Jogging The Memory In Milton, Wisconsin

 Our friends from the "Left Coast" happened to be in the Midwest recently, a gathering of their clan of sorts in Illinois. So Sally and I made arrangements to meet up for dinner with Mild Bill and Tina in Milton, saving them some windshield time in the process.

This got me thinking about the pride of defunct Milton College (which closed it's doors in 1982), quarterback Dave Kreig, one of two Milton College alumni to ever make it to the NFL. (The other, in case you're wondering, is Dave Kraayeveld, who played defensive end and defensive tackle for Seattle in 1978.)

Kreig of Iola, Wisconsin (and D.C. Everest High School, Schofield), made Seattle as an undrafted free agent. He spent 12 of his 19 NFL seasons with the Seahawks (and is part of their Ring of Honor). He also played with Kansas City, Detroit, Arizona, Chicago and Tennessee, finishing his career with 261 touchdowns, over 38,000 yards and leading the way to 98 wins.

As a college freshman in 1976, he entered a game in mop-up duty and completed four passes, three for touchdowns. He graduated in 1980 -- which brings me to "the rest of the story".

As a sportswriter in the Fox Valley, then with the Neenah-Menasha office of the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, I covered a lot of sports, and athletes, in the two cities. I got to be pretty close with several of the Menasha High School guys, from football to basketball to baseball. Was sorta adopted by several of them, and we remain friends years (and years!) later.

Anyhow, we're in Milton. I'm thinking of the college and Kreig and then it seemed to me that one of the Menasha guys, Randy "Raps" Ropella started off at Milton College before finishing at my alma mater, UW-Oshkosh.

So I reached out to Raps on facebook. Lo and behold, I was right. In fact, Raps wrote "1979 season Milton College. (I) started the last game of his (Kreig's) career at center. So I had his hands on my butt to end his college career. You still have a great memory. (I) left for UW-O 1980-81-82 seasons."

Bucks And Brewers...And Rodgers? OH MY!

WOW! What a great week it has been with the Milwaukee Bucks winning the NBA Championship, just the second in 50 years.

I'm old enough to remember the excitement of the state when Milwaukee landed the franchise. And the winning coin flip that got the team Lew Alcindor (before his Kareem Abdul Jabbar name change), then the trade that brought in Oscar Robertson to join him, Bobby Dandridge, Greg Smith and the rest for that championship team in 1971.

I just marvel at Giannis Antetokounmpo's athletic ability, skill level and fantastic personality. Here's a guy who signed a five-year, $228 million extension to STAY in Milwaukee when all the pundits on both coasts were wringing their hands and saying how bad it was for him to walk away from joining a super team.

His response?

"Coming back, I was like, this is my city," said Atetokounmpo. "They trust me, believe in me, they believed in us. Even when we lost, the city was still on our side. Obviously I wanted to get the job done. But that's my stubborn side. It's easy to go somewhere and win a championship with somebody else. I could go to a super team and just do my part and win a championship. But this is the hard way to do it..."

"And we did it. We (expletive) did it."

It's more than a lLittle refreshing to hear a super star athlete talk about loyalty to a city/state/fan base. Think that message might sink into a certain quarterback who happens to be a minority owner in the Bucks?

SPEAKING OF GIANNIS, I doubt he will join Jake from State Farm commercial (with Suns' Chris Paul one of their spokesmen) anytime soon -- but for sure, we will see him featured as a national spokesman for more than one company. Won't surprise me if it's Chick-fil-a. That's because, mid-morning the day after winning the title, Giannis pulled through a drive-thru and ordered 50 nuggets ("not 51, not 49," he told them) and a large half-lemonade, half-Sprite ("no ice"). Hey, I'm not making this up. AND he had the trophies with him (the Larry O'Brien championship trophy and the Bill Russell Series MVP.

I mean, just how likeable is this guy? Asked after Game 4 why he had to leave for a bit in the first quarter, he didn't give a pat answer, but honestly said "I had to tinkle..." Geez, is the guy nice and humble and just a GREAT representative for the Milwaukee Bucks -- and the city as well as the state of Wisconsin.

DEVIN BOOKER of the Phoenix Suns is a talented player. But he whines waaaaaay too much. Seems like every call had him complaining to the referees. He got away with several non-calls AND should have been given a technical foul in Game 6 -- for actions similar to those that got Milwaukee's Bobby Portis T'ed up.

Part of the US Olympic Basketball team, Booker is headed to Tokoyo on a private flight with NBA Champions Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday. That's gotta be a long and strange 19-hour flight!

THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS led the NL Central at the All-Star Break, the so-called half-way point of the season. Most times, this bodes well as the teams in front at that point do end up winning. Despite closing out the first half with a stumble, dropping three to the second-place Cincinnati Reds (which cut the lead to four games), Milwaukee game out of the break with a three-game sweep in Cincinnati that pushed the lead back up.

And while the Brewers stubbed their toes this week by dropping two straight to the lowly Kansas City Royals (playing down to their opponents, perhaps?), look for the Crew to still win the division. It's pretty clear that's the only way to make the playoffs, since the two wild card teams will no doubt come from the NL West where San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego are the frontrunners.

WHAT'S UP WITH AARON? Training camp starts soon for the Green Bay Packers, and the soap opera that is will he-won't he for quarterback Aaron Rodgers continues.

Let's get this straight. He hasn't said shit about any of this. Reports of his unhappiness, wanting to be traded, sitting out the season, etc., have ONLY come from others. Speculation, not fact.

Come on, Aaron, just tell us what you want. Let's face it, you're losing the support of the fan base. Just be a stand-up guy.

Hell, be like GIANNIS!