My take on the Huckabee flap.
Sorry, I do not dislike Mike Huckabee as a person. Like I did not dislike Bill Clinton as our president back in the 90's.
Mr Huckabee is not a huckster but his campaign people are hucksters. I am not happy that his people are spinning things or cannot answer straight forward questions! When fast Eddie Rowlands cannot answer a straight forward question , I have a problem.
I thought the Christmas commercial was nice but don't say the cross in the background was not set up or it was just a book case (which it was)! Admit you did it and move on!
I'm am sick and tired of politicians telling me one thing and doing another. Stand up for your convictions and be proud of your beliefs!
My dislikes are the following.
Mr Huckabee, I dislike your beliefs ( no Mr. Huckabee, not your religion) , I dislike your beliefs on taxes, I dislike your beliefs on school choice, I dislike your beliefs on foreign policy , etc. etc , etc..
Just like Mr Clinton, I disliked his conduct in the oval office, I disliked his beliefs on taxes, ( he said he was not going to raise taxes and then he did), I disagreed with Elian Gonzales and WACO, etc, etc, etc..
When will we get candidates that stand for up for their beliefs and do what they say?
When will we send people to Washington that will not slide ear marks into bills that our children will have to pay for!
I am a strong conservative and will not put up with fly by night candidate's!
"Oh, we can't afford to have Hillary and the dem's take over"!
Whats the difference, we get people who sell us at campaign time and are just as bad or worse than the libs and dems after we get them into office! Need I bring up our RINO'S.
Look who I have in congress, Mr liberal , a democrat Dr K, who is just a mouthoiece for the left. He must of made too much money and forgot what the people in his district need, sorry he being paid off by special interest, unions, and lets not forget the teachers. He needs to go! I only hope we have a strong canidate that can get him out. The big problem is the MSM won't call it the way it is.
I voted for Mr Bush twice, but where was he in his first term? It's nice he is using his veto power, again where was he in his first term? I know we need an energy plan, but we do not to pay cooperate farms with ethanol! We do not need florescent light bulbs mandated to us! Let the people make their own decisions!
No Mr Huckabee, you will not get my vote!
If I have to write in my vote , I will or worst , I do not need to vote. I get the same from most in both parties!
No matter what, Renaldus Magnus taught me that my family will be fine no matter what happens!
Oh by the way, Fred , you got my vote!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
How True It Might of Been
From Dad 29 Link
Heh.
This is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men; Gaspar, Balthazar and Herb, went to see the baby Jesus and, according to the Book of Matthew, "presented unto Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
"These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper.
If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:"
And lo, the gifts were inside 600 square cubits of paper.
And the paper was festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.
And Joseph was going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she saideth, 'Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'
And Joseph did rolleth his eyeballs.
And the baby Jesus was more interested in the paper than the frankincense.
"But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped.
This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:
1. They were wise.
2. They were men.
Heh.
This is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men; Gaspar, Balthazar and Herb, went to see the baby Jesus and, according to the Book of Matthew, "presented unto Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
"These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper.
If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:"
And lo, the gifts were inside 600 square cubits of paper.
And the paper was festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.
And Joseph was going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she saideth, 'Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'
And Joseph did rolleth his eyeballs.
And the baby Jesus was more interested in the paper than the frankincense.
"But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped.
This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:
1. They were wise.
2. They were men.
Global Warming Nutjobs
7:06 a m
Foggy, Temp 36!
Forcast Rain!
Where are all you lefty moonbats on global warming.
The Sky is falling!
I'm melting, I'm melting
Nanny State
Wow, I have to admit I never would of seen this one coming .
Helmets for sledding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you just picture this; little Johnny is racing out the door with
his new sled Santa (oops- there is no Santa) his parents got for
him on Dec 25 ( Someones birthday) "Johnny, do you have your helmet"?
Oh Mom, nobody else wears them"!
"Now you get in here right now and get that helmet or you won't get to
listen to Air America this afternoon with your Father"!
"Oh, alright".
Snidely, wimpy, left wing candy @sses.
Well here's the article from JS Online
Fast, fun and dangerous
With the average speed of a sled reaching 19 mph, some health officials push for wearing helmets
By ERIN RICHARDSerichards@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 21, 2007
Although she can't remember, Emily Ziebell was probably having fun four years ago while night sledding in Waukesha.
It was close to midnight at Lowell Park, which has one of the best sledding hills in the county, and Ziebell, who had just turned 20, jumped on a snow tube with a friend. The friend fell off while they were zooming down the hill, but Ziebell continued and slammed into a tree trunk, splitting open her skull and crushing her left arm.
Ziebell, now 24, still has speech and coordination issues but has recovered remarkably, said her mother, Mary.
Snow, gravity and speed have long been an exhilarating wintertime combination, but it's also one that produces a small but inevitable number of injuries. Area trauma centers are reporting the usual snowboarding wrist fractures, sledding concussions and ankle injuries, but Children's Hospital of Wisconsin already has admitted three children since Nov. 1 for sledding injuries. That's more in-patient sledding accident victims than in the five-month season last year.
How much to push?
Those figures, coupled with a new study that reports sleds reach average speeds of 19 miles per hour, have some health officials wondering how far to push the helmet issue.
"The challenge that we face is that it's not the norm - nor is it likely to ever be the norm - for kids to wear helmets while sledding," said Bridget Clementi, injury and prevention manager at Children's Hospital and Health System. Clementi said the Injury Free Coalition for Kids recently compared the average speed of a sled at 19 mph with the average speed of a kid on a bike, which is 10 to 15 mph.
Many parents have made it a habit to make kids wear helmets on their bikes, Clementi said.
"We don't want to kill the fun, but we are starting to look at reaching out to parents on sledding safety," Clementi said.
Clementi said parents should be aware of where their children are sledding and be around to supervise if necessary. She said children should slide feet first and parents who ride with small children probably should practice bailing out so the child knows what to do in case of an emergency.
Sledding helmets for sale
Health industry professionals aren't the only ones who have become more attuned to the helmet issue. For the first time this year, Blain's Farm & Fleet stocked sledding helmets beside its sleds.
Blain's supply spokeswoman Renee Tarnutzer couldn't say whether the helmets, which cost about $18 and cover the ears, were selling well, but Thursday at the Farm and Fleet in Waukesha, every sled, toboggan, disc and snow tube was sold out.
Helmets were plentiful.
"I push (helmets) with bicycling; it's an automatic. But we haven't gotten to the point of wearing them while sledding," parent Amy James said Friday at Lowell Park. Around her, children on all sorts of plastic sleds reached the bottom of the hill, hooting and laughing.
James added her family's safe sledding regimen includes choosing hills that are less steep and that have no fixed obstacles in the way.
"I think it's part of how you were raised. I didn't wear a helmet sledding growing up," James said. "But then again, I didn't wear a seat belt either. Who knows? Maybe in a couple years we'll all wear helmets out here."
At the request of Children's Hospital, Waukesha police Officer Jake Trussoni used his radar gun on Lowell Park's sledders Friday. The slowest speed on the wet and sticky snow was 10 mph, the fastest speed, recorded by adult/child teams on sleds and a pair of adolescent snowboarders, was 17 mph.
Sporting a pair of camouflaged snow pants and a new snowboard, Jordan Schimel,12, also wore a black, vented helmet while coming down the hill.
"I don't wear a helmet while riding a bike," Jordan said. "But this is my third time snowboarding, and when I tried it for the first time in Colorado this year, I broke my wrist. I haven't been out in a few days so I thought I'd wear it."
Schimel's friend 12-year-old Chaz Perry said he had a helmet but forgot to bring it with him Friday. It's not that helmets are uncool or anything, Chaz said, but he added he wouldn't want to wear one while sledding.
Mary Ziebell said her family advocates using bike helmets but isn't sure about sledding helmets.
"Could (a helmet) have helped Emily? Maybe," she said. "But it doesn't provide help for everything, and her brain still would have been knocked around. I think it's more important to be extraordinarily careful about where you sled."
Helmets for sledding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you just picture this; little Johnny is racing out the door with
his new sled Santa (oops- there is no Santa) his parents got for
him on Dec 25 ( Someones birthday) "Johnny, do you have your helmet"?
Oh Mom, nobody else wears them"!
"Now you get in here right now and get that helmet or you won't get to
listen to Air America this afternoon with your Father"!
"Oh, alright".
Snidely, wimpy, left wing candy @sses.
Well here's the article from JS Online
Fast, fun and dangerous
With the average speed of a sled reaching 19 mph, some health officials push for wearing helmets
By ERIN RICHARDSerichards@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 21, 2007
Although she can't remember, Emily Ziebell was probably having fun four years ago while night sledding in Waukesha.
It was close to midnight at Lowell Park, which has one of the best sledding hills in the county, and Ziebell, who had just turned 20, jumped on a snow tube with a friend. The friend fell off while they were zooming down the hill, but Ziebell continued and slammed into a tree trunk, splitting open her skull and crushing her left arm.
Ziebell, now 24, still has speech and coordination issues but has recovered remarkably, said her mother, Mary.
Snow, gravity and speed have long been an exhilarating wintertime combination, but it's also one that produces a small but inevitable number of injuries. Area trauma centers are reporting the usual snowboarding wrist fractures, sledding concussions and ankle injuries, but Children's Hospital of Wisconsin already has admitted three children since Nov. 1 for sledding injuries. That's more in-patient sledding accident victims than in the five-month season last year.
How much to push?
Those figures, coupled with a new study that reports sleds reach average speeds of 19 miles per hour, have some health officials wondering how far to push the helmet issue.
"The challenge that we face is that it's not the norm - nor is it likely to ever be the norm - for kids to wear helmets while sledding," said Bridget Clementi, injury and prevention manager at Children's Hospital and Health System. Clementi said the Injury Free Coalition for Kids recently compared the average speed of a sled at 19 mph with the average speed of a kid on a bike, which is 10 to 15 mph.
Many parents have made it a habit to make kids wear helmets on their bikes, Clementi said.
"We don't want to kill the fun, but we are starting to look at reaching out to parents on sledding safety," Clementi said.
Clementi said parents should be aware of where their children are sledding and be around to supervise if necessary. She said children should slide feet first and parents who ride with small children probably should practice bailing out so the child knows what to do in case of an emergency.
Sledding helmets for sale
Health industry professionals aren't the only ones who have become more attuned to the helmet issue. For the first time this year, Blain's Farm & Fleet stocked sledding helmets beside its sleds.
Blain's supply spokeswoman Renee Tarnutzer couldn't say whether the helmets, which cost about $18 and cover the ears, were selling well, but Thursday at the Farm and Fleet in Waukesha, every sled, toboggan, disc and snow tube was sold out.
Helmets were plentiful.
"I push (helmets) with bicycling; it's an automatic. But we haven't gotten to the point of wearing them while sledding," parent Amy James said Friday at Lowell Park. Around her, children on all sorts of plastic sleds reached the bottom of the hill, hooting and laughing.
James added her family's safe sledding regimen includes choosing hills that are less steep and that have no fixed obstacles in the way.
"I think it's part of how you were raised. I didn't wear a helmet sledding growing up," James said. "But then again, I didn't wear a seat belt either. Who knows? Maybe in a couple years we'll all wear helmets out here."
At the request of Children's Hospital, Waukesha police Officer Jake Trussoni used his radar gun on Lowell Park's sledders Friday. The slowest speed on the wet and sticky snow was 10 mph, the fastest speed, recorded by adult/child teams on sleds and a pair of adolescent snowboarders, was 17 mph.
Sporting a pair of camouflaged snow pants and a new snowboard, Jordan Schimel,12, also wore a black, vented helmet while coming down the hill.
"I don't wear a helmet while riding a bike," Jordan said. "But this is my third time snowboarding, and when I tried it for the first time in Colorado this year, I broke my wrist. I haven't been out in a few days so I thought I'd wear it."
Schimel's friend 12-year-old Chaz Perry said he had a helmet but forgot to bring it with him Friday. It's not that helmets are uncool or anything, Chaz said, but he added he wouldn't want to wear one while sledding.
Mary Ziebell said her family advocates using bike helmets but isn't sure about sledding helmets.
"Could (a helmet) have helped Emily? Maybe," she said. "But it doesn't provide help for everything, and her brain still would have been knocked around. I think it's more important to be extraordinarily careful about where you sled."
Friday, December 21, 2007
It's About Time
It's about time we start taking Christmas back.
You lefties in Madison,
God bless you and have a Merry Christmas !
From the Appleton Post Cresent
Posted December 21, 2007
Christmas makes a comeback nationwide
Green Bay not alone in church-v.-state debate
By Wendy Koch USA Today
Christmas fervor is prompting more communities this year to buck secular efforts to take down Christmas trees or nativity scenes.
Some removed the symbols from public property because of complaints about legality but later put them back. Missouri State University in Springfield re-erected a Christmas tree after a public outcry about its removal, and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland ordered two state parks to restore nativity scenes.
"More and more people are feeling empowered" to protest the absence of Christian symbols, says Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. He says more than 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas.
Among the flash points:
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt cast a tie-breaking vote in the City Council on Wednesday to keep a nativity scene along with a Santa Claus, reindeer and two Christmas trees on the roof of City Hall. The council put on hold requests for other symbols, including a pole for Festivus, a holiday popularized by TV's "Seinfeld."
The Wisconsin Assembly voted to rename the Capitol's balsam fir a "Christmas" tree. It became a "holiday" tree in 1985. The state Senate has not voted.
In Fort Collins, Colo., the City Council rejected a task force's suggestion that decorations be secular only.
In Columbiana, Ala., Mayor Allan Lowe countered a complaint about the city's nativity scene with a policy allowing seasonal displays on public property.
In Hyde Park, N.Y., a Jewish group rescinded its request to remove a nativity scene after residents complained, says Pompey Delafield, a city supervisor.
"The state shouldn't have a Christmas anything," says Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison. "It's not supposed to observe religious holidays."
The Supreme Court has ruled that a nativity scene cannot stand by itself on public property.
Gaylor says she's gotten e-mails calling her "horrible" names. She adds: "'Grinch' would be mild."
You lefties in Madison,
God bless you and have a Merry Christmas !
From the Appleton Post Cresent
Posted December 21, 2007
Christmas makes a comeback nationwide
Green Bay not alone in church-v.-state debate
By Wendy Koch USA Today
Christmas fervor is prompting more communities this year to buck secular efforts to take down Christmas trees or nativity scenes.
Some removed the symbols from public property because of complaints about legality but later put them back. Missouri State University in Springfield re-erected a Christmas tree after a public outcry about its removal, and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland ordered two state parks to restore nativity scenes.
"More and more people are feeling empowered" to protest the absence of Christian symbols, says Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. He says more than 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas.
Among the flash points:
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt cast a tie-breaking vote in the City Council on Wednesday to keep a nativity scene along with a Santa Claus, reindeer and two Christmas trees on the roof of City Hall. The council put on hold requests for other symbols, including a pole for Festivus, a holiday popularized by TV's "Seinfeld."
The Wisconsin Assembly voted to rename the Capitol's balsam fir a "Christmas" tree. It became a "holiday" tree in 1985. The state Senate has not voted.
In Fort Collins, Colo., the City Council rejected a task force's suggestion that decorations be secular only.
In Columbiana, Ala., Mayor Allan Lowe countered a complaint about the city's nativity scene with a policy allowing seasonal displays on public property.
In Hyde Park, N.Y., a Jewish group rescinded its request to remove a nativity scene after residents complained, says Pompey Delafield, a city supervisor.
"The state shouldn't have a Christmas anything," says Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison. "It's not supposed to observe religious holidays."
The Supreme Court has ruled that a nativity scene cannot stand by itself on public property.
Gaylor says she's gotten e-mails calling her "horrible" names. She adds: "'Grinch' would be mild."
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
"JESSICA at LAMBEAU" Fundraiser
JESSICA AT LAMBEAUCome one come all.
We need to start collecting funds to bring Jessica Simpson to Lambeau Field!
We need to start collecting from all points in Packerland!
I hereby pledge the first twenty dollars to bring Jessica to Green Bay.
All money collected would pay for plane fair and transportation to Lambeau Field. Lambeau tickets not included. Tony could pay for any over and above expenses.
Update 8:45 p.m.- I should also say that any money over and above plane fair and transportation to Lambeau will go to said below charity's.
I also pledge that if Jessica does not show up,
that the half of all money collected go to a charity of choice of the Green Bay Packers and the other half to the Green Bay Diocesan
"Advancing the Mission drive".
I know people who will contribute to such worthy causes.
It's time we show Jessica what real football players look and play like.
When Tony is laying on the cold frozen tundra, he will appreciate the good warm hearted people that we as Packers fans mean to the unfortunate in the world.
I'm sure she will be on the sidelines during the game on the east side of the field in her # 9 jersey.
I know a bank who could help us start up an account to start the donations rolling. I'm trying to get a hold of the banker at this time. When I get more information on setting up an account at the bank, I will pass it on ASAP.
Do I hear $25.00
Do I hear $30.00
If each Packer fan would just donate one dollar, I'm sure Jessica would be able to get to Green Bay and still have plenty left over to give to good charities!
Who will step up to the plate and help get this going!
Pass this on to everyone you know.
Let's get the FOOTBALL Rolling!
Email me at psocha@centurytel.net with a pledge or other ideas or information.
Look Who's Talking
Boy, Tony must feel bad right now. T O must have a chip on his shoulder!
I'm not saying anything but in January , you are welcome in Green Bay Jessica.
From Breitbart.com
T.O. to Jessica Simpson: Back Off Romo
Dec 19 04:53 PM US/Eastern
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Terrell Owens has a message for Jessica Simpson:
Stay away. The 27- year-old singer-actress has become Public Enemy No. 1 among Dallas Cowboys fans because of a link being made between her appearance at Sunday's game and the poor performance of her new boyfriend, quarterback Tony Romo.
"Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite—in this locker room or in Texas Stadium," Owens said Wednesday.
The Cowboys lost 10-6 to the Philadelphia Eagles and Romo had what was statistically the worst game of his career, all while Simpson sat in a luxury box wearing a pink No. 9 jersey she proudly showed off for television cameras.
The problem for her is, Romo's previous worst game came last December at home to the Eagles when then-girlfriend Carrie Underwood was in attendance.
"With everything that has happened, obviously with the way Tony played and the comparison between her and Carrie Underwood, I think a lot of people feel she has taken his focus away," Owens said, echoing the chatter on sports-talk radio and blogs. "Other than that, she was high on my list until last week.
"Oh, I got a message for her when we make the playoffs. Just stay tuned."
Stay Tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
What a Guy
From the AP and NFL.comYou had to see it to believe it. What a unselfish play.
Brian Westbrook - MVP
IRVING, Texas -- Brian Westbrook had a tough choice: score the easy touchdown to give the Philadelphia Eagles a big, late lead over the Dallas Cowboys, or stop just short and secure a 4-point win.
LM Otero / Associated Press
Cowboys QB Tony Romo finished with a career-low 22.2 passer rating on Sunday. » Romo highlights» 2007 QB leaders
He gladly took the victory.
Westbrook's maneuver with a little more than two minutes left seemed bizarre, but was brilliant strategy. With Dallas out of timeouts, all Donovan McNabb had to do was take a knee three straight times to give the Eagles a 10-6 victory Sunday.
Westbrook gained 24 yards, then stopped inside the 1. He wasn't rubbing it in, just running out the clock.
"It was brilliant," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said. "He used that Villanova education and transferred it to the football field."
LM Otero / Associated Press
Cowboys QB Tony Romo finished with a career-low 22.2 passer rating on Sunday. » Romo highlights» 2007 QB leaders
He gladly took the victory.
Westbrook's maneuver with a little more than two minutes left seemed bizarre, but was brilliant strategy. With Dallas out of timeouts, all Donovan McNabb had to do was take a knee three straight times to give the Eagles a 10-6 victory Sunday.
Westbrook gained 24 yards, then stopped inside the 1. He wasn't rubbing it in, just running out the clock.
"It was brilliant," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said. "He used that Villanova education and transferred it to the football field."
It sure was nice to see Jessica there to see Tony lose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Packer Sunday
Green Bay 35
St. Louis 3
Update Monday 3:50 am - I was close but no cigar when it comes to predicting scores.
St. Louis 3
Update Monday 3:50 am - I was close but no cigar when it comes to predicting scores.
Words of Wisdom
If you have some words of wisdom I can pass onto son number 2 , please let me know.
There are so many of you on the blog that know more than I.
Only conservatives , that have common sense.
For you libs , I'm not sure you would give your children any good advice anyway.
Lib's comments not welcome!
Please pass them along.
Here is the list I started.
Work hard and good things will come to you!
When you make a mistake , try again and don't repeat the same mistake again!
You can get more with honey than you can with vinegar!
Inspect what you Expect!
The glass is always half full!
If you hang out with winners you will become a winner, if you hang out with losers you will become a loser
The three most important things in life and always in this order, # 1 your God, # 2 your family and # 3 your job!
If you believe nothing , you believe everything! (from Rush)
There are so many of you on the blog that know more than I.
Only conservatives , that have common sense.
For you libs , I'm not sure you would give your children any good advice anyway.
Lib's comments not welcome!
Please pass them along.
Here is the list I started.
Work hard and good things will come to you!
When you make a mistake , try again and don't repeat the same mistake again!
You can get more with honey than you can with vinegar!
Inspect what you Expect!
The glass is always half full!
If you hang out with winners you will become a winner, if you hang out with losers you will become a loser
The three most important things in life and always in this order, # 1 your God, # 2 your family and # 3 your job!
If you believe nothing , you believe everything! (from Rush)
To Son Number One
From JS Online about Green Bay Packers Ryan Grant.
To son number one who sometimes frustrates the heck out of me!
To son number one who you tell him to do something and doesn't do it!
To son number one who is very intellectually smart but sometimes has no common sense!
To son number one who is highly thought of and respected by all who know him! Yes his dad respects him also.
To son number one who I hope has set some goals in life ( I do not know what they are)!
To son number one who his father thinks it is not a good idea that he goes to UWM next fall!
To son number one who his father wished he was like him when he was his age!
To son number one who drives his father up the wall ninety percent of the time.
To son number one who needs to know his father has made a lot of mistakes in life and does not want him to go through the same mistakes!
To son number one, your dad is not the worst father in the world, he is just hard on you for the right reasons!
To son number one who should read these quotes from Ryan Grant since no matter what his father says ,it doesn't matter! You have to work hard to get anywhere in life! Nothing gets handed to you!
Grant overcomes obstacles
Man with a plan had a few detours on road to success
By LORI NICKELlnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 15, 2007
New Yorker Ryan Grant played for one of the biggest high school football powerhouses out East, Don Bosco Prep School in Ramsey, N.J., just minutes away from the Meadowlands.
Being the New Jersey player of the year, in addition to a being a bright and ambitious young man, Grant had a plan.
Notre Dame. Draft. The National Football League, maybe even on the roster of the New York Giants.
Funny how those plans get trashed for no better reason than just to test a man's resolve.
Academic probation was not in the plan. Getting bypassed by a friend was not in the plan. Slashing an artery, nerve and tendon and nearly bleeding out was most definitely not in the plan.
Yet here Grant is after all of that, a 25-year-old rookie basically blooming in the middle of the once dormant running game of the Green Bay Packers.
This buy had nothing but time the last two years but he's a whirling dervish right now. One day this week after practice, reporters had 45 minutes of access to players. Well, Grant was lifting weights for 30 of them. Then when he was done, he plopped down to a table with a sandwich stuffed with turkey and lettuce because he hadn't eaten
For 17 minutes, between gulps, Grant considered the various obstacles he's overcome before he was whisked away for an important team meeting for the 11-2 Packers.
"My motto is, it might not happen the way you want it, but if you keep working, hard work really does pay off," said Grant. "It may not pay off right away. Or, how you think it's going to pay off. But in the end it does pay off. I'm not the only guy that was told he was going to get drafted that didn't get drafted. You know?"
Oh yeah, that too. With Grant there are so many little twists to his story. Where to begin?
Well, the academic probation is a good place because it is so shocking. Not just in that it happened, but how Grant responded.
Grant played for Notre Dame as a true freshman in 2000 but he had to sit out the next season because his grade point average fell just below a 2.0, 'C' average, he said.
"I was working my ass off, too," said Grant. "I was playing as a freshman, so I was trying to focus on ball. Well, we weren't winning, I was frustrated, I wasn't playing as much as I would have liked to have played. And school was tough. I learned if I don't get enough sleep I can't do anything well. So it was a lot."
Grant changed direction his sophomore year. He sought individual help from professors and learned what time management really means. He didn't get straight 'A's but he graduated with two degrees - in sociology and computer science - from one of the best academic institutions in the country.
And he became good friends with Julius Jones, another running back at Notre Dame. On the field his second year of football, in 2002, Grant starred at Notre Dame with nine touchdowns and 1,085 yards, just the seventh time Notre Dame had a 1,000-yard rusher. Jones was always there to advise. But then in 2003, Jones returned from his own academic probation and, with
Grant not playing as well as before, Jones took over the bulk of the carries. Grant's total yardage dropped to 510.
In Grant's final year, 2004, he started all nine games but was also had an injured hamstring. He had just 515 yards.
So even though Grant left as the 11th ranked running back in Notre Dame history with 2,220 rushing yards with a 3.9 average per carry and 18 touchdowns, it was like he finished with polite applause rather than a thunderous ovation.
The NFL general managers took a pass draft weekend, including Green Bay's Ted Thompson, who was set with Ahman Green.
Grant landed on the Giants' practice squad as a free agent in 2005. He had taken a few detours, sure, but was still somewhat on plan.
Tiki Barber was the man in New York then and the Giants had other up and coming running backs as well. Still, Grant expected to challenge them all in 2006.
But in March of that year, Grant was in Manhattan nightclub when he said he lost his footing after being bumped in the crowd. Grant said he wasn't inebriated when he reached out to catch himself. Unfortunately, his hand came crashing down on glassware on a table.
A deep gash stretched from the middle of the fleshy part of inside forearm and snaked all the way up to his wrist six inches later. He'd cut a tendon, the ulnar nerve and an artery. Losing a lot of blood rapidly, Grant was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and then rushed right in to surgery.
"At first they were testing me, like, 'Can you move the hand?'" said Grant. "I was like, nope. I had to have my arm repaired. I had major, major amounts of stitches."
Grant's close friend, New York defensive end Justin Tuck, who came in with Grant in the same recruiting class at Notre Dame, said there was, initially, grave concern for Grant over the blood loss.
"Did he tell you I told him not to go out that night?" said Tuck. "It was my birthday and I wasn't even going out. But I kind of wish I would have I would have been there. It was definitely scary. At first, people thought he wouldn't even survive surgery because he lost a lot of blood. It wasn't a good couple of days for either one of us."
Pulling through, the concern then turned toward Grant's football future.
"I asked the surgeon, all right, shoot me straight, what's up? Am I going to be able to play again?" said Grant. "He told me, 'You should be fine.' He said if everything went alright, I might be able to come back that year but the Giants put me on IR. It was a long year, every day, twice a day sometimes, all different types of rehab."
After a year off, Grant returned in 2007 to find a Giants team loaded at running back with Derrick Ward, Reuben Droughns, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.
A thousand miles away, however, the Green Bay Packers had one of top three quarterbacks in the game, a crazy five-receiver formation brewing, a threat at tight end and almost no one to run the ball. The Packers didn't even wait to see if Grant would make New York's final roster cuts. Green Bay gave up a sixth-round draft pick for Grant.
"I didn't think he would get a shot as quick as he did, but I knew what kind of back Ryan was," said Tuck. "And I knew he was a smart football player, he could definitely pick up things a lot quicker."
When Grant arrived in Green Bay on Sept. 1, his head was swimming. This was a whole new playbook, peer group and environment. He had loose ends all over the place back at home in New York. But Grant had the one thing that kept him grounded from the day he got here: appreciation.
After everything he'd been through at Notre Dame and New York, he was willing to do whatever it took to make this work in Green Bay. Within in a week he was comfortable with the Packers offense.
"I think it matters to him, and that shows up. That's obvious," said Packers running backs coach Edgar Bennett. "Most guys say, 'Well, Ok, I want to make the most of the opportunity.' Well, when the opportunity comes, are you ready? He fully understood what it took when the opportunity came. From the moment he got here, he prepared like he was the guy, so there's no surprise to anyone in here that he's having this success."
Grant took over for DeShawn Wynn at Denver on Oct. 29 in the second quarter and got the first 100-yard rushing game for the Packers. Six weeks later he posted a personal best 156 yards on 29 carries (5.4 average) and a touchdown in the Green Bay Packers' 38-7 rout of Oakland on his 25th birthday.
"He was always driven but he's at another level now," said Tuck. "In college he was always the earliest to workouts. Or if we had six days off he would take two. He would show up weeks before anybody had to be there.
"It worked out the best for him and I think everybody is happy about that."
Good luck Son number one.
Work hard and good things will come to you!
When you make a mistake , try again and don't repeat the same mistake again!
You can get more with honey than you can with vinegar!
Inspect what you Expect!
The glass is always half full!
If you hang out with winners you will become a winner, if you hang out with losers you will become a loser!
The three most important things in life and always in this order,
# 1 your God, # 2 your family and # 3 your job!
If you believe nothing , you believe everything! (from Rush)
There's a big world out there, the sky's the limit!
You'll do just fine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your Dad, who is proud of you.
To son number one who sometimes frustrates the heck out of me!
To son number one who you tell him to do something and doesn't do it!
To son number one who is very intellectually smart but sometimes has no common sense!
To son number one who is highly thought of and respected by all who know him! Yes his dad respects him also.
To son number one who I hope has set some goals in life ( I do not know what they are)!
To son number one who his father thinks it is not a good idea that he goes to UWM next fall!
To son number one who his father wished he was like him when he was his age!
To son number one who drives his father up the wall ninety percent of the time.
To son number one who needs to know his father has made a lot of mistakes in life and does not want him to go through the same mistakes!
To son number one, your dad is not the worst father in the world, he is just hard on you for the right reasons!
To son number one who should read these quotes from Ryan Grant since no matter what his father says ,it doesn't matter! You have to work hard to get anywhere in life! Nothing gets handed to you!
Grant overcomes obstacles
Man with a plan had a few detours on road to success
By LORI NICKELlnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 15, 2007
New Yorker Ryan Grant played for one of the biggest high school football powerhouses out East, Don Bosco Prep School in Ramsey, N.J., just minutes away from the Meadowlands.
Being the New Jersey player of the year, in addition to a being a bright and ambitious young man, Grant had a plan.
Notre Dame. Draft. The National Football League, maybe even on the roster of the New York Giants.
Funny how those plans get trashed for no better reason than just to test a man's resolve.
Academic probation was not in the plan. Getting bypassed by a friend was not in the plan. Slashing an artery, nerve and tendon and nearly bleeding out was most definitely not in the plan.
Yet here Grant is after all of that, a 25-year-old rookie basically blooming in the middle of the once dormant running game of the Green Bay Packers.
This buy had nothing but time the last two years but he's a whirling dervish right now. One day this week after practice, reporters had 45 minutes of access to players. Well, Grant was lifting weights for 30 of them. Then when he was done, he plopped down to a table with a sandwich stuffed with turkey and lettuce because he hadn't eaten
For 17 minutes, between gulps, Grant considered the various obstacles he's overcome before he was whisked away for an important team meeting for the 11-2 Packers.
"My motto is, it might not happen the way you want it, but if you keep working, hard work really does pay off," said Grant. "It may not pay off right away. Or, how you think it's going to pay off. But in the end it does pay off. I'm not the only guy that was told he was going to get drafted that didn't get drafted. You know?"
Oh yeah, that too. With Grant there are so many little twists to his story. Where to begin?
Well, the academic probation is a good place because it is so shocking. Not just in that it happened, but how Grant responded.
Grant played for Notre Dame as a true freshman in 2000 but he had to sit out the next season because his grade point average fell just below a 2.0, 'C' average, he said.
"I was working my ass off, too," said Grant. "I was playing as a freshman, so I was trying to focus on ball. Well, we weren't winning, I was frustrated, I wasn't playing as much as I would have liked to have played. And school was tough. I learned if I don't get enough sleep I can't do anything well. So it was a lot."
Grant changed direction his sophomore year. He sought individual help from professors and learned what time management really means. He didn't get straight 'A's but he graduated with two degrees - in sociology and computer science - from one of the best academic institutions in the country.
And he became good friends with Julius Jones, another running back at Notre Dame. On the field his second year of football, in 2002, Grant starred at Notre Dame with nine touchdowns and 1,085 yards, just the seventh time Notre Dame had a 1,000-yard rusher. Jones was always there to advise. But then in 2003, Jones returned from his own academic probation and, with
Grant not playing as well as before, Jones took over the bulk of the carries. Grant's total yardage dropped to 510.
In Grant's final year, 2004, he started all nine games but was also had an injured hamstring. He had just 515 yards.
So even though Grant left as the 11th ranked running back in Notre Dame history with 2,220 rushing yards with a 3.9 average per carry and 18 touchdowns, it was like he finished with polite applause rather than a thunderous ovation.
The NFL general managers took a pass draft weekend, including Green Bay's Ted Thompson, who was set with Ahman Green.
Grant landed on the Giants' practice squad as a free agent in 2005. He had taken a few detours, sure, but was still somewhat on plan.
Tiki Barber was the man in New York then and the Giants had other up and coming running backs as well. Still, Grant expected to challenge them all in 2006.
But in March of that year, Grant was in Manhattan nightclub when he said he lost his footing after being bumped in the crowd. Grant said he wasn't inebriated when he reached out to catch himself. Unfortunately, his hand came crashing down on glassware on a table.
A deep gash stretched from the middle of the fleshy part of inside forearm and snaked all the way up to his wrist six inches later. He'd cut a tendon, the ulnar nerve and an artery. Losing a lot of blood rapidly, Grant was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and then rushed right in to surgery.
"At first they were testing me, like, 'Can you move the hand?'" said Grant. "I was like, nope. I had to have my arm repaired. I had major, major amounts of stitches."
Grant's close friend, New York defensive end Justin Tuck, who came in with Grant in the same recruiting class at Notre Dame, said there was, initially, grave concern for Grant over the blood loss.
"Did he tell you I told him not to go out that night?" said Tuck. "It was my birthday and I wasn't even going out. But I kind of wish I would have I would have been there. It was definitely scary. At first, people thought he wouldn't even survive surgery because he lost a lot of blood. It wasn't a good couple of days for either one of us."
Pulling through, the concern then turned toward Grant's football future.
"I asked the surgeon, all right, shoot me straight, what's up? Am I going to be able to play again?" said Grant. "He told me, 'You should be fine.' He said if everything went alright, I might be able to come back that year but the Giants put me on IR. It was a long year, every day, twice a day sometimes, all different types of rehab."
After a year off, Grant returned in 2007 to find a Giants team loaded at running back with Derrick Ward, Reuben Droughns, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.
A thousand miles away, however, the Green Bay Packers had one of top three quarterbacks in the game, a crazy five-receiver formation brewing, a threat at tight end and almost no one to run the ball. The Packers didn't even wait to see if Grant would make New York's final roster cuts. Green Bay gave up a sixth-round draft pick for Grant.
"I didn't think he would get a shot as quick as he did, but I knew what kind of back Ryan was," said Tuck. "And I knew he was a smart football player, he could definitely pick up things a lot quicker."
When Grant arrived in Green Bay on Sept. 1, his head was swimming. This was a whole new playbook, peer group and environment. He had loose ends all over the place back at home in New York. But Grant had the one thing that kept him grounded from the day he got here: appreciation.
After everything he'd been through at Notre Dame and New York, he was willing to do whatever it took to make this work in Green Bay. Within in a week he was comfortable with the Packers offense.
"I think it matters to him, and that shows up. That's obvious," said Packers running backs coach Edgar Bennett. "Most guys say, 'Well, Ok, I want to make the most of the opportunity.' Well, when the opportunity comes, are you ready? He fully understood what it took when the opportunity came. From the moment he got here, he prepared like he was the guy, so there's no surprise to anyone in here that he's having this success."
Grant took over for DeShawn Wynn at Denver on Oct. 29 in the second quarter and got the first 100-yard rushing game for the Packers. Six weeks later he posted a personal best 156 yards on 29 carries (5.4 average) and a touchdown in the Green Bay Packers' 38-7 rout of Oakland on his 25th birthday.
"He was always driven but he's at another level now," said Tuck. "In college he was always the earliest to workouts. Or if we had six days off he would take two. He would show up weeks before anybody had to be there.
"It worked out the best for him and I think everybody is happy about that."
Good luck Son number one.
Work hard and good things will come to you!
When you make a mistake , try again and don't repeat the same mistake again!
You can get more with honey than you can with vinegar!
Inspect what you Expect!
The glass is always half full!
If you hang out with winners you will become a winner, if you hang out with losers you will become a loser!
The three most important things in life and always in this order,
# 1 your God, # 2 your family and # 3 your job!
If you believe nothing , you believe everything! (from Rush)
There's a big world out there, the sky's the limit!
You'll do just fine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your Dad, who is proud of you.
Wisconsin Highways ,What you don't Know
From Dad 29, Headless Blogger and Boot and Sabers Interesting find how Wisconsin was the first in the world to number all roads in the state.
I don't think the libs were running the state back in 1917!
Makes you proud to be from Wisconsin.
By late 1917, with all surveys and field reconnaissance completed, the State Highway Commission laid out a system of 5,000 miles of numbered state trunklines on paper.
During one week in May of 1918, all route designation signage was erected and Wisconsin became the first in the world with a signed system of route-numbered highways. Michigan, Wisconsin's neighbor to the east, adopted a similar highway signing plan later in 1918.
I have a couple of questions.
It took just one week to put up all the highway signage?
Were the people that took just one week to accomplish this the first union employee's in the state of Wisconsin? I think not!
By today's standards it would have taken five to ten years
Obviously the work done in 1917 was done by hard working people who cared more about getting this great feat done than what kind of a raise they should get. I bet most of the work was done for free. The point is how big state government has gotten and what it takes to get things done in local , state and federal governments today.
There are a lot of hard working county and state workers but what bureaucracy has done to us today is sometimes mind boggling!
Also how many planning committee's , environmental impact studies were done in 1917?
How many environmental groups screamed bloody murder that a hole was going to be dug to bury a sign? Whoa, you can't put signs up because you might endanger the blue butterfly!
We pay taxes upon taxes and what services are we getting for it.
We pay taxes upon taxes and what services are we getting for it.
We get the construction lobby rope a doping politicians in Madison and nothing gets done.
In our town ship we are spending around $160,000.00 for roads and road repairs
and our taxes went up this year in the town of Underhill. Yes I know a lot of it was the school taxes, but when you sit in on the budget meetings and the town board made the decision to raise taxes the maximum amount they could , where's the logic?
Example - we want to buld a road or put up a new sign.
How much does it really cost to first think of the idea ?
How much does it really cost to bring an idea forward?
How much does it cost to implement the idea?
How much will it cost?
What is the really cost, a certain amount or will there be cost over runs?
Who will do the work?
Who will over see the work getting done?
Who will make sure the work is getting done?
Who will inspect that the work is really getting done?
Who will inspect the inspector that the job was completed and completed correctly?
Ahhhhhhhh, the red tape of goverment on how ineffiecent they are.
Will things ever change?
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