Tom King's Blog

Charles Woodson is making his case as the defensive player of the year in the NFL. In four years as a Packer he's close to breaking Herb Adderly's records for interceptions and is making big play after big play for a re-juvenated Packer defense. No one is giving him any chance to win 'Player of the  Year"  honors which obviously go to the best overall player. Why aren't defensive players considered for this honor? Stopping the other team is equally as important as scoring if you're going to have success in the NFL but a defensive player has won the award only twice. Lawrence Taylor in 1986 and Alan Page in 1971. I realize that Brett Favre will be the writers favorite if he continues to play as he has. The writers love Favre and the storyline is too juicy to pass up...but it will be disappointing if Woodson doesn't finish high in the voting.

UW-Whitewater continues to advance in the D-3 football playoffs. Levell Coppage on the ground and Jeff Donovan through the air are a potent combination and the Warhawks don't just win...they have crushed most of their opponents this season in running their record to 12-0. They host Wittenberg on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

The Bucks have dropped 4 in a row after their good start as they battle injuries and Brandon Jennings inconsistency. Jenninsg is drawing doubleteams and the other teams best defenders and will have to adjust if wants to continue to have success in the league. They need Bogut back big time. Chicago comes to town tonight.

The high school season is underway and the Wausau East Lumberjack hockey team started with a pair of victorys over the weekend beating Madison West and Oregon. A nice start for Dan Bauer's crew but they will face a good Spash squad in their Valley opener on Friday. The #1 rated West Warrior hockey team begins play Tuesday night in Antigo.

The East boys basketball team rebounded Saturday night with a nice win over Merrill after getting pounded by a good Waunakee team on Friday.

My high school schedule this week is East boys basketball Tuesday vs Pulaski as the 2nd game of our doubleheader on Foxsports1390 WRIG (approx 9:15)....Friday I'll be live with both the East girls and boys basketball teams facing Wausau West starting at 5:45 on Foxsports1390 WRIG...and we'll have the East hockey team on Saturday night as they host Webster from Marathon Park.

Sportstalk tonight at RJ's Bullshooter Saloon in Weston. We'll be talking to Packer beat reporter Bob McGinn on the phone about his new Super Bowl book and we'll have Packer tickets to give away as well. join us at 6:05.

Songs of the Day

Darling Nikki-Prince (1984) a sexually charged tune from "Purple Rain". One of the tunes that got Tipper Gore to start the Parent Music Resource Center  and led to Parental Advisory stickers on Lp's and Cd's.

A Day In The Life-Beatles (1967) the last tune on Sgt. Pepper. Is it a drug song? Who is the person in the car crash? How many holes does it take to fill the Albert hall. Is Paul really dead? So many questions....and the longest E chord in music history. one great song.

I'll have my first high school broadcast of the winter season tonight as the Wausau East hockey team opens up against Madison West at 7pm . Remember all of our high school sports broadcast are now on WRIG Foxsports 1390 on your AM dial. Tomorrow the we'll have the East Boys basketball team against Merrill at 5pm.

A number of area schools should be interesting to watch this season. The Wausau West hockey team comes into the season as the pre-season number one team in the state. Spash should be challenging them in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. You can also expect the CW Storm to defend their state championship hard as they battle in the Great Northern Conference. Hard to call the Boys basketball race...I'll wait to see how some of these teams come into the season. Girls hoops DCE & Marshfield are always tough...East has a new coach....lots to follow.

The Packers took care of business yesterday. Aaron Rodgers keeps on rolling and Charles Woodson certainly has a shot at Defensive Player of The Year...and what about MVP? Without looking it up I think Deion Sanders was the last defensive player to win MVP but he also returned punts.

The Badger Men's basketball team got a nice win over Maryland on Wednesday...now Duke comes to town...that should be very interesting...Bucky's gotta make those 3's.

Badger Men's hockey tonight on WSAU at Michigan State...pre game at 5:30.

The Central Wisconsin Saints Junior Hockey team welcomes the Wisconsin Rampage to the KB Willet Arena in Stevens Point tonight at 7:30...they also play Saturday at 2:30 and Sunday at 11 am

Songs of the Day

Darkness at the Edge of Town-Bruce Springsteen (1978) After a few years of litigation after "Born To Run" the Boss releases his darkest Lp to date but one of my favorites...this is the title track

Dark Star-Crosby, Stills & Nash (1977) from their excellent reunion Lp comes this Stills love song set to a Latin beat. 

Fresh off his 5 TD performance over Cleveland Matt Stafford may have been lookinf forward to throwing against a Packer defense crippled by injuries but it probably won't happen. Stafford and Calvin Johnson both missed practice yesterday and Lions coach Jim Schwartz said it's doubtful Stafford would be able to go after seperating his shoulder near the end of the last game. Certainly the Packer would rather face a limited Daunte Culpepper than an up an coming star like Stafford. Especially with the secondary in the position they are in.

We'll have to wait for the first meeting of Chris Paul and Brandon Jennings. paul won't be able to play against the Bucks tonight because of an ankle injury. Jennings will look to rebound froma sub-par game on Monday.

The High School Hockey season got under way last night. DC Everest, Stevens Point, Rhinelander and Marshfield started with wins. The Tigers beat Northland Pines which is anice win for that program. I'll have the East Lumberjacks in their debut Friday night against Madison West on Foxsports1390 WRIG at 7 pm.

Songs of The Day

The Dark & Rolling Sea-Al Stewart (1975) a metaphoric tune almost literary in the scenes it creates in your mind's eye. From his last Lp "Modern Times...before hitting it big in America  with Year of The Cat.

The Dark End of The Street-Flying Burrito Brothers (1969) Picture a redneck country bar in suburban Los Angeles....on stage are 5 hippies in colorful Nudie suits playing country music. Gram Parsons, Chris Ethridge, Chris Hillman, Mike Clarke and Sneaky Pete invented country rock and I've included a version of this country-soul song from their awesome debut Lp "Gilded Palace of Sin". This is where the Eagles got the idea.

Chase Drake comes from a long line of hockey players. A Drake has been playing or coaching hockey in Mosinee it seems like forever. The extended family won't have to go far to watch the big defenseman play his college hockey. After 2 years of Junior hockey Drake has signed a national letter of intent to play at Wisconsin next year. I would imagine he's very excited to be able to take the ice at the Kohl Center...but I'll bet his family is even more excited to be able to see him skate in the red & white. 2 other players from Wisconsin were among the signees...Jefferson Dahl from Eau Claire and Sean Little from Fond du Lac.

The Badger men beat Arizona in hoops last night. The face Gonzaga in Hawaii tonight...8:30 on WSAU

The Spurs broke the Bucks win streak as Matt Bonner came of the bench and scored 23...most from 3 point range. Get well soon Andrew Bogut...the Spurs dominated the boards in the win.

The high school winter sports season gets under way tonight with hockey games around the area. Dc Everest will host Tomahawk and you can hear that game on our sister station Foxsports 1390 WRIG. the other games tonight include Madison Memorial at Stevens Point, Pacelli at Rhinelander and Marshfield at Northland Pines. A reminder that all of our high school games will be on Foxsports 1390 WRIG this season. That includes our coverage of Wausau East. The Lumberjacks begin play this weekend. We'll have East Hockey Friday night against Madison West  at 7 and Boys Basketball Saturday against Merrill at 4:45 all on WRIG.

Songs of the Day

Danny's All-Star Joint-Rickie Lee Jones (1979) from her sparkling debut Lp comes this jazzy, jivey tune. Love this stuff.

Danny's Song-Loggins & Messina (1972) from the debut Lp "Sittin In" come this Loggins tune written for his older brother Dave on the birth of his son. Anne Murray had a big hit with this one. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnZsRIvE7Wc

It's said that to win a Super Bowl you have to be lucky and good. The luck part includes staying healthy which is incredibly difficult in today's NFL with the size, speed and strentgh of today's players. The Packers will now find out how good some of their backup players are now that Al Harris and Aaron Kampmen are done for the year. The Pack has put themselves back into the playoff picture after two straight wins but face a short week and a game in Detroit against a Lions team that pulled out a win on the final play of the game on Sunday. It's oppourtunity time for Tramon Williams and some others. Let's see if they are up to the challenge.

The Bucks keep on rolling. Brandon Jennings has grabbed most of the headlines but don't discount the contributions of Irsan Ilysova and Luke Ridnour. That the Bucks keep winning without Michael Redd AND Andrew Bogut is certainly surprising. ESPN is giving them a nationally televised game this Friday against another up and coming team in Oklahoma City.

A tough weekend for the Central Wisconsin Saints Junior Hockey team dropping 2 out of 3 in suburban St. Louis over the weekend. They finally return home to KB Willet Arena in Stevens Point this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Join us for Sportstalk tonight at RJ's Bullshooters Saloon in Weston. We will have Packer-Raven tickets to give away. Hope to see you tonight at 6:05

Songs of the Day

Dani California-Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006) from "Stadium Arcadium" comes this catchy tune with a recurring female character from some of their other songs. Good guitar work.

Daniel & The Sacred Harp-The Band (1970) from their 3rd lp 'Stage Fright" enginineerd by an up & comer named Todd Rundgren. Darker stuff than the first two lps but still excellent.

Ricky Williams has come a long way from the pot smoking screw-up he was a few years ago. After coming out of the University of Texas Williams was scene as a savior for the New Orleans Saints of Mike Ditka...even appearing on a magazine cover wearing a wedding dress with Ditka as his groom. It didn't work out. Williams decided he really didn't like football and after leading the league in rushing in 2002 became lost in a haze of cannabis and laziness. The Miami Dolphins gave him another chance a few years ago and he's made the most of it. Now that Ronnie Brown has been lost for the season Williams is once again seen as the savior of the teams offense and last night he came through scoring 3 touchdowns and rushing for 119 yards in a win over Carolina. When he wants to he's one of the best.

You knew things were going too well for the Bucks. Andrew Bogut will mis up to 4 weeks witha strained knee. He suffered the injury in the game with New Jersey. Bogut had been off to a strong start since coming back from his back injury last year. The Bucks take on Charlotte tonight at the Bradley Center and Michael Redd is expected back. I'm not sure that's a good trade-off for the team right now.

Congrats to the Edgar Wildcats who got it done yesterday hammering Eau Claire Regis 46-7 and they did it through the air. Jordan Sinz torched the Regis secondary all afternoon and EC didn't get on the board until 5 seconds left in the game.

The Badger womens soccer team is in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen today facing Boston University. The Badger Hockey teams are in St. Cloud today and tomorrow. the women play this afternoon...the men tonight.

Songs of the Day

Danger-JJ Cale & Eric Clapton (2006) I can't recommend this cd highly enough. "The Road to Escondido" is filled with laid back shuffles and fine picking. Clapton sounds relaxed and Cale is and underappreciated gem.

The Dangling Conversation-Simon & Garfunkel (1966) one of those intellectual songs that Simon seemed to write every 10 minutes in the 60's. He couldn't believe it wasn't a hit although the subject matter was a bit higher brow than much of the hit music of the day. From the classic Lp "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme.

The Edgar Wildcat football team will play for a state title today at Camp Randall in Madison. No surprise there...Edgar has won 5 state titles before but this team has the smell of legend. When the 2009 Wildcats take the field today against Eau Claire Regis they will try and put an exclamation point on an undefeated season where they have outscored their opponents 605-13. That's 605-13!!!!??!!?? They will also be carrying the banner of small public schools against the onslaught of private schools which seem to dominate state tournaments in the smaller divisions of all high school sports in Wisconsin. Recruiting for sports purposes is not supposed to happen but anyone can see it does. But Edgar doesnt care about any of that today...the players and coaches are forging a legacy...and whether it's right or not, it won't be math or science class these students will remember in 20 or 30 years....it will be the 4 months they spent with their teammates preparing for this moment. To players, parents and coaches..enjoy it..it goes too fast.

The Bucks and Badgers took care of business last night. Milwaukee avoided losing to the 0-11 New Jersey Nets to run their record to 6-3. How good is Brandon Jennings? He has scored more points in his first 9 games in the league than any player is league history.more from espn.com You read that right...amazing. Wisconsin beat Oakland University in a tune-up for the Maui Invitational. The Badgers play Arizona on Monday.

Songs of the Day

Dancing In The Dark-Bruce Springsteen (1984) After loving the previous Springsteen LPs I eagerly awaited his next release but was disappointed in this synth filled dance tune. It became a hit and I grudgingly came to tolerate it but never really warmed up to the "Born in the USA" Lp. Of Course the video is known for launching the career of Courtney Cox.

Dancing in The Street-Martha Reeves & Vandellas (1964) this song epitomizes the Motown Sound and became so universally beloved it's been protected in the National Recording Registry. A huge international hit as well.

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 was 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.