NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is visiting Packer training camp today. But it it who is joining him in that visit that looms as a major problem for the league heading into the new season. Goodell is being joined by several of the replacement officials that have been hired becuase the league has locked out the veteran referees over money and retirement benefits. In a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face...the NFL (the richest professional league in the country, if not the world) is prepared to go into their season with referees from the Arena Football League, D-2 college and even high school games, while fighting over table scraps. They can't even get officials from the major college ranks because the NFL guys supervise the officials for D-1 and those guys are not crossing a picket line.

In an off-season marred by Bounty-Gate, concussion lawsuits, high profile suicides like Junior Seau and more player arrests than ever before...it would seem that the Commish and the owners might want to settle a conflict that threatens the quality of the on field product as much as this one does...although NFL ownership has never been much for doing the easy thing.

The Associated Press has created a new Pro Power Poll similar to what they do for college football and basketball...and the first number 1 team is...the Green Bay Packers. Once the season begins it will be updated every week.

There is a Stevens Point native... Lauren Sesselman... on the Candian women's soccer team and they advanced to the quarterfinal bracket witha 1-1 tie with Sweden yesterday.

The Woodchucks picked up another game in the standings on the Madison Mallards last night. The Chucks blasted Green Bay 13-8 while the Mallards lost to La Crosse 10-0. The Chucks play in Green Bay again tonight and you can hear the game on Foxsports1390 at 6:45.

The Brewers finally had a laugher beating Houston 10-1. They play the Astros in day baseball ...pre game at 12:35 on WSAU.

Songs of The Day   (from my I-pod)

Jungle Boogie-Kool & The Gang (1973) before they were an easy-listening ballads band...Kool & the Gang were a funky bunch...like this top five single..

The Jungle Line-Joni Mitchell (1975) after the commercial success of "Court & Spark", Mitchell wasnt satisfied to just re-create that sound...she showed how ambitious she was musically by stretching in all directions. Long before Paul Simon or Peter Gabrial mined the so-called "world music vein" Mitchell was featuring African tribal drumming on this track from "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns"