Congratulations, Adam Burish

Back in a former life, I was the radio announcer for the Green Bay Gamblers. Adam Burish was with the Gamblers in 2001-2002. Then, he went on to win an NCAA Championship with the Wisconsin Badgers.

Now, he is a Stanley Cup Champion with the Chicago Blackhawks.

It was great to see him celebrate with the Cup last night after the Hawks OT winner in Philadelphia.

Way to go, Adam.

Congratulations, Green Bay Gamblers

Great night in Titletown last night for one of my former employers.

Little delivers biggest goal as Gamblers seize Cup

After scoring only four goals in 65 games this season, [Sean] Little netted the game-winning goal with less than 7 minutes left in regulation as the Gamblers held off Fargo 5-3 to win the series 3-2. It was the Gamblers' first Clark Cup championship since 2000, clinched in front of a record-breaking 8,487 at the Resch Center.

The turnout shattered the team's attendance record and also was the biggest crowd in USHL Clark Cup finals history. It's also believed to be the first time a team has come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the Clark Cup.

I was the radio announcer of the Gamblers from 1998-2003 and got to call a Clark Cup clinching overtime goal in Game Five of the 2000 Clark Cup Finals. It has been a struggle over the last few seasons for the Gamblers, but they had a crowd of almost 8,500 and won a playoff championship to go along with their second straight Anderson Cup (a trophy that goes to the USHL team with the best regular season record).

Great job, Gamblers!

Boooooooog! Booooooooog!

Over at the Timber Rattlers Twitter account, the team is counting down to Opening Day, 2010 with the help of Appleton baseball alumni who went on to play in the major leagues.

Today -- which is 41 days until Opening Day, by the way -- was Boog Powell's day!

I wanted to post one of his Miller Lite commercials and hit the jackpot. Not only is Boog Powell in this one, so are Sparky Lyle and 'Boom Boom' Geoffrion.

Lyle and Geoffrion both have ties to Wisconsin. Lyle pitched for the Foxes in 1964 Geoffrion's grandson Blake plays the Wisconsin Badgers hockey team.

Trivial Pursuit, beer, baseball, and hockey. These are a few of my favorite things.

Jon Miller, Hall of Famer

The newest winner of the Ford C. Frick Award is Jon Miller.

Growing up in the Bay Area, Giants play-by-play man Jon Miller spent hundreds of days and nights listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons call Giants games.

On Monday, Miller received the ultimate honor for a baseball broadcaster, one Hodges and Simmons each earned.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that Miller was selected as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, given annually to recognize excellence in baseball broadcasting.

Miller, on vacation in Cartagena, Colombia, got the news in phone calls from Hall President Jeff Idelson and Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan, Miller's partner on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" telecasts for the past 20 seasons.

"The first people I actually thought of were Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons," Miller said in a conference call.

"It really is kind of astounding to me, that I'm the recipient of the award, because Russ and Lon were larger-than-life people to me. They were as big as the biggest movie stars to me."

I just hope that if Mr. Miller says the name of the man for whom the award is named, he has better luck than his time as a hockey announcer for the California Golden Seals when he...well, here is the excerpt from From Peanuts to the Pressbox by Eli Gold.

ESPN's Jon Miller admits that during the first game he called for the NHL's California Golden Seals way back when, he got tongue-tied while trying to say, "The puck fell." Instead he said...well, you know what he said. According to Miller, ever after he has advised aspiring hockey announcers to refer to the puck as "it".

What are the odds...

of an outdoor hockey game in Fort Wayne?

Be prepared for the phrase economic infeasibility.

The Fort Wayne Komets taking on their top rival at Parkview Field in a local version of the NHL Winter Classic sounds like a blast. It also sounds like a great way to get some use out of the ballpark during the winter.

The fact that H-E-double-hockey-sticks is more likely to freeze over before there is an ice rink built over the TinCaps ball diamond should not put a chill on the community conversation about how to get the most use out of the new stadium.

“We’d love to do it! We have a great relationship with the TinCaps, and it would be a ton of fun. But it’s just not possible,” said Scott Sproat, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the Komets.

Not possible? Why?

The American Hockey League is set to play its first outdoor game on Feb. 20. That game is expected to cost about $700,000. Tickets are set at $50 for premium seats, $30 for regular seats and $20 for standing-room-only. Sproat astutely points out that the highest price for a Komets game is $20. And with that you get a seat and heat.

The strategy was always for Parkview Field to become a multiuse venue. Fortunately, it appears TinCaps officials are trying to meet the goal. “All along we’ve said we want to have lots of events, and we have,” TinCaps President Mike Nutter said. “But not a ton of them have been sports events.” The TinCaps want to continue to look for opportunities to welcome other sporting events to the ballpark. Nutter mentioned an event like a soccer tournament as a possibility.

The economic infeasibility of the Komets facing off at Parkview Field is disappointing. But the clamor demonstrates several positive things:

Since I am such a nattering nabob of negativity, you will have to click the link to find out what the positive things are.

Yes. Another hockey story

It's been a tough season...so far for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL. For the whole story go here. But, I am just pulling this little promotion out because it refers to a something they will try to do with their neighbors.

There’s an upcoming promotion with the next-door Cedar Rapids Kernels for pregame tailgating that sounds like a great deal.

Intrigued, I went to the Kernels site and found this.

All-you-can-eat and drink package served for 90 minutes (ie: Served from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm with game time at 7:00 pm).

Is this for every game? I think so, but I couldn't tell.

Is this outside or in the stadium?
All-you-can-eat and drink package, including game ticket for:

Green Zone: $25 Adults / $20 Children
Blue Zone: $27 Adults / $22 Children
Red Zone: $30 Adults / $25 Children
VIP Suites: $40 Adults / $35 Children

If there are VIP Suits, I am guessing inside.

Bear with me here

This story has little to do with baseball or the Timber Rattlers, but I found it somewhat interesting...even if it has been out there for a few days.

Garber doesn't rule out relocating Saginaw Spirit hockey team in future

That relocation could be to Midland, home of the Loooooooons.

Plus, I wanted to use this because the lede is a quote that -- at least partly -- turned into Sean Connery's last Bond movie.

"Never say never."

That's what Saginaw Spirit owner Dick Garber said about the possibility of moving his Ontario Hockey League team from downtown Saginaw to Midland or elsewhere in the region.

Garber said, however, there's no truth to rumors of plans to build an arena for the Spirit across the street from Dow Diamond in Midland.

Those rumors have been further fueled by the news that McKay Press could soon move from its building across from Dow Diamond to the current Hangtime Sports building on Wackerly Road, which McKay's parent company, CGX, is negotiating to purchase.

Rumors. Great album. Weird album cover.

Poor news source.

"Not at this time," Garber said when asked if he was planning to move the team to Midland. "From my perspective, this hockey team belongs to the region. We would have to ask if it is good for the region for the team to leave Saginaw."

But Garber, who owns car dealerships in both Saginaw and Midland, left the door open to moving the team.

"If somebody came along and made an enticing offer (to build an arena), we would look at it," he said.

Called keeping your options open.

Two stories about hockey?

Yes. Hockey. In Wisconsin. Potential Hockey teams to be truthful.

#1. That Professional Hockey Hotbed of Madison.

Twin Lakes Hockey Partners, LLC, is proud to announce the return of professional hockey to Madison for the 2009-10 season.

We are currently in negotiations with Madison-area venues and several professional hockey leagues, but there is no doubt, PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY IS RETURNING TO MADISON.

While the details are being ironed out, we are asking the public to get involved and choose the name for the team. Using the poll on this page, please let us know what you want the name of the new hockey team in Madison to be.

That is from the official website of this new hockey "team". Why bring this up?

One of the choices is Ice Muskies, which is either a blatant rip-off of or an homage to one of the former Midwest League teams based in Madison.

Oh, and then there is this.

Madison has not fielded a pro hockey team since 2000, when the Kodiaks of the United Hockey League headed to Kalamazoo, Mich., after one season at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum.

That concluded a five-year run in Madison by the UHL, with the Madison Monsters preceding the Kodiaks.

When the Monsters left town for Knoxville, Tenn., owner Andrew Wilhelm claimed to have lost $1.5 million during his four-year run.

After the Kodiaks departed, the man who was instrumental in bringing the team to the city said it was a mistake. "This is probably the worst minor league market I've seen in my life," Leo Hunstiger told The Capital Times in 2000.

Tjapkes said the new Madison team's prospective owner has done his research on the experiences of those franchises and will not repeat their mistakes.

Research! It solves everything and helps you to dream big in a market that hasn't supported professional hockey...ever.

Hockey story #2 comes from the backyard of the Beloit Snappers.

What’s in a name?

Janesville could learn the answer to that question in the next few weeks if the city council approves the $200,000 renovation plan for the Janesville Ice Skating Center. The upgrade, if approved at tonight’s meeting, would pave the way for the city to land an expansion franchise in the North American Hockey League.

An expansion franchise would need a nickname, of course.

“I think it’s important for the community to have ownership in the team,” said Bill McCoshen, head of the group seeking to bring junior hockey to the city. “I want it (selecting a nickname) to be a fun process.

“Janesville needs something to put its arms around.”

McCoshen hinted that he and his ownership group have a few ideas. He also said the team would most likely hold a communitywide contest to come up with a nickname.

The choices are at the story, but I had to share the Marvel Comics like logo for the generic sounding Janesville Jays.

I'm trying to decide if he is the newest member of The Mighty Avengers or if he is going to be fighting Daredevil for the next six issues.

Also, MWL President George Spelius gets a quote in this story:

Selecting a name and colors is an important first step for any franchise.

“You don’t want anything offensive to people or groups,” said George Spelius, president of the Midwest League. “Team owners have to go with what they think is right. You roll the dice on that sometimes.

“There are some real clever names out there. We’re fortunate in the Midwest League to have quite a few of the marks that are pretty good. They’ve all done quite well and have survived.”

The Snappers were mentioned earlier in the story as an example of a good nickname.

Damn

NCAA Hockey.

Wisconsin 2
N. Dakota 3
Final--OT

That's all.