The Green Bay Packer Hall Of Fame announced yesterday that
Mark Tauscher and Ryan Longwell will be inducted next summer. Both are certainly
worthy. Tauscher, of course, is a Wisconsin treasure….small town kid from
Auburndale who went to Wisconsin and toiled away making himself into a very
good offensive lineman. He went back to Madison for an extra year and that made
him good enough to get drafted by the Packers where he became a solid part of
some very good offensive lines on championship caliber teams. I like his radio
commentary too. He gives you good information in an entertaining way without
being flashy about it. Just like he played. Longwell, held the Packer scoring
record for quite awhile after coming to the team off waivers. He wasn’t even
supposed to make the team. I was covering Packer training camp in 1997 when I
noticed Longwell at practice. He was just an extra guy. The Packers had used a
high draft pick on kicker Brett Conway and there was little to no chance that
they would admit a mistake and keep a waiver claim guy over Conway. But
Longwell was better…he earned the job and kept it for a long time. I’m seeing
some crap on social media that Longwell doesn’t belong in the Packer HOF
because he signed with the Vikings. Give it a rest. Longwell is the 2
nd
leading scorer in Packer history. He belongs. He also holds the dubious NFL
record for most points scored by someone who never made a Pro Bowl team. You
can probably win some money at the bar with that bit of trivia.
He’s baaaaack. Aaron Rodgers is medically cleared to play
after 8 weeks out with a broken collarbone. Miraculously the Packers playoff
hopes are still alive. Now the question is will he play this Sunday vs
Carolina? Hard for me to believe that he won’t. And the Dec 23
rd
game vs the Vikings has all of a sudden become must-watch tv.
Wisconsin linebacker Jack Cichy is forgoing a possible
medical exemption and heading to the NFL draft. He wrote a moving piece at
theplayerstribune.com recounting his love for the Badgers and how he wouldn’t
be in the position he is now without his time in Madison. You can’t help but
root for a guy like this. Hope his knee hold up and he makes it at the next
level.
A milestone for the band U2. They are celebrating their
eighth #1 album. The latest “Songs of Experience” hit the top of the Billboard
charts last week. Only the Beatles and Rolling Stones have at least 8
chart-toppers. Are U2 in that rareified air? Some would say yes…others don’t
like Bono’s perceived arrogance. They certainly know how to deliver the goods
whether on vinyl or live. They also are the only band top have a #1 in four
successive decades. Keeping up a level of excellence for that long is something
to applaud.
Happy Birthday to Dick Van Dyke….he’s 92 today!
Elections have consequences…..call me surprised. The majority
of Alabama voters on Dec 12 2018 voted country over party. They sent the odious
Roy Moore packing and elected Doug Jones as their next Senator. I’m not going
to gloat. It shouldn’t have been a close race and yet many in the state of
Alabama still saw their way fit to vote for a Neanderthal like Moore. As Ezra
Klein puts it below, we won’t always be able to count on an unfit candidate to
say and do all the things that Moore said and did to call attention to his
unfitness for office. And the struggle is not over. Not until the Senate and
hopefully the House is flipped and total control of the government is wrested
away from Donald Trump and his minions. They have weakened the country in
almost every area they’ve touched. The damage will take years to fix and they’re
not done yet. The monster that is the tax reform bill is looming…net neutrality
rules are getting ready to disappear….more of our public lands will be sold off
to the highest bidder…and more rules and regulations keeping our corporate
overlords from completely subjugating us are being weakened every day. Stay
vigilant…stay involved…run for office if you feel the calling…keep your elected
officials feet to the fire. Some of them are still interested in doing the
right thing regardless of where their campaign cash is coming from.
Quotes Of The Day
“This garbage about a 2
nd
special counsel to
investigate an ongoing investigation is the most blatant effort yet to subvert
justice yet. This much is clear: 1)those behind it believe there’s guilt that
needs concealing and 2) they don’t love America enough to put country before
party”-Former White House ethics commissioner Walter Schaub
“Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for
Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign
contributions not so long ago(and would do anything for them) is now in the
ring fighting Trump”- Donald Trump
“Donald Trump was a disgusting unabashed misogynist before
he ran for office. He was a disgusting, unabashed misogynist as a candidate. He
is a disgusting, unabashed misogynist as President. He will die a disgusting,
unabashed misogynist. Some things never change”-Ana Navarro
“First of all, for the leader of this country to not
understand what’s happening with the movement against patriarchal abuse is
stunning. He obviously has no clue what’s happening”-Jared Yates Sexton
“He is beyond out of touch, not with the times, but with the
very nation he’s been charged with serving. I can’t imagine a president being
so ignorant of the zeitgeist”-Jared Yates Sexton
“Are you really trying to bully, intimidate and slut-shame
Senator Gillibrand? Do you know who you’re picking a fight with? Good luck with
that @realDonald Trump”-Senator Elizabeth Warren
“I’m going to be the skunk at the party tonight. Roy Moore
almost won. That still needs to be reckoned with. We can’t trust that all unfit
demagogues will turn out to be pedophiles”-Ezra Klein
Songs Of The Day
