Rich's sometimes disjointed rambling

American Legion baseball in Wyoming, for the most part, has been fairly civil. Of course, they are having their problems in Casper these days and hopefully they can get through them. But Casper's problems are nothing compare to what is going on in Rapid City, S.D. About 10 years ago, the Legion programs split -- Post 22 and Post 320. It has turned into a feud worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys. Post 22 refuses to play Post 320 in the regular season and they have met a few times in the postseason. Post 22 has traditionally been one of the top programs, not only in the region, but in the country. Post 320 has never beat Post 22. This season, however, is a little different, as Post 22 has struggled to a sub .500 season, with Post 320 accumulating over 40 wins. All year long, the talk in Rapid City has been: "Is the year Post 320 finally beats Post 22?" The two could collide again this week in the regional tournament in Pierre. For more on the soap opera, check out the sto...

The Laramie Little League All-Stars will head for San Bernardino , Calif., on Wednesday for the annual Northwest Regional Little League Tournament at Al Houghton Stadium. Soak it in boys. Laramie teams competing at the regional tournament have been almost automatic, at least in the last few years. In fact, Laramie has qualified for the tournament (either Northwest or Western) more than any other program (15) . The two tournaments run simultaneously at Al Houghton Stadium. Of course, the main reason they go is to play baseball. The ultimate prize is a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport , Pa. What the Laramie Little Leaguers will remember the most is the trip, the atmosphere. For many, it will be their first trip to Cali. Along with at least four games, the youngsters will get to see the sights, like Disneyland, the Pacific Ocean and maybe a Dodgers or Angels game. They'll be at the stadium dormitory that all teams stay at. There's ping pong and a swimmi...

I get asked now and again why I am a Green Bay Packers fan. I’m especially asked by those who know I am a Minnesota Twins fan. They assume that I like the Vikings as well. That’s not the case. With this whole Brett Favre soap opera ongoing, I’ve been asked my opinion more than I care to talk about it, whether it is personally or on the air on Sportsline Live. This might be the easiest way to explain things. Last fall, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel asked readers why they were Packers fan on their Web site. I couldn’t even begin to count how many responses were published. I’d day several hundred. Mine was one of them. So, instead of trying to explain it once again, I’ll just copy my response that was published. Here it is: “Although I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota and have lived in Wyoming for over 20 years, I've been a Packers fan since I was a young boy. “My father was born and raised in Wisconsin and I still have family there. Although he wasn't a huge football f...

There's no doubt that the Laramie area needed rain. My lawn desperately needed some non-watering moisture. But one thing that does not bode well with rain is baseball. The Laramie Rangers AA American Legion baseball team is finding out the hard way. The Rangers were to play Cheyenne Post 6 Wednesday night in a single 9-inning game at Cowboy Field. A heavy rainstorm earlier in the afternoon took care of that. Despite the gallant efforts of the Laramie coaches and volunteers -- they had hoped to get the game in Thursday at 11 a.m. Once again, no dice. Although it hadn't rained since Wednesday, the fields were just in too bad of shape to play ... not only for the good of the fields, but for the good of the players' health. There are some bummed- out people about the most recent cancellation , including Rangers' manager Sean McKinney, his coaching staff and his players; KOWB broadcaster David Settle and yours truly. We all wanted to see that game. Why you ask? The se...

Let the preseason hype begin. Many of the media types are gathering in Las Vegas Monday and Tuesday for the annual Mountain West Conference Media Days. Yours truly, however, remains in Laramie where I enjoyed Monday afternoon's rain and thunderstorm. As is usually the case in these media events, if you don't have BYU or Utah listed somewhere in your school's name, then good luck. As is the case, Wyoming is only spelled one way. The Cowboys were picked fifth by the media, which is exactly what I expected. I think the best the Cowboys could have done was fourth, as New Mexico and UW are close to a toss-up. I can't say I can disagree with the first five picks, as BYU and Utah are likely the head of the class, with TCU third. From that point on, it's probably anybody's guess. Individually, guess what? BYU and Utah dominated the preseason team as well. Wyoming's representatives -- linebacker Ward Dobbs , defensive lineman John Fletcher and return specia...

If you're wondering what former UW basketball star Josh Davis is up to these days, he's still plugging away in his attempt to get back to the NBA. This week Davis is playing for Portland in the Vegas Summer League. Last week he was with Indiana in the Orlando Summer League. Davis, now 28, has had a relatively eventful post-Wyoming basketball career, even if he hasn't been able to stick in the NBA. To read more about Davis, click on to this link by Ron Kantowski in the Las Vegas Sun: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jul/16/contented-yet-still-hoping-another-shot/

First of all, let it be known: I bleed Packers' Green and Yellow and Brett Favre will always be one of my favorites, if not my favorite Packer. But the Favre fiasco reeks. It reeks because of Favre and the way he has handled the situation, and on a lesser note, it reeks because of the way the Packers' management has been somewhat silent on the whole affair. I don't blame Favre for wanting to come back and play. I would probably prefer that No. 4 be the QB this season. There's no doubt in my mind that he is still one of the best QBs in the NFL. At the same time, it is disappointing to me that possibly the greatest Packer of them all has to hide behind text messages to reporters, his agent and the constant rumors that the national media prey on. He just as well get his own reality show on the E Network. Granted, you can take this as reality or rumor, mainly because Favre , at this time, and the Packers, aren't talking. But apparently after his "heart tuggin...

I'd say the countdown to the 2008 Wyoming football season is officially underway, as the Cowboys report in less than a month. The UW sports information department released is preseason outlook on its Website on Tuesday, so to read more, click below: http://wyomingathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/070808aab.html