Peace up. A-Town.

Wetberg's World: What's Happenin? That's probably the question exact question you have for me and the reason you clicked to read this blog. Another reason could be that you have an unhealthy addiction to the ins and outs of my life. Common side effects of this vary from as minimal as hourly update checks to literal shaking as you crave to read about the shenanigans I've been up to. Well if you've been shaking, you can soon be back in your happy place as I'm about to drop a fresh Wetberg right in your face. (Take it how you will). Pun intended.

Now, what've I been up to the last two weeks? Firstly, I've just been out here grinding. Secondly, I've been a full time student. When I'm not doing that, I'm just out doing what I do. I think that paints a real nice picture of my summer.

So on to the purpose of this entry. It is not to tell you about my obsession with the raunchy Usher song with the catchy beat from 2001. No, it's to share a story of a brotherhood that was re-united in one of the greatest cities in the Fox Valley region of Wisconsin: Appleton. (A-town....as the suburban white kids like to call it)....I was tempted to dub it one of the greatest cities in the world, but after many E. Libby reminders, we all know that Bloomington, MN takes that cake the way a little kid destroys one on his first birthday. B-Town is great. We get it. On to A-town!

It was a Thursday afternoon. I had a few hours of class under my belt and was fresh out of a doctor’s appointment telling me I'll be needing a minor surgery on my right knee. If this is the first time you've heard this, Adam Scheffner is not doing his job very well on the NFL Network. I tried calling it in to ESPN as breaking news, but they were too busy showing the same ground-out that Jim Joyce blew that cost a dude a perfect game. Atta kid Jim. I don't know the name of a single major league baseball ump, but thanks for putting yourself out there as the worst ump I've ever seen. ESPN makes some good efforts to talk you up, but then repeatedly exposes you for making the worst call of your life, then goes on to show you crying on national TV. I feel for you, but the punishment fits the crime. Sorry for the long baseball rant, but this rant has been a great transition to my trip to A-town.

My day had been average. After not caring about class, receiving the package from the doctor, and my overall disappointment with Adam Scheffner and Jim Joyce, I was ready for a bright spot in my day. 4 short hours of driving and alternating between Jay-Z, and Chris Tomlin led me to that bright spot I had been waiting for. I arrived at the baseball stadium of the Brewers minor league team: The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

As I approached the entrance door I saw him and began to hear a one-man round of applause. I had reunited with my good college friend, Gary who was beaming from ear to ear. Correction: this was not college Gary. This was Gary minus 17 pounds. I was so proud of him as I held him in our embracing hug. (no homo) I can't decide what I was happier about, Gary's commitment to fitness, or that I had just saved my $5 admission fee by walking in during the 3rd inning. (In your face T-Rats)

As we walked in to the stadium, I heard the chatter of 1000 baseball fans, and smelled about 2000 glasses of beer. (The T-Rat fans were either doing some serious double-fisting, or they all decided to cake on their Miller Light Cologne during pregame. The place just reeked of Wisconsin.

We got to our seats, and waiting for us were four friendly faces. Two twin girls that Gary was friends from in high school, a good guy-friend of his, and the man of the next hour, my former roommate, my current teammate, my point guard, WQ member, the grime master himself: Ellis.

It was a picture perfect night. The lights were bright. There was some quality single A minor league baseball happening. We were hanging with some good friends. Then...all of a sudden....the night got even better:

Being a minor league team, the T-Rats had to have a bunch of contest, drawings, games, and other between innings festivities. I was really bummed when I didn't win the buy one get one free coupon for a Taco Bell Crunch Wrap. (Over a $2 Value!!)

Between one of the innings, was the Bratzooka bombing. I've been to MN Twins games where they shoot T-shirts into the crowd for a lucky fan, but not the T-Rats...They were bombing foil wrapped brats! We were on our feet jumping and waving our hands like 13 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Then a brat launched high into the sky. The drunks were stretching out to snag the flying brat, and I said to Ellis, "Dude this one's coming for us!" That being said, Lib removed his "White man can't jump hat.(Usually a hideous adjustable hat that was popular in the early 1990s. Now you see them at garage sales for $.50. He flaunts it backwards on the back of his head..."his swag") As the brat arched down towards us, Ellis reached his arm back well into the vacant row behind us and made a miraculous catch. Next thing we know, a camera man is in our face, and we are on the big screen. Lib and Wetberg...in HD.

With Lib as the main attraction for his incredible brat catch, I was in the secondary friend role. I did the right thing by dishing out high fives, and acting like we won the lottery. Looking back at it, I wish I had pulled a Mark Titus after winning the Big Ten Championship and just made some ridiculous faces into the camera as Thad Matta was interviewed...Class Act shark!

As we celebrated with him, an inning came an went. We watched a few more innings of baseball and eventually opted to have a big night, NWC style. So sure enough, within fifteen minutes we were hittin' the Bees! (going to Applebees for half price apps)

The girls we were with were not as Bees savvy as we had become after many trips last year. I knew which half-price appetizer I was going with before I entered the family friendly establishment. In fact, I'd like to attribute 2 pounds out of my freshman 15 to Applebees. The next 8 goes to Cafe Naz and their weird food. The final 5 pounds is split between shoppers value Ice Cream and sweets sent in care packages by loved ones of the WQ. (Thanks Claire and Barbara).

12 hot wings later, we said our goodbyes, went back to the G-Zil pad/mansion and immediately hopped on facebook. Everything just seemed so right. It felt like nearly every single night as an NWC Eagle. Moyer 5D had been reunited. After a few minutes of facebook creeping, we all decided to call it a night. We had just been apart for almost a month, and within hours, we were right back in stride.

This was just the first half of my trip though. This was Lib+Lance+Gary night. We went big. I'm going to cut this blog off here and hopefully have the next night's festivities up soon.

I hope this answers any questions of What's happenin in Wetberg's World.

Until next time my friends,

Stay wet and God Bless,

Wetberg