Regular blog readers know that I made potentially the dumbest wager of all time when I bet my local liquor store owner a 12 pack that Brett Favre would be quarterbacking the Packers in the 2008 season...this was after his March retirement but before his Fox News sit-down with Greta Van Susteren.     

        My chances only deteriorated as the war of words escalated with every new fax, Chris Mortensen dispatch or Mark Murphy plane trip to the bayou.   It looked more and more as though Number Four was going to be playing elsewhere, if he indeed played at all.

        Now, it seems, common sense has prevailed in what has been to date a largely non-sensical process: Favre is headed to Green Bay to compete for his old job, with the team's blessing.

        It's how it should be.

       GM Ted Thompson kept telling anyone who'd listen that such a scenario wouldn't happen, that it would be unworkable to have Favre around after an off-season focused on prepping Aaron Rodgers for the job.      Coach Mike McCarthy, though, would talk about having "a plan" if Favre DID show up at camp.     Why Thompson was so hell-bent on keeping Green Bay a Favre-free zone is something only he can answer.     The mumbo-jumbo about Favre being a distraction was just so much balloon juice--Favre already WAS a distraction, and the longer the issue remained in limbo the more of a distraction he would stay.

       Worries about the team being split into Favre and Rodgers camps is crap--I've heard from those who know far more than me about football and one in particular who actually played the pro game that such "warm and fuzzy" worries are just that, with professional athletes tuned to play with whoever gives them the best chance of winning.    Or, whoever is left standing.       

       We now will get to see if the front office's faith in Rodgers was well-founded--is he truly a quarterback who is up to the task right now, or  if Favre really the team's best chance to win (as so many of Number Four's backers would claim during all those heated bar room discussions).       Let the competition begin.   

        It's win-win for Packers fans, and for Favre who ultimately got his way--he "un-retired" and got to return to Green Bay, albeit with lots of blood on the floor.    Can he and Thompson mend fences?      What is Favre's standing among those in Packers Nation?     To some, he remains the unblemished Lord God of Pigskin, the one and only hope of returning to the playoffs and perhaps making one more trip to the Super Bowl before finally calling it a career.     To others, he has feet of clay: a diva, a back-seat general manager who can't make grown-up decisions.       

       None of it will matter now, with the past few weeks of angst forgotten the moment Favre and Rodgers are alternating snaps at practice.     Fans can finally focus on what's happening on the field instead of whether or not Peter King received a new fax from down south.      And, this will all be a musty memory once the Vikings are on one side of Lambeau and the Packers on the other about a month from Friday.     

      The end of next season will be sad on several fronts.     It'll mean the true onset of winter.      And perhaps, the start of another season of Favre's discontent.       It'll take more than a 12 pack to get through another Favre midlife crisis.     

        It's seven miles long, turns 50 years old next month, and changed your life in more ways than you probably realize.

       It's a stretch of interstate between Goerke's Corners and Highway SS in Waukesha County--the first section of the "I" to officially go on the map.       It happened a half-century ago next month and it signalled the beginning of Wisconsin's inclusion in President Eisenhower's dream of a transit and defense roadway system, modeled after what he'd seen in Europe during World War II.

       Hard to believe the changes it would bring.

       The creation of the Interstate system did, indeed, link major U-S cities in a national grid that overlapped what had been up to that point a rather haphazard system of federal highways.     But it also brought about societal changes none, including Eisenhower himself, couldn't have imagined.

        I've read where the President had no plan to run the I-system right through the heart of major urban areas--he only wanted the superhighways linking cities.       The result: ribbons of concrete that split neighborhoods and segregated communities.        And, a fast track out of town for those who wanted to avoid urban congestion as well as the cost of living in a major metropolitan area.    You could work downtown, and sleep in the rural splendor of a newly created suburb.

      Wisconsin's Interstate system was finished in 1970, stringing I-94 and I-90 across the state.       After a bunch of fighting with farmers along the Lake Michigan shore, work would begin a year later on I-43.       It would be completed 11 years later, linking Green Bay with Milwaukee.       The stretch from Milwaukee to Beloit would be added a few years later.       The former Highway 51 became I-39 in 1999.

         I'm old enough to remember when the only way between Sheboygan and Milwaukee was the two-lane stretch of road called Highway 141.   

The freeway didn't start until you got to the southern end of Ozaukee County.     Woe to you if you were on a tight schedule and behind a semi.         Or, if you lived along 141 in one of the many cities it cut right through--like the Mueller family which rented a home off 14th Street in Sheboygan, which also happened to be 141.        We got to see a lot of the world pass by our duplex, including what was then billed as "The World's Largest Cheese" as it made it's way to the 1964 New York World's Fair on a flat-bed, but it also meant the steady drone of highway traffic night and day.    

        The interstate took heavy traffic volume out of the heart of small towns and put it on the outskirts--to some, it meant the death of many of the businesses that relied on the motoring public for their survival.       It also hastened the advent of our drive-thru society, where you can grab a meal on the go and hop back on the "I" without leaving your car.        We lost a lot of roadside character, though, as the outskirts of every town started looking alike, dotted with fast-food franchises and homogenized hotels.       The only thing difference between some communities was whether the McDonald's was on the right, or the left.

       As the Marquette Interchange comes back to us, in dibs and dabs, ramp by ramp, in the weeks ahead, remember the birthday of the funky red, white and blue shield that you probably don't give much thought to...unless it's jammed up, dug up, or out of service.

        If you want to read more (Interstate geeks of the world, unite!), you can dive in to the Wisconsin DOT site or this one that'll tell you more than you probably wanted to know about the "I"--NPR's ongoing series on 50th anniversary of the Interstate system.

       Did you hear about this country they just discovered?     I think it's called something like, "China"?

       Let the games begin.    As well as our crash course on still another Olympic host nation.

       The Beijing games start Friday, but NBC is already there: the host network has plenty of boots on the ground, with Lester Holt anchoring Saturday night's news from outside the "Bird's Nest" stadium, the site of the opening ceremony.

        Local stations will start putting Wisconsin faces on the games--we know that our Hamm quotient got cut in half, and that we'll have a full serving of Memmel, but there are tons of other competitors in less familiar events who we'll be learning about over the next three weeks or so.      

       For most of us, the Olympics have a "what, already?" feel.      You've noticed the network "bug" on the bottom of the screen during every NBC show, but only know are many of us starting to get our minds around the fact that the games are about to begin.

       The games WERE top of mind a few months ago, though, as the torch wound a tumultuous trail to China through several countries (including the U.S.) where protesters of all varieties seemed hell-bent on snuffing it.      We shall see if Friday's ceremony comes off as scheduled.

         Here, from the New York Times, is a look at the torch itself over the years--the one lighter the whole world seemingly will have it's eyes on for one intense moment every two years (winter and summer).     It's the symbol of all that's good and right about the games.      And Friday night, it'll signal the start of our crash course on another host nation--one we probably could all use a refresher about.

      ...and I'm really, really emotional.

       I'm manstrating.

      I wish I could claim credit for the word, but the Urban Dictionary tells me that it's already been coined.    I was sorry to see that, but glad that I'm not the only guy who ever felt it.

       I don't know from biorhythms and such, but I DO know that there are certain times each month where I'm especially...tender.     Moody.    Irritable.     Cranky.      Maybe even a little bloated.

       I"m manstrating.

       Our house has been undergoing massive outdoor work this summer--big time painting, window work and other carpentry meant to remove the ravages of 20 plus years of Wisconsin weather.      It's meant a lot of time with many strangers poking, scraping, caulking, painting, cutting and nailing.    It's also means you're never alone.     Never.     A strange head pops up in one window.     There's someone else on the deck.    And, there's always a question.      Most days, I'm pretty good.     Today, I wasn't.

       Because I'm manstrating.

       I finally got around to taking the kids' old desktop computer to a shop for a new hard drive the other day--once installed, I figured I could put in the old software myself.     How hard can that be, I thought, as I tackled the project today.    As afternoon became evening, and I found myself chasing my digital tail, I finally gave up.      Not before yelling, cursing and giving the machine a solid wrap on it's chassis.    Stupid.     Immature.  

       Manstration.

       I figured I'd go for a bike ride to rid myself of all the pent-up compu-tension.      Do something positive for my body, as well as my soul.     As I pulled the bike down from the wall, I spotted our old, discarded front door--part of that outside renovation project.      We have a spiffy new aluminum job, one that actually closes without needing an extra push.     One that won't be accidentally left open by one of the kids on the ONE DAY when the winds are gusting up to Katrina speed.        I stared at the old wooden contraption that I had fixed so often, the door through I'd passed so often on my way to work, exotic station-related trips, momentous family events.      The same door through which both of my kids walked on their first day of school.       My daughter on her graduation.     My son at prom.    And, I actually found myself getting...weepy.       About a door.

       Definite manstration.

       I don't think they make Midol for guys--I remember Bill Cosby's routine about dipping into his wife's stash, but it's not my medicine of choice.      Instead, I did the bike ride, worked up a good lather, hung the bike back up (all the time avoiding eye contact with the nearby old door), hopped into the mancave, cracked open a frosty Schlitz (the new "old formula", not the bilge water they passed off on us the past few decades) and fired up some baseball.       

       My eyes dried.     The breasts felt better.     And, I think the swelling went down in my ankles.        I think I might be good.

      At least, for the next 28 days.

         Well, THAT sucked.

         The Cubs took four straight from the Brewers at Miller Park, culminating the humiliation with Thursday's 11-1 shellacking.    Chicago dominated in all phases, playing small-ball when needed (Monday), hitting in the clutch (virtually anytime they had a man in scoring position) and topping the series off with a power display Thursday afternoon that put WE Energies to shame.

        In the end, the Brewers were left barking at umps and tossing 3-0 pitches behind the back of Cubs slugger Jim Edmonds who could be seen on TV muttering such pleasantries as "F--k you!" and "...f--king piece of s--t!" in the general direction of the Milwaukee dugout after dancing around an errant Eric Gagne heave.      Prince Fielder tried, oh Lord he tried, to get thrown out of the game in his final at-bat in the 9th.     He finally did, but only after multiple references to equine excrement hurled toward the home plate umpire.    It's not clear if Fielder was describing the arbiter's skills behind the dish or the Brewers' overall performance in the just-completed series.

        While one never wants to see his or her team humiliated, it would be nice to see your squad go down fighting.    Sadly, it took three games and eight innings before Milwaukee seemed to want to show any grit.       There's no doubt the guys were trying too hard, especially at the plate where guys like Ryan Braun were swinging at pitches they'd never hack at if their heads were in the right place.    Is it any coincidence that the Brewers finally started hitting in the bottom of the ninth Thursday, when the pressure was off and the Cubs were cruising 11-1?   

        As the latest embarrassment continued to unfold amid a flurry of Cubs long balls, TV analyst Bill Schroeder opined that the Chicago hitters looked "very comfortable at the plate".      I never played the game, but I've watched and heard enough baseball to understand the code: it's time for someone wearing blue and red to put set upon his ass, that Brewers pitchers aren't throwing inside and are letting Cubs batters have way too much leeway at the plate.         No one wants to see another player get hit but pitchers have to know when to throw inside and back a foe off the dish.       Throwing BEHIND Edmonds was obvious, and late.      Throwing up and in when things got out of hand Tuesday night might've averted some of the ensuing blood-letting.       Then again, the way the Brewers are hitting of late, what difference would it have made?

        Milwaukee was very lucky to have gone 7-0 on the last road swing.       Brewers hitters left TONS of guys in scoring position and needed several nights of late-inning heroics to complete the Cardinal sweep.     Those woes continued as Milwaukee lost two of three to the Astros last weekend at Miller Park, and they proved fatal in the Cub meltdown.      Until the trend reverses, look for the slide to continue.

        Baseball is a game of streaks--hot and cold.     St. Louis didn't hang it's head after getting swept at home by the Brewers--instead, the Cards did what good teams do by going to Atlanta and beating on the injury-riddled Braves.     The Redbirds have now passed offensively-challenged Milwaukee in the chase for the wild card.         There's plenty of ball to be played, and sure, it would've been nice to see the Brewers give the Cubs more of fight than they did this week.      It's four games out of 162.      That's a blimp, a snapshot.     It's on to Atlanta, with short memories and  hot bats.

        It would be nice to still have something to be playing for in September when the Brewers and Cubs have at it six more times.    

         Still on the "Mad Men" track...I haven't dipped in to Season Two yet, but one of the big storylines from the opener is Jacqueline Kennedy's televised White House tour.

         It was groundbreaking t-v in the early 60's...a First Lady taking a reporter under her wing for a one-on-one tour of the Executive Mansion.      And, to top it off, JFK himself dips in at the very end.       Quite a "get", as we say in the biz.

         See some of it yourself right here, off the "Mad Men" website.

       It's a place where men were king, and women were fine with that.

      A land where a breath wasn't taken without the ingestion or expulsion of cigarette smoke, and where the cocktail was in hand instead of a Diet Coke or a jug of vitamin water.

      They were the folks who told us what to buy, and why.     They created the catch phrases of the day, the jingles that worm through our minds, even to this day.

      They were "Mad Men", and they should be part of your television life.

      The low buzz about this AMC cable series reached fever pitch earlier this month when the program about Madison Avenue advertising executives in the early 60's (thus, the nickname, "Mad Men") got much Emmy love, making history by becoming the first series on REGULAR cable to be so honored (yes, pay-channel hits like "The Sopranos" are part of Emmy lore, but the key word here is "pay"). 

      After catching the first five episodes of the premier season on pay-per-view, I can heartily believe the hype.

       This is "The Dick Van Dyke Show" on 'ludes.      New Frontier fashion with late 60's morality.      Imagine Rob Petrie with a woman on the side.     And, plan on Buddy Sorrell steppin' out on Pickles, too.      

       For those of us old enough to remember those days, it's a call back to our youth.       We remember "The Flintstones" firing up a Winston.      We can see our parents having "high balls" after work.      We lived with stay-at-home moms while dads did the 9-to-5 and weren't expected to do much after coming home.

         There isn't much more I can say without giving the show away.    It's an awesome, accurate time piece that rinses the early 60's of their lily-white veneer.     Sexism, racism, office politics and deceit abound, with narrow ties around necks, whiskey "neats" in hand and Marlboro smoke in the air.

         Where the truth lies, indeed.      Check it out on AMC and do the first season if you're lucky enough to have AMC OnDemand on Time Warner cable.

        And tell me what you think at mueller@620wtmj.com.

         Oliver Stone has a rather loose relationship with history.

         That said, the trailer for his latest film, "W." looks pretty compelling, if not a little loose with the facts.

        Here's Tuesday's New York Post story on what you'll see above:

AS much as the Bush family is going to hate "W.," Oliver Stone's biopic - which depicts the young Dubya boozing, brawling and getting locked up before he makes it to the White House - the Kennedy clan won't like it, either.

The first teaser for the flick - being rushed into theaters 18 days before the presidential election - begins with George Thorogood's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."

Josh Brolin, as the future commander in chief, is seen doing the bump with a hot blonde on top of a bar and then winning a drinking contest by guzzling beer through a funnel. He's also seen being hauled into jail.

Bush's dad, George H.W. Bush, portrayed by James Cromwell, slams his son's bad behavior and failed business ventures, raging: "What are you cut out for? Partying? Chasing tail? Driving drunk? Who do you think you are, a Kennedy? You're a Bush. Act like one!" Then father and son nearly come to blows as the elder threatens, "You want an ass whipping?" - to which Dubya taunts, "Try it, old man!"

In Stone's version of history, an insider says, "It's like the 'Godfather' story, [with] the outsider brother, Michael, who avenges his father and takes over the family business. This movie is about family. It's about vengeance. And it's a wild ride."

Stone trivializes the US invasion of Iraq as the younger Bush's personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein, who had thumbed his nose at Dubya's dad. "And Brolin captures the Bush malapropisms beautifully," the insider said. But the director also shows his marriage to Laura Bush (Elizabeth Banks) as "a touching love story."

In a crucial scene, the Bush family tells Dubya he can't run for Texas governor "because it's Jeb's turn." He defies their wishes and runs successfully against Democratic superstar Ann Richards, serving at the same time his brother Jeb is Florida governor.

        Leave it to me to make a bet for beer with a guy who owns a liquor store.

        My buddy Mike from Consumer Beverage in Hales Corners is an enthusiastic and knowledgable Packers fan.      Even when he's swamped at the checkout, he always finds time to talk football with me.

       So it was a few weeks ago as the first word of Brett Favre's "itch" was being made public.      This was before the Hall of Fame dinner, and the ESPY's, and Greta Van Susteren.        This was when the thought of Favre coming back was in it's primitive stages, when minds were still trying to get themselves around the fact that those March tears were just so much soiled Kleenex.      

        As Mike and I talked that night, I honestly believed that Favre, if he came back, would play again for the Packers, that there was no way Green Bay would peddle God's gift to Canton and that cooler heads would somehow prevail.         When Mike pressed me for a prediction, I blurted it out: "I think Favre will be the Pack's starting quarterback on opening night against the Vikings."

       Before Mike could say, "Cash, or charge?" he said, "No way.   I'll bet you he's anywhere but in Green Bay."     Before I knew it, I was shaking hands, with a 12 pack at stake.

       Mike may well be right.     And, if you believe SI.com writer Don Banks, that "anywhere" could well be Favre's estate near Hattiesburg, Mississippi:

         "As the days have continued to click by in the never-ending Brett Favre un-retirement saga, I've been getting the increasingly stronger hunch that the eventual outcome is going to be that Favre plays for no one in 2008. As in, stays retired. As in, never mind. As in, the mother of all much ado about nothings when everything is said and done. Thanks for coming, and keep in touch.

          Obviously the situation is about as fluid as they come -- and that's just in Favre's still indecisive mind -- but unless the Jets or Bucs convince him to accept a trade by making a passionate case for why they're a great fit for the ex-Packer, I don't think he's going to be able to talk himself into taking the plunge in either New York or Tampa Bay.

          Reading between the lines, I think two things are pretty clear by now: First, Favre completely underestimated the blowback to his belated attempt to walk into the Packers' 2008 plans at virtually the last minute, without the benefit of attending even one offseason workout. He had no idea that anyone would challenge his right to re-claim the throne in Green Bay, and he's shocked and hurt by the reaction to his attempted restoration.

         Which leads into my second observation about Favre's messy situation: He got here because he seems incapable of thinking anything out longer than 15 minutes into the future. As one NFL defensive coordinator told me this week: "He's not a guy who's ever been very reflective. He just reacts to what's in front of him. That's exactly the way he played quarterback, and that's how he's handling this. He makes it all up as he goes. Watching this story unfold is like watching him play. It's that same free-wheeling nature that he played with. He just thinks he'll figure it out on the fly, like always.''

        But I have my doubts that there's any way Favre is going under-hand shovel pass his way out of this conundrum. He wants to play. But the Packers aren't going to let him play it completely his way, as he's always done in the past. And my growing sense is that Favre won't end up playing at all.

        Banks makes two great points--that Favre grossly underestimated the lack of traction his attempted Packers return failed to generate amid Green Bay's brass (especially after his on-again/off-again/on-again gyrations in March, when Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson were all set to welcome Number Four back before Favre waived them off, saying he was staying retired) and that the Favre we see on the gridiron is the one that we're learing about in real life: instinctual, unscripted, and not given to deep thought.      Wayne Larrivee had a really good point the other day when he and I were on Dennis Krause's "Roundtable" on Time Warner Sports.    The Voice of the Packers said he knew there was something up when Favre had no real answer when asked at his retirement news conference what his future plans were.       Favre had...nothing.    

        As I write this, I'm hearing about another Favre chat with Ted Thompson, via ESPN's Chris Mortensen.     Favre says he asked Thompson if he was even welcome in the building if he'd return to Green Bay, to which Favre says Thompson told him that such a move would get Thompson fired.       Maybe I'm dense, perhaps I'm still reeling from Ned Yost's decision to leave Jeff Suppan in against the Astros in today's 11-6 Brewers loss, but I don't get what Thompson meant by that (if, indeed, that's what he said).      Didn't Thompson TELL Favre he could return, provided he'd be willing to fight Aaron Rodgers for his old job?      Why would Favre's make Thompson think he'd be canned?      Isn't this what Thompson wanted?    

       Doesn't he know about my bet with my buddy Mike at Consumer Beverage in Hales Corners?