Saturday I had a quadruple header. I went to Josh's soccer game, Zack's football game, Jared's football game and then I finished up with Farm Aid. A long action packed day, a good share of it was outside in this fabulous Wisconsin weather. I am not ready for winter. But here are some photos from Josh's game. I lost track of the score, but Josh had a hat trick. Wouldn't that be something to see Dan coaching soccer some day.
I love this picture, look at the mug on this kid as he is afraid of the ball.
Tell me what you think about this picture. Josh wasn't feeling too well during the game and his dad walked over to console him. This is a tender father - son moment. Jody (Josh's mom)doesn't think so. I think she can stick it.
This is Josh putting the final goal of his hat trick in.
I love this picture, look at the mug on this kid as he is afraid of the ball.Tell me what you think about this picture. Josh wasn't feeling too well during the game and his dad walked over to console him. This is a tender father - son moment. Jody (Josh's mom)doesn't think so. I think she can stick it.This is Josh putting the final goal of his hat trick in.Lyric of the day: Ten years ago on a cold dark night, someone was killed beneath the town hall light. There were few at the seen, but they all agreed that the slayer who ran looked alot like me.
Look at this. If you, especially as a kid at the ripe old age of 12, can not get excited about playing under the lights on a great field like this, well then there is something seriously wrong. I didn't play under the lights until my junior year of high school. The only thing that would have made it better is if there was a light rain. Perfect conditions, for soccer or better yet football.
I had floor seats, and I met my friend, Mick, and one of his friends inside. I got them down on the floor with me as well. Here is a view from the left field warning track.
Here I am with Mick. Oh and the T-Shirt...well it sparked a number of conversations. It is my new favorite concert T-Shirt. I love busting girls that read it and give me that look. And I just smile. As for the bag, well..."It's where I keep all of my things. I get alot of compliments on this. Plus it's not a man purse, it is called a satchel. Indian Jones wears one."
One of the games I liked to play at concerts, is something that unfortunately I have to give credit to The General for, but it is called "If you could hear one song, what would it be?" It is a poll that I ask nearly everyone that I talk to. Here were my personal answers:
Willie Nelson came on stage to sing Gravedigger with Dave. Here it is.
Neil Young I really wanted to see. I tried to scalp tickets to see him at The Riverside, but that didn't pan out. For being in his 70's, Neil can still rock out with the best of them. The coolest thing about Neil Young's performance was that he just walked out on the stage all by himself and started playing. No one else. I guess that is what all by himself means.
Here is a video clip of Neil playing "Ohio", a little unexpected but a welcomed song.
This was during a break after Neil Young.
Willie brought in a special guest for his set. Steven Tyler was in town and sang the first song with him. As you can tell by the pictures, I got much closer for the last set. Quite a few people left after Neil Young.
Oh this is kind of funny. I was waiting in line for the bathrooms that they brought out on the field for the elite with floor seats. While waiting I was looking at the outfield wall, which displayed advertisements that switched over the course of the show. I wish I had grabbed a picture but I didn't. Anyhow the advertisement was for "Silk", I thought to myself, "Wow, a gentlemen's club advertising at Farm Aid, that is kind of wild" Then as I looked a little closer, I realized it was for "Silk" the soymilk. My mistake.
Here is a little bit of Whiskey River.
Here is a shot of the Kilbourne Avenue Bridge with the P.A.C. in the background and another building that I don't know what the name is.
The Kilbourne Avenue bridge looking south.
I also have one more photo from the weekend to share. Saturday was Jon and Julie's 17 wedding anniversary. 17 years, that is a long time. They celebrated by having the Jende's and myself over. Here are all of the kids and Julie with anniversary carmel apples.
I have never played organized football so maybe I don't know what I am talking about, but I seriously doubt it. Jared is without a doubt one of the bigger kids out on the field. He plays on the offensive line and sometimes nose tackle on the defensive line. At first I yelled to Jared to knock someone to the ground, then I pleaded with him to please knock someone down. Take a look at this picture below. Does it really look like Jared is trying to push this kid down? You should never be standing straight up and down while blocking. Pictures don't lie. I did not see Jared do anything more than play Paddy Cake Paddy Cake with the person across the line from him. Without a doubt Jerad hits his sisters harder than he does his opponent. There isn't much passing at this level of football, so on 95% of the plays, Jared just needs to run block. Come out of your stance, get your hands on his numbers and drive him as far backwards as you can. I saw none of that. If I am wrong please tell me.+of+PA020104.JPG)
I am going to have to call out my brother-in-law Tim. Before Jared's game he was unhappy to hear other parents tell the kids on Waukesha North that played before Jared's game, that the kids had a good game when they got handily defeated by Waukesha West. He thinks that that attitude of accepting a loss breeds a losing mentality. But then when Jared's Waukesha North team was able to make it through the 1st quarter still tied with Waukesha West, Tim called just remaining tied as a victory for Waukesha North. Please someone else agree with me that Tim is contracting himself.
This is a pretty cool picture, the teams lined up just before the snap, with the scoreboard and flag in the background. Oh and also in the background is Zack's coach who doesn't give equal playing time to all of the players. Stay classy.
I was not only watching games all day but also around parents all day. I am so glad that I do not have to get involved with all of the politics that go along with kids playing sports today. Things are much different then in my day. My parents had always told me and my brothers that if we wanted to play sports, not to expect them to be at every game. And we were at times not to expect rides to games and practices. As a kid I can recall walking to many practices and games from my parent's house to the high school. My parents didn't have time for all of that, they were too busy working to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. While it sucked at the time, it helped to define who I have grown up to become and appreciate all that I now have.
I didn't notice this until the concert was half over, but all of Jackson Browne's songs sound the same. Some notable omissions from the concert, that I not only wanted to hear, but expected to hear: "Lawyers in Love", "Somebody's Baby" and most notably missing, "Loud Out / Stay". I thought for sure he would close with that. 
However, the last two songs of the show were, "Take It Easy" (you would think that was an Eagles cover, but I learned at the concert that Jackson Browne co-wrote that song) and then "I Am A Patriot" which is a cover of a Little Steven song. I am a big fan of that song and it was a pleasant surprise.
Axel's was dead. But of the patrons that were there, I noticed nearly all had a pitcher of beer. I figured I had an hour to kill before I needed to get to Bob's, I should be able to finish off a pitcher. I was feeling a bit nostalgic so I went with the same thing that I always ordered when I was in college, Busch Light (or beer flavored water). "$3 please." $3!!!! For a pitcher of beer!!!! I don't care how crappy the beer is, I dare anyone to find another bar that has the same deal. Show it to me and I will meet you there. Sure, Axel's is a dive bar, but it is my dive bar. It has been about 15 years since I first set foot in Axel's, give or take a year or two. And in that time, the beer has changed from Olympia to Busch Light and the price for a pitcher has gone from $2.75 to $3. $0.25, so much for inflation.
As you know from posts earlier this week, I was in Chicago last weekend. What a big difference the two cities are. I love visiting Chicago, but it is so expensive and a major pain to get to and get around in. Milwaukee on the other hand is quite the opposite. Seriously, I can make it from my house on the far west side of the city to the lake in less than 10 minutes. I know at times I give Milwaukee a bad rap, but it really is a pretty cool city.
I was reasonably close the second night. I took a couple of pictures. Then I saw a guy next to me with a much better camera who was getting better pictures. I gave him my business card and asked him to send me some pictures. I haven't received them yet. But I also didn't see my business card on the ground after the show.
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