Man, what a bummer. We Wisconsinites have just experienced the ultimate trifecta of sports downers – losses by the Badgers, Packers and, of course, the playoff loss by the Brewers. And, to add insult to injury, our local marathon was won by a guy from Illinois. Nothing like kicking us while we’re down.

Here in our household, we had the good (or bad) fortune to experience two of these maudlin moments – I was at the Brewer game Sunday with a friend and my husband was at the Packer game. Thanks to the wonders of text messaging, we were able to have a digital conversation that went something like this:

Me: Suppan just gave up a three-run homer in the third.

Him: The Packers can’t stop the Falcons.

Me: We’re losing 5-0.

Him: We’re losing 27-17.

Me:  It’s over here.

Him: Done here too.

Sigh. No joy in Mudville…or Milwaukee or Green Bay or Madison.

But I hate being a glass half-empty kind of girl. I need a positive thought or two upon which I can hang my hat. So here goes. My feeble attempt to blow sunshine into a room out of which all the happiness has been removed. My top ten reasons to still be happy about Wisconsin sports:

10. Ryan Braun is signed to a long-term contract.

9. The Bucks are still undefeated.

8. 186 Days till Opening Day.

7. The Brewers open at home against the Cubs, meaning there’s a good chance that for once, Miller Park will not be “Wrigley North.”

6. If you don’t have season tickets, this is an excellent time to get seats at a Packer game.

5. We won’t have that dilemma about whether to watch playoff baseball or our favorite TV shows.

4. Unlike other states, our legislators aren’t arguing the pros and cons of building a new stadium. Oh wait. I forgot about the Bradley Center.

3. It would be a stretch, but the Packers could still match last season’s record.

2. There’s no wait for tables at TGI Friday’s at Miller Park.

1. The Brewers won one more playoff games than the Cubs who were SWEPT. Ahhh….

What about you? What are you looking forward to in local sports?

I was one of the 72,000+ who stood outside Sunday night and had their heart broken.

Yes, it was very cold, but no it wasn’t horrible. (The weather, not the game.) Being a mom forces me to hyper-prepare. The extra coats, long underwear, hats, hand-warmers and tights that seemed like overkill pre-game, were blessedly welcome mid-game.

Besides the final score, my primary disappointment was in my battery-powered socks from Gander Mountain.  A colossally bad purchase. Thank goodness for the feet heater/liners installed at halftime.

It was exactly the kind of game I hate. I’m always mystified when people say that they love a close game – a real nail-biter. Not me. I’ll take a blow-out any day.

Fans and booze. What a bad pairing. Stuck in my mind forever will be the sound of two drunk fans screaming at each other post-game. One was angry (an understatement) because the other kept standing throughout the game. Dude, it’s a football stadium. Did you really expect that we’d all stand and sit in unison? Standing Man was taunting and promising to do things that I wished my daughter didn’t have to hear. It was such an ugly end to a cold, bleak evening.

Looking on the positive side, we’ll regain some normalcy in our local media. We’ll get our front page back and no more Mike Jacobs and Carole Meekins giggling like 5-year-olds in the Lambeau Field Atrium. Amen to that. I love the Packers, but even I was so done with that.

To those of you who read this and say: "Karen, it's just a game," I say, I know. In the universal scheme of things, this was just four really bad hours. But fanhood is a fickle mistress. There is nothing so addictive as a universal belief in the same goal. Nothing to match the roar of a giant crowd when things go well. And nothing more stunningly silent than a full stadium that has just been handed defeat.

So on the day after the Packers and Marquette let me down, I need to change perspective and move on. And so I say….

Go Brewers!!!

Saturday night, as I stood there at Lambeau Field and watched a magical, mythical snowstorm swirl while an unlikely Packer team came from behind to destroy their opponent, I had one thought: “Thank you, Andrew. This was so much fun.”

Allow me to share a story with you.

As many of you know, we lost our son Andrew nearly a year ago. Andrew was born severely developmentally disabled more than 21 years ago. He lived to defy odds and teach us a bounty of lessons. Today, we firmly believe he is in a better place, watching over all of us.

At one of the memorial services for Andrew, one of his caregivers at Central Wisconsin Center, Roseann, approached me and said: “You know, Andy is now up there watching over the Packers.” I chuckled, agreed with her and didn’t give it a further thought, knowing that the Packers’ prospects for the 2007 season were dim at best.

But Roseann knew something. She was the one that dressed him in one of his many Packer outfits on game day. She knew that Andrew came from a family of die-hard Packer fans. She was one of the few who understood our obsession.

After the first Packer-Viking game on September 30^th, the one in which Brett Favre set an NFL record and the team rallied to win in the final seconds, a letter arrived at our house. It was from Roseann. It said: “Remember I said that Andy would be helping the Packers win.” I showed the letter to my husband and I think we both got a little misty-eyed.

So on Saturday night, as we stood in that virtual Green Bay snow globe, watching one of the most amazing football games I will ever see, it suddenly seemed entirely possible that Andrew, our angel, gave us another very special and unexpected gift.

Thanks buddy. God bless. We love you.

Like many people throughout Wisconsin, we’ve definitely got Packer playoff fever in our house. It’s been a few years since we’ve even wanted to think about NFL football in January. (On a side note, thankfully, the NFL hasn’t yet ruled that thinking about football requires a license, although, in his defense, Roger Goodell is just getting started at his commissioner job. Give him time to figure that out.)

In any case, Saturday is the big playoff game between the Packers and the Seahawks and in anticipation of that, a friend of ours from Green Bay, Randy Stary, has written a song called “Rock to the Big Game.” (We’re not going to say the “SB” words here!) You can listen to the song here.

This infectious rock/country tune will get stuck in your head for hours and hopefully we’ll all be happily singing this on Saturday night!

The nice part of this story is that Randy decided that download purchases of this song would benefit Catholic Charities. Then, Randy’s co-workers stepped up to the plate and donated $3,000 so that the first 3,000 downloads are free. That’s right a good deal for a good cause that will only last until word gets out.

And this is going to be one very popular song in the next couple of days. Randy will be on WTMJ – 620 am at 7:00 am, Thursday, January 10^th. He’s already been on Fox News up in Green Bay which you can see here. He also put together a fan video using the song as a soundtrack. You can see that here.

You're probably thinking to yourself: "Gee Karen. This is a great story, but what's the local angle?" Well, Randy is a Marquette graduate, so when he’s not cheering on the Green and Gold, he’s cheering on the Blue and Gold. That’s a fine color combination in my book.

Enjoy! Oh and Go Pack Go!