Carlyle Holiday became the answer to a Brett Favre trivia question. The wide receiver out of Notre Dame reeled in Favre’s NFL record breaking 4,968th completion, passing Dan Marino on the all-time list. The moment went unrecognized at the time, because Green Bay was in hurry up mode, trying to score before the half. In fact, they didn't get the ball off the field and into the trophy case before another play was run. All eyes in the press box followed the historic pigskin, including those of the Packers public relations staff. When the football was innocently tossed over to the Lions sideline and out of play, word was radioed down to the field, and a ballboy from the Packers sideline raced over and retrieved the actual record breaking ball.
Saw the first designated red flag tosser on Sunday. When Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli challenged a Donald Driver reception in the second quarter, he had an assistant gun the hanky onto the field. I don't know if Marinelli is a rag arm or what, but the tactic worked. The assistant coach fired a strike that went a good 25 yards, and the officials went under the hood for another look-see. They ruled the play incomplete, so Marinelli now knows he can go to his bullpen to bring in a fresh arm.
Fox Sports ran a great replay of Mike McCarthy chatting with Brett Favre following one of his three interceptions. McCarthy’s facial expression when Favre walked by showed anything but satisfaction on the Paris Lenon theft in the end zone -- a far cry from the previous coach named Mike, who rarely even spoke to Favre following a pick. McCarthy is fair -- not making a spectacle on the sidelines, but also letting Favre know that he has to be smarter and expects him to be accountable for bad plays.
Favre’s next record to reach is a dead heat tossup. Whom will he surpass first -- Marino’s touchdown record, or George Blanda’s interception total? Two games left on the docket, and Favre is 8 away from the TD mark, and 8 picks from taking over that dubious top spot. Any wagers?
Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks was taking in the Bucks/Timberwolves game Saturday night at the Bradley Center. Rickie told me he was just in town to see some friends and "check on his crib." Why anyone would leave Florida this time of year to see if the summer home in Wisconsin was OK is a head scratcher. By the way, Weeks said he is healthy, ready to go and should be 100% by spring training.
Speaking of the Bucks, equipment manager Dwayne Wilson told me the NBA shipped 15 of the old leather basketballs to Milwaukee. Each team likes to carry 45 -- 15 for home games, 15 for the road, and another 15 to practice with. More are on the way, as the NBA ditches the "new Coke" synthetic balls on January 1. But why not all 45 right away? It takes one cow to produce four leather basketballs ... maybe the league is being kind to the cows until after the holidays.
The 10-1 Marquette women continue to post W’s on the court leading up to Big East play. On Feb 3, the match up at the Al McGuire Center with perennial power UConn just got bigger. Fans attending the showdown will receive a Terri Mitchell bobblehead! The men plan on handing out a Steve Novak bobblehead on February 19th against Villanova.
Bo Ryan is never satisfied during a game. The Badgers head coach works officials with the best of them, and when verbal abuse isn't working, Bo’s facial expressions are priceless. Even while the Badgers were thumping the former unbeatens from Pittsburgh Saturday in Madison, Ryan was mocking and scolding the refs over calls that were correct. Coach, relax -- you've got a Final Four team on your hands.
Michael Redd drew the first regular season technical foul of his career on Saturday night. That’s 416 games without losing your cool, and the one he got against the Wolves wasn't for what he said, but what he did following a foul call that Redd thought was iffy. The Bucks guard fell to the floor after holding his hands up and shouting "not on me" when he pleaded his case. Redd did get T-ed up once in the playoffs, but that’s it -- the Bucks captain is always on his best behavior.
Bob currently does play-by-play at Time Warner Cable Sports 32, calling Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games in Appleton as well as the area high school football and basketball scene. During an earlier association with FS Wisconsin, his list of teams and duties have included the Packers, Bucks, Brewers and the WIAA State Championships.
During his life before cable, Bob spent seven seasons as a reporter and producer of "Preps Plus: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel High School Sports Show."
And the joke is, Bob has a golf shirt from all four Milwaukee television stations. Sad, but true: Bob has had sports and news anchor/reporter/producer stints at WTMJ, WISN, WDJT and WITI.
His first duty out of college (UW-Oshkosh) was radio and TV work in Eau Claire. Bob spent nearly a decade at WEAU-TV as a sports director and reporter.
You may have heard Bob's pipes around town as well. He has done play-by-play for the Milwaukee Mustangs, Milwaukee Iron, and UW-Milwaukee men's and women's basketball. Bob was the public address announcer for five seasons for both the Marquette men and women's basketball squads. This season, you can catch the starting lineups of the UW-Milwaukee Panther men's games with Bob behind the mic.
A Brookfield Central graduate, Bob's love and passion for sports began at an early age, when paper football leagues, and Wiffle Ball All Star Games were all the rage in the neighborhood.
