So, it’s been a crazy week so far… Erica and John finally coming home from their road trip, the jerk Cubs fans being in town and bringing out the worst in Brewers fans, Johnny Hammer’s first loss in softball (an article will be forthcoming) and now the weather is going to give us some nasty stuff tonight. Tim found a short blurb in jsonline’s daywatch today that really sums it up the best…

It’s Thursday folks and we just can’t get a break this week.

Right when it’s finally safe to leave the house without running into some jerk in a Mark Prior jersey, Mother Nature decides to go all Daisuke Matsuzaka and throw us a climatological gyro-ball.

Nice… button down the hatches everyone, it’s about to get nasty…

Over a year ago I posted about how Chicago was considering a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Today, that bid came to fruition, and they won the U.S. bid to try and get the games to the midwest!

I’m super pumped about possibly having the games right in our backyard. While it looks like Chicago is going to keep all of the events directly in the downtown area, and not venturing up into Wisconsin like originally rumored, I’d happily take the train down there to watch some events. Going to the Olympics is a once in a lifetime event and I think anyone in Wisconsin that wouldn’t make an attempt to go is a fool. I suppose first things are first–they have to win the bid. Looks like Madrid, Prague, Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are the other competitors on the map. Prague schmague.

Check out the Chicago Olympics 2016 website here–they show where they’ll have all of the events and the new places that they’d build for it.

Are you as excited as I am about the possibilities?

So, apparently, someone nominated my website, again, for blog of the week on mkeonline.com. Alright. The changes they’ve made are that it runs through April 18th.

If you haven’t gotten me a birthday present (April 22nd) and don’t plan to, I’ll take your vote as the present. Vote by clicking this link. Vote often. Tell your friends.

tarapfeifer.com shall prevail!

Here’s an interesting hypothetical that is being put before the Education Reform Commission in Wisconsin.

Would you agree to live and work in Wisconsin for 10 years after college if the state offered to pay your tuition costs for all four years?

It’s an interesting idea. Although it’s only for state schools, I think it would be beneficial to the state for a few reasons:

1. Heck, it’s free tuition. I don’t know the main reasons why people want to leave Wisconsin after they graduate. Maybe it’s the desire for warmer climates, maybe it’s because they are in an industry where you need to be in a “big city”… I’m not sure. But for someone like myself, where there are plenty of job opportunities in Wisconsin for me, I would think that even if the position in Wisconsin pays slightly less than the same position in, say, Chicago, the fact that I don’t have any tuition bills might make that a little more bearable.

2. 10 years isn’t that much. I’ve been out of school now for 5 1/2 years. It feels like I’ve barely been out 2. That puts most people at around 32 or 33 years old–still young enough to move across the county on a whim if they wanted to.

3. The state of Wisconsin has had a huge problem with brain drain. We educate them, then they leave for cities with a better quality of life. This gives smart people an incentive to stay in state, which, in turn, helps the state’s economy.

I don’t know what kind of affect this would have on the private schools in the state. I’m assuming since cost is always a big issue at a private school, this might hurt their enrollments. On the other end, maybe giving free tuition to more students in public schools would free up state funding to be given to private schools, also making a private education MORE affordable.

What are your thoughts on this?

Well, we’ve hit the midseason point for Club G’s Fall season, and we limped in with a 3-3 record. I’m not sure how we were at this point last fall, but if I remember correctly, we got our asses handed to us more times than not last fall. This fall, I feel we’re hanging with our competition a little better, but just not closing out games. Well, except of course, that 5-25 whomping we took last Wednesday. They were just good.

Here are the stats thusfar…

I bolded each the leader in each category, as you can see. A few things I noticed…

Brian’s goal this fall was to have 50 RBIs. With 10 games in the season, that’s obviously 5 RBIs a game. Which, when he has 9 RBI games, is a logical goal. Except when I make the last out of the inning and he has to hit solo homeruns. Sorry, Brian.

In past seasons, we’ve always had one person that dominates taking walks–Jenny Vicenik usually has about 10 by mid-season. This year, we have 3 people tied with taking walks–and they are all GUYS. That can’t be good. We miss you, Jen!

Mike is having a quietly solid season. While he has left the homerun hitting up to Brian, he has started to dominate in the double game. Maybe those wouldn’t be doubles though if he had a less chubby teammate “running” in front of him. (yes, VD supports that statement)

Go VD for leading the team in singles and leading the girls in average!

I struggled with whether to put Tripp on this list, as I usually only put on people who play more than one game. But, I didn’t want to disrespect your bloop double to right field.

Yeah. I lead the team in triples. I’m that pathetically slow.

Anyone have any ideas how we can win out the season?

I read this article on jsonline.com this morning…

Bicycle cop busts robbery suspects
Milwaukee Police Officer Manny Molina spotted a purple Toyota at noon Sunday and recalled a similar car was being sought in connection with an armed robbery from the night before.

The fact that Molina was on a bike didn’t stop him.

The 11-year veteran called for back-up and pedaled over to the car, which was stopped. The men inside were talking with a woman Molina said was a prostitute.

Molina said he spotted a crack pipe and the driver matched the robber’s description. Molina drew his Taser stun gun and ordered the suspects out. The car was boxed in by traffic and the Taser got their attention, Molina said. They got out.

Molina searched the car and found knives, drugs and a load of allegedly stolen goods, including jewelry. He arrested two men inside the car. The items were connected to at least three crimes: the robbery in Milwaukee and burglaries in Caledonia and Cudahy, Molina said.

Molina, 42, said there are certain situations where he will stop a car using his bike. Sunday was one of those times.

“In this certain situation, I have to at least try,” he said in an interview today. “The circumstances worked in my favor. I caught them completely by surprise.”

Now, I see bicycle cops all the time and I’m not really sure what they do besides be a “presence” in whatever area they were in. I didn’t know they could actually “pull someone over.” It’s not like he has a flashing light that he straps to his head and flicks on when he wants to pull over a car. This cop has some guts to pull over a car with a taser gun, especially when they find out later that they had knives and things like that. Sounds like they picked off a few bad guys though, so definate props to the cop on the bike. Maybe that should be Milwaukee’s new way of catching people–it seems to work.

jsonline.com today posted a pretty cool picture of Milwaukee (thanks for sending it to me, Neill). Looks like Milwaukee is a little haunted, don’t you think?

So, I’m in Minnesota this week for work. Just got here today and I’ve noticed a few things.

1. Minnesota has “Land of 10000 Lakes” on their license plates. Neill told me once that Wisconsin actually has more lakes than that, and he’s right. According to the Minnesota DNR website, Minnesota actually has 11,842 lakes. A lot of lakes. But, I checked out Wisconsin’s site and check this out: Wisconsin has 15,081 lakes!! I wasn’t a math major, but that’s advantage Wisconsin by over 3200 lakes! How come we aren’t known as the land of 15,000 lakes then? No, instead we are called “America’s Dairyland” even though California outproduces us. This doesn’t make any sense…

2. No one speeds. I’m not a huge speed-demon on the roads, but the speed limit here is 60 mph. I was going 63 and BLOWING past people. So, obviously they aren’t even going 60. Either they know something I don’t, or Minnesota people are in no hurry to get anywhere.

3. I have been chosen as “Guest of the Day.” Yeah, that’s right. My hotel is giving me a complimentary dinner or breakfast in their restaurant OR room service AND a complimentary in-room movie. Sweet!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a movie to watch…

Great. Just in time for me to do my travelling for work (and for pleasure), gas prices are soaring high again. On the way into work this morning, I think the gas station said $3.09/gallon. In true terms of “It Could Always Be Worse,” check out how high gas is in California:

The price of full service high octane gas reaches $4.049 dollars per gallon Thursday, April 20, 2006, at a gas station in Beverly Hills, Calif. Oil prices held steady near record highs Thursday after weekly data showed a drop in U.S. gasoline stocks, raising worries that refiners don’t have an adequate inventory cushion ahead of the peak summer driving season. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

I finally went down to the main computer (ever since I got my laptop with wireless internet, I don’t go down to the big computer much anymore) to upload (and censor) my pictures from opening day last week. Sure, it was cold. And windy. And semi-wet. But the Brewers won and everyone had a good time, so that’s all that matters, right?

Click here to view the rest of my pictures.

And Neill has his posted too–check out his post here.

Any night that ends in making a pyramid must have been a good night…

It’s that time of the year again, my friends. It’s time for the ladies to gawk at their favorite Brewers and for the men to come out and say “yeah, that’s a good lookin’ man” and say it with pride. It’s the 3rd annual “Rank your 2006 Milwaukee Brewers” posting. I did this in 2004, and Brett Favre won (yeah, so it was only me and Neill that voted and he didn’t even vote for a Brewer). Last year, 2005, voter turnout was up and Turnbow won. Let’s see what happens this year…

GEOFF JENKINS, RF	JJ HARDY, SS	CARLOS LEE, LF	MATT WISE, P	DERRICK TURNBOW, P	TARA TURNBOW, P

I heard on the news last night that Chicago is considering putting in a bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.  While the decision won’t be made until 2009, the ball has started rolling and I think it’s great.  Mayor Daley in Chicago is thinking of making it more of a regional Olympics, thus including cities like South Bend, IN and Milwaukee as part of the games. 

Can you imagine?  The Olympics in Milwaukee???  And even if that doesn’t fly, I think I could handle the 1 1/2 hour drive down to Chicago to check out some events. 

Back in July, after NYC was shot down for the 2012 Olympics, Maggie Haskins, a writer for cnnsi.com, wrote why she thought that Chicago has a decent shot at the Olympics. 

• The Second City’s beaches, museums, zoos, aquariums, parks and harbors could be mixed with Olympic venues such as beach volleyball, track and swimming. Massive Grant Park, which sits in between the iconic Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan, could serve as the center of the Olympic celebration.
• Grant Park, along with the newly unveiled Millennium Park, could be transformed into an Olympic Park where visitors congregate for concerts (the Petrillo Band Shell and the Frank Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion), food, kids’ games and evening parties (perhaps the famed Holland House that was the center of the Athens 2004 nightlife can set up shop here as well). Just east of Soldier Field, Northerly Island could serve as the site for the Aquatic Center, placing one of the game’s premier events at a central location. The Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and Navy Pier also will serve as attractions during the Games.
• Just up Lake Shore Drive, which would serve as the major artery for Olympic buses, a beach volleyball venue could sit at the east end of North Avenue. Each summer, Chicagoans congregate there to play volleyball, and it seems only fitting to place the stadium at the beach. I can’t say I know exactly where the Olympic stadium would be located – perhaps newly renovated Soldier Field or another location a bit south?
• It should be noted that, like New York City, Chicago’s government has a very solid relationship with the private sector, and Mayor Richard M. Daley always has been a major force behind Chicago’s public works and summer festivals.
• Transportation is always a topic of contention and here, Chicago is again a unique city. The “El” can be expanded and updated. As an above-ground rail line, it allows visitors traveling to events an opportunity to view the city.
• Another major asset of Chicago and the Chicagoland area is the number of universities with existing athletic venues that could renovated over the next 11 years to accommodate the Olympics.  Northwestern, UIC, Loyola, Chicago State, NIU, or even the University of Illinois.  All of them could be hosting sporting events.
• Imagine the gold-medal baseball game played against the backdrop of the Ivy at Wrigley Field (if baseball is voted back into the Games in 2016). Imagine Lake Shore Drive filled with cyclists for the road race. Imagine the Chicago skyline at night with the Olympic flame burning brightly. And lastly, imagine two-time gold medalist and world sports icon Michael Jordan lighting that very flame, a moment that will rival Muhammad Ali’s lighting of the Atlanta torch.

I think it’s a great idea.  And my opinion matters, damn it!  I want to host the javelin throw in my backyard.

The City of Milwaukee has had it’s fair share of homocides this year. WAY more than last year. At the time of this posting, there have been 122 homocides in Milwaukee this year, as opposed to 88 last year. And for all I know, the 123rd homocide could have happened this morning. Yes, it’s a sad thing that is happening in the city that I live in, but honestly, it hasn’t affected me too much. After all, most of these are happening in parts of the city other than where I live. Not that these people deserve it, but it just makes me feel a little safer knowing that they usually don’t happen where I live.

Until last night.

45-year-old man shot, killed during robbery
Three men demand money from cashier while one waits in car

A 45-year-old man working the counter at Wong’s Kitchen, 9201 W. Capitol Drive, was killed during a robbery Wednesday night, said Capt. Eric Moore of the Milwaukee Police Department.

Three men wearing masks, or covering their faces with articles of clothing, rushed into the restaurant about 5:15 p.m., demanding money as a getaway driver waited in a car out front, Moore said.

One man jumped over the counter, demanding money from the cashier, Michael R. Tabbert.

Before Tabbert could give him any money, the man shot him once in the torso in front of several other employees. The gunman then fled the restaurant with his accomplices, Moore said.

Tabbert died at the scene.

Police squads were saturating the area late Wednesday, looking for the four men involved in the robbery, Moore said.

They are believed to be driving a dark General Motors four-door sedan, possibly an early 1990s Pontiac Grand Prix.

Tabbert’s mother, Darleen Tabbert, said she often worried about her son’s safety when he worked at the restaurant. She said her son had a wife and an 8-year-old daughter.

“It was so useless because they didn’t even get the money,” Darleen Tabbert said of the robbery. “I just hope they find them.”

“It was so useless.”

Yes, it was, Darleen. Why in the WORLD would you shoot this poor man? They always taught us in retail that if you were getting held up, you give that person all the money you have in the drawer. Sacrifice the store’s profits, not your life. From the way the story is spun, it sounds like this poor guy didn’t even have enough time to get the money out of the drawer before they shot him in the chest. And for what??

And when I say close to home, I mean, CLOSE TO HOME. This was a few blocks away from my house in what I still feel is a safe neighborhood. Does it worry me a bit that these guys are still out there? Sure… but even when they are caught, something needs to be done to curb the homocides in the city. I wish I had some ingenious plan of how to do it, but someone has got to do something…

For those of you that are drivers in Milwaukee, I hope you all saw the Journal-Sentinel’s article on speeding today. Here’s the highlights if you didn’t see it.

Almost 16,000 speeding tickets were issued on Milwaukee County’s freeway system in 2004, and Richards said the number easily could have been much higher. An analysis by the Journal Sentinel of the tickets issued in 2004 shows:

• The No. 1 spot for nabbing speeders is on I-94 near the W. Layton Ave. exit. More than 1,000 speeding tickets were issued there. In fact, five of the top 20 spots where speeders were ticketed were on the south side of I-94 between College and Rawson avenues.

• Only one of the top 20 hot spots was on I-43 north of downtown.

• Although law enforcements officers are loath to admit it, speeders who travel at 14 mph or less over the limit have little chance of getting a ticket. About 98% of the tickets were written to those going 15 mph or more over the limit. Those traveling 10 mph or less over the limit have virtually no chance of getting nabbed. Of the more than 14,000 citations in which the driver’s speed was recorded, only seven listed the driver as going 10 mph or less over the limit.

• Fifteen people were ticketed for racing at 100 mph or more on the freeway, including a Milwaukee man clocked doing 137 mph in a 55-mph zone. The fine for doing 45 mph more than the limit is $494.50.

• Beware Sunday drivers: Sunday is the day of the week when most tickets are issued.

• Most tickets are not issued during the rush hours. In fact, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. is the most likely time for speeders to be stopped.

It’s nice to see this sort of stuff in writing every once in a while. Not that I ever do an excessive amount of speeding, but it’s always nice to know where the hot-spots are and what days you’re more than likely to get a ticket.

I know you faithful readers in Milwaukee have been pulled over for speeding. Where and if you don’t mind me asking, how much were you going over?

Early in 2006, the City of Milwaukee will celebrate it’s 160th Birthday. In correlation with that, the Milwaukee Press Club is having a poll asking What makes the City of Milwaukee such a great place to live, work and play?

The public can vote on their top 10 things that make Milwaukee Special. Go to www.gemsofmilwaukee.com to vote. Make sure you vote for Mount Mary College and The Gas Light Building, as that is where certain people and myself work. Go vote!!