Jim Mulleady

On this chart, we track the average selling price of homes on and off water in Vilas and Oneida Counties. We have seen softness in the numbers of active buyers but have we seen reduction in the values? On the surface, we can look at reductions in both Vilas and Oneida County off-water. The reductions are 12.5% in off-water in Vilas, and 4.2% in Oneida. Waterfront values have actually risen 1.6% in Oneida.

Waterfront home values in Vilas are off by 9.8%. While this is obviously not good news, further investigation reveals that 2007 saw the sale of one lakefront home over $10M. If one were to take that single sale out of the 2007 values, that brings the average sales dollar to $396,745. That compares with the average sale price of $394,851 or down .47%.

What does this all mean? It's hard to tell but the figures suggest that there are not a lot of buyers in the market but that values are not falling drastically. The real question is what will happen to values in the future? I have no idea other than I would anticipate any change in value to be minimal in comparison to what is happening on Wall Street these days. Contrary to popular belief, Northwoods' real estate is stable.

A more mixed feeling after this weekend. Bad news first; Bad as in Badgers. A team that just three weeks ago held so much promise that it was ranked 8th nationally in both polls. After this week's debacle at Camp Randall, this team will be lucky if it wins another game! The defense? Nonexistant. The offense? Inept. NO blocking and NO tackling. Even less in the skilled positions. You can blame Alan "Below" Everidge all you want, his receivers don't work very hard to get open. They run their routes like robots. Quarterback in trouble, too bad. Things improved only slightly when Dustin Sherer came in.

What happened to the vaunted Wisconsin running game? I suppose when you put 9 people in the box, it is difficult to run. The Nittanies were just begging Wisconsin to throw the football and we still can't.

Its hard to win when your offense, defense and special teams get outplayed so bad. I'd bet the house on the Hawkeyes this week 24-14. It will be closer as Penn State is the class of the Big 10 this year. This ship has already hit the iceberg and is listing badly. The only two possible W's on the schedule are Indiana and Minnesota (and it will take a huge improvement to beat the Goph's). 5-7 does not look good for a squad returning 11. Time to at least deep six the defensive coordinator and the receivers coach.

The Packers were susccessful at beating a team with a statue for a quarterback. The defense improved but the Peyton and the Colts are coming to town. Its like going from playing a high school game to a pro game the next week. With Peyton having the time to enjoy a fine cigar and perhaps a glass of wine while scanning for receivers, this should prove to be a much more difficult test.

On offense, the Packers should be able to hold their own. Nothing wrong with our QB this season. Our running game sucked last year too until about this time. If we can control the clock a bit in this game, we could actually win it. If we cannot and our D is on the field for more than 35 minutes, expect the worst. I will predict that Indy will prove to be too much offense and come away with a 31-17.

Its never easy to be a Cheesehead sports fan. Saturday, it was the Bad,Bad Badgers turn to rip out our hearts and stamp them on the ground. They had Michigan beat in the Big House last week until the receivers' hands turned to stone. This week, they had the lead in the 4^th quarter and they made a good game of it. Then come clutch time, the defense is essentially still in the huddle when the Buckeyes snap the ball. The QB ran an option but did not have to option as most of the Badgers were still awaiting the call from the bench. Clearly, a lot of this loss falls on the coaching staff. Alan "Below" Everidge's did turn the ball over at the end of the game but he and the receiving corps played much better this week. It does not get any easier with Jo Pa and the Nittanies coming to Madison. Maybe the band will be off double secret probation and we can all get back to what is most important; drinking and partying.

The Brewers, our perennial losers made the playoffs for the first time since I was a senior at Stout. That was 1982 and I don't remember much from that year either. They did manage to win one game on Saturday to force a Game 4 in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, Jeff Supan was on the hill. Jeff is one of the nicest guys in all of big league sports. I love the guy dearly but he spends waaaaayy too much time over the middle of the plate. Not much movement on his stuff either. It was adios to our Cervecerro's.

Personally, I believe that we lost the game because Bud Selig threw out the first ball. Yes, Bud the car salesman turned baseball team owner turned MLB Interim Commissioner turned MLB Commissioner. Bud can be blamed for the Brewers mediocrity in the 80's and 90's. He, his daughter and son-in-law did their best to run this team into the ground. The three of them combined don't know a baseball player from a turnip. The only reason that Car Salesman Bud is now Commissioner Bud is the Peter Principle. He is doing his best with trying to run MLB into the ground as well. Want proof? When was the last time a small market team actually won a World Series game? The Rockies got swept last year. Ditto the Cards the year before. I believe Arizona was the last small market team to win a World Series game.

I'll make a bold prediction. Here on October 5, 2008, I predict it will be the Dodgers and Red Sox. A good series but with no small market team. Baseball is headed in a dangerous direction.

Ahhhh, the Pack will get out us out of this weekend with a W. After all, they are playing the Vickless Falcons. Wisconsin's team was at the not-so Frozen Tundra but our QB has a bad shoulder. These Falcons outhit and outplayed our Packers and the result was a humiliating loss at home. The problem was not Aaron's bad shoulder; it was our suddenly very bad defense. The Falcons ran it down our throats and we had absolutely no answer. Our d-line is banged up and our linebackers are out to lunch. In particular, Nick Barnett who used to be our leading tackler. Either he is hurt or he has fallen in love.

Our other problem is our offensive line which has not yet picked up on the zone blocking scheme after 3 years. I'll pick on Darren Collidge as he whiffed on a second down play in the 4^th quarter that cost the Packers a sack and an intentional grounding penalty. Aaron forces a ball on third and Ashwaubenon on the next play and all of the momentum was lost.

So, we still have a good football team right? We just need a few things. Like a defensive line, linebackers, another corner, and another safety. Didn't we draft Justin Harrell in the first round in 2007? Can you say Tony Mandarich? On the offense, we need an offensive line and a tight end who can actually block. We could use a running back as Ryan Grant looks more like Ulysses Grant with the ball. Brandon Jackson's hands are statuesque and that is not a compliment. Neither running back has shown any capacity to use vision or cut back. This combined with an offensive line that is struggling with assignments and the result might as well be walking backs.

The real story with the Packers in 2008 is who is winning the Great Ego Contest. Who's ego is bigger, Brett the Jet or Ted "Deer in the Headlights" Thompson? Clearly, Brett the Jet had a big lead after Week 2 but Ted, and his partner Mike"It's the System" McCarthy have fought back and have a gigantic lead following Week 5. I wonder if we will hear about "the system" this week?

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins... not through strength but by perseverance!

H. Jackson Brown

The following are from the Northwoods MLS. Volume on-water is down significantly while off-water is down but not far off from 2007. Values are down slightly off-water while values on-water seem to be down more. There really are not enough sales to make these statistically accurate. However, the market that seems to be hurting the most is the $400,000 to $800,000 lake home market. Buyers are rare and Sellers can afford to "ride out" a weak market. Thus, the drop in volume.