Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre received 1,140,863 votes to lead all NFL All-Stars in balloting for the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl. There was a record 83.7 million votes cast, nearly 14 million more votes cast than last year.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ranks second overall while Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss round out the top five.
The AFC and NFC All-Star squads are made up of the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third towards determining the 43-man rosters that represent the American Football Conference and National Football Conference in the Pro Bowl. NFL players and coaches are casting their votes this weekend.
The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams. It was the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting in 1995.
The teams will be announced at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. The Pro Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, February 10.



NFL ALL-STAR TOP 10 OFFENSIVE & DEFENSIVE VOTE-GETTERS
TOP TEN OFFENSIVE TOP TEN DEFENSIVE

Pos. Name, Team Votes
QB Brett Favre, Packers 1,140,863
QB Tom Brady, Patriots 1,037,608 
QB Peyton Manning, Colts 991,418 
QB Tony Romo, Cowboys 830,789 
WR Randy Moss, Patriots 806,455 
RB Adrian Peterson, Vikings 753,294
WR Terrell Owens, Cowboys 700,779
RB Joseph Addai, Colts 698,484 
RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers 606,381
TE Jason Witten, Cowboys 596,867

Pos. Name, Team Votes
DE Dwight Freeney, Colts 413,999
OLB DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys 385,031
OLB A.J. Hawk, Packers 355,420
DE Osi Umenyiora, Giants 350,148
CB Charles Woodson, Packers 348,063
OLB Shawne Merriman, Chargers 337,150
CB Al Harris, Packers 329,745
ILB Brian Urlacher, Bears 325,073
OLB Mike Vrabel, Patriots 321,742

NFL ALL-STAR TOP FIVE ROOKIE VOTE-GETTERS
Pos. Name, Team Votes
RB Adrian Peterson, Vikings 753,294
K Nick Folk, Cowboys 263,635
T Tony Ugoh, Colts 187,802
K Mason Crosby, Packers 174,038
T Joe Thomas 166,599

NFC LEADING VOTE-GETTERS
Pos. Name, Team Votes
QB Brett Favre, Packers 1,140,863
RB Adrian Peterson, Vikings 753,294
FB Tony Richardson, Vikings 204,168
WR Terrell Owens, Cowboys 700,779
TE Jason Witten, Cowboys 596,867 
T Flozell Adams, Cowboys 370,073 
G Leonard Davis, Cowboys 330,942
C Andre Gurode, Cowboys 321,511 


Pos. Name, Team Votes
DE Osi Umenyiora, Giants 350,148
IL Tommie Harris, Bears 207,686
OLB DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys 385,031
ILB Brian Urlacher, Bears 325,073
CB Charles Woodson, Packers 348,063
SS Roy Williams, Cowboys 271,505
FS Sean Taylor, Redskins 258,544
P Mat McBriar, Cowboys 224,345
K Nick Folk, Cowboys 263,635
ST Brendon Ayanbadejo, Bears 226,962
KR Devin Hester, Bears 607,075

In varsity girl's basketball, Sturgeon Bay continued to show improvement in a 60-22 win against Oconto. Sareae Schmelzer led all scorers with 15 and senior captain Sarah McCauley added 13. The underclassmen played a big role in the outcome as well. Kelly Curtain and Lauren Rose each scored eight points in the game. Sturgeon Bay is now (2-2) in Packerland Conference play.

The Kewaunee girl's also won by a large margin 64-27 over Gibraltar. They stormed out of the gates with 19 points in the first quarter. Holly Berkezitz wracked up 18 points and four assists, Kari Wotachek scored 17 along with 10 rebounds and Chelsea Selner added 10. The win moves Kewaunee to (3-3) overall and (3-1) in conference play. The Vikings were paced by Molly Dixon's 10-point performance.

Southern Door blew out NEW Lutheran 62-27. Eight players scored five or more points for the Eagles. Kailyn Thayse led the scoring attack with 10 points. The game got off to a slow start with a 5-4 score after one quarter of play. The Eagles exploded in the third and fourth scoring 45 points.

Algoma crushed Sevastopol 58-25. Post player Kiah Simon scored 17 points and point guard Sam Zastrow poured in 15 as Algoma improved to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the Packerland. The Pioneers fell to 2-2 overall.

In Bay Conference action, Luxemburg-Casco topped New London 44-33. Katlin LeGrave led the Spartans with 13 points and nine steals. The win was the first of the season for L-C. After trailing by five at the half, Coach Brett Killion's young team blitzed the Bulldogs 19-3 in the third quarter. Luxemburg-Casco's Kelly Kinnard scored 9, Kim Mleziva 7 and April LeGrave 6 in the Spartan win.

The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame announced former nose tackle Gilbert Brown, center Frank Winters and video director Al Treml will be inducted into the Hall at the 38th Hall of Fame Induction Banquet. This year's event will be held the evening of July 19, 2008, in the Lambeau Field Atrium.
Gilbert Brown was a fan favorite during his 10-year career. He was one of the greatest run stuffers of his era. Brown is one of four true defensive linemen to have played 10 seasons for the Packers. Only Dave Hanner, Henry Jordan and Ezra Johnson played longer in a Green Bay uniform. Brown played 125 Packers games (103 starts) recording 292 tackles (186 solo) and seven sacks.
Nicknamed “The Gravedigger,” in honor of his celebratory dance following a thunderous tackle, Brown played in 15 Packers playoff games. He was a major contributor on strong defenses during the mid 1990s. His best season was 1996, when Green Bay won Super Bowl XXXI.
Frank Winters also had a fitting nickname, "bag of doughnuts." Winters will be remembered as a hard-nosed athlete who was one of Brett Favre’s best friends. During his 11-year Packers career, he became one the NFL’s top centers after spending his first five years in the NFL primarily as a long snapper. He earned USA Today All-Pro honors in 1999 and went to the Pro Bowl in 1996.
Winters was the only Packers offensive lineman to play in the Pro Bowl in an 18-year span, since Larry McCarren was named to the NFC squad in 1983. Along the way, he demonstrated his great durability by starting every game in five of his 10 seasons with Green Bay (1993-96, 1999).
Al Treml will enter the Packers Hall of Fame after serving as the team’s video director from 1967 to 2001.

Sturgeon Bay boy's basketball coach Jim Benesh was my guest last night on the Sports Page on 104.1 FM WRLU. The Clippers are coming off an emotional win in Gibraltar on Tuesday night. The 50-47 final was possible because of strong free throw shooting and rebounding down the stretch. Sturgeon Bay will host the up and coming Oconto Blue Devils on Friday. Benesh urged fans to come out to the game. It is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
Joe Witt from Witt Ford joined me for the final 45 minutes of the broadcast and previewed the Packers vs. Rams match up this weekend. Joe will be at the game and will be giving us a complete summary on the game next week.
The Sports Page is broadcast from the Ladder House on 104.1 FM WRLU every Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m.

Free Throws Prove Costly For Gibraltar

In a game broadcasted on 105.1FM WSBW Tuesday night in Fish Creek, the Sturgeon Bay Clippers hung on to defeat the Gibraltar Vikings 50-47 in Boys Packerland Conference Basketball. Gibraltar took a 28-21 lead into halftime on a
three point shot by Sam Ausloos, but Sturgeon Bay responded with a three-quarter courtpress that forced numerous turnovers and scoring opportunities for the Clippers. Sturgeon Bay outscored Gibraltar 19-10 to take a two point lead into the fourth quarter. The see-saw affair
came down to free throws with 1.7 seconds left. Viking's Dusty Johnson made one of two free throws to cut the lead to one, but Matt Brauer hit both of his free throws to seal the win for the Clippers. Gibraltar (0-3, 1-3 overall) was led by Kelly Smethurst with 10 points, while Simon Rabas led the way for Sturgeon Bay (2-2, 2-4 overall) with 17 points.

In Boys Packerland Conference basketball action it was Kewaunee over Algoma by the score of 42 to 37. Tyler Thompson led the scoring for Kewaunee with 18 points and Mark Latour added 16 in the win.

For Algoma it was Eric Ackermann having a big night as he lead all scoring with 23 points, he was helped out in this area by Craig Harmann as he pitched in 8 points in the loss. Algoma’s next game will be at Sevastopol in conference play Friday December 14th.

Jared Spude increased his lead atop the Packerland Conference scoring list last night with a 19-point performance to catapult Southern Door to a 47-37 win over Sevastopol. The Pioneers responded after an offensive drought in the first half. The team managed only seven first-half points. Coach Phil Symmons must have gotten the point across in the locker room. Sevastopol scored 17 in the third quarter.
The Eagles Michael Blizel and Derek Tassoul each added 10 points and proved too much for Sevastopol. Southern Door remains perfect in conference play and (5-1) overall.
Cam Fuller and Kyle Fehl scored 12 points a piece for the Pioneers who fell to (1-2) in the conference.


Oconto Blue Devils - 68
NEW Lutheran - 39

Last night in Manitowoc, junior Sam Zastrow scored 25 points to lead the Algoma Wolves to a 65-41 win against non-conference foe Manitowoc Lutheran. Zastrow sank three 3-pointers and handed out seven assists. Kiah Simon benefited from the precision passing and scored 16. Algoma has earned a (5-0) start and is the favorite in the Packerland Conference heading into week three of the season.

Sturgeon Bay and Gibraltar will square off tonight in varsity boy's basketball on 104.1 FM WRLU and 105.1 FM WSBW. The Clippers have showed improvement under head coach Jim Benesh. Simon Rabas, Cody Hollenbeck and Tanner Dvorak lead the scoring surge for the Clippers. Gibraltar rookie head coach Myles Dannhausen is working hard to get his athletes to buy into the new system.
Pre-game coverage of the boy's basketball game will begin at 7:15 p.m. The game will tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m.