrate the echo effect for you and it's immediatly noticeable.

Songs of the Day

Dance Little Sister-Rolling Stones (1974) from "It's Only Rock & Roll" comes this danceable rocker. Some good 70's Stones featuring Ian Stewart on piano.

Dance Hall Days-Wang Chung (1984) a hypnotic slice of mid-80's pop that get's in your head and is tough to get rid of. Still cant understand all of the lyrics but it doesnt matter.

Trivia answer- Chris Coghlan plays for Florida and Andrew Bailey is Oakland's closer

The Packer defensive players have been badgering the coaches to let them be more aggressive. To blitz more. To basically get back to what was successful in the pre-season. With the season dangerously close to going in the tank, Dom Capers and Mike McCarthy finally let them off their leashes and they pounded the Cowboys into submission yesterday. The one player who really stands out is Charles Woodson. For a guy who was thought to be done after an injury plagued career in Oakland, Woodson has been nothing short of amazing since signing with Green Bay 3 years ago. Now there are still problems (penalties) and the offense didn't really light it up (the officials set them up with one score after a bizarre turnover that was "unreviewable"), but considering where the team was last week this was an impressive win.

Speaking of that "fumble", that was obviously recovered by Dallas but was given to Green Bay at the 3 yard line...why can't every questionable change of possession be reviewed automatically? Let an official in the box make the call...not the coaches. I would think the league would be interested in getting the call right. Even the referee who made the announcement seemed embarassed to say they couldn't review it.

The Badgers exorcised their Wolverine ghosts from last year with an impressive win at Camp Randall. With Northwestern & Hawaii remaining it should mean another quality bowl game for Bucky. I was in Michigan this weekend and as you might expect the faithful are not happy with the Rich Rodriguez era in Ann Arbor.

Speaking of my trip....the Central Wisconsin Saints took 3 of 4 this weekend from the Motor City Chiefs and Michigan Ice Dogs. The Saints can look very good at times but some times  (like Saturday night) they can really struggle. They head to suburban St. Louis this coming weekend before finally returning home to Stevens Point the weekend after Thanksgiving.

I hadn't been to Detroit since I was a kid and yes there are many parts of the city which are in rough shape...but...the downtown, while not as vibrant as Chicago...is still in good shape. The Wings were in town Saturday and alot of people were around...lots of folks were enjoying the warm weather on the Riverwalk by GM's world headquarters and the resturants and casinos of Greektown were busy. Comerica Park is gorgeous too...I'll have to make a roadtrip for a Tigers game sometime. The drive isn't as bad as I thought it would be either. It took awhile to get around Chicago but after that it's a easy trip. I also visited the Motown Records museum which is in the actual house where all that music was made. They have done a great job of preserving the history of the label and I stood in the original studio where Smokey, Marvin, Diana and Stevie made their magic. I even got to learn how to do the "Temptation Walk". If you like Motown music you have to see this place.

Songs of the Day

Daddy's Tune-Jackson Browne (1976) another great tune about Browne's relationship with his father. From the classic Lp "The Pretender".

Damn It, Rose-Don Henley(2000) this scathing indictment of a friends suicide sounds intensley personal...but then Henley can do it no other way. From an underappreciated CD called 'Inside Job"

TK

I'm headed for Detroit today. My son is playing junior hockey for the Central Wisconsin Saints and they have a 4 game weekend series in the Motor City. We've heard all of the stories of a dying city with little hope of recovery. I haven't been to Detroit since I was a kid and have since read a great series of novels from Loren Estleman set in Detroit. It will be interesting to see some of the places I've read about. Lunch in Greektown on Saturday!

A number of area athletes swim at state today and tomorrow. The level of swimming in Central Wisconsin has really been raised in the last decade and the girls from Wausau East, West, Everest, Point, Rapids, Tomahawk, & Colby/Abbotsford should continue the trend.

4 Central Wisconsin teams remain in the hunt for a football finals spot in Madison. Merrill plays Kimberly tonight at Stiehm Stadium At DC Everest tonight at 7. Tonight's other games have Edgar facing Hurley in Chippewa Falls & Gilman playing McDonnell in Rice Lake. Waupaca faces West DePere tomorrow.

Is it a must win for the Packers on Sunday. What do you think????

Songs of The Day

D'yer Maker-Led Zeppelin (1973) Zep's attempt at reggae turned into a cross between the Jamaican music and a 50's doo-wop tune.

Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More-Steely Dan (1975) from the Lp 'Katy Lied" which Becker & Fagen reportedly didn't like because of a glitch in the sound processing that ther average person can't even hear. The first Dan Lp to have Michael McDonald sing and also featured 20 year old Jeff Porcaro on drums.

We still had some questions about the Bucks despite their 3-2 start. They really hadn't beat anybody good and despite getting off to the best defensive start in team history looked to be offensively challenged with loss of Michael redd to another injury. Last night they beat the Denver Nuggets 108-102. Denver is a legitimate team and have two stars in Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings who has run hot & cold this year was hot last night scoring 32 points with 9 assists. Andrew Bogut had another double-double as well. Milwaukee has actually played better without Redd and the same thing seemed to happen last year. Maybe it's time to find another team that can use a one-dimensional spot up shooter with a big contract. It won't be easy but getting more flexibility cap-wise while not hurting the team seems to be a no-brainer as we head to next summer and a very attractive free-agent class.

NFL football tonight...yeah it's time for the NFL Network to start airing Thursday games. Tonight it's the Bears at San Francisco.

The Brewers are listening to Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun and changing the hitting background at Miller Park. It seems there was a big glare during day games and the lower batting averages seem to bear out the fact that it's tougher to hit at the Brewers home park during the day. Crews have eliminated the ivy beyond the centerfield wall and replaced the green background with a glare-resistant black paint.

It seems some of the voting for the Wisconsin Valley All-Conference football team was a little off. Some players recieved high honors while having seasons that didn't match the accolades. I know that alot of voting for teams like this is done on past reputation and it's tough when coaches only see opposing players once a year. Maybe have the voting done by the assis

tant coaches that go out a scout opposing teams. they would seem to have a better handle on who are the best and most consistent players in any particular year.

Songs of the Day

Cult of Personality-Living Colour (1988) a smokin tune from the band's debut CD "Vivid", it featured clips from speeches by malcom X. JFK and FDR.

Culver Moon-Jackson browne(1999) from his "looking East Lp, one of his better recent efforts. Few people know Los Angeles like the singer-songwriter who has lived there for decades.

The Milwaukee Brewers have already decided to go young at ss and cf and now Tom Haudricourt reports in the Journal-Sentinel that Doug Melvin may decide to give one of his young catchers a chance in 2010. The old adage is your only as good as your strentgh up the middle. The Brewers decided to go with Alcides Escobar at shortstop which made JJ Hardy expendable. He was sent last week to Minnesota for speedy centerfielder Carlos Gomez. The team will save alot money with those moves...money they hopefully will use on pitching. Now it wasnt expected that Jason Kendall would be back but instead of finding another aging vet it looks like the team will try one of it's two young catching prospects Jonathon Lucroy(pictured above) or Angel Salome. Lucroy would be making the jump from Double A but Melvin says other players such as Russell Martin in LA have made similar jumps. It's a gamble but if these guys can play the Brewers should save enough money to solve some of their pitching problems.

The Bucks take on Denver tonight at the Bradley Center. And the Bucks hope to continue their best defensive start in team history. They've only given up 85 points a game, and they're the only NBA team not to give up 100 in a game yet. Milwaukee has had a reputation of being a poor defensive team in recent years, but coach Scott Skiles says he's turning it around with hard work and preperation. They are actually contesting shots and rotating on D but their wins have come against some the weaker teams in the league. Considering that Milwaukee was supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league, a start like this can only help them believe that they can compete. they are in the middle of a 6 game homestand.

The high school hockey preseason began earlier this week. Wausau West is number one in the first poll of the year on Wisconsin Prep Hockey.com. West is loaded and should be the favorite in the Valley if they can put together the chemistry that a good team needs. Alot of good players vying for ice time.

I'll keep reminding you that our high school sports broadcasts are all moving to our sister station WRIG Fox Sports1390. It will be East/Everest doubleheaders on the nights when both teams play. My first broadcasts will be Friday November 27 as the Wausau East hockey team plays Madison West...I'll have the East boys basketball team the following night against Merrill.

Songs of the Day

Crying in the Rain-Everly Brothers (1962) The brothers were serving in the Marine Corps in 62 when they hit with this Howie Greenfield/Carole King tune. The harmonies were still there but the hits would be drying up soon.

Crystal Ball-Styx (1976) This was the title track from their 6th Lp but first with new guitarist Tommy Shaw who really kicked the band into a higher gear. This was a big party Lp in those days.

TK

The old Hogan's Heroes tv show had a character named Major Hochstetter...he was a Gestapo officer who was constantly frustrated by Hogan's ability to interfere at Stalag 13. One of his usual lines was "What isss zis man talking about". I thought about that line while reading a transcript of Mike McCarthy's press conference yesterday. The Packer coach sad that he won;t change any of the coaches responsibilites right now, saying he's confident in the structure of the staff. McCarthy said the Packer's problems do not involve teaching or schemes-which is where the coaches leave their imprint. He was asked if the team needs a new voice in the locker room and said he's confident the team doesn't need it right now. Read into those words what he's really saying whether intentionally or not. If it's not the coaches...and it's not the teaching or schemes...what does that leave? He's either saying the players aren't good enough or they can't learn. Either way he's thrown his team under the bus. The players have questioned the direction of this team all season. Fans can sometimes go overboard with criticism but it's gotten to the point now where even the harshest Monday Morning Quarterback is not necessarily wrong. With all of the top notch coaches on the sidelines who have proven winning track records...there is no reason to continue this charade. The team is not going to get better with this management team in place. Ted Thompson and Mike Mcarthy need to go and it has nothing to do with Brett Favre.

John Clay is expected to practice today and play this week against Michigan. The Badgers moved up a notch in the latest polls after beating Indiana on Saturday placing 20th in both the BCS and coaches poll. Wisconsin is 7-2 which matches their win total for last year. They host Michigan in home finale at Camp Randall this week.

Songs of The Day

Cry Me A River-Chris Connor (1964) Julie London had the hit with the song in 1955 but I like Connor's version. The singer had worked with Stan Kenton's big band in the 50's and her languid style was perfect for this tune. She is an undiscovered gem for many younger fans of good singing.

Crying-kd lang (2001) You would think it would be hard to match the emotion of the Roy Orbison original but Lang soared with a version from the Live By Request concert and cd recorded for the A&E network. The songs buildup was perfect for Lang's voice which is one of truly magnificent things in popular music.