Transcript
Festive Lights and Hockey Fights (Hour 1)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Fri Dec 12, 2025
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Welcome to Night Light, ladies and gentlemen.
Happy Friday, everybody.
You made it.
We all made it.
It's a Friday before Christmas.
Beautiful night here in Wisconsin.
Gorgeous night in downtown Green Bay.
A little chilly.
But we'll get through it.
We're inside.
We're at sunny and 70 all the time.
And we've got a great show for you tonight, folks.
Welcome to Night Light.
Lots of fun lots of guests tonight.
I'm gonna welcome like five guests over the course of three hours Doesn't actually sound like that many when you say I like that but five guests.
It's a bar ban Friday night Got some funny power ball.
Is it a million bucks?
So if you're on the way home, and you got that kind of money One boo koo Dolores you can buy a lottery ticket change your whole life or Use a saw book and you get ten of them
Doesn't really increase your odds that much you could I guess you could say technically it increases your odds tenfold But that doesn't really mean anything when there's a billion bucks and billions of people buying lottery tickets That is the voice of Conrad Krieger.
How you doing tonight con?
Ridiculous in
Why does the windshield always make it colder?
Can't the wind ever just come in be warm and breezy and like don't raise the the
Yeah So it is gonna be a very cold weekend out there folks.
So be careful take precautions Whatever you do are the Packers in town this week.
They're in Denver.
Okay?
Are you serious?
Yeah.
That's so unfair.
Road trip.
You know, they have more sunny days a year in Denver than they do anywhere else in America.
Even Southern California, Florida.
Well, Florida gets a lot of rain, but they have their fairest sunshine.
But like, San Diego, California supposedly has the best weather.
but they don't have as many sunshine days per year as Denver.
So how do you like that?
And I remember growing up watching, like, football games.
Denver Broncos, oh, it's snow.
And then I would work, when I was a comedian in the 90s, I would work with comics from Denver and they would go, oh, it is so cold in Chicago.
And I was like, wait a minute, I've seen Denver.
And it's not that cold, they get snow.
but they don't get the cold we get, and I thought they did because of the mountains.
So it was a learning experience for me, Conrad, about our geography and our meteorology as it were.
Anyway, it is going to be a cold weekend, so be careful out there and... Just bundle up,
Bundle up.
Good advice.
Lots of stuff going on though.
We've got, in just a couple minutes, I'm going to tell you where you can see the best Christmas light displays in Wisconsin.
We're going to put that to music, ladies and gentlemen.
little increasing your production value a little bit here at Nightlight tonight.
So we'll do that.
It's our last night of text to win.
And you guys have outperformed yourselves because we've, I just found out we've had more entries this year, well during this contest than we have in any of our previous contests.
So that's exciting.
People winning money.
and rolling in the grand prize giveaway, which is fun.
We'll do all that in just a few minutes.
We've got a great question of the night.
You know what, let's break out the question a little early tonight and get right to it because it's Christmas related.
Here's your nightlight question of the night.
Let's talk about the question.
Okay, question.
Question.
What's your favorite Christmas song?
We asked this last year and we asked it the year before when we had just gotten on the air You know we kind of make fun of Christmas music sometimes and I think about a week ago We asked what is your least favorite or what don't you ever need to hear again tonight?
Let's be positive.
What is your favorite Christmas Carol or song or piece of music however you want to?
However you want to answer is fine with us.
8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2-8-5-5-7-5 Civic.
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Always fun to read your comments, no matter how they get to us, folks.
Conrad sent me, where did you find this mug root?
I've never,
that.
Shepherd Express.
All right.
It's kind of gross.
Quick.
Here's what it's I was going to read it verbatim.
Get your Christmas order in before December 11th.
Too late.
For mug root beers, limited edition cologne.
daddy's home.
Fox 5 Atlanta reported on December 3rd that the company is for the first time detouring into personal care with the scent, which includes the aromas of cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, and caramel.
It's the kind of scent that whispers, come to papa, to dogs, and dogs alike, to DOGS and DAWGS alike, the company said.
The package includes a 1.7 ounce cologne and a 10 pack of mug root beer Just don't put the wrong thing on Minicans for the low low price of 15 bucks Daddy's home by mug root beer is for our diehard mug fans who believe root beer rules every sense not just taste Look, I love root beer.
This is awful Whoever you don't you don't know what this should be fired
And what is that meeting like you come in all right?
We're okay.
Let's spit ball here.
Let's brainstorm.
How about if we put out a cologne?
Well, we make root beer.
I know but boss hear me out.
We've got cologne that smells like root beer Really gross
like hot dog water and you fell for that one hook line in sinker last summer and then you got me on board
close at seven smell like a hot dog then put on some mug root beer He says get yourself a hot dog and a root beer.
please
Or
A pit bull?
Okay, that's
the alpha daddy drinks mug root beer that doesn't even have caffeine Who you know who's gonna who are you attracting?
Do are there people our girls in society seeking out actively guys who like root beer
and smell like it This is
I think what we need to do is come up with a nightlight scent
me and I smelled dynamite
It's just so awful.
It's such a bad idea Yeah, I guarantee this guy will be fired or girl.
Maybe it's a girl who wants her guys to smell like root beer.
It's so stupid It's an adult what they worked in a root beer a dog
And then the creepy
Daddy's home.
No, that's not nobody asked for this Daddy's home come over here and hump my leg and let me down a mug This is awful The package includes a 1.7 ounce cologne and a 10 pack of mug root beer mini cans by the way for the low price of 15 bucks.
Look, it's affordable.
I like that
It's a sensible price.
But the daddy's home thing, the daddy thing is really creepy.
Good find, Kyle.
You gotta buy a bottle.
Let's get some of this, and Sydney Sweeney's soap, and we will smell like a million bucks.
and it says... This is a joke, I'm gonna be really upset with you.
It
They only made 966 vials of the vial smell.
That's just terrible.
people even probably used it.
Oh, that's hilarious.
So this was interesting.
I found this today on USA Today Wisconsin.
Where are my notes?
We're not doing so well.
Actually, we are doing well.
When it comes to lighting.
Where are my notes?
I thought this was kind of cool.
We're like seventh in Christmas tree lights.
thought it was like a statewide thing
yeah the circle of lights
light up the holidays.
All these different, they have the 10 best light, lit Christmas lit cities.
And Madison was number seven.
That's kind of cool.
That's really cool.
I mean, and that's kind of plays into what we're doing here after the break.
We're going to come back.
I'm going to tell you where the best light displays are in Wisconsin.
And we've got some fun music.
That's courtesy of Jamie too, right?
Yeah.
Jamie sent us all that.
Oh yeah.
I thought that was great.
I love Christmas lights.
But right now folks, it's time to play.
One of our final two hours, we are down to two hours left in our grown-up gift list, multi-state text-to-win contest here at Civic Media.
You only need the app to play.
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Now.
If you send us the keyword, even if you don't win the 200 bucks in cash, you're automatically enrolled for the grand prize.
There are three of them.
A brand new snowblower, a stainless steel cookware set, and a portable air conditioner.
Con, what happens when they get a confirmation link after sending in said keyword?
chances.
Very easy to do.
And if you're on any of these platforms anyway, folks, especially Facebook, we'd love it if you give us a like or a follow.
But good luck, everybody.
And this hour's keyword, we are down to two keywords left is toast.
T-O-A-S-T toast.
As in let's toast to the holidays.
Or how about a nice piece of toast?
T-O-A-S-T.
I like toast too, but I never eat it.
butter.
You know what I had when I had when I do have toast I eat it with I make cinnamon toast.
I put butter on it.
Oh, yes.
Some cinnamon sugar, baby.
So good.
So good luck everybody.
I hope I hope some nightlight listeners win because you guys been texting in like fiends and it's fantastic and it's been a lot of fun.
When we come back, we're going to tell you where the best light shows are in Wisconsin.
Madison is seventh in the nation, apparently, according to USA Today.
We'll do that when we come back and maybe read some text.
We'll see how it goes.
No promises.
It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media radio network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
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started.
We get some good local news and some bad local news around the holidays.
And last night we reported that Wisconsin is one of the riskiest states to celebrate Christmas in.
We are second in the nation, only behind Vermont, behind only Vermont.
It says Vermont ranks first for a few reasons.
Driving conditions are a big one, why it's unsafe around the holidays.
because the chances of it being a white Christmas are basically 100%.
And I said this last night, we never went back to it though, Wisconsin, the top risk factor is drinking rates.
We do have that issue here.
But however, when it comes to lights, Madison, according to USAA, USAA, according to my insurance company, USA Today says Madison, Wisconsin is the seventh best well-lit.
city around the holidays.
So that's kind of cool.
So it got me thinking, we've got such beautiful areas here.
I call, I think Wisconsin is just like the Christmas day.
Probably going back to when I was young, I loved to come to Wisconsin around the holidays or in the summer for that matter.
But, and I called Marinette somewhat jokingly, Christmas City, USA, because where I love, because where I live there and I love Christmas.
So right now we are going to give you
If you're looking for places to take the kids or just go see some nice light shows, we've got it all right here.
And this is our little segment.
We didn't really name this segment, Con.
Light Up Wisconsin.
You got some music for me?
Light Up Wisconsin with Nightlight.
Light Up Wisconsin.
Compliments of Nightlight.
Spelled two different ways.
Don't get confused, folks.
We've got all the news here.
We'll start with Green Bay whenever counter it has our background music.
There we go.
Thank you to Jamie Martinson for compiling this list.
If you're in Green Bay, WPS Garden of Lights, the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.
This runs through December 30th.
So if you're here in Green Bay, check out the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.
beautiful year-round, but especially at this time of year.
Also, Festival of Trees at the National Railroad Museum.
Have you been there?
is one of my favorite museums in the world.
Go see the big boy, the California Pacific.
Beautiful.
Oshkosh has the celebration of lights at the EAA grounds.
Well, you couldn't ask for a better setting for Christmas lights than the EAA grounds.
That goes through December 31st.
The National Railroad Museum, by the way, goes through January 4th, so you have a little extra time.
Also in Oshkosh, Nutcracker in the Castle at the Payne Arts Center and Gardens.
This runs through January 5th.
In Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival, downtown, Milwaukee is gorgeous at Christmas time.
This runs through the first...
It's probably on a lot of these websites, too, if you just go to the city.
But we're trying to help you out here.
Give you some direction, folks.
Christmas at the Papst Mansion, that says holidays.
This runs through January 4th.
Check that out.
And now to our state capital, Madison, which is the seventh ranked overall.
So you know these light shows will be beautiful.
Christmas at the capital, in the capital, Rotunda, runs through January 7th, our beautiful state capital.
Holiday Fantasy in Lights in Olin Park runs through December 31st.
Beautiful spots in Madison.
Check those out.
And if I'm going too fast, folks, or something does catch your interest, be sure and go to civicmedia.us and listen to the podcast.
All these shows are catalogued in podcast form.
Wisconsin Rapids has the Festival of Trees at the Masonic Temple that runs through... Actually, that one's already over.
You were all set.
You're just getting yourself a ticket.
That can't be right.
Runs through December 7th?
Hmm.
What was that record scratch?
Are we done?
Is the party over?
It's over.
Well, you got to fire that music up again, buddy.
I got a couple more of these.
Richland Center, the Rotary Lights and the... That sounds funny when you just play the same song.
Richland Center rotary lights in the park at that runs through December 31st beautiful Richland Center and then Eau Claire you're listening in Eau Claire on the tap They've got the Pull that apart there lights in the valley at the Exo Center grounds that runs through January 2nd I love that these go past Christmas because a lot of times you're too busy before the holidays to take a leisurely drive So it's nice that these go past the holidays a little bit in Amory miracle at Big Rock, St.
Croix Falls
through January 3rd.
Check that out.
Miracle at Big Rock.
I've actually heard about that one before.
That sounds fantastic.
And then in Hayward, you got Christmas in Hayward, downtown Hayward, Saturdays through the 20th.
So you have a few more days.
You got about a week.
So check that out.
And finally, in Chippewa Falls, Irving Park Christmas Village in Irving Park runs through January 1st.
Enjoy our beautiful state, folks, and some of the lights that we put up around the state.
Coincidentally around where nightly broadcast so check all those out and Merry Christmas everybody We've got a great guest tonight folks coming up Conrad left his post so we are stuck with this karaoke version of holiday road yet again We've been done with a bit con for two minutes and
Listening to that awful song.
Hey, in just a few minutes, folks, this is fun.
We've got Jeff Mitchell.
He's the president of the Green Bay Gamblers.
He will be here in just a few minutes after the news.
Ben McVane from McVane Fairyer Service.
He is raising, he is taking food to food pantries all around the state.
We're gonna talk to Ben at 610.
Mary Rodey from Broadway, Inc.
here in Green Bay, on Broadway, Inc.
Ink on Broadway Ink.
She will be in studio as well, as Jeff Mitchell will, and she's going to tell us all about Christmas in downtown Green Bay.
Sean Katzenback, we had him scheduled the other night.
He couldn't make it, so Conrad filled in and did his best Sean Katzenback impression.
But we actually have the real Sean tonight.
He will be here at 7.10, and then it is a bar band Friday night.
Terry Barr dropping by 7.35.
Do you see Page Cli- You're very funny.
That's like our bit with the, with the speech from Adrian.
Paige Cleaver is one of the featured artists tonight from Terry Lark.
12 years old, and her new song is outstanding.
And then Tyler S.J., I believe is his name.
So she's got great music.
It's always fun to talk to Terry.
That is basically your night here at Nightlight.
I will remind you of the keyword very shortly, but our question of the night, what is your favorite
Christmas song.
Let us know.
Text us.
Go to social media.
Just get ahold of us one way or the other, folks.
It's great to have you here.
Happy Friday and Merry Christmas.
It's Peach Waba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Hi, this is Danny Slate, and you are listening to Night Light with Pete Schwabba.
Welcome
back.
I'm Pete Schwabba.
This is Night Light.
Good to have you here, folks.
Our question of the night is, what is your favorite Christmas song, Carol, piece of music, however you want to answer it?
Lot of ways to approach that so let us know and we will read your text on the radio Con who was that?
I didn't have my headphones on in time.
while.
Yeah, did you play the Lauren Holly
Did you get it from?
because yesterday we talked about Well, yes We'll ask Jeff what he thinks about this, but we've got a very
Northeast Wisconsin heavy show tonight.
We've got a lot of guests talking about a lot of fun events happening in Northeast Wisconsin.
And then, of course, Terri Barr will be here in hour number three for Bar Band Friday night.
She's got great music this week, as she always does, but we'll talk to Terri a little later.
Right now, it is my pleasure to welcome back to Night Light, the president.
I just call him El Presidente.
I hope that's okay.
Jeff Mitchell of the Green Bay Gamblers.
Hey, buddy.
Hey, Lauren Holly,
Smoke
Show.
She is.
Big fan.
Big fan.
She is so nice and yes, very beautiful.
And she, last night on the show, Jeff, we talked about how she called out Kelsey Grammer and said that Kelsey Grammer on the set of Down Periscope in 1996 was constantly farting.
And
he has that reputation.
And since she said that last night, we talked about that in the air.
Two people have texted and said they have a friend who worked on a movie said, the guy's got a problem.
Like, do you have that?
Flagellants.
Flagellants.
At the gamblers, do you have anybody
in the
administrative team?
I don't.
Okay,
good.
So I know Lauren Holly was in a movie called Beautiful Girls.
Oh, yeah.
I'm
originally from Whiteburn Lake, Minnesota.
That was filmed in Stillwater.
Oh, cool.
Which is just
the town next to us, so.
You haven't seen an awesome movie.
Yeah.
Awesome movie.
I remember that movie.
It was very two for a rewatch on that actually.
That's
cool.
But yeah, we don't have that issue with the Gambino's, but you know.
Is that part of the screen?
Frazier Crane,
I guess,
when you're at Cheers that long.
He's a good actor, but you're going to pay the price.
I
guess you're going to pay the
price.
So this is kind of fun.
We saw this earlier.
We were talking about this mug root beer.
Are you a Cologne
guy?
That is high karate
with that.
Oh, man.
Musk, anything with
musk.
Jeff, I cannot believe you said high karate.
I had friends in college that somehow got there.
mitts on like a whole case of it and we used to have these disco parties and it's so weird to think like when I was in college disco was just like six years old
it wasn't
even around like it was just around and we would they would play this disco music and they would start dousing everybody with high karate and that did not wear off that lasted a long time
Hey, it's the 70s, right?
Is that the
last kind of colonial
war?
Well, so my high karate story is when I was a kid I stole my dad's bottle high karate and put it in my locker and it broke They're
my teachers or whatever like it smells like high karate.
I'd be like that'd be me But yeah, you know again, it was like the gift right it's like that old spice or that old English leather
I think
it was just
called Old English.
I think it was.
Yeah, it was really bad.
It was bad.
But Icarati was great because you had, I think on the bottle, you had like two karate hands coming in.
You did, you did.
It was like, what does that have to do with it?
That has as much to do with smelling good as mug root beer does.
I don't understand that at all.
That's a fact.
That's a fact.
That's terrible.
Do you have a favorite Christmas Carol, Ben?
Or Jeff, sorry.
You know, it's like...
Christmas is such a cool time of year.
I mean it's in Pete I know you have children and you know as they get older you kind of forget like when they're at the age when Santa Claus is very real and it's fun but yeah I mean you know it's a big thing like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer you know George Michael last Christmas oh yeah Paul McCartney Christmas time but
Yeah, I mean, that's your childhood, right?
You remember those songs, and when they come up, you're like, yeah, you kind of remember the time and place you were at, and I think that's what makes it cool.
Totally.
For me, that's probably why I like certain Christmas carols over the other.
Totally with you.
I had my dad used to sing.
Oh, holy night at church.
Okay, so I have great memories of that song I'm one of the this is very I don't know how this is a polarizing song with the Mariah Carey one I love the Mariah Carey one
and
there are people listeners.
It's please don't play that They hate it and then I remember my grandma saying when my grandpa went to World War two I'll be home for Christmas was what they celebrated or talked about so I I got a soft spot in my heart for that one, too So yeah, you're right.
They're just they take you back
Yeah.
No, for sure.
For sure.
Let's get down to the story here.
The Green Bay gamblers.
How are things going?
And tell us a little bit about you, Jeff, if people don't remember last time you were here.
Because last time you were here, we were talking about booze and Old Fashion Fest.
Yeah.
So I don't want people to get their signals crossed.
You were the president of the Green Bay gamblers.
Well, I think booze and the gamblers kind of go hand in hand.
But you know, the gamblers, is there a 30-second season in Green Bay?
We've been here since 1994.
I mean, just as a tradition, our fan base is strong.
For those people on the hockey end, our kids come from all over the US, Canada, the world.
Right now, we have kids from 10 different states, Canada, Sweden, Russia,
Czech Republic,
Slovakia.
Again, our big thing is too is the promotion end of it.
Like tomorrow we have the Glam Band playing a post-game concert.
We have a
candy cane trail.
We have Santa Claus.
It's family night with discounted concessions.
So the Gambler's brand I think is really, hey, the product on the ice is phenomenal, but it's also the entertainment and us to draw you in.
So even if you're not a hockey fan or don't know a lot about it, you're gonna come to a game and go like, dude, that was a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed that and I'm not broke.
Yeah, well, that's exactly, we'll talk about that too, how affordable some of the minor league sports are because professional, I mean, it's insanity.
It's like, I mean, they price so many people out and it's like, so many of the companies buy the seats, they don't care, which is a shame, but it is nice when you can go to a game like, I'm not, I've never been a hockey fan growing up, but I would take my kids, we went to a game, we probably was probably the gamblers when we first moved back here.
And all the other stuff, my kids loved all the other stuff, all the stuff at timeouts and at halftime and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, that means we're doing our job.
Like, it's, again, it's a lot of fun.
you know, the glam band and those things that go into it.
I mean, and I think you're seeing that professional sports too.
Like, you know, when we were kids, you never saw the manager being interviewed or the, you know, it's like they know they have to sell more than just the sport.
And that's really the backbone of what we are.
Like, hey, you come to a game, you're not going to go broke and you're going to have a hell of a good time.
And you might catch a roll of toilet paper, you
know, whatever
that may be.
But, you know, that that's what we are.
And we pride ourselves on that.
And, you know, we.
This is our 32nd year in Green Bay, and we can't thank the communities of Northeast Wisconsin enough for supporting us.
And they come out and draw, because it's awesome.
It's so great.
And sports is entertainment.
I mean, you look at the Super Bowl, they're constantly announcing new acts playing the night before.
And these all become events.
And when is the glam band playing tomorrow after?
Yeah, they play tomorrow after.
OK,
that's so fun.
But
you're right.
And that's kind of what we talk about, too.
It's an event.
It's not a game.
It's an event.
You're coming to an event and it's hockey.
It's the music.
It's the promotions in between the periods.
It's this, that, and the other.
And that's really what we pride ourselves on and try to create when you can do come to the rush to a gambler game.
Yeah.
Jeff Mitchell is my guest.
He is the president of the Green Bay Gamblers.
If you haven't been to a gamblers game, folks, what we've just been talking about is what you can expect.
That there's great performance on the ice.
The gamblers are good this year, third place.
Yeah, we've ripped kids of one ninth straight games.
Wow.
So.
No, we're really pleased and we got a great group of kids and again, it's like you grab you grab a bunch of young people from all over the world You kind of put them in this in this setting and to watch them come together and and you know, they have that connection and you know Pete We're big culture people with the gamblers like this is about culture and and we want to get the right kids who fit that culture and when you see that come to fruition it's really cool to see them succeed and and
You know, the other part about it is to see these guys then go to the next level and have success, whether it be at the NHL or in the Olympics, et cetera, college.
And then even a lot of them, it's where do they go in the private sector?
I mean, we have kids who become lawyers and doctors, but it's fun to get them kind of at the entry level, see them grow and then follow them as they progress down whatever field of choice they choose.
That's pretty cool.
You guys are part of the US HL, the United States Hockey League.
Where, what is the next step?
Like let's say a player with the gamblers has got the chops and he's performing really well.
Where does he go after that college, the pros?
Yeah, so most of our players are committed to an NCAA Division I institution.
So they're probably going to go to college.
Some of our kids, especially European kids, will sign a pro contract.
But a lot of the kids will go to college.
If they have success, they're going to sign right out of college and go right to pro.
And then where they go from there is where they go from there.
Again, our kids are so over talented.
They are the elite of the elite.
So, you know, the minimums are going to play division one college hockey, but most of them will play at some level of pro.
Not all of them will make the NHL, but a lot do.
This year
alone, I
think we have about 14 or 15 kids in the NHL.
John
Cooper, who was a
coach for the Green Bay gamblers.
He's a coach to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He's going to be the coach of Team Canada at the Winter Olympics.
So to watch them succeed, it's kind of like, you know, it's surreal because
you're
like,
you know, you kind of get him on the grass roots where, you know, like coops a good friend.
Like I remember, hey, we're drinking in the drift in and, you know, for two, three years, we got to really, you know, share.
work closely and spend day to day together now to see him have so much success is really cool to see.
And I think that's one of the reasons why we like doing this too is just to watch the progression and watch them realize their dreams because you're helping them realize that dream.
And I think that's very satisfying as
personally
speaking.
That's a good culture.
Absolutely.
How old are the majority of the kids on the team right now?
17 to 20 years old.
Wow, okay.
Yeah.
Are there fights?
Yeah, we fight a lot.
In fact, it's funny.
Yes.
So a couple of weeks ago, we had a goalie fight and it went like viral.
So it's like everywhere.
So if you look up Green Bay goalie fight, it's going to pop up.
But yeah, they do fight.
And, you know, that's part of the deal.
And, you know, that's part of our culture too.
We stand up for each other.
That's who we are.
And that's how we roll.
And fighting is part of our...
dichotomy when it comes to the gambos hockey
have you ever thrown down against another front office?
No, I have not.
You seem like you could probably take care of yourself,
Jeff.
There was a time.
But yeah, HR would probably frown upon that.
And
now I live with four women.
I have a wife and three daughters and I'm told what to do.
Oh, there you go.
Like
literally, I
open by wall to him like, oh,
I have money.
Shocking.
When does that change?
What?
So you got the Madison capitals tomorrow.
Is that team competitive this year?
How will that go?
You know, it's listen the league has good players across the board.
It'll be fine Again, people have a great time the music the glam band the hockey will take care of itself You'll have a great time watching the game, but yeah, Madison's fine.
I know that's the hilarious thing about it I don't know a lot about them.
Yeah, and our fans really don't care.
I mean the Schwab family would be like
Oh, cool.
Like, you know,
we were
playing try city, you'd probably be like, Oh, is that Nina Monash and Hortonville?
Like it doesn't matter.
But yeah, it'll be a competitive game.
And again, it's just a fun atmosphere when you get a good crowd in and, and, you know, again, it's like going to a concert, you know, like the energy and
you
kind of feel it and our kids feel that too.
And that's kind of the fun part about it.
It's funny because we were talking about this earlier in the week, like sure it's a rivalry, but it's like, you got like a rivalry, like the Bears Packers, but then there's a
rivalry like Marquette, Wisconsin.
Well, I'm cheering for both those teams when they make the playoffs, you know, it's probably the same way in a hockey league like this where you guys are all kind of in it together.
I would imagine it's just a nice pleasant.
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I root for our kids and but, but you want success for all these kids.
I mean, they're all trying to get to that next level.
And, you know, as, as adults and people who are, who are trying to help them, you're glad for them when they do succeed because, you know,
We have dreams and we get a little bit older and some come to fruition and some don't.
And for the ones that do and to think you had a little piece of it, it's pretty cool to sit there and look back and go, and you watch on TV like, oh, I remember him when he played here and great kid and we were able to be part of that chapter.
That's Jeff Mitchell.
We're coming right back.
It's Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media radio
network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website,
Throwing me under the bus.
Hey, a reminder, folks, this hour's keyword.
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And a reminder, this hour's keyword is toast.
T-O-A-S-T, toast.
And my guest, Jeff Mitchell, who is the president of the Green Bay Gamblers?
Pretty good gig.
You're a big bread fan.
I am a big bread fan, man.
In fact, I need my oldest daughter after Breadsong Aubrey.
That's so cool.
and tell everybody who toast this.
Yeah, so toast is like a bread tribute band.
We had them at the Meyer Theater, which is right downtown Green
Bay,
and it was so successful bringing them back, so.
How fun.
But yeah, toast, man.
Hey.
Bread, that's a different era.
You don't seem old
enough to dig
bread.
You know, like, I'm not, but like, I just, I always love bread, man.
Just found the music, yeah.
Bread anthology.
I think my parents probably had the album, and at that time in my life, maybe dabbling in certain things that allowed me to like bread.
But yeah, when our first daughter was born, I said, we're calling her Aubrey from that song.
Aubrey was her name from Brett Brian Gates.
That's fantastic.
Yeah.
So they played the Meyer.
You also run the Meyer.
We do.
So through the PMI Entertainment Group, we manage the Meyer Theater.
OK.
So you got a lot of cool stuff.
We were just talking during the break.
You got Frank's Christmas is there right now.
Frank.
You've got the Bodines coming in June.
Bodines.
What else is happening?
Trisha Yearwood's coming.
That's a big one.
Yeah, that's a great get for us.
You know, we do, I'm trying to think of the Pink Floyd tribute they do every year.
Is
that the wall?
Yeah, it's the wall, but
it's like a pink something.
And I apologize that I can't think of the name, but that's been a staple and, you know, Matt Gable manages that for us and he brings a ton of stuff there.
I know we had a meatloaf, I think, tribute band, a lot of stuff like that.
So it's a little 1,000 seat venue downtown, historic, beautiful.
But yeah, to get Trisha Yearwood and Toast, and there's always something going on, it's
cool.
You kind of were a little humble when you said that.
And the Meyer Theater is an absolute gem.
And I don't think, I could be wrong, I'm sure there are some cities, but a city of 100,000 people to have a theater like the Meyer, I don't.
know that that's not that rare.
It's a beautiful, beautiful place.
Jumping back to hockey and kind of keeping it in the showbiz world, we talked about Slap Shot, your thoughts.
You know, it's kind of like that film's an institution.
Absolutely.
I mean, the Hanson Brothers and, you know, we're talking like, so really the background of that story is the person who wrote that is a woman who's
Uncle was the GM for the Johnstown Jets.
Now back in the World Hockey Association, the Johnstown Jets were the farm team and the Minnesota Fighting Saints.
And back in the 70s, that league just notorious for fights.
So a lot of the things in the film, you know, enhanced of course, but a lot of that stuff happened.
And she wrote it, but you know, we were talking that, you know, we talked Paul Newman and one of the things we're proud about in the hockey businesses, you know, hockey people are just such good people.
Yeah.
And I know Paul Newman has talked numerous times about how much he enjoyed being a part of that.
But yeah, you know, it's crazy when the Hanson brothers are, I mean, they played.
I mean, they played up in Marquette.
They played the Green Bay Bobcats back in the day.
When you say they played,
You're referring to
the Johnstown,
okay.
So the Johnstown, but
the Hanson
brothers.
So basically what it is, it's the Carlson brothers and then Hanson.
And they
wanted- So those are real guys?
They're
real
three Carlson brothers, but Jack Carlson, who got offered the role, signed a contract with the Minnesota North Stars and he couldn't do it.
my
gosh.
So
then they brought in the Hanson and then he was the third brother.
That is great.
But
those guys played minor pro.
They're up in Marquette.
They
played the old USHL like, yeah, they, they, they could legitimately play.
And I think just, you know, the look, yeah, they fought, et cetera, but not to the degree that they did in the film.
But yeah, it's, it's nuts.
I mean, you watch
that and you're kind of
like, it's crazy, but that was hockey in the seventies and in the WHL and minor pro.
I mean, that's the life they led.
What are you guys doing?
Putting on the foil, coach.
Putting on the foil, yeah.
We were talking about that because Nancy Dowd wrote it.
I didn't know that.
That was such a great nugget.
And Paul Newman and George Roy Hill, the director and the lead actor, did that instinct.
Two very different movies.
So
cool.
So Nancy Dowd's brother plays Ogie Oglethorpe in the movie.
Ogie Oglethorpe.
And Ogie Oglethorpe is based on the character called Bob Goldthorpe.
And if you ever get time, look up Bob Goldthorpe on Wikipedia.
Oh my
gosh.
Like it's
crazy.
But yeah, Ned Dowd, who was Nancy's brother, played Ogilthorpe in that movie.
And then the goalie couldn't say his name.
Ogilthorpe.
Yeah, Ogilthorpe.
Conrad, we have to put Jeff on that list.
We're trying to accumulate all our... We got to come back and just do a segment on that slap shot.
Well, here's what we'll do.
We'll have you back.
We'll both have just watched the movie.
Yeah.
And then we'll talk about it.
Does that seem
fun?
We could feel a lot of time with that for sure.
Dude, so fun.
Thank you for coming in.
Pete, thank you for having me.
Knock him dead tomorrow night.
Beat Madison!
Yeah, I appreciate
it.
Let's create a rivalry here.
We're gonna go eleven in a row
once.
Yeah, thank
you for the time.
Any time, Jeff.
Jeff Mitchell, check out all the shows at the Meyer Beautiful venue and go see the Green Bay Gamblers.
A great family atmosphere, affordable, and tomorrow night you got the Glam Band too.
Hard to beat that.
Jeff Mitchell, we are coming right back for act two.
Ben McVane will be here.
We're gonna talk about
more cool stuff happening in downtown Green Bay with Mary Rodie and it's a bar ban Friday night.
This is Pete Schwab, but we're coming right back on the Civic Media Radio Network.
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