Until this week, I had never met Dusty Baker. Now, I am a Dusty fan.

I was part of the press corps which respectfully shuffled into the Reds manager's office at Miller Park Monday for a pregame news conference.

And there sat Dusty, a larger than life presence, dwarfing his desk as he marked up a sheet of statistics with a yellow highlighter.

Here was a man managing a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 15 years, now in the midst of a heated divisional race with the perennially tough Cardinals.

Here was a man whose contract was expiring in two months who was told by the Reds' CEO that they'd talk about a new deal soon but that deal still wasn't on the table.

Here was a man facing one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Brewers, who were looking to knock his club out of first place.

So many hot topics for discussion. So how did the Reds skipper start the news conference? He looked around the room, populated with Ohio media until he saw an unfamiliar face, mine.

"How are you all dealing with all the rain you had last week?" Baker asked me.

I then told him about the flooding that ravaged our area. He asked me specific questions about which sections were hit hardest and how everyone was coping. I talked about the water damage and how people had valuable parts of their lives washed away. Dusty listened intently, with a look of genuine concern on his face.

All of this preceded any talk of how to hit against Randy Wolf or putting the recently injured Scott Rolen back in the lineup.

"I was really impressed with him," I said as I related the story to Brewers TV and radio analyst Davey Nelson, a longtime friend of Baker.

"Dusty is first class all the way," Davey said, smiling. "First class."

The Brewers end their series with the Reds today and I sincerely hope they beat Cincinnati, win the series and start a serious run at the division title.

But if Milwaukee falls out of contention, I can tell you who I…

The big trucks are still out in Whitefish Bay today. Five days after the horrific, already legendary rainstorm, a Carmax-sized assortment of vehicles clog the streets with words and phrases like "emergency," "disaster," "24-hour," "water damage," "hazardous," "disinfecting" and in the worst-case scenarios, "remodeling," painted on their side panels.

Between their presence and the already omnipresent details of stimulus-generated uber-construction crews, there is more heavy machinery in our village today than was used to build Hoover Dam.

This is round two. Friday and Saturday brought the first wave as residents pulled water-logged debris from their basements. Much of that was removed by Saturday night but more trash from the floods is stacked high again today.

People on the street are swapping disaster stories, asking each other "how much did you get?" There are terrifying tales of foundations collapsing in nearby neighborhoods. Those tales serve as a mental anesthetic for many of the townsfolk. My parkway may be stacked six feet high with junk but it could have been worse.

Junk dealers buzz around like kids at an Easter egg hunt. Most have beat-up trucks that have seen nine degrees of nasty but a few dealers cram mold-ridden trash into late model, four-door sedans.

Looking for soggy carpet? There's enough here to cover Miller Park. Among the items I saw not covered up by a 10-year supply of Hefty bags were drywall, paintings, cork bulletin boards, skateboards, assorted decaying furniture, paintings, and lamps.

One house had about 100 mildewed copies of "Scientific American" magazine. No amount of science expertise could have helped fend off the downpour last week.

Our library, a great center of our social interaction (we live the wild, wild life) which closed Friday, was open again today. "We were back open Saturday," one attendant proclaimed proudly. Bibliophiles of all ages gamely trudged on carpet-less stretches of flooring t…

I never miss Festa Italiana. And I'm not one of these people who throw on a red, white and green hat or a "Totti" jersey and become an Italian for the weekend. My mother's maiden name was Montemuro. Not only do I know the meaning of Pasta Fazool (see the lyrics from "That's Amore") and how to spell it, I also happily consumed bowls and bowls of it at Mama's dining room table.

With my last name being Concannon, I am also Irish. A few years ago, a friend bought me a T-shirt that read, "Half Irish, Half Italian. Half Gaelic, Half Garlic." I've never worn the shirt and considered putting it on for Festa last night, but went with something more generic. It's one of many T-shirts in my closet yet to make its debut, a constant source of irritation for my better half. I still have a 2002 Miller Park All Star Game shirt wrapped in plastic. I'll wear it at the appropriate occasion. One must not rush into fashion decisions.

But all of my shirts paled in comparison to the one I saw last night, "Accordion Power. More Contino." Contino, is the legendary Dick Contino, who was recognized as the world's top accordion player in the late 40's and early 50's when he recorded his signature hit, "Lady of Spain." He appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" 48 times. Dick turned 80 this year but is still a fixture at Festa. He'll be on stage twice a day, every day through Sunday. His fans were out in force yesterday as Contino and his band performed from their classic play list.

Veteran crooner Tony Spavone belted out a few tunes in an early evening set Thursday. At one point he encouraged the crowd to "hug all the people around you. It's OK. We're all Italian tonight." At that very moment, a large man who looked like "Ogre" in "Revenge of the Nerds" walked by, wearing ill-fitting shorts, ratty tennis shoes and calf-high black socks. I wasn't hugging that dude. I'm not that Italian.

Thursday's musical acts featured the answers to two great rock n' roll trivia questions, in…

"Can you keep on winning 1-0?" was the question posed by match commentator Martin Tyler Sunday during the World Cup final.

Spain answered that query with a resounding "Si!" after defeating the Netherlands to win sport's biggest prize. La Roja won all four of its games in the knockout round, 1-0, scoring just eight goals in the tournament while conceding only two, further proof that defense wins championships.

But this had to be the most explosive 1-0 game ever. Spain had multiple chances in the first half as striker David Villa, the author of five World Cup tallies, repeatedly found space and opportunity but couldn't convert. The Spaniards dominated play early. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas biggest challenge was boredom. "It's a long time between pieces of work," observed Tyler of the often idle Spanish netminder.

Late in the half, the Dutch nearly moved in front. Joris Mathijsen had a great chance in the 37th minute, unmarked inside the area but mis-kicked a volley out of bounds. Arjen Robben nearly scored in stoppage time, but Casillas snapped to attention and made a strong save.

The Netherlands was far more positive on the ball in the second half. Robben who had been enjoying a golden run in 2010 (his strike at Manchester United in the Champions League is already the stuff of legend) inexplicably came up short twice on two breakaways. He was in all alone on the keeper in the 62nd minute, and a step ahead of the defenders after a great pass from Wesley Sneijder in the 83rd but was denied both times by Casillas who will have schools named after him back in his hometown of Madrid for those two historic saves.

Again, this match could have easily turned out 4-3, one way or the other. Villa missed on the doorstep in the 70th minute. In the 77th, Sergio Ramos had a clear header from point blank range off a corner kick, sail over the bar. In the 95th, Cesc Fabregas, a late substitution was stopped on another breakaway. Four minutes later, Andres In…