Bear ... Ranger Bear

At least they didn't call it Bear Flu

Boys and girls, we gotta be serious here for a moment cuz this is a serious subject. We've all heard about the H1N1 flu virus and UW-Parkside has an emergency plan. Check out this news report from FOX6Now.

News report on H1N1 virus

Stay healthy, my friends!

RDB

Let the soccer begin

Soccer season is just about here! The men take the Wood Road soccer field Saturday at 4 p.m. for an exhibition game against alumni players -- that should be fun. They're home again Thursday, Aug. 27, at 4:30 p.m. against Calumet College of St. Joseph.

The women start their home season Thursday, Aug. 27, at 2 p.m. against Bemidji State University -- oh, that's way up there in Minny-soda. Lots of folks picking the Ranger women to have a great season. Here's a story from New Hampshire, of all places, that tabs the women fifth IN THE NATION in one pre-season poll.

Pre-season poll story

Wanna see the complete fall sports schedule go to www.parksiderangers.com.

RDB

Great night in Beloit

Wow! What a blast I had last night at the Beloit Snappers game. I met a lot of new friends. Snappy (the team's mascot) is one "shell" of a great guy. The next time I'm out there I'll do a better job in the water balloon shooting thing where I was pitted against two kids to shoot a water balloon at Snappy. Let's just say I miscalculated the angle of trajectory.

Check out my photo album.

RDB

Next stop ... Beloit

Heading to Beloit tonight for the Snappers Minor League Baseball game. I will post photos tomorrow. Ya know, the Snappers mascot ... Snappy ... is a turtle. They say he's a good sport, good sense of humor once you get through the tough outer shell.

If you're in Beloit, stop out and say hey!

This AMP thing I was telling you about

Here's a little ditty somebody whipped up.

Time Flies...

...when you're having fun and I was having a blast the last couple of weeks. Spent some time in the Northwoods with cousins on my father's side and then tried to get back in the swing this week. New chancellor on campus, Dr. Deborah Ford. We haven't met formally, but I've been really tied up and I'm sure she's had a thing or two on her calendar.

Hey, kids, wanna play some golf Monday August 31? It's the UW-P Athletic Department Golf Outing at Meadowbrook Country Club in Racine. Tamie Falk-Day, our AD here at UW-P, has all the details.

August 31 Golf Outing

What else -- oh, yeah, I ran into the folks in facilities testing this new electric lawnmower from Ariens. Pretty cool actually, when you're done mowin' plug 'er in. I'm going to see if Kolbe will let me try it out.

The dude in the yellow shirt is Mike from Ariens - he's telling the facilities crew how it works: "Turn the key, press a couple of levers, push the pedal and steer." I got it. I wanna drive it!

On the Road Tonight

Weather permitting, I'll be in Appleton tonight at the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game and Fang's (the T'Rats mascot) birthday bash. Not sure how old he is but rumor has it he had some "work" done last year???? Looks good, though. Speaking of looking good, check out a short video from Bear Paws for a Cause on my Facebook page.

RDB

Adios, my friends!

Ranger Bear will be takin' a break for a few days. All that 4th of July parading must have gotten the best of me. Gotta rest up and be ready for Fang's birthday bash at the Timber Rattlers game next Friday in Appleton. Hope to see you all there.

You will doubtless recall that a couple of years ago I had a tooth knocked out at one of Fang's shindigs ... wonder what will happen this year?

RDB

Congratulations Parkside Paddlers

The Dragon Boat Races were held in Racine last weekend and the Parkside Paddlers carried the flag of the Rangers into battle on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Official Results:

UW-Parkside Paddlers	UW-Parkside	Non-Profit/Education	02:12.34	02:04.58	04:16.92	28

What this means is that the Paddlers improved their time by almost 10 percent from the first heat to the second heat. Way to go Paddlers!

In fact, the Paddlers won their second heat. The picture of the scoreboard tells the story, as they popped the bubble on the team of Scrubbing Bubbles! Now here's where it gets ... fishy. The Paddlers win their second heat but they don't get to race a third time because they went so fast that they paddled their way into the middle (or Jade) division. If they had gone two seconds slower, they could have been in the third (sounds better than bottom) or Pearl division, and battled for that crown.

But how were they to know all this. The Paddlers were merely trying to do their best! And that, my friends, is the spirit of UW-Parkside - always trying to do your best.

So I say, congratulations to the Paddlers for a job well done!

RDB

The Century Mark!

Big news this morning ... I now have 100 friends on Facebook. I only have to get 12,622 more to match the number of amigos on record for Bucky Badger.