Michael Redd’s bachelor days are over.
The Bucks guard married his fiancée, Achea Williams, in August and the ceremony, which kept Redd from playing for the U.S. team in the World Basketball Championship, was preceded by a bachelor party.
For grooms and their friends, bachelor parties are usually a memorable (and in some cases forgettable) part of the wedding experience. Redd, the son of a preacher who is marrying the daughter of a pastor, didn’t expect a wild time.
"I’m a Christian," he said earlier this off-season. "I can’t get too wild. It’s got to be in moderation. It’s going to be fun and clean."
Fun and clean?
Those aren’t exactly the buzzwords that come to mind when you think of a bachelor party.
The folks at Wikipedia describe bachelor party (also known as a stag party, stag night (U.K., Ireland and Canada) or bucks party (Australia) as "a party held for a bachelor shortly before he is married, to make the most of his final opportunity to engage in activities a new wife might not approve of, or merely to spend time bonding with his male friends. A bachelor party may involve activities such as going to a strip club, hiring a female stripper or escort, drinking alcohol and gambling."
Some say the bachelor celebration originated in ancient Sparta. Others feel it got a jump start with "Bachelor Party," the 1984 movie starring Tom Hanks, Tawny Kitaen and Adrian Zmed.
You remember that one, don’t you? Hanks, a lovable schlub named Rick Gassko, is about to marry his rich girlfriend, Debbie (Kitaen), so his buddies decide to give him a proper sendoff, which leads to the following exchange:
"Let’s have a bachelor party," says Rudy the mechanic, "with chicks and guns and fire trucks and hookers and drugs and booze..."
"Yeah! Yeah, yeah!" says Gary. "All the things that make life worth living."
Now, because this is a Hollywood story, the party for Gassko/Hanks ends up being epic. In the "real world," however, many bachelor parties fall short of expectations. In a way, it’s like New Year’s Eve ... everyone is trying so hard to have a good time that a certain pressure builds and the fun seems forced.
Although there are several variations including the golf outing, the tailgate party / baseball game, the poker tournament and the pub crawl, most bachelor parties don’t venture far beyond the standard shots, cigars and strip club lineup that has been around for decades.
"Bachelor parties are basically "Let’s see how drunk we can get as fast as we can and make sure the groom pukes,"" said Kevin Brandt, part of the morning show at WKLH (96.5 FM) and a blogger for OnMilwaukee.com.
"Nudity should be probably involved to some degree, even if the father-in-law is in attendance. I don’t believe there was much nudity at my bachelor party as we didn’t make it through one drink at Art’s Performing Center before we were politely asked by management to vacate the premises."
As for the concept in general, Brandt said: "I do think that bachelor parties generally fall short of expectations ... I think for the most part men talk a good game, but when it comes down to actually joining in on the donkey show, they chicken out."
Ted Perry, news anchor at Fox 6 News, agreed.
"I’ve been the best man twice, but the parties were as wild as a Bridge Club in Saukville," Perry said. "I’ve never been a fan of forced debauchery."
Many people think that athletes major in debauchery in college and then take it up a notch or two when they turn professional. Not so, said Brewers leftfielder Geoff Jenkins, who didn’t even have a bachelor party before his recent wedding.
"My wife and I had been together for a long time," Jenkins said. "So, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not that I’m against bachelor parties. I think it’s just a bunch of friends getting together and celebrating the last days.
"They can be fun, but it’s usually just another night of going out."
The Bucks guard married his fiancée, Achea Williams, in August and the ceremony, which kept Redd from playing for the U.S. team in the World Basketball Championship, was preceded by a bachelor party.
For grooms and their friends, bachelor parties are usually a memorable (and in some cases forgettable) part of the wedding experience. Redd, the son of a preacher who is marrying the daughter of a pastor, didn’t expect a wild time.
"I’m a Christian," he said earlier this off-season. "I can’t get too wild. It’s got to be in moderation. It’s going to be fun and clean."
Fun and clean?
Those aren’t exactly the buzzwords that come to mind when you think of a bachelor party.
The folks at Wikipedia describe bachelor party (also known as a stag party, stag night (U.K., Ireland and Canada) or bucks party (Australia) as "a party held for a bachelor shortly before he is married, to make the most of his final opportunity to engage in activities a new wife might not approve of, or merely to spend time bonding with his male friends. A bachelor party may involve activities such as going to a strip club, hiring a female stripper or escort, drinking alcohol and gambling."
Some say the bachelor celebration originated in ancient Sparta. Others feel it got a jump start with "Bachelor Party," the 1984 movie starring Tom Hanks, Tawny Kitaen and Adrian Zmed.
You remember that one, don’t you? Hanks, a lovable schlub named Rick Gassko, is about to marry his rich girlfriend, Debbie (Kitaen), so his buddies decide to give him a proper sendoff, which leads to the following exchange:
"Let’s have a bachelor party," says Rudy the mechanic, "with chicks and guns and fire trucks and hookers and drugs and booze..."
"Yeah! Yeah, yeah!" says Gary. "All the things that make life worth living."
Now, because this is a Hollywood story, the party for Gassko/Hanks ends up being epic. In the "real world," however, many bachelor parties fall short of expectations. In a way, it’s like New Year’s Eve ... everyone is trying so hard to have a good time that a certain pressure builds and the fun seems forced.
Although there are several variations including the golf outing, the tailgate party / baseball game, the poker tournament and the pub crawl, most bachelor parties don’t venture far beyond the standard shots, cigars and strip club lineup that has been around for decades.
"Bachelor parties are basically "Let’s see how drunk we can get as fast as we can and make sure the groom pukes,"" said Kevin Brandt, part of the morning show at WKLH (96.5 FM) and a blogger for OnMilwaukee.com.
"Nudity should be probably involved to some degree, even if the father-in-law is in attendance. I don’t believe there was much nudity at my bachelor party as we didn’t make it through one drink at Art’s Performing Center before we were politely asked by management to vacate the premises."
As for the concept in general, Brandt said: "I do think that bachelor parties generally fall short of expectations ... I think for the most part men talk a good game, but when it comes down to actually joining in on the donkey show, they chicken out."
Ted Perry, news anchor at Fox 6 News, agreed.
"I’ve been the best man twice, but the parties were as wild as a Bridge Club in Saukville," Perry said. "I’ve never been a fan of forced debauchery."
Many people think that athletes major in debauchery in college and then take it up a notch or two when they turn professional. Not so, said Brewers leftfielder Geoff Jenkins, who didn’t even have a bachelor party before his recent wedding.
"My wife and I had been together for a long time," Jenkins said. "So, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not that I’m against bachelor parties. I think it’s just a bunch of friends getting together and celebrating the last days.
"They can be fun, but it’s usually just another night of going out."
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.
