Every October I wonder the same three things: How the MLB playoffs will end, which local prep football team will go deepest into the playoffs, and then a litany of pumpkin spice queries.
Honestly, I keep asking Siri, "Is Pumpkin Spice the failed Spice Girl?" and the only reply I ever get is "Hmm. I'm not quite sure what you are asking." My Siri accent is set to be a British female, which makes it even more perplexing to me as one would think a Brit would know more about the Spice Girls than I do.
My love for baseball was documented last week, and the pumpkin spice quandary is an open case. Which leaves us with prep football.
From the time I was a young kid I knew that October had the best football. As I grew up, I watched the Monroe teams of the early '90s dominate team after team under Pat Martin. I was lucky enough to have him as my coach in high school, and I felt honored to be on the final team for which he was the head coach.
Once I started down the path of sports writing, prep football again became a mainstay. The season is so short, and each game matters more than in any other prep sport. In fact, football teams must earn their way into the playoffs, unlike all the other high school sports. This leaves little room for error - or injuries.
Week 9 is always fun. There is so much going on - checking scores, following matchups, determining the playoff field before it's announced, analyzing matchups and making predictions. The entire season culminates in one night, and teams on the bubble are hoping the oblong pigskin ball bounces their way.
Such was the case for Monroe this year. The Cheesemakers battled not only one of the toughest conferences top-to-bottom in the state, they also went through the injury wringer usually saved for the Green Bay Packers' offensive line. And yet, they handled their business just enough to make it to the magical world of postseason football.
We found out late Friday night that Monroe was "in" after a second tiebreaker (phew), and on Saturday it came out that the Cheese would take on New Berlin Eisenhower. Ike is an undefeated team in a conference that at times was among the best in the state. Pewaukee, Greendale and New Berlin West are all postseason bound, and Wisconsin Lutheran (aka Wisco) is surprisingly out. Typically, Wisco is not only a playoff team but a state contender.
We in Monroe know contention comes in waves. The 1980s and '90s were good to the Land of the Cheese, and the early 2000s saw moderate success early on. Then the program shifted, the dynamics changed and for over a decade trying to get to .500 seemed like an enormous task. But here we are, back-to-back playoff berths and all is starting to seem right in the world (well, except for nearly everything else in the world - fires, bombings, mass shootings, hurricanes, a nuclear crisis).
And as much as I love my alma mater, I can really get behind our other local teams too. That's some of the fun of a reporter, getting to see these other teams once in a while - though admittingly, I didn't watch any others this season.
In southern Wisconsin we've got an undefeated Black Hawk team, senior-laden and bullying past everyone by scores of 50-0 or equivalent. That's a ride I want to jump on.
Then we've got Darlington, the oh-so-close team of the past 10 years, which started 0-5 for the first time probably since before anyone currently residing in Lafayette County was born, and now they are in the postseason. My prediction? They knock off No. 1 Markesan. Last year only one No. 1 seed lost in the opening round (Sun Prairie), and I think that mark will be equaled this time out.
Evansville-Albany gets Mount Horeb in Division 3, which is a tough draw. Pec-Argyle has to go to Fennimore, which is a place not a lot of Division 6 teams like to play. And New Glarus-Monticello gets the scenic drive along the Mississippi to face Prairie du Chien.
Not all our teams can magically win state, though it would be interesting to see how both Darlington and Pec-Argyle could each win the D-6 title. Maybe if they join forces and make a Lafayette County super-team. Actually, that sounds like a great idea. If Layette County pooled together all their schools to play football or even basketball, I have a feeling they would win state every year. For being one of the least populated counties in the state, they sent two teams to state football and basketball last year (Darlington and Shullsburg). I'm not sure what's in the water over there, but I wish it had been in my drinking supply growing up.
Super-teams, playoff teams, postseason magic, October spice - these things all go together like fresh apples and caramel.
But seriously, what is the deal with Pumpkin Spice? Did she release a new record?
- Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and
can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.
Honestly, I keep asking Siri, "Is Pumpkin Spice the failed Spice Girl?" and the only reply I ever get is "Hmm. I'm not quite sure what you are asking." My Siri accent is set to be a British female, which makes it even more perplexing to me as one would think a Brit would know more about the Spice Girls than I do.
My love for baseball was documented last week, and the pumpkin spice quandary is an open case. Which leaves us with prep football.
From the time I was a young kid I knew that October had the best football. As I grew up, I watched the Monroe teams of the early '90s dominate team after team under Pat Martin. I was lucky enough to have him as my coach in high school, and I felt honored to be on the final team for which he was the head coach.
Once I started down the path of sports writing, prep football again became a mainstay. The season is so short, and each game matters more than in any other prep sport. In fact, football teams must earn their way into the playoffs, unlike all the other high school sports. This leaves little room for error - or injuries.
Week 9 is always fun. There is so much going on - checking scores, following matchups, determining the playoff field before it's announced, analyzing matchups and making predictions. The entire season culminates in one night, and teams on the bubble are hoping the oblong pigskin ball bounces their way.
Such was the case for Monroe this year. The Cheesemakers battled not only one of the toughest conferences top-to-bottom in the state, they also went through the injury wringer usually saved for the Green Bay Packers' offensive line. And yet, they handled their business just enough to make it to the magical world of postseason football.
We found out late Friday night that Monroe was "in" after a second tiebreaker (phew), and on Saturday it came out that the Cheese would take on New Berlin Eisenhower. Ike is an undefeated team in a conference that at times was among the best in the state. Pewaukee, Greendale and New Berlin West are all postseason bound, and Wisconsin Lutheran (aka Wisco) is surprisingly out. Typically, Wisco is not only a playoff team but a state contender.
We in Monroe know contention comes in waves. The 1980s and '90s were good to the Land of the Cheese, and the early 2000s saw moderate success early on. Then the program shifted, the dynamics changed and for over a decade trying to get to .500 seemed like an enormous task. But here we are, back-to-back playoff berths and all is starting to seem right in the world (well, except for nearly everything else in the world - fires, bombings, mass shootings, hurricanes, a nuclear crisis).
And as much as I love my alma mater, I can really get behind our other local teams too. That's some of the fun of a reporter, getting to see these other teams once in a while - though admittingly, I didn't watch any others this season.
In southern Wisconsin we've got an undefeated Black Hawk team, senior-laden and bullying past everyone by scores of 50-0 or equivalent. That's a ride I want to jump on.
Then we've got Darlington, the oh-so-close team of the past 10 years, which started 0-5 for the first time probably since before anyone currently residing in Lafayette County was born, and now they are in the postseason. My prediction? They knock off No. 1 Markesan. Last year only one No. 1 seed lost in the opening round (Sun Prairie), and I think that mark will be equaled this time out.
Evansville-Albany gets Mount Horeb in Division 3, which is a tough draw. Pec-Argyle has to go to Fennimore, which is a place not a lot of Division 6 teams like to play. And New Glarus-Monticello gets the scenic drive along the Mississippi to face Prairie du Chien.
Not all our teams can magically win state, though it would be interesting to see how both Darlington and Pec-Argyle could each win the D-6 title. Maybe if they join forces and make a Lafayette County super-team. Actually, that sounds like a great idea. If Layette County pooled together all their schools to play football or even basketball, I have a feeling they would win state every year. For being one of the least populated counties in the state, they sent two teams to state football and basketball last year (Darlington and Shullsburg). I'm not sure what's in the water over there, but I wish it had been in my drinking supply growing up.
Super-teams, playoff teams, postseason magic, October spice - these things all go together like fresh apples and caramel.
But seriously, what is the deal with Pumpkin Spice? Did she release a new record?
- Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and
can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.
