DelCal Manager Biographies

 

Ken Funck

 

Personal

Birthdate:  11/14/65

Where born: Chicago, IL

Height:  6’ 0”

Weight: 215

Eyes: Hazel

Hair: Brown

 

Family

Wife’s Name: Stephanie

Years Married: 13

Where you met: We worked together at a bank.

Kid’s Name(s) and ages: Max (10), Abby (6)

What are they doing: Steadfastly refusing to learn all the valuable life lessons I try to teach them.

Pets: Maggie (collie/spaniel mutt), Nigel & Buster (cats)

What types of vacations do you take:  Annual fishing trip to Western Ontario; annual backpacking trip to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan’s UP; lots of camping in the summer; load up the Family Truckster for traditional Midwestern family car trips.  We used to travel farther afield (England, Russia, Caribbean) before the kids came, and hope to do more when they get older. 

Career

College and Major: University of Wisconsin-Madison, English

Employer: State of Wisconsin, Department of Workforce Development

Type of Work: Data Warehouse Project Manager.  Design and manage computer systems that help analyze and distribute information about Wisconsin’s various work assistance programs.

 

DELCAL

Origin of our team name: Led Zeppelin was my favorite band growing up; Zanesville started with a ‘Z’, and team names should be alliterative whenever possible

Number of Years: Entering my fourth

Remarkable Moment(s): Winning the 2004 championship.
Early memories:  I was REALLY nervous going into my first draft – terrified I was going to do something amazingly stupid.

Things you like about it: Great group of owners; opportunities for NetPlay and FTF gaming (though I wasn’t able to do much of that this year).

Needs improvement: HAL needs to be smarter, but that’s not Delcal’s fault

Typical DelCal playing setting: At the PC in our family room/office

 

Strat-O and Baseball

Your favorite single strat-O Card: John Lowenstein, 1982

How long have you played Strat-O: On and off since the early 80s

How did you start: My older brother was in a FTF league with some guys that ran a bar outside Birchwood, Wisconsin, and I got an expansion team.  Great group of guys – cheap beer and pretzels, and every player had an inscrutable nickname (e.g., Rickey “Pizza Quick Sauce” Henderson; Steve “Voodoo” Carlton; Dale “Topper” Murphy, Gary “The Ghost” Roenicke; Manny “Junkball” Sarmiento)

Do play other Strat-O-Sports: No

 

What is your favorite MLB team: Chicago Cubs (life-long, unfortunately).  I also have a fondness for any successful team that closely resembles a collection of slo-pitch softball players: ’82 Brewers, ’83 White Sox, ’93 Phillies, ’99 A’s, ’04 Red Sox.

Who is your favorite baseball player: Mark Grace

Who is the best player ever: Babe Ruth

What is the best team (single season ever):  I suppose the ‘27 Yankees.  But as a kid growing up in the 70s, those Big Red Machine teams seemed pretty impressive every time they kicked the crap out of the Cubs, and I loved Earl Weaver’s Orioles teams.

 

 

Hobbies:

What other strat-o or fantasy Leagues do you play:  WFFL Fantasy Football League, NFL pick pools

 

What sports do you play: Organized leagues: basketball, volleyball.  Just about anything else in a pick-up game, though I can’t skate backwards so I’m useless at hockey.  I’ll also humiliate myself at golf once every couple of years.

 

What other hobbies and interests: Backpacking, fishing, camping, canoeing, movies, music, playing sheepshead and poker.

 

Favorite Movie:   Too many to list just one, gotta go by genre:

 

Baseball:  Eight Men Out

Comedy:  Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Romantic Comedy:  The Princess Bride, The Philadelphia Story

Mockumentary:  This Is Spinal Tap

Documentary:  Atomic Café, The Thin Blue Line

Gangster:  Goodfellas

War:  Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, Bridge on the River Kwai

Courtroom Drama:  Anatomy of a Murder

Black Comedy:  Fargo

Western:  Unforgiven, Little Big Man

Horror/Comedy:  Return of the Living Dead

Christmas:  A Christmas Story

Prison Drama:  Shawshank Redemption, Cool Hand Luke

Science Fiction:  Star Wars, Twelve Monkeys

Heroin:  Trainspotting

Action:  Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels

DVD Compilations:  Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes

 

 

Favorite Book: The Lord Of The Rings; Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy; pretty much all Kurt Vonnegut (Mother Night, Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5)

 

Most recent book read (non work): “America” (the Daily Show book); “Lord Minimus” (a historical account of a 17th century dwarf in the court of King Charles I, who was banished for killing a man in a duel and spent 20 years as a slave in North Africa); recently re-read “Dune” and “Dune Messiah”.

 

Anything else:   You can see more pictures of the family at www.funck.info.