Welcome to Saturday Scorecard. We'd planned to take the day off as a show of solidarity to the striking writers in Hollywood, but the boss had other ideas.
On to the notes...
Memorable grab: Ruvell Martin's progression from Saginaw Valley State standout through undrafted free agency and NFL Europa to the Packers' receiving corps is a fascinating story.
When Martin caught two touchdown passes from Brett Favre last week against Minnesota, nobody wanted to talk about his rags-to-riches background.
They just wanted to joke about his private parts.
In case you missed it, Martin followed his second scoring catch with a Lambeau Leap into the north end zone, where excited fans engulfed him.
That's where the story took a weird turn.
OnMilwaukee.com sports photographer Allen Fredrickson documented the moment and -- there is no delicate way to say this -- it looked as though a zealous fan grabbed Martin's private area.
The before and after picture show that the fan had a handful of Martin's uniform pants.
But, it looked a little more compromising than that.
"There's one angle where it really looks like he's got a hold of me," Martin told Jason Wilde, who covers the Packers for the Wisconsin State Journal. "But, if you go to the other angle, you can clearly see that he's got my pant leg.
"My brother text-messaged me a picture of it, and he was like, 'There's a crotch-grabber in the stands!' when I saw that picture that he sent me, from the side angle, it looks like he's got me good."
The photo made the rounds in the sports blogosphere and one radio station tried to ferret out the identity of "the grabber," who presumably moved into seclusion with Cubs fan Steve Bartman.
Martin, who caught one touchdown pass last year, doesn't mind the extra attention -- as long as it comes from catching passes.
Bold prediction: Your friends may say that the Packers are facing a "trap" game against Carolina on Sunday at Lambeau Field. That seems silly. Carolina has scored 27 points in its last three games and ranks 28th in the league in total offense and third-down efficiency. That should be enough to give the home team the edge in the "Metamucil Bowl" between ancient quarterbacks Brett Favre and Vinny Testaverde.
Conspicuously absent: The NBA all-star ballot does not include Bucks rookie Yi Jianlian. The league probably realized that including Yi on the ballot would have guaranteed him a starting spot because of all the Chinese voters. Look for Yi in the rookie game.
Valid question: It was surprising to hear that Milwaukee and the Bucks entered the derby to host the NBA All-Star game, which was awarded to Phoenix. NBA officials have said that the city lacks the requisite hotel rooms to host such a giant event.
We respond to that with a question: How did Major League Baseball manage to host the game in 2002?
Bottom line: NBA officials know their players. If the game is in Milwaukee, most players will blow it off.
Axe battle: The Badgers face Minnesota in the regular season finale today at the Metrodome. The Gophers, 1-10 overall and winless in Big Ten play, can salvage some pride by winning the game and reclaiming Paul Bunyan's Axe. That's reason enough for the schedule-makers to install this annual battle as the final regular season game of the year, every year.
Tough customer: There was doubt this week about whether Badgers quarterback Tyler Donovan would be able to play against Minnesota. The former Arrowhead star has absorbed some major pounding this season and has proved to be one of the tougher customers to come through Madison in some time.
Banquet circuit: The roast for retired umpire Bruce Froemming was a huge hit Thursday night at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Froemming, who worked 37 years, has a lot of friends in town and many of them were on hand to see their buddy roasted and toasted by emcee Joe Buck, Don Zimmer, Jim Leyland, Brewers TV analyst Bill Schroeder and a host of umpires.
"I grew up in St. Louis," said Buck, who was masterful as master of ceremonies. "I've known Bruce since I was a fat, little kid hanging around the umpire's room, and Bruce was a fat, little umpire."
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
