History

1971 Construction of an ice rink in Downers Grove begins. Chicago Black Hawk’s star defenseman Pat Stapleton is one of the major investors. The Icearena opens its doors on December 1.
Jim Miceli (The King), Wally (Waju), Tom Kowalkowski (Slime Dog),Greg Lopatka (Beak) and Frank Presecky sign their sons up to play ice hockey.
World History (In Red)
Mariner 9 orbits Mars! 3 Russian cosmonauts die when their space capsule develops an air leak while reentering the earth’s atmosphere. A cyclone and tidal wave kills 10,000 people in Bengal. An earthquake in Nicaragua kills 10,000.

The beginning of the 1970's was a time full of controversy. The Vietnam War still going on until 1973 and Nixon was caught in the Watergate scandal until 1974 when he resigned. Then it went on to new Presidents in Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. So the main theme of this decade was the Watergate to Post Watergate periods. It affected American people then in that in different ways. At the beginning of the 70's the Vietnam was still going. This incited many protests and riots that were spurred from conflicting beliefs about the war, and other protests and riots in the 60's. This also effected Americans because the of the Watergate scandal. Some government officials were sent to jail and Nixon probably would have been impeached if he hadn't resigned. The country also faced a big change after Nixon's resignation with the unexpected new president Gerald Ford. The Watergate affair left the country struggling to recover. The economy also suffered from stagflation: when inflation and unemployment rise, but the economy remains stalled and stagnant. To make matters worse, a revolution in Iran also caused oil and gas shortages. This theme also effected the rebellious youths and adults of the decade. They found a new type a dance party music called disco. Unfortunately for many people and musicians though, along with this were illegal drugs and promiscuous sex. This was a large carrier of diseases like the AIDS virus that was later discovered in 1981.
*The above summary was taken from American History Timeline

The King decided the kids were having too much fun, so he rented ice on Sunday mornings for the “old Guys”. The birth of the Duffers took place in January of 1972, When a rag tag group of players started showing up with borrowed equipment and no skating ability. Beak bought a used pair of Nester-Johnson skates for $6.00. He used his son’s adjustable helmet and plastic street hockey stick for several years, until a referee in Naperville made him get a wooden stick. The Huffer used a Green Bay Packer Football helmet. Fred Bobka, Dan Mazenec, Bob "Screwlander" Friedlander and Tim Dubiel were some of the original Duffers that lasted more than a decade.

The following account came from Jim "the King Miceli: "Rich Schoenberger was playing with us on Sunday mornings. He is the one who brought out the Commander who brought out Timmy & Stump. When I was complaining about all the different color jerseys Rich mentioned he had some old cotton practice football jerseys at his shop. When he said they would cost us a couple of dollars apiece I immediately perked up. When I called him to get the jerseys Rich said he would put numbers on them and maybe a name like the Downers Grove Duffers, which sounded great to me. While on the phone I was looking at a Blackhawk schedule and asked Rich if he would be able to put the bear on the jersey. He said he knew exactly what I was looking at and said, "no problem". The jerseys showed up with Downers Grove on the top the bear in the center and Duffers on the bottom. I thought it was great. We got away from the traditional rat-hockey multicolored jerseys almost from the very beginning."

Years later, we looked up the definition in the Funk and Wagnalls and found
1.)A dull witted or clumsy person.
2.)A peddler or hawker of cheap flashy articles.
The jerseys sold for $2.00 each, and if a guy couldn’t afford to buy the set, the the King reluctantly broke up the set. Beak got the Blue #9, Someone else got the Red #9. That cotton football jersey has been washed a 100 times and still looks great.

After hooking up with the moon-circling command module, Schmitt and Cernan transferred their samples and data. Their work completed, the crew of Apollo 17 left the moon with a blast from their service propulsion engine at 8:42 p.m. EST on December 16. A routine transearth coast brought them back to a landing about 300 kilometers (200 miles) east of Pago Pago at 2:25 p.m. EST on December 19, 1972. Apollo's exploration of the moon, "one of the most ambitious and successful endeavors of man," was over.

December 18, 1972-The full-scale bombing of North Vietnam after Paris peace negotiations failed.

Summer of 1973 The Duffers complete first full season. Mary Miceli organizes a Picnic on the Fox River at Potowadami Park in June.

October 12, 1973-On Gerald Ford becomes the first Vice President appointed under the 25th Amendment.

The Godfather with Marlon Brando becomes a box office smash and the King gets a new nickname. Bobby Fischer beats Boris Spassky to win the world chess title. The Cowboys win the Super Bowl by beating the Dolphins 24-3.
President Nixon visits China. George Wallace is shot. Apollo 16 astronauts spend 71 Hours on the Moon. Nixon, Agnew are reelected in a land slide.
An earthquake in Nicaragua kills 10,000.
Washington, Agnew resigns, pleads “nolo contendere” to Income tax evasion. Watergate starts talk of impeachment.
Pioneer 10 transmits pictures from Jupiter. Dolphins defeat Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl.

Sometime in 1974 Not yet named "Papa", joined the Duffers in Westmont and was on the trip to Bird Island and received the first penalty on a road trip for hooking. Read more...

1975 The movie Jaws was the hit of the year. None of the Duffers picked up that nick name. Wheezer might have picked that up, but he wasn't a Duffer in 1975. Saturday Night Live debuted and changed TV viewing habits of many Americans.

August 16, 1976, a tsunami kills more than 5,000 people in the Moro Gulf region of the Philippines.

Reneé Richards (neé Richard Raskin) had been an opthomologist and a moderately good tennis player before she transitioned in the mid ‘70s. In 1976 at age 52, she entered a women’s tennis tournament where she was both read and recognized. The ensuing battle between Ms. Richards and the sporting authorities made headline news for several weeks. Ms. Richards went to court to defend her right to be recognized as female. The locker room joke was Renee wrote a book titled "How to Play Tennis Without Balls".

1976 movie Rocky gives Wally a new nick name in 1982
1977 Voyager Space crafts Leave the planet. Star Wars is a big hit.
1978 World population reaches 4.4 billion, with 200,000 being added daily.
1978 Disco music is in. Disco demolition Disco Demolition causes Sox to forfeit second game of a double header to Baltimore. Beak and Tweedy were there! The movies “Grease” and “Animal House” top the box office hits.

4/6/79 The King issues Duffer management statement, naming 4 duffer trustees. Bobka, Kowalkowski, Kraft and Presecky. 2 pages of rules were issued on this Date. (see best of Duffer announcements)

7/4/79 Beak, Boris and Friedlander thumb their noses at gas shortage as they drive to Florida. The rest of the team flew down to play the Suncoast Suns. Highlights of the game and fight were featured on the Ten O’clock News.

I believe the main theme of the 80's was a kind of conservative revolution federally, but a time to have fun and try new things within the people. We saw evidence of this when the amazingly popular President Ronald Reagan took communism head on with military programs like the Star Wars Initiative. We saw the fall of communism in the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the end of the Cold War altogether. We also saw a revival of moral values in the country, new kinds of flashy music, and wild hairstyles after the 70's. These new things greatly effected Americans other ways too. Like how President Reagan helped Americans find a lost sense of pride in their country, and a new hope for the presidential office after the embarrassing Watergate scandal in the 70's. It also affected them with tax cuts, a shrinking of the federal government, and an even greater increase in defense spending. There was the beginning of the huge market for home computers and the invention of the compact disc or CD. These inventions would have even more of an effect on us now than they did then.
*The above summary was taken from American History Timeline

3/80 Brinks coaches Huskie Squirts, with Dan Lopatka (Tweedy) and Robby (Piggy Bank), to a state championship.
Beak coaches Huskie Junior B team, with Ken Lopatka, to a state championship. The Huskies went on to finish 3rd in the nationals in New York.

9/3/82 Duffers move to Saints Spectrum. Willie offers 8:30 start time and a bar upstairs. Bill Allen takes the Ice with his jersey on backwards.

9/9/82 Duffers enter Businessmen’s Bowling league, Muzzie shows up with hockey gear.

9/19/82 Duffers pay Fast Eddie Milleville scalper prices for a Hawk game that has 6,000 empty seats.

10/5/82 Bobka Factor Developed. (see Duffer News Volume 2 Issue 1) Go to the Bobka Factor.

10/11/82 Wally acquires new nickname when he engages in fisticuffs on East-West Toll way. He only told one guy, but he was greeted by the theme from “Rocky” every Friday night as he entered the locker room

1983 Cabbage Patch dolls are in.
Chicago elects first black mayor.
Pope goes to Poland.
Hottest August in 100 years.
Michael Jackson wins a Grammy for “Beat It”

2/83 Titz destroys the Slime Dog Van. Miniaturization discovered in Detroit. A Spilled beer reduced the motel TV Picture

6/83 Stump Shut out the Rangers in a men's league to give the Duffers a 5-0 win and a 9-1-1 record. He also had an assist in that game, when he set up Ken Lopatka with the game winner in the first period. Read more...

More than 36,000 people were killed by tsunamis following the explosion of the volcano Krakatau in the Sunda Strait near Java on August 27, 1883.

SEPTEMBER 19, 1983 WHITE SOX CLINCH THE PENNANT. LYNN PRESECKY MARRIES MARK FETTING. THE THREE AMIGOS (THE KING, WAJU AND BEAK) TAKE A NAP ON THE PRESECKY'S FRONT PORCH SWING. See picture

1984 AT&T is broken into 8 companies
14 Communist nations boycott summer Olympics in Los Angeles
Cubs win National League East title.
Ronald Reagan at age 73 became the oldest president ever elected.

3/30/84 Duffers invade Detroit. See Score sheet that documents a Klinger Goal and a Buckshot "Hat Trick", with assists going to Beak, Hacksaw and Gomez.

7/84 Monday night hockey introduced and Stump Barczynski is the first commoner to
receive the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”.

1985 Halley’s Comet returns. Beak and his Planetarium class are featured on a National PBS TV documentary.
Bears win Super Bowl XX
Halley’s Comet heads back to the frozen reaches of the solar system. It will return in 76 years. Maybe the Bears will be in another Super Bowl.
Comet Levey Shoemaker follows Giffune’s lead and crashes into Jupiter with similar results.
8/94 Major League Baseball players go on strike. World Series is canceled, Nobody cares.

6/10/85 Beak has his name added to the “King’s Meaningless Trophy” at the annual picnic

11/21/85 The Duffers Dazzle in the Reno Gamblers Cup. (See Picture) The trip got off to a rough start, when the team arrived for the Friday flight, we found out our plane left 24 hours ago. The King had to do some masterful negotiating to trade our worthless Thursday tickets for valid Friday tickets. Slime Dog and Thor were at the far end of concourse A when they should have been in the far end of concourse B! They got a page and did an OJ Simpson run through the airport and just beat the closing door at take off. Beak quieted a berserk preschooler on the plane by taking the screaming kid to the back of the plane to party with Trixy and the Duffers. The mother of the child was so thankful, she gave Beak her address and phone number so that he could send her a picture of her son in a Duffer Jersey. Skip was very impressed. Beak and his wife got the Royal treatment in Las Vegas at the Desert Inn from the lady's husband a few years later. The Commander got hot when he is accused of gassing the plane on the ride home. Beak just smiled innocently. The Duffers were awarded the Fair Play Award and Stump won the Silver Medal. Can you name the 2 names that were too long to fit on the trophy? Fair Play Award

1985 Dubuque Trips begin, Wheezer gets nick name after his first shift. Tom Morgan gives his account of the Alien and the 3 legged dog. Read scan of type written account.

Voyager flies past Uranus in the year 1986 and heads for Neptune. (It left Earth when the Duffers started play)

3/86 Beak coaches Huskie Bantams, with Cammie Granato and Tweedy, to a state championship.

6/86 “Gomez” Santoro is the 4th recipient of the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”

7/87 “Slime Dog” Kowalkowski is the 5th recipient of the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”

6/88 “Dill” Deau is the 6th recipient of the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 near Spitak, Armenia, killed 25,000 on December 7, 1988.

6/89 Nick “The Hammer” is the 7th recipient of the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”

Voyager flies past Neptune in the year 1989 (It left Earth when the Duffers started play)

The Early 1990s The 1990-91 Team Picture
The 1990's began with the Gulf War. It has affected the country in many ways with the Gulf War souring our relations with Iraq and its leader Sadam Husan. Plus the investigation of Iraq's chemical weapons and Sadam's stalling has led to the U.S. imposing bomb threats. The fall of the Soviet Union and communism in Russia has made our relations with them better, but their economy worse. The media has really jogged our opinions on things like Waco, the Simpson trial, and now the presidential trials.
*The above summary was taken from American History Timeline

6/90 Frank( ) Presecky became the first Duffer without a nickname to get his name on the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”

June 20, 1990, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake near Rasht, Iran, caused landslides that killed 40,000 to 50,000 people.

August 1990-The country of Iraq invades Kuwait causing the U.N. to impose sanctions. This also lead to the Gulf War to protect the oil interests in Kuwait.
1990-A severe economic depression in the U.S. deepens.

January 1991-President Bush sends troops to the Persian Gulf in operation Desert Storm to free Kuwait. The war lasted only 42 days

6/91 “Waju” Kraft became the 9th recipient of the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”

July 1991 Tweedy tried his hand at goalie during the July Summer Skate and turned in a Shut Out! That was the first shut out since Stump blanked a team in the summer men's league game in 1983.

1/92 3 Duffer SODs captain their College Teams. Brian Kraft (Anchorage Alaska) Don Granato, (University of Wisconsin) and Dan Lopatka. (University of Wisconsin. River Falls) All 3 players were from Downers Grove.
A dozen Duffers travel to Madison to watch Brian and Don lock horns. The van runs out of gas on the way home.

6/92 John “Wheezer” Clementson was added to the “King’s Meaningless Trophy” at the Picnic.

3/24/93 Wheezer Koss and Beak Journey to Hayward Wisconsin to watch Tweedy play in a tournament. Beak spins Wheezer’s car out into a ditch in Spooner. Father Paul saves the day. He calls a tow truck driver who wants $20 for a 7:00AM call. Wheezer gives him a $50 and s tells him, "We're from Chicago, no one gets out of bed for $20."

6/93 Bill “Klinger” Giffune gets the “King’s Meaningless Trophy”at the picnic and keeps it for 3 years. The trophy is so meaningless that no one could remember who had it.

3/25/94 2nd annual road trip to Hayward. Stump shines in nets. Duffers win hockey game, then lose beer drinking contest. 11 Duffers use 2 vans to travel.

4/94 The first issue of the modern Duffer News hit the locker rooms in April 1994. (There was a pre-computer Duffer News in the early 80s.) The 4 page issue was dedicated to the adventures of our first team trip to Hayward. Duffer News was written in Greek letters.
There was a one page missal called the Hayward Gazette that came out that week.
The Duffer News started out as a multi page monthly journal. Click here to read the first Duffer News.

4/94 One of the many high lights of the trip was a penalty shot that was awarded to Chris "Berserk" Masurk. Chris was just learning the game of hockey at the time and he had few if any goals in his young Duffer career, so he was asking his Duffer elders for advice. After gathering all of the available advice, he slapped the puck at center ice and started it rolling and bouncing toward the goal. The Hayward goalie (who was one of the best in the area) watched Chris dribble the puck toward him. He had never seen any thing like it so he froze in his tracks as Berserk slapped the bouncing puck past him for a "Hat Trick".
The Newsletter was such a hit, that a Duffer News Extra came out the following week.

June 17, 1994-O.J. Simpson is chased down by the police in his white Bronco. This was the most watched thing on the air and wiped out the audience for the David Hasslehoff singing special. The trial was extensively publicized and the verdict sent waves of controversy throughout the U.S.

On 1994 July 16-22, over twenty fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with the planet Jupiter. The comet, discovered the previous year by astronomers Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy, was observed by astronomers at hundreds of observatories around the world as it crashed into Jupiter's southern hemisphere.

9/9/94 Duffers add record number of Young Bloods. The Average age drops to 40. As 5 NYPDs (New Young Polite Duffers) under age 25 Join up. Read More....

10/14/94 New scoring system is developed. Each game has three outcomes. 1.) Raw Score, (All goals) 2.) Meaningful goals, (goals scored by Guys over 40). 3.) Handicap score. (1 goal is awarded for each year of team average). (See Duffer News, Volume I Issue 5)

1/6/95 Titz is coaxed out of retirement. His participation in a very successful weight program made it possible to fill out the new XXX large jersey. Dill Deau returns to Ref., then starts to play. He scored several meaningful goals in his first month back.

NHL players get locked out. Chicago fans cheer as Wirtz has to open his wallet to make payments on the new United Center.

1/15/95 NHL settles lockout Tony Granato has to cancel his participation in the Duffer Green Bay Trip.

1/20/95 Road trip to Green Bay! Duffers play with themselves, then watch the Gamblers. 4 thousand fans watch the Prince miss an open net. Commander Paul Jankowski meets us in Green Bay. Paul predicts O.J. Will walk. We all laugh

3/28/95 17 Duffers rent a huge limo for the 3rd annual Hayward road trip. Giffune gets Diarrhea and jumps off the bus in Elmhurst. Duffers lose 2 games then use Dubuque cheers and Strohs to boost Tweedy's team on to the Championship.

* TIME Magazine 6/12/95Gay fruit flies are developed when a single gene is transplanted. The gay flies ignored females to link up end to end in big circles so they could rub genitals with gay males. They were found to have low levels of a vital brain chemical.

8/12/95 Duffers help Chris Mazurk raise several thousand dollars for the Theresa Hansen Cancer fund

8/15/95 Young Duffers win summer league with the help of Muzzy, Harvey, Beak and Dill Deau. We swept the play-offs to finish with a 13-3-2 record. Tweedy scored a goal to win the playoffs in overtime.

9/8/95 The Duffers started their 25th season under a full moon. Average age moves to 41.1 years. Veto Cermanka gets Married.

In September of 1995 The Duffer News became a weekly newsletter. That first Issue featured the following headlines: “Duffers Near Silver Anniversary Season”,

9/14/95 Hurricane Ismael kills 91 fishermen along the cost of California.
9/16/95 Hurricane Marilyn kills 8 and destroys 80% of the homes in St. Thomas

9/22/95 Don Granato finally gets a nick name. His son Rob told Beak that his kids call him BRINKS every time they need money.

9/29/95 Beak (Now age 55)sets Duffer record when he hit the open net from his own zone with 3 seconds to play. for the second straight week. Beak ended the 9/22/95 contest with an open net goal from the neutral zone.
Ed Bangs returns to Referee.

10/3/95 O.J. walks! Paul was right.
10/4/95 Opal takes out 3000 homes as it kills 20

10/6/95 Duffers enter Cyberspace. Boris opens a page on the Internet. The URL is http://HOME.AOL.COM/DUFFERSH The Duffer home page will link you to Honeywell and the Intellicast Chicago weather maps and forecasts. Duffer photographs are being added. (Page closed a year later for lack of funds)
Beak Jr. sparkles in the nets as he wins 5-1 in his first time playing goalie.

11/95 Boris disappears. Existing only on the Internet. Rumor has it that he is working on a peace settlement in Bosnia.
Nonessential government services are shut down. Nobody noticed. Now we know why they are called nonessential.

12/8/95 Second annual road trip to Green Bay. Duffers play 2 games in less than 24 hours. The King falls asleep in the lobby before game 2. Tom Bluto Bryja misses a wide open net in front of 3,000 fans Papa Joe missed a chance to win a snowmobile when his shot missed the little hole. Muzzy got his leg shot off. A record number of meaningful goals were scored (18). Bluto injured goalie Rob Granato in warm-ups. Rob Injured his hand beating on Bluto hard head.

12/22/95 Harvey gets hurt in the locker room when a can of beer hits him in the head. His fluffy hair may have saved his life. Muzzy was identified as the Beer thrower.

12/31/95 Several hundred Duffers and friends returned to Downers Icearena to bring in the new year. The King’s Meaningless trophy was found. Bill Giffune had it in his trophy case since 1993. Nobody could find a least disimproved trophy. Dan Mazenec admitted being a recipient of the award one year, but his wife threw it out.

What is Thanksgiving and Mothers day* morning? Traditional hockey mornings. *We substituted New Year's Day for Mothers Day
What is the significance of Duffer Nicknames? So you can tell us apart. (except for Bobka who has a factor)
A true Duffer never complains about the assigned nickname lest he receive another. i.e.:John “Rico” Santoro AKA “Gomez”
What is voting? What we get to do after the King makes a decision.
Who is the King? Our leader AKA Bagwan during times of Comet visits.
What is hindering? What the young Duffers are not allowed to do to mature Duffers.
What are the 3 most devastating Duffer shots? The Flaccid wrist shot, The Flutter Blast and the Hypnotic Tip.
What is the Cardinal Rule of the Duffers? What happens in the locker room stays there.
What are the stages of Duffer development?

4-We know we are not going to get better. The best we can hope for is a momentary flash of brilliance.

3/24/96 Duffers help Bombers win coveted beer trophy in Hayward Wisconsin. Comet Hyakutake lights up the Wisconsin sky. I saw a Duffer put his beer down so that he could view the comet through Beak’s binoculars.

6/29/96 Thor, Papa Joe and Harvey were given the meaningless trophy at the 1996 picnic to make up for the missing years. The King is missing, and Klinger misses his first Duffer Picnic. New dues structure includes $25.00 road trip incentive

7/25/96 The NYPDs finished first in the Summer league then swept the playoffs to compile an impressive 15-2-1 record.

9/6/96 Cammi Granato is given a contract by Louisville to endorse their products. She is pictured in the 9/20/96 edition of The Hockey News with Messier and Thachuk. Tony Granato signs with the Sharks. The Average Duffer age is 42.5.as Doc Dubreuil, Rick Dzingle and Kelley Lauer join the club.

AOL bites off more than it can chew. Millions of new customers get busy signals.

10/11/96 Duffer Silver anniversary stuff hits the market. Bags are ordered. Uncle Bob's Nephew, Jerry, shows great promise as a Beak understudy. His Mac Newsletter hits the locker room. Jerry is taken from the Duffers a few years later by marriage. Since his Newsletter was a MAC product, I had to scan it as a jpg, so it will take a while to load.

1996-In the presidential election, Bill Clinton defeats Bob Dole in what will be a very tough presidential term for him.

11/22/96 Third annual road trip to Green Bay 24 Duffers get their Silver anniversary Hockey bags. The King misses a wide open net in front of 4,000 fans. King throws his infamous striped underwear away. Stump kills a mouse in his bed.

12/30/96 Second annual New Year’s Eve skating party moves to Saint's Ice Spectrum.

2/2/97 Beak opens new Duffer Web page, compliments of US Robotics The URL is http://homepage.usr.com/b/beak/ US Robotics drops website a year later and all sites are lost.

3/14/97 Duffers publish 100th Computerized newsletter as the team heads for Hayward road trip. Duffers win 2nd straight beer drinking trophy. A group of 3 Duffers were threatened with jail at 3 AM if they didn’t stop laughing.

4/97 Cammi Granato leads Team USA to a silver medal. Beak and Wheezer watch games in Kitchener.

5/97 Donny Granato coaches Green Bay Gamblers to the second straight National Title.

Duffers are dazzled by Comet Hale-Bopp. The King answers only to Bagh Wan. (he heard that Kings don’t fair too well when comets appear)

Duffers discover that on a 3 day road trip, you have taken all of the steps needed to reach Optimum Health.

Dr. Andrew Weil has a book, 8 weeks to Optimum Health. In this book, he outlines a program that will help you achieve optimum health. Here is his program.

7/26/97 Bobka had his name added to the King’s meaningless trophy at the picnic. Fred was the 15th recipient of the trophy. The trophy has the same problem as the Stanley Cup. There was no room for Fred on the plaque, so a new plaque was added to the back. We now have room for 13 more Duffers.
Green Bay Gambler Kevin Granato follows his cousins foot steps and becomes a Badger.

8/97 Donny Granato gets married and leaves Green Bay for a Professional coaching job with the Columbus Ohio Chill.

8/97 Comet Hale- Bopp departs, the King comes out of hiding and shows up at the Duffer picnic.

9/97 Duffer SOD, Brian Kaft, survives a plane crash in Alaska
Duffer Average Age hits 43 Papa Joe will turn 68 this season. Youngest Duffers, Tommy Z will turn 27.

1/98 The president of the United States creates a media frenzy when rumors of his romantic involvement with an intern hit the news. The French are puzzled. They can’t understand why he only has one woman.

1/29/98 Thirty-Six Duffers board an American Airliner for San Jose. We played 2 games in the Shark Tank and we watched the Sharks and Tony Granato play the Black Hawks and the Avalanche. Tony scored to win Brinks $50 in the pool. Tommy Z told Bernie Nichols that he had $5.00 on him to score the first goal. Bernie replies “That’s a stupid bet, Tom”. Brinks and Papa Joe scored 2 while Hitman and Hacksaw scored once.

2/98 El Nino hammers San Jose, California as the Duffers get out of town just in time. PGA Golf tournament had to be cancelled because of the heavy rains. Henrys Bar and Restaurant had to pile sand bags up to protect the Hockey Hangout.

2/3/98 Duffers are described as “self-deprecating” in the Chicago Tribune this morning. A page and a half was devoted to Cammi Granato.

2/13/98 On the other side of the world, Cammi Granato was busy scoring 2 goals and setting up 2 more as Team USA scored 6 goals in the 3rd period to Beat Canada 7-4 in Nagano, Japan

2/13/98 Three generations of Duffers team up for a score. Beak took a pass from his Grandson Mike and set up Beak Jr. for the First 3 Generation Goal.

3/13/98 Friday the 13th, Muzzy announced his retirement from the Duffers. The King granted him Emeritus status with the following privileges: He could go to the picnic, as long as he supplied the ice cream and paid his picnic fee. He would be welcome to Bowl for underwear, for a fee of course. He would be welcome on all Duffer road trips, if he pays. He would be welcome at the Bar on Friday nights, especially when it’s his turn to buy. He would be welcome to throw tape balls at Fred, sitting buy the garbage can.

4/17/98 The Village of Downers Grove honored Cammi Granato with a parade. The Duffers dressed up a Split Second Towing Flatbed with red , white and blue bunting, then filled it with Duffers and Pictures of Cammi. A picture of Cammi was on one side of the Puck, with the Duffer logo and the Duffer Web page address on the other.
The King drove Klinger’s Harley as Beak roller skated down Main street with SODs, DODs and GODs. The Duffers threw candy and Cammi Duffer pucks to the Crowd. Duffer Float was named “Best in its class.”

5/5/98 Twelve year old Miller ultra -Lite scores his first Duffer Goal. Referee Agatha Morey who was inspired by the Cammi Day parade reffed her first solo game. She whistled Papa Joe down for carrying the puck over 3 lines.

6/20/98 Duffers celebrate Nick Bresha’s 75th Birthday at the annual picnic. Hacksaw Pavichevich became the 16th Duffer to have his name put on the King’s Meaningless Horses Ass Trophy. 10 years after Nick was so honored at the 1989 picnic.

July 17, 1998, an offshore quake triggers a wave that strikes the north coast of Papua-New Guinea, killing some 2,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless.

1998-President Bill Clinton is charged with lying to a federal grand jury, and faces impeachable offenses. His actions with people such as Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, and the Whitewater affair, have been exposed extensively to the public. If the Senate chooses and he does not resign, he will be only the second president to ever be impeached.

1/22/99 Duffers fly to Columbus to watch Donny Granato’s Chill mix it up with the Chiefs! Mike “The Nailer” DeVivo scored his first Duffer goal in our afternoon game on the big rink.

February 1999 after 24 years of being a woman, Renée Richards says don't do it!

7/17/99 Chris “Berserk” Mazurk receives King’s meaningless trophy
at the Duffers Picnic.

7/25/99 Jan Presecky gets busted at the Jimmy Buffett Concert trying to take a bottle of water past security. Her Son and Daughters managed to smuggle in rum and alcohol. http://www.lopatka.net/Buffett/1999.htm

In Turkey, more than 17,000 died and 50,000 were injured in a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck August 17, 1999, about 150 miles west of Ankara.

8/27/99 Duffers meet at Famous Dave’s to celebrate Hacksaw’s retirement and plan help for Cammi’s celebrity game at 7 Bridges.

8/29/99 Duffers provide security for Cammi’s Golden Dreams for Children Celebrity Game. Donny Granato is named Peoria Rivermen coach.

10/1/99 Magoo becomes the second Duffer in History to lose a double header. John started the game on the Whites. He was traded to the Blues for Tom Morgan With 10 minutes left in the first period. He left a losing team then helped his new team blow a 2-0 lead, as the Whites scored 4 unanswered goals to Win 4-2. Tom Morgan became the second Duffer to score a goal for each team. Johnny Z was the first.

11/5/99 Duffer GODs score 3 goals. Bobby Presecky, and Mike Lopatka scored for the Whites.

December 31, 1999-The U.S. will turn over the Panama Canal to Panama as voted by the U.S. Senate in 1978.

1/28/2000 The Alien stops the Rivermen’s 10 game winning streak as Duffers get 15 to cheer on the Rivermen. Alien went home Saturday and the Rivermen started a new streak. Art Koudelka becomes the Official Peoria Duffer organizer. Art provides us with goalies and players as needed. King tries to eat a bowl of gravy and Berserk loses his shoes.

3/4/2000 Harvey scores 3 goals in Peoria then blows the lights out of the Peoria Civic Center with his Hair dryer. King negotiates a trade with Peoria owner Ann Griffin. Duffers get Jason Christie for Beer nuts and Stump.

4/1/2000 The Mayor of Hayward Wisconsin, had to supply the Duffers with 2 goalies for the Saturday night game. Harvey scored 4 goals on one of the goalies, while Beak banged in 5 on the other one. Tweedy’s team lost the championship game on Sunday.

4/4/00 U.S. Women's National Team Wins Silver! At IIHF Women's World Championship. - Beak and Wheezer watched Cammi and the USA women down Sweden 7-1 on Saturday. On Sunday, USA out shot Canada 32 to 23, only to lose 3-2 in overtime. Cammi was named outstanding Forward.

4/11/00 Brinks, Beak and Beer-Nuts were on the road again as they went down to St. Louis Saturday to cheer Tony Granato and the Sharks on to a 4-2 play off win over the Blues. They then went to Peoria to see the Rivermen beat the Johnstown Chiefs, 4-3 in overtime.

5/4/2000 Duffer God, Michael Gregory Spillman was born to Beak’s daughter Kathie and Mike Spillman. Mark Lopatka launches Duffer web site lopatka.net

7/10/2000 John “Magoo” Landry is awarded with the King’s Meaningless trophy at the Duffer Picnic.

9/1/2000 Duffer-Peoria connection continues, as Jason Christie is named Head coach of the Rivermen.

Nov 8, 2000 In Florida 19,000 votes were reported disqualified in West Palm Beach. Election officials began a recount and the US presidential election winner remained in suspense based on the Florida result.

Nov 14, 2000 In Florida the official recount showed George W. Bush leading Al gore by 300 votes.

Nov 16, 2000 The Florida State Supreme Court ruled that "there is no legal impediment to the recounts continuing."

11/18/2000 Duffers present Jason Christie with a Duffer Jacket thanks to Clubhouse Designs and Uncle Bob. Jason gives Duffers a tour of his $375,000 Rivermen Coach.

Nov 22, 2000 Gov. George Bush called on the US Supreme Court to stop the vote counting in Florida. In Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Jorge Labarga ordered election officials to consider dimpled ballots. In Dade County election officials called off the recount due to their inability to meet the Nov 27 deadline.

Nov 23, 2000 In Florida the Supreme Court rejected an emergency plea by Al Gore to force Miami-Dade County to resume manual counts.

Nov 26, 2000 In Florida Sec. of State Katherine Harris certified Gov. George W. Bush as winner in the state's presidential election, 2,912,790 to 2,912,253.

December 25, 2000 We were treated to a Christmas Solar Eclipse this morning. There will not be another Christmas Eclipse until the year 2307. Beak captured the event with his digital camera and telescope. http://www.randolph.cps.k12.il.us/Archive%20Site/eclipse.html

Jan 1, 2001 In Canada new cigarette warning labels became effective. 16 rotating labels included such warnings as "Cigarettes cause mouth disease" with a photograph of blackened, bleeding gums.

January, 2001, 7 Duffers packed the Berserk Van and headed for Madison to watch Kevin Granato play for the Badgers Read More....

More than 20,000 people were killed and 600,000 left homeless by an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that struck January 26, 2001, in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Feb 28, 2001 In Washington state a 6.8 magnitude slab earthquake shook Seattle. It was centered 32.6 miles below the surface along the boundary of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and the continental North American plate. Damages were later estimated at $2 billion.

Mar 6, 2001 It was reported that Chinese psychiatrists have decided to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental illness.

Mar 8, 2001 The US House approved $958.3 billion in income tax reductions over 10 years.

3/9/2001 Duffers return to San Jose to skate in the Shark Tank and party with Barry Melrose, Gary Suter, Tony Granato and Pete Stemkowski.

Mar 14, 2001 The DJIA fell 317 to close at 9,973. The Nasdaq fell 42 to close at 1,972.

Mar 20, 2001 In South Africa new AIDS statistics indicated that 25% of the adult population, one of every 9 people, was infected with HIV.

Mar 22, 2001 The 135-ton Mir crashed into open seas between Chile and New Zealand.

Mar 25, 2001 In the Academy Awards "Gladiator" won 5 Oscars including best picture and best actor for Russell Crowe. Julia Roberts won best actress for "Erin Brockovich." "Crouching Tiger" won for best foreign film and best music score. Steven Soderbergh won best director for "Traffic," which also featured Benicio Del Toro who won the best supporting actor. Marcia Gay Harden won best supporting actress for her role in "Pollock."

Mar 30, 2001 The Bush administration suspended a late Clinton rule that directed federal agencies to assess whether prospective contractors had violated federal laws.

2001 Apr 13, In China a 5.9 earthquake hit Yunan province and at least 7 people were killed. 42,000 homes were destroyed in the Shidian area.

Apr 13, 2001 In France up to 15,000 people were evacuated from the region of Vimy due to fears of explosions from a World War I bomb storage site.

Apr 18, 2001 The US Federal Reserve lowered short term interest rates by a half point to 4.5%. The DJIA rose 399 to 10,615. Nasdaq rose 156 to 2079.

April 27, 2001 Young Duffers, Tweedy, Tommy, Stump, Dan and Bob Granato win senior men's state championship and league crown.

May 1, 2001 The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mohave Desert following the installation of the billion-dollar robot arm on the Int'l. Space Station.

May 7, 2001 In Alaska 4 Anchorage school children were stabbed by Jason Pritchard (33). Pritchard was shot with rubber bullets and taken into custody.
I could see using rubber bullets if he used a rubber knife. Get the lead out!

Jun 7, 2001 Pres. Bush signed a $1.3 trillion tax cut bill. It included rising exemptions on estate taxes until 2010 at which point they would return.

Jun 14, 2001 Pres. Bush clashed with EU leaders in Sweden over his global warming policy. The EU leaders said they would move to implement the Kyoto treaty without the US.

7/1/2001 Beak retires after teaching 39 years in the Chicago Public Schools. Many Duffers help him celebrate. Retirement Party Pictures

8/30/2001 The Chicago Sun Times published Beak's Letter to the Editor that protested pension laws that give politicians a bigger pension than their salery.

Sep 6, 2001 In SF Barry Bonds hit his 60th home run of the year and became the 5th player in history to do so.

9/7/2001 Duffers move to Bolingbrook to start 31st season. Alien finds us 8 weeks later. Mean age jumps to 47.77 Years.

9/11/01 Terrorist hijack 4 planes and kill nearly 3000 innocent people in New York and Washington D.C.

9/11/01 Rivermen coach, Jason Christie and his wife Kelly, are blessed with a baby boy.

11/17/2001 Nick "Ball Pin Hammer" Hawrysio scored his first Duffer goal, when he beat his dad after several attempts. He is learning the Duffer ways quickly, he gave Beak 2 bucks for a beer in the locker room. The goal was scored in The Peoria Civic Center in front of a sparse crowd of 5. Doc’s Daughter Becky, the Peoria Goalie’s Father, 2 window washers and Beer-Nuts. Let’s hear it for Mr. Nuts! He was suffering with a pulled “Hammy”. Did he call in sick? No, he went to Peoria and suffered through our game, moved cars for players that were parked illegally and stayed up most of the night listening to Beak and Bob Plager stories.

Oct 31, 2001 Halloween this year came with a blue moon, the 2nd full moon of the month. The Bush administration said it would adopt stricter arsenic standard for drinking water as proposed in the final days of the Clinton administration.

We had 18 Duffers go to Peoria on Saturday November 17. We played for almost 3 hours and the Rivermen beat the Arkansas River Blades twice. 11/23/01 Peoria and Mr. Clean

11/18/2001 Scores of people heard the Leonids. The sounds weren't rumbling sonic booms or the loud crack of a distant explosion arriving long after the meteor's flash had come and gone. Rather, these were exotic, delicate noises, heard while the meteor was in full view. Scientists call them "electrophonic meteor sounds."Some Duffers were returning to their rooms in Peoria at that time.

11/22/01 A record number of Duffers and family showed up at Seven Bridges to give thanks. Eddies new camber provided a handy party place in the parking lot.

Dec 17, 2001 Space shuttle Endeavour returned to Cape Canaveral following A 12-day mission for a crew change at the Int'l. Space Station.
2001 Dec 17, In Afghanistan US Delta forces pursued some 300 al Qaeda fighters in the White Mountains. Mullah Omar was reported to have retreated to the mountains near Baghran.2001 Dec 18, Hundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters were reported to have slipped into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Jan 1, 2002 Pres. Bush announced that envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni would return to the Middle East to push for steps to renew peace talks.

Jan 4, 2002 The US Postal Service announced an increase in 1st class stamps to 37 cents from 34 to take place June 30.
Jan 4, 2002A WSJ editorial by former US Army officer Ralph Peters blamed Saudi Arabia as the source of fundamentalist terrorism. "We must be prepared to seize the Saudi oil fields and administer them for the greater good."

Jan 4, 2002 Antonio Todde, an Italian shepherd listed by Guinness as the world's oldest man, died just shy of his 113th birthday. "Just love your brother and drink a good glass of red wine every day."

Jan 12, 2002 The US continued bombing on suspected Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in Afghanistan.

Feb 1, 2002 Pres. Bush named Jim Tower (45), former Florida Sec. of Health, to lead his initiative to give federal money to religious charities.
Feb 1, 2002 The US Justice Dept. asked the president's staff for all Enron-related documents back to Jan 1, 1999.

February 1, 2002 The Duffers held their 2nd annual Christmas Party at the Berserk Barn. Http://www.lopatka.net/2-8-02

Feb 8, 2002 Pres. Bush opened the 19th Winter Olympic Games as part of a 3-hour ceremony at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the Univ. of Utah campus.

Feb 14, 2002 Sharon Watkins, Enron Vice President, testified that Jeffrey Skilling was behind the accounting that led to the company's bankruptcy and that CEO Kenneth Lay was probably duped by his executives and was unaware of the depth of Enron's

Beak and Hitman's Extraordinary Adventure began on Friday, February 15, 2002 at the Bolingbrook Rocket Ice Rink where they each scored a goal to help the home team Whites win the meaningful contest. They continued their winning ways the following day in Peoria where they each scored 2 goals. Peoria Meaningful Duffers, Emil and Rod also scored. (Emil had 3) The well rested Beer Nuts also scored. After the Rivermen game, Rich Storm, Tommy Z, Hitman and Beak found a big screen and watched the USA men tie the Russians. Beak and Hitman arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday February 18, 2002. They went to the airport and picked up Klinger and McGee (We found out that Frank was called Fibber McGee by his Dad) and then they went to dinner with Brinks who picked up their tickets for the USA semi final game.

Feb 24, 2002 The XIX Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City came to a close. In one of the last events Canada beat the US hockey team 5-2 for the gold. Cross-country skiers from Spain and Russia were stripped of gold medals for failing drug tests.

Apr 1, 2002 Grace Lopatka was born to Dan and Sabine. Maryland beat Indiana 64-52 in the NCAA basketball finals.
Pres. Bush said he would sell Governor's Island in NY Harbor to NY state and NYC for a nominal charge.

April 20, 2002 The Duffers win a medal in the fire Engine Pull contest as Cammi Granato is honored with a parade in Downers Grove Illinois Http://www.lopatka.net/4-26-02 The Duffers dressed up a Split Second Towing Flatbed with red , white and blue bunting, then filled it with Duffers and Pictures of Cammi.
The King drove Klinger’s Harley as Duffers roller skated down Main street with SODs, DODs and GODs. The Duffers threw candy and Cammi Duffer pucks to the Crowd. A picture of Cammi with the Duffer logo and the Duffer Web page address was on the puck. Duffer Float was named “Best in its class.”

May 2002 Bill Louis' wife read about the Duffers in the Plainfield Sun and suggested that it was just the thing he needed to get back into hockey. Bill read the article and recognized Jim Micelli's name. He called him up and started playing in May 2002. He got tagged with the handle "By the Way" by Bobka after meeting the Duffers for only 3 minutes. BBTW Played hockey in Canada just like all other Canadians.

June 6, 2002 Pres. Bush proposed a new Cabinet department for domestic security. The Department of Homeland Security would operate on a $37.5 billion budget and have 169,154 employees.

June 15, 2002 Arthur Andersen was convicted of obstructing justice by shredding Enron-related documents in a verdict that boosted prosecutors' efforts to get to the bottom of the Enron scandal.
June 20 and 22, 2002. A number of Duffers and Duffer wives enjoyed the Jimmy Buffett concerts. The King, Boris, Beak, Beavis and Dill Deau baked in the sun on the first day of summer as they watched the Cubs blow an 8-0 lead. Many Sox fans left after 4 innings because they couldn't take the pain. Beavis got ticket stubs from one of the dejected Sox fans and ended catching Konerko's game winning home run. As Yogi says, "It ain't over till it's over". Hacksaw was exhausted after he saw over 20 "points". (Known as Runs in the USA.) He said that he felt he had watched 35 Soccer games. We had 20 Duffers, SODs, GODs, DODs, and WODs show up at the Sunday game that the Cubs won. Thor was happy, because he got to keep the cup full of money that he was holding when Mark Bellhorn hit a home run. He was playing one of Beavis' money games with Tweedy, Tommy Z and Rich Storm.

July 9, 2002 Pres. Bush spoke against corporate fraud and vowed to "use the full weight of the law" to punish corporate crime.

July 10, 2002 The Dow Jones fell 282 to 8,813.5 and Nasdaq closed down 35 to 1,346.

July 13, 2002Lauren Kraft of the Bolingbrook Sun has published a story about Bono's Cruzzin Saturday Nights Car show. She interviewed Ken Lopatka at the Downers Friday Night Cruise show. You can see Ken's 57 Chevy and many more classic cars every Saturday night at Bonos.

Aug 9, 2002 Barry Bonds of the SF Giants hit his 600th homerun and joined the ranks of Henry Aaron (660), Babe Ruth (714) and Willie Mays (755). His hat size increased by one. Was it caused by steroids or success?

9/04/02 Beak's Mauna Kea Sunset picture of Venus was featured on NASA's Spaceweather.com website in August and the Earth Science Picture of the day site posted it on September 4, 2002 .

September 6, 2002 the Duffers started their 32nd season and they added 2 new members. Bill "By the Way " and Lorenzo were granted Duffer status by the King.

Friday the 13th turned out to be a very good day for Hacksaw and Beak as they started the day with a scenic flight over the Joliet and Plainfield area. It was a successful flight, because they were able to walk away from the plane after the landing. (A full digital video of the event is available upon request)
Their good luck continued when they put on their Duffer Home White sweaters and ended up skating with Cammi Granato on half of their shifts, thanks to Uncle Bob's 50 second shifts. Cammi got an assist on her Dad's goal, when she passed to Papa Joe to start a 1-2-3 goal. She later set up Beak with a give and go play that Beak silently buried to give Brian "The Brain" and the Whites a 2-0 Meaningful win. Cammi finally took a shot and scored in the third period. "By the Way Bill" scored 2 and Berserk added one to give the Whites a 6-2 Meaningless win. Lorenzo and Tommy Z scored for the Reds.

Golden Dreams 4th annual Fund Raiser

Oct 6, 2002 A fire broke out on the Limburg, a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, setting barrels of oil ablaze and sparking an explosion. The explosion was soon determined to be the result of a terrorist attack.

Oct 15, 2002 In Iraq Saddam Hussein won the presidential referendum for another 7-year term. He claimed a 100% victory the next day

October 12, Uncle Bob's Hat Trick puts The Anvil, Stump and The Ghost into beer glasses. Read More...

Oct 25, 2002 Hurricane Kenna hit Mexico's Pacific coast and over 150 people were injured in the states of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa. 3 people were later reported killed. Damages were estimated in tens of millions.

November 8-11, 2002 Brinks and Beak go to Kitchener, Ontario to watch the 4 Nations Cup. Cammi was named player of the game when she scored 4 goals against Sweden. Cammi is leading the professional Women's Hockey league in scoring with 15 goals. She plays for the Vancouver Griffins.

November 28, 2002 Thanksgiving, is a Happy Holiday, as Eddie the anvil provides Brats, Beer and Rum for 32 Duffers.

December 11, 2002 Don Granato brings the Ice Cats to town. 20 Duffers showed up to cheer for the Cats. On December 12, Brinks, Beak, Beer Nuts, Buck shot, Knarf and Berserk went up to Milwaukee and watched the Ice Cats beat the Milwaukee Admirals 4-3. Thank you to Coach Granato for a great week. Http://www.lopatka.net/12-20-02

December 20, 2002 Frank had a hat trick before the game. His trick gave him a concussion. Frank says Bob Plager was right, “a concussion is not as bad as a hang over.”

March 2, 2003 Tony Granato donates an autographed Patrick Roy stick and an autographed Avalanche Jersey to a St. Rita fund raiser. Klinger bought the jersey and Berserk bought the stick for his wife to be.

April 18, 2003 Brian "The Brain" Shut out the Reds! That was the first Duffer shut out since Tweedy had a summer shut in July 1991. Read More...

April 25, 2003 The King was honored before the game when Frank presented him with the King's Meaningless Trophy. The trophy is now retired. The King received it in 1983. 19 other Duffers had their names added to the trophy since that time.

May 2nd, 2003 Pres. Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with the banner "Mission Accomplished" behind him and announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq

June 7, 2003 Frank was presented with the Klinger crash award at the Duffer Picnic.

September 5, 2003 Duffers start their 33rd season! The King plays 2 periods as he turned over the purse strings to Rich Storm. The new King invited a friend of Bill By the Way to join the Duffers. Perry Lea played hockey in Canada with BBTW and was called the Flea.

September 12, 2003 Eddie the Anvil turned in the first Duffer Shut out since the Brain did it on April 18, 2003.

October 24, 2003 3 Meaningful Hat tricks!! Thor, Papa Joe and Beak each had 3 goals. Read More....

November 21, 2003 Stump gets a new hip and Rich Storm announces the trip to Denver in March.

November 27, 2003 Darien IL The Turkey Day skate produced a record crowd with many goals. Read more...

November 28, 2003 Peoria IL Some of the Duffers skated off their turkey for 2 hours and 45 minutes in the Peoria Civic Center, then we watched Jason Christie's Rivermen beat Cincinnati. Click here to Read More...e

December 5, 2003 Nine meaningful goals were scored by 5 Meaningful Duffers. Beak lead the way with 3, Papa Joe and Hacksaw had 2 each while Knarf and Thor picked up solo blasts. Read more...

December 12, 2003 Bolingbrook IL Cammi and Rob Granato helped their Dad score a pair of goals. Read more...

December 26, 2003 A magnitude 6.6 earthquake near Bam, Iran, killed 42,200 and damaged or destroyed 85 percent of the buildings in the area.

January, 2004 NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, launched toward Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in search of answers about the history of water on Mars, landed on Mars January 3 and January 24. They began returning valuable data that hinted at a previous history of water activity on Mars. Spirit and Opportunity have uncovered rock patterns, mineral presence, and spherule existence on the Martian surface that strongly suggest that water once flowed freely on the Red Planet.

On Jan. 2, 2004, NASA’s Stardust spacecraft flew within 236 kilometers of Comet Wild 2 and captured thousands of particles in its aerogel collector for return on Earth in January 2006. Findings from a historic encounter between Stardust and a comet have revealed a much stranger world than previously believed. The comet's rigid surface, dotted with towering pinnacles, plunging craters, steep cliffs, and dozens of jets spewing violently, surprised scientists.

Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl halftime show gets more attention than the game. Who won? Who played? That Timberlake guy, I think. Anheuser-Busch pulled its popular "Sleigh Ride" television ad after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction." The ad showed a guy trying to impress a woman with a romantic horse-drawn sleigh ride. But the carriage horse sends an inferno of flatulence into the woman's face and charcoals her hair. Rusty!

February 7th, 2004 Duffers celebrate Christmas for the 4th straight year at the Berserk Barn. Hacksaw gets Harvey's Hair. Read more...

March 8, 2004 Antalaha, Madagascar : Cyclone Gafilo with winds of 160 mph and heavy rains left hundreds of thousands homeless and killed 295 people. More than 100 were on a ferry that sank off the island of Comoros.

March 11, 2004 Madrid, Spain: Ten bombs exploded on morning commuter trains in Madrid, killing 202, injuring more than 1,400, causing the worst terrorist attack in Europe.

April 20th, 2004 Tornados rip through Illinois. The tornado in Joliet was one of four to hit in the region. The others were in Utica in LaSalle County, where eight people were killed; Kankakee in Kankakee County and Granville in Putnam County.

April 30th, 2004 Eddie the Anvil turned in his second Duffer Shut Out. Stump scored his first goal with his new hip, to help Eddie get 4-0 the win. Read more...

May 2nd, 2004 More than 600 American troops have died in Iraq since Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with the banner "Mission Accomplished" behind him and announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq.

June 5th, 2004 Many Duffers joined the Grant Importing golf outing at Lincoln Oaks Golf Course, in Crete, IL The Morgans took home the grand prize. Read More

Former President Ronald Reagan died at his California home on June 5, nearly 10 years after announcing that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He is most remembered for teaming up with the Polish stamp stealer to pass the "Windfall elimination" law that screwed Beak and millions of teachers, policemen and firefighters out of their Social Security payments.

June 9, 2004 Beak and the Brain were all excited as they watched the solar transit of Venus -- a celestial event that last occurred 122 years ago. Venus Transit picture

June 12, 2004 Mike Presecky became the first Duffer to receive the "Next generation" Meaningless Duffer Trophy at the Duffer Picnic. Beak presented Bill "The Alien" Allen with the third annual Klinger Krash Award for his concussion. The Brain was called first, but he was late, so his certificate was pulled from the plaque and the Alien won by default. The Klinger Krash award requires the winner to be present. If the Alien had not shown up, Beak would have given the award to Mini Wheezer. Read More

July 31, 2004 Blue Moon! A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. For a blue moon to occur, the first of the full moons must appear at or near the beginning of the month so that the second will fall within the same month (the average span between two moons is 29.5 days). July 2004 will have two full moons: the first on July 2, the second on July 31—that second full moon is called the blue moon.

August 13, 2004 After a few scares, Athens won its race to be ready for the 28th Olympiad. And, having run a marathon at a sprinter's pace, it was able to put its feet up and enjoy the show.

August, 2004 Beak goes into the Hockey Hall of Fame! (It cost him a Canadian saw buck) Read More

September, 2004 Hacksaw was inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame. Read More

September 12, 2004 Many Duffers helped Cammi celebrate her marriage to Ray. Read More

Charley, Frances and Jeanne raked the Orlando area, which hadn't seen a direct hurricane hit since Donna in 1960.

October 1, 2004 The price of crude oil futures ended above $50 a barrel on Friday, despite rebels in Nigeria's producing region agreeing a truce with the government.

October 15, 2004 The 400th Issue of the Duffer News hit the locker Room. Read More

Red Sox beat Yankees, then win World Series!
November 2, 2004 George W. Bush wins his first election, gets 4 more years. Read More

November 9, 2004 Tom and Ericka's are blessed with a new daughter. Hacksaw found a cure from his ailing health. For weeks, he had been following his doctor's orders. No alcohol, plenty of couch rest, clean air, good food etc. He used the George Costanza "opposite method" to cure his ailment. He got off of the couch and skated 3 full periods, he came off with his equipment soaked with perspiration, then had a few beers and laughs in the freezing cold parking lot. At Bonos, he celebrated Tom and Ericka's new daughter with a cigar and some greasy foods that he chased with some shots and beers. He was cured! That cure will not appear in the American Journal of Medicine. Maybe the Placebo Journal will run a story on it.

NASA's X-43A research vehicle screamed into the record books on Nov. 16, 2004, demonstrating that an air-breathing engine can fly at nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Preliminary data from the scramjet-powered research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at approximately Mach 10 (nearly 7,000 mph) as it flew at an altitude of approximately 110,000 feet.

November 25, 2004 Smallest Thanksgiving turn out in history, we barely had 2 lines. The good news was each Duffer had to eat 4 of Eddie's brats each. Read More

November 26, 2004 Largest group of Duffers headed for Peoria and skated for 3 hours! Vidas Formica flew in from Seattle to join in the fun. The Anvil's Camper was filled with "day trippers, beer and brats". Beak gets his hip shot up and gives thanks. Read More Go To Peoria History

December 4th, 2004 Eddie the Anvil was completely surprised when he walked into the Grove Sports bar on 111th Street. He gave many tributes to the Duffers in the bar that was packed with family and friends. He was born on January 25th, 1955. Read More

December 26, 2004 Strongest earthquake since 1964, unleashed a tsunami that killed over 190,000 in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and East Africa. U.S. scientists said that the massive earthquake that devastated parts of Asia permanently moved the tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean as much as 98 feet (30 meters), slightly shifting islands near Sumatra an unknown distance,

December 27, 2004 Papa Joe announced his retirement from the Duffers with an e-mail to Beak. He was 74.89 years old on that day.

January 1st, 2005 The Duffers started the year with a morning game and an afternoon Holiday Skate for Family and Friends. Fruitcake's youngest son, John, scored his first Duffer goal. Read More...

January 28th, 2005 Three generations score in one game. Beak scored first on his son, Dan, then his 13 year old grandson, Jeff, scored a goal of his own. Beak's Son, Ken, (Jeff's Dad) completed the historic task when he scored in the third period. Read More....

Frank, Nick, Beak, Bill By the Way, Rich Storm, Elmer Fudd (Buckshot), Frank Herout, Klinger, Thor, his boss, The Nailer, his wife Marsha and Hacksaw popped in to help us set the new lunch crowd record of 13 at the Neutral Zone! Read all about it...

February 15th, 2005 Beak's 7th Grandchild is born at 7:11 PM. Audrey Caroline weighed in at 8pounds, 3 ounces. Read all about it......

February 16, 2007 - The National Hockey League cancels its 2004-2005 season, becoming the first North American professional league to cancel a season due to a labor dispute.

February 22, 2005 Mike "The Nailer" DeVivo just edged out Franklin Dunn with a vote count of 867-739!!! to Win the Republican Race for Highway Commissioner. Read More.....

April 29, 2005 Berserk scored the first Duffer Cyber space goals. He e-mailed Beak that he had 2 goals, even though he was not at at game. Only Sanchez caught on to the cyber prank. Read more....

May 6, 2005 Fred Fruitcake Bobka "Bought" Beak a beer, so that he would give his son Joey a good write up for his 4 goal night. If you know Fred, you know he would never buy a beer. He actually gave Beak a free beer from the Brinks' cooler in the parking lot. Read more....

May 13, 2005 On Friday the 13th, Jeff Lopatka became the first Duffer GOD to score 4 goals in a game. Read More.....

June 18, 2005 Grant Golf outing brought out some long lost Duffers. Don Granato signs a contract to coach the new AHL Peoria Rivermen. Read More....

July 11, 2005 Beak finally gets a new hip at LaGrange Hospital. Many Duffers flocked to see Beak on Heroin. He never stopped talking! Read More..... See X-rays.....

August 29th, 2005 The effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, Louisiana was catastrophic and long-lasting. As Katrina passed east of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds were in the Category 4 or 5 range, and tidal surge was about a Category 5. Though Katrina missed the city, the storm surge caused levee breaches and precipitated the worst engineering disaster in US history.

September 2005 USA Women's Hockey team without Cammi and Shelly's leadership, were a dismal 2-2 with only 8 goals in 4 games in the 4 nations Cup! What was Ben Smith thinking when he cut these leaders and destroyed his team? Cammi had 5 points in April when they won the Gold in the World Cup in Sweden. Duffers start writing protest letters to USA Hockey and the USOC.

Cammi's brother Rob has posted some of the protest letters on his site at: www.granatohockey.com

There is another site that is collecting letters at: http://www.wherescammi.com/

September 9, 2005 The Duffers have their first late night opener in years. The last time the Duffers played hockey at 11:00 P.M. on a Friday night, Tweedy was our 9 year old referee at the Downers Grove ice arena. On this night, Tweedy was the 35 year old goalie that picked up the First win of the 2005-06 season. He had plenty of help from his 14 year old nephew Jeff, who scored the First Duffer goal of the season and then scored 2 more in his first game as a legal Duffer. Tim Smith and Robert Granato were added to the Duffer Family.

October 8th, 2005 Pakistan's worst-ever earthquake wiped out entire villages, buried roads in rubble and knocked out electricity and water supplies. The death toll stood at 20,000 and was expected to rise.

October 14, 2005 Beak is Back on Skates as a Zebra, after Hip replacement.

October 26 - The Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros in 4 games to win their first World Series since 1917.

November 4, 2005 16 goals from 8 Duffers! Tweedy, his brother Ken, Tommy Z, and Bill BTW each scored twice for the Whites. Robert G, Nick, Art and Thor each getting a pair for the Whites. Klinger set up both of Thor's goals on the same shift!

January 28, 2006 Rich Storm hosts the Festivus party. Tweedy silenced the Anvil at Rich Storm's Fantastic Festiveas Festival with a prank phone call.

March 10, 2006 Duffers light up The Brain and the Anvil 27 times! (Only 2 Meaningful)

May 5, 2006 Coach of the St. Louis Blues, Donny Granato, returned to his roots with one shot on and one shot in. We also had five Granatos on the White team. Senior Goalie, Eddie the Anvil put on the White jersey for the 1st time, but he was foiled when his son Nick beat him 4 times and led Tweedy and the Reds to a 7-6 win. Read more...

May 12, 2006 Rick Storm made his return to Cyber Space with a picture of the Anvil in action.

May 19, 2006 Picture Night featured 6 Granatos, 3 Lopatka's and and for the first time in duffer History no Mazzarella's. The guys present contributed $246.00 to the St. Jude Run. Goalie Garrett and his Mom thanked us for our help.

May 26, 2006 Last game of our 35th season! Newcomer Tim "Basketball Jones" Smith completed his first Duffer season with