Appleton player makes Gamblers

Here's a good story of a local kid who's fulfilling a dream of making a team he's always wanted to be a part of. 18-year-old C.J. Eick of Appleton played with the Junior Gamblers (youth hockey - AAA) a couple years back and last year played with the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL - a junior league considered to be a step below the USHL of which the Gamblers are in. I was in the draft room this past Spring when the Gamblers drafted him late in the day. There was some discussion as to whether he could crack the Gamblers squad. He's 5-7 and 161 pounds. That's small for your prototypical hockey player. But that doesn't mean he can't play. I'm betting a lot of people were doubting Eick would actually win a spot on the roster, but that he did. Coach Eric Rud says Eick clearly won a spot during training camp and during the exhibition games. Needless to say, CJ is pretty excited. I don't have any idea how much he'll play this season or what line he'll skate on and so forth, but here's yet another example of what determination and hard work will get you.....a spot on a team that you've always wanted to be a part of. Pretty cool.

The Gamblers open the season Saturday night, October 2 at the Resch Center at 7:05p. Ironically, the Gamblers will play Fargo, the same team they beat in game 5 of the Clark Cup championship series before a sold-out Resch.

Going GaGa south of the Resch

It seems weird going to a concert at a different arena than the one I work at - but that's what I did last Thursday as I "checked out" the Lady GaGa concert at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Before I comment on the concert, I must tell you a venue person never goes to another venue without observing EVERYTHING. I observed the long lines of people waiting to get in and then I especially observed those in line because, boy, were they dressed for the occasion! I observed the ticket takers and what they were wearing, watched the ushers as they helped seat people and so forth. Can't help it. In this business we're always comparing.

There were tons of limos outside of the arena and in a nice touch - a big Lady GaGa semi in public view for fans to pose in front of for pictures. It kind of helped set the scene and give you the feeling this was a big night. Big it was. The show was huge. Big dancing, big sounds and
unfortunately a lot of big F-bombs. Don't ask me why, but I didn't expect that from Lady GaGa. I expected a dark, over the top show with a lot of weirdness, but I didn't expect the dirty mouth. Maybe I'm just getting old. The songs were good and the sound quality was pretty good too except for the screaming girls next to me. That hurt more than the loud music! Okay, I am getting old. Did I mention the strange dressed people? Never have I seen so many people turn out in costume - felt like I was at a costume party and I was the only one who didn't dress!

I like some of GaGa's songs but people who know me wouldn't have guessed that I'd go to this concert. For some reason I wanted to check it out. She's pretty big on the scene right now and it remains to be seen how long she stays there. I heard the show was over the top and it was. Would I go see her again? Not sure that I would. But the next time another big, freaky show comes along....don't bet against me...I'm not THAT old!