Old goal post goes back to early Curly

As a high school student in the Green Bay, Wis., in the 1940s, Herman Reckelberg spent afternoons kicking field goals toward an old, white goal post.

Turns out, that goal post is a large piece of Green Bay Packers history.

The goal post believed to be once used at Hagemeister Park, the Packers’ first home field in 1919-1923, has been uprooted and put on display in a Packers exhibit at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay.

Tom Murphy, archivist for the Hall of Fame, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that the post, while somewhat bent, had been sitting all these years near East High School in Green Bay, with seemingly nobody realizing its history.

But, authenticating the post was a task that required the work of Reckelberg, a Hall of Fame board member, and scientists who were involved with studying the wreckage of the Titanic.

Reckelberg said he’s convinced the piece is the one that was joined on the same field as former Packers player Curly Lambeau during the sport’s infant stages.

“If that goal post could talk,” he told the newspaper.

The post stood in the ground for decades without anyone claiming a piece of the artifact.

In 2007, Don Sipes, a Packers fan and memorabilia collector, was walking around where he thought Hagemeister Park had been, which was near where East High School is now. He looked at old photos of the high school, built in 1924, and concluded it was the same post used by the first Packers teams.

Sipes then took the post for the Hall of Fame, and in exchange, purchased two new goal posts for the high school.

“This is the birth of the Packers,” he said. “It’s a piece of history for the community.”Public transport

Toronto Raptors Coach Dwane Casey had no interest in taking on Toronto traffic on Sunday.

So he threw down his keys and headed for the subway to get to the Raptors’ Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets.

Because traffic in Toronto had been backed up due to the Toronto marathon, Casey was stuck in traffic not long after leaving his home.

After waiting for more than 30 minutes, he turned his car around, drove home, then took his subway to the downtown arena.

Casey said he was hoping he could make the commute without being recognized. No such luck.

“I didn’t think anybody would recognize me but I guess the shirt gave me away,” Casey told the Associated Press, pointing out his Raptors shirt.

Casey pointed out the benefits to using public transportation, just not on your biggest work day of the year.

“It’s great,” Casey said, after his Raptors lost to the Nets 104-103 to lose the series. “I recommend it to everybody, just not on Game 7.”Paying respects

A special guest wearing a deep-blue sweater reminiscent of New York Yankees colors watched the team take batting practice on Sunday.

It was Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos quarterback, who made the trip to Yankee Stadium to see longtime friend, Derek Jeter, play the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Derek and I have been friends - he’s a couple of years older than me, but we’ve been pretty much professionals at the same time,” Manning said.

“So I wanted to pay my respects and see him play for the last time.”

Peyton Manning and younger brother Eli Manning were both there as guests of Jeter, who is playing his last of 20 seasons with the Yankees. Jeter went 0 for 5 in the Yankees’ 5-1 loss, and said afterward the visit wasn’t soured by his day at the plate.

“Aw, I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said.

“I didn’t see Eli, cause he came a little later. But Peyton, I haven’t seen in a little while, so it’s always good to see him and catch up with him.”Quote of the day “When the ball landed

in his glove, it was a beautiful thing.” Arkansas Travelers Manager Phillip Wellman on Travelers center fielder Adam Melker’s fourth-inning catch against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Sunday

Sports, Pages 16 on 05/05/2014