Hey everybody.

You ready for hockey season?  Are you ready to meet the new cast of players that’ll be suiting up for the home team this season?

I am too.

There’s going to be a new cast of Roundtable writers too.  So today’s note is to officially announce that I’m turning over the keys of Admirals Roundtable to someone new this season.

What does this mean for you?  Probably not much.  The site will continue on as it has in previous seasons.  It’ll still be a place for Admirals fans to read up on the news, discuss the awesomeness or atrociousness from the previous games, and speak their minds freely and constructively.  That has and will always be the mission of the Admirals Roundtable.

You’ll just probably get less Beef-A-Roo and Mountain Fury references.

You may have seen some posts written by a gentleman named Trey Killian towards the end of last year.  He’s a journalism student at Marquette University, and a big-time hockey fan.  And he’s going to be responsible for the majority of the content this season.

The experience that he’s going to get out of this is actually something that’ll be useful to his career aspirations.  It can be a really great thing to put on one’s resume if one fancies oneself as a sports writer.  From writing a coherent recap of the events of a game, to knowing what questions to ask (and which ones NOT to ask) coaches, and all of the relationship building….there’s a whole lot more for a guy like Trey to gain out of the operation than there is for me.  So we’re going to give him the opportunity to take the keys and continue the excellence of the Admirals Roundtable.  And then when he’s a famous writer and making appearances on loudmouth ESPN afternoon shows, we’ll be able to say that we helped him get there.

I’ll be making the trip to Grand Rapids for opening night, but after that, I will likely just be pinch-hitting periodically as a writer….and commenting more often as a reader.

You’ll still see me at the arena, so I’m not going away.  But it’s time to move on from full-time blogging.  It’s been fun, but it’s time to go.

Trey will be monitoring the @adsroundtable twitter account.  But if you need to get a hold of me, I’ll periodically be chiming in at @RyanAdmirals .

So with that….. please welcome Trey Killian as the new Editor-in-Awesome at Admirals Roundtable.  Here are the keys buddy…. Remember, 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock.  No talking on your cell phone while blogging.  Wear your seat belt press credential at all times.  Don’t stay out too late.  Call me if you need anything.

In our last episode, we shared the names of the individuals who Nashville sent down on Friday.  Names not included on that list were Jon Blum, Chris Mueller, Roman Josi, and Craig Smith.

Josh Cooper from the Tennessean had reported that “Defenseman Jonathon Blum said he would sign a contract with the Admirals.”

An AHL deal?  How is this possible?

To clarify this, I reached out to our contact in the AHL front office.  And here’s what it boils down to.

In the event that the National Hockey League locks out its players, the AHL will permit its clubs to sign to AHL contracts those NHL-contracted players who concluded the 2011-12 regular season or playoffs in the AHL, or who were on a 2011-12 AHL Clear Day List.

Blum would be eligible to sign an AHL contract for the duration of the lockout.

A logical extension would be that Chris Mueller would be able to do this as well.

Josi and Smith?  Still can’t confirm.  I don’t know if the extension that Smith just signed changes anything.  And Josi?  Not sure.

Nashville sent some players to Milwaukee this late afternoon.

An Admirals fan may be happy to see Gabriel Bourque and Ryan Ellis on the list.

An Admirals fan may not be happy that Roman Josi and Craig Smith AREN’T on the list.

And depending on how you felt about Jon Blum, you may not be feeling anything about his name not being on the list.    (update) Josh Cooper of the Tennessean reporting that “Defenseman Jonathon Blum said he would sign a contract with the Admirals.”

They still may come eventually…  Tomorrow maybe?  And Josi and Smith are on entry level deals, which may or may not have some special relationship with the waiver wire based on how many games they played in Nashville last year.  I’m not well versed in that part of the soon-to-be-deceased CBA…  So we’ll play the waiting game for now.

But ladies and gentlemen — here is a good chunk of your 2012-13 Milwaukee Admirals!

Forwards (12): Daniel Bang, Taylor Beck, Gabriel Bourque, Patrick Cehlin, Kevin Henderson, Jani Lajunen, Michael Latta, Jack MacLellan,Juuso Puustinen, Ben Ryan, Josh Shalla and Austin Watson.

Defensemen (8): Taylor Aronson, Victor Bartley, Anthony Bitetto, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Joonas Jarvinen, Charles-Olivier Roussel and Scott Valentine.

Goaltenders (2): Magnus Hellberg and Jeremy Smith.

Just in the nick of time too.

With the current CBA set to expire this weekend, the Preds came to a contract agreement with defenseman Jon Blum.

It’s a 1-year, 2-way contract.  But it is my understanding that he will be waiver eligible this year.

So congrats to Blum!  And if he plays as well as he did down the stretch last year, he may be able to make the case to get some minutes in Nashville.

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Great blog piece by Aaron Sims yesterday about the NHL labor dispute, and what it means to guys like Chris Mueller and former Admiral Scott Ford….and I guess Jon Blum too now…

RDS, the French equivalent of TSN, reported Tuesday the NHL and its Players Association have agreed to allow waiver-eligible players with two-way deals to be cleared to play in AHL if the lockout occurs. The NHL and NHLPA have agreed to a special waiver period, running through Saturday, which would allow players to be sent down to the AHL before the lockout begins. Players would not have to clear waivers should they be assigned to AHL teams, and would not be subject to re-entry waivers if they were recalled following the lockout.

Expect a flurry of transactions over the next few days.

I think this was something that we assumed would happen….but it hadn’t been cleared until just now.  So we’ll take Aaron’s advice, and keep an eye on the waiver wire.  Kevin Henderson is a waiver guy today, and Florida has already sent 17 guys down to San Antonio.  Maybe we’ll have some more news soon.

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In celebration of their 35th year of professional hockey, the Admirals took a page from the Milwaukeehockey.com playbook,  and unveiled their All-Time Roster today.  From every fan favorite to every guy that suited for just one game on a PTO contract.  Is the list complete?  Feel free to scan for anyone they missed.

But for all-time jersey numbers….still go to Milwaukeehockey.com for that….

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Hockeyprospectus.com ranks the prospects in the organization.  You’ll recognize some of the names, I think.

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So here’s what the Presidential bobbleheads will look like in November.

I’m not interested in having a political discussion on the blog…..but can we all agree that Obama’s likeness looks more like the real guy than Romney’s does?

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I’ve been asked a few times if we’re hoping for an NHL lockout since it likely would mean some extra NHL talent would be playing at the AHL level.

The answer is absolutely not.  An NHL lockout is bad for the sport that we love no matter how you slice it.  We hope the labor dispute gets resolved in the next 15 minutes, and we can all get back to some degree of normalcy.

That said, it’s kind of fun trying to come up with some line combinations that include Craig Smith and Gabriel Bourque.

So your task, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with four lines of forwards for the Admirals.  Choose from this pool of players (and you can be as liberal with position as you like…..we’ve seen some of these guys in multiple positions previously, and Capgeek and Hockeydb have some disagreements on positions too….so you have some leeway)

Craig Smith, Gabriel Bourque, Chris Mueller, Juuso Puustinen, Taylor Beck, Michael Latta, Mark Van Guilder, Austin Watson, Josh Shalla, Kevin Henderson, Daniel Bang, Jani Lajunen, Patrick Cehlin, Ben Ryan, Andre Bouvet-Morrissette, and Jack MacClellan.

Does Bourque go back with Chris Mueller or Craig Smith (or neither)?  Do any of the guys on AHL deals trump Nashville prospects for playing time?  Which of the new guys are you expecting big things from, and which of the returning guys is going to take the biggest step forward?

So this happened.

The Admirals announced their pre-season schedule.

So to get your first look at most the 2012-13 Admirals…here are your options:

– You can head down to Rockford on Thursday October 4th for a 7pm game against the IceHogs.

– You can catch the Admirals at the Kern Center (MSOE) for a game against the Chicago Wolves Saturday October 6th.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled NHL labor drama, already in progress.

Huzzah!  We have a schedule!

Here’s a link to it!  Opening night is Friday October 12th in Grand Rapids, and the home opener is Friday the 19th against Charlotte.

And here are some assorted stats about the slate:

– The Matchups:

Chicago, Rockford, Peoria x 12
Grand Rapids, Charlotte x 8
Houston, Lake Erie, Oklahoma City, Abbotsford x 4
Texas, San Antonio, Toronto, Hamilton x 2

Surprised that we get Houston four times, and the other Texas teams just twice.  Also a bit surprised that we get non-division Charlotte eight times….The Admirals will begin and end their home schedule against the Checkers.

– Ten 3-in-3’s this season.  The first one is the second week of the season, and the final one is closing weekend.  One 3-in-3 is all away games, one is all home games, 5 have two home games, and 2 have one home game.  The Admirals are home for the third game in only four of those sets.

– Early road trips.  The Admirals only make one trip to Texas this season, and they get it out of the way in October.  And 14 of their first 18 games are on the road.  Just four games at home before November 30th.  But look on the bright side….it’ll be a good bonding experience right out of the gate for the guys.  That may pay off later on.

– Mid-season homestands.  From December 14th through Februray 17th, the Admirals will play  20 of 26 games at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.  The road games in that stretch are three trips to Peoria, one trip to Rockford, and a pair of games in Abbotsford.  Other than that, a whole lot of home cookin’.

– Avoiding the Packers.  Just one Sunday home game during the Packer regular season.      The only conflict is Week 15, Sunday December 16th at da Bears, while the Admirals entertain the Hamilton Bulldogs.  But it shouldn’t be a problem because that football game will be meaningless anyway, right?  Right.  Right.

– One super crazy start time.  Wednesday November 7th at Grand Rapids….10am CT start time.  I wish I had school field trips to hcokey games when I was young.

– NO HOME GAME DURING THE DAYTONA 500!  I’m surprised too.

– Unpleasant travel schedule.  Just a couple of spots, which is probably better than a lot of the other Western Conference teams.  After the Admirals home opener on October 19th, they complete the 3-in-3 with games in San Antonio and Houston.  And after entertaining Rockford on April 5th, the Admirals play the next two nights in Charlotte.

– Regional road games.  16 out of 18 road games against Rockford, Chicago, and Peoria are on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays….if you’re in the mood to make the trip.  (Beef-A-Roo beckons…..do it!)

-Familiarity breeds contempt.  In December, there’s a stretch where 7 out of 8 games will be against either Rockford or Peoria.  This includes a back-to-back home games against Rockford 12/19 and 12/21, and then back-to-back home games against the Rivermen 12/27 and 12/28.  But overall, the schedule does a nice job spacing out the opponents, so we won’t be getting like, 8 out of 12 games against Rockford between March 1st and April 15th this year….

Back-to-back opponents.  The Admirals will play 8 opponents in back-to-back games.  Half of those are when the Admirals spend the weekend in Abbotsford or OKC or Charlotte.

Hello and goodbye.  The Ads season series with the Texas Stars will be done by December 5th.  We don’t see Abbotsford for the first time until January 19th.  No Toronto until February 23rd.

Promotional schedule.  Now that we have a season schedule formalized, they’ll start slotting some promotions in.  Expect some announcements within the next couple of weeks.  Expect Old Orchard/Pick N’ Save schedule magnets on opening night, and Greeny already announced the presedential bobblehead giveaways on November 2nd.

What else strikes you about the schedule, outside of the usual lack of Eastern Conference or Rochester teams? Anything you really like?  Anything you really hate?  Is the waiting the hardest part?

(Also – speaking of “The Slate”……..Admirals Roundtable officially endorses The Loaded Slate — a restaurant on Old World 3rd street between Highland and Juneau.  Looking for a new place to dine before the next Admirals game?  Try The Loaded Slate.  There’s even a menu item named after the Admirals.  And the tater tots are super good.  I don’t know anybody that works there…but enjoyed my last dining experience there and I’d like to see it survive!)

Continuing our series of summertime Q&A sessions, here are some thoughts from Milwaukee play-by-play man Aaron Sims.  He talks about how his summer is going, the best press room food in the conference, who he is looking forward to seeing take the next big step this season, what his favorite karaoke songs are to perform, and a whole lot more.  Enjoy.

Admirals Roundtable:  You’ve said previously that you’re a very lucky broadcaster because you’ve had the privilege to work with guys like Claude Noel and Lane Lambert.  Would you put Coach Herbers in that category too?  Do you have a favorite Herbie story?

Aaron Sims:   I would. Herbie and I became pretty good friends. He’s a smart coach and he’ll thrive in the collegiate ranks. Herbie has a very dry sense of humor. Last season, when the boys wore mustaches for “Movember”, Herbie was sitting at the front of the bus and greeting players as they boarded. He said each players name as they came by, “Smitty, Fordo,” etc. When Teemu Laakso came aboard, Ian greeted him with “Magnum”.

AR:  Assistant coach Stan Drulia will begin his first full season with the team this year.  What are some of your favorite things about Stan?

AS:  Stan really clicked with the team right from the start. He’s a players coach. He treated them all very well and they respected him and liked him. He also was willing to shake some things up. The Admirals penalty kill improved greatly with some of the concepts Stan implemented. He’s another one of the coaches that has taught me a lot about the game. He has shown me diagrams of what he likes to do and how his plan would work. He is another rising star in the coaching ranks.

 AR:  The hockey season for us ended in April….what has been keeping you busy this summer so far?

AS:  The most important thing is I got married in June. It’s been great. The key still works so she must think it’s going ok, too. We’ve finished a basement in the house. I spend a lot of the summer on the interstate between Milwaukee and Madison. I am in my 9th season with the Madison Mallards, a baseball team in the Northwoods League. I am the public address announcer. I’m also trying to work out.

AR:  Who are the broadcasters that you tried to model yourself after earlier in your career?  I’m guessing a North Stars announcer may be on the list?

AS:  I loved Al Shaver, the Hall of Fame North Stars announcer. His grandson, Jason, is the Chicago Wolves announcer and is a great friend. I heard Vin Scully when I was 8 years old and that’s when I knew what I wanted to do. There are so many great announcers. I love Bob Kurtz with the Wild. He’s another guy I grew up listening to. Today, I think Matt Lepay and Brian Posick in Madison are tremendous. I also really like the Blackhawks radio guy, John Wiedeman.

AR:  Do you have any pre-game rituals?  Are you superstitious at all when it comes to the Admirals?

AS:  I don’t really have any rituals. I’ll get to the rink on game days for the morning skate. After the team has its meeting, I’ll do my pregame interviews with players and the coaches. After that I go to lunch with Ryan Costello (Hockey Operations Coordinator). I am usually in the press box about three hours before the game. The only real superstition I have is silly. I sit in the exact same chair in the media room before the game.

AR:  Do you keep in touch with any of the players after they leave the team, be it by promotion or defection?  Are there some you wish that you did keep in touch with?

AS:  Every so often I will hear from someone. Most of the time I get to visit with them for a few minutes when the Admirals play them with their new team. There are a few guys I can reach to be a guest on our Monday night radio show. I have really liked every player we’ve had in my time here. When a player makes a move I send them a text to congratulate them, but that’s about the extent.

AR:  What arena has the best media room food?  And the worst, if you feel comfortable going on record?

AS:  The food at the BMO Harris Bradley Center is pretty good. I think I like Chicago’s meal best. Texas has roller grill hot dogs, which is awesome. Winnipeg had the best press box with popcorn and ginger ale. The pregame meal isn’t about the food, though, it’s about visiting with people you only get to see a couple times per year. More and more teams are giving vouchers for the concession stands. That’s fine but it takes away from the chats with the other team.

AR: In your opinion, who has the best goal song in pro hockey, past or present?  If you could pick the Ads’ goal song, what would it be?

AS:  A good goal song has to be unique. The Blackhawks, as much as the opposition hates that song, found a pretty good one. I don’t know if having a major hit has to be a requisite. The best example, I think, is Todd Rundgren’s “Bang the Drum All Day.” It reached #29 on the Mainstream Rock chart in 1983 and #66 on the Pop chart. Certainly not a monster hit. We probably wouldn’t know it if the Packers hadn’t used it for the last 25 years. I really have no idea what song I would choose for a goal song. I would use ELP’s “Karn Evil 9” for an intro song, however. I am not so sharp when it comes to the hot hits of the day.

AR:  Looking ahead to this year, which guys from last year do you think are poised to take a huge step forward this year?  And which of the new guys are you most excited to see in action?

AS: I am really excited to see Taylor Beck. He had moments last year where he was brilliant. The test for all players is doing that every game. He had a few stretches last year where he could do that. I look forward to seeing Juuso Puustinen return from his injury. I think Jani Lajunen has a better idea of how to train in the offseason for the schedule. He, too, had a long stretch of games where he was one of the most reliable players on the club. I think Scott Valentine is a real prospect. Signing him was a great move. Of the new guys, Mike Moore is billed as a big open-ice hitter. I’m curious to see how Austin Watson has grown since we had him in the playoffs two years ago. I’m also intrigued by what I hear about Joonas Jarvinen.

AR:  We heard a lot last year about how young this team was, and it looks like it may be another young team again this year.  But at the end of the day, do you think most teams can claim that?  Yeah, we saw a whole lot of Haydar and Cheechoo and Sterling since they were in the division….but in your opinion, were the Admirals really that much ‘younger’ than a lot of the other teams at this level?

AS: That’s a good point. I think we always refer to the team as a young team because we rarely see the veterans that other teams do. Jon DiSalvatore has been around for eight years. The same for Sterling, Haydar, Hensick, Ortmeyer and the like. Teams get excited when veterans are signed because they’re known commodities. There’s a track record in the AHL, or the NHL, with them. Age-wise, things may be similar, but the professional experience is different. It can take European players awhile to get used to the North American game. A great example of this is Kim Staal. He finally figured out how to play at the end of the 2006-07 season. Chicago may have Darren Haydar and Brett Sterling, but they also have Nathan Longpre, Darren Archibald, Nicklas Jensen, Jordan Schroeder and others.

AR:  When they announced the shorter schedule last year, the league cited the one of the reasons they did this was so that there’d be less wear-and-tear on the players.  Do you think that this goal was accomplished?

AS:  I think it was, to a degree. We eliminated the four-games-in-five-nights schedule and that was most important. This is a weekend league. That’s when people are coming out. Every team wants the weekend dates so the three-in-threes will always be there. Taking out the fourth game allowed the players a day off or, at the least, an optional skate. The reduction in games also allowed a few more days of on-ice teaching which is beneficial. Milwaukee was probably able to bring skating coach Shawn Allard to town more frequently because of the fewer number of games.

AR:  What are your thoughts on the rule changes for this year?  Stricter face-off rules, hybrid icing, and of course, video replay?  Do you anticipate positive results on all three?

AS:  Regarding video replay, it’s about time. If we have the technology, let’s use it. The officials have a very hard job and they do it to the best of their abilities. I may be hard on them every so often, but they are all working to the best of their abilities. The video replay will help them do their job better. I like the hybrid icing. It’ll keep the players safe and it shouldn’t take away the hustle on a play. It seems like the best of both worlds. I’ll withhold my judgement on the faceoff rule. I really can’t think of a time where using the hand to direct a faceoff made a huge difference. Of course, I’ll probably be inundated with several examples of how it did, indeed, change a game.

AR:  And finally, I know that you’re a fan of karaoke.  What are your top 3 favorite songs to perform?

AS:  My top 3 songs are: “Suspicious Minds”, “Funky Busride”, and “You May Be Right”.

Many thanks to Aaron for some great responses.  Catch him on the Admirals Center Ice Radio show on select Monday nights during the off-season on Sportsradio 1250 WSSP. 

Continuing our summer series of checking in with various members of the Admirals family, today we’re proud to present some Q&A with El Presidente himself, Mr. Jon Greenberg.

Read on to find out some of his highlights from last season, how he has spent his summer vacation, and a bobblehead giveaway that you should expect in November.

AR:  Going back to the way last season ended……As someone who is so personally and professionally invested in the team on a daily basis, are your highs extra high and your lows extra low?  I imagine there were plenty of both over the last three weeks of the season. 

JG:  I learned very early on in my career in sports which will enter year 29 that you have to be even keel. I certainly enjoy each and every game but I know that there will always be a next one. These are long seasons so you get yourself on an emotional roller coaster when you work for a team. It’s certainly fine when you are a fan and I love the passion of our fans who live on the edge of their seats with our games. Even when we got knocked out of the playoffs, while disappointing, it just meant that it was time to start planning the upcoming season.  All of that being said, I would love to have the feeling of winning a championship. That would certainly be a high worth celebrating!

AR:  I’m sure everyone will remember the all-hands-on-deck brawl of April Fools Day 2012.  What are some other events from the season that stand out for you as you look back on it, either on or off the ice? 

JG: The sellout crowd on January 27 was a major highlight for me. It was a magical and memorable night and one we hope to duplicate this season. Having a coaching change with a successful team was a first for me. When Kirk left after 17 games, it certainly caught me off-guard.

Being able to watch the development of our players over the last month of the season when we had to push to get into the playoffs was a lot of fun. Finally, just being able watch this business grow with our largest average attendance in a decade was a very rewarding.

AR:  So the season ended.  Players went home.  Coaches went home.  Fans shifted to baseball.  And you got to go to league meetings.  Tell us a little bit about your travels so far this summer – what are the different meetings for, and is there anything specific you were able to get out of them?

JG:  The season ended in April and then we had a quarterly AHL Board of Governors meeting in May in Chicago. That was just a one-day meeting where we discussed some divisional realignment. We were able to get Grand Rapids in our division which geographically is great. I’ve always enjoyed our games with the Griffins. In mid-June, we had our league’s Annual Meeting in Hilton Head, South Carolina. That’s five days of
meetings both as a full board and on specific committees. I represent the Admirals as a member of the league Sales and Marketing committee. In the general session we get to hear a lot of presentations from different partners of the league as well as vote on league rules and by-laws. We play a lot of golf and get to spend quality time with folks from other
teams as well as some of the NHL people who are at the meetings.

Then, right after the 4th of July I was off to Rochester, New York for four days of AHL Marketing meetings with four members of our staff. We are able to share lots of great ideas and learn some new things that are going on around the league. There is also a vendor showcase so we can see the latest in promotional ideas. I think we get a lot out of that
meeting and we have some fun too.

AR:   If a new collective bargaining agreement does not get worked out at the NHL level, how would that affect things at the AHL level at the start of this season?

JG:  It doesn’t affect us a ton. We will still be playing our regular schedule. The home opener is Friday, October 19. We, along with the other 29 teams, may have a few NHL players on our teams as players with a certain contract status can still be sent to us to play. This same thing happened for the 2004-05 season.  So, we might see a few guys that we wouldn’t have expected to see but other than that it doesn’t affect us other than we will be the best league playing until they come back.

AR:  What were your first impressions of Coach Evason?

JG:  I have enjoyed my interactions with Dean. He is a pretty funny guy and fun to be around. I can see the intensity that he will bring though. I think he’s going to be a fantastic addition to the Admirals family.

AR:  What kind or presence will the Admirals have at Wisconsin State Fair this year?

JG: We will be prominent as always at the State Fair. We will have our booth in the Expo Hall where you can come shoot pucks, learn more about season tickets, pick up some Admirals gear and talk some hockey with our staff. We are also proud to join Saz’s in presenting the Famous Racing Pigs again this year. Those shows are a lot of fun and, of course, Roscoe will be appearing in the State Fair parade every day.  I encourage fans to wear the 2012 version of the Get Caught shirt on the grounds. If we see you , you can get a free ticket to a 2012-13 game.

AR:  The scheduler was fairly kind last year, with a very high percentage of home games on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  As the schedule gets worked out this summer, are you hopeful that you’ll get a similar amount of games on those prime days?  Anything you are at liberty to share about the schedule-making process in general?

JG:  I am hopeful that we can get a schedule that looks a lot like last year’s. The schedule plays such a vital role in our success. Last year’s schedule allowed us to accomplish a lot from a business standpoint. We are one of five teams in the league who shares a building with an NBA team so we have to wait for them to get their schedule out. (Editors note:  Jon responded to these questions shortly before the NBA schedule did come out)  I know that the folks in the league in the AHL office are feverishly working to get it done. We are as anxious to get it out as our fans are to see it.

AR:  You speak to the audience on mic at games several times a year.  Do you get nervous before they open your mic, or did you get over any public speaking fears a long time ago?

JG:  I took public speaking courses in college and have done so many radio and television interviews over the years that it doesn’t really affect me at all. The hardest part is always making sure to get all of the material in during the allotted time without a script. I hate to leave something out that I want to share but I also can’t hold up the game.

AR:  Are there any new promotions or giveaways or jersey themes or plans or concerts for the new season that you can (wink wink) leak some information about at this time?

JG:  We have five guaranteed dates from the league that I can share. Obviously there’s the home opener on Friday, October 19. We’ll also be home on Friday, November 2 and it will be WisPolitics.com Decision 2012 Night as fans will be able to get either a Barack Obama or Mitt Romney bobblehead thanks to Robert Haack Jewelers. There will be 2,500 of each and fans will declare which they want. It will be a highly scientific straw poll.

Also, we’ll be home on three other Fridays, November 30, December 28 and January 25. We’re planning big things for all of those so fans should get their season tickets and group tickets NOW! I wouldn’t wait another second.

AR:  One last question….what’s your favorite place to golf in the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area?

JG:  Anywhere that’s free!  Just kidding. I enjoy all of the courses here. We have so many wonderful golf courses here, most of which are too good/nice for my skill level. Golf has taught me patience and humility.

Many thanks to Greeny for this thoughtful responses and his time.