Just ... can't ... resist ...

The folks at MAD magazine sent us this a while back.

The January 2009 issue features the annual MAD 20, a list of the "20 dumbest people, events and things of the year."

Included are these cartoons about Brett Favre, done by cartoonist Gary Hallgren in the style of "The Far Side."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

All hail Al Hale!

Al Hale, who last month was named the latest inductee to the Packers Fan Hall of Fame, paid a visit to his old work place during the Packers' season finale at Lambeau Field.

Hale -- known to many as Al The Beer Man -- visited Sections 117 and 119 just after halftime. That's where he's sold beer for 46 seasons.

When Hale started working at Packers game in the early '60s, the sections near the 50-yard line on the east side of the stadium were known simply as Sections 17 and 19.

"He's been here as long as we've been there," said Dave O'Brien of Prairie du Sac, who nominated Hale for the hall and whose family has sat in Section 119 for years.

"The whole section knows him. It's part of the experience of coming to Lambeau."

Hale, 70, had the day off because he won four club seats to the game in his prize package for being named to the hall.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Top photo: Al Hale at work during the Packers' game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field on Sept. 21, 1997. Press-Gazette/Andy Nelesen

Left photo: Al Hale greets fans in Sections 117 and 119 during the Packers' game against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field on Dec. 28, 2008. Contributed photo/Charlie Yeager

Even the beautiful people like the Packers

You may know Nicole Manske as the host of ESPN's "NASCAR Now."

But did you know she's a Wisconsin native -- born in Wausau -- and a faithful Packers fan?

And did you know she was No. 32 among The Sporting News' 60 Most Beautiful People in Sports?

Yes, on all counts.

Manske, 28, tells TSN: "My family was into football -- watching the Green Bay Packers."

She grew up just over the border in Rockton, Ill., and in 1996 was a cheerleader with Danica Patrick at Hononegah High School. She graduated in 1998, then went to Northern Illinois University.

Though she has a good gig, Manske has her eyes on another.

"I would love to work with the NFL; that has always been my dream," she told Fort Wayne Observed in 2007.

Manske covered the Colts when she worked at an Indianapolis TV station from 2004 to 2006.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Scraps from the notebook

It's a Sunday afternoon without the Packers, so let's dig through the notebook for odds and ends.

Max's statue

Max McGee's widow, Denise, has commissioned a sculpture of the former Packers receiver scoring the first touchdown in Super Bowl history, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Two of them will go to the McGees' restaurants -- the Original Pancake Houses -- in the Minneapolis suburbs of Edina and Eden Prairie. Proceeds from future copies of the piece by Minnesota sculptor Bill Mack will go to Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes.

Zorn's nemesis

Washington coach Jim Zorn recalled his playing days with the Packers before last week's season finale against the 49ers. In particular, Zorn recalled playing quarterback against 49ers coach Mike Singletary, then an intense linebacker for the Chicago Bears. How intense?

"I remember my first start with the Green Bay Packers in 1985," Zorn told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "I have him staring at me with those eyes that are big orbs through his facemask. He never sacked me, but a couple of the other guys hit me pretty good. His intensity level would just be pressing against the ceiling."

Bishop's brother

Did you see California beat Miami (Fla.) in last week's Emerald Bowl? If so, you may have seen Cal linebacker Devin Bishop. He's the younger brother of Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop, who also played at Cal.

Devin is expected to start for the Golden Bears next season, perhaps at middle linebacker, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The 6-foot-1, 238-pounder was voted Cal's most inspirational player this season. "Oh, he's a vocal guy," coach Jeff Tedford told the Chronicle.

Desmond Bishop also was vocal when he played at Cal, but he picked his spots. (Speaking of linebackers named Bishop, their dad, Dennis, played at Illinois and in the USFL.)

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Putrid Packer Poetry, Week 17

A closing win would be great,
Reversing some trends as of late,
So clap those mittens,
And snuff-out the kittens,
To make them Oh-for-Two-Thousand-Eight.

Putrid Packer Poetry has been lovingly crafted since 1996 by Keith Brewster, a Packers fan from Norman, Okla.

Keith also is a senior research scientist at the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma. He's long provided our game-day weather forecasts.

Thanks for another great season, Keith!

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Lions at Packers: Your game day guide

Who: Detroit Lions (0-15) at Green Bay Packers (5-10).

When: Noon Sunday.

Where: Lambeau Field.

Weather: Partly cloudy and windy. Kickoff temperature of 27 on the way to a high of 30. Northwest winds at 15 to 20 mph.

The line: Packers favored by 10 points.

TV: Fox (Channel 11, Green Bay) with Chris Rose and John Lynch. Shown in HD on DirecTV Channel 712.

Radio: WTAQ, 1360 AM, and WIXX, 101.1 FM, Green Bay, and the Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren.

Also on NFL Field Pass subscription broadcast at Packers.com; and on NFL Sunday Drive subscription broadcast at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Channel 108.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Putrid Packer Poetry, Week 16

Problems, now there's a slew,
They've set Titletown askew,
Will Bear week again,
Find the Pack on the mend,
When Orton hears a Who?

Putrid Packer Poetry has been lovingly crafted since 1996 by Keith Brewster, a Packers fan from Norman, Okla.

Keith also is a senior research scientist at the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma. He's long provided our game-day weather forecasts.

More to come.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Packers at Bears: Your game day guide

Updated Sunday with slightly warmer weather forecast.

Who: Green Bay Packers (5-9) at Chicago Bears (8-6).

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Where: Soldier Field.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and frigid cold, with haze or fog possible. Kickoff temperature of 9, remaining steady through the game. Southwest winds at 10 mph, creating a wind chill of zero to 5 below zero.

The line: Bears favored by 4 points.

TV: ESPN (simulcast on WBAY, Channel 2, Green Bay, and WISN, Channel 12, Milwaukee) with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser.

Also on ESPN International in three languages, going to more than 180 countries. DirecTV HD telecast on Channel 206.

Radio: WTAQ, 1360 AM, and WIXX, 101.1 FM, Green Bay, and the Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren.

Also on Westwood One national broadcast with Ian Eagle, Boomer Esiason and Jim Gray; on Univision Radio national Spanish-language broadcast with Rafael Hernandez Brito, Eduardo Martell and Marlo Guzman; on NFL Field Pass subscription broadcast at Packers.com; and on NFL Sunday Drive subscription broadcast at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Channel 125.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Farewell: Wally Mahle

Wally Mahle, the Packers' fourth-round draft pick in 1965, died Saturday at his home in Waterford, Pa.

He was 65 and had been fighting throat cancer, according to the Erie Times-News.

Mahle, a halfback from Syracuse University, spent the 1965 season on the Packers' taxi squad (the equivalent of today's practice squad). That was his only NFL experience.

He was an assistant football coach at Syracuse from 1969 to 1973. He then spent more than 30 years as a high school football coach in New York, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, finishing his career at his alma mater, Fort LeBoeuf High School in Waterford.

Want more proof that those old Packers players were close? Mahle's teammate, Bart Starr, sent a letter of congratulations when Fort LeBoeuf honored Mahle in September.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Tulsa's Packers backers have the holiday spirit

Congratulations are in order for the Tulsa Packer Backers, who on Saturday assembled 101 bicycles and on Sunday donated them to Toys for Tots.

It's just the latest effort by the group, according to the Tulsa World. Since 1999, the Tulsa Packer Backers have donated $55,000 to the annual holiday toy drive.

"It's hard to find Packer merchandise in Oklahoma, so we'll sell Packer T-shirts or Crocs. All the money we generate from our 'Packer Pro Shop' goes to the Toys for Tots," said Angelina Blackmon, who has been a club member for six years.

The group handed the bikes to local Marines as they watched Sunday's game against the Jaguars at a Tulsa hotel.

"We get together to watch the games, but things like this just deepen our friendships," Blackmon said.

If you want to help Toys for Tots in your town, get going. The collection ends soon -- today in many places -- so the donations can be processed in time for Christmas. Here in the shadow of Lambeau Field, the local Toys for Tots drive especially needs toys for teens.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com