Brew Crew Lapping up the Suds of Victory. See ya in the National League Wildcard Playoffs!!!

First baseman Prince Fielder celebrates as the Milwaukee Brewers make their first playoff appearance since 1982. They squeaked in on the last day of their regular season by beating the Chicago Cubs (Cubs had already clinched our division) and - well, the Mets lost so we're in. We face the Phillies this Wednesday for the best of 5 series in the National League Wildcard playoffs.

Been a loooooooooong time. I was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater when the Brew Crew was last in the playoffs. They lost in the World Series, 4-3, against the St. Louis Cardinals. We made a huge banner and climbed the tallest building on campus, Hyer Hall, to hang our artwork for the entire campus to see.

Here's more on the Brewers victory and some insight into the playoff series against Philly. For additional pix on the Brewers, click on READ MORE! Congratulations, Milwaukee Brewers, the City of Milwaukee and Wisconsin - my home diggs!!

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Jeff Supan pitching.

Ryan Braun hitting.

JJ Hardy cheering.

The fans singing.

Bob Uecker - Brewer announcer and Mr. Baseball - grinning.

Interim coach and former Brewer Dale Sveum moustache-ing it in the mid-80's.

CC Sebathia...pitching the Brew Crew to victory last week.

The Brew Crew celebrating.

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Vote BRETT FAVRE FedEx Air Player of the Week! Also, vote for REVIS and KELLER!

Favre threw for a career-high six touchdowns and posted a 123.7 passer rating in the Jets' 56-35 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Favre completed 24 of 34 passes to eight different receivers for 289 yards. Click here.

Favre's a shoo-in this week. He won FedEx Player of the Year honors last season by winning 5 Player of the Week awards (or was it 6?) last year.

Oh, you can also vote for the Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week - Dustin Keller, TE, of the New York Jets. Keller scored on a 24-yard touchdown for Brett Favre's sixth touchdown pass in the Jets' 56-35 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

And - wait, I'm not done. One of the GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Week nominee's is Darrelle Revis, who intercepted Cardinals QB Kurt Warner twice, including a 32-yard return for a touchdown, as the Jets survived a second-half rally to defeat the Cardinals, 56-35.

Front page of Fox Sports - you'll see where you can vote in the lower middle section near the FedEx Air and Ground nominees and Motorola Coach nominees.

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BREAKING NEWS! The new Brett Favre hats are IN!

Whether you're a Brett Favre fan, a Green Bay Packers fan, or both, you'll want one of these one-of-kind baseball caps. They're only $15 ($20 with shipping and handling) - just email me your address and I'll have one, two or three sent out right away. My email is irc_64@hotmail.com

Send a check or money order to: Jeff Ircink, 4745 Saint Nicholas Avenue, Culver City, CA 90230. Celebrate the storied (and to be continued...) career of #4...future Hall of Famer, only 3-time MVP, owner of every meaningful QB record for the NFL (and then some) and current QB consecutive start record of 257 (2nd all-time).

No matter what team Brett's playing for, he will ALWAYS and FOREVER be a GREEN BAY PACKER. Celebrate the Legend that is #4. let the world know that #4 is OURS FOREVER!!!

For hat specifications and additional views, click on READ MORE!

This brand new, one-of-a-kind, chino twill cap is set in forest green with a gold "4" embroidered on the front and "4 EVER OURS" on the back; it has a low profile style and has an velcro adjustable back. Makes a great gift for ANY occasion. ORDER NOW! Email me at irc_64@hotmail.com!

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Reason for the Packers' bad showing on Sunday?

Not this little ole Tampa Bay cheerleader - taken at the Packers' game in Tampa Bay yesterday?

GB Packer QB Aaron Rogers had a shitty game. Having played well thus far in his first three games, Rogers had 2 TDs, 3 INTS and only 167 yards (give or take) and bruised his shoulder badly while the Pack went on to lose to Tampa Bay.

U RAH RAH!!!

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Open blog post to idiots: Duhhhhhhhh!

A Newsday.com poll surveyed online readers yesterday on the performance of the New York Jets yesterday in their drubbing of the Arizona Cardinals, 56-35. Readers were asked to rate the Jets' offensive, defense and special teams with letter grades of A, B, C, D or F.

At 4:43 pm PST, 1344 responded. 2 people (.o1%) rated the Jets' offense unit an "F". Now do you see why I get angry easily?

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"Get yer Brett Favre Action Figure! Hoohaaa!"

McFarlane Toys announced its plans on last Monday for a Brett Favre New York Jets action figure to be released late this year. Favre will be part of the SportsPicks NFL 2008 Wave 3 where he will appear in both white and green jersey figures - the white available at all stores but the green only at Toys 'R' Us.

Wave 3 is scheduled to arrive in late December and includes Clinton Portis, Marion Barber, Donald Driver and Jay Cutler figures. Plans were in the works for an Aaron Rogers action figure but the shoulder on the mock-up toy broke so those plans are now in limbo.

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Favre never had 6 TDs in a game????

QB Brett Favre (24 for 34 passing and an interception against Arizona) had never made six touchdown passes in a game before. When WR Jerricho Cotchery found that out he was literally speechless. “The conversation ended there,” Cotchery said.

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"The Unleashing of Hell". Favre and Gang Green have a record day in the Meadowlands; Jets, 56 - Cards, 35. Jets, 2-2 / Packers, 2-2.

Sore ankle. Schmore Ankle. We said it - me, my brother, Favre fans and Jets' fans. Let Favre unleash hell and we'll pull out a victory. Here, Brett and Coles are celebrating one of Coles' 3 TDs . It's about time they both got on the same page. Cotchery had 2 TDs as well.

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The 56 points scored by the Jets is the second most in team history; the Jets recorded a 62-28 win over the Buccaneers during the 1985 season. The Jets scored 34 points in the second quarter, a team record for points scored in any quarter (previous high was 30 points in memorable Monday night win over Dolphins in 2000 season). The all-time quarter record is GB over the Lions in 1945 - 41 pts. in one quarter.

I swear Brett looks like Mark Wahlberg here. Or Mark looks like him.

Brett and his QB coach. What do you suppose this young punk (I say that endearingly) of a coach is saying to Favre - other than, "Nice job on the 6 TDs, Brett."?

Brett Favre threw at least four touchdowns in a game for the 20th time in his career. Favre trails Dan Marino by one for most all-time four-TD passing games. Favre also threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter. The last time he threw three touchdowns in a quarter was on Dec. 14, 2003 at San Diego (fourth quarter). Favre has passed for three touchdowns in a quarter five times in his career, with four of those coming in the second quarter.

Fox Sports chose Favre as the FedEx Performance of the Day, yet chose Drew Brees as the QB Stud of the Day. Brees 363 yards, 3 TDs, 1INT. Favre 289 yards, 6 TDS, 1INT. Do the math, Fox. Brett will surely be be nominated then selected FedEx Air Player of the Week, having received the FedEx Air Player of the Year award last year after winning it 5 times throughout the regular season.

Minutia. minutia and more minutia!

- At the 1/4 mark in the regular season, Brett is ranked #1 in TDs, #1 in QB rating and #2 in completion %.

- Until yesterday, the Cardinals defense had been pretty stout. No 100 yd. rushers or 200 yd. passers.

- Blown calls. Hey, happens every week. Here were 3 against the Jets that were questionable: a) Over the back call on Coles - no call and should've been, b) Offsides on defense – Favre thought he had a free play when the defensive lineman jumped the line of scrimmage and instead Favre through his only INT. (the guy WAS offsides), and c) Roughing the kicker – according to the announcers you can't have roughing the AZ kicker if the AZ kicker's teammate pushes a Jet into the kicker. So instead of a field goal, it was first and goal and AZ scored a TD.

Don't rest on your laurels, Gang Green. Favre won't.

NEXT WEEK: Bye

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Doublevision? No - Same Ole Brett.

Yesterday as the Jets beat the Cardinals, 56-35.

Last season with the Packers. Uncanny, ain't it. Still can't get used to the uniform (not the throwback NY Titans' uni - Favre being in a Jets' uni). By the way, I liked the throwback NY Titan uniforms from 1960-62. Didn't understand the fuss about how ugly they were - look like the Rams' uniforms today.

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Brett Favre = 6 TDs!! Man, oh man! Jets - 56, Cardinals - 35; Jets, 2-2 / Packers, 2-2

Let me gather my notes on Brett the Jet and the rest of the Gang Green, folks. This was a doozy. Yeeeehawww!

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Smiles of Cool Hand Luke.

"Well...sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand."

- Luke

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"Plastic Jesus."

One of the most poignant scenes from Newman's "Cool Hand Luke".

And I'm still crying.

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Newman & Redford.

Seems like it was just yesterday.

Newman and Redford in 2005.

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Goodbye, Mr. Newman. (And Jeff is crying.)

Just got up, made a cup of coffee and was going to check email. And there it is on the MSN homepage. Paul Newman died yesterday. Cancer. Sonofabitch got him.

Sonofabitch. Now I'm crying. Here's my open letter to Paul in June. I guess he didn't read it - or he just didn't listen to me. That sonofabitch Cancer got my Cool Hand Luke. Just like my mom's father - Grandpa Datka, Grandma Ircink, Uncle Tom Ircink, Aunt Mary Ircink...I wonder if it will get me one day?

I thought Paul would never die. I didn't WANT him to ever die. God damit - I don't wanna talk about it right now. That Sonofabitch Cancer took my Cool Hand Luke away from me... (More tears.)

Paul Newman died. I can't wrap my head around that. Perhaps I never will. I still see his blue eyes - he will always be alive to me. I wonder if this is the reason I posted that daisy below - for no other reason? For Paul.

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I just thought it should be there.

The flower I snapped in the Sequoia National Park in June. I just thought it should be right here, on this blog, in this post - now. That's it.

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TGIThursday!????

For some reason, I posted my normal "TGIF(Fridays)! presents..." yesterday. Must have been excited about "The Girl in the Swing" video (see Thursday's posting).

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Jets to don Throwback Uni's for home Cardinal's game Sunday.

From ye olde New York Titan days...1960-62, when the franchise was created.

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My Inked-In Blog - Check it out!

I belong to an online community of writers and artists called The Burryman's Center Writing Community and an offshoot of the group is Inked-In. Check out my visually aestetic writer's page here.

What can I say? I needed a place to display my mudskipper photo in all its glory. Inked-In is the ideal "safe place" for me to converse with other writers and share ideas and we're all on sort of the same page, you know?

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Trojans in Tears; Ripped by Beavers.

That headline is courtesy of my cousin, Scott Schmidt, of CRACTION fame (or soon to be famous, I should say).

Truly, there are (2) instances when a beaver beating a trojan is bad:
1) During sex - this is every man's worst nightmare (and I suppose a woman's too), and...

2) If you're a fan of the #1 ranked USC Trojans and you just got upset by the Oregon Beavers last night.

Heehaw. Now maybe LA will shut up about their invincible Trojans. Did I say, "HEEEEEHAWWWWW

“Idiocy is like hypnosis or ejaculation: if you want it, you can't have it-and if you don't want it, you can." - Lars von Trier!".

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TGIF! presents "A Girl On Her Swing".

A bit of a twist on the normal music video for "TGIF! presents..."

My award-winning short play, "Pass the Salt, Please." will be featured at this theater in Seattle - The Little Red Studio - in their Erotic Shorts Festival in Spring 2009.

I wonder if the girl on the swing will be there performing? Enjoy.

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I want this man to die.

Slowly and painfully. This is Mark Kriegel. Columnist for FoxSports.com. Pulitzer prize covet-er. Danny Bonaduce-wannabe.

Here's his article on the Jets-Chargers game yesterday and his scathing attack on Favre. Danny Bonaduce-wannabe's obviously shooting to pen a Pulitzer. I mean, read this article - you'd think it was the Chargers against Favre. That's it. No other Jet was there. It's ridiculous and irresponsible journalism (yellow) and it misrepresents what occurred on that field.

NOT ONCE does Danny Bonaduce-wannabe mention that the Jets' defense was run over by the Charger's offense - 11 San Diego possessions and the Chargers PUNTED ONCE. Apparently in Danny Bonaduce-wannabe's little mind, defense doesn't win or lose football games. Just Favre does. Danny Bonaduce-wannabe (I'm already tiring of calling him this) says Favre's stats: "30-of-42 for 271 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, one bad ankle. He was lucky, very lucky, he didn't finish with four interceptions."

What is that? And NEVER does idiot boy mention two questionable calls by Coach Mangini of the Jets that led to a Charger TD and denied the Jets a 2-point conversion. It's all on Favre. Danny Bonaduce-wannabe...you're "lucky" my brother and I don't find out where you live and pull a train on your wife/lover (I'm assuming your wife/lover is a girl; if you are gay, the Ircink Bros. will not be pulling a train on a man). [Wait - I should take that back. Don't wanna schtoop to this guy's level of asinine writing. I'll just THINK about pulling the train thing. That way I'm legally protected. Can't jail me for my thoughts.] What an ignorant thing to say (not my comment, he started it). There's nothing wrong with Favre's stats. He had a respectable 92% rating and he still had 2 INTs.

Danny Bonaduce-wannabe stated nearer the end of his diatribe (as if this post weren't a diatribe), "It's worth mentioning that Favre found a rhythm in the 3rd quarter...." Thanks fuck-head. Nice of you to notice. Danny Bonaduce-wannabe has written the Jets off after a 1-2 start. WOW - he must really know his football. He did after all write a book on Joe Namath - a former Jet. I'll remember this - and when the Jets are above .500 so help me God I will take this post and find this dick and jam it up his ass. People like this prick don't care about what they're writing - the sport, that is. They care about the byline, the name, the attention, the controversy, the fame. And no, I'm not lending credence to him by writing about him. I'm exposing him for what he and his "journalism" are - spawn. (Not sure how I meant that to sound. "Spawn" sounded good right about there.)

If you think I can't be objective because I'm a Favre fan, you're wrong. I have no problem saying Favre had a shit game if he had a shit game. Monday's game illustrated an offense that's not in sinc yet because they have a new QB, and a defense that didn't show up. Every season the naysayers jump on Favre's ass and every year he proves the naysayers wrong. Why they do that I will never undertand - must be all the media who didn't vote for Favre for the Good Guy Award last year (press award). Eating shit, I mean - crow, is something the media enjoys (and some fans). 16 years and ONE losing season with Green Bay (two 8-8 seasons), every QB record there is in the NFL, 256 consecutive starts and a Monday Night Football game where he threw 3 TDs and 271 yards and you think I'm gonna judge Favre on ONE game - OR three games into his first season as a Jet? I don't think so.

And if you still think I'm not objective, read the comments underneath dipshit's article above or look up archived articles from Danny Bonaduce-wannabe. I'm not the only person who hates this guy's guts. Danny Bonaduce-wannabe bitch. I'm calling FoxSports.

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Put a butt plug in it, Tony Kornhole.

One of the Monday Night Football announcers, Tony Kornhole - Kornheiser, I mean, made one of the dumbest comments I've ever heard by a football announcer - possibly one of the dumbest comments of the season, thus far.

With 2 minutes left and the game obviously out of reach for the Jets, the 2nd string Jets' QB is under center. Kornhole states (paraphrase):
"Is there something we're missing here...that Favre is not in the game?"

Let me 'splain somethin' to you Tony. I know you love Brett. So do I. But the game is over. Favre already rolled his ankle in the 3rd quarter. Why would you allow your starting QB to continue playing? This MNF broadcasting crew...not good.

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Denver Bronco QB Jay Cutler: Helmet or no helmet?

Cool Jay or Dweeby Jay? Can you spot the dweeb?

I watch a lot of Bronco football with my friends Donovan and Maria (big Denver fans). We talk about this all the time. Cutler needs to wear his helmet for his team photo.

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Jets Jolted by Chargers. Jets, 1-2 / Packers, 2-1

I hate Philip Rivers. Smug, little fucker. Went to college with guys like him. Oh - and I hated him last year when Favre was with the Packers so it's not just 'cause the Jets lost tonight. Seriously, I swear Rivers tortured small animals as a child (thanks, D).

Not a great showing by the Jets. Poor actually. Though the offense eventually kicked in and scored points - Favre had 3 TDs. I'll admit they (offense) didn't look in sinc in many instances, but San Diego methodically scored on the Jets' defense almost every possession. The Jets' defense clearly was the weaker link in this game. I repeat - for all you dickhead writers and fans who said Favre looked shitty last night - shitty or not...the Jets scored 29 points.

DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU HAVE A HALL OF FAME QB ON YOUR TEAM - YOU CAN'T WIN GAMES WHEN THE OTHER TEAM PUNTS ON ONLY ONE POSSESSION OUT OF 11. Got it?

And a couple odd calls by Coach Mangini didn't help matters.

I'm not making excuses for the team. But I believe this team has character - everyone from Brett to the coach to the player were laying individual blame at their own doorstep. Taking a great QB and placing him with a 4-12 team is tough business and unfortunately, too many people place all the blame on the QB - wins and loses. Favre, aside from one more INT than Rivers, had as good or a better night than Rivers at the QB position - statisically. All in all, a learning experience for New York. The punt returner for the Jets is very dangerous (3 nice returns - 2 of 90+ yards). Problem is we got behind early and had to air it out to make up the spread (thus, Brett's 2 INTs). Hey, everyone knew the (0-2) Chargers would be chomping at the bit for a win and they've been impressive in their two losses (well, for sure against Denver). As the MNF broadcasting team stated over and over and over - heard enough? - 'they're (Jets) are a work-in-progress'.

NEXT WEEK: Arizona Cardinal (2-1) @ New York Jets (1-2)

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Crex Meadows in Wisconsin, was featured on CBS News Sunday Morning yesterday.

You know that piece at the very end of the show introduced by Charles Osgood? The film pans some breathtaking vista somewhere in the U.S. and the only sound you hear is the sound of nature?

Visit the Crex Meadows website in Grantsburg, Wisconsin here. It's my home state.

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My first babysitting stint for Grace.

That's Donovan and Grace. Grace turned one in June and D & Maria really needed to get out and see a flick...so I told them to enjoy "Dark Knight" and leave "Nino" Jeff in charge. By the way, "nino" is the Mexican equivalent of "godfather" or "uncle", I believe...Maria is 1/2 Mexican and 1/2 Irish and you'd never know it as she looks all Irish with her blue eyes and blonde hair. Thought "tio" means uncle...I've forgotten now. Anyway...I'm "Nino Jeff" to the McCann-Glover children.

Grace - was a charm. Very little work for me aside from just being in the house while she slept. Did I mention that I'm Grace's unborn sister's (Gwyneth) chosen Godfather? Yes, I did, thank you.

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An Eagle (Hole-in-One) and a Double Eagle and I golf once a year!

I golf once a year Up North in Wisconsin when I go fishing in May. I suck.

But lil' ole Jeff Ircink didn't suck yesterday, friends. Read it and weep, bitches! A Double Eagle on a Par 5 and - AND a hole-in-one on a Par 3, which is another Eagle by the way. Exactly. Go cry to your momma, girlie man.

Granted, I was playing Tiger Woods' Wii Golf but isn't my performance indicative of the golfer I could become if I played it long enough?? No? I disagree.

Donovan and I had a grand old time creating our golf characters - about an hour and a half spent but that's because we were encumbered with the incredible details you can get into when creating your Wii persona. We tried to make them as disturbing as possible and I believed we succeeded.

That's me - "Laird". Definitely a "missing link".

There's Donovan - how would you like to have this guy as your cell mate? Donovan's wife, Maria, created her Wii golfer that looked incredibly like my friend, Justyna, in Chicago (see Wii Justyna and real Justyna below).

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GO JETS!!!

My New York Jets (1-1) travel to the San Diego Chargers (0-2) tonite - Monday Night Football. Hopefully, Jets Coach Mangini learned his lesson last week and will let Favre unleash hell on the "we're-0-and-2-woeful-Chargers-and-their-pathetic-excuse-for-a-human-being-QB-Philip-Rivers."

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Open blog post to "certain" Green Bay Packer fans & the media.

Shut the hell up.

The Packers looked real good with heir Aaron Rogers last night. Dumb comment after only 3 games, right? Exactly my point.

Didn't watch the game. Boycotting the Pack until Favre retires and Thompson is ousted as GM. But to you idiots, like "writers" - Sean Crowe's rants., Nick Gourdoux's sophomoric tales., and Steve Zsaban knows it all. - who've been quick to pat Thompson and the the other 2 Wise Monkeys' backs for their decision to rid Green Bay of Brett Favre, perhaps you should wait until the season plays out fully before you rush to snap judgements in your blog posts and online columns.

Crowning Aaron Rogers a worthy successor to Favre and applauding the 3 Wise Monkeys for their PR debacle earlier in the season after just TWO GAMES (not including last night's game against Dallas) is idiotic and mental. Perhaps it wasn't FAVRE who couldn't beat the Dallas Cowboys during his tenure as Packer QB. Perhaps it's the GREEN BAY PACKERS team who can't beat the Cowboys.

I'm not saying Favre and the Jets will beat San Diego tonite. I'm not saying the Jets will go to he playoffs with Favre or that the Packers won't go to the playoffs with Rogers. I'm saying 'let the season play out' before you rub your magic ball and start making half-ass predictions. And just be quiet.

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Autumn.

The Autumnal Equinox. Fall in Los Angeles is...well there is no fall in Los Angeles. I need to see the leaves change - somewhere. This would do for starters, though I'm not sure where that is.

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