Ripon 28 Clintonville 24...whew!

Hey folks hope its all going well. The Tigers started the season last night and it was a game of hope. You lost a ton of seniors from the year before, Soda is out with an injury, would the new faces on the offensive line be able to dominant as they have in years past? All questions we as the media and you as the fans all had. Some of them were answered, some of them still left out there to wonder again. Let's get it going like this:

Offensive Line: First half I wasn't quite sure what was going on out there, they got it together a little more in the second half and overall think they did a good job.

QB: It's Scott Gillespie! I don't have to worry a whole lot, Scotty did have a lot of nice scrambles out there though.

Backfield: Chase Hanson, Justin Baker had some good yardage. Do I think some senior leadership and varsity knowledge from a guy like David Soda would help? A little bit, but make no bones about it Hanson and Baker got the job done. Baker went done with an injury in the game, Coach Kelm said it shouldn't be a problem.

Defensive Line: I would have loved to seen a few more people break through and put a hand on the quarterback. Clintonville's QB is a helluva an athlete so I realize he is tough to catch.

Linbackers: I thought Beck, Schnell-Harrison, and Schroeder did a good job in the middle, not to many balls given up in the flat so job well done.

DB's: First half was rough for these guys but the last series of the game they managed to put three tipped balls together in a series. The last series Scott Gillespie picked up a roll of DB (Shades of Adam Vogelsang running through my mind)

Biggie's POG's - Kramer and Bob went with Chase Hanson and Justin Baker which are both fine candidates for the POG but I have a few more. 1. The Left Side of the Offensive Line - Nice Work. 2. I saw some good stuff out of senior Kyle Keller working in the trenches . 3. JJ Rank nice solid game from the senior.

Random Notes On Game (RNOG's) - The field at Clintonville is not stellar when you go there for hoops in the winter please donate to the new field fund. Sideline reporting is a lot of extra work for us here at the radio station but worth it immensely. Our broadcast team reached six on-air talents last night. Aaron Kramer - Bob Lukoski - Jason Mansmith - Statistician Howard Hansen - Halftime Analyst Ron Ernst - Head Coach Rick Kelm. That is a lot of people on the air. I do apologize for some of the audio issues the PA was bleeding through our system so we were having some issues with it but it will be fixed by the next road game. While there may be six people on the air talking during the course of a game, the person who makes it happen is only one. We say THANKS SO MUCH to Sarah Kesich back on the board, if you only knew half the work she does on a game you would throw in the towel. Between commercials, internet, highlites, trivia callers, and lots more we are blessed at AM 1600 WRPN to have someone like her on the board. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Never ride in the car with the Mayor and Howie as you end up BS'ing so much you end up in Weyweuga before you realize you missed your turnoff to go to Clintonville.

And because I always like to end on a musical note this space here will be reserved for my Top 3 songs of the week I have been listening to:

1. Akon & Eminem - Smack That
2. Jibbs - Chain Hang Low
3. Motorhead - R.A.M.O.N.E.S

That's all for today. Until next time.....Rock on! \m/

Getting Ready For Some Football

Holy Smokes its been a while. Sorry bout that. You know once summer comes I get sidetracked easily with things like golf and actually have some time off. Well that is about to end as we are gearing up for another season of Football here on AM 1600 WRPN. We are excited for the high school season as we are brining in some new things to the broadcast. First all games on AM 1600 WRPN will be streamed live on the internet for free. Simply log onto www.wrpnam.com click the link in the middle and go. Nothing to sign up for no spam mail for listening just our feed to you. Also we are happy to be featuring sideline reports live during the game. We will try to get to the coaches before each game on the field and have the latest on the field.

In other news myself Lisa and Occassional Sarah took a trip to Green Bay to try out for Jeopardy. Well as I figured we failed the pre-test but I got a chance to play Jeopardy and use the little signaling button. I got two answers right. It was a total blast.

So that is it until next time.... Rock on \m/

Biggie

I Am Sorry!

So the voters of the Ripon School District voted "NO" to a 1.5 million dollar referendum to make improvements to athletic facilities and to provide new items to a neglected fine arts department to which I say to the kids "I'm sorry" Now right away people are going to think that because I am involved in the Sports aspect of the school district, I am favoring this referendum because of it. Actually it's the opposite. I supported this referendum because of the fine arts portion of it. Way to often the fine arts programs at schools get neglected which is the case in Ripon. This referendum would have helped the band purchase new instruments and uniforms, the theater make some changes, help out the art department and more. Essentially almost every child in the high school would benefit from this referendum. Now unfortunately they will not. Instead the school district will continue to cut these programs even more because the voters said NO. To the students I say "I am so sorry" to the voters I say "I hope your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandsons, and granddaughters aren't the ones suffering because you voted NO"

Biggie Where You At?

Don't worry folks I am still here. After some wicked weeks of basketball games and a nice vacation in the sunny state of Georgia last week I am back in the saddle again. Lets start with hoops. Girls first. Taylor Wurtz co-player of the ECFC with Krista Kausaboski to which I say "told you so" Three weeks ago in this very blog I said she gets my vote for ECFC POY and sharing it with Krista is a great idea as she is a great player too. Congrats to Erin Lind and Amber Goljenboom for making the lists to on first team and second team. Now to the boys side Scott Gillespie POY in the ECFC. To which I say why not! Scotty average just about 18 a game. It has been a pleasure to watch that kid grow on the court. Also Joe Lambert a first teamer, Eric Neuman a second teamer, and James Hron honorable mention. It is tough to watch guys like Neumy, Hron, Ben Lukoski and Lambert leave the court knowing how many wins those guys have contributed to RHS in the past three years.

Baseball, Softball, Golf, Soccer and Track all underway with practices and hard to believe we move that quickly from season to season. I wanna talk golf team a sport the probably doesn't get a lot of press. As a former letter winner of the RHS golf team (I feel like Al Bundy all of a sudden) the golf team is close to my heart. I know last year was a bit of a struggle for the team but with some guys switching sports to go play golf here is to hoping for the best.

Biggie Awards For Blog

ECFC POY Boys - Scott Gillespie walks away with this one

ECFC POY Girls - Taylor Wurtz and Krista Kausaboski

Best Fans in ECFC - Three Way Tie Waupun, Berlin, Omro

Fans Who Need a Kick in the Pants: Ripon please folks do not expect wins, show up and give this kids some support all season not just in the big games. Side Note to Every RHS Student grab three of your friends and come to the games!

Spring Team Looking Forward To The Most: RHS Baseball, I have a feeling that is all I will say

Why Georgia Is Great In March: 70 degrees, sunshine, family, and no work!

Why The South Is Special: Great food, great hospitality, great weather

Why The South Sucks: Chain Smoking, Deep Fried food everywhere, and milk is $4.19 a gallon

Biggie's Songs of the Week: T-Pain I'm In Love With A Stripper. Three-Six Mafia Stay Fly

Until next time...Rock on!

Biggie

Championship Times Three

Well it happened folks! Wrestling, Girls Basketball, and now Boys Basktball have all captured their conference championships this year. To which I say "that is freaking awesome!" Nonetheless I think while we all thought the Girls and Wrestling team would probably walk away with one, the Boys have been a suprise. With limited practice time because of Football nobody was sure how this team was going to do. Well they shut us all up! Nice work to all the coaches and players and parents.

Girls hoops is where we go first. Taylor Wurtz with a strained IT Band in her knee means 2o points to drop in against Oshkosh Lourdes. Nice win over OL with a 49-29 victory Friday night at the Castle. Game was tough until Taylor got hot and put this one away. Ripon will get a first round bye tonight and play the winner of Kiel Sheboygan Falls on Thursday night in Ripon.

Boys had a huge week last week knocking off Waupun and Omro. Talk about physical teams! I have never pictured Ripon as a physical type of team but the guys have shown they can back it up with some big victories. The Winneconne game was just dead! Dead Crowd, Dead Teams, Dead Players, hell even Dead Announcers. Just one of those going through the motions kinda games. A win is a win is a win right. Whatever, the win made the Ripon Tigers conference champs for the first time since the 2002-2003 season. They get the first round bye and will play March 2nd agains the winner of the Sheboygan Falls WLA game.

Wrestling goes like this. For like the last 15 years it seems a kid from Ripon is going to state. This year its Sam Prellwitz in the 140 pound weight class. My heart goes out to Tyler Kasuboski who lost by one point on a chance of going to state. You may remember last year that Blake Roemer captured a state title at 215 pound so lets hope for conintued success.

Biggie Awards for this Blog

POB Boys - Eric Neuman has had some big success in the last few games for the Boys

POG Girls - Taylor Wurtz gets a nod for player of the year in the ECFC for me

Best Warm Up Song - My Humps by Black Eyed Peas heard at Oshkosh Lourdes Castle. Nothing like hearing " Im gonna get you get you drunk, get you love drunk off my humps, my humps my humps my humps my humps my humps my humps my humps my humps my humps my lovely lady lumps." At the Catholic High School To that I say "I love America Check It Out"

BOLD STATMENT THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID: RIPON FANS GET OFF YOUR ASSES EVERY ONCE AND AWHILE AND CHEER. MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE TEAMS SHOW THEM WHO RULES NOT JUST WHEN A BIG GAME IS ON THE LINE!

Until Next Time....Rock On!

Biggie

The Almost St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Greetings folks. Right to the point. What the hell happened in Waupun on Tuesday night? I will save the game details for later but right now I want to talk about the scrums that took place on the floor. Maybe because the city is quiet on Sunday is the reason Waupun plays so scrappy. I know they are a physical team and that's how they want to play, but never have I seen a guy tackle two guys in the middle of the game. A Waupun player who won't be mentioned by name but wears the number 44 was out of line on Tuesday night. The first scenario goes like this Hron and Lambert working number 44 on a 2-1 break and he tackles both Joe and James, puts Joe in a headlock gets in some shots and all three had to be seperated by the teams and a cop at the end of the floor. Techincals were called free throws were shot and the game goes on. Until a couple minutes later when number 44 wanting to foul a player to put them on the line tackles James Hron again this time getting the Big X foul. My thoughts watching this game are during the first incident was "oh s#$t its on" and I was waiting for a hockey game to break out on the floor. During the second incident my thoughts are why is this kid still on the floor? Take control of your team and get him out of there. Lucky did do that and number 44 went to the bench. I know this is not the first time an incident has occured in Waupun this year. I know there was a malee in the stands and in the parking lot during the Waupun, Beaver Damn game this season in which people were escorted out by police officers. Why does this keep going on? Put some more security in the stands, have the administration talk to the team. Usually you expect some questionable stuff from the stands not the team. It just wasn't pretty!

Back to the game. Couple of thoughts big game for Scott Gillespie who went to the free throw line a bunch and could have went some more with all the pushing and shoving going on. Ripon sits up top with a 9-2 record with Omro behind at 8-3. Which means for the second game in a row the Tigers control there own destiny. Ripon should get the number one seed in the regional and if they capture a conference title it will be nice to say that boys and girls basketball along with wrestling all have captured a conference title this year.

Girls get a first round bye and won't play until Thursday the 24th in the playoffs against the winner of the Kiel Sheboygan Falls game. Ripon has Oshkosh Lourdes on Thursday weather permitting for a chance to capture its first conference championship outright since 1979.

Alright Biggie Awards Time:

POB - Ben Lukoski for finally scoring two points in the game against Waupun. It's about time!

Best Pep Band Song: Waupun's Band hits us with Stand By Me

Craziest Fan: Waupun's Flag Guy hey great fan not to out of line but just enough to be a distraction he even helped clean up after the little cheerleaders did there dance routine

Underated Team of the Week: Winnecone Cheer Squad congrats on the State Championship.

Until next time....Rock on!

Just About Tournament Time

What's up blog readers. First of all I would like to thank all of the Blog readers out there for actually reading this thing, it's always good to know some people enjoy it. I wanna start out with Boys Basketball today. Here we go. Saw the Ripon boys play at Markesan on Thursday night in a game that Ripon jumped out to a quick start and never looked back. James Hron was down with the sickness but still played and Isaac Minor did the fill in work for James. Not a bad thing necessarily when Ice is the fill in for James Hron I think. Tigers have been playing pretty good of late and lets hope they keep it rolling.

Girls Hoops this week has taken me to Omro and Winneconne. Omro was an officiated joke! Both teams went to the line a combined 62 times, that's right 62 times! It took us 38 minutes to call the fourth quarter on the radio. Ripon did not play its most fantastic game I had ever seen but they did get the win. Winneconne's game was just strange Winneconne went into a stall so they wouldn't get killed by 40 like they did 3 days before against Markesan. With the win over Winneconne the Tiger's captured at least a share of the ECFC title for the first time since 1979. The seed meetings this year were held via email (gotta love technology) and the Ripon Tigers get the number one seed with WLA at number two. Both teams get a first round bye so the Tigers first tournament game will be on Thursday the 23rd. Keep your eye on Taylor Wurtz who injured a knee in the Friday Winneconne game. Last we heard the knee was pretty inflamed and it was just a strained ligament. We will keep you advised!

Congrats to Jason Polcyn, Sam Prellwitz, Peter Schroeder, and Tyler Kasuboski for advancing to the Sectionals in Milwaukee Lutheran for Wrestling. Also I want to take some time a throw a shout out for David Soda who wrestled in one conference match and won and then captured the conference title in the conference meet last week. The kid is a gamer! He bowed out of the Regionals and Sectionals so he can get ready for the baseball season.

Speaking of baseball I have a very good feeling about this Ripon team coming up. The infield will be solid. With Gillespie, Lambert, O'Brien, and Soda all coming back. With Vince behind the plate and junior Lenny Schultz coming up to the first base spot the infield is awesome. The outfield will be nailed down by some other folks. Mike Wagner will be there for sure because of his bat but who rounds out the rest of the outfield will be intersting to see.

Alright Biggie Awards Time:

Strangest Warm Up Song Ever Heard : Cherry Cherry Neil Diamond from Omro's IYF Staff

Most Overkilled Pep Band Song of the Year: Crazy Train (Everyone is playing this now)

POB Boys: Issac Minor had some big key points

POB Girls: Kaitlyn Wetzel doesn't get a whole lot of playing time but she hits some big baskets and has been huge for the defense, plus she is tough as hell. Always hitting the deck, getting smacked in the face, whatever she takes it and plays through it.

Until Next Time....Rock on!

That's Is What High School Sports Is All About

Whats up blog readers? Hope its going well. If you were in attendance on Friday night to watch another Ripon vs. Berlin battle you were entertained with a great game. The Ripon Berlin rivalry never gets old and that is a good thing. Before the game we talked with Dean VanderPlas and asked him if he would like to see some more shots on the inside? His answer was a resounding "yes". Well he got it from Eric Nueman on Friday as Neumy dropped in 27 points in the 56-51 victory over Berlin. Ripon jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead however the Indians would then start dropping three's and quickly tied it up and took the lead. The fourth was basically trading baskets in the front half of the quarter. Ripon started to heat back up and some big free throws from Joe Lambert helped the Tigers with the victory. Two game balls going out in this game. One to Neumy for the big night and another to James Hron for containing Myls Phillipi to only three points on three shots attempted all night. He shut him down no ifs ands or buts about it. Nice job James!

Next up Girls Hoops I told you the Waupun Ripon game wasn't gonna be close and it wasn't as the Tigers won by 38 points. Taylor Wurtz and Sam Bickert had some great baskets for Ripon as they get ready to finish up on the road against Omro Winneconne and Oshkosh Lourdes.

Ripon wrestlers have the Conference meet today in Omro. Coach Bradley wasn't sure how the youngsters on the team would step and they have answered any of those questions. Here is to hoping Ripon kicks some behind in the Conference Tourney.

Time for the funny portion of the Show. The Biggie Awards.

POB (Player of the Blog) - Eric Neuman for dropping 27 plates on Berlin

Best Pep Band Song This Week - Toss up between Low Rider or the Chicken Dance from the RHS Pep Band.

Number of Times This Week Bob Lukoski Has Complained About Not Following Shots: 9056

Best Cheer of the Week: This time going to the Berlin faithful as after Brett Vergin made a big shot in the Berlin game it was either "He's A Virgin" or He's Our Virgin" either way very funny. It was good to hear the "Start Your Tractors" chant again though from Ripon. Still funny too.

RHS Pep Banders Of the Blog: Going to Eazy E on the Tuba with the nice faux hawk haircut and to Lenny Schultz on the drums for being just that damn good at playing them. (Watch that kid on the kit or the snare, uneral)

Some of the Nicest Guys to Work With: The guys from AM 1090 WISS. Sponny and the crew have always been cool with us so we say thanks. There is this underlying radio rule that you are suppose to not like your radio counterparts which to me is some big BS. Those guys are great and they support there team just like we do. Props to them.

Biggie's Song of The Week: Chris Brown Run It, its has been stuck in my head all week.

Until next time...Rock On!

Biggie

Ripon vs. Wautoma

Greetings kids hope its well. Did the Ripon Wautoma game on Tuesday night for boys hoops. Tigers got a victory 46-42 but they had to work for it. Tigers had a 18 point lead at one time but Wautoma fought back to cut it to 3 points at one time. Ripon was outscored 18-5 in the fourth. Dean said in the post game the Tigers are taking too many three point shots once they have a few go in for them. Joe Lambert hit a big free throw to move that lead to four points and make it a two possesion game. Ripon Berlin Friday Night nuff said. Biggie Awards Time

Best Pep Band Song: I can't remember one really as Wautoma's band is really really really loud. What did you say

Funniest Comment Heard from Ripon Player: Joe Lambert quoted as "That is so weak" when Tony Pasterelli throws the ball off of players when he is going out of bounds. Funny Stuff Joe!

Not much for this week, Ripon Waupun girls on Thursday night. Should be a butt whooping on Ripon's part look for a 30-40 point victory.

Until next time...Rock On!

Biggie

Finally another blog

Yeah Yeah I know Biggie has been slacking on the old blogs but I got three games a week and 24 an American Idol are back on, I get a little tied up. Bunch of stuff to talk about in this one. First off Wrestling.

Congrats to Coach Bradley and his squad for kicking butt in the Oshkosh Lourdes match on Thursday 64-10. Seven Tiger grapplers with pins that is nice to see and with the win they go back into a first place tie. Wanna make sure the wrestlers get proper credit I know we don't do the matches on the radio but they are just as important as the other things we cover. So job well done to those guys.

Up next Basketball:

We start first on the Boys side. A big win over Winneconne a bout a week and half back had the Tigers playing the best ball we had seen all season. Ripon was quick, dominated the boards, and shot the lights out in the game. We move one week later to Oshkosh Lourdes and I am telling you the most underrated sports in the area may be taking place at Oshkosh Lourdes as both Girls and Boys Basketball teams were 1-5 when they faced Ripon. The girls played a great game against Ripon and kudos to coach Jessice Howe she has built that program into a good team, and the Boys pull an 46-43 upset over Ripon. Scott Gillespie was held to 8 points in the loss in Ripon's other loss he scored 9 points. Dean Vanderplas made and interesting statement in the post game also reminding his team they are a team and the weight of that team shouldn't fall on the shoulders of one guy. Ripon Boys play Wautoma on Tuesday night.

Next to the Girls. They have been playing great of late dominating teams. The defense has picked up, the ability to dish dimes into Erin Lind from Goljenboom is sick, those girls see the lane and its openings very well, and the play of some people coming off the bench has been huge for Bill Peters and his girls. Kudos to Markesan for knocking Ripon off in Markesan. I swear Bill Peters and his team will never ever want to go to Markesan ever again, they just can't seem to get a win there, whether it be against Markesan or in Regional Final. Anyways back to the game, the first half was as I like to say "less than stellar" with a 13-11 Ripon halftime lead. That all changed in the third quarter Jadee Rooney put up 15 or Markesan's 17 points and finished the night with 19. Ripon answered with 17 in the third also scored by a slew of Ripon players. My matchup of the night is a tough pick because there were three of them Lind vs. Krenz, Goljenboom vs. Rooney, and Wurtz vs. Dulas. My winner goes to the Wurtz vs. Dulas. Freshman vs. Freshman. And the winner is Marieanna Dulas, nice game and give her a round of applause. She gave Taylor Wurtz fits she was Taylor's second shadow, she hardly ever looked at her just followed the ball, job well done for Dulas. I am a firm believer in a tough loss late in the season does not hurt a team and gets them a little bit for focused for the run. I can see that happening with this team, they are solid. Also wanna give props to Erin Mellenthin my POG for the Markesan Ripon game. She got some extra minutes with Lind on the pine for some fouls and played a heck of a game against Caitlyn Krenz. Mellenthin did a great job on defense popped in some points and played well.

Is anybody worried about the Packers for next year that they may be actually worse than this year. Hopefully Mike can prove me wrong. Hey the Olympics start in a few weeks in Torrino, where the hell is that I don't know I thought it was a car that Starsky and Hutch use to drive. I like watching the skeleton because they are crazy. Super Bowl goes like this Steelers by 7 and that is a stone cold lead pipe lock as they say. Other than that not much else going on. Oh wanna thank Amanda Dickerson for joining us as our halftime analyst for the Ripon Markesan game. She was a standout player at Markesan and went on to play at UWO, she knows hoops folks and we hope to use her some more during the rest of the season. Know for the coveted Biggie awards.

Player of the Blog (since I can't do game anymore) - Erin Mellethin had a great game against Markesan and she doesn't start.

Weirdest Pep Band Song Ever Played Before a Basketball Game - Congratulations to Markesan's Jazz Band for playing "In The Mood" from the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Right before that song they played Crazy Train by Ozzy. Somewhere someone is turning over in their grave.

Biggest Fan Whiners I Have Ever Seen: Congrats to the faithful and that is no pun intended at Oshkosh Lourdes. Man can they complain, but they have that right because Jesus gave that to them (I'm going to hell for that one I'm sure)

Funniest Comment Said By Bob Lukoski This Week: As the officials at the Oshkosh Lourdes vs. Ripon JV game seem to be letting some things slide, Bob proceeded to stand up and shout at the top of his lungs at Oshkosh Lourdes "Jesus Come on!" In which I responded Bob you can't say that at this school and his reply was "well they still are horrible" I wasn't quite sure if Bob was complaining about the refs or looking for the third coming of Christ.

Well that should be good for now. Until next time....Rock on!

Biggie

It's Been Awhile

As Staind sings "It's been awhile". Hope everything is cool. Couple of things to talk about. I covered some big games in the last 8 days including a horrible Waupun Ripon girls game in Waupun in which Ripon won by 30 points and the JV girls won by 60. The Waupun girls basketball team and program is not good. They don't have the numbers because none of the volleyball girls play basketball so the Varsity team in a school of that size is 8 players thats right 8 players. They need some serious help!

Ripon vs. Waupun Boys - What a game a tough fight as always. It is always a pleasure to watch Lucky Wurtz in the Ripon gym. After what I will call "DancingGate" a few years back the Ripon Waupun rivalry in boys hoops has been classic. The Tigers played a great defensive game and took some serious hits from the Warrior players. Just a few nights before Waupun was in a big game against Beaver Dam which resulted in three people being escorted from the game via police and a incident in the parking lot between Beaver fans and Warrior fans because of a stolen flag. Gotta love high school rivalries. Anyways it was an awesome game, kudos to Ripon on a job well done.

Ripon vs. Omro Girls - This was ugly to watch. With a big whipping of Waupun the previous Thursday, this game was not good. Ripon was able to get the win but they did not play very well at all. Taylor Wurtz had a nice game with 25 points, Erin Lind struggled but put in 13 points and Sam Bickert got 9 all in the first half. I will tell you this I would have hated to be in the Wednesday practice after that game. Hopefully they will right the ship for Winneconne on Friday night.

Ripon vs. Omro Boys - Ed Patrick may be listed as coach for the Omro Foxes but a guy named Spencer I still think runs this team. Omro played a great game which for the first time since I have been watching Omro they scored over 45 points. Ripon had a terrible night shooting and settled for the perimeter shots and did not bring it into the paint too often. Scott had an off night with 9, Neuman bailed out the team with 17 and Joe Lambert is getting better with every game if he doesn't make first team all conference I would be suprised. So Ripon falls to Omro and sits at 4-1 with Omro in the ECFC. The Tigers have some big games all on the road in January it will be interesting to see how they fare.

Packers new head coach is Mike McCarthy and I said the same thing when they hired Mike Sherman "WHO?" well after doing some research I learned that Coach McCarthy was the QB's coach when Brett Favre last threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Any body wanna put money on Favre not coming back? Thanks for the memories Brett I'm glad I got to see you play and a chance to meet you.

Alright time for the coveted Biggie awards for this blog

Best ECFC Announcer : PA Announcer Omro or PA Announcer Waupun - this one is tough so its a tie.

Best Warmup Music - I still like the Omro KORN intro

Best Time-Out Music - Goes to Omro again with Metallica's Seek & Destroy

Worst Music - Omro Fox on the Run after the game, I am sorry that's just lame

Funniest Cheer - Berlin fans calling the Wolves "Lose-Aconne" instead of Winneconne

Until next time....Rock on! \--/

Biggie

We Are Marquette

What an ass kicking Marquette put on UCONN on Tuesday night in Brew Town. Steve Novak with 41 points throwing down a double double in his senior year in the first game in the Big East. If Big East fans don't know about Marquette they certainly do now. Steve Novak is having a great year and a great career for the Golden Eagles. I had to watch Novak play at Wisconsin Lutheran as his Brown Deer Falcons played Ripon in a Sectional game a few years back myself, Luke, and Kramer were not that impressed. We were wrong. You heard it here first WE WE'RE WRONG! The kid has a sweet 3 can work it from the basket to behind the arc. Nice job Marquette.

Mike Sherman is gone and I think a lot of fans are saying "oh well" Here is Jason's picks as who I would like to see the as the new coach.

1. Brad Childress - Get him here quick
2. John Gruden - Chucky would bring some spark
3. Jim Bates - Look what he did with a bad defense in one year
4. Mooch - Let the Yooper come work again in Green Bay
5. Dick Vermeil - I wanna see him cry one more time
6. Jim Haslett - Hey why not maybe Aaron Brooks will come back with him
7. Mike Ditka - Not gonna happen but maybe some more pictures of him in a wig would be good.
8. Barry Alvarez - Hey maybe it would be good for the Packers

There is my picks of who I would like, here is the list of who I don't want.

1. Mike Sherman
2. Ray Rhodes
3. Lindy Infante
4. Forrest Greg
5. Bart Starr

So that's all I have for now. AM 1600 WRPN has got some huge games coming up this week and next week. Waupun, Omro, and more.

Until next time....Rock on!

Biggie

What A Game! Ripon 57 Kewaunee 54

Greetings and good morning. Well if you had a chance to see or listen to the Ripon vs. Kewaunee game on Wednesday you had the chance to hear or see one of the best comebacks I have ever witnessed in my life. The Tigers were down by 20 points late in the third quarter when Dean VanderPlas took a time out. The crowd was quiet but Dean was not, he put a fire under these kids and gave them a "butt chewing" as he called it in the post game. It worked! Big Time. The Tigers went on a 14-1 in the fourth quarter and were able to tie the game 51-51 with a big free throw from Joe Lambert. I have never seen a team fight so hard to come back, but I have never seen a team so dumb as to a go into a four corner stall as Kewaunee did and not take wide open shots. We should send the coach and assistants thank you cards for the work. Great job by the Tigers on the victory. Waupun Omro Winneconne and Oshkosh Lourdes all up next for Ripon. Murderer's Row!

Ripon POG - The Ripon Defense gets my POG

Kewaunee POG - Jake Tess 12 in the first half via the 19'9" line

Best Warm-Up Song - Wow a metal heads dream in Kewaunee on Wednesday its a toss up between Metallica's For Whom The Bell Tolls or Du Hast from Rammstein.

Biggest Hit - Eric Neuman again got drilled in the game by Kewaunee. I have been told that Eric has said he has taken harder hits during the Basketball season than the hits in the Football season. Neumy never gets a charge call either he always is called with the block.

Random Tidbit About Game: Congratulations for garnering my vote for worst officiated game of the season.

Until next time...Rock on!

Biggie \--/

Hoops & Grapplers

Welcome back! Hope Christmas was good for you. I was at the Ripon vs. Denmark game Tuesday night in Ripon in which the Tigers beat the Vikings 68-41 in a non-conference matchup. This Tiger team is playing as a tight group. Everybody loves to get their name in the book but these kids are not selfish. The dimes I have seen throw by Lambert, Neuman, and Gillespie are downright sick. This slash offense is so fun to watch if you are a fan of the back door pass. Right now Ripon is clicking. Scott was quoted in the paper as saying "this was the first game they put it all together and played with a team" I couldn't agree more. The Ripon boys are on a roll right now and they should be ready because you have Waupun, Omro and Winneconne on the schedule soon.

Ripon POG - Scott Gillespie and Joe Lambert 22 and 18 points

Denmark POG - Matt Pribyl 6 points in the 4th quarter was the only excitement I saw

Best Warmup Song - Mo Money Mo Problem you know I am putting a song with Biggie rapping in it on my hit list.

Best Move : Lambert drives the lane switches hands and takes the under basket layup off the right side of the glass. SWEET!

Oshkosh on the Water wrestling tournament is going this week at the Kolf in Oshkosh. This thing is huge 54 teams from all over Wisconsin and surrounding states. It gives the guys a chance to wrestle against some guys they won't see unless they make it to state. Do yourself a favor and if you have some free time go check it out you won't be dissappointed.

Until next time...Rock on!

Biggie

Markesan Ripon & Packers New Punter

Had a chance to call another great game in the ECFC last night as Markesan came to Ripon. Ripon entered the contest with a 2-0 record and Markesan came in at 1-1. I talked yesterday about how some of the guys to watch were gonna be Aaron Baggett and Mike Riek. The Tigers didn't have to worry about Baggett as he was on the bench in street clothes for disciplinary reasons, Mike Riek showed up though in a big way leading Markesan with 17 points. Ripon's Ryan Hill who was in the game early because of foul trouble to Neumy and Hron got a quick lesson on how to guard a dominant player. As Riek took Hill to town a couple of times the Hornets made a run in the second quarter but it wasn't quite enough as Ripon knocked off the Hornets 50-34. Riek is still a man among boys in this conference. He is big, has a sweet shot, can control himself while in the air, and a few more things. Tigers had some good minutes from Gillespie, Lambert, and Nueman. Ripon sitting with a 3-0 record in the ECFC right now is super huge. Up next for Ripon is Denmark & Kewaunee next week

Ripon P.O.G. - Joe Lambert

Markesan P.O.G. - Mike Riek

Best Warm-Up Song: Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer" just because I have heard "Bring Em Out" by T.I. I like that song but I have heard so many times this season its not even funny.

Super Fan of the Game: Kayla Lukoski The Best Dressed Tiger Fan

DumbAs* Fan of the Game: The Markesan kid in the front row in the blue T-shirt telling the Ripon crowd they were "Number 1" and not with the index finger.

Best Cheer: I will give the first "Boring" cheer from Ripon as my winner today.

Next. The Packers have a new punter as BJ Sanders got his clock cleaned free of charge on Monday night against the Ravens. Ryan Flinn is the new Packers punter for this weekend. Two days ago he was a bartender in Orlando. He flew to Green Bay passed the physical and will be the punter against the Bears in Lambeau Field on Christmas Day. Talk about a dream. However pouring in drinks in O-Town ain't a bad gig either I have been there. Best of luck to the Packers on a win over the Bears I hope you do it but don't see it happening.

Until next time....Rock on and Merry Christmakwanzakkah

Biggie

Badgers, Packers, Tigers & Hornets

Warmest holiday greetings to everyone as we near the big holiday part of the calendar. Couple of things to talk about.

What's up with Badger players getting arrested? Marcus Randle El sends a guy to the hospital after a fight over theft of money, now Booker Stanley gets arrested for battery and choking a woman at his apartment. I know they are kids but grow up boys the playground left you many years ago. I don't know bout you guys but Mama taught me to treat people with respect and be nice to them. Maybe these boys could get some lessons from my Mom.

The Packers are a joke! Al Harris a back up pro bowler and Ryan Longwell is making comments that Harris deserves to be a starter. Ryan are you smoking something have you watched the same season I have. Al Harris is the only man I have ever seen play that position who when he gets beat claps for himself. What are you clapping at Al? The opponent for a nice play or are you busting your own chops for blowing coverage? Maybe more time learning how not to get beat instead of some new clap cadence would be something to work on in the off-season.

Ripon vs. Markesan Thursday night in Ripon is gonna be another "hell of a game" Ripon coming in at 2-0 in the ECFC Markesan at 1-1. Markesan is coming off a win over Green Lake and Ripon that huge win over Berlin. Look for the big two in Markesan to make an impact. Aaron Baggett and Mike Reik. Reik was a man among boys in the ECFC last year and I know he is coming off an injury but the kid is talented. Baggett we have seen this kid a lot over the past few years. I am sure he will have a good game. Ripon's Scott Gillespie I believe may be back in the zone after dropping a double dozen on Berlin. Scott struggled the games before but came to light it up in Berlin. Watch Joe Lambert aka CLUTCH in this one he may play the big role if the Tigers are looking for victory.

That's all I got for this time. My grandma is in the hospital so I am not so sure when the next one is coming but it will be soon. GET WELL GRAMS! Until next time...Rock on!

Biggie

Packers - Girls Hoops & The Colts

Well the Packers take on Baltimore on Monday night in a game that should be about as exciting as watching paint dry. I'm sorry, are you like me in and have said the Packers season was a wash like 6 weeks ago. I'm a big Packer fan don't get me wrong but for the first time in 14 years I didn't watch a game about three weeks ago because I could care less. I have said this all along give me a high school game over a pro game any day. It's not about the money or the glory it's about playing and winning.

Speaking of high school sports. I had the chance to call the Ripon vs. Brown Deer girls game on Saturday afternoon at the friendly confines of the Ripon High School Gymnasium. And Ripon did a number on the Lady Falcons 61-39. Great game for Ripon, now I know BD was coming off a Friday night loss to Pewaukee but this team plays no defense. I saw the JV game and they played no defense, I saw the Varsity game, they played no defense. They like to watch people run down the court and make baskets and that is just what Ripon did. Taylor Wurtz with 19 Erin Lind with 10. Lindsay Berndt has been playing some good ball for the Tigers. I know LB didn't get a whole lot of minutes earlier in the season but she is making up for it now. She fights hard down in the paint and makes the baskets count. LB also gets the award for quickest free throw shooter ever. Usually a player goes through some little ritual 19 bounces on the floor wait...wait....wait, then shoot. Not LB, one bounce and shot. The Tiger girls are a threat to be reckon with, and they face one of their biggest tests coming up on Dec. 27 against Elkhorn. It is gonna be a good one!

The Colts finally lost to the Chargers. Did you honestly think they were gonna win out. Well if you were like me YES. Payton Manning to Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, and Tony Dungy could be the newest Four Horseman. Time, Faminie, Pestilence, and Death. Whose who? I'm not sure! The Colts will be Super Bowl Champions.

Until next time.....Rock On!

Biggie

RIpon Berlin One Helluva Game

Well as I said in my previous post I thought Ripon and Berlin was gonna be "one hell of a game" IT WAS. Ripon jumped out to a quick 15 - 12 first quarter lead propelled by Scott Gillespie with 11 in the first. He definately has worked through the shooting slump. Second quarter the Indians outscored Ripon 11-10 but the defense shown by the Ripon Tigers predominantely Ben Lukoski in the last couple minutes was intense. The fight between Ben and Scott Faulk should have ended with Disorderly Conduct tickets and both guys in jail becase it was better than 16 round heavyweight battle. I give huge props to both players Ben for becoming Scott's shadow and for Scott to be able to even move around with that defense. It was sick. Third quarter was momentum for Berlin as some big buckets helped them outscore Ripon 11-8 and that got the crowd in Berlin or Gang Green into the game it was ruthless but that is what high school basketball is all about. Joe Lambert has a new nickname as far as I am concerned its "clutch" because he buried a ton of free throws in the fourth to put the Tigers up and keep them ahead for good with the 50-41 victory. The thing I have noticed in the last few games is Joe isn't afraid to take the ball to the rack. And last but certainly not least is the play of James Hron. Him and Myls scrapped in the paint all night long. James had some huge boards and was able to contain Myls as well as he could containing him to 12 points. Overall it was one of the most exciting games I have called in a long time, it was similar to the intensity of the regional final against Berlin in Neenah a few years ago. Time for the awards presentation

Ripon P.O.G. - Gillespie, Lambert, Hron (I can't pick one)

Berlin P.O.G. - Scott Faulk excellent game this kid is a gamer

Best Pep Band Song - Pinball Wizard keep on rocking with The Who

Best Fan Cheer - "Start Your Tractors" the Ripon Tiger fans.

Until next time...Rock on!

Biggie

AM 1600 WRPN Sports Blog

Greetings and Welcome to the Blog for AM 1600 WRPN Sports. We will spend our time talking here about things we don't usually have enough time to get to on the air. If you would like to be a guest blogger for us on here by all means send me an email at Jason@wrpnam.com Thanks again for stopping by. Here we go.

GIRLS BASKETBALL - Congrats to the Ripon Tigers girls coming off a big win over Markesan on Thursday night. The Tigers threw in a 2-3 zone against the Lady Hornets and held Markesan to just 5 points in the third quarter. Markesan made something like 4 field goals the entire second. When I talked to Bill Peters in the post -game he made the comment that thanks to Sam Bickert's 24 points via the 3 point arc last week against Berlin it made them come out defensively and give up the lane just a little bit. Erin Lind had a huge game as did Taylor Wurtz. Another great game performance came from Lindsay Berndt. "LB" got some quality minutes and dropped 7 points for Tigers. The Ripon girls are a great team and now with a 3-0 lead in the conference standings its gearing up for a great year. Also quick props to Ripon resident Terry Boe and Oshkosh Wildcats Girls Basketball coach on a big win over Oshkosh North. Coach Boe has a tough task replacing coach Schumacher who is now at UWO, but knowing Terry I am sure the Wildcats will be just fine.

BOYS BASKETBALL - Tough loss to the Cougars of Campbellsport on Tuesday night. One thing for sure there are no patsy teams in the non-conference schedule for the Tigers. The thing I have noticed in the last two games that the Tigers are struggling to make baskets. A lot of cold shooting to work through but Coach VanderPlas will make sure they work on that I am sure. Issac is out with a knee injury, that kid can't buy a break. Hurt in the early season of football, tweaks his knee in the state game, then it gets sat on in Clintonville. Issac should be back in the next couple of weeks, lets keep our fingers crossed. The Ripon Berlin game is shaping up as one hell of a game. I am sure the gym will be packed.

Till next time...Rock on!

Biggie