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On Thursday afternoon, Aaron Rodgers went to Twitter to share his plans for Thursday evening:Check me out on the mound tonight @millerpark and also support the crew
Here's Rodgers on the mound:
Green Bay Packers NFL football quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game between the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, June 9, 2011, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)Here's Rodgers and Ryan Braun during batting practice:
Green Bay Packers football quarterback Aaron Rodgers, left, and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun speak during batting practice before their baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, June 9, 2011, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)From the Associated Press, via the Green Bay Press-Gazette:Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers threw out the first pitch at Miller Park before the Milwaukee Brewers took on the New York Mets on Thursday night.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback wore a No. 12 Brewers jersey and toss a perfect pitch to good friend, Ryan Braun.
Rodgers declined to speak to reporters, but the Packers will receive their Super Bowl rings in a private ceremony next Thursday.
Although Rodgers didn't talk to reporters, he was in the booth with Bill Schroeder and Brian Anderson.
From OnMilwaukee:Rodgers declined the opportunity to talk to reporters but did stop by the FS Wisconsin booth in the fourth inning. Brewers play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson asked whether or not Rodgers had any plans to organize team workouts during the ongoing NFL lockout.
"We're going to put something together here because it looks like it's going to go a little bit longer, so it's going to be important for us to get together," Rodgers told Anderson, adding that he would discuss the matter with teammate Charles Woodson at an upcoming charity event.
"If this lockout persists, we're going to get together. Guys have gotten some great work individually, some have gotten together in groups of two or three," Rodgers said. "There's a lot of guys kind of in the same area working out, but at some point we're going to have to get together."
Jason Wilde writes:His arm looked to be in good shape Thursday night, when he threw a strike to his good friend Ryan Braun, the Brewers’ all-star left fielder.
“I wanted to throw a four-seamer. When I pitched in high school, I threw a two-seamer. But I had a little too much movement,” Rodgers said. “I haven't pitched in forever, and I was super nervous. I didn't want to bounce it to Braun. He said he wasn't wearing a cup.”
Rodgers said he played a lot of baseball as a kid but didn’t play his first three years of high school before returning to the game as a senior.
“I was actually a pretty good pitcher for a while, then took a break my freshman, sophomore and junior year of high school and played football. That didn't work out, so I decided to play baseball my senior year and was a pitcher and a below-average hitter,” Rodgers said. “You never know about these (radar) guns, but I was told that I hit the low 90s, and I like to run with that. In about 10 years, I'll be saying 95.”
Rodgers said he and Braun became friends “a couple years ago” after he came to a game and met Braun.
“I'm a fan of Wisconsin sports. This is home for me nine months out of the year. I pull for the Brewers and Bucks and Marquette basketball and Wisconsin basketball and UWM basketball,” Rodgers said. “So it's been fun to pull for them and get to know Ryan. He's a California guy like myself. We're two weeks apart. He's two weeks older than I am, and we've really become good friends."
I like the loyalty to Wisconsin exhibited by both Rodgers and Braun.
Here's audio of Rodgers in the booth:He was nervous to throw out the first pitch?
Super Bowl XLV MVP nervous?
Rodgers is so poised that it's hard to imagine him being nervous about anything, but I understand.
Think of Obama's performance on the mound. Disaster.
The uproar over the outcome of the Milwaukee Brewers' "Where's Bernie" promotion is bizarre.
Should we be surprised that there are greedy, selfish people?
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:Jeremy Schultz wants everyone to know that he played by the rules in the Milwaukee Brewers' "Where's Bernie" promotion.
He had every opportunity to snatch plenty of Bernie Brewer lawn ornaments as he was delivering the Journal Sentinel to customers early Tuesday on Milwaukee's south side.
Instead, he completed his route and waited for 5 a.m., just as the rules stated.
Schultz got his lawn ornament at Zablocki Park, one of the parks where lawn ornaments were left, according to Sue Black, Milwaukee County parks director. Schultz was able to nab a Bernie, but not without hassling with another man who wanted more than one, he said.
It turns out that Schultz snagged the lucky ornament. He discovered later that he had won the grand prize in the promotion: 20 tickets at a Miller Park suite for a Brewers game.
"There were so many people who were upset that others were grabbing all of the Bernie Brewers," Schultz said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "This puts a positive spin on it.
"I followed the rules. I didn't cheat."
The promotion, done in concert with the Milwaukee County Parks System and in other areas of the state, went awry when some people grabbed dozens of the lawn ornaments hours before the official hunt for the ornaments was supposed to begin. Some of those collectors then apparently tried to resell the suddenly hot items on Craigslist and eBay.
By his own admission, Schultz, 32, has had a rough year. His mother died last year. He has been involved in custody issues involving his ex-wife and their daughter. He was unemployed for a long time.
But Tuesday made things a little bit brighter for Schultz, who has been an independent contractor for Journal Communications for nearly three years.
...Schultz drove to Zablocki Park, near S. 35th St. and S. Loomis Road.
"I went over there and looked in the parking lot. Nobody was there. I'm walking through the park and I didn't see anything. Then I found one behind a tree," Schultz said.
Schultz wasn't alone. Another man apparently saw the same ornament, ran toward the tree, pushed Schultz out of the way and grabbed it.
"There were some expletives," Schultz said. "I said, 'Really? You have to do that?'"
The man ran back to his car and sped away. Schultz headed back to his truck.
Then he saw another Bernie Brewer. And he noticed the same man who had pushed him out of the way for the first one had also spotted the second ornament.
Schultz got there first and had his ornament.
Some people are such jerks!
I'm glad that Schultz won the big prize and the guy who pushed him didn't. Schultz took one lawn ornament, abiding by the rules of the promotion. Good for him. (I wonder if Schultz would have taken another if he had the opportunity. I like to think he wouldn't.)
Some people, like Erin McHardie of St. Francis, were hoarders.
Erin McHardie/Twitter profile photo
McHardie ignored the "one per household" rule.
She decided not to play fair. Then, she was incredibly stupid to post photos of her haul online. She was asking for trouble.
When the Brewers chose to do the promotion, they had to realize that the Erin McHardies of the world and jerks like the guy who shoved Schultz at Zablocki Park were out there. The organization must have known the potential for "complications," that all might not go smoothly.
That was a risk they chose to take.
So what have we from learned?
---Some people are jerks.
---Some people are greedy.
---Some people are really stupid.
---Some people get way too upset over silly things.
Didn't we already know that?
I think it's insane that FOX 6 News considered the Bernie Brewer promotion fiasco worthy of being the night's lead story.
This has really been blown out of proportion.
Who cares?
You didn't get a Bernie. Deal with it.
Here's video from FOX 6: Death threats against McHardie?
If that's true, that's terrible. She didn't do the right thing, but a death threat is not an appropriate response. Good grief.
The promotion was a bad idea.
It was mistake to trust people to play by the rules. It was a mistake to assume that people even knew the rules.
Without question, it was a big mistake.
Lots of people involved used poor judgment and behaved badly.
TMJ4 interviewed McHardie.
She doesn't appear on camera, but you can hear what she has to say. Erin McHardie is speaking out for the first time, and says she is feeling the heat from Brewer's fans after she posted a picture on twitter of nearly 30 Bernie the Brewer gnomes.
"I can see where people are mad, but it wasn't just me. I didn't take 27 Bernies."
It was supposed to be a fun, promotional scavenger hunt to find 1,400 Bernie the Brewer gnomes in area parks. Even though the Brewer's posted rules saying only one gnome per household, Erin McHardie claims she and her friends took 28 gnomes.
"We didn't keep them all. We were giving them to our family, to people who couldn't make it. Just like anybody else was doing down there."
While McHardie explained that she and a group of friends were going to share the gnomes, she never once apologized, or said that she would return the gnomes.
"Everybody thinks I'm trying to sell them on E-bay. I'm not. There's no profit here. We just wanted them, like anyone else."
But several Bernies did end up on E-bay.
Brewer's fans are taking to social media to lash out against Mchardie. A Facebook page has even been created and more than 700 people have "liked" the page.
“There's no need for these people to attack me personally. Say what you want about me being greedy, but the Facebook page is ridiculous," McHardie said.
Here's a letter McHardie sent to TMJ4's Mick Trevey:"I am sorry that I missed you this afternoon. I am writing to this to clear the air. I along with four of my friends collected all the Bernies, not just me. Between the five of us we split them to give to our families and friends.
"WE ARE NOT OUT TO SELL THEM ON EBAY OR MAKE A PROFIT OF ANY KIND!!!
"What we saw on Twitter did not say you can only take one, we never saw the official rules page. We are sorry for that misunderstanding.
"I don't wish to be on camera, This is what I am saying about the matter and I hope people can forgive me and my friends.
"We, like many other fans, also were only out to get gnomes for our families who could not come but wanted to have one.
"I just would really like to say that this was mine and my friend's fault and I wish that people would stop harassing my parent's home phone and to please leave them alone.
"Again we are very sorry this happened and I hope that Brewers fans out there can forgive us."
This is lunacy.
There's a Facebook page attacking McHardie: Erin McHardie is a Greedy Bitch.
I think people should take it down a notch.
There were only 1,400 Bernies planted for promotion.
Obviously, the vast majority of people would come away empty-handed.
Another lesson: If you're going to break the rules and tick people off, don't brag about it online. It will not turn out well.
_________________
Watch this video. It's very sweet. I think this is what the Brewers had in mind when they came up with the promotion.
Ryan Braun said he wanted to spend his entire career as a Milwaukee Brewer.
He will. At least that's the plan.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:The all-star outfielder still had four years remaining beyond the 2011 season on an eight-year, $45 million extension signed after his rookie season, so there certainly was no rush to do another deal. But when a 27-year-old player on Braun's career path says he wants to stay with the club into the next decade, you have to listen.
"Especially a player of his stature, and a player who grew up in southern California," said Attanasio. "It was a very big idea and an enormous commitment. We had to get our heads around that."
Both sides did so, leading to the announcement Thursday that Braun and the club had agreed to a five-year extension worth $105 million, a historic deal in many ways. The extension, which runs from 2016 though 2020, also includes a mutual option for 2021 worth up to $20 million with a $4 million buyout.
As further proof that Braun wants to be a career Brewer, a no-trade provision was included in the deal. To help the club stay competitive and have the financial wherewithal to sign other players, Braun agreed to defer an unspecified amount of the money.
...Braun, whose $45 million extension signed in 2008 already was the biggest contract in franchise history, said there were many reasons for wanting to make the commitment at this early stage of his career. Chief among them, he said, was the tremendous support of Brewers fans.
"I'm proud to be a Milwaukee Brewer, I really am," he said. "I'm going to be for the next 10 years. It's an exciting day for me, my family, the organization. It's like being part of a family.
"It's truly special to me to come to work here every day, and I'm excited about being able to do that for the next 10 years. Thanks to the fans - that was the single biggest reason I wanted to stay here. To be in one of the smallest media markets in baseball and to have 3 million people to come watch us every year is incredibly special.
"The more time we spend in other cities, the more we recognize how special it is here. The fans are the single biggest factor. I'm excited, man, truly excited to be able to say I'm a Milwaukee Brewer from this point forward."
Ryan Braun isn't the only athlete on a Wisconsin team wanting to make his career here.
Aaron Rodgers tweets congratulations to his friend:Really happy for my buddy braun getting locked up for the next 10 years. Great guy and great player. Hope we are both in WI till then
Rodgers then goes on to say that he wants to retire as a Packer:I wanna retire as a packer then live in CA RT @G_Caruana1 @AaronRodgers12 do you want to play in cali? Or just go back after your retired?
Sounds good to me!
