Saturday, November 29, 2008

Soccer Night in America

Wednesday night was my soccer game. The team was trying to rebound from a 5-5 outing the previous week. We were again without our normal goalie. We were also without our backup goalie, The General. Our team has also been suffering from a lack of turnout of field players. We were again short on subs, with only 3. At half time it was 2-0. Midway through the second half we pushed out lead to 5-1. I think we were just tired, and our lead slowly started to disappear. With 2:30 minutes to go the match narrowed to 5-4. Our team finally found a sense of urgency for the first time in the game. We spread the field out and moved the ball around and I don't think the other team touched the ball for the last 2:30 of the game. But I did think that we were going to put the ball in the back of the net over that last part of the game. It just seemed like we were too lazy to put together a real push. So we milked out a win. Their is just a huge difference in how you play with 3 subs rather an 5 subs. The shifts get longer and the pace of the game really slows down. We did push out record to 5-0-1. And with two games left against teams we have already beat, it seems highly unlikely that we will not win the league. On a personal note, I really didn't play that bad. I had one assist. I warm-ups before the game, I was hitting the ball fairly well. But in the game I couldn't hit the water if I jumped out of a boat. Of course that didn't stop me from trying. If I had the ball within 15 yards of the goal, I was shooting. I also came to realize that I without a doubt leading the team in fouls. I am not going to candy coat it, I do play with a rather physical style. But I do think that I get more fouls called on me because I am bigger than most of the players on the field. A little guy pushing me, isn't going to draw a whistle, but if I push the little guy back, I am for sure getting called. And because of my size, I also getting hacked pretty good. Tree, knows what I am talking about, it used to happen to him all of the time when we played basketball.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Bob's Haircut

This story came up this past weekend. I thought I would pass it along to my readers. When I was in college, I lived with Bob, Todd and Kevin. One day Bob decided that he wanted to get a flat top hair cut. Mind you this was the mid 90s. We were all pretty poor and I think that Todd had convinced Bob that he could perform this service for Bob. They were going to do this after class one day. We were all in the house and I recall that Todd was cutting Bob’s hair in the kitchen. I was watching out of morbid curiosity. Todd did a decent job on the sides, but the flattop part just wasn’t happening and he couldn’t get it straight. After a while, Kevin took over, but Kevin got the flattop slanted the opposite way. Kevin and Todd continued to take turns, with head turn, the slanted top saw sawed each way. Finally Bob ran out of hair and he was down to the scalp at the very top of his head. Bob eventually looked in the mirror and didn’t like what he saw at all. I recall him proclaiming “What the “F”? You guys are butchering me.” Then he turned to me and asked, “Davies, what do you think?” I said, “If it was me, I would just shave my head balled.” Bob looked at me and said, “Really.” I said, “Oh yeah, it can’t look any worse.” Next thing you know, Bob is in the bathroom with shaving cream all over his head. I know that pictures exist somewhere. I think Bob has them. But I remember from the pictures, that as they were cutting Bob’s head, you could see me in the back ground, making and then eating Mac and Cheese.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Krum the Ironman

Normally my blog doesn't stray too far from talking about anyone but myself. I do want to take some time to shed some light on to someone other than myself. This past weekend, Krum participated in the Arizona Ironman Triathlon. I have done a couple of triathlons, but nothing like this. This ironman, consisted of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. The winner of this race finished in 8 hours and 14 minutes. Krum finished in 10 hours and 9 minutes. His time was good enough to finish in 33rd place in his age group and 169th overall out of over 2000 participants. Krum averaged 21 miles per hour on the bike and ran at a 8:33 minute mile pace. I find those number just staggering. Let me help put those numbers into perspective. I don't think it is too far of a stretch to say that I am in pretty good physical condition. And this past summer I competed in a couple of much smaller triathlons. My best was managing a 19 mile an hour pace on the bike, and that was for only 15 miles. But I did manage a 7:42 minute mile pace for the 3 mile run. I know that I wouldn't even come close to that pace or Krum's pace for 26 miles. So Krum congratulations, you are a far better man than I will ever be.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving Eve

From what I have been hearing and seeing, it is sounding more and more like the day before Thanksgiving is a throw away day, just like the day after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I am working today. Here are my plans for this long 4 day weekend that I am really looking forward to. Tonight, I have a soccer game at 10:00 p.m. And this is the only night of the year that the team goes out to the bars after the game. Thanksgiving Day is at my parents house. I am hoping to get some sheepshead in, other than that just eating and watching football. I can recall years gone past when we were cutting deer on an full scale, and we would start out the Thanksgiving Day but cutting up 10 deer in the morning. I am glad those days are far in the rearview mirror. Friday I have nothing planned at all. This day has, in the past, been known as Natesgiving. But I haven't heard of any plans for a Natesgiving, so anything that happens would have to be last minute. For Saturday, a card game is in the makings. But I am planning on subbing in a bowling league for my aunt and uncle. Sunday should just be on the couch watching football. The biggest thing I am looking forward to this weekend is sleeping in, in my own bed for four mornings in a row. I hope everyone has a fantastic four day holiday weekend. Enjoy your bird.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Neil Diamond

Last night was Neil Diamond. It was a pretty good night for me. I got home from work and grilled up some venison tenderloins on the barbie. Around 7 I headed for downtown Milwaukee. I ended up caving a little sooner than I had hoped for tickets. I had the setlist and I knew that he was starting with Holly Holy and I wanted to catch that. I ended up settling for floor seats, in the third row of the second section back from the stage. So I was about 30 rows back from the stage. Face value for the ticket was $120 and I got it for $60. Plus I brought in a flask, so I had 2 $4 Captain and Cokes over the duration of the show. I know that he had cancelled and postponed shows in the past because of voice issues. But Neil sounded much better than I expected. Neil sang nearly the exact setlist that I posted last week. His stage presence was everything I expected, Neil has always been quite the poser which is fine. Neil seemed to have a lot of energy throughout the show and he did a fair amount of talking with the crowd. He did play a couple of new songs. One of which was called "Don't Go There", that is flat out just a stupid song. I did notice during the show that the crowd couldn't keep a beat to save their lives. A song would start and by the chorus everyone was clapping out of beat. Overall it was a good show, and much better than sitting and watching the Packers get absolutely shellacked. The camera Nazi security guards were out in full force, one of whom was sitting literally 7 feet away from me. Meaning I wasn't able to get any pictures Neil on stage, but I did manage to capture this video of the end of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore."

Weekend Update

Here is a real quick summary of my weekend. Friday, not much going on. Pretty much just getting myself prepared for Saturday's football game. Saturday, I went out to watch M.K.A. and the Whitewater Warhawks in their first game of the playoffs. It was a close game at halftime, but they ended up winning 37-7. They outscored the other team 37-0 after the first five minutes, but for some fans that still was not enough. Next M.K.A. travels to Oregon for their next game. And from the information I was given, there is a chance that M.K.A. could still have another game back at Whitewater. If that is the case, I am calling for a much bigger turnout for the tailgate party and the game. Here I am at the tailgate party.After M.K.A.'s game, I hung out at M.K.A.'s for a little while and then met up with Chris and Rebecca. We went down to Eagle Springs Pub where Butter Muffins was "working". Everytime I have been in there, I really haven't seen her working too much. But just to prove it does happen, here she is actually working.
Sunday I actually had to do some work. With deer season upon us, I told my parents that I would help them out a little bit this season. But I am not planning on doing much more than 50 deer this year. Not too many came in this weekend, but those that did we took care of yesterday. 15 down, 35 to go.
Just like that last couple of years my dad is on the shelf as far as helping out. But this year he actually has an excuse. On Thursday my dad had surgery to get a cochlear implant. So now he has a hole in his head. It is a pretty nasty scar. But in the end as long as everything pans out, it will be worth it.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Natesgiving

Well we are down to a week until one of my favorite holidays, Natesgiving. Let me get to the legend of Natesgiving. It all started a number of years ago, when I believe both Andy and Nate lived with me. Nate was at the grocery store one day and took note of the price of turkeys. He came home and said to me "Can you believe that turkeys are only 0.39 f'ing cents a pound?" I said, "No." He said, "Yep, they are. And I am going to cook it on Friday." I said, "Have fun." And with that short conversation Natesgiving was born. Nate cooks a mean bird, and as the legend has grown and more people have shown up, more birds are required, to the point where Eric has been called in to lend a hand in the cooking. However, despite all of the food, which is always fantastic, my favorite part of the "holiday" is watching Nate slowing get highly intoxicated over the course of the day as he drinks and cooks all day. Recently there has been quite a bit of chatter about the Natesgiving celebration. Most of it occurred during my "Welcome Back to Milwaukee" party. In fact many people told me that the party should be back at my place. I have no problem with this at all, however, I do now realize that I will need more than 6 cases of beer. So is it time to have another Natesgiving? As my memory serves there has yet to be a Natesgiving while Elery, Nate's son, has been alive. According to my records, the last one took place in 2005. Obviously this is all up to Nate. I suggest if you are in favor of a Natesgiving celebration this year, that you will have to email Nate directly, as I can not put Nate into the category of being a "loyal blog reader".
I know I probably shouldn't give out Nate's email, but since he gave my phone number to "Freeway", I feel I owe him, so here it is:

My gut feeling here is that Natesgiving will not happen. But I have been wrong before. Here are my top three reasons that Nate will give out for not having Natesgiving.
1. I am really busy at work.
2. Michel is sick.
3. Elery is sick.

It is really weird but all my friends that get married and have kids suddenly all get larger work loads at their jobs, and their families all become much more susceptible to illness. Sounds like fun.
Should there be a Natesgiving?
Yes, I will break the wishbone.
No, Nate is too grown up for such a thing.
I would rather have an Oakland Gyro.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Neil Diamond

I realize that this is an absolute exercise in futility, but I am going to throw it out there to any of my loyal blog readers who are looking to have a good time. In case you don't know, Neil Diamond, according to the movie, Saving Silvermann, The Greatest Singer Song-Writer of All Time, is going to be playing in Milwaukee Monday night. I can't see how I could not attend this concert. Yes, I know that was a double negative. My plan is to go and scalp tickets. A cold Monday night, I figure they will be giving these tickets away. My goal, floor seats for $30. Let me know if you are down for this show. According to my sources, here is the set list for the show:
Holy Holy
Beautiful Noise
Love on the Rocks
You are the Sun, I am the moon
Cherry Cherry
Home Before Dark
Don’t Go There
Pretty Amazing Grace
Crunchy Granola Suite
Done Too Soon
Brooklyn Roads
I Am I Said
Solitary Man
Forever in Blue Jeans
Sweet Caroline
You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (Borky, I will be thinking about you during this one)
I’m a Believer
Man of God
Hell Yeah
Encore:America
Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Soccer Night In America

Last night was the big game for us in the league. We were playing the second place team. As the game started I glanced over at the two team's benches. The other team had a good 7 or 8 people on the bench. Looking at my team, we had 2. Plus our regular goalie wasn't there. And our back up goalie, The General, was a no show. What a great teammate. I knew we had our work cut out for us. Within the first 2 or 3 minutes, the other team takes a shot, it glances off my leg and into our goal, we are down 1-0. Not good. My nephew, Pickle, played the game before me. They play the game as if it is an outdoor game on an indoor field, without a lot of substitutions. The indoor game is meant to be fast and played with players in an all out sprint the entire time they are out on the field. So Pickle was playing the entire game. I only sat out 2 minutes in the first half. I was pretty tired. We struggled through the whole game to keep pace. At half time it was 3-3. And going into the last 10 minutes we had a 5-4 league. I remember telling one of my teammates while I was on the bench, we just need one more goal, then we can pack it in on the defensive end and make them chase us. We never got that goal. The game end in a 5-5 tie. I was pretty disappointed with my offensive output. I couldn't connect on two breakaways. I also had two free kicks that I got around the wall and on goal, but the goalie got to both of them before they could hit the back of the net. And I missed another two or three shots over the course of the game. It is too bad, because I know if we had our full team, we would probably beat these guys by four or five goals.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Badger Gopher Game

Saturday morning on our way to Camp Randall we stopped to grab some food. I forgot the name of the place, but the food was great. We all ordered the same thing. It was called the Dog Pile. I know this is sounding like a Nate story with the description of what I ate. But the Dog Pile is comprised of potatoes, eggs, cheese, bacon and prime rib. After breakfast we headed to the Big Ten Pub and met up with Pocahontas, Doug and Liquid. Borky and I ended up buying our tickets from a friend. I didn’t look at the tickets before hand and then ended up being up in the upper deck. We sat in those seats for the first half. And it was the first half that the Gophers actually played well. Borky didn’t make too many friends in our section. At halftime we made our way down to the student section and sat with Pocahontas. I was actually never worried about the outcome of the game and knew the Badgers would end up winning. After the game we met everyone back at the Big Ten Pub. We ended up just staying there the rest of the night. Around 1 in the morning we grabbed a pizza and then took a cab back to the hotel room Doug and Liquid had. I woke up in the middle of the night and had no idea where I was. Kind of a weird feeling. Here are Saturday’s pictures.
Borky, Joe, Doug, Dawn and Liquid before we headed into the game.Check out Borky and the purple and gold socks. I bet him a dollar that he wouldn't sport this look all day, but he did. As we were walking the the bar, and we pasted people walking in the opposite direction, if was so funny to see people look at Borky, then look down at his socks and then back up at his face. Here are the seats that Borky and I started out with.But as you can see Pocahontas got us into the student section.Here are the Badgers celebrating with the Axe after the game. Here is our celebration afterwards me, Whitney, Borky and Pocahontas.Liquid, Borky and Dawn.Me, Dawn, Doug and Joe.Me and Borky.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Friday in Sun Prairie

It was another good weekend for me. Friday after work I headed to Sun Prairie. I went to Dawn and Joe’s place and then Borky met us there. After a drink or two we headed out to grab some food. We went to a bar in Sun Prairie. We quickly learned that this bar had Friday night Karyoke. It didn’t take long for us to take over on center stage. On our way to the bar, I called up The General and invited him to come out and meet us. He said that he would try to make it, but to no ones surprise he was a no show. I have decided that since The General pulled up short with us, that I will have to pay him back. This Wednesday we are playing soccer and The General will actually be playing in the goal. I think that over the course of the game, I am going to turn and take a shot at him. That should be interesting. Here are the pictures from Friday night.








Monday, November 17, 2008

And The Winner Is...

Annie. Yes today is what I call the official first snow fall of the year. You may claim your prize, an Oakland Gyro at a time that is convenient for you.
This is the 3rd Gyro that I have awarded. And I honestly doubt many will claim their prize. Still on the hook for a meal is Sarah, Julie and now Annie.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Madtown, Here I Come

This weekend is the Badger Gopher game. This has to be my 6 or 7th game in a row. Not that I have been in the game everytime. The last couple in Madison I never got a ticket for. But with the team sucking, tickets should be easy to come by. And is almost always the case, Borky will be my co-pilot for the day. The last time we were together for this game in Madison we got split up shortly after the game ended and then didn't meet up again until our cabs pulled into Joe's place about 5 minutes apart. I am headed out to Madison tonight and staying there until Sunday morning. If I get a chance I will probably swing by the Stegall residence and do a little more investigating into the vandalism that took place at his house the last two times I was in town. I may have some new leads. It is suppose to be down right frigid this weekend. I am not too happy about that, but as always I am sure I will be able to power through. Look for an update Sunday night. Have a good weekend.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Hunting Season

Well it is hunting season, or getting close to it. Most of you know that I am not much of a hunter. In fact I don't hunt at all. But lately I have turned into something of a trapper. Here is my latest trophy that I bagged yesterday. But last night I was out at my parent's house giving them a hand with a couple of deer. This was a deer that someone shot for me. So the next time you eat a hamburger at my house, just know that this is what you are eating.
I am also getting some sausage made. So when you bite into some of that summer sausage, this is what you are eating.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Soccer Update

Last night was another soccer game. The last two games had a much lower scoring output than I had been hoping for. But last night I picked it up a little bit. After only having just one assist in the first half, I turned it up in the second half. Mid way through, I stole the ball from one of the other teams defenders, and went in at the goalie from the left side. I kept dribbling right at the goalie and because he never came off his line, I just went right at him. Then from point blank range, I actually miss hit the ball, but still managed to push it past the keeper into the side net far bar. On my next shift, I was bringing the ball up the right side. I sort of got forced by the defender to the corner. At that point, I figured I would just rip a shot anyhow. The ball skipped twice and then went between the keepers legs and into the back of the net. My last goal of the night was just a bullet that I ripped from the top of the arc into the lower right hand corner. It skipped off the post and on into the goal. That was my best shot of the night. Unfortunately I missed another two or three golden opportunities to continue to lengthen my lead on The General. For those that don't know, The General and I have a bet (dinner) to see who can score the most points. Goals are worth 2 points, assists worth 1. At press time, after 4 games, I have 7 goals and 2 assists for 16 points. The General has 2 goals and 2 assists for 6 points. Next week we have an early game at 8:00 p.m. Our normal goalie, Wes, isn't going to make it, so The General will be between the pipes, which effectively means that any points I score next week do not count. That is sort of bad news for The General, because that means he only has the last 3 games to make up 10 points. I suppose I can start making dinner reservations at Crawdaddy's as that is where The General is going to have to pay up on this bet.
As far as the team goes, we are on top of the league with a record of 4-0. We have 43 goals scored while only giving up goals against. I still don't think we have played the greatest. But as is often the case in soccer, you can get stuck playing to the ability of the opponent.

Monday, November 10, 2008

The Cooler Game

This is a story that came up while tailgating at M.K.A.'s game. I was telling Pocahontas about a game that Borky and one of his buddies invented called The Cooler game. It is kind of stupid but also kind of funny. What you do is while you are out at some event with a cooler full of beer and ice. You simply open the lid of the cooler and stick your bare foot into the ice water in the cooler. You get a couple of people to do it and the last one to take their foot out of the cooler is the winner. Sounds like it could be a Freeman Party in the future. Here Borky and I are playing on the camping trip. It is so stupid it is funny.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Welcome Home Party

It is so nice to be back home. I had a lot of cleaning to do on the house, but it is all done for the most part. Friday night my brother, Dan, came out and helped me move in my new couch. It was the least he could do, since I have helped him move his sectional from the living room to the family room and then back one or two more times. Sunday was the first day that I actually got to spend any time on the couch and it was great. Thank you Jody for picking it out for me. Saturday I headed out to Whitewater to watch M.K.A. play. It was a close game, they squeaked out a 17-10 win. I would say it was a good game, but since they didn't manage to get a single first down in the second half, I can't. But it was exciting right down to the final play.
Here is M.K.A. in action #73. I don't know that M.K.A. would say that it was his best game. He did however manage to get 2 personal foul penalties on back to back plays. I asked him after the game if on the second penalty, which was hands to the face, if his hands just slipped off the other guys jersey and he clocked him in the face. Mike deadpanly replied "No."
Saturday night was my Welcome Back to Milwaukee Party. I want to thank everyone who came. I especially want to thank Liquid and Lynn for making the drive down from Minnesota for the party. I also want to thank everyone who brought food. Thank you Annie for the cookies. Thank you Coonens for the rocket. And a big thank you to my mom for the quilt you are making me. When it is done, I will get photos up on the blog. I hope everyone had a good time, I know I did. Although I always feel like I should be mingling more with the people at my parties. It is sort of hard because I want to talk to everyone at the party, and I never feel like I do that enough. But I was told the secret to throwing a good party a long time ago. Do the best that you can to prepare for the party and get the people there, and then it is up to them to have a good time. I do however want to apologize for running out of beer. I didn't think we would drink that much. Mind you I didn't run out of alcohol, just beer. Who would have thought that 5 1/2 cases wouldn't be enough for 30 people?
The highlight of the night was a fairly spirited game of speed quarters. It has been quite a few years since we have played down in my bar. Funny but the touch comes back pretty quick. Here is Pocahontas giving Papa Preston some pointers on his form.No personal fouls on M.K.A. in speed quarters, but I nearly had to call The General on a couple party fouls. Speaking of party fouls, P.O.E. got one for breaking a glass.
Another highlight of the night was The General entertain all with the story of how he got the nickname "The General".
In case you didn't make it to the party, he is a photo of my new purchase. Thanks again Jody. I think this is the first couch I have ever had that I can lay across without my feet touching either end.

Again thanks to everyone who showed up at the party. It is nice to know that I have so many family and friends around. It is also nice to know that my house actually contained all of you fairly well. But let just hope that it never rains during the Freeman Party.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Time To Get Caught Up

Well it has been a while since I have updated my blog. A lot has gone. And now I am officially back in Milwaukee. In fact this post was written shortly after finally getting my internet up and running this evening. So let me get you caught up with what has been going on, other than the five trips back and forth between Milwaukee and Appleton.
Halloween night, trick or treating. I think this is the fourth or fifth year I have gone with the kids. Lindsey, Abby, Erin, Jared, Ethan, Nick and Josh.
Here I am posing with kids. Nick took this picture and cut Erin right out of it.I helped the kids make a pyramid. We have to work on this one a little bit. Row two was pretty shaky.
After trick or treating I headed down the Rave by my self to see Gwar. It was pretty crazy. I was expecting more people to be dressed up as it was Halloween. I would say that only about 30% were dressed up. It was also one of the two loudest concerts I have ever been to. Rage Against the Machine is other. I am glad I brought ear plugs along and I used them the entire concert. After spending the majority of the concert off to the side, for the last half hour I got down in the middle of the crowd. That is where I got this picture.
The next day I went to the Whitewater game and to see M.K.A. Here I am before the game at the tailgate party with Tom Brady. Pocahontas tossing bean bags.Poe and Katie.Here is M.K.A. getting pushed down on a A. I got talked into doing pushups after each Whitewater score. The ended up winning 40 - 10. Not good for the guy doing pushups.After the game I stopped by Chris and Rebecca to see what they were up to. One thing led to another and I ended up heading out with them for the evening. Here are Chris and Rebecca.
Vanessa and Al went out with us as well.On Sunday I went to my nephew, Joey's, birthday party. Here he is finishing off his cake.

Here is some video I shot right at the end of the Gwar concert. They say that they cover the crowd with over 100 gallons of fake blood for each concert. I ended up being right at the front of the mosh pit while shooting this video. At the end it gets a little shaky because I am getting pushed around. There is also some good shots of the fake blood hitting me. My hat is still stained.