PackersHome name: Arrigo
Real Name (first only): Joe
Age: 32 (April 18th)
Current City: Corona/Riverside
Hometown: Upland Ca. (but born in Milwaukee)
Occupation: Radio Host


1) How did you choose your screen name?

It is my last name (ah-REE-go)

2) Could you tell us a little about where you grew up and about your family?

I grew up in Upland Ca. I also lived in Pasadena Ca and near Palm Springs after I got married. I am married with 3 kids (10, 9 & 8). My grandfather started the Vince Lombardi Football Conference in Wisconsin in the 70's but shut it down after 2 years because he found the Treasurer was stealing money. Rather then go public w/ it and has a black eye on the Lombardi name he decided to shut it down. Now over 25,000 football teams that started in the V.L.C. is active in the state of Wisconsin.


3) Did you play in any sports or where you involved with any High School clubs and such?

I played baseball, football, basketball and track in H.S. and football and baseball in college.

4) What is your fondest memory of your teenage years?

Being the first male in my family to graduate H.S. I as also the valedictorian. But I think just living with my grandparents was the fondest memory.

5) What was your first job?

Show salesmen @ Montgomery Wards (that lasted 3 weeks).

6) What lead to your dedicated following of the Packers?

I watched a Packers/Bears game when I was 3 and fell in love w/ the Packers uniforms. I also loved Lynn Dickey and James Lofton (as a young boy).

7) Could you tell us one of your favorite memories of the Packers?

I have a couple, seeing them play the L.A. Rams (in person) in 91, 84 and 88. Going to the playoff game in AZ this past January (10'), but I would say watching them win the Super Bowl in 96'.

8 ) How did you find the PackersHome and what keeps you active on the site?

Browsing various Packers fans sites.

9) What other sports teams do you follow?

Yankees, Dodgers, Brewers, Lakers, USC athletics, L.A. Kings (cuz' I have to have a hockey team).


10) When youre not on PackersHome what could you likely be found doing with your spare time?

Spending it w/ my family, Xbox 360, writing on my site, http://joeslockerroom.com

11) If you could have one moment being part of the Packer organization, what would it be?

I would love to be the G.M. (Sorry ted Thompson).


12) How many trips have you made to Lambeau?

None.

13) What is your worst fear?

Going to hell. But losing my family (wife & kids) to death.

14) What type of hobbies do you enjoy?

sports, xbox, music, T.V.

15) Whats your favorite food?

Italian

16) Where are some of the places youve been, and where are some of your favorites.

I have been all over, but I would say California is special. Sunshine, beaches, snow, mountains and that is in the winter!

17) What is one thing you've always wanted to do, but haven't done yet in your lifetime?

Go to Hawaii with my wife for a couple weeks. I would also like to go to Italy for a while. But if it was just me, I would want to go to Lambeau for 1 game to watch the Packers in person @ home.


18) If you could live anywhere where would it be?

Where ever the lord wants me. But Newport Beach is where I want to retire. I LOVE the beach and am a beach bum!

19) Name your favorite 5 Packers all time and explain the reason for one of them.

Sterling Sharpe: He is my all-time favorite. He was the total package at WR.

Greg Jennings:
Jennings is a class act on and off the field. Plays the game the way it should be played.

LeRoy Butler: I followed him at FSU and was glad the Packers drafted him in round 2. He was a complete player and leader.

Reggie White: Do I have to say more.

Lynn Dickey: My 1st favorite Packer.

20) Up to this date, what is you favorite PackersHome feature or memory?

21) PM and post the next person to be interviewed.

Umm, really?

The man behind the rumors!!

"Joe" My grandfather started the Vince Lombardi Football Conference in Wisconsin in the 70's but shut it down after 2 years because he found the Treasurer was stealing money. Rather then go public w/ it and has a black eye on the Lombardi name he decided to shut it down. Now over 25,000 football teams that started in the V.L.C. is active in the state of Wisconsin.

Never of heard of the Vince Lombardi Football Conference.... and I went to every football camp I could as a high school player getting ready for college ball with eyes towards the life...

Tell me a little about this conference.. I don't think we have 25k programs in the state total... so I am curious.

Ahh... had to search it a little differently... Little League team.. might explain it... we never had youth football in my time..

"JSonline"In the 1970s, Arrigo was involved in the creation of the Vince Lombardi Football Conference for Boys.

"Marie Lombardi, Lombardi's widow, gave him written permission to use the name for the youth football program," Joe said. When money was mishandled by someone with the group, Arrigo stopped the use of Lombardi's name out of respect for the coach, according to his grandson. Thousands of youngsters have participated in teams born from the conference.

+1 Joe !


Great to have the interview back, too!

"dfosterf"+1 Joe !


Great to have the interview back, too!

Couldn't agree more. Glad to see that this is still being done.

Welcome Joe, and great read.

"dfosterf"+1 Joe !


Great to have the interview back, too!

I'm a little disappointed personally.
Specifically question 20.

:)

My bad, I didn't see those! I updated it so no need to be disappointed! LOL

It was youth football. When my grandfather passed in November of 2009, MJS did a nice article on him. He was also the D.A. and State Admim for Little League Baseball and some people have said that LLBB would not have been as successful w/o him spearheading the effort. They actually had the state trophy named after him (for the team that won Wisconsin and went to Central Regionals).

North West LL was his baby though. He got the city to donate the land (free), the uniforms and equipment donated (free) and founded it. He wouldn't take the credit for it and asked that the other 4 original board members also be recognized as well. But my grandfather and a gentleman by the name of Jim Beckham actually paid some men to coach out of their own pockets at first.

That is the article I found this morning.. I didn't post the link to it because.. well I didn't know if it should be posted here... but since you mentioned it.. I thought maybe it should be posted..

I applaud all he did for youth sports and honestly.. should be honored for it.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/34441354.html

Arrigo made Little League field of dreams come true

By Amy Rabideau Silvers of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Nov. 14, 2008

Joe Arrigo remembered being told that his vision for a Little League ballpark on Milwaukee's northwest side was nothing but a pipe dream.

"My reply was that they were half right, that it is a dream, and it will always be my field of dreams," Arrigo wrote years later in a history for the Milwaukee Northwest Little League.

The dream came true in 1965. After repeated rejections, Arrigo finally won permission for the park to be developed near Timmerman Field, on vacant land owned by Milwaukee County. Arrigo got the approval of the County Board with the help of other volunteers and business leaders.

Then the Little League volunteers built it, and the kids kept coming.

Joseph W. Arrigo died of natural causes Nov. 4. He was 83.

Arrigo grew up on New York's east side, an Italian boy in an Irish neighborhood. Early on, he took up boxing, and he earned a state Golden Gloves title.

"The man who became Rocky Marciano's manager came to their tenement and wanted to sign him to a contract to turn pro when he turned 18," said Joe Arrigo, his grandson and namesake. "My great-grandmother chased him out of the kitchen with a broom because, a month earlier, his cousin had died of a brain aneurysm in the boxing ring."

Instead, he managed to enlist in the U.S. Navy at 16 1/2 - after he was twice caught lying about his age. He served from 1942 through World War II and during the Korean War and planned to make the Navy his career. After nearly 10 years, he received a medical discharge for lung problems.

He ended up visiting Navy buddies in Milwaukee and decided to stay. Arrigo also found his wife; he married the former Carol Lehor in 1954. He worked as a mechanic and then for Miller Brewing before taking a job in California.

There he managed his son's Little League team. Back in Milwaukee, he heard about a neighborhood program being run by a few volunteer dads with used equipment and homemade bases.

Arrigo became one of the "Founding Fathers" of the Milwaukee Northwest Little League, involved at every level of the organization, including as president.

"He started leagues up north and in Burlington and all over the state," said his wife. "He was state chairman for Little League."

The couple later moved back to California to be near family, but returned in 2004.

"He loved Little League, and he loved all children," his grandson said. "He coached me for a long time until I played high school. He never yelled. He didn't yell at the kids. He would pull a kid aside and talk to him."

"It's just a game," Arrigo would tell the players.

In the 1970s, Arrigo was involved in the creation of the Vince Lombardi Football Conference for Boys.

"Marie Lombardi, Lombardi's widow, gave him written permission to use the name for the youth football program," Joe said. When money was mishandled by someone with the group, Arrigo stopped the use of Lombardi's name out of respect for the coach, according to his grandson. Thousands of youngsters have participated in teams born from the conference.

So a +1 in his honor.. thanks for sharing.

Thank you. He was a great man. My hero and my best friend. I miss him greatly and feel so lucky that I had him as the person who raised me and taught me how to be a man.