Our Turn Next

The Brew Town Beat Podcast

2009-03-25T11:02:00.002-05:00

Garcia from the BTB called Gaddis and I last night to do a podcast. We get off track a bit, but talk about the Brewers spring training, the Badgers, and a hotness bracket. Click on the title above and look for the SBTB link. Let us know what you think with our first try on this.

Also, Garcia and I did another mock draft, so I'll try and get it all organized to post it soon.

-Until next time...

Congrats Homestead Girls

2009-02-20T07:22:00.002-06:00

The season came to an end last night for the Freshman girls basketball team at Homestead High School with a great victory over Cedarburg, 46-20. I just wanted to say that this was a great experience for me and appreciated the chance to sit on the bench during games and help with the game management. I've never been closer to a team that my brother has coached before and wish everyone on the team the best of luck as they move forward with their careers. I sincerely hope each one of them goes out for the JV team next season and sticks together for the next 3 years, as they could do something special when they are seniors.

It seemed like such a long season when we started, but now, I can't believe it's over. Each player made some great strides, and the team got much better as a whole from the first game to last night's game. They are playing so well right now, it's a shame we have to be done, because it would be very fun to watch this team play and grow for another few weeks. But as the seasons turn, so do the teams we coach. I'll never forget this team and what a great season we had.

So here's to you; Kacie, Emily, Lauren K, Madeline, Brittney, Melissa, Jordan, Rachel, Megan, Kate, Cassandra, Lauren L, and coach Filzen. Thank you for a great season and for letting me be a (small) part of your team.

-Until next time...

January Mock Draft

2009-01-27T11:44:00.026-06:00

Alrighty, it's the first ever OTN Mock Draft. Your contributors have been hard at work putting this thing together, and it may take a few days to complete. We'll bring you the action kind of live, so follow along. The order is Garcia, Gaddis, Filzen.

1. Detroit Lions (JG) - Eugene Monroe - OT/Virginia
Andre Smith has showed some serious flaws, mainly not being able to handle speed rushers, and Michael Oher is for lack of a better word a big"cat". Monroe is the most complete tackle in the draft, and if the Lions learned anything from the Dolphins last year, it's that you build from both lines and around franchise bookend tackles. Although, that's assuming a lot because it is the Lions.

2. St Louis Rams (MG) - Andre Smith – OT/Alabama
I could see a quarterback going here, but I just think they need more line help so whoever they have behind center is not getting killed.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (NF) - Matthew Stafford - QB/Georgia
A couple of things with this pick. First, I don't think Stafford is going to be that good of a pro. Second, I'm not sure Stafford lasts this long, but I do know the Chiefs will take a quarterback. New GM and a new coach will want to put their stamp on an organization and selecting a quarterback here will buy them a couple of seasons. But,with this pick, they won't have to trot Tyler Thigpien or Brody Croyle out there every week.

4. Seattle Seahawks (JG) - Michael Crabtree - WR/Texas Tech
Seems like the biggest no-brainer in the draft. Seattle needs offensive playmakers and Crabtree is the most highly touted receiver and one of the more imposing playmakers in the draft.

5. Cleveland Browns (MG) - Everette Brown - DE/FSU
A great fit for the 34 defense who will go opposite kamberon wimberly. Mangani is going to build this team on the defense side first. They could also look at malcom jenkins here out of the ohio state or even a running back which they lack.

6. Cincinnati Bengals (NF) - Jason Smith - OT/Baylor
The Bengals need a lot of help in many positions. It was hard to pass up an OLB with the skills of Aaron Curry to help the defense, but protecting Palmer and opening up holes for their running game should be priority. The Bengals were at their best when Rudi Johnson was actually able to gain yards. Getting a big tackle to anchor the line and build around will be key to getting the running game going again and opening up the passing game. Since the top 2 tackles are gone, Smith is the pick.

7. Oakland Raiders (JG) – Malcolm Jenkins – CB/Ohio State
Nnamdi Asomugha is a free agent who looks like he’s a goner unless the Raiders slap a franchise tag on him. Even if they do keep him, this would give Oakland quite a formidable tandem in the secondary. The Raiders still don’t have a coach, so it’s difficult to get a gauge on where they’re going. If they announce that Tom Cable will get the interim tag removed and keep the job, I wouldn’t be shocked for him to push for Michael Oher here, since he was an O-line coach, but the Raiders like flashy players.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars (MG) - Aaron Cury - OLB/Wake Forrest
He is too solid to drop past this point. This team could really use a Wr but have had some first round busts in the past. The old lb will pick a solid olb.

9. Green Bay Packers (NF) - Aaron Maybin -DE/OLB Penn State
I was chomping at the bit to select Maybin for the Packers when it appeared he would be available. While I say that, I was also thinking of perhaps Brandon Pettigrew at TE, Raji the DT, Orakpo another DE, or even Oher, but Maybin is too good to pass up right here. What a deal for the Packers, the year they bring in a new D coordinator and switch to a 3-4, a guy who would be perfect for the OLB role in that system is in the draft and available with this pick. Maybin has the size to play the run and speed to cover down field or rush the quarterback. He was the only player on the Penn State defense who seemed like he wasn't completely overmatched against USC in the Rose Bowl. I had been pining for a while for Ray Maualuga, but this is too early for him and he wouldn't have the impact on the defense like Maybin would.

10. San Francisco 49ers (JG) – Ray Maualuga – ILB/USC
The 49ers could use an upgrade from Jeff Ulbrich alongside Patrick Willis on the inside and Maualuga is the most pure 3-4 ILB in the draft. Plus he gets to learn the position from one of the best, Mike Singletary. The addition of Maualuga gives the 49ers scary good linebackers on the inside for years to come. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them look at Mark Sanchez or Jeremy Maclin here, but Singletary will push for more building to be done through the defense.

11. Buffalo Bills (MG) - Michael Oher - OT/Ole Miss
He might be dumb but he is a rather athletic tackle. It looks like the Bills are going with Edwards and I don't think Juaran will want to start over with a rookie QB so they pass on Dirty Sanchez.

12. Denver Broncos (NF) - Brian Orakpo - DE/Texas
This is now the third choice I have made for the Broncos. Originally I had them taking Jeremy Maclin to add another offensive threat to Jay Cutler's arsenal. Then, while I paused for a moment from my salivating over the thought of that offense, I remembered how bad the defense was last year. I mean really, really bad. So, after that revelation, I had my sights set on Vontae Davis from Illinois.

Look, I understand that they already have Champ Baily and Dre Bly in their secondary, but clearly they need help, and Vontae Davis is going to have an impact for whatever team drafts him next season, so it wouldn't be bad for them to draft him here and let Champ and Dre know that more seasons like the last will not be tollerated at all.

Then I thought maybe, just maybe their defensive problems were because they couldn't put pressure on the quarterback. Well, problem solved, as long as Orakpo can stay healthy. He definitely hasn't done that at Texas, but, if he stays on the field, he is a force. A speed rusher, who can also defend the run when needed, he could put enough pressure on the quarterback to ease the stress on Bly and Bailey.

***We changed order a bit here as it is harder than you would think to coordinate a mock draft on line in 2 different time zones when we are all working***

13. Washington Redskins (MG) - B.J. Raji - DT/Boston College
This team needs some defensive help. Raji is a big run stopper at plus 320. I imagine they would have really wanted Orapko who went one pick ahead because Jason Taylor did not deliver much last year. Not a flashy pick for Dan Sydner but let's hope he actually does something rational.

14. New Orleans Saints (JG) – Vontae Davis – CB/Illinois
Stop me if you’ve heard this before…the Saints defense was bad last year. The addition of Gregg Williams only helps them if they give him quality defenders to coach. Mike McKenzie once again suffered a season ending leg injury and is starting to wear down. Aside from McKenzie, the Saints have little to be desired in the secondary. I’m not sold on Davis, especially this high, but there’s always reach picks in the draft and the Saints are just the type of team to do it.

15. Houston Texans (NF) - Jeremy Maclin - WR/Missouri
Let's see, the Texans are pretty good on the defensive line anchored by Mario Williams, have a solid linebacking corps, and there isn't really anyone in the draft that I would want to take at this point in the draft to boost the secondary. On offense, Steve Slaton has entrenched himself in the backfield, and while Knowshown would be a nice pick here as a compliment, I see them going for the passing game. Once again Pettigrew from OK State could go here, but Owen Daniels is going to be a Pro Bowler before too long. Jeremy Maclin will be a nice speed receiver to compliment Andre Johnson well. Johnson can still make big plays and can draw defenders across the middle for deep balls to Maclin, who is fast, but will not be treading into linebacker territory.

16. San Diego Chargers (MG) - Knowshown Moreno - RB/Georgia
With ldt looking washed up and scroles being a free agent moreno is safe pick here. He can catch out of the backfield and is very similar to sproles. It would be interesting if they went with wells as a chane up back or even pettigew from ok state to cover when gates is hurt. They would really like maluga to slip so they could throw him in the middle. Moreno it is. He might not be a superstar but he will be damn good.

17. New York Jets (JG) - James Laurinaitis - ILB/Ohio State
The Jets could really use a QB, but they need to upgrade the interrior of their defense. I'm sure they'd like to add another defensive tackle as a backup plan to Chris Jenkins, or possibly so they could even shift him to end, but BJ Raji was the only ideal 3-4 nose guard in this draft. Laurinaitis would have been a top five pick. He's a mean interrior guy, but was exposed a bit in last year and in the Fiesta Bowl this year as a guy who lacks ideal speed for the NFL. He'll also need to shake the OSU linebacker bust stigma.

18. Chicago Bears (NF) - Percy Harvin - WR/Florida
I partyly made this pick to see how Gaddis would react. But, since I made it, here's why I think they will; their defensive line is still very solid, so I don't think they'd go for anyone there. They could use some help in the secondary since Mike Brown gets hurt every season, and could certainly go for a safety or cornerback if they feel any are good enough to take in this spot. I was thinking Brian Cushing from USC here to learn the defense and spell Urlacher and Hillemeyer and eventually take over, but instead went with an offensive threat.

The Bears established a running game last season with Matt Forte, and we know that Greg Olsen is a productive tight end. The addition of Harvin would allow them to move Hester back to being a full time special teams player so he can focus on scoring touchdowns again. Either that, or they could have the fastest wide receivers in the league, with no one to throw them the ball.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (MG) - Mark Sanchez - QB/USC
The bucs select mark sanchez. They finally are going to try and find a franchise quarteback and do it without bringing old washed up players. They need some more talent around him, but he should be a decent nfl qb.

20. Detroit Lions (from Dallas) (JG) - Michael Johnson - DE/Georgia Tech
Jim Schwartz gets the next Javon Kearse/Mario Williams, freak pass rushign specialist. Very good value here for the Lions at 19. Actually, on second thought, theres no way this pick can happen, is there? After all this is the Lions we're talking about. Two good picks, or picks that make sense?

21. Philadelphia Eagles (NF) - Chris Wells - RB/Ohio State
I was really thinking Brandon Pettigrew once again, but they get more value with Wells. Westbrook simply cannot stay on the field for a full season, and by bringing in Wells to spell him, Westbrook becomes that much more dangerous. Pettigrew would be a nice addition and give McNabb another pass catching tight end, but Wells at this point in the draft makes sense to get a couple more productive years out of Westbrook and then take over for him full time.

22. Minnesota Vikings (MG) - Brandon Pettigrew - TE/Oklahoma State
Their current tight end is a guy that likes to show his weiner on tv. I can't speak for his johnson but he is a tall tight end who can stretch the D and take it to the house. None of the WRs are good enough to take here so a TE it is.

23. New England Patriots (JG) - Larry English - OLB/Northern Illinois
They need help in their secondary, but they didn't get any pressure on the QB last year and could upgrade the linebacker spot. Aside from Jared Mayo, all their guys are older (Vrabel, Bruschi, Seau) or have a history of injuries (Adalius Thomas). English couln't be blocked off the end in the senior bowl and could be a real sleeper.

24. Atlanta Falcons (NF) - D.J. Moore - CB/Vanderbilt
With Matt Ryan, Roddy White, and Michael Turner, they have a pretty good offensive core coming together. That being the case, they turn to the defensive side of the ball with their first pick and go with a corner who can hopefully develop into a lock-down corner back. Brian Cushing may be the pick here as well, but which LB position would he play in the 3-4?

25. Miami Dolphins (MG) - Brian Cushing - LB/USC
He screams Parcells. He seems to love LBs and his teams normally have good linebackers. With the Dolphins playing a 3-4 he could play either inside or outside. Cushing didn't get the same hype as some of the other linebackers that played as USC (Rivers and Malaluga), but he is a great athlete who brings a lot of intensity to the game. This team could also really use a WR because they don't have much besides Ted Ginn, but I don't think any of the WRs are worth taking this high.

26. Baltimore Ravens (JG) - Darrius Heyward-Bey - WR/Maryland
Derrick Mason is a possesion guy. Mark Clayton looks like he could emerge as a real good receiver next year, but the Ravens have little else for Flacco to work with (what ever happened to Todd Heap, is he dead?). Heyward-Bey is quite possibly the fastest guy in the draft and would give the Ravens a legit downfield threat to take pressure off their run game.

27. Indianapolis Colts (NF) - Tyson Jackson - DE/LSU
The Colts are going defense with their first pick in the draft, no doubt. Although, Joseph Addai didn't look like the same player last year, nor did Reggie Wayne look anything like the 2007 Wayne, but there are still great weapons on this offense with Peyton Manning touching the ball every snap. Dwight Freeney will benefit from the selection of Jackson who can put pressure on the opposite side of the line as well, forcing teams to play one of them straight up. With 2 pass rushing defensive ends and Bob Sanders hawking balls and laying licks, the defense looks to be an area of strength.

28. Philadelphia Eagles (MG) - Peria Jerry - DT/Mississippi
I struggledon this because they probably could have used Tyson Jackson more thananyone else because they need some additional pass rush. They also needanother safety opposite Dawkins and he is getting up there in age, butthis is too early for William Moore. I think Peria Jerry is the bestplayer available at this point. He is not a big run stopper, but moreof a pass rushing and quick DT

29. New York Giants (JG) - Alphonso Smith - CB/Wake Forrest
The secondary is probably the Giants weakest area on defense, and Smith is a good value this late. They could opt to upgrade the offensive line here as well, and may be tempted to look at a WR, but Hakeem Nicks and Kenny Britt would be a bit of a reach at 28.

30. Tennessee Titans (NF) - Hakeem Nicks - WR/North Carolina
Too early at number 29, the Titans grab the sure-handed WR from North Carolina with their first round pick. Chris Johnson was an outstanding addition to the offense last season, but Kerry Collins needs more weapons. The Titans should be in a position to re-sign Albert Haynesworth, so their defense will be stout again. Here's how bad the Titans' receiving corps is, I can't think of one of them as I am writing this. Getting another offensive weapon in the first round should be priority to balance this team out.

31. Arizona Cardinals (MG) - Eben Britton - T/Arizona
Wayne Gandyneeds to go. He was getting schooled last night and if either Warner orLeinart is back there in the future, they need a better tackle. I couldsee them going after a G as well with Duke Robinson.

32. Pittsburgh Steelers - Jermon Meredith - OT/South Carolina
Ben Roethlisberger got the crap beaten out of him this year. The Steelers O-line was noticably week this year, and the tackle position was noticably bad, I'm looking at you Max Starks. Being pretty well set everywhere else, the Steelers can take a chance this early on Meredith and hopefully get a starting tackle for years to come.

-until next time...

Gotcha Todd

2009-01-23T09:12:00.002-06:00

Trading emails with Garcia

2009-01-21T21:34:00.007-06:00

Garcia and I had lengthy discussions today about NFL coaches, arbitration, why McCarthy would tell the media Capers was his third choice, the Simmons/Klosterman podcast, old NBA players, and more. Here's what transpired....

NF: So, if we had a sports talk radio show, what would we talk about on a slow sports day like today? Arbitration and Ryan Howard asking for$18 million?

MG: In Milwaukee I think you would talk about how that Ryan Howard deal affects Prince.

NF: Does it really affect Prince? Howard has been an MVP, has a World Series Championship, and has put up consistent numbers for 3 seasons.

MG: Yeah they said last years deal would probably set a bar for Prince. He won't have the same stats, but if Howard is getting $18M, Price is going to command at least $12.

NF: They should really trade him to an AL team soon.

NF: Czaben is talking about the Real Housewives right now.

MG: Great bad show. I loved it last night.

NF: I've never watched it. Perhaps you can break it down for me and that will give us something to do until Garcia chimes in.

JG: Yeah, I'm listening.
Fielder submitted a figure of $8M, far below what many thought he'd ask for. The Brewers countered with $6M. There is no way I'm trading him this year unless they can get a young pitcher major league ready forhim.

I'd lead with Fielder/Sheets, since it looks like Sheets is close to signing with the Mets. Great, so we lose Sheets and Sabathia and don'tget one first round pick to show for it. Talk about a flawed system.

Of course WSSP doesn't address either in the time I heard that show this morning. More national stuff and inauguration stuff. I get theinauguration is a big deal, and you should mention it, but you're a Milwaukee sports show. I don't think listeners you get care, or are the most insightful in that area. God I hate that station.

NF: Explain to me how the Brewers aren't getting a first round pick for either Sheets or Sabathia

JG: I didn't see the housewives last night, or Nip/Tuck (that one is on lifesupport in my TV viewing schedule anyway). I worked from 4am-Midnight (not a typo) on Monday, so when I got home from work yesterday I fell asleep at about 6 and slept until 6 this morning.

I heard McCarthy said he had offered the job to Gregg Williams, but Williams turned him down because his family decided they'd rather be in New Orleans than Green Bay, and then offered it to Haslett, but Haslett turned him down for the time being until he heard about his chance at the St. Louis job, then offered it to Capers.

Why the eff would you say this? Why come out and say he was your third choice, just say he was our guy all along and when people press you on if you offered it to someone else, say we don't comment on our coaching staff search and guys not on our squad.

JG: Texiera was the highest rated free agent, so the Yankees give their first rounder to the Angels, Sabathia was the highest rated pitcher, but second highest rated player, so we get their next (2nd) round pick.

K-Rod was rated higher than Sheets, so if he does sign with the Mets we get their second.
The real treat is, if the Yankees swoop in at the last minute and sign Sheets (it wouldn't shock me, especially if they don't get Pettit), we get a 4th round pick for him, since AJ Burnett rates higher than Sheets.

Yeah, not a flawed system at all.

My proposal is this, come out with a way of rating players on a "A","B", "C" scale and implement a rule that you can only sign one "A" freeagent each off-season - excluding re-signing your own guys. It would be kind of like the NBA where you're more likely to retain your own guys.
I don't see why the players union wouldn't go for this, because it would mean more money all around, if they Yankees sign all the top guys, most teams just pack it in and search the scrap heap, but in this system you'd have the Brewers, Blue Jays, Angels, etc. all hypothetically signing top guys to big money deals.

The only problem being, how do you come up with a accurate and universally accepted way of rating these guys?

NF: I didn't catch Nip/Tuck either, and actually forgot about it until you just mentioned it now. I wonder if it got dvr'd. Oh well if it didn't.

McCarthy probably mentioned it for 2 reasons:

1) you tell someone they were your third choice, and it will go one of two ways. Either the guy says, well fine, then screw this, they don't even care, they didn't even want me, who cares if I screw up? Or, wow, I'll show these guys why I should have been the number one choice. Screw them, I'm doing everything I can to prove I was the best guy for this position, and in fact, do so well, that people question the head coach as to why I was the third choice and start saying I should be the head coach. Which way do you think a former head coach will go?

2) if he screws up, McCarthy has an out by simply saying, "Look, I told you guys he was our third choice. He was the best we could get."

NF: Ahhhhhhh. I had no idea that's how it worked, but it makes sense nowthat you explained it to me. I thought type A got first roundcompensation, but obviously, that can't happen when teams sign morethan one type A free agent. I like your plan about limiting thenumber of type A guys you can sign. And how about taking it a stepfurther where you can sign as many type A guys as first round picksyou have. So let's say hypothetically that Sheets and Sabathia are onthe market, the Yankees want both, but only have 1 first round pick,so they sign Sabathia. then, someone signs let's say Giambi as a typeA (I know he's not, but hypothetically again) from the Yankees,meaning they have another first round pick available to sign Sheets.Although, there are major flaws with that as well.

JG: I get telling Capers. But why tell the media? And the fans? We don'tneed to know that.
And the second reason you cited wouldn't help his cause, it would hurthim. The Packers are one of the premier names and franchises, peopleshould want to come to this organization, right or wrong, that's stillhow fans and front office people feel. If you use the "he was my thirdchoice, I couldn't get anyone else excuse" it just makes you look badbecause you'll then get asked the question "what are you doing wrongthat people don't want to come here anymore?"

JG: I like that idea of saying if you have two first rounders, you can signtwo, etc.
But, I think using your example, the Yankees have 1, they sign Sabathiaand want Sheets. They lose Giambi and like you said, lets just say he'san A, they still can't sign Sheets because they'd have to wait anotheryear to get the pick and would be able to sign two A guys the next year.
I just don't get why the players union pushes for their guys to leaveteams and get huge deals in a sport like baseball. By pushing forSabathia to take the Yankee deal, that means while they Yankees aredropping $161M on him, the Brewers aren't spending their offered $100M.The Yankees are going to sign money anyway. Same with the Nationalsbeing in on Texiera, if they signed him to a big deal, that's money thatotherwise wouldn't have been spent. The Yankees would just shift theirplans and sign Lowe, Manny and another guy. Overall, it's more moneyfor all the players, rather than more money for a few guys.
I don't get why their main goal is to set benchmarks in money per yearfor individuals, rather than upping total money spent on players eachyear. It probably sounds like sour grapes from a fan of a team wholooks like they're losing two guys with little compensation to show, butI just can't figure it out. I'm not naive enough to think the unionlooks out for all guys equally, but they're really saying that they onlycare about the best interest of the top ten or so guys.

NF: On Capers, I don't agree with the decision to tell the media and fans,that's just why I think he did it. Personally, I think it's abush-league move and just makes the idiot Packers fans already startthinking of excuses for the defense in case he isn't all that great.
(Scene: a bar in the northwoods of Wisconsin. The 43 year old bartender who looks like she is 65, takes a drag from her cigarette asshe hands two gentlemen who both look like they just got done with ashift at the local paper factory after hunting, 2 cans of blatz.Flannel Man one says: What da hell is gon on wit da Packs defense, ya know?Flannel Man two responds: Jesus Christ, tell me about it. McCartyhires dat damned Capers, and all hell breaks loose. Who'd a thunkdey'd be worse aff this year? Welp, guess that's what happens when yasettle fir yir tird choice.
And scene)
I totally agree with the Sabathia/Yankees thing with the playersunion. I can't remember where I heard them talking about it on theradio, it may have been Tirico and VP or just SVP or even BillMichaels, but they were talking about the same thing you mentionedwith the contracts. If the players union really wants the union togain as much money as possible, they should encourage players to signwith these smaller market clubs who are offering substantialcontracts, even though it may not be as much as others are offering.Exactly to your point, who else are the Brewers going to offer $100million to? Nobody. Not this year, not next year, not the yearafter. The Yankees would have still probably spent close to $400million on three players not named CC or Mark.

JG: No, I agree with your reasoning. I mean why bother, it just gives morefuel to people that already hate McCarthy and Thompson, because thosesame two guys sitting at the bar will say "See, McCarthy can't getanybody to want to come here, he keeps getting turned down and had tosettle on Capers. Nobody ever turned down Holmgren."
That's the thing I really hate about Packers fans, they're becoming Bearfans. Sorry Gaddis. But the Bear fans always point to 1985 and Ditka,well Packer fans are no better. It really started these past few years,but this season especially, everyone points to 1996 and 1997. They allwant to fire McCarthy, Thompson and Murphy and bring back Holmgren, Wolfand Harlan.
It's 2009, stop living in 1996 and get over it.

NF: I just want the Packers to win a Super Bowl while I can still throw'em down like I used to every once in a while and before I have kidsto worry about taking care of during the game and within 3 days after. That's all I want. We were freshman when they won the Super Bowl,that's just not fair. They need to win one with in the next 5 yearsor so, otherwise there's a good chance some ankle biters will bearound.
If we as fans have to wait another 30 years between championships, I'mgoing to vomit many, many times. I think I'm going to pull for theCardinals in the Super Bowl so that one more team can claim the title. I was about to say so that their fans can celebrate after so manyyears, but the Cardinals fans suck, and Bidwell did nothing for thatteam, so eff the fans.

JG: I just listened to the Rex Ryan press conference on WFAN. I initiallyblasted that and thought it was an awful hire, mostly because none ofthe former Ravens coordinators have done anything and looked likegeniuses because of the talent they got to coach in Baltimore - speakingof which, how hasn't Marvin Lewis been fired yet?
But after hearing him talk, I've done a total 180. I really likedlistening to what he had to say. If I was a player, I'd love playingfor him.

NF: What was it that he had to say which made you change your mind?
Do you have the podcasts you've done posted anywhere?
Yeah, why hasn't Marvin Lewis been fired yet? I mean seriously. Doyou think they'll lose Housh this off season?
Are you going to Brewer's on-deck at all this weekend? Or the boatshow? Or the All-Canada show?

JG: I've got to work at the station at night and here in the morning, butI'm going to see if I can get credentialed to cover the player sessionsin the afternoon for the station.
Ryan was very personable and didn't give a bland interview. He spokeabout what he specifically wants to do, including what he wants to dowith players and the players he thinks he can get to have big years likeones he had in Baltimore. He just sounded like a football guy.
The podcasts are done, but not posted (probably a good thing, as eachone has gotten better but I'm not satisfied with my counterparts justyet). I still need clearance from the third party server, which Ihaven't gotten yet. I'm going to just turn to Gaddis' dad pretty soonlike Gaddis suggested and see if I can upload them to his server andlink from there.
I have the phone interview finally figured out, but I need a $50 partfor it. I'm hoping to get that for my birthday next week and then I'llbe able to do things with you and Gaddis over the phone.

NF: Your birthday is the 30th, correct? Or am I way off onthat? Are you doing anything for it other than hopefully getting that$50 part? How was your visit to Madison?
Umm, who did Ryan get hired to coach, anyway?

JG: Yeah, the 30th. Probably go out somewhere down here, maybe Fanatics orsomething. I was going to see if Gaddis wanted to come down, but hetells me he's in Atlanta (total BS), so if you and Chris are in town,then by all means.
Madison was good. Played some video games, watched Pineapple Express,Gaddis refused to watch Step Brothers, even though he agreed to watchthe special features and found all the bonus scenes hilarious.
We went to Old Chicago and they have some Ale Asylum beer on tap, Iforget what it was called...Gaddis? Anyway, you only get like 8 ouncesand it's like 13% alcohol. It was quite good. Gaddis did smoke me inNBA Live though, not my proudest moment.
Ryan is with the Jets. He brought the Ravens LB coach with him to bethe D-Coordinator.
I mean seriously, how is Marvin Lewis still coaching a team? Is IsaiahThomas secretly running the Bengals?

NF: The 30th, that is what, a Friday? That sounds like something we'd beable to do. We're going to the Marquette game the next day andpossibly the UWM game later that evening, so it would be a fullweekend.
How was Pineapple Express? Did you know Rogen is only 26? He's 2months younger than me. I really need to start remembering how old Iam.
Ryan with the Jets. Got it. And where did SteveSpangararhaovafuooiaoalo go? St. Louis? Is Herm Edwards fired yet?Wasn't Jim Schwartz the Packers D Coordinator once? Did Tampa hiresomeone to replace Gruden yet? Is he going to be a head coachsomewhere this year?
Seriously, is Kurt Warner a HOFer?
When will the pollsters realize Duke isn't that good?
I can't wait until the first week of the NFL season next year. I amgoing to go for a 32 team parlay the first week. I'm going to be $1 onthe parlay, pick all the winners and nail all of the over/unders, andthen never bet on another game again. I can't wait for this tohappen. Then, I am going to take all of the money I win from that onebet, go to Vegas, go to a craps table and put all of it on box cars.Then, after Michelle throws two sixes, I'm going to go to the Bellagioand crap on one of their Blackjack tables.

JG: I'm actually going to the Marquette game the 31st as well, and wastalking about going to the UWM game with Fabos that evening.
Spags did go to the Rams. Herm hasn't been canned yet, but he's got tobe fired, doesn't he? He's only got one year left on his deal, and whybother keeping a lame duck coach? There is talk of him ending up inIndianapolis as the D-Coordinator if he's fired, now that theirs steppeddown. That whole Indy thing is strange. The D-Coordinator resigns, andthen there was two other guys who had to be talked out of retiring onceDungy did? What's going on there?
Raheem Morris took over for Gruden, so the guy gets promoted toD-Coordinator once Kiffin officially left after the season, and thenweeks later is promoted to head coach? Really? I just don't get firingJohn Gruden for Raheem Morris.
I think Gruden gets the Notre Dame job if he wants it, but I questionhow he'd relate to college athletes. Professional guys hated him, doyou think a kid is going to like John Gruden screaming at them andtelling them whatever they did wasn't good enough?
I liked Pineapple Express, but it clearly references illegal substancesa lot. I knew Rogen was a young prodigy of sorts, didn't know he was 26though. I read he was writing stuff for 'Freaks and Geeks' when he was13, and he used to write that 'Undeclared' show that was on Fox and usedto write for the Ali G show. Really makes me feel like I'veaccomplished a lot in life.
Warner...thats tough. If he wins he's got a really good case. My onlystruggle with it is that he's only had like four good seasons and two ofthem were great where he won the MVP award. That's really tough, he wasan average QB or worse for half of his career, the other half was greatand he went to 3 Super Bowls. I'd be fine with him getting in, and finewith him getting snubbed.

NF: That is strange about Indy, didn't know about all of theretirements/non-retirements.
For the basketball games on those days, Michelle is going, Ballbachand his brother are going, apparently it's going to be a large groupof peeps going, should be good times.
Don't know how Herm has kept his job, much like Marvin Lewis. I'malso surprised Weis has kept his job this long. Did Gruden go to ND,or why do you think that job would be his if he wanted it? I reallywish NBC would dump their television contract with Notre Dame and theywould join the Big Ten, make it 12 teams and split the divisions toEast/West, so it would look like this:
East:Penn StateMichiganMichigan StateOhio StatePurdueNotre Dame
West:IndianaIllinoisMinnesotaIowaWisconsinNorthwestern
Granted, the East would be a whole lot better than the West, but lookat the Big 12 North/South where you have Texas, TT, A&M, Baylor,Oklahoma, and OK State all in the same division, and Nebraska, CO,Iowa State, Kansas, K State, and Missouri.
Then, you keep the ND- Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State matchup everyyear, Michigan- Michigan State and Ohio State, Wisconsin/Minnesota,Minnesota/Iowa, Illinois/Northwestern, blah blah blah.
So, Wisconsin's schedule would look like this every year;
MinnesotaIowaIndianaIllinoisNorthwesternEast1East2East3Non conferenceNon conferenceNon conferenceor play 4 teams from the other division and only 2 non conferencecames. Then, the Big Ten can have a championship game so that teamsaren't off for 40+ days.
Definitely don't see college guys responding well to Gruden'stechnique. Where will Charlie Weis end up if he is fired?
Raheem Morris. Wasn't he just the d-backs coach this year, and hasalready gotten 2 promotions? Wish I was that good.

JG: I like the Big Ten idea, especially since Wisconsin would be a favoriteto be playing in the conference championship game each year.
Gruden has some strong ties to ND. He was a GA or an assistant coachthere when he was younger, and was speculated to be the lead candidatefor the job when they hired Fatty Wiess. I want to say he gave aninterview where he basically said what Urban Meyer did, that ND is hisdream job, but not right now or the timing wasn't right.
As for Weiss, they haven't canned him yet because they still owe himsomething like $24M. When I asked Gaddis the same thing over theweekend, he said "If I've got to pay a guy that much, I'm not firinghim." I don't know, maybe so, especially with this economy, but Weissain't getting it done, and isn't well liked there. Plus I think he'djump a the chance to go back to NE and take over their O-coordinator jobagain now that McDaniels is gone. Perfect timing if you're ND, a guylike Gruden becomes available and you'd think you could get off easywith Weiss going the buy out route considering you'd think Bellicheatwould re-hire him as his O-coordinator.
I don't even know if they've named a new one yet.

NF: I like how McDaniels leaves New England and there isn't this hugebacklash like there was from Bill when Mangini left.
Do you think Meyer leaves Florida next year after Tebow leaves andgoes to ND, basically telling them that the only way he's leavingFlorida is if they hire him?
The Big Ten thing, that's pretty much why I went East/West and not North/South.
As for the $24 M thing; back in the day, Oldsmobile wanted to get awayfrom being known as "Your Dad's car company" and this guy came up witha huge ad campaign for them in which their slogan was "Not your dad'soldsmobile", they were trying to show how hip they were and that allthe problems of the old cars were solved. But, much like New Coke,this didn't work. The campaign cost something like $50 million tolaunch and when the CEO was asked why he didn't fire his advertisingdepartment and this guy specifically, he replied, "We just spent $50million training him (them) what not to do, why would we let him(them) go now"? I think it works a little differently with majorcollege football, but maybe they just figure they'd rather ride itout.

JG: Maybe I'm over thinking it, but why not if you're ND? You'd get a bigname taking your job (why did they think Charlie Weiss was that bigname?) and you'd think you could get off easier on the buyout with thelooming possibility of Weiss landing back in New England.
Speaking of buyouts, I had to ask Gaddis about this over the weekendsince I'm not the financial virtuoso he is, but I saw Stephon Marburyjust told the Knicks he put his offer back on the table. His offer isthis, if you want to buy him out he'll give you back $1M of his $21Msalary. What?
Again, I'm no financial expert, but when you discuss buyouts, wouldn'tit be like "Stephon, you're owed $21M lets talk buyout. We'll pay you$13M to just go away and land wherever you want" But he wants $20M ofhis $21M to leave?
At that point, don't you just say FU, weren't not buying you out, you'resitting on the bench all year. No going to Boston and playing in theplayoffs or potentially getting a ring, you're riding our bench. Goodluck finding a job next year.
Or, are buyouts really that ridiculous?

NF: Isn't the NBA trade deadline sometime soon? Shouldn't Simmons behammering out his trade-value column sometime soon? What do you thinkthe top five looks like?
WadeHowardKobePaulLeBron?
I mean, Kobe, Paul, and LeBron have to be 1-2-3, right? I don't evenwatch much of the NBA and I know it would have to be these three, yes?
Anywho, for buyouts, all I know is business, and in business if you'rebuying someone out of their contract, or don't want to fire them forfear of prosecution, severance packages are usually one year's worthof salary at a minimum, but more importantly, the company wants theassurance you will not spread around any trade secrets. Here's thething about Stephon Marbury; he's clearly dumb. I was going to callhim an idiot, but that word just gets tossed around too much thesedays to even use it in a derogatory manner anymore. He's dumb, plainas day dumb. He's Latrell "I"m turning down $14 million per yearbecause I have a family to feed" Spreewell dumb. If the Knicks don'ttell him to go copulate himself, they're crazy. No way they buy himout for $20 million. Why do you think he offered to give the $1million back? Has he spent all but that? I don't get it.

JG: The deadline is February 19th, so I'd guess it comes out next week orfirst week of February.
I don't remember his basis for the ratings off the top of my head, butI'd think the top three have to be LeBron, Paul, Kobe, Howard. Thefifth is tricky. Does D-Wade crack the top 5? I don't know. D Wade isvery good, but he's not on the same level as Kobe and LeBron, even Paulin terms of take over a game good.
I realize the business world buyouts, but this is a little different,and you've got to be right in suggesting Stephon has spent all but that$1M or at least a healthy chunk of his salary, but we all know howcolossally dumb Stephon Marbury is. Unless he's willing to take $14M togo away - and I even have a hard time paying him that much - I justtell him to eff off. Why should we do you a favor by allowing you to goto a better team?
And speaking of which, I've seen all the Marbury to Boston rumors, butwhy are the Celtics interested in Stephon Marbury? Why would any teambe interested in him?
Oh and also, who watches Lost? Why is that show still on the air?Wasn't it a lot better when it was called 'Gilligan's Island?' I havepeople tell me all the time, "oh how can you say that, it's way better."Really? All I know is there is a fat guy on the show. Now, they'vebeen "stranded" on this "island" for years now (I think that's what Iwas told), and yet...THAT GUY IS STILL FAT? WHAT?
Someone was like "no, well, they found a hatch that had food in it andsupplies and all this other stuff, so they're all eating." Oh, really?Reaaalllllly? So you have all these ridiculous things like that happenwhen you're on this island, and now - at least from what I gather fromthe previews - they're off the island? What? Oh, they're going back tosave people? Sure. Just a dumb show, at least from the sounds of it.

NF: Completely agree with all the Marbury crap. Are you serious, Boston?Why the hell do you want this guy on your team? The first thing Ithought of when I saw the Marbury/Boston rumors was that Simmons wasgoing to flip out, but I haven't even heard that much from him. It'sridiculous.
As for Lost, no I don't watch it. One night during the first season,I was at John and Jenny's before volleyball and it was on in thebackground. I checked it out for 2 minutes, was very confused, anddidn't like what I was seeing, so stopped watching at that point.Kelly has apparently gotten really into the show and has hammeredthrough most of the seasons so far and watched like 3 episodes on theplane ride both ways.
Apparently they had guns on the island or the plane as well orsomething, right? I don't understand the appeal, but their aredefinitely Lost freaks out there. The main difference between Lostand Gilligan's Island was that Gilligan's was a comedy, but based onthe seven deadly sins.

JG: I don't get Boston's fascination with him. Backup point guard is notyour pressing need. How does that make you better than the Cavs? AndI'm not even taking into account the type of disruption he could causeon your team and do to your locker room.
I just got back from lunch, had the radio on in the car. Is thereanything worse than hearing "Scott's out, Michelle Tafoya in today"?

NF: In terms of sports radio, here's what I do not want to hear:
- "Michelle Tafoya in today"
- "Welcome back to The Herd"
- "Aaron Rodgers is not getting up after that hit, folks"
- "In an unbelieveable turn of events, the Kansas City Royals comeback from down 9-0 with 2 outs in the ninth inning, no one on base,having been runnerless for the whole game, knock in 13 runs on 16straight hits, and then shut down the bottom of the ninth 1-2-3, todefeat the Cubs in game 7 of this World Series and hand them anotherheartbreak. We should also mention that Wrigley Field is beingdestroyed after this game."
- "Jim Rome here"
- "David Boston has been hired as the Packers strength andconditioning coach". I brought him up because what ever happened tohat guy? Is he still alive? Seriously, is he?
- "Welcome back to (insert tennis match)"

NF: Damn it, since Michelle is in for SVP, I have to listen to Fatcesa forthe next 3 hours. SOB

JG: Oh god. Those are all great. Especially the Rome and Cowherd ones.
Yeah, what did happen to David Boston? After he got all yoked up onroids he lost all his flexibility and elusiveness and just disappeared.Isn't his dad on official?
I'm listening to the Simmons podcast with Chuck Klosterman right now. Iwish those two had a three hour daily talk show. I could listen toChuck Klosterman talk about anything and think it was fascinating.

NF: Agreed with the Simmons/Klosterman thing. Those two should have takenover for Mike and the Mad Dog. I would actually probably pay a fee ifneeded to listen to a 3 hour show daily of them. I should reallystart reading some of Klosterman's books. I just finished thatpodcast about 20 minutes ago, it was a good one. I really want to goback to Vegas and see Simmons there.

JG: The best part was Klosterman's Motley Crue vs Guns N' Roses thing, andSimmons turning that into a Ewing/Robinson/Hakeem thing.
He was right though, Robinson and Ewing are considered two of thegreatest centers ever. Actually, they're two of the top 50 players ofall time, and Olajuwon just killed both of them in his prime. 1992-1998was probably the time I was most into the NBA in my life and I can stillpicture Hakeem just dominating both in the Finals and Conference Finals.The point of all of that is, is it just me or does it seem like Hakeemdoesn't get the credit he deserves? Looking at what he did to two ofthe best players of all time, his two rings and MVP award, and yet fewbring him up. Mostly because everyone always says "He only won thetitles because Jordan retired".
Man I wish Jordan wouldn't have "retired" and we would have got to see aRockets/Bulls Finals.
I also loved when Klosterman said "Jordan is the only guy that no matterhow much history proves he's a jerk, that makes people like him more."
"If we heard something like, you know Jordan put a hit out on IsaiahThomas for a while, people would be like that's awesome, that proves howcompetitive he is."
I loved that part.

NF: Or just straight up comparing him to Ty Cobb, one of the most hatedcharacters in the history of sports. Hakeem is the only reason ClydeDrexler has a ring, so Clyde probably doesn't underestimate hisability, but everyone else sure does. 92-98 was pretty much theheight of my NBA love as well, and Hakeem was a force during thoseplayoffs when they won the title. It would have been really nice tosee the Bulls and Rockets square off, I think they split those twofinals if they played, Bulls winning the first and Rockets winning thesecond. There is no way Sam Cassell outplays any of the Bulls guards,Pippen shuts down Horry, and Drexler/Jordan isn't even a contest aswas proven in 1992. But, the second year, with a little moreexperience under their belts, I think Hakeem destroys the Bulls lackof a center.
Back to this, though, Klosterman and Simmons need a radio show.

JG: Yeah, like you said, I'd pay for it.
I agree too with the splitting Championships thing. Jordan was greatbut Jordan never faced anyone like Hakeem. The first Championship, hegot an aging Lakers team. Magic wasn't a player that could take overthe game anymore.
Look at the guys the NBA threw at Jordan:
An Older Magic, Clyde Drexler, Barkley, Kemp/Payton, andStockton/Malone.
The equivalent of that would be LeBron winning six championships andfacing: Nash/Nowitzki, Deron Williams/Boozer, Carmello, McGrady andIverson. Good players and guys who had a select few great years, butnot a real challenge. He never had to face a guy who was equally asdominating. For as much damage as Jordan would have done to Drexler,Olajuwon would have destroyed the Bulls even more.
I actually think the Rockets win the first, and then the Bulls take thesecond one. The Rockets had more talent on that first team that won.The first team was far more dominant and talented. The only upgrade thesecond year was as you noted, Cassell and Horry weren't rookies. Thatsecond squad was totally carried by Olajuwon. Yes, the second year theyhad Drexler, but it was an over-the-hill Drexler and they depleted theirbench to get him (Pete Chilcutt and Chucky Brown logged heavy minutes intheir rotation that year).
God I wish we could have seen it.
I find it funny that I remember so much about the NBA when I was 10, 11,12 years old, and yet I could tell you very little about it today.

NF: I definitely agree with your point about knowing more about the NBAfrom 15 years ago than I do now. What is crazy (and Klostermanpointed this out) is that is does not seem even close to 16 years agothat Jordan "retired" and the Rockets started winning. It does notseem that long ago at all, not even close. I think I could name moreBucks from the 93-94 team than I can from the 08-09 team.

JG: People talk about the Cowboys not winning a playoff game since 1998 orwhatever it was, but this thing sticks with me more.
Do you realize there are high schoolers who think Michael Jordan wasthat old guy playing for the Wizards? He retired for the first time 16years ago? That's more than half the time I've been alive. I vividlyremember those first three titles, maybe even more than the last three,so that just makes me feel really old.
I guarantee you I could name more non-bucks players from 1992-98 than Icould name you Bucks players from 1992-2009.

NF: Well yeah, I could name more non-bucks players during that time periodas well, but if you think about it, you're using 29 teams with 12players, 348 total players are available each year, that's like 2088players. one team with 12 players per year for 17 years and you haveno where near the same pool of possible players.
And yes, June 1993 is when he retired the first time. 16 years.ridiculous. That makes me feel really old as well. I'm going to godrown myself in a bottle of grain alcohol now.

JG: I realize that, I was I guess just saying that for effect. Plus howmany people can name Clippers, Nuggets, Hawks, Grizzlies or Raptorsplayers from the mid 90's?
I see so many things now that make me feel old. Like before it was justplayers in the NBA/NFL/MLB that were the same age as me or younger, butPatrick Ewing Jr. is on the Knicks D-League squad? I feel like Iwatched Patrick Ewing play for at least half of his career and he has akid in the NBA/on the verge of the NBA? Really? What next, MichaelFinley Jr. getting drafted by the Bucks?
Oh, the other thing was I heard the Rams and Raiders have both been outof LA for 14 or 15 years now. Really?

Did you enjoy that?

Until next time...

Milwaukee Sports Talk Radio

2009-01-19T10:04:00.005-06:00

I was listening to "Milwaukee's Sports Leader", WSSP for much of the morning today. Not my usual routine, but I was in my car leaving for work at 4:30 and didn't have Internet access to stream something else until later in the morning.

Because of this, I got to catch almost all of the Doug and Mike show. I usually like this show, as it's the best program on this station (not saying much though).

It seems like I really get into the show, or really don't care for it, no middle ground. Today, it was the latter.

Those of you who don't know me, I work in the Milwaukee radio market, and have worked in sports talk radio in Wisconsin for close to five years now. My biggest gripe with WSSP is this, they either don't know their audience, or just plain don't care about it.

Milwaukee does not like Jim Rome, this was proven when then 1510 WAUK (540 now) made the decision to sandwich Rome in between the Tony Kornheiser show and the Dan Patrick show. The station was flooded with complaints from people who hated Rome.

Even the president of Brett Favre's fan club (Tony K.) took it upon himself to take shots at PD Bill Johnson over the air. Now since I didn't work for that station, I can't say for sure, but I'm almost certain they also got tons of positive feedback from Rome fans, but the people that hated it are the ones that stick out. I don't fault them for taking that chance, it was a shot worth taking. Kornheiser's show was stale, and a self-professed show for old people.

Johnson made the right call in taking a chance, but an even better decision in pulling the plug on that show.

Long-winded here I know, but bear with me. Rome is on WSSP. Again, Rome doesn't play well in the Milwaukee market. His show is too "national" and west coast based. Milwaukeeans don't want that. Now, I don't know if they're contractually obligated to air his show because of their affiliation to Fox Sports (I'd assume so), but if that's not the case, this is an awful decision to continue airing this show by the station PD.

Again, in fairness, it was a great move by the PD to pick up 2 hours of the Dan Patrick show, as Milwaukee loves Dan Patrick. Patrick is a national guy who comes off as your neighbor who knows a lot about sports, plus a lot of people in this market still remember him from when he used to do sports on the Bob and Brian show.

So, getting to my original point, I was listening to one of WSSP's only 2 local shows, the Doug and Mike show. They devoted entire segments to topics like:

Do the Cardinals have a chance in the Super Bowl?
Is Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer?
Recapping both Championship games
Julius Peppers wants out of Carolina
Allegations that Oprah Winfrey smoked crack
Is the Michael Irvin car-jacking story true?
What do Warner and Obama have in common? (they both promised their kids a dog if they each reached the pinnacle in their profession - Super Bowl and Presidency - which then sparked a lenghty conversation about pets.)

All of this, and finally they briefly mentioned the Packers had hired Dom Capers to be their defensive coordinator (taking no calls on this, at least none that I had heard of).

Look, I can understand the Peppers talk, as most Packer fans are clamoring for the Pack to break the bank for him, but explain to me where all the other stuff fits in on a Milwaukee sports talk show? Milwaukee, actually Wisconsin for that matter, doesn't care about national topics. I've seen this up close. They only want to talk/hear about the Packers, Packers, Packers, Brewers, Packers, Badgers/Bucks/Marquette, etc. In that order.

The Packers are a big story. Finally hiring a new coordinator, and one with the pedigree of Dom Capers is a big story. How is this not leading and driving most of the content on your show?

It's not just today or the Doug and Mike show specifically either, as the Big Show (don't even get me started on this one) is just as guilty. I'm continually stunned they actually get callers to interact with on these topics, which is what they'll point to, justifying these topics.

I'm glad this station exists, as just with anything in life, the more competition you have, the better it is for the consumer, but that being said in my opinion they really need to refocus or start focusing on what their target demographics want.

Lastly, I think another major issue with that station is this, most of their talent has little to no ties to Wisconsin. Look, I'm not trying to say you can't talk sports in Wisconsin if you're not from Wisconsin, but they made a big mistake when they launched by not adding quality local talent that was already well-known. There are tons of talented guys in this market (believe me, I'm not talking about myself here) who were passed over while this station tried to load up with national, "hard-hitting" guys. Not so surprisngly, guys like Peter Brown and Cliff Saunders aren't there anymore.

Well, I'll come down from my high-horse now, but I just needed to get that off my chest.

Until next time...

What we're talking 'bout

2009-01-14T11:34:00.002-06:00

Since I'm sure many of you are interested, Gaddis, Justin, and I trade emails frequently throughout the days. Topics range from sports to television to making fun of Gaddis and reliving college memories. We thought it would be fun to share those conversations with you. So, without further ado...

The first bit today was us talking about the weather and the awful traffic getting into work. Justin goes on about podcasts they are going to start doing and he and Gaddis arange for them to do a podcast when Justin goes to Mad-town this weekend for a visit. We'll pick up where it gets interesting.

Gaddis (G): I just had my Health Screen here at work. I had a smoking hot girldoing the health screen. I almost asked her if she wanted to help mebecome not so fat.

Justin (JG): Did you see The Real Housewives or Nip/Tuck last night?
I gave up on the Real Housewives, partly because we're not livingtogether anymore so I didn't have that weekly reminder that it's on, butI caught a mini-marathon a few weekends ago and it sucked me back in

G: Yeah I saw them both. Nip/Tuck is horrible. I could barely watch it.The Real Housewives are ridiculous, but I still love it. Real World tonight.

JG: I saw the premier of Nip/Tuck last week. I thought last season sucked.I'll give it two more weeks, but right now it's borderline unwatchable.
How hot is Jeanna's daughter Kara?

Me (NF): I've got nip/tuck dvr'd. Is it even worth watching? I almost gave upon the show I've watched since episode one after the mid-seasonpremiere last week. Did Christian screw Liz in this one?

G: Yes, he and Liz got it on.
Kara is amazing. I have a thing for Kara's in general.

JG: What? Was that in last night's episode? God that show just sucks now.It was so good the first two years, the whole Carver angle was greatuntil the payoff. Seriously, who didn't think it would be that othersurgeon, but then to add the PI and make her his sister? That's whenthe show started to get ridiculous.

NF: It was pretty ridiculous to begin with, that's what made it soawesome. But, now it has just become too awful to even watch, justlike Prison Break after season 2.
I wonder if we will see, "I have a Tebowner" shirts next year inGainesville, or in Gaddis' dresser.

JG: (talking about the ESPN streak for the cash contest) I could have sworn I picked the Suns last night. I remember clicking onthe preview of the Suns/Hawks game and looking at numbers and I thoughtI clicked on the Suns. Apparently I didn't and my streak for the cashis still at 6. Could have been 7, an all-time high.
I don't see anything on there today I feel comfortable risking my streakwith. I'm saying that sitting on 6, I can't imagine how tense I'd getif I ever reach 15 or 20

NF: I don't see any I'm confident enough to risk my current 3 on. I'mgoing to be tense if I ever get over 5. The dudes with 17 must befreaking sweating.

JG: I think I'm going to take Portland over Philly, I mean Philly isn't thatgood. They don't have Brand, they don't have much offense, Portland isdecent. They should win, shouldn't they?

G: I am at 4 and I think I am taking Portland over Philly

NF: I was looking at that too, but does the east/west thing work the sameway in the NBA. Did Portland play last night? When/where was therelast game?

NF: There was a great question in Simmons' mailbag today that wentsomething like this, "If you could have the best seats in the housefor any sporting event ever, what would it be?" He went with USA 4USSR 3.
I'm going to pose the question to the two of you, but say whatsporting event since 1990 (which is probably when we all reallystarted to get into sports and knew what was going on) would you havegone to, and also, what would have been the best seats in the house (Iask for this opinion because I don't believe the midwest expressairline seats underneath the scoreboard in center field are the bestseats at Miller Park).
And go....

G: Simple....October 14, 2003, Marlins vs Cubs, Section 4, Row 8, Seat 113.In the 8th inning when the Marlins are up to bat I would go to thebathroom.

NF: Why, so someone else could catch the ball? Alou wasn't getting itanyway. You should have chosen that seat so you could rush the fieldand attack Alex Gonzalez, forcing him out of the game.
My decision is down to 2, either the 16th hole at Augusta in 2006 whenTiger made that ridiculous chip, I would have wanted to be rightbehind him, or our normal end zone seats last year during thePackers/Seahawks game in the snow.
Although, watching one of the Wisconsin Rose Bowl victories would havebeen cool, as would have USC/Texas...

JG: Oh god, that is a tough one.
I don't think I'd choose a football game, because personally I thinkthey're better to view on TV than in person.
My initial knee-jerk reaction is to say game three of the 2001 WorldSeries, when it returned to NY after the attacks and W. tossed a heaterdown mainstreet with the opening pitch. I'd go with seats right behindhome plate for that one.
That or courtside seats for game six of the 1993 NBA finals where theBulls beat the Suns. Barkley was my favorite athlete of all-time, andto be able to see Jordan in his prime, up that close, on a night wherehe clinched another title.
I think I'd go with one of those. I don't know though, I could think oflike 5 more.

G: There are so many. Those are very good ones Garcia.

NF: I was even thinking the "fan-man" boxing match between Bowe and Hollyfield.
I like the game 3 of the '01 WS pick, that's a good one.
The Pats/Rams SB would also have been good, although, I agree thatfootball may be better on television. I love watching from the endzone seats, though, you get to see plays develop and how defenses lineup. I think that if the seats weren't in the end zone, I wouldn'tlike them as much.
What about sitting courtside or right behind Marv Albert in 1992 forthe "I can't believe I just made another 3, either" Jordan shrug?
mmm, one for me would definitely be in Tampa for the Super Bowlnational anthem in 91 when Whitney Houston lip-synched really well toher pre-recorded version which brought down the house shortly afterthe Persian Gulf war started.

JG: Yeah, I was thinking about both those Super Bowls and that Jordan gametoo.
What about one of the Dream Team games in the 92 Olympics? I would havepicked one of those or the gold medal game if they would have had anycompetition.
The USC/Texas or the Miami/OSU national championship, sorry, Rose andFiesta Bowls weren't too bad either.

NF: I would have liked to have attended the mythical practice where Jordanand Magic or Barkley were just trash talking each other so bad thatthey eventually just said "screw it, let's pick sides" and they pickedteams like they were on the playground and it was apparently the bestbasketball game ever played.

G: Yeah I wish there had been a camera in there for what was probably thegreatest game every played.

NF: So I think that's my answer, courtside for that game.

JG: I just read Simmons' mailbag. How ridiculous is that, that the Heathave retired Jordan and Marino's number? WTF?
I just thought of another few:
The game where Tamika Catchings got to limp into the game to put up abasket for Tennesse.
The game where Candace Parker became the first woman to dunk in an NCAAtournament game
Chamique Holdsclaw's first game with the Mystic's. How incredible wasthat? It was like LeBron's debut.
And lastly, game 3 of the 2000 WNBA finals, I mean how many times canyou see a 4-peat like that?
You know, if you want us to take your league seriously, how does theteam that won your first 4 Championships fold 8 years later? WhateverWNBA

NF: Here's the great thing, I don't even know what team you are talking about.
And yeah, I had to read the sentence about Marino and Jordan and theHeat 3 times. Not kidding, 3 times before I could move past it.
I almost forgot, I want ticket to when Cael Sanderson broke the alltime record of going undefeated or whatever it was when he had hislast match for Iowa State and won, going undefeated for his career. Istill think he should have looked right into the camera after thatmatch was over and screamed, "I'm coming after you Stone Cold. 3.16this" and then dropped the mike, started doing steroids and joined theWWE.

JG: I'm sad to say I know, and knew the answer before I wrote this...theHouston Comets.
And actually, I'm overlooking one big one. Wrestlemania VI, where theUltimate Warrior beat Hulk Hogan for the title. I'm pretty sure I criedafter Hogan lost. I was a big Hulkamaniac as an 8 year old

Back with more later...

Quick Hits

2009-01-13T11:18:00.002-06:00

Here are some quick thoughts from recent happenings in sports:

- Tony Dungy will be elected to the Hall of Fame. He has some solid stats including 6 straight 12 win seasons and 10 consecutive playoff appearances, but he is still borderline as a HoF coach. What I think puts him in is the fact that the media loves him. The fact he has garnered so much respect as a person will get him into the hall.

- LeBron James is winning the MVP this season and as +500 to win the Eastern Conference, everyone should hammer on the Cavs.

- The overtime rule in the NFL needs to be changed. I've heard 2 options thought of by other people that I like. The first is that it is a race to 6 points. If the first team to possess the ball scores a touchdown, game over, you couldn't stop them, if they kick a field goal, you have a chance to at least tie the game, or win it with 6. The second is the ball will automatically start at the 20 yard line. Whichever team wins the coin flip decides if they want offense or defense and then it is sudden death. I like that idea more because you are essentially calling out either the other team's offense or defensive unit and saying you're better.

- North Carolina is still the best team in the ACC.

- The Steelers and Eagles will play for the Super Bowl.

-until next time...

College Football Bowl Playoff System

2008-12-18T15:25:00.003-06:00

So yeah, I figured since it has been over 1 year since the last post on the sight, it better be a good one. Well, here goes.

I have devised a Bowl Playoff System to determine an NCAA Division IFootball Champion. There are currently 34 bowl games, so with a 32 team playoff system, 31 of the current bowls could be used todetermine a National Champion.

Here's how I came up with the 32 teams: 11 conference champions; ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big 10,Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac 10, Sun Belt, SEC, and WAC, along with at least one independent for 12 automatic bids.

A second team from the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big 10, Pac 10, and SEC isguaranteed (second team does not have to be a division winner in conferences with more than one division). Second team from those 6 conferences will generally be decided upon by the conference. Before each season, conferences will vote on whether they will take the team with the second best conference record or decide by a blind vote by the coaches. If the record is chosen, first tie breaker will be head to head competition, second tie breaker will be blind vote by the coaches with a tie to be settled by the conference commissioner. If the blind vote is chosen, the tie breaker will be head to head competition. If there was no head to head match-up that season, the conference commissioner will determine the second team to receive a bid.

After the second team is selected by each of the 6 conferences, the remaining 14 bids will be at large bids and will be determined loosely by the polls. A committee of one representative from each conference will select the final 14 teams and determine seeding. The six major conference champions shall have a seeding of no lower than 3 entering the playoff regardless of record or ranking in the polls.

Teams mustbe over .500 overall and in conference play to qualify.

The 3 bowls I didn't end up using were the International Bowl, LasVegas Bowl, and whatever bowl is in St. Petersburg, FL. These bowls will either be eliminated outrightly, or can simply be played on a date not interfering with the playoffs, hopefully before the playoffs begin.

Now, obviously, logistical considerations haven't been given to this system, nor has working out when these Athlete/Students would take exams, especially if they are on a trimester plan. That being said, here is the format (and I'm using dates for what would be this year's playoffs).

The first round of games would occur the Wednesday through Saturdayafter the final week of the regular season (12/10-12/13), and the regular season shall always end by the first Saturday or Sunday in December (this works out well, because this year is the latest possible start to the playoffs we would see). Winners would face off Thursday through Saturday the following weekend (12/18-12/20), the Quarterfinals would be held the following Friday or Saturday(12/26-12/27). The final 7 bowl games are the marquee bowls; Capital One, Cotton, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Rose, and Championship bowl. Thetwo semi-final bowls will be played on New Year's Day unless that day falls on a Sunday and will interfere will a full day of NFL games, then they will be played on Saturday, December, 31st. The Championship Bowl will be played on the first Friday or Saturday occurring between 1/6 and 1/12 so there is a minimum of 5 and no more than 11 days between the semi-finals and finals. The Championship Bowl will be rotated through the Fiesta, Rose, Orange, and Sugar Bowl sites. The quarter and semi-final bowls will rotate their spot in the bracket each year, moving one space clockwise. For example, from this year's bracket to next year, the quarterfinal bowls would be: the Cotton, Orange, Sugar, and Capital One, with the Semi-Finals being the Fiesta and Rose.

So now that we have that set up, here is what I came up with. I tried to divide the regions to West, South, East, North teams and named the regions thusly.

In the West, the first round would look like this:

(12/10-12/13)

Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA)
1 Texas vs 8 Troy

Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, ID)
4 Oklahoma St vs 5 Oregon

Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA)
3 Boise State vs 6 BYU

Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu, HA)
2 USC vs 7 Tulsa

SOUTH

Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX)
1 Oklahoma vs 8 Oregon State

Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, CA)
4 TCU vs 5 Missouri

New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM)
3 Utah vs. 6 Hawaii

Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA)
2 Texas Tech vs 7 Rice

EAST

Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, AL)
1 Alabama vs 8 ECU

Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando, FL)
4 Cincinnati vs 5 LSU

Meineke Bowl (Charlotte, NC)
3 Georgia Tech vs 6 Michigan State

New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, LA)
2 Ohio State vs 7 Navy

NORTH

Motor City Bowl (Detroit, MI)
1 Florida vs 8 Buffalo

GMAC Bowl (Mobile, AL)
4 Ball State vs 5 Virginia Tech

Eagle Bank Bowl (Washington, DC)
3 Georgia vs 6 Florida State

Music City Bowl (Nashiville, TN)
2 Penn State vs 7 Pittsburgh

***** For the remaining rounds, I have moved the higher seed to thenext round.*****

Second Round (12/18-12/20)

WEST

Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ)
1 Texas vs 4 Oklahoma State

Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX)
2 USC vs 3 Boise State

SOUTH

Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX)
1 Oklahoma vs 4 TCU

Texas Bowl (Houston, TX)
2 Texas Tech vs 3 Utah

NORTH

Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL)
1 Alabama vs 4 Cincinnati

Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA)
2 Ohio State vs 3 Georgia Tech

EAST

Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL)
1 Florida vs 4 Ball State

Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN)
2 Penn State vs 3 Georgia

QUARTER FINALS (12/26 or 12/27)

WEST

Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ)
1 Texas vs 2 USC

SOUTH

Cotton Bowl (Dallas, TX)
1 Oklahoma vs 2 Texas Tech

NORTH

Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA)
1 Alabama vs 2 Ohio State

EAST

Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL)
1 Florida vs 2 Penn State

SEMI FINALS (1/1/09)

West vs South

Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)
1 Texas vs 1 Oklahoma

North vs East

Orange Bowl (Miami, FL)
1 Alabama vs 1 Florida

Championship Bowl (1/10/09)

Dolphin Stadium (Miami, FL)
1 Oklahoma vs 1 Florida

So there you are, feel free to discuss.

-Until next time...

Door County Charter Fishing Trip with Catch Five Charters

2007-07-05T08:23:00.000-05:00

The day started early, but it was well worth it. Thanks again to Captain Claude and Captain Mike for a great day of fishing.

Maybe 4:30 is a little early, to get out on the water, but then you get views like these:

What a great day on the water.

Ben attempting to land the first fish of the day

Ben has a monster King on the line

This 20 pounder is going to be delicious

Pulling in these fish from 300 feet is taxing

Apparently the fish wasn't quite ready to be done

The view returning to Bailey's Harbor

Yup, a successful day, one fish away from catching our limit

Ben and his King Salmon, or as Captain Mike put it, "The fish of the year"

My best catch of the day was in the 17 pound range

Now that's a good looking cooler

It was a great day, and if you would like to see video of Ben and I fighting these fish, check these out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3YdAwyVdIs Ben's video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WMV70CeISY Nate's video

-Until next time...

Following Up

2007-06-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

So I left off being a little disgruntled about kids and their lack of creativity and leadership, especially in sports. A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of being a guest at a friend's lake house. They had some whiffle balls and a bat so we decided to play Lake Ball. Yeah, we made up a game and rules and scoring for some stupid game to play while we wasted away an afternoon. It was at that point that someone pointed out that we were doing the exact thing I described in my previous article. Even though we made up the rules, they were pretty lax. I hit a 6-run homer and we gave our opponent a 9-run homer because he absolutely smashed it. We didn't care about the "rules" at that point, but we followed them, even if they were invented not more than 2 hours earlier. We were more concerned about where the next Blue Lagoon was coming from and if we'd see that girl on the lake was. It took us about an hour of research to figure out B. Fellenz's name. Wait, that's too obvious, we'll call her Brooke F.

On a side note, if you ever get a chance to go on a charter fishing trip, I highly recommend it. It was a blast. Check out http://www.catchfivecharters.com/ for our picture in the next couple of weeks. Claude and Mike were great captains and are highly recommended. We also have pictures of the trip.

The Lowly Crew

2007-06-11T01:04:00.000-05:00

I see Filzen did this for the godawful Cubs, so here is my take on the Brewers thus far.

Ned Yost blows. I've said it for years, arguably the worst game manager out there now, the only thing Ned has brought to the table is changing the attitude and atmostphere in the clubhouse. Then again though, how much of that was him and NOT Doug Melvin and Gord Ash, and or a completely new team that wasn't around for all of the losing that happend in the 2000's, 90;s, most of the 80's.......ok well forever.

Get a lineup and stick with it Ned. It's not that hard, we've all seen it, they have an everyday lineup they should be playing, but don't. Refresh my memory again, why is this team carrying six outfielders?

OK, so here is why I do:

Shop Mench and or Gross. You won't get much for Gabe, maybe even just release him. Seriously, barring one game he's really shown me nothing his entire tenure here.

Mench has no place in this team's future, and probably carries the most value, so please move him asap. My only concern though is that both guys get moved and Ned decides the "Four Catcher Staff" is way overdue, and calls up Mike Rivera and Lou Palmisano or Vinny Rottino to take their places.

Call up Gallardo. What else can he do at AAA? Dave Bush isn't necessarily killing them as their fifth starter, but we've seen all he can give. It's time we see if Gallardo is indeed for real.

Call up Manny Parra. Same scenario. He's performing well in the minors, and we've seen all that Shouse is going to give this club. Parra has good stuff, and was envisioned to be a starter, but really only projects to be an end of the rotation guy. Let's see what he's got.

So for the record, i'm done with:
Mench, Gross, Spurling, Shouse, (I'm also done with Graffanino, but there's no depth in the infield to justify cutting him right now)

Assuming everyone is healthy, here is my Rotation/Pen and lineup:

Sheets
Capuano
Suppan
Vargas
Gallardo

Pen:

LR: Bush
LR: Capellan

MR: Wise
MR: Turnbow
MR: Parra

SU: Villanueva

CL: Cordero

Lineup vs LHP:

1. Corey Hart LF
2. Tony Gwynn CF
3. JJ Hardy SS
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Ryan Braun 3B
6. Bill Hall RF
7. Johnny Estrada C
8. Rickie Weeks 2B

Lineup vs RHP:

1. Corey Hart CF
2. Johnny Estrada C
3. JJ Hardy SS
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Ryan Braun 3B
6. Geoff Jenkins LF
7. Bill Hall RF
8. Rickie Weeks 2B

Hart has flourished in the leadoff role. Estrada isn't an ideal 2 hitter, but he has a high enough average, is a good contact hitter, and would do a good enough job of moving Hart into scoring postion for Hardy and Fielder.

Speaking of Hardy, why is our second best hitter in terms of pop hitting in the 2 hole? So he can set the record for most solo homers this year?

Bill Hall should be the everyday RF so Hart and Gwynn can platoon for now. Next year your ideal OF left to right is Hart, Gwynn, Hall.

This lineup gives them good table setters at the top and enough pop at the bottom to make a pitcher pay for mistakes.

If only Ned didn't suck as a manger...

The Finale Post

2007-06-10T23:17:00.000-05:00

Wow. First off, never has there been a show that has really captured me like The Sopranos has. For the last nine years I've been captivated by it. The thing that has made the show is the fact that it has aired on Premium cable. I don't mean that in regards to the language and violence. What I mean is this, had the show been on network tv it wouldn't be it's usual 13 episode season. It would have been around 25 episodes, no long break between, no build up seasons...none of that.

HBO has been the perfect match for The Sopranos. The language, violence, nudity, etc. The long pauses between episodes which build the anticipation and leave you wanting more. More than that though, it created the element of real time.

Every series on network TV is sped up. Five months worth of shows covers one year in a story arch. With the Sopranos, we actually saw all these characters grow up in real time. It just seemed more realistic. I loved that. I'll miss that. I already miss that....ahhh, onto the ending itself.

The finale was brilliant. There, I said it. Brilliant writing, well thought out, great acting, perfect pacing, overall a great sendoff.

Was it a "cop out" ending? Absolutely not. It was a realistic ending. Life goes on as it always does.

Phil took his vendetta against Tony too far. Everyone knew that, and that seed was planted way back in season five when his brother went down at the hands of Tony Blundetto. The sitdown with New York was perfect, and followed form for the rest of the epidsode.

I kept waiting for Carmine to double cross everyone, using the sitdown to make sure Phil gets whacked and then promptly having Tony taken care of as well. Never happened. I kept waiting for Paulie to double cross Tony. Never happened. I kept waiting for Patsy to reveal that he hap flipped to the feds. Never happened. I kept waiting for Meadow to tragically die. Never happened.

In the end, we really got what we wanted.

Tony said goodbye to Uncle June. Phil was whacked, thus giving Tony on less thing to worry about. AJ inadvertently follows his father's footsteps, and all is seeminlgy well in casa de Soprano.

The whole AJ story arch was brilliant too. Carmella and Tony both whine that AJ has no direction, no future, is lazy, and so on. When AJ finally takes an interest in something and shows an initiative they immediately shoot him down because they don't like it. It's fitting because AJ is clearly following in the footsteps of Tony, something all loyal viewers thought would happen from day one.

AJ's only ticket out of the life was enlisting in the Army. Tony talked him out of that and sucked AJ into the life. Working for/with Carmine will only lead AJ into the lif of crime eventually. Again, great writing there, leading AJ into that outcome in a most unexpected way, but obviouslly planning it out long ago. You can clearly see that this was well thought out in advance and not just thrown together over the course of a few months like most shows.

What was with Paulie and Patsy too? Chase made us believe early on in season 6B that Paulie would turn on T, and maybe he did, Who knows. Why did Paulie have the dream earlier this season where he saw Pussy? Why was Paulie not wanting to take the promotion? Why did Chase want us to think Paulie had something to hide? Why did Patsy seem so uncomfortibe around Tony?

We were thrown for so many curves. What was the deal with the cat? Was that supposed to be Chrissy reincarnated? Why did he lead us to believe something was up with Patsy and Paulie? What was up with the final five minutes? Again, great writing. And now, the best part of all, the ending itself.

Tony finally sucks it up and says goodbye in his way to Junior. We all wanted it, Junior had become a sympathetic character recently and we were all hoping he'd visit him one last time. And in the end even Tony leaves feeling sorry for his uncle.

Wow. An amazing build up to the end. Starting with AJ picking up Rhiannon from shcool. Chase had it shot wanting us to believe that there was either a bomb in the car, or AJ was being tailed and would be killed. None of it happened. The diner scene was fantastic.

Chase did a great job of building tension. Making us believe that anyone of the extras they showed in that diner was going to take out Tony. Meadow struggling to parallel park her car only added to that, it made us all think "Tony is going to die and Meadow won't be there in time to say goodbye to her dad." And in the end, it ended how it all began. A husband with his wife and children.

Tony really is a family man, at least in his own way. Inspite of all Tony's flaws, he loves his family life and would do anything for his children. That's why we love him, that's why we root for him. The family comes full circle.

Meadow went from being the teenager about to graduate high school, ready to question everything and rebel to the one with a clear direction. Anthony Junior went from being the disciple of Tony, to a young stupid screw up, to a misinformed rebelious youth, back to a Tony disciple. Carmella, where to begin. Just like Tony, she has few redeeming qualities. She flirted with leaving Tony, but was attracted to the money prestige and power too much. And then theres Tony....

In the end, they were all together and had one last family dinner. That's what we wanted, admit it. Tony is safe for now. Not dead, but in all likelihood will be indicted. But like AJ said, "focus on the good times. Try and remeber the times that were good." And we will. Tony gets his last hurrah on screen. We see him go out on top for now.

Tony Soprano was arguably the worst character on TV, but we all loved him. Another day in the life, eventually the noose will tighten, but for now he gets his time in the sun.

Don't Stop believing. Hold onto the feeling. Streetlights, People. Don't stop................................

Youth Sports

2007-06-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

With Little Leagues around the nation fully under way and Saturday soccer leagues getting rolling, I think it's important to take a look at the state of youth sports. Back in the day, I remember dads coaching their kid's team. Some of them took it more seriously than others. But what I don't remember is having a ton of teams and an endless supply of leagues for various sports almost year-round. Today there are far less kids who have leadership skills. They expect things to be done for them. In sports, it is rare to see as many leaders on the playing surface as there used to be. Some think this is because so many leagues are set up so gets only get to play. Remember when kids used to get together at the park and pick teams, or they'd have certain rules that only applied to the specific field they were playing on. "If you catch it before the bush it counts, but if you catch it after the bush, it's a redo." Or the rule about playing a fly ball out of the trees or off the roof. That always caused controversy when playing in the next hood over. What I'm saying is, we need to give kids the ability to make up rules like that on their own and they enforce them, not an official/referee, not a parent, but a kid. This teaches the kid to play fair and to stand up for themselves. Sure it's neat to step onto a basketball floor in 4th grade with a jersey, glowing scoreboard, and referees, but that sort of thing can wait. Right now we are forcing kids to grow up to fast athletically. Read this next part carefully. People always say they don't want their kid to specialize in anything at a young age. So instead of just letting them play during the season, they involve the kids equally in as many sports as possible so they are still doing something in the summer with regard to their sport, but they're not specializing in one because they're in 2, 3, or even 4 sports in the summer. Coaches go too far sometimes with regard to their expectations for summer workouts. They want high school kids to be in 2 leagues during the week as well as numerous weekend tournaments.

Wow, got a little off track there.

Let's get back to youth sports, 8th grade and under. Let kids be kids. Don't give them so many leagues to play in. Allow them to become leaders, allow them to have to deal with adversity during the games in the yard, or driveway, or park, allow them to just have fun. Save all the razzle dazzle stuff until they're in high school.

Sorry for the boredom.

New Addition

2007-06-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Nate and Gaddis for allowing me to post. I will be referred to as Coach for this blog. My major points of emphasis will be relating to high school and middle school athletics, mostly from a coaching standpoint, a slight referee view, and advice I have for you, the reader, as you prepare to begin families and possibly have athletes. This, of course, is an exception for Gaddis, who will have to be on the prescription drug, Homocyl, due to his son's involvement with dance and male cheerleading.

I don't know when I will post next so I won't even write about when I plan to write.

To the readers, I will pose this statement. Defend your position on why starting kids at an early level in (a) sport(s) is/isn't a good thing. I look forward to reading your responses.

Who Cares?

2007-04-30T11:24:00.000-05:00

Was going to post this on Friday, but didn't have the time, so it may be a little out dated:

Who cares…

… if Curt Schilling had blood or something else on his sock in game 6 of the 2004 ALCS? This is something that happened 2 ½ years ago! Is it really that slow of a news week that this is the sports story dominating the circuit? I’m pretty sure the NHL and NBA playoffs are on, MLB is getting into swing, and there’s a little thing I like to call the NFL Draft coming up this weekend. Yet, whether Schilling may or may not have had blood on his sock during that game is a huge story? Speaking of the nfl…

… who the first pick in the NFL Draft is going to be? We’ll all find out either late Friday night or at 11:00am on Saturday morning. Is it really that big of a deal? Look at the team they are going to; the Raiders. The first pick is basically screwed because of the organization he is going to…

… if the Packers are trying to trade for Larry Johnson? Oh wait, I do. He is probably not going to be very durable next year unless he is the exception to the rule that rushing over 400 times the previous season severely limits your abilities the next season…

… about A-Rod possibly opting out of his NY Yankees contract at the end of the season, besides those who live in New York? I like the Yankees and I’m getting sick of all of the coverage this team and the Red Sox get. But it has really hit a point where it is unbearable with the almost daily columns about whether or not A-Rod should opt out of his contract and the beliefs that he will or won’t…

… about college baseball? No one, and that’s a damned shame…

… that Ben Sheets pulled his groin and had to leave his last start after 3 innings? Look, the guy has been injured the past three seasons, but he is definitely an elite pitcher, look at his stats in his career. He’s no Mark Prior or Kerry Wood, this guy has actually been reliable through entire seasons and he may not even miss a start…

… if Joe Thomas wants to skip the draft? The NFL is making a semi-big deal out of this, let the man do what he wants to do. It’s not like he has any incentive to go to New York to sit there and be nervous until he gets drafted, let the man fish in peace…

The Lowly Cubs

2007-04-24T08:28:00.000-05:00

So, Gaddis and I were emailing a bit after the Cubs fell to 7-12 with another home loss (now 3-8 at Wrigley) and another lead blown by the bullpen to lose 5-4 in 12 innings to the Brewers last night. The good news for the Cubs, they are 3-0 on Saturdays, but are 0-3 on Sundays and 0-2 on Tuesdays, so hopefully Rich Hill (3-0, 0.41 era) can twirl another gem this evening to get the club their first Tuesday victory. Also good news for the Cubs, after they finish their series with the Brewers (2 more games) and visit St. Louis this weekend (3 game set), their next 12 games are against Pittsburgh, who they should beat, Washington, Pittsburgh again, and Philadelphia. That would be a great time to get healthy in the standings and start off May on a high note.

I decided to play GM of the Cubs for this post, and here's what I sent to Gaddis as my plan for the Cubs:

I'm going to show how I want to team to be, so bear with me:

LF Soriano- best leadoff option right now with Pie struggling
2B Theriot- his numbers are too good not to play him everyday
1B Lee- obviously
3B Ramirez- obviously
RF Murton- see Theriot
C Barrett- obviously
CF 3.14- here until he starts hitting ML pitching
SS Izturis- he's been sucking at the plate

Bench

LF- Floyd
UF- Jones
??- Ward
C- Blanco
2B- DeRosa
SS- Cedeno

Theriot can back up both Izturis and Ramirez in the infield, and could play some outfield as well. So, if we rest either Ramirez or Izturis (or even give Theriot a shot at SS since Izturis is not hitting at all) then DeRosa can still get some starts. Don't need to worry about Blanco. They should trade Cedeno, and I don't know what Daryl Ward does other than remind me of a homeless man's Todd Hollandsworth. If Floyd or Jones start complaining about playing time, too bad, we need the young guys to play because they are proving they can. The downside? Obviously, there is only 1 full time left handed hitter in the starting lineup (which wouldn't be if we still had Todd Walker, but I digress), and 1 switch hitter, and if we sit Izturis, there is only 1 person who can hit left handed at all. But, at 7-12, does it really matter if we keep left handed hitters in the lineup? I like Jones, have liked him since they got him, and even though 3.14 is only hitting like .130, he needs to play everyday if for nothing else, he is the best defensive outfielder they have. So there's my everyday lineup bringing Jones and Floyd off the bench. I'd say start Jones in center and bring 3.14 off the bench for defensive purposes late in games, but he needs to get more at bats as well.

P- Hill- lights out right now
P- Lilly- pretty much lights out right now, but no run support (see Matt Clement 2003)
P- Zambrano- can we either get this guy a deal or trade him so he can get back on track
P- Marquis- hasn't been as bad as I thought
P- Guzman- he gets the next chance at the fifth spot, Marmol is next. You get 2 starts and if you can't do it, NEXT PLEASE!

LR- Cotts
RP- Eyre
RP- Howry
RP- Ohman
RP- Wuertz
CP- Dempster

If we need to, send Cedeno down and then we'll have room for Cherry as well. Basically here's how I think the bullpen should go; obviously Cotts gets any long relief duty, then you rank it on who can get one out if you need it, which I would rank in this order:

1. Dempster (but Wuertz is closing in quickly)
2. Wuertz
3. Ohman
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Howry
32. Cherry
57. Eyre
and put them in accordingly in close games. They are now 0-5 this season in games decided by 1 run!!!!!! That is ridiculous. Also, they are 7-12 and their bullpen is responsible for 5 of those losses (may be 6, but I am pretty sure it's 5), so the starting pitchers are .500 through the first 19 games, not killing them, not winning them a division, but not killing them.

I say they release Wade Miller, shop Cedeno, Eyre, Jones, DeRosa, Marmol (yes, because I think they can sell high), and see what happens. I'm sure they could trade some of these guys for less money and role players who know exactly what they need to do.

There's my being GM for the morning.

-Until next time...

16 to 8 in 2 days

2007-03-22T12:54:00.000-05:00

So it’s time for the sweet 16, huh? Let me first start off by saying my long weekend was fantastic, Holschbach was great company to watch Aquinas and Lincoln play at State, the games were okay on television, big thank you to Kevin and Tracey for housing us in Chicago, and being at the United Center for “Rock. Chalk. Jayhawk. K.U.” was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.

Well, I was off on a few picks, but I’m here to redeem myself for the sweet 16. Hopefully, I have some time Saturday morning to knock out the Regional Final winners, but we’ll see. Anyway, here we go:

Midwest Regional

1 Florida vs 5 Butler

Florida is the more talented team in this game. Butler is riding high after two big wins in the tournament and is proving doubters wrong. AJ Graves is on fire from the outside and if he is hitting and Florida’s guys aren’t, the Bulldogs could pull the upset. However, since everyone seems to be picking Butler, I can’t go that way.

Pick: Florida 75 Butler 64

3 Oregon vs 7 UNLV

UNLV wore down and beat up Wisconsin. Kevin Krueger looked extremely good against the Badgers down the stretch. I haven’t seen any of the Ducks’ games in this tournament, but considering the UNLV fans were absolute jerks at the United Center after the game, I’m cheering hard for Oregon.

Pick: Oregon 93 UNLV 42

West Regional

1 Kansas vs 4 Southern Illinois

I really wish these two teams wouldn’t have been in the same regional. SIU plays stifling defense, but Kansas has the talent and the smarts teams need not to be rattled by pressure. Kentucky committed a fatal flaw during their game with the Jayhawks, they pressed, and kept pressing, even after Kansas was getting easy basket after easy basket. If SIU’s defensive pressure can’t get Kansas to make uncharacteristic mistakes, they can stay in this game.

The Salukis’ other problem will be if they go on prolonged offensive droughts, which they are accustomed to. Kansas also can play shut down defense with the athletes they have, and in this game, a 7 point lead for Kansas will be like a 20 point lead because of the SIU struggles on the offensive end.

I really like both teams, but after seeing Kansas in person, they are even more my favorite to win the title.

Pick: Kansas 71 SIU 57

2 UCLA vs 3 Pitt

The only region in which the seeds held through the first two rounds features student against teacher for the second time in the tournament (Crean vs Izzo). Pitt’s only chance in this game as I see it is if Aaron Gray goes for a 26-12 type performance, which he is capable of. However, they have to travel cross country and play in San Jose, so a virtual home game for UCLA with the fan support. Remember what happened when UCLA went to West Virginia during the season? I foresee the mentor once again being better than the protégé, just as in the MU/MSU matchup

Pick: UCLA 78 Pitt 73

East Regional

1 UNC vs 5 USC

I hate this game because I hate UNC and USC knocked out Kevin Durant. Ty Lawson has been playing very well for the Tar Heels and is basically leading them to a Final Four birth. I can’t name one player on USC, but they are getting O.J. Mayo next season assuming he doesn’t get arrested and thrown in jail first, and as much as I hate UNC, I can’t pick a team I don’t know anyone on.

Pick: UNC 86 USC 80

2 Georgetown vs 6 Vanderbilt

All due respect to the Buster Olney alumnus, but there is no way the commodores are beating the Hoyas. Georgetown right now is about as unstoppable as a team can be in March. I really want to see them play in Atlanta and have little doubt they will get there. If they didn’t play in the Big East with Marquette, I would like them a whole lot more, but right now, they are probably my second favorite team in the tournament.

Pick: Georgetown 80 Vanderbilt 62

South Regional

1 Ohio State vs 5 Tennessee

Love Bruce Pearl as a coach, hate Ohio State basketball, love Chris Lofton, respect Greg Oden and Mike Conley’s abilities, like Thad Matta as a coach, hate the fact Oden wasn’t called for an intentional foul for shoving the Xavier player, which I was yelling at the television during the play.

Ohio State has been involved in the most exciting game of the tournament so far (at least the regulation part) and Tennessee broke a record for most points scored. As much as I want to see Ohio State go down because they shouldn’t be this far because of a missed call, I can’t see how Tennessee stops Greg Oden.

Pick: Ohio State 91 Tennessee 82

2 Memphis vs 3 Texas A&M

What I haven’t told you is that out of my Elite Eight teams, only Texas is gone, and that is reflected in all of my picks. When the bracket came out, the first team I went to pencil into a position was Texas A&M because of Acie Law 4 and Billy Gilespie. I didn’t care what the matchup was for them, I had them in the Final Four. I’m not going to go against that now, especially since this team can defend Memphis and make them take tough shots. If Memphis doesn’t shoot well, they can be beaten, especially by a well coached team.

Pick: Texas A&M 74 Memphis 72

- Until next time…

NCAA Tourney Like/Dislike part 2

2007-03-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

Going off of yesterday's post, I'm going to do the other half of the bracket for the tournament and tell you what I like and don't like about the matchups.

But first a couple more:

Like- Gus Johnson and his great announcing abilities are sometimes the highlight of the tournament for me. He is definitely one of the people I would like narrating my life or giving my eulogy.

Dislike- The fact he is religated to the first two rounds only and won't be announcing a Regional Final. Absolutely ridiculous. I didn't think I would care about James Brown leaving FOX and going to CBS, but guess who's taking Johnson's spot announcing the Regional Final? Yeah, hate James Brown now.

Onto the picks:

East Region:

1 North Carolina vs 16 Eastern Kentucky

Like- North Carolina has a lot of talent. Other than that, I like that I will have other games to watch than this one.

Dislike- Everything about North Carolina, players, colors, coach, everything. Too bad they are really good.

Pick- 1. UNC

8 Marquette vs 9 Michigan St.

Like- The Warriors, Tom Crean, the way tht team doesn't focus on one guy to score for them, Drew Neitzel's college ability, and Tom Crean.

Dislike- That these 2 are meeting in the first round, Jerel McNeal's thumb is still hurt, and that is as big for the Warriors as UW being without Butch.

Pick- 9. MSU (because McNeal is out)

5 Southern California vs 12 Arkansas

Like- USC's football team

Dislike- The fact Arkansas got in and USC played in a poor PAC 10 conference. Had USC played any of the other 12s, I would have picked against them.

Pick- 5. USC

4 Texas vs 13 New Mexico St.

Like- Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant (get the picture?), and Reggie Theus

Dislike- Rick Barnes' coacing, burnt orange, DJ Augustin's decision making, that Texas isn't ranked higher.

Pick- 4. Texas

6 Vanderbilt vs 11 George Washington

Like- Buster Olney writes about Vandy in pretty much every blog he writes, and I love reading Buster Olney, and finally, George Washington is the closest sounding team to George Mason, so we'll probably hear a mistake made and someone call them George Mason.

Dislike- The Commodores? What kind of nickname is that?

Pick- 6. Vanderbilt

3 Washington St. vs 14 Oral Roberts

Like- Washington State has ties to Wisconsin with Tony Bennett at the helm, Oral Roberts is very athletic and could cause some problems if they can dictate the pace.

Dislike- When this game first came up, I said, "I'll take ORU" thinking it would be a great upset pick. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to think so as well, so if it happens, it won't be as cool.

Pick- 14. Oral Roberts

7 Boston College vs 10 Texas Tech

Like- Bob Knight, Jarius Jackson, Jared Dudley, and Al Skinner

Dislike- Texas Teach lost at home the day Knight was supposed to become the winningest coach in DI history.

Pick- 7. Boston College

2 Georgetown vs 15 Belmont

Like- Pretty much everything about the Georgetown team, especially (forgot his first name) Green. I really, really, really like this team and how hot they are right now.

Pick- 2. Georgetown

South Region (this is going to be quick because I'm bored)

1 Ohio State vs 16 Central Connecticut State

Like- Greg Oden and Mike Conley, Jr's abilities.

Dislike- That Ohio State is in the Big Ten

Pick- 1. Ohio State

8 BYU vs 9 Xavier

Like- BYU produces good quarterbacks

Dislike- BYU probably doesn't know how to party

Pick- 9. Xavier

5 Tennessee vs 12 Long Beach State

Like- Bruce Pearl

Dislike- Not going to school at Long Beach State and if no other 5 goes down, it may be the Vols

Pick- 5. Tennessee

4. Virginia vs 13 Albany

Like- Albany's celebration after they won their tourney

Dislike- Virginia probably isn't as good as advertised

Pick- 4. Virginia

6 Louisville vs 11 Stanford

Like- Nothing

Dislike- Jerry Smith and having a team name end without an "s"

Pick- 6. Louisville

3 Texas A&M vs 14 Penn

Like- Acie Law IV, Acie Law IV

Dislike- Quakers and Texas A&M being a 3 seed, not a 2

Pick- 3. Texas A&M

7 Nevada vs 10 Creighton

Like- Creighton won their conference tournament and Nevada didn't

Dislike- Two mid majors are playing each other in the first round

Pick- 10. Creighton

2 Memphis vs 15 North Texas

Like- Memphis dominated a conference it should have

Dislike- Memphis is also overrated

Pick- 2. Memphis

Next picks will be for the sweet 16.

-Until next time...

NCAA Tourney- Like/Dislike

2007-03-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

What's this, a new post? Why yes, yes it is, and it will have some substance, too. Do yourself a favor and print this out, put an away sign on your desk, and enjoy your time in the bathroom, you may be there for a while.

With the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament starting in just a few short hours, I thought it would be fitting if I threw my 2 cents about everything I thought about the tournament and teams since everyone else has as well.

*Use this to fill out your bracket at your own risk.

First a few likes/dislikes of the tournament as a whole:

Like- The drama, there is nothing quite like a 10-15 seed knocking out their better ranked opponent during the first two rounds and watching those kids react like it is their National Championship game.

Dislike- The Monday after the field is announced because of all the crying that takes place. Look, the 40-65th seeds don't really mean too much anyway, so since you probably aren't going to win the tournament, just relax if you don't get in.

Like- The conference tournaments getting automatic bids

Dislike- 34 at large bids. Since the number of conferences rose to 31, why not just eliminate one at large bid and not have an "opening round game"

Like- Mid majors

Dislike- Mid majors playing each other in the first round. This year we have: Butler vs. Old Dominion, Southern Illinois vs. Holy Cross, Nevada vs. Creighton, and BYU vs. Xavier all in the first round. There weren't that many at large teams from mid major conferences to get in anyway, and now they have to knock each other off in the first round? Boo.

Like- Conference tournaments. They give us a great chance to see some of these smaller schools before the tournament begins, and they also feature hoarsd of fans treating each game like it is life or death.

Dislike- Some conference tournaments ending on Saturday and some on Sunday. Give everyone an extra day of rest instead of having some teams end on Saturday and then begin the tournament on Friday and some end on Sunday and begin on Thursday, huge advantage there.

Like- My schedule for the next 5 days. Last day of the work week tomorrow, Madison on Thursday morning to see Aquinas play Manitowoc Roncalli in the first round of the D3 State Basketball tournament, back to my apartment to watch all of the games, watching all of the games Friday morning and afternoon, Michelle comes back, we leave for Chicago Friday night, watch more basketball and go out in Chicago on Saturday, and then Sunday have tickets for the final 2 games of the tournament in the United Center, which will hopefully include games with Kansas and Wisconsin.

Alright, onto the tourney itself. Some of these observations will be thought out and some will be very subjective.

Midwest Region

1 Florida vs. 16 Jackson St.

Like- Florida is really, really, really good. The only thing which may have slowed them down was when Al Horford went down with a twisted ankle in the first half of the SEC Championship game this past weekend. He came back and they destroyed Arkansas. Let's just say for this game, I like that Florida usually has very good looking co eds in the stands, because that may be the highlight of this game.

Dislike- I dislike the fact I know nothing about Jackson St. That and I also dislike most of the players on Florida and how they handle themselves, but that's not going to be enough in this matchup to sway my decision.

Pick- 1. Florida

8 Arizona vs. 9 Purdue

Like- Mustafa Shakur, Chase Buddinger, Lute Olsen's hair, Arizona's talent, Carl Landry and Matt Painter. Obviously, that's more likes for Arizona. I also like Arizona because they are Garcia's favorite team, and as long as they aren't playing one of my favorite teams, I'll cheer for them.

Dislike- Arizona hasn't really played up to its potential this year. If they catch a hot streak and start hitting 3 threes like they are able to, it could be a fun 3 weeks for the fans in the desert. Purdue played in the Big Ten which wasn't really the best conference this year, but they always seem to win a few surprising games in the big dance. Even so, I don't believe in them.

Pick- 8. Arizona

5 Butler vs 12 Old Dominion

Like- It's a 5-12 matchup, so you just have to know the right one to pick and you'll get an upset. ODU is a very good 12 seed and probably could have been an 8 or 9. Butler was really good in November and December, but it is March. ODU played in the Colonial and beat Hofstra a couple of times, that's good enough for me.

Dislike- Everyone is picking Old Dominion to win and their mascot is "Monarchs", and Butler beat up on UWM and UWGB this year. I don't like that one bit. This is a tough game to pick because I like ODU, but so do many other people. Oh well.

Pick- 12. Old Dominion

4 Maryland vs 13 Davidson

Like- Maryland reminds me a little bit of Florida last year, except not quite as good and they didn't win their conference tournament. They're like a B to Florida's A+ last season. Gary Williams is one of the 10 best coaches in the tournament and they are a fun team to watch with the talent they have on the floor.

Dislike- Other than not having seen Davidson play, nothing about this game, really.

Pick- 4. Maryland

6 Notre Dame vs 11 Winthrop

Like- Winthrop played well against Wisconsin and has been a very good mid major all year. They definitely could have gotten a 5 seed like Butler, but I guess the Big South isn't that good of a conference. I also like Notre Dame's green uniforms, but I don't think they'll be wearing them in the tournament.

Dislike- I really dislike Digger Phelps and not just because of how he pronounces Wisconsin. Therefore, I hate everything he is associated with save for ESPN.

Pick- 11. Winthrop

3 Oregon vs 14 Miami (OH)

Like- Oregon got hot shooting the ball in the Pac 10 tournament and won the whole thing going away. They are usually either a little bit better or a little bit worse than advertised and I think this year is one of those where they are a little worse. I have seen them a few times this season, and they just don't seem like a number 3 seed to me. They also get to play the first 2 rounds in Spokane, so that's good for them. Miami got into the tournament on a fantastic end of the game bank shot to win the conference tournament by 1, which is always very exciting.

Dislike- It took Miami that shot to get into the tournament. I don't think Oregon has what it takes to last very long in the tournament, but playing very close to home will help them avoid this upset.

Pick- 3. Oregon

7 UNLV vs 10 Georgia Tech

Like- UNLV beat Texas Tech in Lubbock on the day Bobby Knight was supposed to become the all time winningest coach in NCAA history, no small feat. Other than that, I don't know much about either team.

Dislike- Many "experts" are taking UNLV to beat Wisconsin in the second round, but that isn't enough to make me want to pick GT.

Pick- 7. UNLV

2 Wisconsin vs 15 Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Like- Badgers highest seed ever, and Alondo Tucker will finish in the top 3 in player of the year voting. They proved they were the 2nd best team in the Big 10 and play less than 2 1/2 hours from home. Texas A&M CC may have the longest name in the tournament.

Dislike- Where to begin? Alondo was useless against Ohio State, Michael Flowers has regressed on both ends of the floor, Kam Taylor forgot how to shoot, Greg Steimsma is not Brian Butch, Jason Chappel is a liability offensively, they can't play against a 2-3 zone, my confidence level is the lowest it has been on this team all year. Even with all of that, it's a number 15.

Pick- 2. Wisconsin

West Region

1 Kansas vs 16 Niagra

Like- Kansas may be the most talented team in the entire field given their depth and most of these players remember the first round loss last season, so that hurts them. Like that Niagra won an NCAA tournament game prior to playing Kansas. There are a large number of Kansas fans in Chicago where I will be this weekend and where this game is being played giving them kind of a home away from home advantage. Julian Wright is an excellent wing player and many draft pundits have the Bucks taking him in the draft.

Dislike- Niagra had to "play-in" to the tournament even though they won their conference tournament. This never makes sense, why not have the last 2 at large teams in this game?

Pick- 1. Kansas

8 Kentucky vs 9 Villanova

Like- Both teams are nicknamed the Wildcats which makes it easy to cheer for them and be 100% sure that the Wildcats will win. Ashley Judd is a huge Kentucky fan, perhaps she'll be at the games this weekend and I will have a random celebrity encounter. Jay Wright and Tubby Smith are both very good coaches with solid programs, even though both underachieved this season. Kentucky's players may be playing with a chip on their shoulder with all the talk about Tubby possibly being let go.

Dislike- Villanova's Nardi, just don't like his style of play. As stated, both teams should have been better this season, and the aforementioned chip on their shoulder didn't help Kentucky in the SEC tournamentant.

Pick- 8. Wildcats

5 Virginia Tech vs. 12 Illinois

Like- Xavian Dowdell and the way Virginia Tech plays defense. Also, their coach gives the most in depth, lengthy, and meaningful halftime interviews I have ever seen, which scores huge points with me. People have called the ACC weak this year because Duke wasn't an elite team, but I like the fact that other teams are able to step up when Duke has an off year. If the Blue Devils would have finished in 2nd or 3rd or even 4th place in the conference this season, then the conference would have sucked, but other teams like the Hokies stepped up their game to overtake the Dukies. Now that Bill Self's players are all gone, we're seeing what kind of a coach Bruce Weber is, and I like it.

Dislike- Bruce Weber and Illinois. Wisconsin bias here, but I don't like anything about this team, don't like where they play, don't like the Orange Crush, am glad Weber is struggling, although I still don't understand why Chief Illiniwik is gone and never will. Finally, I don't know why or how Illinois even got into this tournament, so I dislike that very much.

Pick- 5. Virginia Tech

4 Southern Illinois vs 13 Holy Cross

Like- Holy Cross is the alum of Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, so that gets them points in my book. Salukis are always an interesting herding dog to see at Westminster, but they never win. SIU seems to not have lost a beat after Bruce Weber left, although Illinois has gone down a bit. The Crusaders is the same nickname my grade school team had. Southern Illinois plays outstanding defense and are fun to watch on that end because of how they pressure the ball.

Dislike- It would take a huge upset by Illinois to meet SIU in the second round where it would hand former coach Bruce Weber his hat. This would have been a great first round matchup a la Marquette (Tom Crean) vs Michigan State (Tom Izzo).

Pick- 4. Southern Illinois

6 Duke vs 11 Virginia Commonwealth

Like- Duke has been my favorite team not in Wisconsin for many, many years. Gerald Henderson is looking like he could be the first "enforcer" Duke has had in a long time, especially since that ninny Josh McRoberts definitely is not one. I like the draft hype of McRoberts because hopefully that means he'll leave school and I won't have to watch him for 2 more years. Jon Scheyer appears to be headed towards J.J. Reddick- esque success. VCU plays in the Colonial Athletic Association which will always have a spot close to my heart thanks to Gaddis and Chris.

Dislike- Everything about the way Duke has played this season. They don't have a leader, crunch-time scorer, or shut down defender (all due respect to DeMarcus Nelson). The team just hasn't impressed me this year and I could go on for days, but will stop here. VCU dominated Hofstra, which I never like to see.

Pick- 6. Duke

3 Pittsburgh vs 14 Wright St.

Like- Not much here. I like the fact Marquette and Wisconsin went 3-1 against Pittsburgh. Like that Wright State was able to beat heavy favorite Butler in the Horizon league championship, although it was a home game for Wright State, which I can't complain too much about since UWM hosted the championship game in years past. Jaime Dixon seems to be a very good coach, and I can't hold that against the team.

Dislike- Pittsburgh. That team has been a thorn in the side of both Wisconsin and Marquette in the post season. I really don't like Aaron Gray, if for no other reason than he seemed to get away with murder during the Marquette game in the Big East tournament. Pittsburgh is becomming one of my most hated teams.

Pick- 3. Pittsburgh

7 Indiana vs 10 Gonzaga

Like- Mark Few and how he handled the situation after Josh Hydtveldt was suspended for being arrested on drug possession charges. Gonzaga may be back in the "Cinderella" role, and a potential second round matchup against UCLA lurks.

Dislike- Kalvin Sampson basically gave the finger to Oklahoma and his own son after last season when he bolted to Indiana. I also dislike Indiana since they are a rival of and beat Wisconsin this season. The winner of this game has no chance in the second round.

Pick- 10. Gonzaga

2 UCLA vs 15 Weber St

Like- The Big Sky is a great name for a conference. Darrin Collison is an excellent player and he and Aaron Afflalo can carry UCLA a LONG way and with a potential matchup against Kansas in the Regional Final in SAN JOSE is a definite advantage.

Dislike- The Bruins don't really have a big man which could cause problems down the line, but not for this game.

Pick- 2. UCLA

There you have it. Check back tomorrow (or at least before the tournament starts) for the other side of the bracket.

-Until next time...

2007 NFL Mock Draft CrossBlog Spectacular

2007-01-30T13:49:00.000-06:00

In what we hope evolves into at least a bi-monthly feature until the draft (if not weekly)and eventually involves all four memebers of both sites (Our Turn Next and The Brew City Beat), Gaddis and I have completed the first "CrossBlog Mock Draft". Representing the Brew City Beat, I selected the odds, Our Turn Next rep Gaddis took the evens. Without further any further ado...

1 .Oakland Raiders – Joe Thomas – OT - Wisconsin
I’m just assuming Thomas will have a monster combine and workout showing. The Raiders line was awful last year, by selecting Thomas they would have two nice young tackles (Robert Gallery). Brady Quinn and JaMarcus Russell aren’t considered can’t miss prospects, so I don’t see either QB going number one here. Russell has more upside, but Quinn is more polished, neither seem like the type of QB a number one pick should be though. They may also opt to go after Calvin Johnson here, but Thomas makes the most sense.

2. Detroit Lions- Brady Quinn – QB - Notre Dame
I think the Lions would be heart broken if Thomas was taken first. They do need a QB for Martz's system so this pick will come down to Russell and Quinn. I think the accurate Quinn will trump the strong-armed Russell. I think the best player on the board here is Calvin Johnson, but Matt Millen can't take another WR. Who knows though, maybe he wants the title of "Craziest GM" back from Isaiah Thomas.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers *(coin flip) – Calvin Johnson – WR – Georgia Tech
The Bucs offense is anemic. Joey Galloway is old and Michael Clayton mailed it in last season and can officially be labeled a disappointment. Johnson is the best player in this draft and will make an immediate impact on the offense. Absolute no brainer.

4. Cleveland Browns *(coin flip) - Alan Branch – DT - Michigan
The surprise of the draft will be Russell falling past Cleveland. Crennel will win the the fight in the war room and get an impact player on the defensive side of the ball. Branch, who started his college career at Defensive End, has great athletic ability and a non-stop motor. He was the most dominant player on the best defense in the Big Ten. Cleveland has an aging line and Branch is a perfect tackle in the 3-4 because of his pass rushing ability.

5. Arizona Cardinals – Gaines Adams – DE – Clemson
The Cardinals need help on the offensive line, and on defense. No lineman other than Thomas warrants a top 10 selection, so they’ll go for a pass rusher here. Adams and Bertrand Berry will give the Cardinals two good rush ends, which should help their porous secondary.

6. Washington Redskins - Jamaal Anderson – DE - Arkansas
The third straight defensive lineman and some have Anderson rated the highest DL on the board. The Redskins didn't get the production out of free agent Andre Carter last year and need a pass rushing presence. The Redskins will have a hard time passing on Russell because of his talent, but Jason Campbell was a first round pick.

7. Minnesota Vikings – JaMarcus Russell – QB – LSU
Perhaps the luckiest team in the draft, Russell falls right into the Vikings lap. To say Brad Johnson is old and on the brink of being ineffective is an understatement, and Tarvarious Jackson looked god awful and nowhere near ready in limited action last season. How fitting that Russell gets drafted to replace the void left by the departure of the quarterback he is most compared to.

8. Houston Texans - LaRon Landry – S - LSU
The Texans will once again pass on a local guy, Adrian Peterson, to draft the more pressing need. If they are sticking to their plan they will continue to improve the defense for a team that plays in the same division as the Colts. They have safties that nobody has heard of Landry is a big time hitter with good speed. Reggie Nelson is more of the ball hawk, but Landry has more of an NFL body.

9. Miami Dolphins – Darrelle Revis – CB – Pitt
The Dolphins secondary was just awful last season, and needs a lot of help. In fairness, they still haven’t recovered from the losses of Sam Madison and Pat Surtain. Revis is a physical corner and very fast. The only knock is he’s a tad undersized.

10. Atlanta Falcons - Ted Ginn Jr - WR - The Ohio State University
They need some more weapons for Vick or Schaub and Ginn has the speed to really stretch a defense. They will debate between Ginn and Dwayne Jarrett, who is a more polished route runner. The new coach, Bobby Patreno, will look for a weapon that he can add to exciting offense.

11. San Francisco 49ers – Dwayne Jarrett – WR – USC
Jarrett is more polished and arguably more skilled than Mike Williams when he came out. He has ideal size, good speed, and excellent hands. Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Dwayne Jarrett is a very good young nucleus to build the offense around for years to come.

12. Buffalo Bills - Leon Hall – CB - Michigan
Last year the Bills took a reach on a saftey in Donte Whitmer and this year they will go after a DB again. With Nate Clements ready to leave for more money, Buffalo will need another starting CB. Some people have Hall as the top cover corner and a disappointing Senior Bowl makes him the second corner taken, but he is ready to be a starter right away.

13. St Louis Rams – Reggie Nelson – S – Florida
Nelson is an athletic freak, a playmaker, and smart enough to be the quarterback of the defense. The Rams defense has huge holes in the secondary, so he’ll be a welcome addition. He’ll also get the benefit of playing next to one of the smartest safeties in the league in Corey Chavous and will undoubtedly benefit from that. He’ll be a Pro Bowler for years to come, and they’ll have one of the best safety tandems in the league until Chavous hangs em up.

14. Carolina Panthers - Lawrence Timmons – LB - Florida St
There true need is a middle linebacker with Dan Morgan's future uncertain. They could also use a WR, but once the top three are gone there is a bit of a drop off. They will take Timmons who is a very good athlete but short on playing time at Florida St. He played behind some good linebackers and only started one year. With Timmons at one outside linebacker and Thomas Davis at the other they have great speed on the outside.

15. Pittsburgh Steelers – Adrian Peterson – RB – Oklahoma
Although their record wouldn’t indicate it, the Steelers don’t really have a lot of holes on their roster, so they’ll go for the best talent on the board. They like what Willie Parker can do for them, but they like him a lot better as a change of pace used in tandem with another back. New head coach Mike Tomlin may want to use the pick on the defensive side, but Peterson is too talented to pass up. Questions regarding his durability are the likely reason for his slide, but they won’t be an issue since he’ll be used in tandem with Parker.

16. Green Bay Packers - Amobi Okoye – DT - Louisville
They need some help at WR and RB, but the talent on this kid is too much to pass up. He is only 20 years old and started playing D1 football at 16. DT is not the number one need on defense, but Okoye in the middle with bring some pass rushing ability and also allow the linebackers to play in some space. Okoye, Kapman, and Pickett gives the Packers a good front 4 for a few years to come.

17. Jacksonville Jaguars – Michael Griffin – S/CB – Texas
They are an average team in a lot of areas. They don’t really have any weaknesses, but they don’t really have many strengths other than overall defense. Griffin is the best defensive player on the board, and Donovan Darius is getting older and seems to be breaking down more and more, not to mention he’s a free agent. Other than he and Rashean Mathis, there’s little to be desired in their secondary.

18. Cincinnati Bengals - Greg Olsen – TE – DA U
The Bengals top two needs are a lawyer and somebody to stay out of trouble. A good TE makes this offense even more dangerous and Olsen can stretch the field down the middle. This opens up even more on outside for Ohco Cinco and TJ. They have some very average positions on defense, but their TE position is horrible. Another plus of taking Olsen is that he is used to playing next to criminals.
19. Tennessee Titans – Marshawn Lynch – RB – Cal
They might go O-line, just to ensure Vince Young is protected, but I doubt it. Their best running back last season was Young. LenDale White was taken in the second round last year, but was a major disappointment. Lynch is good at catching the ball out of the backfield, and at times looks like a poor mans Reggie Bush. Every young quarterback needs a tight end and a running back with hands. Young will now have both and only continue to get better.

20. New York Gaints - Levi Brown – T - Penn State
The Giants will be scrambling here because they were hoping that Lynch would fall to them. They will be stuck trying to see if Jacobs can be an every down back. They realize though that the only way Eli Manning will have a chance is if they can protect him. With Luke Petitgot getting old, they will take the massive tackle out of Penn St. This could be a reach for Brown and they do need some help at corner, but they will to look make the offensive line a strength of this team.

21. Denver Broncos – Marcus McCauley – CB – Fresno State
The Broncos are another team that doesn’t really have any pressing needs, so they’ll use this pick on a corner, which I guess you can now call a need after the senseless and tragic death of Pro Bowler in the making Darrent Williams.

22. Dallas Cowboys - Dwayne Bowe – WR - LSU
You can call this pick TO Insurance. I assume either Norv Turner or Jason Garrett will be the head coach of this team. They will look the pass the ball more with those coaches and Romo will need another weapon. Who knows about the future of TO and Glenn while still being productive is getting older. They need a saftey, but Bowe has the most upside of anyone left on the board.

23. Kansas City Chiefs – Justin Blalock – OT/G – Texas
The Chiefs would have loved Dwayne Bowe here, but the left side of their line could use some help as well. Will Shields will be entering his 15th season, if he returns, and Kyle Turley was a liability at times last season. Herm Edwards builds his teams on defense and a running game, so the line will be vital. Blalock could slide into the left guard spot if Shields retires, or replace Turley as the starter at tackle.

24. New England Patriots - Paul Posluszny (from Seattle) – LB - Penn State
Their linebacking core is starting to age and Polsuszny fits the Patriots mold. He is a hard nosed football player, with decent speed, and a sure tackler. He played outside in college, but he could probably handle the inside in a 3-4 defense. The Patriots could also good cornerback or saftey, but I think they will take the player who fits the Bruschi mold.

25. New York Jets – LaMarr Woodley – LB/DE – Michigan
Fits the Mangini/Belichik mold. He could stand for adding more bulk to his frame and play end, but as it is now he’ll probably be a outside rush specialist. He was one of the best pure pass rushers I saw last year and could serve as the “Willie McGinnest” of the Jets defense.

26. Philadelphia Eagles - Sidney Rice – WR - South Carolina
They really could use a saftey here, but they don't want to reach on Weddle from Utah or Merriweather from Miami. Rice has a lot of talent and has really never had the advantage of playing with a good QB. His height helps to win jump balls in the end zone. He still has to develop his route running, but he will be a great slot WR for the Philly offense.

27. New Orleans Saints – Daymeion Hughes – CB - Cal
The Saints need help on defense and especially in the secondary. If you watched the NFC Championship game, you saw the Bears blatantly pick on Fred Thomas. Thomas is at best a nickel back, but forced to start due to the lack of talent in the secondary. Hughes has better height and speed than Texas’ Aaron Ross, so the Saints will opt for him.

28. New England Patriots - Aaron Ross – CB - Texas
The second New England pick this round and the second defensive player. With Troy Brown considering retirement, they need to add more depth at defensive back. They would have liked to see Sidney Rice drop to this spot, but instead they have address one of their other important needs. They will consider Jarvis Moss because of their ties to Florida, but instead pick Thorpe winner Ross, the second DB from Texas to go in the first round. Ross might not have top flight speed or be the biggest CB, but he is a playmaker.

29. Baltimore Ravens – Tony Ugoh – T – Arkansas
Jonathon Ogden is mulling retirement, and Tony Pashos is the started at right tackle. I’d say they could use some help. Depending on who you ask, Ugoh is rated as high as the second best tackle prospect and a top 15 pick, so the Ravens potentially land a steal here.

30. San Diego Chargers - Robert Meachem – WR - Tennesse
A need pick over the best value pick. There are still some good DEs on the board, but they need someone to stretch to field and open the middle for Gates and the edges for LDT. Meachem has a history of knee problems but he still has 4.4 speed and is rather big at 6-3, 210 pounds. He will eventually be able to replace the aging Keenan McCardell.

31. Indianapolis Colts – Quinn Pitcock – DT – The Ohio State University
The Colts run defense is just awful, but for some reason they’re actually playing with pride in the playoffs. Pitcock is stout against the run, and can provide some pass rushing skills. He should step in and make an immediate impact on the defense, something that’s not too common for the second to last pick of the first round.

32. Chicago Bears - Zach Miller – TE - Arizona State
The Bears, despite being Superbowl Champs, have a lot of needs to fill. Lance Briggs could leave via free agency, Defensive Tackle depth looked bad with Tommy Harris out (they do have Dusty Dvorckek on IR), and their offensive line is looking old. They will not pass on a TE this year like they have done in previous years. Miller, who is the younger brother of Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller, will give them a solid option down the middle of the field. The Bears shown this year when there offense is going good they throw to the TE. Desmond Clark is more of a blocking TE and Miller will bring some pass catching ability.

I got nothing

2007-01-22T17:58:00.000-06:00

It’s a shame that it has been so long since my last post, over 2 months, and since a lot has happened, here are the thoughts running through my head on January 22nd.

- I don’t know if I am really prepared for a Colts/Bears Super Bowl. I don’t like the Bears and I hate the Colts. If you are wondering why I hate the Colts, it is because of Peyton Manning (and I am pretty sure I don’t like Tony Dungy either). Why don’t I like Manning? Probably because he is going to surpass all of Favre’s numbers and I love Brett Favre, so I have to hate his best competition, no? I may also hate Manning because of his not showing up in the second round of the 2004 fantasy playoffs for my record setting team, costing me a chance to play for the title, so now I have to go through life owning the title of “Best Team to Not Win The Title”. Seriously, look at this lineup from that season:

Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Reuben Droughns, Willis McGahee, Javon Walker, Lee Evans, Antonio Gates, David Akers

And the bench was also a plus when I needed to make a change:

Tom Brady, Julius Jones, Steven Jackson, Marcus Robinson, David Patten, Matt Stover

I was fairly stacked, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Also in watching that game, I realized why many fans hate Brett Favre, and that is both Jim Nance and Phil Sims were openly rooting for Manning and the Colts, viewing the Patriots as villains, and Manning as the hero. They couldn’t say enough about the great things he was doing in the game and making excuses for every thing that didn’t go his way. It was sickening.

If this game was going to be the Colts versus the Vikings (which of course will never happen), I almost assuredly wouldn’t watch. I can’t believe I have to do this, but I am going to have to cheer for the Bears.

- Put me on the long list of people who was absolutely SHOCKED at how easily Florida dominated Ohio State in the Tostito’s BCS National Title game. It seriously looked like a video game was being played with the ease at which Florida was imposing its will on the hapless Buckeyes. All season long, I thought Michigan and Ohio State were the two best teams I saw play, and had West Virginia, Florida, and USC rounding out my top 5. After watching the bowl games and seeing what all of the teams did with preparation; here is my final top ten:

10: Oklahoma
9: Boise State
8: Michigan
7: West Virginia
6: Louisville
5: Ohio State
4: Wisconsin
3: LSU
2: USC
1: Florida (obviously)

A lot of times, I think polls are too focused on who is playing best from week to week and pollsters don’t go by who they think would beat another team on a neutral field (and I don’t mean like LSU playing a bowl game at the Superdome), so obviously, this is how I think these teams would stack up if they all played 9 games, one each against each team on a neutral field, with Florida coming away with the best record.

- A few more things about college football and Wisconsin in particular:

Just once I would like to see a sports writer admit he/she was wrong and write a retraction. Case in point would be Jason Whitlock who said the Badgers were a “fraud” ranked as high as they were. Sorry Jason, but I think they have proven they are not a fraud and are in fact going to be even more successful under Brent Bielema than they were under Alvarez.

I was headed to Gaddis’ place in Madison at the beginning of December and heard an interesting comment on college gameday on espnradio. The host was talking about Ohio State being in the National Title game and stated that we didn’t really know how good they were because they didn’t play Wisconsin this season. I laughed when I heard it because I didn’t think Wisconsin would be a good measuring stick for a team that at the time seemed head and shoulders above everyone else in the country. After bowl season, I remembered that point and looked at it from a different point of view. With all due respect to Michigan, Wisconsin probably had the fastest defense in the Big Ten and one that could come closest to the speed of Florida’s defense. A Wisconsin/Ohio State game would have been a treat.

- Notre Dame 2006- most overrated team this decade for sure and by no means deserved to be in a BCS bowl. I took LSU – 13 ½ points, and never once felt like they wouldn’t cover.

- Prison Break returns tonight, and so does some of the worst acting/writing of a show that is still on the air. Congratulations to Prison Break for having the worst acting “star” on a series since Mischa Barton left “The O.C.”.

- It is January and I still don’t care about the NBA, although after reading Simmons’ column last Wednesday, maybe I should

- December 21st 2006, my career record at Lambeau Field rose to 1-4, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Let’s just run down my history at the greatest football field ever created:

First game, January 2002, saw the Packers lose their first ever home playoff game against the Falcons, November 2005, the Packers missed an extra point and 2 field goals, losing to the Buccaneers 17-16, September 2006, season home opener, first time in Brett Favre’s career they are shut out, 31-0 and it was against the Bears, November 2006, Patriots hand Favre his second shutout and Favre even gets injured before the half ends, 35-0 Pats. Total combined score in regular season games: 83-16. Obviously, my record wasn’t very good, but hopefully the win against the Vikes gets the ball rolling in the other direction.

- At any time when you are watching the Badgers play basketball have you thought to yourself, “you know, this looks like one of the 3 best teams in the country”? Me neither, but they absolutely are. Florida is still the most talented team in the country, but Wisconsin is the class of the Big Ten, and a potential number 1 seed in the tourney. It is weird to see a team from Wisconsin getting national press on a weekly basis this early in the season. Tough road trips to Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, and Ohio State loom, however.

- Thank God “The Office” decided that Dwight Schrute could not be replaced or eliminated from the show, he is a great character and the show wouldn’t be the same without him.

- It is amazing how much you realize you miss something you didn’t really think you were that tied to until you don’t follow it for a while. High School Basketball was a HUGE part of my life from the time I was in 7th grade until this year. Even after I was done playing high school basketball, when I was in college, Ben was always involved at a high school around the area, either coaching that team, or coaching in the feeder schools for that high school and attending varsity games, so naturally I went to many, many High School Basketball games, I always watch the state tournament games, and even as recently as 2003, was still attending the state tournament in Madison. When I moved back here after college, I didn’t have Ben’s games to go to, and I took up officiating. I was an official for 2 seasons and enjoyed it for the exercise as well as the money. This year, as my job duties changed and I couldn’t commit to reffing, and realized I missed it for more than just the exercise and money, I really enjoy being around high school athletics. As much yelling or looks or whatever you get being on the court, the competition, dedication, enthusiasm of the players and the crowd, the whole atmosphere isn’t easy to beat. I really do miss it and can’t wait until next season, when I return to the court.

Well, I can’t think of anything else I want to talk about right now, so…

- Until next time…

The Game

2006-11-17T10:25:00.000-06:00

I can't call it, The Big Game, because that honor belongs to Cal and Stanford, but The Game, Michigan at Ohio State is tomorrow, so let's get it going already!

We are hours away now, and the excitement is almost too much to take at this point. I haven’t been this jacked up for a game since Texas/USC last season, and we all know that game lived up to the hype.

I was originally planning on writing something different each day in preparation for this game, Monday was going to be the coaches, Tuesday the Special Teams, Wednesday Defenses, Thursday Offenses and then today I was going to tie it all together and give my prediction for the game backed up by stats and all of the fun stuff that people who actually get paid for this do.

Then, I realized, I don’t need to do all of that. I’ve watched more college football this year than maybe any other year in my life and more than any normally functioning 24 year old should. I have seen 5 teams that could play for the National Championship, in no particular order:

Florida- very tough, fast defense, Leak makes mistakes that can kill them, which a senior quarterback shouldn’t make

West Virginia- yes, even though they lost to Louisville, they are the best team in the Big East and they will CRUSH Rutgers next week as long as Steve Slaton doesn’t get hurt like he did in the Louisville game. ***Rutgers should be on super-duper upset alert this weekend against Cincinnati***

Michigan- probably the best defense in the Big Ten this decade, just incredible front 7 and the secondary isn’t anything to scoff at. Their specialists, Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Mario Manningham, and Steve Breston give them weapons seemingly unmatched in college football

USC- the game against Oregon State was an aberration just because they lost, but that is just how good Steve Smith is. Hey, what if the Panthers found themselves in a draft spot with Steve Smith on the board in April, do you think they’d take him? And what is this going to do to fantasy owners everywhere? The ramifications are endless. Anyway, Smith and Dwayne Jarrett form probably the toughest wide-receiver duo in the country and John David Booty is getting more and more comfortable being the USC quarterback

Ohio State- simply the best team I have seen. Troy Smith, Michael Pittman, Ted Ginn, and Anthony Gonzalez (oxygen tent and all) form the most dangerous offense in the country. Add to that a defense anchored by James Lauranitis and this team is just better than everyone else in the country. This is the team that went in to Iowa City and tore the heart out of an Iowa team that could have threatened for a conference championship, but were never the same, DOMINATED Texas in Austin (yeah, it was early in the season and McCoy’s first big game, but that was just a beating, and Ohio State didn’t look like it played that tough), and hasn’t really been challenged all season by anyone

Just look back at that list, 5 teams, 2 from the Big Ten, the 2 biggest powers in the history of the conference meet in Columbus to decide who will go to the National Championship Game.

Few “Games of the Century” have lived up to the hype. Last year we had two of them, USC/Notre Dame and USC/Texas, which both lived up to the hype and were instant classics.

Will the game tomorrow be the same? In a word, no. I just don’t think we are lucky enough to live through 3 of the best games ever in less than 13 months, just doesn’t seem possible. Added to that, Ohio State is playing at home in the ‘Shoe, Jim Tressel OWNS Michigan and Lloyd Carr, just like the roles were reversed when John Cooper was in town, Ohio State has been ranked 1 all season and has gotten everyone’s best shot, they feel like they have to avenge last season (although so do the Wolverines), they have playmakers at every single position on offense, they have a defense that is getting better and better each week and doesn’t even really have an identity (like the ’72 no-name Dolphins ‘D’), and I think are just hungrier at this point.

Michigan has Lamar Woodley on its defense, probably one of the top 3 linebackers in the country, and the front 7 is phenomenal, but Ohio State has too many offensive weapons to be held down. The past three years, Michigan has put up 21 points in each game, and they will need to score a lot more than that on Saturday to win.

We will hear Brent Musberger tell us that this is the greatest rivalry in all of sports (I like it, but beg to differ, it’s not even the biggest rivalry in college football), that this is the game of the year, century, and of all time, etc, but all of the hype will mean nothing when 2:30pm CST rolls around on Saturday. For on this day, when the clock strikes about 5:50pm CST, the nation will know that the Buckeyes are the best team in all the land, and as Jim Tressel and his sweater vest, tie, and glasses walk to the middle of the field to accept congratulations from Lloyd Carr, he will glance at the scoreboard as it reads:

Ohio State 27 Michigan 16

And if for no other reason:

WE DON'T GIVE A DAMN FOR THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN, THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN, THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN.

WE DON'T GIVE A DAMN FOR THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN, CUZ WE'RE FROM O-HI-O!!!!!!!!!!!

WE'RE FROM O-HI-O O!!!!! H!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE'RE FROM O-HI-O I!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WE DON'T GIVE A DAMN FOR THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN, THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN, THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN.

WE DON'T GIVE A DAMN FOR THE WHOLE STATE OF MICHIGAN, WE'RE FROM O-HI-O!!!!!!!!!!!

-Until next time…

Rutgers, Matsuzaka, Marshall Airplanes, November 18th... It's the Ramblings!

2006-11-10T14:23:00.000-06:00

- The Rutgers/Louisville game was outstanding and was even better than the Louisville/West Virginia game from just one short week ago. Rutgers looked like they were going to get blown out and like they didn’t belong in the beginning of the game (prime example was a blocked extra point the Rutgers players just let roll around on the ground to see a Louisville player pick it up and run into the end zone for the 2 point conversion to make the score 15-7). Whatever the coaching staff did at halftime seemed to work, though as the Scarlet Knights made all of the right adjustments and DOMINATED the second half. Yes, they ended up winning the game just 28-25 on a 28 yard field goal with 0:13 on the clock after an offside penalty gave their kicker another chance after he missed a 33 yard kick just a few seconds earlier, but they were clearly the better team in the second half.

A couple more points from this game:

The Big East can now forget about a team in the BCS Championship game. I’ve now seen Louisville, Rutgers, and West Virginia each play 2 games, and I can say that West Virginia is the only team out of the three I could see playing in the Title game. Yeah, yeah, they lost to Louisville last week, but Steve Slaton missed a lot of that game and made a huge difference when he was in, we’ll compare it to Terrell Davis in Super Bowl 32, except Steve never got back in the game

How stupid are these fans at Rutgers? I will give them that this was BY FAR the biggest game in school history and the highest ranked team they had ever beaten, but come on, not knowing there is still time left on the clock after the kick returner was tackled? This was just ridiculous, the fans swarmed the field to celebrate the victory, only there was still time on the clock (:02) and Louisville was lining up to run a play. Two reasons why this was stupid; first, the team could have received a 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and the ball would have been moved up to the Rutgers 45 (not field goal range, but 15 yards less of a Hail Mary), second the students running onto the field made the referees delay blowing the ready whistle and having the clock start, perhaps before Louisville would be ready to snap the ball.

I am wondering why the Rutgers coaching staff didn’t employ the Bret Bielema strategy of having his team run offside prior to the kick to run the clock (as it starts now when the ball is kicked, not when it is received, which brings up the point that the new timer rules weren’t added to NCAA 07, they better be in 08), have some time run off, then have to re kick. It would have been the perfect plan to end the game (by the way, this will certainly be a rule change in the off season in the last minute of halves). In the end, it didn’t matter anyway as Brian Brohm was sacked on the last play of the game.

- So Daisuke Matsuzaka is going to end up negotiating with the Red Sox. Matsuzaka was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic and is a highly regarded right handed pitcher coming from Japan. Here’s the thing though, it cost the Red Sox upwards of $40 million just to have the rights to negotiate with him.

- Other than Keith Olberman, (who is on the show everyday), there isn’t a better guest on the Dan Patrick show than Chris Simms. The guy is terrific, brings great things to the show and doesn’t hold anything back.

- Is it too early in his career to say I hate Vince Young? I don’t know what it is about him, or why I hold animosity towards him, but I really don’t like him, especially not on the Titans, just doesn’t seem like a good fit for him.

- So Marshall’s football team’s plane had to be evacuated after engine smoke was detected. A little eerie for the team who almost 36 years ago to the day (November 14, 1970) had its plane go down killing 75 people on board, which was almost the entire team. Maybe Costanza had the wrong sport.

- Some mid season NFL awards:
• Coach of the Year: With all respect to Lovie Smith, it is Sean Payton, especially if that team wins the division and makes the playoffs
• Rookie of the Year: Marcus Colston
• Defensive Player of the Year: Probably because of the record, it is going to be Brian Urlacher, and I can’t say there’s anything wrong with that
• Come Back Player of the Year: Daunte Culpepper (ha ha, just wanted to see if you were paying attention) how about Jon Kitna
• MVP: This is tough. You have LaDanian Tomlinson, who should win one eventually, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady. Tomlinson won’t win it because he’s not a sexy pick, so then it is either Manning or Brady. Obviously Manning has the edge since he beat the Patriots last week, but who is really more valuable to his team right now? In the past, you could have made the case that if they didn’t have Manning, the Colts had James, but he’s gone and they don’t really have a running game. Brady has all new receivers this season and just keeps winning, and putting up pretty good numbers. Honestly, I would give it to Brady because he does more with less. If he went down, New England would be in huge trouble. If Manning goes down, Jim Sorgi can throw to two future hall of famers no problem.

- We are now almost 1 week away from the big showdown in the Horseshoe, and I can’t wait. I took on reffing a scrimmage that morning just to keep my mind off of the game for a little while.

- I’ll take Iowa this weekend, there’s no way they are losing 3 games at home this season

- The Lakefront Brewery tour tonight promises to be a good time, I am excited for this event. I have been on the tour before and am looking forward to my second go around.

- Unitl next time…

Weekend Recap

2006-11-06T14:40:00.000-06:00

What a weekend it was. Obviously, I already went over what happened on Thursday night between West Virginia and Louisville, so we’ll leave that alone.

Friday had me traveling to Jackson, WI to visit the new member of the Lang family, Phil, the English Bulldog. The puppy is quite cute and fun to play with, but there were other things going on that needed my attention. One being the full case of beer I had with me and the other the Bucks game against the Raptors.

Now this game was fairly big because it marked the first time that the two teams would be playing each other since the off season trade which sent Charlie Villanueva to the Bucks and TJ Ford to Toronto. Now, I’m no Bucks historian, but I don’t know if there has been a bigger off season trade than this in the past decade, unless you count the draft day trade of Dirk Nowitzki for Robert Traylor.

So what happened? Well, the Bucks got crushed, that’s right, crushed. From what I saw of the game, there wasn’t much good to talk about, so hopefully Hucklebuck can fill us in on the rest.

Here’s a tip for when you are spending a night at a friends house and doing some imbibing, don’t commit yourself to anything you may not remember the next day, as I told Hucklebuck I would go to the Bucks game with him on Saturday night, and completely forgot about this, more on that later. I also called Michelle 15 times in the span of about 25 minutes, but that’s neither here nor there, and I have once again lived on the edge and not heeded the old adage, beer before liquor never been sicker, so all in all, a solid night.

Anyway, woke up at 6:30am Saturday and headed home to get the day started. Here’s what I was thinking, quick nap until 9:00, watch college game day, Badgers game then the LSU/Tennessee game, nightcap of Oklahoma at Texas A&M, with the requisite video game playing in and recharging the batteries for a long day of football on Sunday.

Here’s what happened; I couldn’t sleep, woke up again at about 8:00, cursed why I couldn’t sleep, played Tiger Woods, watched countdown, watched the Badger game (good win for the Badgers. It wasn’t sexy, but they did what they had to do in order to win the game. I’m glad Donovan even got some reps for the injured Stocco. Do I think they can finally beat Iowa and go 11-1 this season? Probably not, especially after Iowa lost at home to Northwestern. I do feel bad for Joe Pa that he broke his leg, and I can’t believe he even tried to stay on the sideline, he is one tough cookie), at about 12:15, got a call from Ballbach telling me about going out downtown and then heading over to the Bucks game. What? Then I recalled what happened, hopped in the shower and was ready to go, except for the fact that I received a call during this time to go help my uncle with some work. So, didn’t end up going to the Bucks game. Fast forward to 2:30, I’m about to leave for my uncle’s when my brother calls to inform me he is coming into town for the night. Well, there goes helping my uncle, so I’m back to sitting on my couch watching football.

A few notes:

Michigan and Ohio State are both definitely looking ahead. There is no other explanation for their games on Saturday, both out of focus. Maybe ESPN should stop running a countdown to kickoff when the game is more than 300 hours away.

Tennessee looked really good, but LSU looked even better. This was a fantastic game and came down to LSU scoring a touchdown with 4 seconds to play, just an unbelievable game from start to finish. Another classic in this rivalry which is getting right up there in the can’t miss rivalry games of the season.

Alabama lost again, shocking.

Notre Dame is getting away with far too much for a team with no discernable defense. Didn’t Charlie Weis learn last year that he isn’t going to win a national championship with a defense that needs its offense to put up 35+ points per game? I know it takes more than one year to recruit, but come on, that defense is terrible.

Colt McCoy looks good, I mean really good. He may be my new heterosexual man-crush if he keeps playing like this. Too bad he goes to Texas.

Oklahoma/A&M lived up to all of the billing and went down to the final minutes. The Sooners have really done a lot to convince themselves they can win without Adrian Petteron which will just make them better if he comes back for the bowl game.

So, a good day in college football leads to Ben coming over, us playing video games, listening to music, and enjoying beverages of a spirituous nature. John and Jenny decide they are going to come over as well. So then, the calls start being made and before I know it, a few co workers are over as well. Flip cup, Moosehead, Cup of Death, football on the tv, The Rock playing in the background (solid background movie by the way, don’t need sound, you know what’s going on without it, and it keeps people entertained), and some Richard Cheese helping us get through the evening. Another solid night capped off by me defeating John in 2 consecutive games of MLB MVP 2004 (Devil Rays 14 Yankees 4 and Padres 7 Expos 5).

Sunday morning woke up, turned in my picks for the week, made my fantasy adjustments, and sat down to watch football for another 10 hours. Here’s my recap of that:

Packers/Bills- what can be said, it was ugly. There is no way the Packers should have lost that game, but they found a way to lose. Most people see this as a bad thing, I don’t, especially with some other teams winning, their draft pick is still hovering right in that early-mid first round level.

Dolphins/Bears- really? Did this game really happen? No, seriously? And I don’t want to hear that the Bears are better off having lost and all this and that they aren’t as good as everyone thinks. Look, this is a very, very, very good team. They had 6 turnovers and the Dolphins scored 28 points off of those turnovers. It wasn’t like the defense was getting the Dolphins pinned inside their own 15 every drive, quite the opposite actually. It has to be tough to play a game when you run to the sideline after stopping a team, take your helmet off to get a drink of water, and then before you can drink, you have to run back out onto the field because your offense or special teams turned it over again. By the way, random betting note here, never bet against the Miami Dolphins when they are playing an undefeated Bears team after 6 games into the regular season.

Broncos/Steelers- can we stop now? How about everyone stops talking about the Steelers and Roethlisberger? The guy almost died this summer, got hurt 2 weeks ago, give the guy a break. He’s 24, he’ll rebound, but let’s stop all of the Ben is back and so are the Steelers crap. See, see what happens when they play a good team?

Colts/Pats- I am angry today about this game and can’t summarize, this needs its own posting and it will come when I calm down.

So, as you can tell, a very solid weekend. Now, I get to chillax and wait for Louisville/Rutgers on Thursday night. Man, it’s a great time of the year!

-Until next time…

Louisville vs. West Virginia

2006-11-02T22:24:00.000-06:00

6:28pm

We’re coming to you live from my apartment in Menomonee Falls. The Mountaineers and Cardinals will get it started soon. I’ve got my bud light and my Jack’s pizza here and am ready for this game to start. I am going to go with: Louisville 36 West Virginia 24 tonight (hey, look at that, I flip flopped). I just think Papa John stadium is too big of an advantage.

6:44pm

According to the introductory song, it’s time for a showdown in the “ville”. It should be a great game, I’m looking forward to it. Louisville has won 15 straight at home, scoring an average of just under 51 points per game, averaging over 540 yards per game and have a touchdown to interception ratio of something like 36:4. Incredible home field advantage.

6:48pm
15:00 1st quarter

Alright, we’ll see the Louisville offense with Brian Brohm at the helm on the field first, here we go, time for some football. Oh, and before I get too far, good luck to the West Bend West girls volleyball team who have their first match at state tonight.

6:54pm
10:53 1st quarter

The drive went very well for Louisville, until a sack on first and 10 from the West Virginia 15, so they settle for a field goal. 3-0 Louisville, they really should have come away with 3 there, but Brohm did look pretty good, 3 for 5 for 46 yards and hit 3 different receivers.

Let me just add here one of the reasons why I love watching things on ESPN, the bottom line. Seriously, if the game isn’t interesting, you always have stats coming, how did we watch sports before this? For instance, I just saw, (Texas Quarterback Colt) McCoy- touchdown pass of 50+ yards in last 4 games and in 5 of 9 on season. Now that’s a stat. Wow.

6:58pm
10:31 1st quarter

Well, now we’ll see the West Virginia offense which features quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton on the field. They average 240 yards rushing per game between the two of them and the team averages well over 300 which is the best in the nation.

7:00pm

Yup, it’s time to switch the tv with the volume to NBC, so I won’t have any commentary to listen to for a while, but I’ll try and keep up anyway.

7:01pm
9:12 1st quarter

Well, a fumble gives Louisville the ball back. Huge penalty though, after the play and 15 yards is added to Louisville’s drive.

7:03pm
7:37 1st quareter

A huge 3 and out for the West Virginia defense. That is very big for them after the turnover. I am predicting a touchdown on this drive for West Virginia, to take some of the air out of Papa John stadium.

7:08pm
5:40 1st quarter

Wow, I was close to being way off as West Virginia almost turned the ball over again on another fumble, but this time, they recovered it and better learn how to hold onto the ball.

7:10pm
4:18 1st quarter

After a long completion from Pat White, the Mountaineers bust off a 42 yard run by Steve Slaton, and like I said, they scored a touchdown. Its response time for Louisville or Papa John isn’t going to be very happy tonight. 7-3 Mountaineers

7:26pm
End of the 1st quarter

Well, same score 7-3 West Virginia. My name is Earl, has some great music, first “Jesus is Just Alright with me” and now “Southern Cross”. Good times. Louisville has overcome a dropped wide open pass and a slip by their running back on a screen pass that just may have gone for a touchdown, but are now 2nd and 15 from inside the 20. They really need a score here, and not just 3.

7:31pm
13:35 2nd quarter

Louisville settles for a field goal and is now down 7-6. They have been fairly disappointing so far tonight, kind of like the bud light I just had. For whatever reason, it just didn’t go down well. Hopefully the second one goes down better.

7:41pm
9:55 2nd quarter

Well, that’s a good sign for Louisville, they hold West Virginia without any points and force them to punt, and wow it was a bad punt, except for the fact that Louisville almost turned it over because it hit one of their blockers. But, they end up recovering and now have a chance to take the lead and get the crowd back into the game.

7:49pm
7:04 2nd quarter

A great drive by Louisville although their wide receivers are slipping more than Michelle Kwan, with the extra point they are now up 13-7 over the Mountaineers. By the way, they had a shot of Pat White with his helmet off, and my God, he looks like he is about 12. He actually looks a lot like Michael Jackson circa 1982 without the perm.

7:55pm
4:42 2nd quarter

Take that Louisville fans, West Virginia comes back with an answer upside your head, 14-13 Mountaineers as they do what they do best and run the ball the whole drive for a touchdown.

Alright, and that’s enough with the commercials about this car that can parallel park itself. Are you kidding me? Are they just trying to get people to buy the car to try this out? Way to go Lexus. Oh, and hey we’re less than 3 weeks from them running, “A December to Remember Sales Event” commercials. I can’t wait. Someone shoot me now, seriously, shoot me now.

8:13pm
1:40 2nd quarter

Louisville ran the ball 5 times in a row inside the 5 yard line and got a total of 3 yards on those plays. They settle for a field goal on a Mountaineer stand and are now up 16-14. What’s incredible is how easily Louisville moves down the field and then they stop when in the red zone, like a kid who is really anxious to meet a sports start, runs up to them, and then when they get 10 feet away, can’t move.

8:18pm
Halftime

8:43pm
13:54 3rd quarter

The second half starts with West Virginia on offense. Steve Slaton is just running at will against Louisville right now, uh oh, he fumbles, and Louisville recovers, and another personal foul penalty is called, this time against West Virginia and they give Louisville 15 more yards. Wow, they are in business.

8:46pm
12:31 3rd quarter

So, the lights are going out in the stadium, and now Louisville turns the ball over on a fumble after a catch downfield, I don’t think he had possession of the ball, and I believe this will be overturned. We’ll see. Well, I’m an idiot and the Mountaineers have the ball back.

8:48pm
12:08 3rd quarter

Another fumble by Steve Slaton that is returned for a Louisville touchdown. This will be reviewed, but the call is going to stand, and Louisville will be up 23-14. What an incredible start to the second half.

8:57pm
10:10 3rd quarter

Now up 23-14, Louisville brought the pressure for 3 straight downs and forced a punt on 4th and 16. This is a huge turn in the game. Steve Slaton was out for the entire series as he was getting his arm looked at, and now Pat White is limping off the field, this could get very, very ugly for West Virginia. Now, Louisville returns the punt for a touchdown and Papa John is so into it, the stadium cameras are shaking. 30-14 now with 9:23 left in the quarter, 2 straight non-offensive touchdowns for Louisville, and that is terrible for West Virginia with Pat White nursing a sore leg, he’ll have to go right back onto the field. If the Mountaineers go 3 and out on this possession, game over.

9:06pm
6:02 3rd quarter

Well, they didn’t go 3 and out and Pat White’s foot/leg seems to be doing just fine right now and the refs missed a face mask against Louisville, they probably missed it because it is so dark on the field right now.

9:11pm
2:29 3rd quarter

A great response from the Mountaineers, a long drive and a touchdown, 30-21 Louisville. Now, the momentum has swung a little bit towards West Virginia because they took time off the clock and didn’t let the crowd get back into the game. Now it is on the defense, they need to keep the stadium quiet. If they do, we may see be seeing the beginning of a repeat of last year when West Virginia came back from down 17 in the fourth quarter, forced overtime and won.

9:21pm
End of 3rd quarter

This is shaping up to be quite a 4th quarter. Although it looks like Louisville will score again, it should still be fun.

9:25pm
14:55 4th quarter

7 yard touchdown pass and the Cardinals will be up 37-21, and my prediction will not come true, but Louisville is now on pace to keep to their average and score 50 points.

9:31pm
12:41 4th quarter

West Virginia marches right down the field and scores a touchdown of their own by what else, running it in. However, they missed the 2 point conversion to make the score 37-27. Louisville really needs a long sustained drive to keep West Virginia’s offense on the sideline.

9:38pm
10:19 4th quarter

Well, so much for a sustained drive, Louisville runs and throws and runs and scores again; 44-27 now. I don’t think there’s any chance of a West Virginia comeback at this point. Louisville’s offense has been dominating this half and aside from one turnover has really been moving at will. Not that West Virginia’s hasn’t, but the turnovers and the one 3 and out certainly gave Louisville all the momentum it needed.

9:50pm
7:16 4th quarter

Down 17, West Virginia goes for it on 4th down and the swing pass doesn’t even come close to getting a first down. It seems almost anti-climactic now that Louisville will reach the 50 point mark at home again this season.

9:56pm
4:43 4th quarter

So I see the following headline on cnn.com, “funny, heartbreaking letters to God found dumped”. Umm, where are they supposed to go? Are post offices just supposed to keep extra room so that they can store all of these letters to God? I really don’t get it, or is there an address for God somewhere in the bible that I missed in grade school?
Oh, anyway, West Virginia is getting the ball back, but this game is long over.

10:04pm
2:18 4th quarter

West Virginia scores what will end up being a meaningless touchdown. It is now 44-34 and the Mountaineers will have to recover 2 onside kicks and score 2 times, just to tie the game. This is not happening.

10:07pm
1:47 4th quarter

Onside kick fails, and there’s your ballgame, well, unless Louisville scores again.

Both of these teams did very well and it speaks to the talent in the Big East. I still think the best 2 teams I have seen all year are Ohio State and Michigan with Texas and Florida not far behind. While I don’t think Louisville could beat Michigan’s defense or Ohio State’s offense, the game would be close.

Then again, West Virginia wasn’t as good as they are this year when they laid the wood to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last January, so you never know.

10:15pm
0:00

44-34 Louisville, oh and if you didn’t know, the Breeder’s Cup Championships are this weekend at Churchill Downs on ESPN. The students pour onto the field and celebrate this huge victory, and the University is very smart and has easily collapsible goal posts so they don’t get torn down, fantastic.

-Until next time…

Diary Coming Tonight!

2006-11-02T08:55:00.000-06:00

You know, if I had TIVO, tonight would be a fantastic night. Instead, I will have to bring you the diary of the Louisville/West Virginia game while I am watching My Name Is Earl and The Office at the same time (don't worry I have 2 televisions and will be able to watch both simultaneously).

Originally I would have picked Lousiville to win this game, but with Michael Bush breaking his leg Joe Theisman and Tyrone Prothro style, I thought Louisville was done. I especially thought the Cardinals were done when quarterback Brian Brohm went down for a while at the beginning of the season as well, but alas, the number 5 Cardinals will welcome in the number 3 Mountaineers for a huge showdown tonight at Papa John Stadium. Steve Slaton and Pat White are a dynamic duo in the backfield for Rich Rodriguez's Mountaineers, but Papa John has been a horrible place to play for opposing teams.

How do I see it going? Right now, West Virignia big, but that may change by gametime (6:30 CST, ESPN)

-Until next time...

Questions to start the week

2006-10-30T12:20:00.000-06:00

1. When you have the best cornerback in the league playing one side of the ball, you may want to double team the guy on the other side, especially when his name is Reggie Wayne.

2. Why does Tim McCarver still have a job?

3. How lucky is it for Wisconsin that they didn’t have to play Ohio State this year. They should go into a bowl game 10-2, since Iowa has owned them, and will still be fairly highly rated.

4. Which free agent do you think will be the most overpaid this off season: Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt, Carlos Lee, or Alfonso Soriano?

5. Why are the Cubs even entertaining the idea of signing Carlos Lee or trading for Gary Sheffield?

6. When will the Colts lose: Week 9 @ New England, week 14 @ Jacksonville, week 15 vs. Cincy, or does it not matter because they can’t stop the run and won’t win in the playoffs anyway?

7. Does anyone out there besides Hucklebuck care about the NBA, I mean at all?

8. Why do playoff baseball games take 3 ½ hours when there aren’t even that many runs scored?

9. Does anyone know why the gallery isn’t showing up on my Tiger Woods 2007 game for PS2? That is one of the main reasons I bought the game, but there is no gallery.

10. Is there anything worse than cheering for a team that has no chance of making the playoffs and by winning all they are doing is getting a lower draft pick?

11. Who believes Shawn Merriman? I thought the best thing said about his situation was done by Chris Collinsworth on “Inside the NFL” this week. When asked if he believed Merriman he responded, “Yeah I believe Shawn Merriman, I also believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and Political Integrity”. Good times.

12. When voting on Hall of Famers in any sport, is it really that big of a statement to not vote someone in on their first ballot? As long as they make it in, isn’t that the goal?

13. How long do you think the Mario Williams/Reggie Bush/Vince Young/Matt Leinart debate is going to last? I am going to say until one of them is on a Super Bowl winning team, or 2014, when they are all in the “prime” of their careers, and then it will only be intensified.

14. We need to check with Bill Simmons on this, but does the “Ewing Theory” apply with coaches as well?

15. Now that more and more college coaches are getting on board with the idea of a playoff and it comes up in almost every game between the announcers and every preview show, how far away are we from even an 8 team playoff?

-Until next time…

Ramble, Ramble, Ramble

2006-10-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

It’s been a while so it’s time for the Ramblings.

- If your NFL team starts off the season at 2-4 or worse, and are already 4 games behind first place, there should really be a law in place that states, “We will remain competitive, but will not win another game to secure a top pick in the draft next year”. Especially when you are going to need a running back and Adrian Peterson is going to be available. How about Miller Lite makes that a manlaw?

- This may be the most boring World Series ever, especially since game 4 was rained out. I seriously think that MLB ordered Rogers to put something on his hand so there would be some kind of interest in the Series and something to write about. Other than that it has been about how Albert Pujols has turned into the next “Barry Bonds”.

- I recently witnessed a West Bend West high school football playoff game. This may not seem like a big deal to anyone, but this was the first time in school history West would be hosting a playoff game and only the second time they were in the playoffs, the first time being in 1997. After going 0-9 last season, West went 8-1 in the regular season, losing only to Wisconsin Lutheran in double overtime after their kicker had missed his only kicks of the entire season (2 extra points and a field goal on a gusty night) which would have won them the game in regulation, and beating the number 1 ranked team in the state, Hartford, on their home field, on Hartford’s homecoming weekend, sharing a conference title for the first time since 1977. I bring this up because as I watch the game on Tuesday, I couldn’t help but think it was 1998 and I was on the football team getting the brains beat out of us. West lost 36-14 to 5-4 Waukesha North to end the season. It was pretty pathetic, but congrats to West on a tremendous regular season!

- Why do we have to put up with that John Mellencamp commercial, with that, “this is our country” song playing during it? Actually, we don’t have to put up with it, whenever it is on, I either hit mute or turn the channel. Much like that new Office Depot commercial. You know, “head for the depot, OFFICE DEPOT, OFFICE Depot”. Yeah, they’re both reaching “spasmatic torticalis” heights.

- What does this sound like: Mandatory Dress Code, No swearing, No gesturing towards authority, No complaining about the equipment, Use our equipment or don’t use anything, and LEAVE YOUR GUNS AT HOME! So, does that sound like a prison, school, daycare, rec league? Nope, it’s the NBA, it’s FANNNTASTIC!

- I purchased Tiger Woods 2007 the weekend it came out (and procuring said rations was tougher than you may think) and began playing it right away. I was very excited to hear about the new courses which were added and the gallery that would be following you, growing larger, and cheering you on. Also, the controls were tweaked a bit to make the game a little more difficult. All-in-all I am satisfied with the game, but I have yet to see a gallery. I thought maybe I would need to play at a tougher level, so I started playing on the hardest level there was, where you have absolutely no AI helping you out, but nope, nothing. Then I thought maybe I would have to become a superstar to get a gallery to follow me during tournaments. Nope, won 2 majors and still nothing. I don’t get it. Look for a full review to come, but like I said, it’s entertaining.

- Speaking of golf; I love watching golf on television. I don’t just watch the majors, but watch about 15 events per year. However, I lose a lot of interest after the PGA Championship (especially when we are getting out butts handed to us in the Ryder Cup). The only events I watch after the PGA Championship are the Ryder Cup and the Tour Championship. I just don’t care about any other events after the last major. Here’s my solution; cut the season down. Have the PGA Championship in August, the Ryder Cup can stay the same, every two years in September, but move it up to the weekend after Labor Day and then have the Tour Championship the last weekend of September and end the season. Then, forget the January events, start with the Sony Championship in late February, and then have a maximum of 2 or 3 events per month. That would keep interest up, make tournaments more important and more top players would be in them.

- If I’m trying to hire someone into a position where they will be doing a lot of administrative work and faxing paperwork to our hiring managers and that person can’t even fax her application in correctly (it was all blank pages, must have been faxed upside down) should I even hire that person?

- It’s scary to think that we are only a little more than 2 months away from FOX ruining the Bowl Championship Series games with their broadcasts. I think I’ll have a moment of silence for Keith Jackson and the rest of the ABC crew.

- Prediction time: Michigan will beat Ohio State November 18th, Michigan over Florida in the title game, my Final Four (depending on seeding) is Kansas, Florida, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, I’ll take the Bears over the Broncos in the Super Bowl, and give me Wisconsin losing to whomever they play in the Bowl game.

That’s about all I have so….

- Until next time…

2006 NFL AFC Predictions

2006-09-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

AFC East

1. New England Patriots 11-5
2. Miami Dolphins 9-7
3. Buffalo Bills 7-9
4. New York Jets 5-11

The Patriots are still the class of the division, but there's no longer that aura of invincibility around them. The offense is as good as it's ever been, but the defense has taken some serious hits and has very little depth. They will face some competition from Miami, but the Dolphins aren't there quite yet.

The addition of Duante Culpepper gives them stability at quarterback for the first time since Dan Marino was under the helm, but the offense has very few playmakers surrounding him. The defense seems to have progressively gotten worse since it's run of being an elite unit in the mid 90's. Zach Thomas looks like an old linebacker, and is surrounded by young guys on the outside, and Sam Madison and Pat Surtain are both gone now. The defensive side of the ball is younger and rebuilding, while the offense is more established. Once the defense gets experienced they will challenge New England.

How did Dick Jauron get another job as head coach? Craig Nall left Green Bay in the offseason because he no longer wanted to be a third string quarterback, so he signed with Buffalo where he's the third string quarterback. The offense lost Eric Moulds, and sans Willis McGahee they have no playmakers, the defense is good but not good enough to bail out this anemic offense.

Chad Pennington is returning from a shoulder operation, Curtis Martin may be done, Kevin Mawae left in free agency, and their two best defense players from a year ago (John Abraham and Ty Law) are both gone now. J-E-T-S JETS, JETS, JETS!

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers 11-5
2. Cincinnati Bengals 11-5
3. Baltimore Ravens 8-8
4. Cleveland Browns 6-10

I will admit, I had the Bengals and Steelers swapped but changed my mind after seeing thursday nights game. The defense still looks very impressive, and the offense looked good enough without Big Ben in there. They have lost more than they upgraded in the offseason, but they're still the defending champs so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt till someone knocks them off.

Carson Palmer looked great in the preseason and that was really the only question surrounding this team. They have the best offense in the division and the defense gives up big yards but causes turnovers and makes plays.

I really like Steve McNair, but the Ravens really can't expect Steve McNair to be their savior to come in and turn things around. The offense is still very very bad, I have questions about Jamal Lewis, and the recievers don't scare anybody. The defense is still very good, but Ray Lewis and others are starting to get and look old. The window in Baltimore has officially closed. That sound you just heard was Brian Billick searching through the papers looking for new work.

Romeo Crennel has this team headed in the right direction. Charlie Frye, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow are all perennial pro bowlers, and the defense has a nice mixture of young guys and veterans. They still need an offensive line though, and if you're reading this and have played Center before, the Browns are interested.

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts 11-5
2. Jacksonville Jaguars 8-8
3. Tennessee Titans 7-9
4. Houston Texans 4-12

Edgerrin James will be a huge loss to this team, he really was their MVP. Whether it was running the ball, catching passes out of the backfield, or picking up the blitz and blocking, James did it all. Now they have to rely on a career backup running back and a rookie to carry the load. The play-action will not be as effective and this offense won't look quite as unstopable anymore.

The Jaguars got lucky a lot last year. They had an easy schedule and won a lot of close games. The schedule is not as easy this year, so they won't be in nearly as many close games, and their best offensive player (Jimmy Smith) abruptly retired in the offseason. Fred Taylor can't stay healthy, Greg Jones tore his ACL in the preseason so he's lost of the year, and Matt Jones and Reggie Williams are Byron Leftwitch's starting recievers. Better hope the defense takes a lot of interceptions and fumble recoveries back for touchdowns.

This team is headed in the right direction and has talented youth on offense in Vince Young, LenDale White, David Givens and Ben Troupe. They just need more time to gel. The defense shouldn't be too bad either, defense is never really a question on any Jeff Fisher coached team. They'll be inconsisten this year, but will be a playoff caliber team again in two years.

Gary Kubiak walked into a mess in Houston. Horrible offensive line, his starting running back is out for the year, a bad defense, and the team drafted Mario Williams ahead of Reggie Bush in April's draft. It will get better, but gradially.

AFC West

1. San Diego Chargers 12-4
2. Denver Broncos 9-7
3. Kansas City Chiefs 6-10
4. Oakland Raiders 4-12

Philip Rivers is going to put up a big season, justifiying the Chargers decision to let Drew Brees leave in free agency. LaDanian Tomlinson is the league MVP, Antonio Gates is the leagues best tight end, and the Chargers posses the West's best defense. All the makings for a division championship and deep playoff run.

Jake Plummer scares me, and more importantly and team quarterbacked by Jake Plummer and coached by Mike Shannahan won't go far in the playoffs. I know what you're going to say, and yes I know Shannahan won two Super Bowls in Denver, but what has he done without John Elway or Terrell Davis besides underachieve and or get eliminted early in the playoffs. Look for that trend to continue this year.

The Chiefs are vastly overrated. Larry Johnson, Trent Green, Tony Gonzalez and........who? The O-line is no longer as dominant as it was, the defense still isn't any good, and Green and Gonzalez have already got a lot of mileage on their bodys. I just don't see this offense being effective and that was the only thing that made them even a mediocre team in years past.

The Raiders are bad. Probably the worst team in football. Randy Moss wants out, Jeff George will probably be brought back in after week 1. Art Shell is their coach, even though he sucked the first time around. Yup, it's going to be really ugly in Oakland.

AFC Wild Card

Cincinnati over Indianapolis
New England over Denver

AFC Divisional

New England over San Diego
Cincinnati over Pittsburgh

AFC Championship

Cincinnati over New England

Super Bowl

New York Giants over Cincinnati Bengals

2006 NFL NFC Predictions

2006-09-10T05:48:00.000-05:00

So I'm technically a day late on my predictions here, but oh well. Here they are.

NFC East

1. NY Giants 11-5
2. Dallas Cowboys 10-6
3. Philadelphia Eagles 8-8
4. Washington Redskins 7-9

LaVarr Arrington upgrades the linebacking corp and will be playing with a chip on his shoulder in a division he's all too familiar in. Strahan, Umenyoria and rookie Matthias Kiwaunuka will be one of, if not the best pass rushing trio in the league/

On offense, Eli has the first full starting year under his belt already, Tiki Barber proved himself to be a top 5 running back in the league last year, Shockey is a threat at tight end and Sinorce Moss will help stretch the field.

Dallas is a very good team, but TO is bound to implode sooner or later. I give it four weeks before his first blow up at Bledsoe, plus this team is going to encounter a full blown QB controversy at some point in this season. The running game needs to improve, and other than TO and the extremely frail Terry Glenn, there is little else at reciever.

McNabb is not the quarterback he's been billed to be, but he's also not as bad as what we saw last year. Westbrook is a nice back, but they have no recievers that sacre any defense, and the defense is starting to get old. They benefit from not having Owens around, but they're closer to rebuild than contend.

Washington spent a lot of money again (surprise there) but once again on players they have no need for. They signed Randle El to starters money, but he'll serve as they're third reciever and kick returner, and then traded for Brandon Lloyd. This gives them three recievers under 5'11" and none of them are considered possession guys. Good luck moving the chains fellas. Factor in that Clinton Portis is nursing a separated shoulder already, Mark Brunell is 49 years old, Joe Gibbs is old man crazy, and this team only made the playoffs, let alone finished above .500 last year because of a hot streak, and it makes for a bad year in the nations capitol.

NFC North

1. Chicago Bears 10-6
2. Detroit Lions 8-8
3. Green Bay Packers 7-9
4. Minnesota Vikings 6-10

The Bears bear, no pun intended, a striking resemblence to the Baltimore Ravens of a few years back. The Ravens had no offense other than Matt Stover (Yes, the kicker Matt Stover) and still managed to win games and even a Super Bowl behind their defense. Only problem is the Bears defense isn't quite that good. They need to get some offense. Cut your losses and bench Grossman already. Griese should be the starter and Kyle Orton should be given every shot to win that job. It may not have been pretty but he won games last year. The defense is solid but they'll still need to find a second wideout and a quarterback

The Lions biggest upgrade in the offseason was Mike Martz, well that and the loss of Joey Harrington. Kitna is a vast improvement over Harrington. Roy Williams and Marcus Pollard will be well utilized in Martz's system. They just need defensive help.

The Packers upgraded at virtually every position this offseason, but that still isn't saying much. They're starting two rookie guards and breaking in a new center. That could be a disaster. Greg Jennings looks very impressive, just as much as Javon Walker did in his break out season. Jennings and Driver will provide Favre with two big play targets. Bubba Franks figures to be used a lot in Mike McCarthy's offense, after years of being wasted under Mike Sherman. The real question lies in Ahman Green, can he return to even 80% of what he was before the injury. On defense AJ Hawk was added, Cullen Jenkins continues to improve and Nick Collins is poised for a break out year. The question on defense is Charles Woodson, much like Green, can he return to show signs of his old self?

The Vikings are a bad football team, don't be fooled by a good preseason or all the hype, they're just bad. Brad Johnson, can he hold up? Who's going to run the ball, Chester Taylor? Who are your recievers now that Koren Robinson is gone and Nate Burleson left for Seattle? Their O-Line is solid, so they should have protection, but they have no play makers and very little depth. The defense is half rebuild half over priced veterans, and they lost their best player (Corey Chavous) in the offseason.

NFC South

1. Tampa Bay Buccanneers 12-4
2. Carolina Panthers 10-6
3. New Orleans Saints 7-9
4. Atlanta Falcons 6-10

The Buccaneers are the most complete team in this division. The have the best defense, two good recievers, a promising young quarterback, and a future pro bowl running back. The defense will onceagain be one of the best in the league and Chris Simms is only going to get better.

The Panthers scare me because they're everybodys darlings. Those teams never pan out. Steve Smith is already nursing a hammy, DeShawn Foster never plays in more than 8 games a season, and they don't have the depth on defense that they used to. I do like Jake Delhomme, and I love DeAngelo Williams, but this team won't unseat the Buccaneers.

New Orleans, 7-9? Yes, Reggie Bush will make that much of an impact. Well, Reggie Bush and Drew Brees. The defense is still awful, but the offense now has firepower and will be exciting to watch.

We saw some signs of it in the preseason game against Green Bay, but the Falcons are a bad football team. They're still a one man team, but it appears now that Vick isn't the Superman we all thought he was a few years ago. Warrick Dunn is a very underrated back, but there are no weapons at wideout. Vick, Dunn and Crumpler on offense, that's all they have. The defense has also taken some major steps back since the darling 2004 year they put up.

NFC West

1. St Louis Rams 11-5
2. Seattle Seahawks 9-7
3. Arizona Cardinals 8-8
4. San Francisco 49ers 5-11

I'm fully on board the Rams bandwagon, but moreso the Madden Jinx bandwagon, and the "Super Bowl loser stinks the next season" bandwagon. The Rams have changed philosophy and will commit to the run now, which is bad news for the West because Steven Jackson is the best running back you've barely heard of. They will control the clock with Jackson which will open up big plays for Bruce and Holt and the outside. The defense was also given a face lift this off season with the additions of Corey Chavous, LaRoi Glover and Will Witherspoon. Plus, no more Mike Martz to single handedly lose his team games (I realize I praised the addition for Detroit, but that's Martz as the coordinator, not the guy making all the decisions.)

I'm going off little else than the two explanations above. Alexander and the Madden Curse, and the Super Bowl loser stigma. Plus they lost Hutchinson, Darrell Jackson is hurt, and the defense lost guys, and added no one except for Julian Peterson who may or may not be washed up already.

The Cardinals are everyones sleeper pick, but I don't see it yet. The defense is still awful and the O-line stinks. So what if you have Edge, Fitzgerald and Boldin, if you can't block you can't get those guys the ball.

I like Mike Nolan and he's got this team going in the right direction. The Niners are just going to keep getting better under his control.

NFC WILD CARD

Giants over Bears
Cowboys over Panthers

NFC DIVISIONAL

Giants over Cowboys
Panthers over Rams

NFC CHAMPION

New York Giants

Return of the Ramblings

2006-08-29T21:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, not going to say I'm back or promise more postings since it seems to be 2 weeks between my postings. Anyway, onto the Ramblings:

This is now my 9th season of fantasy football, and I have yet to figure out why I am still wondering why I keep kicking in money every year.

It is 2 days away from my favorite time of the year, as college football officially starts on Thursday.

Has anyone watched any of team USA’s games in the FIBA World Championships besides what they’ve seen on Sportscenter?

Can we please stop talking about T.O. sometime soon? Please?

Congrats to the Little League team from Georgia for winning the World Series yesterday with a 2-1 victory over Japan. The Americans scored the winning runs on a 2 run home run in the 4th inning, which would have been a 3 run home run if (winning pitcher) Kyle Carter would have stopped at third base like his coach was telling him to. Instead, he ran through the stop sign and the play wasn’t even close. A great play by the Japanese left fielder and catcher.

Is there anything more delightful than sitting on a boat having a beer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon? Oh yeah, going on 3 brewery tours while having a beer on a boat on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is more delightful. And the most delightful thing of all; paying just $25 to go on three brewery tours while sitting on a boat having a beer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon with a good crowd.

I don’t understand why “Wanted Dead or Alive” is such a popular Karaoke song, but it is, and I won’t complain because it gives me reason to do an impression of Mike Rowe discussing Sig Hansen’s strategy every time I visit Barley Pop Pub.

The softball season officially came to an end recently for Dufrense & Associates. 2 things stick out from this season, Schwai hitting an inside the park home run on a shot that should have led to a double at most. Strange thing is, I don’t know if an error even would have been awarded to anyone, they were just lazy getting the ball back in and Schwai is really fast. The other thing is something I had never seen before and really didn’t think I would ever see in softball. With 0 out and 2 on during one of our games, the batter hit a sinking line drive between short and third. The runners took off as it looked like it would be a sure hit, but the shortstop made a great play, caught the ball and immediately threw to second to double off our runner there. After having seen the ball get caught, the runner at first base headed back to first, but lost his footing and slipped just enough to get beaten back to the base by the ball for a triple play. Yeah, that’s right, a triple play in softball.

As you all know, I went pig wrestling for the first time this year. I’m thinking that a great promotion for this event would be to have midgets wrestling little pot bellied pigs.

“Shanks for Nothing” is a great follow-up to the book “Missing Links” by Sports Illustrated columnist, Rick Reilly. If you are a fan of entertaining, easy to read books about golf, pick this one up.

I recently picked up NCAA Football 2007. Here’s what I like, the kicking is more difficult this year, and you actually have to aim your kick with the right analog while pulling back for power instead of having it all set prior to kicking. Also, you can play the spring game and help your players improve. I don’t know why they brought back the “momentum meter” which was an addition to the last PS1 platform edition of the game. In that edition the momentum meter swung wildly in either direction even if the game was 53-3 in the 4th quarter and the team with momentum would invariably play out of their minds. The new momentum meter doesn’t swing as badly; only on turnovers and only if the game is still close. Also, the team with the mo doesn’t make ridiculous plays, which is nice. It is another solid game by EA Sports.

Prison Break on Fox started its much anticipated 2nd season last week and it went pretty much as expected. The acting has pretty much stayed the same, but the writing and dialogue has gotten worse. They did make one good move during the break by bringing in William Fichtner, on the ballot for the Holleywood “That Guy Hall of Fame”. He was the jerk commander in Armageddon and has a few other memorable roles. Fichtner is a capable actor and with the rest of this group, he should compliment Stacey Keach and Peter Storemare nicely as the top actors on the show. Never the less, I will continue to watch until it gets to The O.C. proportions in horrible acting and ridiculousness.

Speaking of bad acting, Entourage ended its third season this week with an episode featuring the firing of one Ari Gold. I will say this, if Jeremy Piven is off the show (which I doubt) I will give it one more episode to prove itself and then I will be done. The only reason I could possibly think of for the gang firing Ari is that Piven owns this show and Jeremy Piven hasn’t owned anything since he was in P.C.U., and he was almost overshadowed in that film by David freaking Spade. Piven shouldn’t be blowing other actors off the screen at any time. He is more than capable, but when you are sharing screen time with guys who combined have the theatrical range of a toaster (the guys playing Eric, Vince, and Turtle), it isn’t too tough to be a star.

What is with the Brewers? They sweep the Rockies and pretty much knock them out of contention and sit only 4.5 games back in the Central headed into the weekend and then lose 4 straight to the Marlins to drop to 62-69 and are now 8.0 games behind in the Central. I don’t get it, I’m done cheering for them this season.

Only 5 months until we realize how important ABC was to college football and the way the BCS games are presented as FOX takes over and will absolutely ruin the way we watch college football.

Recently, ESPN Classic was running replays of the best games from last season. I watched the Rose Bowl again and am just in awe of what a great game that was. You really can’t put into words what happened on that evening in January. Perhaps we will be able to in 10 years like we are now starting to be able to put into perspective what Tiger Woods has done for golf.

-Until next time…

Smashed in the face

2006-08-10T10:31:00.000-05:00

Bob and Brian, the local morning show guys on 102.9, The Hog, are running a promotion right now where listeners send in their "smashed in the face stories" for a chance to win a 42" plasma television. Well, since my face has suffered through many traumatic events in its 24 years of existence, I decided to put in a few entries. In the coming days, you will get to read all of my stories, and to start out with, here is the one that actually got read on the air...

My 13th birthday, we were visiting my grandma in La Crosse. With it being February and not having a whole lot to do at Grandma's house, I started going through some old boxes of hers and ended up finding a smoke bomb (or what I thought was a smoke bomb). Being a sports nut,
I thought about how cool it would be to light the smoke bomb off and run through the smoke while announcing my name and pretending I was a big sports star. I grabbed some matches and went outside with said "smoke bomb" I set it on a patch of ice and lit the fuse. I remained
only about 2 feet away so I could be engorged in the smoke.

Crouching by the smoke bomb, I heard an enormous "boom" and felt something hit my face. I walked into the house to see horror on my parents' faces as they had no idea what just happened. Not being able to hear anything from the explosion, I couldn't understand why they looked so worried. Eventually I heard my mom ask, "what happened to your face?"
When I got to the hospital, turns out I blew some shrapnel from the M-80 directly under my eye. I also took a piece of de-icing salt to the eye. With part of my ear blown off as well, I received 7 stitches directly below my eye, and a valuable lesson, never trust Grandma.

- Until next time...

They Got What?

2006-07-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

When Carlos Lee rejected the Brewers 4 year $48 million deal on thursday, it was inevitible. And I accept that and was totally fine with the fact that they had to move him. But Lee and Nelson Cruz for Lance Nix, Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and Julian Cordero?

I've got to believe that given Doug Melvin's track record there are either more deals to come or he sees something in one or some of those guys that I don't.

One thing is for certain, the Brewers were not going to resign Lee. Melvin was not willing give Lee a five year deal, and I can't blame him for that. Lee is thirty years old, and a bad glove in the field. He's probably two years away from being a DH, and a five year contract would lead to the same scenario the Brewers have right now with Jenkins. An older player with a huge deal that his production does not match.

Moving Lee was supposed to open the door for Nelson Cruz, but Cruz was also included in this deal. Fine. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure Cruz was really this great prospect we kept hearing he was. He does have power and a lot of tools, but he can't hit a curve ball, strikes out way too much, and was still in AAA.

If Cruz was so great, why was Billy Beane so willing to part with him for just Keith Ginter? And why is he 25 and still in the minors? If Cruz was is as good as he is billed to be, why didn't he leap frog Gabe Gross and or Corey Hart in the spring or at some point this year?

Moving Lee was supposed to make room for the young guys to get more playing time, whether it had been Hart, Gross or Cruz. But by including Cruz in the deal, and acquiring two more outfielders that's clearly not the case. Again, unless there is another deal in the works, I'm left to assume that Kevin Mench is taking Lee's spot in the outfield. Not Corey Hart.

You already had a log jam in the outfield, so you add two more outfielders when you are still extremely thin in the infield? Someone please explain to me what I'm missing here.

While some in this city will claim that there is a "Silver Lining" in this deal or idiotically claim that this deal shows the Brewers didn't give up on the season, they are wrong. Statements like that show just how little they know about baseball and just how little they actually follow this team.

There is no silver lining in this deal. Having Kevin Mench and Francisco Cordero next year as opposed to two first round prospects is a silver lining? Maybe so, but thats assuming you're a contender anytime soon. The Brewers are still two years, or more, away from being a playoff contender. How does adding to two average major leaguers, a career AAA outfielder (Nix) and a fringe pitching prospect make them a better team next year?

To claim that this deal shows the Brewers are not giving up on the season is argueably the dumbest statement I've ever heard. This season was most likely over even with Lee in the lineup. Now take his production out of the lineup. They were't going to contend this year, so why add major league players to this club?

Doug Melvin told the Journal-Sentinel, “This was the best deal we could make, it gives us the chance to continue to run a good big-league lineup out there. If we had done any of the other deals, you’d think we were giving up on this season.” Who cares what "we" think Doug, that should not be your concern when building a team. You need to do what's best for the Brewers regardless of what the fans think.

To state that the Brewers are now "In a position where they can move prospects for major leaguers" could not be anymore inaccurate. Playoff teams with high payroll's are the only teams in that position. Not a club still trying to figure out how to win. The Brewer may never be in a position where they can move prospects for major leaguers, because their margin for error is not as high as other teams'.

I really hope that rumors of a Anahiem deal for Lee that would have included uber prospect Brandon Wood are completely false. If not it makes this deal look even worse. The ultimate goal in any trade is to better your team. I honestly do not see how that is the case with this trade. Kevin Mench is not a better player than Corey Hart. Lance Nix is not a better prospect than Tony Gwynn Jr and is not a better player than Gabe Gross. Francisco Cordero is almost a Derrick Turnbow clone, and to be perfectly honest I've never even heard of Julian Cordero.

This trade is eerily similar to the Jeromy Burnitz trade five years ago. In that deal the Brewers sent Jeromy Burnitz, Jeff D'Amico and Lou Collier to the Mets for Glendon Rusch, Alex Ochoa and Lenny Harris. We all know how that deal turned out. Granted the Brewers now are a much better team than they were then, but the fact remains, unless you are a sure shot playoff team major leaguer for major leaguer deals do not pan out. Baseball is all about prospects, and the Brewers just moved the most attractive and best position player on the market and got no prospects in exchange.

Confused. Apset. Angry. Those are all what I feel right now, and I believe a lot of Brewers fans share those feelings. I'm not angry he was traded, but was this really the best deal the Brewers coud get for him?

Yup, pig wrestling

2006-07-26T17:50:00.000-05:00

More Pig Wrestling Pics

2006-07-26T17:43:00.000-05:00

Pig Wrestling 2006

2006-07-25T20:58:00.000-05:00

I can't really put in to words how much fun I had pig wrestling this past weekend in Crivitz, WI. All I know is that out of the 6 teams who wrestled from our group, we took the least amount of time to get our 200+ pound pig on top of the barrel, 10.81 seconds. The next best time in our group was 22.6 seconds, so we dominated.

Members of the winning team from our group were myself, Travis Lang, Chris Lang, and Jason Stange. We'll be back next year to defend out title.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures, and hopefully you can get a feel for what the 21st annual World Championship Hog Wrestling event was all about.

Special thanks to the Lang family for their hospitality over the weekend, allowing about 60 people to camp on their land.

-Until next time...

He's Ba-ack

2006-07-21T08:44:00.000-05:00

Guess what? He’s ba-ack. After firing a blistering 7 under 65 today, Tiger Woods has taken complete control of the 135th British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. He is tied for low round in the tournament with Chris DiMarco, who also shot 7 under today and is the closest competitor to Woods at -9. Even though a very talented golfer in DiMarco is only 3 strokes back, the engraver may as well enter Tiger’s name onto the Claret Jug one more time and for the second time in as many years, after he won by 5 strokes last year at St. Andrews.

Yes, Tiger is back and back in focus after his father’s death and his abysmal showing at the US Open, and the world of golf is better for it.

Like most people, I am a huge Phil Mickelson fan. If there was a pay channel where I could watch not only all of Phil’s shots, but just have a camera follow him around the course so we could see what he is doing the entire time he’s on the course, I’d pay for it. If there was some sort of a contest where the winner got a chance to play a round with Phil, I’d enter it. When I went to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 2004, I made my dad walk the first 4 holes with me so we could follow Phil. And even though he has yet to get on the course this morning, and is -3 right now, there is no way he is making a big enough charge today to get to Tiger, and he isn’t going to come back over the weekend.

I’m not basing this on what happened on number 18 at Winged Foot last month, but on the fact that Tiger is the Mariano Rivera of golfers. He is the best closer in the game. He doesn’t come back the best, but he is unquestionably the best golfer in the world at finishing off a tournament. He doesn’t lose leads. Granted, there are golfers on the course still, so they can overtake him without him doing anything about it, but they won’t. He just golfed too well today to have anyone catch him today or for the rest of the weekend.

I feel blessed that I was alive and able to watch some of the best artists practicing their craft; Jordan, Armstrong, Favre, Maddux, Gretzky, and Tiger. With this latest domination, I think we may soon be saying that Michael Jordan was the Tiger Woods of basketball.

(and if for some ungodly reason, Tiger chokes this weekend and doesn’t win, the lesson as always is…. I’m an idiot!)

-Until next time…

Happy Birthdays!

2006-07-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

This week marks a week in my life where many people I know turn one year older on the old clock. So, happy birthday to:

Yasmin
Ballback
Jon
My dad
Kelvin

and a speedy recovery wish for my dad who recently had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair some torn cartiladge, bone spurs, and arthritis. Get well soon, and thanks for giving me great knees to look forward to!

-Until next time...

A little dust in the air

2006-07-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

I was watching "Rudy" last night on HBO and towards the end of the movie, somewhere during the sequence of the entire team wanting to give their jersey's up so Rudy could suit up for the last game, Rudy's dad saying, "This is the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen", and the crowd chanting Rudy, a small dust storm always seems to kick up wherever I am watching this movie. And it happens everytime.

Yes, I get a little welled up everytime I watch that 15 minute sequence, just like some others get a little welled up when they hear, "I love Brian Picollo". It's just something that happens. Why does it happen? Because great sports movies bring out the best qualities in people. The hero always seems like an everyman, so most people can relate to the hero, he/she goes through adversity and triumphs in the end. They give us hope, the one thing we should all have at all times. They let us feel like we've accomplished the same feat because on some level, no matter how small, we can relate to their challenge and feel redeemed when the goal is ultimately achieved.

It can be the movie as a whole like with "Rudy" or "Hooisers" which are end to end great movies, or it can be one speech, like Pacino's "inches and miles" speech in "Any Given Sunday" which was a terrible movie. There are moments, some fleeting, some capturing us for 2 hours that have us remembering a challenge we overcame or at least give us the hope to overcome a challenge.

I may be less of a man to some because I shed a tear everytime "Rudy" is on, but I can't wait until it's on again, because I'll watch, even if it is only the last 15 minutes, just to get the chills I still always get while watching it.

-Until next time...

P.S. British Open coverage starts July 20th at 6:00am CDT on TNT.

The most boring thing in the world

2006-07-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

So last Monday, I started watching a bit of the home run derby before I went and played volleyball. This event has become quite boring over the years as the hitters see about 40 pitches each and there are 3 rounds, it is pretty ridiculous.

Anyway, that's not the most boring thing in the world, and until today, it was second. On the way home from John's house after volleyball, I turned on ESPNRadio and actually heard the home run derby being broadcast on the radio! What's next, golf? Why is this thing on the radio? It was even called by one of the best voices around and the best baseball commentator on the planet, Dan Shulman, and I still couldn't get into it. Here's a little recap of how it sounded.

Shulman, "So here we are, David Wright up to bat and.... oh, there's a home run.... and Paul Lo Duca his catch... oh, there's another home run.... his catcher is pitching for him he.... that was is way back and gone... pitching for him here at the derby. If he does well, he ma.... David Wright is in a grove with his 4th home run in a row...."

So yeah, you get the picture, it was terrible. I've said this before and I'll say it again, if I suddenly had a commentator walking behind me all day and giving play by play of my life the list would look like this:

4. Brent Musberger
3. Keith Jackson
2. Gus Johnson
1. Dan Shulman

There you have it, my favorite voice to listen to couldn't even make this event exciting. Hey, ESPN, how about you not put this on the radio next year, so I can keep my sanity.

And that was the most boring thing in the world until I saw the lineup on ESPN tonight. Preceeding the World Series of Poker, which I don't know why anyone wants to watch poker, and I like playing poker and I hate watching it, was the WORLD SERIES OF DARTS!! Come on! How are either of these sports? Why do either of these deserve to be on ESPN? It just baffles my mind to think that enough people are sitting around and think, hey, instead of sitting and drinking and playing cards or sitting, drinking, eating, and standing to throw darts for a while, I'll just watch other people do it instead. How lazy are we?

If it comes to the point where there is a weekly eating contest on television, I am done with tv.

-Until next time...

Sorry Friends and Fans

2006-07-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

I had finally crawled out of my first half of the season cave over the weekend after hearing about another Carlos Zambrano domination and decided my hopes could be raised a little again. However, all of that came crashing back to Earth in the span of one inning, 2 grand slams, and 11 runs in the 6th inning of last night's Cubs/Mets game.

Don't worry, you will not read any more Cubs posts from me, back to what I was doing when this thing originally started, a wide variety of sports and me trying to be whitty.

But, just wait til next year!

-Until next time...

Back and Pissed

2006-06-15T07:57:00.000-05:00

Ok I have had enough of Dusty Baker. Fire the guy tomorrow and I will be a happy man. He has had N.Perez batting second and playing second for the last two games. I don't get it. He is batting .208. Where is Todd Walker, or even Tony Womack? One of them should be playing 2B and Perez should only play in a blowout.

Here is how the lineup should be:

1. Womack LF
2. Walker 2B
3. Barrett C
4. Ramirez 3B
5. Nevin 1B
6. Jones RF
7. Cedeno SS
8. Pierre CF

Let me know what you think, but if I see Perez in the lineup this afternoon I am going to freak out at work. Watch out fellow employees.

Morning Report

2006-05-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

Cardinals
Reds -2.0
Brewers -4.0
Astros -4.0
Cubs -8.5
Pirates -13.0

Brewers 5 vs. Phillies 4

Yup, Geoff Jenkins did it again. You know what? His trade value isn’t going to be any higher this year, trade him to the Yankees NOW! Get that $8 million off your cap and get rid of him right now. Although, that would bring up a problem of who would replace him, so you see, this is why I am not Doug Melvin.

Took my lunch hour to go home and watch some of this game yesterday and after Philly scored 3 times in the first inning, I was sure it was going to be a long afternoon for the Brewers. Then, with a 4 run 7th inning, they swept Philadelphia and should be able to continue their hot streak this weekend against the Twins.

Hooray for the Brewers being in third place and don’t look now, but they have what could be a HUGE series coming up in 3 weekends against St. Louis.

Tonight:

Brewers vs. Twins- 7:05pm

Cubs 3 vs. Nationals 5

Wood pitched 5 innings and didn’t have any problems with his arm, save for giving up 3 home runs. He struck out 6 and didn’t walk anyone. All in all, it was a good first outing for him, except for the loss. It was just nice to see him back on the mound. The Cubs once again failed to score runs when the opportunity presented itself. With runners on the corners, Juan Pierre grounded into a rally killing double play to end the Sixth when the Cubs scored 3 runs after starting the inning with bases loaded and no outs.

Ron Santo continues to be my favorite color commentator simply because you can immediately tell how the Cubs are doing based on his reaction to the next play, I would try and explain it, but it is something which simply must be heard.

The Cubs are 2 losses away from guaranteeing a losing month for May, and they still have 12 games left this month… awesome. They travel to US Cellular Field this weekend and will have a very tough series against the White Sox. Here’s how I see the rest of this month going: 1 of 3 vs. the White Sox, 2 of 3 vs. the Marlins, 3 of 3 vs. the Braves, and 2 of 3 vs. the Reds, that puts them at 8-4 over that stretch and will go into the do or die month of June with a 25-27 record.

Today:

Cubs @ White Sox- 3:05pm

-Until next time…

Overdue Morning Report

2006-05-18T11:14:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, so I haven’t done it in a while, but here it is:

Cardinals
Reds -2.0
Astros -3.5
Brewers -4.0
Cubs -7.5
Pirates -12

Brewers 8 vs. Phillies 7

So the Crew won their 3rd straight game in their last at bat, and it could’ve been 4 had Derrick Turnbow not allowed a home run to Paul Lo Duca in the top of the ninth inning on Saturday. But anyway, the Brewers are playing some really good ball at home, going 15-7 so far and have the second best home record in the bigs (White Sox 14-5).

I really enjoyed being at the game on Saturday night, even though they lost, but that is for a different time. Since I was making dinner for Michelle last night and hanging out with her, since she is leaving for grad school tomorrow, I didn’t see much of the game. I do know that the team was up 3 in the ninth and needed to win it in the bottom of the ninth. I also know that Geoff Jenkins had a home run and then drove in the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth, and this is only 5 days after I was yelling, “trade him” after every at bat. I am not moving from my position, however.

Winning now is very important for the Brewers since Ben Sheets, Toma Ohka, and JJ Hardy are on the DL. Some people like the fact Hardy went down because Bill “Big Time” Hall is going to get a chance to play everyday. Beating the hottest team in the league 2 nights in a row (Philadelphia had won 13 of 14 coming in) is a real confidence booster after an unsuccessful West Coast swing.

It’s good to see the Brewers winning when the teams ahead of them (except for first place St. Louis) are losing. Hopefully they can complete the sweep today.

Today:

Brewers vs. Phillies- 12:05pm

Cubs 5 vs. Nationals 0

I LOVE SEAN MARSHALL! My heterosexual man crush has now officially gone from Reggie Bush to Sean Marshall. 2 out of the last 3 games this south paw has pitched have seen him take a no hitter into the sixth inning. That is exactly what the Cubs need out of all of their starting pitchers, but we’ll take it from at least one. With Maddux seemingly having fixed whatever was ailing him and Zambrano pitching like the Big Z, there is a certain buzz being felt even here in Milwaukee as Kerry Wood makes his long anticipated return to the starting rotation today. What am I hoping for from Kerry? I’m hoping he is still in the game when I get out of my one o’clock meeting, that’s what I’m hoping, anything above that is gravy. If he goes 5 innings pain free, I will be happy!

About the game last night (this game I did watch on my computer while Michelle was over, I thought I could get away with one game, but definitely not two), Marshall was excellent, and Todd Walker continues to show Cubs brass that it was wise not to trade him in the off season.

A solid effort all around, and D Lee is dare I say it, only about 4-5 weeks away! The injury happened April 19th, that was 4 weeks ago, they said 8-10 weeks, he only has 2 more weeks with the cast and then rehab. If things go well, he could be back by the start of the second leg of inter league play.

A shutout for the second straight game, and Marshall and three relievers combined for a one-hitter. They go for the sweep this afternoon with Wood on the mound and then head cross-town for a battle with the defending World Champs. Let’s see if they can get on a bit of a role before Cincy comes to town to close the month.

Today:

Cubs vs. Nationals 1:20pm

-Until next time…

Morning Report

2006-05-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Reds
Cardinals -.5
Astros -3.0
Brewers -5.0
Cubs -6.5
Pirates -12.5

Brewers 0 @ Padres 3

Thanks to Vin for some insight on the game Tuesday evening, because as I said, I didn’t see much of it. As for last night’s game, a 3 run 4th inning for the Padres and that’s about it. No real excitement in this game, except for Chan Ho Park dominating. The Crew is back at .500 and this season is starting to smell like hovering right around that number all season.

I will say that I am very impressed with how well Carlos Lee is swinging the bat this season. It’s not like he wasn’t a power hitter, but he is absolutely raking the ball right now. If Geoff Jenkins could get anything going at the dish, the 3-5 in this lineup would be one of the toughest in the league.

If the team does want to get above and stay above .500, Mike Maddux is going to have to work some more magic, as he did last season, with Sheets going on the DL.

Today:

Brewers @ A Whale’s Vagina- 2:35pm

Cubs 8 @ Giants 1

Z, where have you been all season? That is what we’ve been waiting for all season. The called third strike he threw to Bonds in the 4th was absolutely filthy. Juan Pierre was actually getting on base on scoring, from the 2-hole last night. The Cubs still can’t get a leadoff hitter to produce, as Ronny Cedeno ended 2 innings, but at least Pierre was getting on and scoring.

Jacque Jones is one of those players who you hate one day and love the next, I am thoroughly convinced of this now after his performance at the dish last night, and I am fine with it. A couple of hits, 2 run home run, but he still can’t hit the cutoff man, which is frustrating. Gaddis may have some words for him tomorrow.

Ramirez actually took a pitch where it was pitched and hit it down the line to the opposite field, got a double, advanced Todd Walker to third, and knocked in Pierre. See what happens when you DON’T try and pull everything out of the stadium!

I don’t want to get too excited, but they just ended an 8 game losing streak, so I may be going a little overboard, but it looked like breaks were actually going to Cubs’ way. In the same inning, a pitch went off of the pitchers leg (which usually would have gone straight to the first baseman) and allowed Pierre to get on base, AND a ground ball went up the middle for what looked like an easy inning-ending double play, but it was booted by the second baseman, and everyone was safe! Later in the game, an error by the first baseman allowed Jacque Jones to reach and a run to score, it was incredible to watch it happen in the favor of the team for which you are cheering!

Today:

Cubs @ San Francisco- 2:35pm

-Until next time…

Morning Report

2006-05-10T11:22:00.000-05:00

Reds
Cardinals -.5
Astros -2.0
Brewers -4
Cubs -6.5
Pirates -11.5

Brewers 5 @ San De-ah-go 4 -10 innings

I didn’t watch much of this game and fell asleep in the 7th inning. I saw the Brewers were down by 3 and then they were tied. So, really not much to say here, other than the Brewers are back above .500, and hopefully they can stay there all year. They ended the Padres’ winning streak, so that’s good.

Tonight:

Brewers @ Padres- 9:05pm

Cubs 1 @ San Francisco 6

One of these days I am going to blow my top and rant the entire time about the Cubs. I’m talking about like 5,000 words on everything that is wrong with them. Rich Hill didn’t pitch horribly last night, but when the Giants got hits, they got HITS. Juan Pierre robbed Bonds of a home run, so my prediction won’t come true unless Hill pitches in relief. I am so angry at Jacque Jones, Juan Pierre, and Aramis Ramirez right now that I can’t even speak. ARGH! It looks more and more like Gaddis and I are going to have to have a convention with the fans in the bleachers on Friday and discuss how we can remain positive this season.

Tonight: (who cares?)

Cubs @ Giants- 9:15pm

-Until next time…

Morning...well... Afternoon Report

2006-05-09T13:26:00.000-05:00

Reds
Cardinals -1.5
Astros -2.0
Brewers -5.0
Cubs -6.5
Pirates -12.5

Tonight:

Brewers @ San Diego- 9:05pm

Cubs 3 Padres 8

Well, they lost for the 7th straight day and lost of a Monday on the first time all year. Not to mention, Maddux got hit hard for the second straight start. Not much is going right for the Cubs lately, but there is a good chance someone on the team will enter the record books this week against San Francisco, as Barry Bonds looks for home run number 715. I guess the best thing that happened in last night’s game was that Glendon Rusch got out of an inning after he walked the first 2 batters he saw, oh yeah, Juan Pierre got a hit and stole a base as well.

I will say that I really hope Baker doesn’t get canned during the season, the team needs to be healthy first.

I guess they are playing tonight, but I don’t know why, although the game is on WGN, so I won’t need to watch it on my computer. By the way, the most frustrating thing about the San Diego series is that the Padres television network didn’t have any graphics on the screen, which caused me to be completely lost because I didn’t have the sound on my computer. They didn’t even have graphics on the screen between innings, it was terrible, and I don’t know how anyone can watch baseball like that.

Tonight:

Cubs @ San Francisco- 9:15pm

-Until next time…

Cubs Prayers

2006-05-09T07:39:00.000-05:00

Here is what I am praying for to end this losing streak:

-A pitcher not named Marshall or Maddux to step up this year.

-Big Z to pitch with emotion. Throw inside to Bonds and get in a shouting match. I will be jumping for joy if he puts Bonds on his butt.

-Juan Pierre to become Juan Pierre 2004. If he keeps hitting this bad, Nate and I might have to call him the same names we called him last year at Wrigley.

-Jerry Hairston Jr. to shorten his swing. Stop swinging for the fences. Chicks do dig the long ball, but they don't dig backup 2B.

-Aramis to get cocky. Realize you can only hit fastballs and sit dead red. If they can locate the offspeed, tip your cap, but don't pop up fastballs-drive them.

-A Bullpen pitcher not named Eyre or Dempster to pitch some good innings. I know they have been pitching lots of innings, but we need some pitchers out of the pen not throwers like Novoa and Ohman.

-Dusty and Gene Clines to start talking to this team about the strike zone. Don't they realize that getting a walk is almost valuable as getting a base hit. (The only real difference is when runners are on base.) Go the plate with a purpose and a strategy. Can we please hire Mark Grace to be a hitting coach? He used to go to the plate with what he wanted to do against certain pitchers and then stick with it.

-OFs that hit the cut-off man and runners to pay attention to where the ball is hit. This has been consistent since Dusty has been here. Jacque Jones has twice bounced a throw to a cut-off man and twice picked off. I am ready for Pie and Jones to be a pinch hitter already. Somebody please tell Jacque that the ball doesn't bounce at Wrigley like it did in the Metrodome.

Just my prayers for the day, now I need to work.

Morning Report

2006-05-08T12:01:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so I know it has been a few days since the Morning Report came out. I’m sorry, but without further ado, let’s get right into it:

Reds
Cardinals -1.0
Astros -1.5
Brewers -5.0
Cubs -6.0
Pirates -12.5

Brewers 2 @ Dodgers 10

Starting out the west coast trip with a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers is not what the Brewers had in mind. They showed some heart in the first two games coming back to set up the Nomar heroics, but heart doesn’t always lead to wins. They have the day off today in order to regroup and then go to PetCo Park and take on San Diego who is red hot, have won 8 games in a row and are coming off a sweep of the hapless Cubs. Hopefully Ben Sheets’ shoulder will loosen up so he can get back in the rotation and help get the team back above .500.

Tuesday:

Brewers @ San Diego 9:05pm

Cubs 3 @ San Diego 6

I don’t know what to say about this team right now. 6 straight losses outscored 28-5 in those losses, 3 shutouts in that time. Tonight, they try to avoid their second straight sweep and have a rare Monday finish against the Padres. There just isn’t much good to say about this team except that it looks like Kerry Wood is going to be starting the 17th against Washington. After tonight’s game, they travel to San Francisco, so I wonder who the lucky Cubs pitcher will be to give up #715 to Bonds, my guess is Rich Hill. Gaddis and I will be at the game on Friday, all I am hoping for is nice weather. Don’t worry, I’ll come out of my funk soon, after all, I’m a Cubs fan, I should be used to this.

Tonight:

Cubs @ San Diego 9:05pm

Morning Report

2006-05-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

Reds
Astros -1.5
Cardinals -2.0
Brewers -4.0
Cubs -4.0
Pirates -11.5

Brewers 5 vs. Astros 8

Didn't see any of this game, but heard that the stros got to Sheets early. This is not a good sign, but it is still early and he was injured, so I won't get too worried yet.

The Crew welcomes Bonds and the Giants into town this evening for another quick 2 game series, here's hoping they sweep this one.

Tonight:

Brewers vs. Giants- 7:05pm

Cubs 0 vs Pirates 8

Angel Guzman has looked good in some innings and terrible in others, and the team is really struggling for hits without Lee in the lineup and Ramirez hovering around .200. Something needs to be done quickly or this team is going to be out of it by June. Listening to the games you can just tell that no one has confidence if the team goes down early, the fans, the announcers, no one, it is a real shame to lose the soul of your team so early in the season.

On the bright side, Maddux goes tonight in the desert, and these are absolutely 2 must win games for the Cubs before heading to California for 7 games.

Tonight:

Cubs @ Diamondbacks- 8:40pm

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-05-02T11:50:00.000-05:00

Reds
Cardinals -1.0
Astros -1.5
Brewers -3.0
Cubs -3.0
Pirates -11.5

Brewers 4 vs. Astros 2

Well, I didn't see a whole lot of this game, but I did hear that Rickie Weeks made an outstanding throw to get Craig Biggio out before he recorded a triple. Carlos Lee continues to pound the ball and tied the game at 1-1 with his 11th home run. If they could just get Geoff Jenkins to hit consistently, the middle of the lineup would but incredible.
I did turn on the game in time to see Derrick Turnbow nail down yet another save, and am hoping he can keep it up all season. There are times when he looks like he gets really excited and over throws the ball, but he does seem to calm down pretty quickly and get back to throwing strikes. With the Astros in town for just one more night, the Brewers are looking to pull just .5 games behind them for 3rd with another win tonight.

Tonight:

Brewers vs Astros- 7:05pm

Cubs 2 vs Pirates 1

Thanks God the Cubs won that game last night as they are facing Zach Duke today and he pretty much owns the Cubs. They continue to struggle hitting without D-Lee in the lineup, but improved to 5-6 without him. If they can play .500 ball without D-Lee for the next 1 1/2 months, they should still be in the thick of things when he returns. They only have a total of 5games against their division in the month of May including last night's victory, but June will be a telling month for the Cubbies and their chances in the NL Central. In June, they play 17 of their 27 games against NL Central foes, and all but 7 are on the road. There is no other month in which they play more games against the division, and the only divisional team they don't play in June is Pittsburgh, so June should be the month we find out about this team.

The reason I'm not writting much about last night's game is because I saw absolutely none of it. My new computer should be delivered today, so I will be able to watch more games. The only part I heard was the top of the seventh when Pittsburgh scored and then the bottom of the 8th when "The Big Murt" drove in another HUGE RBI. Listening to Ron Santo call that hit was one of the highlights of the year for me, so far.
Mitchell pitched very well again, and we'll see how fellow rookies Angel Guzman and Rich Hill do in their starts tonight and Thursday.

Today:

Cubs vs Pirates- 1:20pm

-Unitl next time...

Morning Report

2006-05-01T08:48:00.000-05:00

Reds
Cardinals
Astros -.5
Cubs -3.0
Brewers -3.0
Pirates -10.5

Cubs 0 vs. Brewers 9

Yeah, so the weekend didn't go too well for the Cubs, and went quite well for the Brewers. The Rusch game should be just enough evidence to convince Mr. Baker to NEVER let Glendon pitch in the starting rotation again.
The Brewers showed exactly why they are a tough team to beat and why Harold Reynolds picked them to win the Central Division. Solid pitching on Saturday and a complete game 5 hitter from Capuano on Sunday, and big hits all weekend.

We sat in the rain for about 90 minutes yesterday before we decided to leave and by the time we got to the first toll booth, the game actually started. We were a little upset we left and they ended up playing, but it was still a good weekend.
I will say that the bleachers are nice, it doesn't really even seem like anything was changed, just the batter's view suite was added, and that's quite a testament to the construction crews who worked through the winter to add the 1,800 seats.

Now the teams are tied in the standing and don't meet again until June 26th in Milwaukee, and the standings should look quite different by then.

Brewers vs. Astros 7:05

Cubs vs. Pirates 7:05

-Until next time...

I Want to Cry..... Again

2006-04-27T07:57:00.000-05:00

The man who I would want to narrate my life, Keith Jackson has decided to end his college football play-by-play days, ending a career that lasted over 40 years, read more here. It is a sad day for college football, but after losing the BCS to Fox, you had to kind of figure this was a possibility for the golden throated 77 year old.

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-04-27T07:49:00.000-05:00

Astros (how is this still possible)
Reds -.5 (again, this makes no sense)
Cardinals -1.0
Cubs -2.5
Brewers -3.5
Pirates -11.0

Brewers 5 vs. Braves 4

The first time the Brewers have ever swept the Braves and it came at a great time for the Brewers who really needed all three of the wins to end their home stand on a positive note and actually finished it with a winning record. Now, they will move onto Wrigley Field and take on the Cubs in what should be a very entertaining series, as long as the rain holds off.

Friday:

Brewers @ Cubs -1:20

Cubs 5 vs. Marlins 7

Angel Guzman did ....okay.... in his first major league start. Not terrible, not very good, but did enough to have his team tied 3-3 when he left. It is a little curious that Baker had Guzman bat a half inning before he took him out of the game, but oh well. The bullpen failed the Cubs as Williamson let up a 2 run double to Wes freaking Helms. I hated Helms when he was with the Brewers, and now have new reasons to hate him. Well, the Cubs still won the series, so that's good, but they couldn't extend their season tying long win streak of 3 games.

Friday:

Cubs vs. Brewers -1:20

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-04-26T08:58:00.000-05:00

Astros
Reds -.5
Cardinals -1.0
Cubs -1.5
Brewers -3.5
Pirates -10.0

Brewers 4 vs Braves 2

Prince Fielder continued to rake last night and Geoff Jenkins socked a home run to help the Brewers win the series and take the first 2 games of a series they desperately needed to win. They beat Tim Hudson which was nice as he has been one of the winningest pitchers in the Majors since 2000. Although it was cool out yesterday, it is quite amazing how few fans attend these games.

Chipper Jones returned to the lineup and hit a 2 run home run off of Brewers starter Toma Ohka, but thanks to Prince and a little bit of Geoff, the Crew was able to come back yet again and win the game. Hopefully they can win again today on getaway day to set up a pretty big series in Chicago this weekend with the Cubs.

Today:

Brewers vs. Braves -12:05pm

Cubs 3 Marlins 1

Speaking of raking, Matt Murton has been hitting the ball quite well in this series. 3-3 with 2 RBI last night after tying the game with a single in the 8th inning on Monday night. Murton was one of the players given up by the Red Sox in the Nomar-Cabrera-Alex Gonzalez trade of 2004. So far, that trade worked out pretty well for both the Cubs and Red Sox. The Red Sox won the World Series that year with Orlando Cabrera at short, the Cubs suffered through the Nomar-era, but are reaping the benefits now with the young and speedy Murton patroling left field. The Red Sox must have had a pretty deep farm system, come to think of it, considering they also gave up Hanley Ramirez who is starting at short for the Marlins now.

Anyway, back to the game last night. I can finally say this with some conviction, WE FINALLY HAVE A LEFT HANDED STARTER! Yes, yes, I know there were like 23 rookies in the Marlins line-up, but still, Sean Marshall twirled a great game last night, 7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, quite a good show going up against Dontrelle Willis. Plus, he threw one curve ball last night that made my knees buckle, and I was watching the game on tv!

With the win yesterday, the Cubs have still only lost 1 series, and will have a very difficult series against the Brewers this weekend. I can't wait to get down there on Saturday, watch the game, and then go to the game on Sunday. It should be good times.

Today:

Cubs vs. Marlins 1:20

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-04-25T09:06:00.000-05:00

Astros
Reds -.5
Cardinals -1.0
Cubs -1.5
Brewers -3.5
Pirates -9.0

Brewers 3 vs. Braves 2

A big win for the Crew last night and Corie Koskie finally got a big hit with his absolute bomb that gave Chris Capuano and the Brewers the victory. As Gaddis said last night, the Brewers need to win 2 of 3 in this series with the lineup the Braves are throwing out there. It was a solid outing by Capuano, who is turning into the stopper on this staff with Sheets not fully back to form.

As much as I HATE Bill Schroeder and Darren Sutton, I have to say they were right on with Prince Fielder. After he started his season 0-12, he has been absolutely raking the ball and is hitting over .370 right now, including 3-3 last night.

It was nice to see the Brewers win last night and hopefully they can keep it up in this series and end the home stand on a positive note.

Tonight:

Brewers vs. Braves 7:05

Cubs 6 vs. Marlins 3

I was so mad during this game that I left during the 6th inning to go hit golf balls. When I returned, the Cubs were still down 3-0 and were being 1 hit by a guy who had a +7 ERA coming in. The top fo the order was a combined 0-9 although Todd Walker should have been 3-3 save for 3 outstanding defensive plays by the Marlins.

Then came the magical 8th inning. By the way, thanks ESPN for letting us relive the game 6 meltdown from the 2003 NLCS. I didn't remember what happened, so thanks for bringing that up again. I did like that they showed the Alex Gonzalez error with one out and the Cubs up by 2 which probably would have ended the inning on a double play. That play was much more devastating than the foul ball Moises Alou wasn't able to make a play on. Anyway, a great at bat by Pierre leading to a double, Cedeno continues to impress by drawing a walk, Walker walked on 5 pitches, Ramirez got on after an error on the throw home, Barrett struck out, Murton singled home two runs, and here's what went through my head when Jacques Jones stepped up to the plate, "Whatever you do, you idiot, don't swing at the first pitch from this guy." What happened? He swung at the first pitch and deposited the ball in the seats, and Ryan Dempster came on to pitch a perfect 9th inning and get his 5 save of the season and 24th straight. Games like this remind me of why I love baseball.

Tonight:

Cubs vs. Marlins 7:05pm

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-04-24T08:26:00.000-05:00

Astros
Reds -1.5
Cardinals -2.0
Brewers -2.5
Brewers -4.5
Pirates -9.0

Brewers 0 vs. Reds 11

Doug Davis is definitely NOT the pitcher he was last season, at least early on. The guy can't seem to find the strike zone and the Reds ended up returning the 11-0 favor they received from the Brewers the day before. They have won only 2 times in the past week and it doesn't get any easier with Atlanta coming to town for 3 games starting tonight. Starting off the homestand 1-3 after a 3-6 road trip is not what the doctor ordered. Maybe the 5-0 start was just the result of playing Pittsburgh and Arizona and not a picture as to what the whole season would be. I said the Brewers would win 3 of 4 in this series, and I was exactly wrong, but Saturday showed what this team is capable of. Unfortunately, the bats cooled with the weather on Sunday.

Tonight:

Brewers vs Braves- 7:05pm

Cubs 7 @ Cardinals 3

A tough week for the Cubs came to an end on a high note Sunday afternoon as Greg Maddux twirled another great game and lowered his now league leading ERA to .99. The guy has been awesome this year. As I was driving yesterday, I saw a guy with a mullet reving the engine on his Firebird T-top and wondered if it was 1987 again. The way Maddux is pitching, it makes me think it is 1992 again.

For the Cubs to keep winning, though, Juan Pierre is going to have to get on base more and Aramis Ramirez is going to have to start hitting over .190. The upcoming series against Florida should allow them to get at least 2 wins, and then set up a huge series with Milwaukee, who could be desperate for a win by the weekend.

Tonight:

Cubs vs Marlins- 6:05

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-04-21T08:44:00.000-05:00

Astros
Cubs -.5
Reds -.5
Cardinals -1.0
Brewers -2.5
Pirates -6.0

Brewers 8 vs. Reds 12

Bummer of a birth mark, Hal. Tough loss for the Crew, coming home after being on the road for 10 days. If my prediction of the Brewers taking 3 of 4 from the Reds is true, they are going to need better starting pitching. They have Sheets going tonight, and hopefully he can show a little better stuff than his outing in NY.

Tonight:

Brewres vs Reds- 7:05pm

Cubs had an off day, but it was one of the worst days in Cubs history. As reported earlier, Derrick Lee is out 8-10 weeks with two broken bones in his wrist. Gaddis and I spoke at length about this last night, but there is one thing which wasn't mentioned.

Watch the Cubs error total rise without the two time gold glover covering the base. Seriously, having someone 6'6" with a good blove at first base is a real plus for guys like Aramis Ramirez and Ronny Cedeno. Let's just watch Ramirez's error total rise without the height and reaching ability of Lee at first to dig out his throws.

Tonight:

Cubs @ Cardinals- 7:10pm

-Until next time...

I Want to Cry

2006-04-20T19:47:00.000-05:00

Awesome, I guess I have been to kind to goats, well, no more, it is over. Click on the link above as D Lee is out 2-3 months.

-Until next time...

Morning Report

2006-04-20T08:40:00.000-05:00

Since I send Gaddis and Ben this email everyday, I figured it would be just as easy to post it, so everyone can join in the fun.

Astros
Cubs -.5
Reds -1.0
Cardinals -1.0
Brewers -2.0
Pirates -6.0

Brewers 7 @ Astros 2

Solid effort by the Crew last night. Good pitching by Cappy, hitting in the right spots, it was a good win for them. Now they go back home and take on Cincy, they really need to put together a winning streak, and I think they will take 3 of 4 from the Reds.

Tonight:

Brewers vs. Reds 7:05pm

Cubs 5 @ Dodgers 4

Cedeno came through when the Cubs needed him to and Sean Marshall didn't pitch great, but got the job done in his 5+ innings to help the Cubs win the series. They haven't lost a series yet this season and are going into St. Louis this weekend after having swept the Cardinals 2 weekends ago. However, all is not well in Cub land. We will find out today or tomorrow just how bad Derrick Lee's wrist is after the freak play in which he jammed/sprained/tweaked it last night. If he is out for an extended period of time, Ramirez and Jones are going to have to step it up at the plate big time. Not just hitting the ball hard, but actually putting it in play.

Friday:

Cubs @ Cardinals 7:10pm

- Until next time...

Cubs-Brewers Stats Analysis I

2006-04-19T21:06:00.000-05:00

This morning I was having a discussion on the Cubs and Brewers with Nate and Ben and we were talking about the Brewers 9th Inning last night. The Brewers faced Brad Lidge in his second inning and has shown previous difficulties with the two-inning close. The Brewers went ahead and saw 11 pitches in the next inning with Weeks and Miller seeing one each. This made us question the lack of patience for the Brewers and how do they differ from the Cubs. This also made me want to look at what the Cubs and Brewers are doing differently right now. I did some analysis of the numbers from the Hardball Times and this is what I found.

The Cubs are scoring 5.46 runs per game the Brewers 4.79 runs per game.
The National League (NL) average is 5.13 so that can help explain the W and Ls early
So what is causing this difference? Is it that the Brewers are not being patient as we witnessed in the 9th inning last night? It is not that at all.
The Brewers have an OBP of .349 to the Cubs .322 with the NL average being at .340. The Brewers are seeing 4.05 pitches per plate appearance, while the Cubs are seeing 3.8 (NL Avg=3.77). To see what is causing the difference between the runs scored for each team you don’t need to look at the runners on base, but driving those runners in. As we witnessed in the game on Sunday when the Brewers left 10 on base in the first 3 innings, the Brewers are hitting .218 with Runners in Scoring Position (RSP) and the Cubs are hitting .296 w/RSP (NL Avg=.261).

The other part of this equation is the pitching and defense. The Cubs have allowed 4.24 runs per game and the Brewers 5.46. This stat also includes unearned runs-so it factors in the defense. If you want to look at just what the pitcher controls you should look at FIP, Fielding Independent Pitching, which was developed Tangotiger. It is setup so you can compare it like you compare ERA. The Cubs have a FIP of 5.33 and the Brewers 4.76. This shows that maybe the Brewers pitchers are actually pitching better than the Cubs. If you look at Defense Efficiency Ratio, which shows the number of times a batted ball is turned in to an out, the Cubs have a DER of 76.5% and the Brewers 71.6%. The Cubs are turning more of the balls hit in play in to outs. The Cubs also are doing what their hitters are failing to do. They are leaving people on base. They have a Left on Base (LOB) % of 78% while the Brewers have a LOB% of 65%.

It is the little things and right now the Cubs are doing the little things. Lets just hope it stays that way.

Cubs Minor League Report (AAA and AA)

2006-04-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

In past years I have stopped paying attention to the minor league players after Spring Training. This yeah I vowed to pay more attention to what the young guns are doing during the year. I will mainly report on the Cubs with a few notes on the Brewers every so often. Here is a breakdown of some of the top and bottom performances in the Cubs farm System.

IOWA CUBS (AAA)
Hitters
Buck Coats-.370/.414/.519 (AVG, OBP, SLG)-One of the OF’s who was mentioned as a possible call up when Pagan went on the DL. Pie gets all of the attention, but Coats is killing the ball.
Felix Pie-.326/.380/.558-Once considered a prospect because of his tools and not because of his numbers is starting to put the two together.. He will be up in September and maybe earlier if somebody struggles.

Pitchers
Bobby Brownlie-4 IP, 12 H, 6 ER-Once considered a top prospect he continues to struggle at AAA. Not even considered a prospect anymore and is not starting out this year on a good foot.
Robert Novoa-6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER-Not a horrible start for one of the last lineup cuts from this spring. He will get a chance in the big leagues again and I am sure Dusty will use him in a big spot and he will blow it. He does just not impress me and his numbers don’t show much either.
David Aardsma-7 IP, O ER, 11k, 0 Walks-All I need to say is that he got the call up when Pagan went to the DL. We might get to see what he can do either tonight or tomorrow. Lets hope in a blowout tonight.
Angel Guzman-2 GS, 10.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 14 K, 1 BB-The strikeout-to-walk ratio is looking, but the ER is not looking so good. I still would like for him to get a chance to start if Rusch or Guzman struggle, but he looks more likely to be a later season call up depending on the Big 2.
Rich Hill-2 GS, 13 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 16 K, 1 BB-Doing the same stuff this year that he did last year in the minors. I just hope he doesn’t become the Cubs version of Ben Hendrickson, great minor league pitcher not so good major league pitcher.

WEST TENN (AA)
Hitters
Eric Patterson-.308/.378/.564, 6 SB, 10K, 5 BB-My favorite prospect in the Cubs system. He is playing some SS at Double AA, but he projects to a 2B.I just hope he shows a better eye than his brother Corey. I imagine that is scheduled for Chicago in 2008, so keep an eye on him.
Luis Montanez-.375/.474/.469-He was the #1 draft pick of the Cubs in the 2000 draft (same draft that got Dontrelle Willis in the 8th round) and he has yet to get passed AA. He was originally a SS, but he has been moved to the OF and he has learned to hit in the last two years. He played in the Futures Game last year, but his only future is as a utility player. He is starting off the year hot so maybe I am wrong once again and he is only 24.

Pitchers
Carlos Marmol-3 GS, 17.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 21 K, 6 BB-The converted is looking like the best pitcher on the AA squad and possibly one of the top hitters. He is as 3 hits in 5 Abs including a homerun. Last year in 27 starts, between A and AA ball, he went 9-6 with a 3.34 ERA.

More next time on the two A level teams.

Dreaming of Rusch

2006-03-27T22:38:00.000-06:00

Yeah you read it right. I have spent lots of time thinking about Glendon Rusch starting the 2nd game of the season against Cincinnati. Based on the number of off days they have at the start of the season, the Cubs won't need a 5th starter till April 15th. The current rotation shakes out like this:

1st: Big Z
2nd: Rusch
3rd: Mad Dog
4th: Jerome Williams
5th: Sean Marshall or Angel Guzman

I don't feel nervous about either Marshall or Guzman starting the season as the 5th starter. I saw Marshall pitch in Spring Training and he is throwing great. He doesn't throw hard, his fastball tops out at 91, but he keeps the ball down and has a plus curveball. So MR. BAKER, if you are still reading this blog, I suggest you move Rusch to the long relief spot in the bullpen and start Marshall and Guzman.

I can't find Rusch's starting vs bullpen stats, but I always remember him struggling when he started and pitching great in long relief. Plus it gives you a chance to give two of the young guys a chance to see what they can do. This could be helpful in the long run and maybe we wouldn't be waiting on Wood and Prior so much then.

Let me know what you think about my thoughts on moving Rusch to the bullpen. Back tomorrow with pictures from Spring Training.

SIDE NOTE: We are getting added to the Cubs Blog Army on the Bleed Cubbie Blue blog. It is the best Cubs blog out there so check it out.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

2006-03-14T23:07:00.000-06:00

Well at least us Cub fans are used to this? Prior once again is going to see a doctor. This time it is his shoulder and they think it is his rotator cuff muscle. SO IS THIS WHY HE WASN'T THROWING ON SCHEDULE? (That is me yelling) I know I might be overreacting, but I am sick of the way this organization treats injuries. They don't tell the truth and keep things quiet. They said he wasn't on his throwing schedule because he got sick over the winter and couldn't throw. BS Jim Hendry, BS Dusty Baker. Lets just hope that this is precautionary and he comes back and throws again on Thursday.

In another drama related item Todd Walker, called the organization liars. Thank you for ordering your bus ticket out of town Mr. Walker. I really like Todd Walker the player and he is a good hitter, but the more I hear about him the more I think he is not a good clubhouse guy. I would prefer to have him start at second and have Jerry back him up and play in the OF. More depth is better, but I will take $20 that Walker does not take the trip back to Chicago.

Some other quick notes:

-Vinny Rottino, UW-L grad, continues to rake the ball with the Brewers. He has only had 10 at bats, but he has 5 hits. He continues to hit at every level and one day he will be on a major league roster.

-Matt Murton also continues to hit. He is hitting .474 and is hitting the ball to all parts of the park. He doesn't have much power, but I think that will come with time. I see him as a .300 avg/20 HR/85 RBI guy. I would really like to see him in the second hole with the way he puts the bat on the ball.

From the Box Score-WBC Style

2006-03-07T22:57:00.000-06:00

Here are some quick notes from around the WBC:

Cub Players-Derek Lee scores the first run for the US team, who beat Mexico 2-0, with a shot to deep right center. Lets hope we are seeing the same thing in April in Wrigley. He should hit it out to left instead though because RIGHT FIELD SUCKS. Big Z got hit rather hard by the Dominican lineup, but almost anyone was going to get hit hard by that lineup. (see below) He was bringing it at 97, but the sinker ball was not on. It doesn't surprise me that sinker is not there yet, but I was surprised with the 97 mph heat. I even sent Filzen an e-mail to let him know Big Z was bringing it.

Big Papi-Ok Mr. Big Papi is officially the "Big Shot Papi" in my book. He has become my favorite non-Cub and he brings an amazing energy to the game. Similar to Big Shot Bob (Robert Horry), Ortiz always seems to hit a HR in the big game.

The Energy-I was only able to watch a few innings of one game, but I got to watch the best one. The Dominican Republic vs Venezuela had amazing energy. It was like watching a Latin American or European Soccer game, minus the riots. It was a classic battle of good pitching vs good hitting. Santana and Zambrano for Venezuela vs Soriano,Miggy, Pujols, Ortiz, and Alou for DR. That is just too good of hitting for the pitchers this early in the season. (Note: The DR team could of also had Vlady and Manny).

My Prediction-It will be the USA vs DR in the Finals. Clemens will pitch the whole game because he might have to never pitch again after that game. (I do think he is coming back though)

Well more tomorrow and maybe I will check back in with those regular bums playing on the regular MLB rosters.

From the Box Score

2006-03-06T18:35:00.000-06:00

Here is something that I hope will become my daily article. A quick spin around the baseball box scores with the main emphasis being the Cubs and Brewers. So here are some things from Monday's Spring Training games:

-UW-LaCrosse alumni Vinny Rottino tripled in two runs and Tony Gwynn hit a HR and had a great diving catch in CF. Rottino is an uber-utility player who was playing 3B today, but he has also played C and OF. He will spend the season at AAA (Nashville) and hopefully he gots a shot at some MLB at-bats. It is interesting that Gwynn hit a HR considering he hit only one last year in a full season at AA. It will also be interesting to see where he starts out the year. A crowded AAA OF might means he spends another season at AA (Huntsville).

-BIG NEWS OF THE DAY: "CUB PITCHER WITH HISTORY OF INJURIES, PITCHES IN A REAL GAME"-Sorry it was not Kerry Wood or Mark Prior, but former Top Prospect Angel Guzman. He threw two innings and allowed only one hit. This was a guy who scouts were saying had a higher ceiling that Big Z before he got hurt. Lets just hope he can stay healthy, start the year at AAA, and then be plugged in when needed. A good sign for sure.

-Josh Beckett got off to a rough start for the Red Sox allowing two home runs in his Red Sox debut.

-Dana Eveland once again got hit hard and allowed three runs. I was listening to this game on MLB Radio and Darren and Bill said he was not looking good at all. That is two bad outings and he also came to camp overweight. I wouldn't be suprised if he is one of the first sent to minor league camp when those camps open to send him a message. They should also keep him as a starter because that is where is future is. They might have rushed him a little to fast last year.

-The real teams start playing tomorrow in the World Baseball Classic. Instead of cheering for wins and losses, I am just cheering that Big Z, Lee, Barrett, and Blanco don't get hurt.

Comments on the WBC games coming tomorrow.

First Spring Training Game

2006-03-01T22:37:00.000-06:00

Well I listened to the first Spring Training game today on MLB Radio-too bad it was those World Championship South Siders. Let me first recommend MLB Radio and TV to all of our readers. You have the ability to see and hear every game. It is also great for those of us who sit in a cube all day long and need a little radio in the ear. Here is what I think of the White Sox this year:

-Why aren't people asking more questions about their bullpen. They got lucky that Bobby Jenks put it all together in the Postseason last year. Besides him they got rid of Marte and Hermanson is getting old and always injured. This could be a trouble spot for them.

-They will miss Aaron Rowand. I have never seen Brian Anderson play, but I know he can't be as good defensively as Rowand was last year. By most calculations, Rowand was the best CF in baseball last year.

-The Phillies will get the best out of the Thome deal. This might be the most crazy thought that I have had in a while. Well besides the thought I had last Friday at a bar about a 34 year old lady, but that is not here or now. I just don't think Thome has much left in the tank, but I hope he proves me wrong because I heard he is one of the best guys in baseball. I think Rowand will roam the large outfield in Philadelphia and who can't hit a few home runs in that park. They also got a top pitching prospect, Gio Gonzalez.

-It is a lot harder when everybody is gunning for you. They also will get a lot more of the spotlight with Ozzie and now even Kenny spouting his mouth of.

-They have more starting pitcher. That is hard to believe after all of the complete games last year. They replaced Orlando Hernandez with Javier Vazquez, who should spend less time on the DL. Brandon McCarthy, their Top Prospect, might not even start the year with the Big League club.

Be back tomorrow with All Cubs and No South Side garbage, plus WBC predictions.

Baseball is Back, So am I

2006-02-28T19:06:00.000-06:00

Well baseball is back starting tomorrow with some Spring Training games and therefore I am back. I am going to be posting more than I ever have and it will suck more than it ever has. To get ready for baseball season I want to throw out some links that a true baseball fan should check every few days.

ESPN MLB Homepage-One damn good reason to visit this site is the Dali Lama. If you don't know who I am talking about please slap yourself and I will tell you only this one time.....Peter Gammoms. He writes a daily blog on the site along with Jayson Stark and Buster Onley. It requires ESPN Insider, but it is worth the fee just for these three guys.

Baseball Musings-This one is more for the baseball dorks. If you read Moneyball and it made you think about things in the game go ahead and read this one. It has lots of stats related stuff, but it also has good links to articles around MLB.

Dan Agonistes-This blog is not just about baseball, but that is the main topic that is covered. He is also a Cubs fan so you will see lots of stuff on the Cubs. Another stats geek though so watch out.

The Baseball Analysts-I start out my morning with this website. I check what they are saying before I even read ESPN.com, so that shows how good they are. These two guys, along with some guest writers, cover College Baseball and Top Prospects along with MLB.

Hardball Times-All I have to say is that I bought their book. The site is that good.

Baseball America and Boyd's World-My goal this year was to learn more about College Baseball and these are the two sites that are the most helpful. I know that even people in the majors read Boyd's, so it is not a bad place to start my learning process.

Start by checking those sites out everyday for a week and I bet something will draw you in. Have a good one and check back for more from me soon.

Must See TV

2006-02-23T22:53:00.000-06:00

You read the title and you may think that I am going to write something sports related like the olympics, Thursday night NBC, some upcoming college basketball games, the Accenture Match Play Championship, or the Baseball World Classic, but it's not even close.

The first time I watched Grizzly Man was Friday, February 4th and I was absolutely stunned. I thought I had seen some crazy things in my life, but this topped them all. Grizzly Man is the story of Timothy Treadwell, a guy who decided he wanted to spend a few months each summer living with bears for 13 years. Why? Well, because he thought he was protecting the bears and doing something good for them. In fact, at one point, he even refers to the bears as his friends. Well, you can guess what happened to Timothy, he was attacked and eaten by one of the bears his 13th summer there (his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard was also eaten).

What makes this documentary so intriguing is the fact that Treadwell is hell bent on his thought that he is somehow protecting these bears while he is there. Sure, there are poachers who come to hunt the bears for various reasons, and we even see them at one point while Treadwell is hiding near the water, but we never see Treadwell actually go up to and confront the poachers, so who knows if he stopped them from doing anything.

It isn't just the fact that he is there living with bears, it was how he interacted with them. He would get as close as he could to these bears and say things like, "Hey Sugar bear" (yeah, he named all of them), or "You're such a pretty bear" or "I love you. I love you". Treadwell actually thought these bears enjoyed him being around and that they knew who he was and that they were his friends.

Treadwell had no training with animals of any kind. Well, that is unless you count being the second choice behind Woody Harleson to play "Woody" on Cheers (as he proclaims) and then being so distraught over not making it as an actor that he did nothing but drink and do drugs after that. What better way to prove you are sober than to go live with bears for a few months every year.

By the way, it still disturbs me that this guy lived with BEARS. Seriously, bears. Bears. An animal which will kill you if it has the opportunity. Yeah, bears.

So, he decides to live in Alaska with no protection against these bears and "protect" them. Then, each winter he would travel around (without asking anyone for money) and show his pictures and videos to grade school classes. My question is why did the educators at these schools let this guy in the door? What was he selling them on? "Hey, I just lived with some bears, which is completely insane, I have never had training with any animals, I didn't do any scientific research or take any data, I just lived with them, but I'd like to share my experiences with your class". Are you kidding me? I really hope that when Treadwell left each classroom, the teachers would say something like, "Okay kids, that's what happens when you spend an extended period of your life not being sober. This is what a crazy person does, never do anything like this."

Treadwell made a point throughout the video to state that he does everything he does free of charge to anyone. Great, what are you doing that makes you think you should be charging people, and why tell us about it? Doing something selfless doesn't end up being selfless if you keep talking about it!

At one point, a bear comes right up to Treadwell and sniffs his camera, he smacks it and tells it to get away. Another time, a bear is in the water and Treadwell decides this would be an ideal time to try and pet it. As he gets about one foot away from the bear, it jerks its head towards Treadwell as if to say, "Are you kidding me? You're really going to try and pet me? I'm a bear. I swear to God, if you get any closer to me, I am going to rip your arms off! Why are you even here? You're an idiot." Well, at least that's what I would have said if I was the bear.

Treadwell ended up dying the way he wanted to die according to the account of a close friend. The man was crazy, I mean certifiably insane, and what made him even more crazy was that people around him were enabling him. Here are a few of the things which happen that make you finally realize, yup, this guy should be institutionalized.

- At one point one of the foxes which sleep right by Treadwell's camp (the coolest thing in this movie was the foxes he interacts with) takes one of his hats, which seems perfectly acceptable for a wild animal to do. However, this sets Treadwell off and he tears after this fox yelling, "Damn it, you better bring that hat back, that's a very important hat. Spirit (yeah, he named the foxes as well), you bring back that (bleeping) hat! Don't you dare go in that (bleeping) den. You better (expletive) not be in that (bleeping) den!" Um, it's a fox there guy. First of all, they aren't domesticated at all like a dog, and second of all, it's a fox, let it have the hat!

- While he is walking during one of his "scenes", he has the steady-cam at his side and starts to wonder why he doesn't have a girlfriend and proceeds to go into a 10 minute monologue about how no girls want a good guy and asking what women are looking for and why no one wants to be with him. Hey, maybe if you didn't LIVE WITH BEARS!

- If you have seen the previews for this documentary, you have undoubtedly seen him posing in front of the camera near the watersedge pleading, "I came here to protect these animals, in fact, I'm the only protection for these animals." He goes on and on, but in this scene, he sets up and performs about 13 different takes. Yes, he practices what he says and then apparently goes back and edits it for when he's showing grade school students a crazy person. What you don't see in the preview is the other 10 minutes of this speech which is a profanity laced diatribe about the government and how they're trying to prevent people from getting that close to the bears and how he has "(bleeping) beat" them. My question is this, how did you win, what are you beating them at, and why is it such a big deal? You're mad because the government is trying to protect people from getting within 100 yards of these bears. Yeah, that's just silly, why shouldn't people be able to get as close to wild bears as possible? Oh yeah, they're (bleeping) bears you idiot! This part is something you really need to see to believe, and while it is happening you can basically see the last strands of sanity come apart.

- I'm not going to go into much detail on this, but the way his friends speak of him like he was some sort of hero is astonishing. They saw nothing wrong with his behavior and praised it. The hour long special after the documentary was over which featured his friends sitting around talking about him topped it all. This is something you really need to see to comprehend.

I think my feelings on Timothy Treadwell and what he was doing are pretty clear. While I definitely don't wish death upon anyone, but I can't say I feel sorry for what happened to Treadwell. Did he get what he deserved? I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but he definitely knew it could happen, and he didn't care. That's the craziest part. Had the attack happened a little slower, it would have been caught on film, but Treadwell didn't have time to put the lens on the camera so there is only audio of his and Amie's death, which only Werner Herzog (the filmmaker) and the mortician have ever heard (the mortician is another crazy character you just have to see and listen to). The fact he thought he was doing good for these bears and didn't care if he died doing it is incomprehensible to me, but then again, so is hearing voices in my head I can't control, and people who are like the latter aren't allowed in society, maybe it's a good thing Treadwell was removed from it for extended periods of time.

Check it out Friday and Saturday on Discovery Channel and judge for yourself.

-Until next time...

WGC Round 2

2006-02-23T17:44:00.000-06:00

Well, the second round is over and here are the standings so far:

Round 2:

1. Gaddis (11-5)- 44 points earned
2. Chris (10-6)- 40 points earned
3. Filzen (10-6)- 40 points earned
4. Nate H (9-7)- 36 points earned
5. Bear (8-8)- 32 points earned

After Round 2:

1. Chris (33-15)- 86 total points earned
2. Gaddis (31-17)- 84 total points earned
3. Filzen (29-19)- 78 total points earned
4. Nate H. (28-20)- 74 total points earned
5. Bear (28-20)- 72 total points earned

Overall based on points possible:

1. Filzen- 78 earned + 260 available = 338 possible
2. Nate H.- 74 earned + 252 available = 326 possible
3. Chris- 86 earned + 236 available = 322 possible
4. Gaddis- 84 earned + 196 available = 280 possible
5. Bear- 72 earned + 82 available = 154 possible

So there you go.

-Until next time...

Accenture World Golf Championships

2006-02-22T17:57:00.000-06:00

For the second year in a row, ourturnnext is running a contest for the World Golf Championships at La Costa Resort in California, the Match Play Championships which sets up like the NCAAs. This year, our defending champion, Chris, is back in the mix, along with myself, Gaddis, Bear, and a coworker of mine, other Nate.

After the first round, the biggest shock is obviously Ernie Els being the 9th number 1 seed to go down in the first round, losing 1 down to Bernhard Langer. Here's how our contest shapes up:

1. Chris- 46 (23-9)- (exactly the same as last year)
2. Bear- 40 (20-12)
3. Gaddis- 40 (20-12)
4. Other Nate- 38 (19-13)
5. Filzen- 38 (19-13)

Total Points which can be won by each player:

1. Filzen- 38 points earned + 320 available = 358 possible (Toms, DiMarco, Donald, Mickelson)
2. Gaddis- 40 points earned + 312 points available= 352 possible (Mickelson, Harrington, Scott, Donald)
3. Other Nate- 38 points earned + 300 available= 338 possible (Woods, DiMarco, Mickelson, Goosen)
4. Chris - 46 points earned + 291 available = 337 possible (Singh, Woods, Goosen, Mickelson)
5. Bear - 40 points earned + 187 available = 227 possible (Singh, Scott, Furyk, Els)

The final four for each person are listed after the points with the champion followed by second place, third place, and fourth place. I will update again tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when the winner is revealed. Hopefully this won't be like last year when the final scores ranged from 58 to Chris' winning 86. Yeah, last year, no one had a person in the final four, and only Chris had more than one player in the elite eight.

Enjoy watching the tournament.

- Until next time...

Filzen and Gaddis talk Cubs Baseball

2006-02-17T11:36:00.000-06:00

Gaddis and I both weren't too busy at work today, so we found some time to trade some emails talking about the Cubs. Here's what transpired:

NF: 12
43
23

MG: Good morning Nate. So I am coming sometime tomorrow afternoon. I figured I would leave sometime after lunch. I might needdirectionsagain because I struggle.

NF: that's cool man, just give me a call. did you see the pictures from spring training, and that wood is going to miss at least the first 2weeks. why don't they just say the first 2 months, so if he actually does heal early, we'll be pumped, instead of the inevitible moving the time table back and back. we should really email all day today, because i don't have a whole lot to do.

MG: Same here. I am doing some exciting spreadsheet work. It is actually value added, but that is all I am doing all day. I have a meeting at 11 with the production guys but that is about it for me. Yeah I saw some pictures from Spring Training. I only saw three on chicagosports.com though and was hoping that I would see more. I actually think that Wood is not that far behind and that they are saying the first two weeks because they only have to use a 4 man rotation for the first two weeks because of all the days off. It will be interesting to see how he feels after he pitches a real 3 innings. It is one thing to feel fine when you are just throwing off the mound and doing long toss, but in actual competition will be interesting. I just pray that he can come back and be a great story this year. I also would love to see Wade Miller get healthy by May or June so that he could possibly start. I would rather see Rusch as a long reliever fill in the gap guy instead of a starter. Oh I love talking about the Cubs.

NF: I completely agree with Rusch. You know, if you look at their season last year, it really turned on his start in that Sunday night game against the Red Sox when they just got shelled. They were never the same after that. I'm not saying the season was his fault or anything, far from it, but that's when it turned, just like it turned in late June 2004 when they blew a 2 run 8th inning lead against the Cardinals. Hopefully there isn't that game this year where we look at it and say, hmm, that could be the start of bad things for the season. I'm a little scared of how much Barrett and Z are going to play in this WBC. And if Lee goes down, it isn't going to be pretty, but Barrett was coming around a little bit last year and we can't have him break down this year. I think Cedeno is going to surprise a lot of people with how well he plays. I think come July he will go into a slump because of the season dragging on, then Dusty can sit him down for a game or two a series for 2 or 3 series, and then he'll start raking in August and really be a leader down the stretch. When do you think Pie is going to get moved up? They probably don't want to pull a Corey and bring him up too soon, but I'd love to see him up for a few games. I have interviews at 11:00, 1:00, and 3:00 and I'm leaving after that one is done, but they will be quick interviews, so let's get it going, position by position, starting with catchers and 1st base. You go first.

MG: C Analysis: Michael Barret and Henry Blanco. I actually feel good about this position and both of these guys are playing in the WBC. The nice thing about Blanco is that I think he is good enough to give Barrett a good amount of rest in the season. I like having the hitters play in the WBC because it will allow them to play in a playoff type atmosphere and they will face better pitchers. Hopefully that means a hot start in April for our WBC players. A good start could be huge this year because of the change over in the division.

1B Analysis: D Lee with no true backup. J Mabry will spell on a rare day. I don't think he will put up last year type numbers. I think he will remain an All-Star, though, but maybe not an MVP level. If the players in front of him are on base more though he could have huge RBI year. I want him to be a line drive hitter and hit the gaps. I don't know his career high in 2Bs, but he is going to beat it this year because he is going to be driving home Pierre and Walker from 2B. You can either provide me your analysis on those guys or start on Middle Infield or both.

NF: I am starting to come around on the catchers. I agree that they may start out hotter because of playing in the Classic and if last year was an abarition for Lee, and he starts out slow again, he will heat up in May this year instead of June like every other year because of the Classic. I honestly forgot about Mabry and am not too worried any more should Lee go down for an extended period of time. Plus, we have Walker who could play first if that happens. I do think Blanco and Barrett are solid behind the plate, and since both of them are capable, either one could start an entire series, and we'd be fine. The only think is I don't see Blanco as a 6 hitter, like I can Barrett.

Onto the middle. I LOVE Todd Walker. I really hope the Cubs don't trade him and give him a majority of the playing time. It's like he says, he chose to play here, and he gives them a solid left handed hitter. Last year he hit .305 (second highest in his career) with 12 home runs in the 2 spot (fourth highest in his career) and 40 rbi, whichwas low, but when you consider no one was on base in front of him, it isn't that surprising. Plus, if you look at their roster, of the everyday players, he, Lee, Ramirez, and Jones are the only ones with playoff experience, and he's only 33. He has at least 3-4 more goodyears in him. Sure, he made some errors last season, but I love having him in the lineup, he's just one of those guys you love to see exceed.

Like I touched on earlier, Ronny Cedeno is really going to surprise people this season, Dusty Baker being one of them. The best thing they can do is let him play every game through May, spell him a bit in June and then count on him to be on base at the bottom of the order by the end of the season. His glove is what is going to be the biggest asset for this team. He's no JJ Hardy, but in the few games Cedeno played,you can see is a gifted fielder. Not since Shaun Dunston have I been excited about a Cubs shortstop. This kid is young and has the abilityto be a top 5-10 shortstop in the NL this year. Neifi is a good back up and that is it. I don't want to see him start multiple games at a time. He should learn how to be a pinch hitter a la Dave Roberts and realize that is the best way he can serve the team, hit.330 as a pinch hitter and just get on base and spell people whenneeded. I know Dusty loves him, but Walker and Cedeno need to play.

MG: 2B and SS: I agree with you on this position totally. I would reallylike to see some defensive breakdowns on Walker from some statistical guys. I will try to find some of this data by the time I show up at your place tomorrow. I think they can give both of these guys breaks with Perez and Hairston, but Walker and Cedeno play. If Cedeno doesn't play well Hendry will never hear the end of not getting Furcal, but I agree with his move. I think Cedeno will finish 3rd in Rookie of the Year behind, Hermadia from Florida and Prince. You can tell we are totally Cub fans, but I just can't wait till August when people are wondering why they didn't see this earlier in the year.

On to the next position. 3B: Ramirez. I hope he can stay healthy and I think he is going to have a great year because more attention is on D Lee and hopefully more people are on base. The question is what kind of protection does he have with people behind him so people have to throw him fastballs late in the count. It looks like it will be Jacque Jones, which isn't bad I guess. I think he needs to step up his fielding though because he lacked at times last year. I want him to remove some of his laziness, but he is still one of the most exciting players with his pop.

NF: Yeah, 3rd is a position which needs to be looked at. Ramirez hasn't proven he can stay healthy all season, and he is definitely a defensive liability. He is the only pure power hitter the Cubs have,and hopefully he can pop 40 this season, or at least high 30's, otherwise they are in trouble. Is Kelton still behind him, or did we trade him last year? I can't remember. Anyway, I like Ramirez, he's young, he's talented, he was a member of the '03 team which gave us so many memories, but he needs to stay healthy, otherwise, we'll have Neifi, Cedeno, Walker, Lee, and that's not intimidating anyone.

LF: Just like Ronny Cedeno, I like Matt Murton. This is going to be a huge question going into the season, can Matt Murton be "the man", is he a Jeff Franceuor level player at this age? He showed some promise when he received playing time last year and was one of the Red Sox' top prospects when they traded him, only none of the Sox fans knew this so they didn't put up a big stink. There are definitely a lot of spots that the Cubs need to prove themselves with this season, and we'll go more in depth in our wrap up session later today, or tomorrow in person (by the way, I am glad Michelle is working tomorrow, because she'd be really pumped to sit around my living room and hear in depth talk about baseball this Saturday after we sat around all last Saturday and talked about the history of NFL drafts. Ballbach, you know what I'm tlaking about),and Murton is for sure one of the big ones. I think he is even more of a "what can he do" than Cedeno. They have a backup plan for Cedeno, but there really isn't one in place if Murton can't hold his own. I don't think it will come to that point, but it just may.

MG: Ok I can't stop reading about baseball. Thanks for getting me goingthis is becoming a very unproductive day. Here is a great site that shows player contracts for each team. I am going to start working on a spreadsheet that shows were teams allocate their money based on probably opening day rosters. I am then going to get this in the hands of Jim Hendry. Last night I also started working a on a letter to Jim Hendry pretty much begging for a job. I am thinking about sending him a hand written letter once in a week until he gives a shot. It might be when I am 50, but I have to pursue my dreams baby. Someday we will run the Cubs,someday, DREAM BIG. http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005_01_06_mlbcontracts_archive.html

MG: Yeah Perez is the backup at 3B which is scary to everyone including Perez's mom. I was looking at the contracts they have expiring after this year and I was shocked. I will bring it along this weekend for our afternoon fireside chat.

MG: My bad had to help move a desk and I wanted to send that e-mail out. Ok CF.

CF: WE FINALLY HAVE A LEADOFF HITTER. I would love to look at what he hit in Wrigley in his career. I always remember him being on base and stealing bases against our weak arm catcher. I think the grass will be tall this year and his bunts will die. He doesn't have a great arm in center actually a rather weak arm, but he can cover some ground. I hope he comes back to his career average instead of what he did last year. More important than his play is his clubhouse influence. People talk about how he brings energy and you need that over 162 games, especially when you don't have amphietenes anymore. My quick comments on LF: Murton is a moneyball guy. Not the speed of Francouer or the pop that Jeff has, but he can get on base. He will have a high OBP and just put the ball in play. He has a future as a 2 hitter because of his ability to take a walk. If he struggles though the backup is Maybry or M. Grissom. That could be scary, but at least they are vetrans. Kelton was traded last year I forgot in what deal but he was traded. I don't know if we have another young OF besides Pie and Murton. Pie will be a September call up because they don't want to rush him. If somebody gets hurt though he could be up quicker than we think. I will like to see how he does in Spring though and hopefully he is still in big league camp when I get to Spring Training.

NF: I am very embarrassed to admit this, but when I went through and was thinking about the outfield, all I could think of was Murton, Jones, and Hariston, I completely forgot about Juan Pierre! I was even wondering who would be playing center field this season, thinking it could be Hairston all year, man am I an idiot. Of Course, Pierre. Even with his weak arm, remember that Pierre played in the cavernous field in Miami, and did fine. Sure, he may let someone score from second without a throw, but without throwing, he may stop someone from advancing, and thus perhaps preventing more runs later in the inning, see find the silver lining in every dark cloud!

RF: All I have to say about Jaques Jones is that he played for the Twins and he is another left handed bat to put in the lineup. Will he add anything more than Jeromy Burnitz? Maybe, but Jeromy knew exactly how to play every ball that came into right field, perfectly, and that is something which is tough to do with the angles at Wrigley. Jeromy was a strike-out king and rarely came up with a hit when they needed it. Jones does have some more offensive pop, but I don't know how he is defensively. They have some question marks right now, and a big one, as always, is pitching, I'll let you handle this one.

MG: RF: Jones will have better numbers than Burnitz did last year. He will also bring some more speed. I consider it an upgrade.

SP: Lets look at possible starters: Big Z: The Horse. He said he wants to win the Cy Young this year and I am totally behind him. Lets pray that he can continue to eat innings. As long as he is healthy, he is as dominate as anyone in the league.

Prior: Very freakish injuries last year. He needs to step it up and maybe even learn to play with some pain. Hopefully he has learned that a little bit and his ceiling is higher than anyone in MLB.

Maddux: We all know what we are going to get. Nothing great anymore, but he stays healthy. I think he will be a bit better this year, because at points last year he was horrible.

Rusch: I would rather see him in the bullpen. Not a bad stop gap for what we pay though.

Williams: Came in to camp 15 pounds lighter and could be a surprise since this is the first time in his career that he is in shape. In the ideal world he is your 5th starter and that is not something I would complain about.

Wood: This is essentially a contract year for Wood so watch out for a big year. I have a feeling his health will come around he will pitch lights out. Once again this is me being optimistic, but contract years matter. He will sit for a few weeks, but hopefully he comes back strong.

Hill: Still young and would be good as a fill in if (more like when) somebody gets hurt. He will probably start at AAA Iowa pitching next to Angel Guzman.

Miller: Hopefully they don't have to rush him and if he ever gets back to his full strength he is a 2 or 3. Hendry has taken this risk with Dempster and Williamson. This is becoming his thing to do and is not a bad way to build veteran depth. As you can tell we have some arms and some good depth. It will all come down to INJURIES. If they are healthy we have a dang good team.

NF: Ah, this definitely got me through the work day. I am home now and will continue with saying that I love having Zambrano in the Cubs starting rotation. Their season hinges on him as much as anything. I agree with the assessments of everyone else except for Williams. Did he show you anything last year which made you believe he could have a run of 5-8 really good games. That is what they need from him, and I don't think he brought it. Although, as you stated, he would be their fifth starter, so it's not that big of a deal I guess.

RP: Man, I love having Matt Wise, Dan Kolb, and Derrick Turnbow to finish off games, oh wait, that's the Brewers. With the exception of Dempster and maybe Williamson, who do the Cubs have down the line who is going to be able to pitch a shut out inning or two? I think Dempster is going to have an exceptionally good year focusing solely on closing, but don't trust the bullpen otherwise

MG: Bullpen: This is where they did there work in the offseason. They signed Howry and Eyre in free agency. Those guys should become 7th and 8th inning guys. That moves Williamson, Ohman, and my favorite Wuertz up in the bullpen order. I think this area needs to be huge for them and hopefully they can find some young guys somewhere in the system. I hope Hendry did his scouting before signing these guys to big years.Hendry's job might be ridding on this season. Whoever is in charge ofthe next offseason determines the team for the next few years. Ok I need to finish stuff up before I leave at 5. I will call you tomorrow. Have a good night and tell your parents I say hi.

-Until next time...

Monday Night Kornheiser

2006-02-15T21:05:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I'm sure all of you have heard by now that Washington Post Columnist and Pardon The Interuption co-host Tony Kornheiser will be the third man in the booth for Monday Night Football Games on ESPN in 2006, along with Mike Trico and Joe Theisman.

I am very surprised that there isn't a general concensus one way or the other on how Kornheiser will do in the booth. It seems to be split pretty much 50-50, either people hate Kornheiser and his antics, or them love him and them, there is no middle ground on this. I really didn't know that many people didn't like Mr. Tony. Being one of only 4 people in the country (not related to Tony) who watched the show based on his columns and books, "Listen Up!", so I obviously am a fan. I wasn't a big fan of the show, it was pretty terrible, but I am a fan of his.

Few people can put up with his baldness, orangeness, and shouting, but hey, that's Kornheiser. While listening to ESPNRadio after this news came out, I was quite surprised to hear the disdain that some people do have for Mr. Tony. For whatever reason, they think he is just another one of the talking heads on television and that he isn't going to be any better than Dennis Miller was. Listen, Kornheiser isn't Dennis Miller, and he isn't supposed to be. Miller was brought in because he was a comedian and was supposed to be the "everyman" in the booth. His shtick was, and still is, going on garrulous diatribes which may or may not have had anything to do with the game. He didn't work because he tried to do his act while announcing a football game. Well, that and that Dan Fouts openly hated him.

Kornheiser is going to be different, he isn't a comedian in any sense of the word. He is a columnist who will bring a different set of eyes to each game. He doesn't analyze plays to tell us why a cover 2 would work best in a given situation, he will tell us why a player is doing stupid things on the field. It may work, and it may not.

Personally, I think he is going to do very well in the booth, chiming in every once in a while with his orange-tinted view of the world. ESPN is bringing him on board for one thing, he is a known name and he has a good possibility of bringing in more viewers. He may bring in more than were watching Monday Night Football on ABC and he might not, but one thing he won't do is bring in less. As one caller told Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show, "I think Tony Kornheiser is going to do a horrible job on Monday Night Football. In fact I am going to tune in just to watch how bad he is." Guess what caller, hook, line, and sinker. It doesn't matter if people watching love him or hate him, it only matters that they are watching.

Good luck Tony, I hope it goes very well. One of my favorite aspects of the move is that PTI is going to broadcast from the site of the Monday night game every week, so we'll have Kornheiser and Wilbon previewing the game from the site. It's going to be a fun experiment for ESPN, and I really hope it works out, because I am one of the people who loves Tony Kornheiser.

( Just thought you should read this great article by espn.com's Andy Katz on Adam Morrison, the star forward for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who has diabetes. This was forwarded to me by a good friend of Our Turn Next, the Diabetic Bear, one Brady Gordon. Bear, thanks for the article and don't worry, you're still my favorite diabetic, although Santo is a close second.)

Also wanted to let you know that I plan on writing about:
the NFL moving games to Thursday and Saturday nights (angry)
Grizzly Man (if you want to see crazy, as in actually crazy. I really wanted to write about this after I watched it on
Discovery Channel, but never got around to it, and now Simmons touched on it, so it looks like I'm copying him, but
really, I'm not trying to)
Olympics (oh wait, I don't care)
Favre (make a decision, or shut up)

-Until next time...

Super Bowl 40

2006-02-05T21:05:00.000-06:00

Pre Game

5:05pm

We’re coming to you live from my apartment for Super Bowl 40! They just finished introducing the MVPs from all the previous Super Bowls, and I just got home from reffing a game I didn’t remember I had, but now I’m ready for football. I have a nice Lean Pocket- Chicken Fajita heating in the microwave and will be enjoying some Bud Light during the game (more corporate plugs to come later).

Anyway, here’s how I see the game going down; Pittsburgh will start out slow, make a huge defensive play in the 4th quarter, take a lead, and Fatty McGee will run out the clock. Pittsburgh 24 Seattle 13, Pittsburgh wins its record 5th Super Bowl.

5:09pm

Seattle is introduced, and the best thing about thing about their introduction was “Bittersweet Symphony” by the verve.

(Sorry, my mom called during the pre game here so I had to take a break. Just a note for all of the mothers out there who may read this, call with plenty of time to spare before any game, otherwise the conversation is going to be rushed and neither of you will get much out of it.)

So it’s 5:23pm now and let’s catch up…

I know that Pittsburgh wants to win this game for Jerome Bettis, but if they lose, does that mean that each player is going to tell Jerome they lost it for him? And, since Jerome just sprinted in about 40 yards, don’t expect to see him in the game until the latter part of the second quarter at the earliest. Can we please get the National Anthem singers to just sing the words and not add on any notes while they are singing? That’s nice that Motown was represented in the beginning of the game, but how can the NFL screw up something as easy as having a Motown act perform at halftime of the Super Bowl in Detroit? Why is this allowed to happen? So out of the 52 man roster for the Steelers, how many people weren’t captains, 4, 5, could we get more people out there? Seattle wins the toss thrown by Tom Brady, Pittsburgh still can’t beat him, good thing they self-destructed (and the referees didn’t know simple physics) in Denver. It took Al Michaels approximately 3 minutes to mention Troy Polamalu’s hair; the next count will be when Madden mentions Brett Favre’s name.

5:27pm
15:00 first quarter

Kickoff, and Pittsburgh is hitting hard already.

5:31pm
12:24 first quarter

Seattle’s first drive stalls at the 40 and the punt goes into the end zone for a touchback. They did an okay job moving the ball there, but Hasselbeck became a little wild and the drive ended on a sack. Here come the commercials!

5:37pm
10:10 first quarter

Pittsburgh now has to punt after 2 false start penalties, that isn’t supposed to happen to “home” teams. This game is starting out just as excitingly as Super Bowl 38 and 39; maybe I’ll be asleep by halftime if this keeps up. If I had to put money on it right now, I’d say Seattle will score first, just based on the first drive.

5:45pm
5:48 first quarter

What would have been a first down on 3rd and 6 turns into an almost interception because of a holding call. So far the penalties have played the biggest part in this game, which means it has been boring. Could we be headed straight for a scoreless first quarter? Wouldn’t that be great?

5:51pm
4:01 first quarter

Peter Warrick had a pretty nice return to help set up Seattle at midfield. That’s about the most exciting thing which has happened in this game so far. I am not going to write again until something actually happens, so I may not be back for a while.

5:58pm
:22 first quarter

3-0 Seattle, yeah there was a huge pass interference call, but there wasn’t a score, and the score was only a field goal. Still, nothing really exciting has happened in this game so far. Fox is now running back-to-back 90 minute blocks of the Simpsons and Family Guy, so I may have to mute John and Al occasionally.

6:04pm
End of first quarter

Let me sum it up for everyone, penalties, penalties, more penalties, Roethlisberger being shakey, me yawning, 3-0 Seattle.

6:14pm
12:08 second quarter

Jerome Bettis makes his first appearance in the game and Pittsburgh comes into this quarter looking for their 1st first down and are only the third team in the history of this game to go through the first quarter without a first down. Super job Steelers, super job.

6:16pm
11:12 second qurter

There it is, first time the Steelers have gotten a first down in this game and it come on a great effort by Antwan Randle-El, and Hines Ward then takes a reverse and picks up 16 yards for their 2nd first down. An injury time out leads us to another commercial break, which is slowing down what has to be the fastest first half in Super Bowl history.

6:20pm
10:10 second quarter

Roethisberger under throws a ball horribly leading to a Seattle interception at their own 17, and it looked llike the Steelers were starting to get a little bit of rhythm going.

6:24pm
8:34 second quarter

It’s now 4th and inches from their own 26 and Madden and Michaels are talking about how the Seahawks may go for it and how “easy” it is to say go for it. Really? Up 3-0 it’s easy to say “let’s go for a 4th and inches from our own 26 in the second quarter, basically garaunteeing three points for the other team if we don’t get it?” Really, that’s easy? Also, on the punt, after Randel-El’s hit, it will be amazing to me if he plays again, lower back pain is horrible, and I don’t know how anyone would be able to play football with it.

6:35pm
3:09 second quarter

Time out Pittsburgh, and they have first and goal on the Seattle 3 yard line after a ridiculous scramble and throw by Roethlisberger, I don’t know how he didn’t pass the line of scrimmage, but eventually found Hines Ward down field and Pittsburgh is primed to take the lead right before halftime. Do you think Bettis is going to keep both hands on the ball this time? Me too.

6:37pm
2:00 second quarter

2 minute warning, 3rd and goal now from the 2 yard line, I’d give it to Bettis again, and tell him that if he doesn’t get in, they won’t feed him any food after the game. That would get him motivated to get in the end zone.

6:40pm
1:55 second quarter

Roethlisberger gets in according to the line judge, but after the replay, I don’t know if the ball gets to the line, it looks like it just got there, actually, so it should stand. Michaels mentions that Holmgren should review it, and then quickly realizes it is under 2 minutes so the replay official has to initiate the review, which he does. So, we’ll see what happens, I think it will stand, barely, the ball just touched the line, I think. ABC puts up the stat the Bill Levy, the official has the lowest rate of overturning calls on the field out of any official at 22%, these are things we should always be aware of, and true to form, the call stands. So, it’s 7-3 Steelers, I’m happy because I picked the Steelers, but I’m still down ½ point in my for entertainment purposes only bet.

By the way, Napoleon Dynamite is on right now on HBO West, that’s regular HBO to those on the West Coast.

6:50pm
:48 second quarter

A defensive timeout after an almost touchdown from Hasselbeck to Darrel Jackson, except Jackson’s right foot went out of bounds. If I were Seattle, I’d keep going long, Pittsburgh hasn’t been able to defend the deep ball all game. I’ll just add this here, that was pretty interesting how Seattle ran the ball and then wasted a lot of time at the line on 3rd and 6 to take the clock down to :13 before Pittsburgh called a time out to save them. I don’t know why the Steelers took that timeout, but oh well.

6:53pm
:07 second quarter

Now it’s 4th and 6 and Josh Brown is going to attempt a 54 yard field goal. With 7 seconds, I would have just done for it and thrown it into the end zone. Either way, Pittsburgh gets another shot at a long pass. That was quite peculiar.

6:54pm
Halftime

Everyone enjoy the Rolling Stones at Halftime, only 1 hour and 25 minutes for the first half of the Super Bowl, incredible. I am not going to watch Berman and the gang because I HATE Chris Berman. I’ll be back in 30 minutes when the second half starts.

7:30pm
Start of the third quarter

Funny thing happened, I went to a rock concert and a football game broke out. I thought McCartney was better last year, and U2 is still the best halftime show I have ever seen in Super Bowl 36 in 2002. I did like Jagger's comment about how they could have done this for the first Super Bowl, though. Hey, only 36 minutes after halftime started, we are underway in the second half.

7:32pm
14:38 third quarter very big play by Willie Parker to make it 14-3 Steelers. That is now the longest rushing play in the history of the Super Bowl, 75 yards without being touched, he got a seam and he was gone. Seattle is in trouble if they do not score on this possession. One thing Seattle has going for them is that their return teams are doing very well. They may score on a return before the game is over and I wouldn’t be surprised.

7:41pm
11:40 third quarter

It is officially danger time for the Seahawks. First, the Steelers bust off a 75 yard run to go up 14-3, then they miss a 50 yard field goal, and now Pittsburgh takes over at their own 40. If Pittsburgh scores, it’s over.

7:49pm
7:52 third quarter

Pittsburgh calls their first time out of the second half, and it really didn’t appear to be for any particular reason. Maybe they really want to make sure they have the right play to score on. If the Steelers score a touchdown, it’s over.

7:52pm
7:38 third quarter

That was a horrible throw, badly under thrown, completely terrible effort by Roethlisberger and now Seattle is back in business at the 20 yard line.

7:54pm
6:45 third quarter

Well, 3 plays later, Jarramy Stevens is wide open and catches the ball in the end zone to make it 14-10 Pittsburgh, we have a game, and I am down ½ point again.

8:14pm
End of third quarter

Um, yeah, so I guess it’s a good game and is leading towards a really good ending, but I’m not that into it. It’s like last year’s super bowl so far. Seattle has started this drive on their own 2 and are to midfield now, so they are obviously moving the ball well, we’ll see if it continues and turns into a Seattle lead.

8:22pm
10:46 fourth quarter

Thank you Ike Taylor. Just as Seattle was looking to at least kick a field goal, Hasselbeck throws one up and it is picked off by Pittsburgh. It is critical that Pittsburgh has a good drive, even if they don’t score, they need to take 4-5 minutes off of the clock to keep this momentum going a little bit.

8:27pm
8:56 fourth quarter

Randel-El throws a touchdown to Hines Ward on a great play called by the Steelers. 21-10 right now and Pittsburgh has all of the momentum. This would be a great time for Seattle to have that return I’ve been talking about.

8:33pm
8:26 fourth quarter

Well, I don’t really have to write how important this challenge is, so I won’t. What I will say is that I don’t think the “ground can’t cause a fumble rule” especially in this case, it should have been a fumble. This is for a whole other column, though. The call is overturned, though and Seattle still has a shot in this game.

8:42pm
6:15 fourth quarter

So, Pittsburgh holds Seattle again and are up 11 with the ball right now. It’s 2nd and 12 from their own 18. I wonder if they will throw the ball again in this game? I would just give it to Fatty McGee for the rest of the game and try and hold the lead.

8:46pm
4:34 fourth quarter

At this point I feel comfortable in saying congratulations to your 2006 World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers after a completion and first down for Antwan Randel-El, who is also going to be congratulated as the 2006 Super Bowl MVP.

8:51pm
3:40 fourth quarter

Another first down and this game is now officially over in my book. Seattle can only stop the clock with one more timeout and the two minute warning and they just called a time out.

8:53pm
2:00 warning

Bettis looked like he may have gotten that first down if he hadn’t run into one of his offensive linemen. Now Seattle will get the ball back without the ability to stop the clock, I would go long downfield 4 times in a row, Pittsburgh hasn’t exactly been covering well down the field and you could possibly get a flag, so I say go vertical for the rest of the game, although the Steelers will probably drop more guys back, so that plan probably won’t work.

9:03 pm
End of the game

Well, Pittsburgh wins 21-10, I was a little off, but they won, I won, and hopefully Randel-El is named the MVP. ABC should try and get a camera closer to Cowher’s face. It was an enjoyable time bringing the game to my readers for the third straight year.

I’m not going to write about the post game, but I hope everyone enjoyed it.

Alright, I had to chime back in because Hines Ward won the MVP award with 5 catches 120 some odd yards, and a touchdown, but I still think Randel-El had more to do with the win than Ward. He had some nice returns and had the throw to Ward that really put the game away. Sure, Ward had a 16 yard run, the touchdown, and the catch on 3rd down after Roethlisberger's scramble that set up the first touchdown, but, Randel-El had some nice cathces as well and also had the big catch late in the fourth the extend the drive. I would have voted for Randel-El.

(It's now 11:02pm right now and I just looked at the stats from the game... and based on the stats, Ward was the correct choice for MVP.)

-Until next time…

Basketball Parents

2006-02-01T21:55:00.000-06:00

Since my officiating season has come to a close (barring an unforeseen circumstance in which I would pick up another game or two), I thought I would write a little about the experience of year 2. All I can say is that everything went great on the court, but there is one thing that is really more annoying than anything at games, and that is the parents who try and coac their kids from the stands and think they know the rules.

I want to make a few things clear right away before I get into the meat of this. First, I am sure that I don't make every single call in every game I do, it's almost impossible for any official to see everything that occurs on the floor. My partner (John) and I have been told by almost every coach we've had this season that a) we did a great job or b) that was the best reffing job they had all season, so I know we do a good job, but like I said, I'm sure we do miss calls. Second, if a fan sees a missed call, and knows the rules, and knows that it should be called a certain way, they should yell. Third and last, I know fans are going to yell, I knew this going in, and I know they will continue to, the yelling doesn't bother me, ignorance does.

That being said, there are a few things that really do get on my nerves.

The worst parents by far are middle school parents. For whatever reason, they are the most vocal in terms of trying to influence the game with making comments about what is happening on the floor instead of by cheering. And girls' parents are usually worse than boys'. I can understand the boys parents being upset and trying to have their kid get all of the calls becuase they are still holding onto the hope that he will be a professional athlete, or even a star high school athlete. Girls parents are so vocal because I think the games are so unorganized that the parents feel like they need to yell about everything happening on the court to make it more interesting, and they may even hold onto hope about the star athlete thing as well. Believe me, I've seen enough basketball at all levels over the past 10 years of my life that I know good players when I see them, even at the ages of 12-14. In all of the middle and high school basketball I have watched over the past years, I have only seen 5 players who I thought were going to be something at whatever the next level may be. Parents need to understand the fact that no matter how good their son or daughter is on their middle school team, there is a 90% chance that someone is better. Take it from me, I was the best player on my team by far, and I barely played varsity ball in high school (although I was backing up the 2-time player of the year in the conference, so there wasn't much room to play).

Because so many parents think that their kid is "the next coming" they will try and coach their child from the stands. Look, tell your kid whatever you wantat home, teach them how to play the game at a young age (if they want to learn*) and let the coach do his or her job and coach the kids to get them better and ready to play at the next level if they wish. I have heard many times a coach trying to get his players to get into their offense while the parents are screaming at their kids to "go down low!" or "stay up top!" this just doesn't work. The kids need to know that there is one voice they need to listen to out on the court, and the parents should be there just to support their child and the coach. What's interesting is that the best teams I have seen rarely have the parents yelling anything at anyone, they just sit there and cheer for their child, and groan if something goes bad, they don't start screaming at the players or officials. By the way, for the most part, the coaches of these grade school teams understand what kind of offense the local high school teams run and are generally under instruction from these coaches to teach the systems they run, the parents don't know the systems, so should just stay out of the way.

* Another thing about middle/grade school basketball is that many times the kid is out there because the parents want him/her to play, not the child themselves. This leads to the parents being more into the game than the players, so they are more apt to scream at anything that happens.

Back to this; parents need to be parents and be there for support, not to undermine what the coach is doing or trying to teach the players.

It's bad enough when parents try and and coach their kids from the sideline, but it's even worse when they try and officiate. Coaches at the grade school level are bad enough (which is why most of them are grade school coaches), but the parents are even worse. I really wish each tournament would hand out rules books just so parents would know what was going on. I would say that 85% of the coaches don't know many of the basic rules such as what constitutes being closely gaurded, or even traveling, but about 98% of the parents don't know the rules, and it gets pretty annoying. Like I said, I knew going in there would be yelling, but when it occurs at the middle school level and the parents don't even know what they are talking about, is when it gets really annoying. It seems that on every single play, some parent thinks their child was wronged. For example, just because there is contact on a play, or someone hits the ground, it doesn't automatically mean that there was a violation. And with parents yelling at the referees all game, what does that teach? Well, it teaches their kids that they can yell at the refs whenever they feel like a call didn't go their way as well. John and I handed out 4 technical fouls to 2 different players on the same team in 3 different games we had with them, and 3 of them were to the same player. Where does he learn this behavior? Probably from his parents in the stands yelling at us for not calling over the back or something like that. Ignorance of the rules leads to parents thinking they know what violation should be called and screaming what they think is right. Apparently the only three rules parents "know" is the three second violation, over the back, and traveling. Before any parent is allowed to be at a game, all coaches should have them ref a game and take a test on the rules (it wouldn't hurt the middle school coaches to do this either), because then they may have some sense of what is going on.

Basically, the point of this is to tell parents they need to stay out of the game, they should support the team,and their child. They should be allowed to voice displeasure with calls when appropriate, but not go overboard and scream at every whistle. For the most parent, officials make 98% of the right calls in any game. Coaches are supposed to coach, officials are supposed to officiate, and parents are supposed to cheer. Great officials are supposed to go through the game without even being noticed, great fans should be noticed, but for their positivity, not their negativity or coaching. Parents need to learn how to be fans and let go. Granted, sports are generally the first time in their child's life when they are "choosing" to do something on their own and the parents have to sit back and let someone else teach their child, but they need to understand the coach's job is a lot easier when the parents let him/her coach.

-Until next time...

Cubs Bleacher Project Pictures

2006-01-25T16:41:00.000-06:00

Check out the link on the title and then go to the link on the right of the page for the pics. After Gaddis and I visit the bleachers this season, we will definitely let you know what we think and how the new bleachers are. Hopefully, I can also coax my man on the scene down there (Kevin) to take some pictures and update us on the progress. Just for the record, how do I feel about the project now...... I don't like it.

- Until next time...

Milwaukee's ESPNRadio

2006-01-25T11:50:00.000-06:00

I have been listening to the local ESPNRadio station in Milwaukee, 1510 days 1290 nights on your AM dial for the past 3 months, and am now ready to give my assessment. From 10:30 to noon, I listen to the “D-List” with hosts Bill Johnson, Dan Needles, and Drew Olsen. From 3:00-4:00pm, I listen to “The World’s Greatest Sports Talk Show” with Steve “The Homer” True.

First the “D-List”

Host: There are three hosts, yeah, 3 hosts for a three hour show in Milwaukee. As I mentioned before they are, Bill Johnson, Dan Needles, and Drew Olsen. It seems that Johnson is the lead talking head and the other two are fillers, but none-the-less, there are three of them. Add into that mix, their loveable sidekick, “Spider”, and you have 4 guys chiming in throughout the show.

Drew Olsen has and continues to be one of my favorite baseball writers and adds some keen insight on what is going on with baseball, but little insight on anything else. I don’t blame him for not having great conversation about other sports, because he is paid to write about and know everything about baseball. Having him as a co-host doesn’t take anything away from the show, but it doesn’t add anything that a guest segment wouldn’t add, either. When he is speaking about baseball, just sit back and listen to what is coming out of his mouth, because you will learn something. When he is adding onto a conversation about some of the other sports they cover, it isn’t anything you haven’t heard of or thought of before, and isn’t quite that profound. Olsen sits in the "captain's chair" and leads the show in and out of breaks, but it doesn't ever seem like he is in control of what is going on.

Channel 12 (the local ABC affiliate) Sports Director, Dan Needles is on the show as well and I really haven’t gotten that much from him. He does add a broad knowledge of all sports, but there isn’t a specific talking point he can hang his hat on. He does add some of the filler for the show as one of their sound bites is “I’m Dan Needles, and I’m bitter”, and you will hear that at least once a show. They also mention that Dan went to “the Harvard of the Midwest” UW-Oshkosh whenever they can. For these items alone, he is worth being on the show, I guess. His thoughts are always clear and he doesn’t babble when speaking. No matter what sport he is talking about he will at the very least faux some sort of expertise there-in, and succeeds in sounding intelligent. It is apparent he loves sports and talking about them. He also frequently plays devil’s advocate to the other hosts just to arouse some further emotion from them. He almost makes me want to watch the channel 12 news at 10:00, but then I’d miss the Simpsons, or Family Guy, which is on its 10:00pm rotation right now on Adult Swim, so I probably won’t.

(Why does Cartoon Network decide to flip Family Guy and Futurama every quarter of the year? Seriously, when Family Guy is on at 10:30, it is a great night, Simpsons at 10:00, FG at 10:30, and Seinfeld at 11:05, it’s perfect. Now, until April, I will have a void at 10:30, and occasionally fall asleep prior to Seinfeld, it’s a real problem.)

Anyway, back to this. Drew Olsen sits in the driver's chair, but the leader of the pack seems to be Bill Johnson, as he generally takes the lead in conversations and kind of brings it all together. He is the Chris Fowler of this group, but not as polished, or, well, good. I don’t know where Bill Johnson comes from, but he, like Needles, has a broad knowledge of sports. Whatever topic is being thrown around at the time, Bill has a well-formed opinion and is easily provoked into argument by Needles. He knows (for the most part) when to defer to someone else’s opinion on a topic and when to interject his own thoughts. Johnson takes the point on most interviews and is a good interviewer. He gets the answers to his questions, and asks some good questions to gain insight from the interviewee. He also reads the local SportsCenter for the show.

The hosts play off of each other like any good combination of hosts should, but they are still learning their craft. The show has been on the air for just over a year and are still learning the ropes on what works best. If it were just Needles and Johnson, the show would be fine, as long as they had Olsen in once a day for one or two segments on baseball and the Brewers. One big problem I have with the hosts is that they (mainly Johnson) use some harsh language. Now, I don’t have any problem with people using that kind of language if the situation merits, but it just seems like it is forced some times, or they are just doing it because they can. Damn, hell, and ass are frequently thrown around, and really there isn’t any need for it about 90% of the time.

Grade: B-, but I was close to a C+.

Sidekick: “Spider”. I don’t know his actual name, but I do know that his nickname comes from Michael Imperioli’s character in Goodfellas. He adds exactly what he should, promos for local sponsors and events, and if the hosts ask him for an opinion, he’ll give it, and nothing else.

Grade: B+

Special features/guests: Every Wednesday is “List Wednesday” when the hosts come up with a top five list on a different topic each week. This week’s topic is top 5 bands from the 80’s you want to see re-emerge. Other topics have included top 5 UW basketball players and top 5 MU basketball players. The special features add a chance for listener interaction, which is the next topic, and they do get surprisingly good guests for being a show in Milwaukee. They will generally have the coach of a team a local team is playing soon on the show prior to the event and gain some insight from the opposing coach. This is generally very entertaining and informative.

In addition to random guests, Jason Wilde, Packers beat writer, is a guest every day at about 10:30. This segment is very informative and he has good points, but he is also on Homer’s show everyday, so both will get docked for that.

Grade: B-

Listener interaction: This is where the show does better than most. Starting with giving listeners a “D-List” number whether they email or call is a great way to make the fans of the show feel they are appreciated. They accept calls frequently and read emails just as frequently. If you try and call or email the show, chances are you will get some airtime more quickly than other shows you may listen to. Having the different segments such as “List Wednesday” or “Anything goes Thursday” allow the listeners to engage in interaction with the show on a steady basis. Kudos to the producers for coming up with these ideas.

Grade: A

Overall: Like I said, the show is entertaining. It fills 90 minutes of my day (which is really actually like 30 minutes with how much I am on the phone or interviewing) and it keeps me on the station for the duration, which is the goal of any radio station.

Improvements could be made with sound bites, language, and perhaps going to only 2 hosts. Plus, Wilde should really only appear on one show to make his visits unique. The show does a good job of covering both local and national sports, and doesn’t claim to be strictly a “local show” which is nice.

The show is still finding its way and in the future has the potential to be very good, which may be bad for the listeners, because the better shows get, the less time there is for listeners to be heard.

Overall Grade: B

More later on Homer’s show.

Until next time...

One Year and Counting

2006-01-11T17:43:00.000-06:00

Well, today is the one year anniversary of Gaddis calling me and telling me to start writing on this blog. I can't believe it's been a year. Let's recap what's happened:

Patriots won another Super Bowl and Tedy Bruschi has a stroke
Roy Williams finally wins an NCAA Championship with North Carolina
Tiger won his fourth Masters Tournament
I got a job
Gaddis got a new job
The Brewers had a non-losing season for the first time in 12 years
The Bucks won the draft lottery and took Andrew Bogut
San Antonio beat Detroit in the Finals for their third title in 6 years
The White Sox ended their World Series drought the year after the Red Sox did the same, in convincing fashion
Reggie Bush became a transendent player
Family Guy came back on television
Gaddis got a new job
I got a new job
Favre may have thrown his last NFL pass
Pete Rose still doesn't get in the hall of fame

Obviously many more things happened during the year, these were just a few of the highlights. Anyway, I want to thank all of the readers and people who have commented, we'll try and keep it up and do even better this year.

It's also my mom's birthday today, so Happy Birthday mom, hope you have a great day and enjoy your retirement!

- Until next time...

We've Had Enough!

2006-01-09T23:56:00.000-06:00

There are a few reasons the title of this post is relevant.

- First and foremost is one Mr. Marcus Vick. Let's see; all the talent in the world, check. A famous brother who paved the way for you at your university, check. Getting many chances to prove your attitude has changed after many run-ins with the law, check. Intentionally stepping on the leg of an opponent in a bowl game, check. Pretending it was an accident when everyone knows it wasn't, check. Getting kicked off of your team and then "deciding" to turn pro, check. Allegedly pulling a gun out on three teenagers who were taunting you, check.

Seriously Marcus, what have you been thinking? This is a guy who has gotten away with everything in his life with little to no consequence, so he hasn't learned a thing. I am one of those who thought Marcus had a promising NFL career ahead of him, but it probably isn't going to happen after his latest run-in with police. If convicted on the three counts of brandishing a firearm, he could spend 3 years in prison. Of course, he won't spend any time in jail, but even if he did, it wouldn't do anything, because he could just go live with his brother then.

Do us a favor Marcus and just leave. Don't pursue an NFL career, don't talk, don't stand on the sideline of Falcon's games next year, just leave. The only problem is, even if he isn't in the NFL, we'll still hear about his annual arrest next year because he has a famous brother.

- Speaking of having famous family members, has anyone else seen way too much of Donovan McNabb's mom at this point? The newest Chunky's commercial where she is telling Donovan to "run that way, no run the other way, throw the ball!" makes me want to cry. I would honestly rather be locked in a room with clowns as they poured hot water on me and touched my ears (for those who don't know, I am terrified of clowns, can't stand hot water, and freak out when people touch my ears). Sure, I could change the channel, but I'm lazy. I'll admit, the first few commercials with Ms. McNabb weren't bad, but enough is enough. I know Campbell's Chunky soups are out there and they are delicious and hearty, but I am seriously considering a boycott because of how much I HATE Donovan McNabb's mother in the commercials.

- This is something that started being said last week, I didn't pay much attention to it, but then heard it numerous times in telecasts this weekend. That is calling the NFL Playoffs the "NFL Postseason Tournament". Yeah, we all know it's a tournament, but since when is it called that? It has always been known as the playoffs, but I guess in 2006, it's the postseason tournament. Is the NFL just trying to reiterate the fact they have a tournament and are one of the most popular sports on the planet and NCAA football doesn't have a tournament? I don't get it. This is right up there with the rest of the catch phrases from this past NFL season:

"Thrown under the bus" (how about, he is talking trash about his teammates and not putting any blame on himself, what's wrong with saying that?)
"Sports Hernia" (it's a groin pull, let's continue to call it a groin pull, but I guess in this era of "holiday trees" we might offend someone if we say "groin pull" so let's call it something else, whatever)
"He went down with a (fill in body part)" or, "he has a (fill in body part)" (um, we all have knees, hamstrings, shoulders, whatever, tell me what's actually wrong with it)
"It is what it is" and "I do what I do" (haven't Nate Burleson and Kelly Campbell fallen far enough off the face of the Earth that we don't have to continue to hear their signature phrases from last year?)
"Ten yards with T.B." (probably my least favorite segment from FOX NFL Sunday, oh wait, we haven't gotten to that yet, but still no point to this sit down except to see Bradshaw ask players questions no one cares about. do we really need to know what kind of music or underwear a player wears?)
"NFL Sexiest Man of the Year" (look, guys watch pregame shows to find out what fantasy players to use and if there are any injury updates which will change their bet. the majority of ladies who watch pregame shows do so probably just to be around their man. if all FOX is trying to do is throw them a bone, then way to go, but c'mon, get this crap off our pregame show and tell me what the Bills record is in home games with the temperature below 40 degrees coming off a week where they only had 250 yards of offense and are playing a divisional opponent so I can call my bookie and pull of a 7 team parlay!)
"We had a chance to sit down and talk with (enter the name of a coach, player, ball boy, player's family member) yesterday..." (hey Joe, we understand you get to spend time with the players and coaches before you broadcast games for ESPN, but we don't need to hear about it every time you open your mouth.)

That's it for right now. I have many more gripes to come this year, including the Cubs trading Corey Patterson for 3 cases of hot dogs, a keg of Old Style, and some shortstop named Nate. Brock for Broglio? We'll see, in the meantime, read this column by Paul Rogers.

- Until next time...

Lingering Questions

2006-01-05T20:24:00.000-06:00

Another reason I didn't write a diary for last night's game was I kind of thought Bill Simmons would do one, and he did. Since I will never be able to write as well as him, I don't ever want to do a diary when he does. Anyway, I had a few lingering questions/thoughts from last night's game...

- Should we really believe that there was a problem with the replay monitor and that's why they didn't review the play when Vince Young's knee was down before he pitched the ball for Texas' first touchdown? Seems to me they should have stopped the game until they were able to review that play.

- Why do the BCS bowl games have to start so late? I may sound like an old man, but being up until 11:30 watching college football isn't the most desireable thing in the world, and I LOVE college football. Either the networks need to change this, or I need to move to the West Coast. This is even going to get worse next year when FOX is in charge of televising the BCS games. I think FOX enjoys torturing the East Coast with late starts. Didn't everyone of the World Series games end after 11:30? College Football bowl games generally last 4 hours anyway, and with FOX televising, they are likely to last 5.

- What was Reggie Bush thinking when he decided to lateral the ball to a tight end who wasn't even looking at him after he took a screen pass to the Longhorn 20? Did he just think that he could do whatever because he won the Heisman Trophy and didn't care?

- Better yet, how was USC still in this game when: they went for a 4th and 1 inside the Texas 40 and didn't get it in the first half, the Bush play, Leinart threw an interception in the end zone, and then they went for it on 4th and 2 with just over 2 minutes left and missed it?

- Oh yeah, why wasn't Heisman Trophy winner and most dangerous player on USC, Reggie Bush, not even ON THE FIELD for the fourth down? Why not have LenDale White as lead blocker and have the shifty Bush take the ball. Actually, before that, why did they pass on 2nd down? That was the only possession in the second half that USC didn't score on (not including the final 2 plays). Texas' defense couldn't stop USC in the second half, so they went conservative to try and run out the clock, then they throw on second down and it is incomplete, stopping the clock, forcing them to run on 3rd and 8, and then the fourth down play. Way to go Pete, way to go.

- Was it the greatest game ever? I don't know, but it definitely ranks high on the list. I probably haven't seen a better game. Well, maybe the 1994 Colorado/Michigan game (sorry Gaddis, that was just for you).

- Has there ever been a weirder introduction to a game than the Farrell/McConaughey thing? By the way Will was on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPNRadio today, outstanding stuff, he even sang a tribute to the late "Blue".

- Andy, I definitely heard Jackson say "times-out" and I loved it. He is one of my favorite announcers of all time. Just for the record, if for some reason my life was to be narrated, either live or being told in past tense, here's the list of announcers I would want to do it:

Brent Musberger
Gus Johnson
Dan Shulman
Keith Jackson

- I know earlier this year I wrote how tough it was to write these when I was watching "Who's Line is it Anyway", but it's even tought to type when watching "My Name is Earl" and "The Office".

- Is there any reason after last night's game that Vince Young AND LenDale White shouldn't declare themselves eligible for the NFL Draft?

- Until next time...

NFL 2005 Awards

2006-01-05T11:52:00.000-06:00

The NFL regular season is over, as a Packers fan I say thank god, so it's time to hand out some hardware to the best performers in the year that was 2005.

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: Cadillac Williams

No brainer here, it's Cadillac Williams. Nobody else really stood out this year. Samkon Gado came on late in the season and could have pushed Cadillac had he not gone down to a knee injury. Heath Miller and Ronnie Brown both had nice seasons, Troy Williamson surprised me, and Mark Clayton started to come on late, but nobody had enough to surpass Cadillac's amazing start to the season.

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year: Shawne Merriman

In a two horse race, Shawne Merriman takes it over DeMarcus Ware. Ware looked good early and compiled 58 tackles and 8 sacks, but Merriman came on late and his 57 tackles and 10 sacks takes it.

NFL Offensive Player of the Year: Tiki Barber

A quick rundown of the candidates...

Shawn Alexander: 1880 rushing yards 27 tds
Tiki Barber: 2400 totals yards 11 tds
Steve Smith: 103 receptions 1563 yards 12 tds
Larry Johnson: 2093 total yards 21 tds
Carson Palmer: 3832 passing yards 67.8 comp % 32/12 td/int 101.1 QB rating

It was quite a year by the running backs, not included on this list were stellar performances form Clinton Portis, Edgerrin James and LaDanian Tomlinson and not to mention a rebirth from Santana Moss. That being said, the hands down unanamous winner is Mr. Offense, Tiki Barber. Barber carried the Giants and gave young Eli Manning a saftey valve to rely on throughout the season.

NFL Defensive Player of the Year: Brian Urlacher

Urlacher lead the NFL's best defense, Umenyiora has a sweet name and has come on as a dominant pass rusher, O'Neal lead the NFL's best ball hawking defense in interceptions, Peterson is arguably the best defender on one of the NFL's best defenses and Burgess lead the NFL in sacks. It was a close call, but Urlacher is the straw that stirs the drink on the NFL's best unit, yes unit not best defense, best unit.

Brian Urlacher: 121 tackles 6 sacks
Osi Umenyiora: 70 tackles 14.5 sacks
Deltha O'Neal: 65 tackles 10 interceptions
Mike Peterson: 131 takles 6 sacks 3 interceptions
Derek Burgess: 51 tackles 16 sacks

NFL Coach of the Year: Mike Shanahan

Mike Shanahan: AFC West Champs 13-3
Lovi Smith: NFC North Champs 11-5
Marvin Lewis: AFC North Champs 11-5
Nick Saban: 2nd in AFC East 9-7
Tony Dungy: AFC South Champs 14-2

Shanahan lead a Broncos team that looked as if it had taken a major step back to a division title going away. He won with a completely new defensive line, a running back by comittee and Jake the Snake Plummer. Most impressive was the coaching job done on Plummer who did his best to make you forget he was the same Jake Plummer of the Cardinals.

Saban did an impressive job by winning 9 games with an average-to-bad team, and Lewis and Smith both did a nice job of building up perennial cellar dwellers into division champs

Dungy too did a great job leading the Colts to a 13-0 start. I could go either way here between Dungy and Shannahan, but I think the job Shannahan did with that team rebuilt was just a bit more impressive.

NFL MVP: Shaun Alexander

Here's my criteria for MVP voting. Take the guy you're debating and replace him with a good player. So for example, replace Alexander with Gaddis' favorite Rudy Johson. Do the Seahawks win 13 games? I don't think so. Now put Alexander in Johnson's place on Cincinnati, do the Bengals win more than 11 games? Absolutely. Going off that logic, Alexander was the most valuable guy to his team this year in my eyes.

Voting

1. Shaun Alexander
2. Tiki Barber
3. Tom Brady
4. Brian Urlacher
5. Carson Palmer

That was quite a Game, and I was WRONG... again

2006-01-04T23:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I was wrong, that's for sure.

Let's recap:

Keith Jackson will give me goose bumps- check

Bush will have over 250 yards- dead wrong (82 rushing, 92 receiving)

ABC will show Laura Quinn, Keith and Dan mentioning ABC's last title game until 2010- I fell asleep for about 15 minutes at the end of the second quarter and didn't watch half time, so I don't know
Texas won't rattle Leinart- They did intercept him, but they didn't record a sack and he had 1 touchdown and 370
yards passing, so I say check

Vince Young will throw 2 touchdowns- Dead wrong

Texas will come out strong- Check

Herbstreit will say Ohio State wins 2007 Fiesta Bowl- hasn't happened yet, but it will, that's for sure

USC will win 38-27- wrong. I thought I was in pretty good shape when USC was up 38-26, but Vince Young showed why many people said he would be the difference in the game.

So basically we proved once again that I don't know what I'm talking about. But, at least if I was a weather man, with these stats, I'd probably get a contract extension. Oh, and at least Iowa didn't win.

- Until next time...

BCS Title Game

2006-01-04T18:46:00.000-06:00

I was going to write a diary for this game, but considering it probably won't kick off until about 7:30pm CST and will probably last about 4 hours, I may fall asleep during it. So, before the game gets started, allow me a few predictions...

- Keith Jackson will give me goose bumps at least twice during this game

- Reggie Bush will have over 250 yards total offense

- ABC will somehow find a way to show Laura Quinn (not that I mind at all)

- Keith and Dan will make mention of this being the last BCS Title game until the 2010 Rose Bowl to be broadcast by ABC

- The Texas defense will not rattle Matt Leinart

- Vince Young will throw at least 2 interceptions

- Texas will come out strong

- Kirk Herbstreit will predict Ohio State as the 2007 National Champions

- USC will win its third consecutive National Championship going away and will win 38-27.

One final note; I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. Many things happened which need to be covered. As a recap of the top sports stories in Wisconsin in 2005, click over to the Brew City Beat and read Justin's column.

- Until next time...

The Hunt For April

2005-12-29T09:15:00.000-06:00

There is one week left in the NFL regular season, and it's winding down to a photo finish. Just who will win the Race for Reggie? Well, if it ended today, the Texans would be placing Domanick Davis on the trading block and hiring the seamstress to fit Mr. Bush in blue with red trim. Here's how it looks now...

Houston 2-13
New Orleans 3-12
New York Jets 3-12
Green Bay 3-12
San Francisco 3-12

Houston can clinch the top spot with a loss this sunday when they battle fellow dwellers the 49ers. A win would not only cost them potential season ticket holders, but would cloud the picture and force math geeks to decide the fate of Reggie.

New Orleans is arguably the worst team in the NFL. The Packers drubbed them by 49 points way back in week five, so should the Packers and Saints both finish 3-13 would the Saints hold a futility tie breaker over them? The answer is no, tie breakers are determined by strength (or lack there of) of schedule, and as of right now the Saints have played the weakest schedule of the five teams in contention. Because it is the NFL's belief that if you struggle while playing inferrior competition you must be really bad and really need the top pick, the Saints would be the winners.

The Jets are also a terrible team. By looking at their record and play, you'd never know their head coach is Herman Edwards, but the NFL is weird like that. When Brooks Bollinger is leading your offense, an offense that I should point out features Cedric Houston, Jericho Cotchery, Chris Baker, a washed up Laverneus Coles and a highly overrated Just McCariens, looks like the defense better be scoring points for ya.

The Packers may just give the Jets a run for their money in terms of comically bad offensive players and names. Brett Favre's greatness regardless of what you hear from critics, has continued this year. Favre is tanking games and doing everything in his power to makesure he's lining up under center with Reggie Bush behind him next year. There is no other logical reason as to why else he has looked this bad. Well not unless you factor in that he's lost:

Javon Walker
Bubba Franks
Ahman Green
Najeh Davenport
Samkon Gado
Terrence Murphy
Robert Ferguson
Mike Flannigan
Rivera and Whale before the season even started

Now lets realize that he has thrown passes to:

Donald Driver
Javon Walker
Ferguson
Franks
Chatman
Donald Lee
David Martin
Mark Tauscher
Andre Thurman
Rod Gardner
Jamal Jones
Tony Fisher
ReShard Lee
Henderson
Gado
Green

And handed it off to:
Green
Gado
Davenport
Lee
Walt Williams
FisherNoah
Herron

Yes his decision making has been aboslutely unfathomable, but he's playing with no talent around him and wisely realizes this is a bad team and winning won't help them. I'm glad that Favre is such a competitor and doesn't care about stats so much that he's willing to put a blemish on his otherwise hall of fame career by giving Vinny Testaverde a run for his money in terms on interceptions in a season. (If you're scoring at home, he has 28 and trails Vinny by 7...)

The Niners have a bad record and are a bad team, but unlike the Saints they play really hard. This scares the dickens out of me as a Packer fan.

The Docket

Seattle at Green Bay
Buffalo at NY Jets
New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Houston at San Francisco

Prognosis

As a Packer fan, the prognosis isn't good. Seattle has locked up every thing already and may rest Hasslebeck and Alexander after a quarter or even drive. Howeva, the Seahawks' reserves are without question better than any team we can put on the field, I mean c'mon people have you not been watching this team for the past 4 months? The Seahawks pick up the W.
Green Bay: 3-13

Neither the Jets nor Bills have anything to play for. The Bills already beat the Bengals last week. That was thier Super Bowl. Vinny starts and the Jets pick up a costly win.
New York: 4-12

Tampa is fighting for the Division crown. They're actually fighing for their playoff lives too. Factor in who they're playing. This is a no brainer. Not only are the Saints bad, but they always lay down at the end of the season. Who does Jim Haslett have naked pictures of?
New Orleans: 3-13

I really hope CBS puts their top crew on this game because for all intents and purposes, "The Bush Bowl" is the game of the week. The Niners have shown fight, and the Texans have had a propensity for "losing" close games, or just games period lately. Gee mysteriously Kirs Brown misses badly on an easy field goal attempt. Somehow they blow a 21 point lead in the 4th quarter. Then all of a sudden when the Packers pick up a win and give them some breathing room they win a game? I'm not buying it. Houston knows what's at stake here and they won't let this oppotunity slip away. San Francisco 24 Houston 6.

PROJECTED WINNER: THE HOUSTON TEXANS

So there you have it, we're still waiting on the final number from California and Texas, but we here at the Brew City Beat are going to go ahead and Project the Houston Texans as the newest employer of Reggie Bush.