The high school football regular season runs nine weeks–five of those are in the books.   In just about every conference, the title contenders are starting to emerge.   Here’s a look at the some of the key games down the stretch:  

BIG RIVERS

Menomonie’s win at Superior last week puts the Indians in the driver’s seat for yet another conference title under head coach Joe LaBuda.  Menomonie’s toughest matchups down the stretch are a trip to Hudson on Thursday, October 8, and the regular season home finale on Thursday, October 22, vs. Chippewa Falls.

Chi-Hi’s biggest challenge prior to the game at Menomonie looks like it’ll be a trip to Superior on 10/8.  Hudson has a rivalry game at River Falls this week prior to the Raiders’ game with Menomonie.  Memorial needs two wins to become playoff-eligible, but none of these are gimmes, even if three of those games will be at Carson Park: Superior, at Rice Lake, Menomonie, Hudson.  

CLOVERBELT

Colby’s win at Regis all but guarantees a conference title for the Hornets.   The battle for second place ought to be interesting, however, especially with the Ramblers traveling to Osseo-Fairchild this week.   Regis also has a Week 8 game at gritty Stanley-Boyd.   If the Ramblers stumble along the way, then the Week 9 game that has O-F at Neillsville will decide second place.  Still, all four of these teams should make the playoffs.

CLOVERWOOD

Unbeaten Gilman goes to undefeated Thorp Friday night (10/2) in the game that’ll likely decide the conference title, although the Pirates still have to travel to 3rd-place Wausau Newman on Friday, 10/16.

DAIRYLAND  

Another great game on Friday, 10/2, Whitehall at Blair-Taylor, with the winner all but wrapping up the conference title.

DUNN-ST CROIX

They’re saving the best for last in the DSC: Week 9, Thursday, 10/22, Elk Mound at Glenwood City, although both teams will still have to deal with a St. Croix Central team that’ll be competing for its playoff life.

HEART O’NORTH

Two conference unbeatens could collide in Week 9 when Northwestern heads to Hayward, although the Hurricanes will have to contend with Bloomer the previous week, in a game at the Blackhawks’ home field.

LARGE LAKELAND

If Webster can get past Grantsburg this Friday, the Tigers will be well on their way toward running the table in this conference.

SMALL LAKELAND

About the only thing standing between Flambeau and a perfect season will be a visit from 2nd-place Turtle Lake on Thursday, 10/8.

SOUTH LAKELAND

Thursday, 10/8: Elmwood at Plum City…a huge game between a couple of local rivals, with conference title implications as well as postseason seeding ramifications. 

MARAWOOD

Plenty of people around Wisconsin will be paying attention on Friday, 10/16, when Edgar goes to Stratford in a rematch of last season’s Division 6 state championship game.   Marathon is still unbeaten, but the Red Raiders travel to Stratford this week before closing out the season at Edgar.  McDonell’s game at Marathon on Friday, 10/16, will likely decide third place in the conference.

MIDDLE BORDER

Somerset is unbeaten in the conference, and could clinch the MBC title with a win at Baldwin-Woodville on Friday, 10/16. 

There are plenty of other big games ahead, featuring teams that’ll be fighting to make it into the playoffs.  Feel free to share your opinions, either as a comment on this blog or during our weekly online high school football chats.

-BOB BRADOVICH

Posted under Hometown Sports

BLOCKING AND TACKLING
At any level, the team that can’t execute the most basic of football fundamentals consistently is doomed to fail.   For a second straight week, the Packers offensive line struggled mightily in run and pass blocking.   On the other side of the ball, the Green Bay defense allowed the Bengals (the Bengals!) to convert on a 3rd & 34 from their own 7 yard line.  All day long, the Packers had a ton of trouble bringing down Cincinnati’s Cedric Benson, including a crucial 3rd & 2 play in the 4th, when three Green Bay defenders whiffed on tackles, allowing Benson to gain 14 yards.

BAD BOUNCE
On the aforementioned 3rd & 34, Packers defensive end Cullen Jenkins showed great hustle in running down the Bengals’ Daniel Coats,  knocking the ball away from the Cincinnati tight end after a gain of 23 yards.  Unfortunately for the home team, the ball bounced forward, and was recovered by the Bengals for a gain of 38 yards and a first down.   That drive eventually ended with a TD that tied the game at 21-21.  

GOOD BOUNCE
NFL teams, in 2008, recovered about 10% of onside kick attempts.  Mason Crosby could kick the ball 100 times and not get the result he got late in the fourth quarter, when the football somehow avoided the Bengals hands team and bounced perfectly into the arms of Green Bay’s Tramon Williams.

WE’RE MAD AS **** AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE
Packers offensive linemen Jason Spitz, Josh Sitton, Scott Wells, and Daryn Colledge were (understandably) not in good humor following the game.  It’s the first time in the 14 years I’ve been covering the team that I had to ”bleep” out a word of a Packers player (Sitton) for our postgame story.   To their credit, all four faced the media onslaught and didn’t make any excuses about how the group played.

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
Despite the obvious frustration of all Packers players and coaches, nobody I heard from was pointing fingers or “calling out” teammates.   Linebacker Brandon Chillar took the blame for being out of position on the 3rd & 34.   Aaron Rodgers thought at times he held onto the ball too long which led to his being sacked.

WHO’S TO BLAME
I haven’t looked at the tape, nor do I plan to–since I didn’t tape the game.  Based on what I saw from up top, I’d assess percentages as follows: offensive line 40%, Ryan Grant 10% (lost key fumble and dropped a pass), Aaron Rodgers 5% (held onto ball too long and forced one pass that should have been picked), receivers 5% (some good catches late help offset some early drops–plus, had trouble getting open), defense 20% (tackling trouble) special teams 10% (recovering late onside kick helps offset a day of losing the field position battle), coaching 10% (the head coach says the buck stops with the head coach).

IT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU IT’S HOW YOU REACT
Is it possible that the coaching staff’s emphasis on starting games fast may be having a negative effect on the team?  Starting fast is great…so is finishing strong…or even playing consistently from start to finish.   Things don’t always go to plan, so I’m wondering whether players are pressing too much to make something happen on early drives.  

WEEK TO WEEK LEAGUE
If the same Jay Cutler who tossed 4 picks against the Pack can lead a game-winning drive the week later (against the reigning Super Bowl champs, no less), then anything is possible.  Green Bay has plenty of company at 1-1, including some supposed power teams: Dallas, Philadelphia, Arizona, Pittsburgh, New England, San Diego.  

NO BUENO
Chad Ochocinco showed a surprisingly bad vertical jump in going into the north end zone stands, but surprisingly good judgement in finding a friendly group of Bengals fans for his Lambeau Leap.  On the topic of judgement , what about the Packers fan who flipped off Ochocinco, as well as the network and local TV cameras?   

NO TALKING WHILE EATING
There’s a no cheering rule in NFL press boxes.  I’d like to suggest a “No Talking About Fantasy Football Rule” as well.  Seriously, I’ll cook a huge pot of chili and bring it to Lambeau in a giant Thermos just to feed it to certain colleagues so that they’ll sit and eat quietly during the game, rather than feel the need to update me and everyone else within earshot about every single point scored in the NFL and how it affects their fantasy team or opponent.  Allow me to channel my inner Josh Sitton:  I DON’T ****ING CARE ABOUT YOUR FANTASY TEAM!!!! STOP ****ING TALKING AND WATCH THE ******** GAME!!!!!!

SO YOU THINK THIS GAME IS EASY?
During the first Packers game I covered upon my arrival in Eau Claire in 1996, I watched from field level as Antonio Freeman took a tremendous shot from a Tampa Bay defender after catching a pass over the middle.  While Freeman lay on the ground, I thought the certain sound I’d heard was from a helmet-to-helmet shot.   Eventually, Freeman got up, which was a relief to all in the stadium…but I got a very sickening feeling as I watched him clutch his wrist, which was beginning to swell–the sound I’d heard was the snapping of a bone in Freeman’s forearm.  

As the Packers were driving late in the 4th quarter Sunday vs. the Bengals, tight end Donald Lee took a wicked shot to his lower back, and wound up having to leave the game.   Afterward, in the locker room, Lee talked about losing feeling in his hands and feet following the hit–which is why the team doctors didn’t allow him to return to the game.

Football looks a lot easier from way up top…or on TV…but unless you’re seen the game from the field, you have no idea of the speed and the frightening physicality of the NFL.

-BOB BRADOVICH

Posted under Hometown Sports

QB OR NOT QB
I said it in my postgame wrapup and I’ll say it again…the difference in this game was that one team’s QB stepped up, and the other did not.   Aaron Rodgers capped off a clutch drive by throwing a TD pass with 1:11 left in the game.  Jay Cutler took the ball back and promptly threw his fourth pick.

WE SAW THIS COMING
When I talked with defensive backs Tramon Williams and Nick Collins in the locker room after the game, both guys said they knew Cutler would put the ball up for grabs when he felt pressure.   That pressure from the Packers 3-4 defense was relentless.

CAPERS CAPER
It’s early, but it looks like Green Bay’s best acqusition this offseason was the hiring of Dom Capers as defensive coordinator.  From the view up high, the 3-4 is something to behold: blitzers coming from all different angles, a seemingly infinite number of ways to put pressure on a quarterback.     It’s also a system that takes advantage of the Packers’ good depth on the d-line and at linebacker.  

STAY HEALTHY, MY FRIENDS
No NFL team with serious championship dreams can afford a slew of injuries.  The Packers only have one of concern, that to safety Atari Bigby, but it looks like he could be back in four weeks.   Aaron Rouse did some good things Sunday playing in relief of Bigby–we’ll see if Rouse (who’s had plenty of his own injury issues) proves to be a good long-term solution.

GOOD TO SEE YOU
Former Packers media relations director Lee Remmel, who was not in the best of health last year,  was on hand for the latest chapter of the longest-running rivalry in the NFL.   After its renovation in 2003, the Lambeau Field pressbox was appropriately named for Remmel.

VISITING FIELD ADVANTAGE
Judging by the number of Bears replica jerseys I saw around and in Lambeau Field, it’s pretty clear that plenty of Packers fans are financing their season-ticket purchases by selling to the highest out-of-town bidder.    Expect plenty of purple among the green and gold on November 1.

FEED THE MEDIA
I’ve made reference to the Lambeau Field chili in the past on this blog.  Unfortunately, that delicacy will remain in the past, thanks to a Packers cost-cutting measure.   The pregame meal remains intact, however…kudos to whoever baked the frisbee-sized chocolate chunk cookies.

-BOB BRADOVICH

Posted under Hometown Sports

I’m the last person who should be giving relationship advice, but if you’re a sports nut involved with a person who doesn’t give a rat’s behind or horse’s patoot about the NFL, MLB, NCAA, NHL, PGA, MLS, FIFA, NASCAR, or WIAA, you may be headed for problems.

Me?  I think I’m okay…Susan enjoys sports, and understands my schedule, especially in the fall.   Tonight, that schedule includes missing dinner to cover two high school football games: EC Memorial @ Chippewa Falls, and then Rice Lake @ EC North.  Tomorrow, it’s a trek to scenic Collegeville, Minnesota, for UW-Eau Claire’s football game at St. John’s. 

If you’ve never been to a Johnnies’ game at Clemens Stadium, you are missing out: http://www.gojohnnies.com/sports/2009/5/26/FOOTBALL_0526090021.aspx?path=football

From that setting Saturday, it’s off to another spectacular venue the following day: Lambeau Field in Green Bay for the Packers NFL opener Sunday night vs. the Chicago Bears.

Unfortunately, with this schedule, I’ll be missing a few things…and not just yard work, laundry, and home improvement projects.  We enjoy spending a portion of our fall weekends by parking it in front of a TV, either at home or at an establishment, to watch the Badgers, Packers, or Bears.   At least I can record the Wisconsin game on this very computer I’m using right now.  

Modern technology will also allow me to banter with my lovely fiancee Sunday night, although that’s not quite the same as the in-person verbal exchanges that go on between a Packers fan (me) and a Bears fan (her) any time Green Bay and Chicago resume their long-running rivalry.   

Susan has a good reason to back the Bears, beyond the fact she grew up in suburban Chicago.  Her grandfather was Dutch Sternaman, who was an ownership partner of George S. Halas during the 1920′s.

http://www.chicagobears.com/tradition/historybydecades.asp

http://www.chicagobears.com/tradition/history_30s.asp

I’m not one of those “BEARS STILL S***” – chanting fans, because I’ve got a connection as well.   Defensive end Ed O’Bradovich (who played from 1962-71) is a distant relative of my family — clearly, that side got the defensive end genes while we got the diminutive point guard genes.   Besides, as a kid, I definitely cried while watching the movie “Brian’s Song.”

There will be no crying Sunday, win or lose, for either of us.  We’ve managed to get through four seasons of Packers-Bears games without incident…with the slight exception of the ’06 game in Chicago, when Susan’s mom left the room after some not-so-flattering comments made by Susan’s son Jim and myself about Rex Grossman’s throwing motion.    Mom eventually returned, to join Susan in a blistering rant about Brett Favre being a drama queen while the then-Packers QB was crying during his postgame interview.

Football…Favre…crying…blistering rants…divorce…do you think there will be some interesting weekends ahead?

This one’s already off to a great start: Susan just made brownies for the News 18 Sports staff!  I love that woman…

Posted under Hometown Sports