Great Picture

This is too good not to put up here!



What a great game! (Brewers won 6-5 as Fielder hit a walk off two run shot in the bottom of 9).

A look at SBC Park

Well I am back, quick aside "All hail Prince(game winning homerun)Fielder"

Back to buisness, While in SF I was able to catch a Giants/Rockies game at SBC Park. Very nice place it has a wonderful view and great sightlines. I sat on left field side in on the Club level looking out to Mccovey Cove. Nice crowd 36000 for two bad teams. Does anyone know if the firm that built Miller Park built SBC they have a very similar look and feel. Miller Parks Polish Sausage is better lol. Was different watching a game when you dont really care about either team. So I rooted for Giants they lost of course. So here are some pictures I will put more in my Flickr account.

Regards,
GBfan

NFL Preview, Part 2: The AFC South

Tennesseein' is Tennebelievin'

Brett Favre is like Superman. (ed - Groan. What the heck is with the Brett Favre worship in the opening paragraph of a post on the AFC south? What gives?) Pipe down ed, if that is in fact your real name. I'm not talking about ability here, I'm talking about durability. Most of the time, Superman is never in any real danger. Sure, he takes some big hits now and then, but Superman knows that most of the villains he encounters will be unable to do him any harm. Favre's consecutive games streak is impressive, but a lot of good fortune and physical talent helped him out. Very good offensive lines protected him well. His armstrength allows him to throw off his back foot, reducing the risk of having to step into an onrushing defender. Sure, Favre gets hit, but he only rarely takes that "Oooh" kind of hit.

In the AFC South we find another tough as nails QB in Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans. McNair is less like Superman, and more like Rocky Balboa. Every time I see McNair play he takes at least one incredible hit, but he always (well, usually) gets up, sucks it up, and keep playing even better. Where Superman is invulnerable, Rocky simply manages to endure all sorts of physical pain that would have most men crying and begging for mercy.

Steve McNair is about to endure Ivan Drago for the second year in a row, and it's probably not going to be pretty. The Titans have been hamstrung by injuries and by the salary cap, and look to be in rebuilding mode. Some people think that their offense will still be productive, but I just don't see it.

Drew Bennet has shown flashes of brilliance, that much is true, but will he be able to perform at that level consistently, without Derrick Mason around? And can Tyrone Calico be an adequate number two man?

Maybe, but their two QBs (and they will use both of them) won't have much time to get them the ball, and the oft injured Chris Brown and overrated Travis Henry won't provide much in the way of a rushing attack.

They still boast a few quality defenders like Keith Bulluck, but I don't recognize a lot of their players. They still have Craig Hentrich, which is nice, and Jeff Fisher is a great coach, but there is little talent here. They'll be bottom feeders and out of the playoffs.

If that didn't convince you, here are the Titans first six games:
@Pitt
Baltimore
@St. Louis
Indy
@Houston
Cinci

Maybe if they would have acquired a few offensive linemen instead of an extra RB. Oh well.

I like the new Houston team much better that the old Houston team. The Texans look like they're ready to take a step forward, and they'd better, because patience with David Carr is likely wearing thin. If Steve McNair is Rocky, David Carr may best be described as a punching bag. While Rocky chooses to step in front of those punches, David Carr is basically stuck out there on his own with a bunch of guys who want to put a whoopin' on him, so to speak.

The Texans didn't do much to improve their line, unfortunately (after a failed run at Orlando Pace), so I'm not sure why I'm so bullish on them. I suppose it is because I expect that their skill players will develop a bit more. Carr can now be considered a veteran, Dom Davis should be peaking, and the talented Andre Johnson has now had a year to develop a rapport with Carr and to completely learn the system. I also think that Jacksonville will fall back a bit, and Houston will be the beneficiary. However, they miss the playoffs in the strong AFC.

Let's talk Jacksonville, and another young QB, Byron Leftwich. He's a solid thrower, and he has shown flashes of greatness occasionally, but he doesn't have many weapons. Sort of like McGuyver. But even McGuyver had a Swiss Army knife. Byron's tools are old (Jimmy Smith) and broken down (Fragile Freddy, back to his fragile ways after an extended period of good fortune). The Jags were somewhat successful last year at slowing the game down and limiting the other team's possessions. Their defense is solid, but I don't think it's quite at the elite level.

This is precisely why I think they will have some difficulties. I still don't think they will be able to score, so the burden will once again fall on the defense, and and I think they face some pretty tough offenses.

To be honest I don't really have a good handle on this team. They've yet to impress me but they seem to pull out some good wins every year, and this year will probably be no different, but I think they do it with smoke and mirrors, and this year, they'll end up just behind the Texans.

One team I do understand is the Colts. Great offense, so-so defense. What more do you need to know? If they could put together some semblance of a respectable defense they would find themselves in the Super Bowl. But, they haven't. The offense will probably come back down to earth a bit, but this is still a great team, at least in the regular season. But right now Peyton Manning is closer to Sisyphus than he is to any superhero.

The fact that I don't have much to say about the Colts speaks volumes. (And sentences like that are a good way to avoid doing any research.) They are largely unchanged, and I expect the result to be largely unchanged. They'll win the division and lose, probably to the Patriots, in the AFC Championship game. But I'll have playoff predictions later.

Tomorrow: The NFC West: How bad is it?

ESPN Women Get the Boot

Such an obvious move, you wonder why ESPN didn't make it years ago.

The network announced Tuesday that it had reduced the number of anchors who are to regularly handle the network's charter show, "SportsCenter."

Instead of using a dozen or so anchors and mixing up the combination of teams, the network has settled on six anchors and three teams.

Consistency and a better connection with viewers is the aim of the lineup.

Beginning Monday, "SportsCenter" viewers will get Dan Patrick and Fred Hickman for the 5 p.m. show, John Anderson and Steve Levy at 10 p.m. and Neil Everett and Scott Van Pelt at midnight. The latter two teams will flip time slots each month.

It is now safe to watch Sportscenter on every day except Sunday, when you will be forced to stare into the googly eyes of Stuart Scott.

Surprisingly, ESPN has decided to not let women anchor the show. Thankfully, we here at The Wisconsin Sports Bar aren't such pigs. In honor of Barry Zito's masterful performance yesterday (9 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 9 k's, sadly no win) I give you the woman he used to bed and who I met at Spring Training...

Alyssa Milano!

NFL Preview, Part 1: The NFC South

So you like Mike Vick, do you? You think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that the Falcons will be a perennial playoff team and Super Bowl contender with him around (if he's healthy of course).

That's fine. Me? I like quarterbacks who can pass. The fact is that Vick is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL, and that the Falcons win in spite of his efforts, not because of them. He's a fine runner, but a running QB will only take you so far, and in a tough NFC South, it won't be far enough.

Is Atlanta a bad team? Certainly not. They have a fine defense (Pat Kerney, Rod Coleman, Ed Hartwell, Keith Brooking) and an excellent running attack, which is aided by Vick, but they are a one trick pony on offense, and, while this will sound incredibly cliched, if you can stop the run, you can stop the Falcons, because the Falcons simply cannot pass.

I also like teams with easy schedules. Here are the first 5 games for the Falcons:

Philly (On Monday Night)
@Seattle (On a short week)
@Buffalo (After flying across the country)
Minnesota
New England

That is a tough, tough opening schedule. It does get easier towards the end, but if Atlanta fall in an early hole, I don't like their prospects for getting out in a strong NFC South.

So who's going to finish ahead of them?

How about the Bucs?

They have managed to put together a pretty good offense with second year standout Michael Clayton paired up with Joey Galloway, at least until he gets hurt. And as long as he stays away from dogs and driveways, Brian Griese isn't half bad.

The defense isn't what it was in its glory days, but it is still formidable. Simeon Rice still provides an excellent pass rush and Derrick Brooks is still a very good LB. In fact, if not for Martin Grammatica's complete meltdown last year the Bucs might have already become a force to be reckoned with.

The Bucs will be one of the surprise teams of the NFL, and return to the playoffs as a wildcard team.

You all know about Carolina. Decimated by injuries a year ago, John Fox's team rallied to a near playoff birth, just barely missing out on the last day of the season.

This team looks poised for a return to 2003 form, when they lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Jake Delhomme is a solid QB, Steve Smith is back from a broken leg (if you are going to suffer a terrible injury, this is the one to suffer), and Kerry Colbert seems to be emerging as a solid number two option, which just makes Rod Gardner even more dangerous at the three spot.
DeShaun Foster and Stephen Davis are expected to split time this year in a RB by committee, and should find success behind an improved line featuring former Packer Mike Wahle.

And we all know about the defense. Jenkins, Peppers, Morgan, Witherspoon, Minter.

They should win this division, and return to at least the NFC Championship Game.

As for the Saints, they're...the Saints. Not much has changed really. Same inconsistent QB, same Joe Horn, same Deuce.

They beat bad teams and lose to good teams. They'll probably make a little mini-run sometime during the year and then fall apart. If your team loses to the Saints, your team has problems.

They will bring up the rear in a very strong division that should produce two and possibly three playoff teams.

Tomorrow: The AFC South.

Area Football Rankings Posted

With Mukwonago heading the list.

1. Mukwonago
2. Men. Fall
3. Homestead
4. Arrowhead
5. Franklin
6. Germantown
7. Waukesha West
8. Milw. Marquette
9. Racine Park
10. Hartford

Interestingly, this Friday features an already incredibly impressive game when Marquette heads out to Mukwonago in a battle of two powerhouses. I am thinking of actually beginning my Friday night by going to this football game.

Also, Germantown goes to Hartford in another battle of Top Ten's.

Second Fatwah

I now hate FoxSports. Yet another jackass FS columnist tears the Pack apart.

It's time to meet the last-place Green Bay Packers.

The Packers won't be able to stop the run, pressure the opposing quarterback, turn the opposition's offense over, and have simply no defensive depth or margin for error...The secondary has more holes than a piece of Wisconsin Swiss cheese. Ahmad Carroll had a very rude introduction to the NFL last year, consistently getting burned deep and committing frustrating penalties. He's had a rough preseason, and if it wasn't for the injury to Joey Thomas (not exactly a shut-down cover corner in his own right), Carroll could be on the pine. CB Al Harris needs some help from his teammates, and fast.

The safety position is an all-out disaster. Savvy veteran Darren Sharper was shown the door in the off-season, packed his bags and joined the rival Vikings. He told me last week he's already circled the Packers games on his calendar. The experienced Earl Little is smart, but very much long in the tooth. Nick Collins is trying to make the jump from Bethune-Cookman to the NFC North. Mark Roman has a bad hamstring and is, well, Mark Roman. Todd Franz has a separated shoulder and isn't going to be confused with Ronnie Lott....

Forget the Minnesota Vikings.

In what might just be Favre's final season, the big question is simply this...

Can Green Bay hold off Chad Hutchinson and the Bears?

Am I in denial, maybe, but this guy can just kiss my ass.

More Brilliant Ex-Vikings (and other morning news)

FOOTBALL


+According to benmaller.com, former Vikings glass jawed running back Robert Smith has been removed from consideration for a position with FoxSports because of recent admissions of marijuana use.

Former Vikings running back Robert Smith admitted in recent interviews that he smoked marijuana during his NFL career. The admission apparently has cost him a job with the NFL Network as a studio analyst, according to NEWSDAY.

According to two people with knowledge of Smith's situation, the league's broadcasting arm withdrew an offer to him, fearing that his admission of marijuana smoking would send the wrong message to viewers.

I heard an interview the day after the Moss scandal broke with Robert Smith on Dan Patrick's radio show. Not only did Smith admit to smoking pot, he said he HAD SMOKED THE NIGHT BEFORE WITH FOX PEOPLE! What a fool. I thought at that moment he would be fired, turns out I was correct. In the same interview Smith tried to throw Brett Favre under the bus, by comparing his addiciton to Vicodin to Moss' pot smoking, and claiming that the media was racially motivated for not crucifying Favre the way they were Moss.

The guy is an idiot and I am glad he lost his job, because I like Fox's pregame show.


+In other news, the Urinal (new design and all) is reporting the Packers will not pursue Corey Simon (bif f'in mistake!). Also, they will not try and sign Wisconsonite Bernard Holsey.

+According to reports being released from just about every team in the league, nobody is interested in picking up Maurice Clarett. I hate the guy because he got my hopes up, thinking he would bring down Tressel's Buckeyes.

+Benson signed...Bears still suck

+The talk yesterday on ESPN Radio (especially Patrick) was that Orton will be head and shoulders better than Aaron Rodgers. What the hell is with people annointing the next schlub the Bears throw into the fire as the "next great Bears QB." When was there ever a great Bears QB? McMahon was a terrific leader but as QB's go he was no better than solid. It's pathetic. Save it.

BASEBALL

+Last two days of the hard trading dealine, as playoff rosters must be set by midnight tomorrow night. Biggest names being tossed around; Walker to the Indians, Trachsel to the Red Sox, and no move for The Kid.

+Fantastic Brewer write AMac answers questions in his mailbag. He makes some good points for being optimistc, and he really isn't a "glass is half full" guy when it comes to the Crew. He was decidedly against them finishing above .500 when I talked to him in AZ preseason.

But call me stupidly optimistic. There are reasons to believe that 2005 is far from totally lost:

• When Sheets languished on the disabled list from April 21-May 27 with an inner ear condition, the Brewers went 19-14.

It needs to be pointed out, though, that the team was clicking on all cylinders at that time; Brewers pitchers led the Majors with a 3.14 ERA in May and the hitters ranked ninth in the Majors with a .779 OPS that month.

• The Brewers still have two solid starters at the top of the rotation who excelled while Sheets was on the DL earlier this year.

Doug Davis has been pitching great but has nothing to show for it for going on two months, and Chris Capuano can only get better after outings like Sunday, when he unraveled a bit against Andruw Jones and the Braves.

• September callups are only a few days away, and while there are no Ben Sheetses in the Minors, the team at least has some options.

+The Journal is being tossed around as a solid source for the frontrunners for Rookie of the Year (to be decided in November, which tremendously helps Francouer). They have it at Francouer, Weeks, Garrett Atkins, and Ryan Howard.

My guess is Willie Tavarez, a full season under his belt and a spark under the languishing Stros will be enough to get him the award at least at this point.

BADGER HOCKEY

Andy Baggot rounds up the Badgers news. Nobody is likely to leave for the NHL, although the Badgers have 12 draftees suiting this year. Four WCHA schools, Colorado College, Denver, UMD, and North Dakota all lost players to the League...good. Mankato might lose one as well, and North Dakota star Drew Stafford (son of former Marquette High coach and Milwaukee Admiral Gordi Stafford) could still defect.

Dear Kirk Herbstreit,

Fuck you.

And eat shit.

Why all the scorn, you ask? Check this out:

(Wisconsin has always been one of my favorite places, but it lost serious points lately. Lighten up on the beer bongs. Have a little more respect for your opponents; and remember, there are kids around, too, so maybe yelling profanities in every other chant isn't such a good idea.)

Why don't you take some of your own advice an lighten up. First of all, we're much more concerned with this ranking than some stupid Herbstreit preseason rankings that you had to produce to kill 15 minutes while Corso finishes his 7th double espresso.

Secondly, I've been at a game when ESPN Gameday was in town, and I seem to recall you being rather fond of the two story beer bongs at the time. In fact, you were so fond of the generally fun culture in Madison that even rival Sports Illustrated made a note of it last year:

Beer gardens? Merely an option, not a mandate. They're the ying to the frat-boy-ish two-story beer bong's yang and a more chill option utilized, defensibly, before the team's early-bird (11 a.m.) home kickoffs. Surely you've noticed the Badgers on ESPN nearly every Saturday morn.

As for the swearing, it's been going on forever, and it will continue to go on forever no matter what anyone does. Every year the crusty old dean sends around an e-mail humbly requesting an end to the swearing. And every year it just encourages them. I would even agree with you, Herbie, if the swearing was pointless. Swearing just for the sake of swearing undermines the effectiveness of shocking language. But in this case, we have a serious debate going on between Section O and the rest of the student section. Let's turn again to SI:

On any given Saturday the routine in Section O, Camp Randall's rowdiest student section, goes something like this: Shout profanities at neighboring sections. Grab the shoulders of the person in front of you and make like you're rowing a boat. Then jump around to House of Pain's raucous anthem of the same name (a tradition halted for one game in 2003 out of fear the jumping might literally bring down the house) and lock arms and sway to Varsity. It's part of a Fifth Quarter tradition that gets perhaps a little more attention than it deserves. But just a little.

(By the way, it's worth reading the whole SI article just to learn stuff like this:

This season, unlike most years, the football team has a bye week on Halloween weekend, meaning the Badgers ballers will join the most impressive end-of-October celebration this side of Hades. Last year Badgers point guard and Big Ten Player of the Year Devin Harris dressed up as a French maid.

I wonder if Dallas knew that before they drafted him.)

At this point, our reputation precedes us. Everyone that brings a kid to the game knows what they're getting into, and has properly prepared the kid in advance. If you're that uptight about it, you might not want your kid in Madison on a football Saturday anyway.

And "treat your opponents with a little respect?" What kind of crap is that? First of all, they're opponents. Second, many of them are from Illinois. Third, those that are not from Illinois are largely from Michigan. And forth, we used to throw marshmallows (and marshmallows containing chunks of ice. And chunks of ice.) at our opponents, and now we don't. What more do you want?

But if you like the solemn and respectful football shrine at Notre Dame, where they play their fight song every time they pick up a first down, catch a pass, successfully hike the ball, decline a penalty, etc., (See also: Michigan) by all means, go there. But we all know one thing. If there was some way to take a train from ND to Madison in 15 minutes, the entire city of South Bend (and Notre Dame)would clear out immediately after every game.

And Utah? Come on, you can do better than that. Do you know how hard it is to get a beer in Utah?

You know what Herbie? That's fine. We don't need you.

Besides, it leaves more for me.

Asshole.

DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!

The Packers need Corey Simon. Simple as that. He would come in and be The Man on that defense, and give them not only a fantastic compliment to KGB up the middle but would also provide a confidence to a defense that HAS to be shaken.

Simon is only 28 years old and has played in all but a 2 games over his 5 year career. While Baltimore seems to be the favorite, signing Simon would be a welcome change to the current "make due with what we got" atmosphere that seems to permeate the organization.

Weekend Brewers notes

That wasn't a fun way to spend my first two games out at the ballpark this year. Both games had their moments when the crowd was electric. Brewer fans have a great mix of hope and expectation right now. Attanasio will need a team that delivers in the next couple of seasons, because if the fans get their hopes dashed again, he'll have trouble getting them back.

After watching these two games, I'd say one of the biggest things that seperates the Brewers from the Braves is the Braves mastery of the fundamentals. The Brewer defense is still not good. They've made strides, but they still boot too many balls. Just off the top of my head, I can remember a ball dropping between Jenkins and Clark, Branyon throwing a ball away, and Hart muffing a flyball. They are also sloppy when it comes to small ball. Hall got pick off of second today during a bunt attempt. In his defense, the bunt should have gotten down. As for the pitching, two issues. The spot in the rotation currently held by Helling is going to be an automatic loss until they can get somebody in that spot that throws strikes. And as long as they keep trotting Santos out there in relief, no game will be safe because he has bigger problems with the strike zone than Helling does.

Offensively, they are a team that hits way too many fly balls. I'd have killed to see more line drives and ground balls. A couple of times today they made Chipper Jones work at third to field a tough grounder and a tough line drive. Outside of that, they hit a lot of easy fly balls.

After this weekend, I think my hopes are dampened on the whole reaching .500 thing. The kids are up and they're getting playing time. I think we'll see a lot more sloppy play as they get their seasoning. Hopefully that'll pay dividends next year.

By the way, Saturday's commemoration of Bob Uecker's 50 year years in baseball was nice to be a part of. As a kid who grew up in Western Wisconsin, I didn't get to see a lot of Brewer games on TV. Uecker is the Brewers in my mind, and anytime they can honor him, I'm glad to see it. Today's Bernie Brewer birthday was a touch obnoxious, though. The stadium was over run by mascot "friends" of Bernie's both nights.

I'm NOT a NASCAR Guy but I do live in a state that considers itself Southern

This is what dominance looks like

I'm not a big racing guy but what I got caught up in tonight was worth the wait. Disgusted with the Crew and equally so with the interminable commercials on CBS, I stumbled once again into God, Guns and Gays territory, or as Gov. Dean would say, NASCAR racin'.
What a treat for the couch potato in me. NASCAR at night is phenomenal. These guys should race every weekend under the lights. Talk about growth, this would enhance viewership 20 to 30 percent. If only the NHL got it !
Matt Kenseth won the race tonight from the pole, dominating a performance as you will see this year in NASCAR. Our boy Matt led 415 laps of the 500 run. With two races left Matt vaulted all the way up to 11th place, just 11 points out of the final top ten finish needed to run for the title .
Just when I had given up on Matt he secures the pole on a short track and races beautifully to hold that lead throughout. Ahead are the final two races to determine position for the title run.

California Speedway, left. Where Jeff Gordon is the reigning champ and he always races well in his home state.

Of course we know Richmond (right) is a different animal altogether and Junior should be favored there.




A top ten in either race should position Matt for a run at the Nextel title. Next Saturday the "unwashed rabble" races on NBC live. Matt is alive with an almost impossible result this week. This guy runs hard and does it the right way, the envy of Tony Stewart. Maybe Matt doesn't deserve Lance Armstrong recognition, but he does deserve our support.

Not again....

The news is not good for Ben Sheets and the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers' ace right-hander has a moderate tear of his right latissimus dorsi muscle and was placed on the 15-day disabled list before Saturday night's game against Atlanta.

"We don't know if he's going to pitch again this year," team physician Dr. William Raasch said. "We hope he's a quick healer."

The doctor said the injury could heal in as little as 15 days, or could take two months. There are only five weeks left in the regular season.

Typically, the muscle heals with rest, Raasch said.

"The latissimus dorsi is kind of an important muscle for a baseball pitcher because it's the muscle that allows you to accelerate the ball," Raasch said. It's also the muscle that de-accelerates the arm after the ball is released, he said.

Sheets injured the muscle in the eighth inning Friday night. He underwent an MRI Saturday afternoon at a local hospital after arriving at Miller Park and complaining of soreness.

Raasch said the medical procedure showed more of a tear than what was expected.

"It was a little bit more than we anticipated given how comfortable he was after pitching Friday night," he said.

Under the best case, Raasch said Sheets would feel no discomfort after 15 days and would undergo a second MRI. Otherwise, it could take two months for the muscle to heal, ending Sheets' season prematurely.

The Brewers are trying to post their first winning season since 1982, and were 64-65 going into Saturday night's game against Atlanta. Since June 18, Milwaukee is 10-4 when Sheets pitches and 24-24 when another pitcher starts.

General manager Doug Melvin said no decision had been made on who would take Sheets place in the rotation. He said he would soon talk with manager Ned Yost and make a decision.

Reliever Justin Lehr was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take Sheets' place on the roster.

It is the second time this year that Sheets has been placed on the disabled list. He missed time this spring with an inner ear disorder that left him feeling dizzy for weeks.

High School Football

Last night was the debut of the 2005 High School Football Season in Wisconsin. Not really going to focus on one team since everyone probably roots for their alma mater. Here are a couple scores from last night.

West Bend West 38 at Sheboygan North 15 Golden Raiders fall in new coach's debut	Sheboygan South 0 at Hartford 38 Hartford QB throws for 249 yards, 5 TDs
Plymouth 14 at Port Washington 21 Panthers' rally ends at Pirates' 1-yard line	Sheboygan Falls 34 at Luxemburg-Casco 13 Falcons' Jake Juedes runs for 3 TDs, 72 yards
Kiel 34 at Kewaunee 50 Raiders QB Evan Walsh throws 4 TD passes	New Holstein 15 at Waupun 41 Huskies drop season-opener on the road
Oakfield 0 at Cedar Grove 35 Rockets' defense holds Oaks to 69 yards of offense	Elkhart Lake 14 at Gibraltar 8 Game Thursday, Aug. 25
Sevastapol 6 at Howards Grove 7 Tigers score winning points with 5 seconds remaining	Sheboygan Lutheran 0 at Williams Bay 21 Game Thursday, Aug. 25
Kenosha St. Joe 41 at Oostburg 13 Dutch's Kyle Veldhorst rushes 37 times for 169 yards, TD	Ozaukee 13 at Randolph 0 Mitch Lubner scores twice, gains 168 yards on ground
Random Lake 20 at Slinger 14 Rams' Ehlen runs for 232 yards, 3 TDs	Wrightstown 20 at Chilton 0 Tigers limited to just 97 yards of offense

It Was Electric, Then I Turned The Game On

Just got back home, thanks USAir for delivering me 45 minutes late. Two hour drive and voila here Iam. The better half was working tonight so a faux (sorry for the french) phone call had to be made so an appropriate amount of time could be spent with said better half (we'll save that story for a more adult blog).
I get the Foreskins, Ravens and Crew on TV tonight.
Naturally I tune in TBS first and catch a 1-0 game, broadcast live from Milwaukee and Sheets has the crowd jumpin'. I watch as Ben K's his 5th 6th and 7th victims and the crowd is on fire. Sutton (calling the game for TBS) is reminiscing about 82 and slobbering about his love of all things Milwaukee (bratwurst, Ueck and fan support).
During the commercial break I have a choice of catching the Foreskins or another Whores in the City promo. I choose the Skins. Thankfully the better half mentions as she walks out the door that Bmore is on the local ComCast channel. I realize I have an interest to report about them and go up high on the cable grid.
Glad to report to ESK and all other Catholic Memorial alum, Matt Katula snapped all special team snaps from 6:54 of the second quarter on (that being all I saw). Let's be honest, the only way for a long snapper to get cut is to hose a snap during a game. Matt was clean. Usually the third or fourth man down on coverage and good hustle. For fans that care his snaps were straight line everytime, no arc, like the difference between a Favre pass and a Pennington pass.
Back to the Crew, what a game, no doubt Milwaukee is a baseball town. Just struggling to get to .500 and the reaction was like that, Wow. I left baseball since the last strike and vowed never to come back. My sons noted the change and wondered what was wrong, my explanation turned them away as well. These young guys playing Yost ball have me on the verge of commitment. All in All not a bad homecoming at all.

Friday night notes

I've been more than a little absent around here lately, but I wanted to chime in on a couple of things this evening before I go AWOL for two more days. Let's get started.

*Sheets has been pretty damn strong of late. Here's to hoping that his injury tonight was pretty minor. He's been pitching a lot of innings in the second half, so seeing him in pain was disconcerting.
*Tonight I said something I haven't said in probably 13 years: "I wish the Brewer game was on the radio and not the Packer game." I'm becoming more and more resigned to the fact that this is going to be a very trying Packer season.
*I'll be away at the Brewer games Saturday and Sunday. If I can still see straight when it is time to go into the stadium, I'll try to comment on the games Sunday night.

I guess Billy Hall is a future HOFer

While watching a bit of the Flubs vs the Fish on ESPN today I got to hear Steve Stone and the other two announcers gush over how tough it was for Nomar(Mr Hamm)to move to 3rd since Aramis Ramirez is now on the DL. I had to chuckle Bill Hall has played every infield position this year except 1st base. Plus in the beginning of the year there was talk how he could play in the outfield if needed. I mean they were making it out as St Nomar is slaying a dragon to save the Flubs, come on there has been a game or two where Bill has played both SS and 3rd. I guess we take for granted how well he has played the role of UberUtility Infielder.

this post is less a knock on St Nomar as a tip of the hat to Mr.Hall.

Regards,
GBfan

I believe that Wisconsin will be the last state in ESPN's 50/50

I was checking out their site to see when they would do Wisconsin in their 50 states in 50 days feature and Wisconsin is to be on Sept4th and guess where they will be Waukesha at the Highland games. Hmmmm I am thinking maybe a WSB get together since that is the last Sunday before our lives become run by the NFL. Let me know if anyone else is interested in having an adult beverage or two and seeing what the ESPN talking heads are like up close. If that is the last show in the series I wonder which Head will be here.

Let me know if anyone wants to play. Hell we might still be killing our Badger sorrows if they blow the first game.

Regards,
GBfan

Attention Wisconsin Skiers.

Keeping with our Mission Statement to try and cover All and any sports that involve Wisconsin in some manner, I give you a new Website www.wi-ski.com/ Its has been started by Wisconsin Skier and fellow BBA poster Marcus. I will be honest I dont ski so I wont try to judge anything but it looks like it is a Treasure Trove of Info on the Wisconsin Ski scene.

So if you Ski(downhill and cross country)or Snowboard go help a BBA brother out and check out his site.

Regards,
GBfan

Terry Bowden Drops the Hammer on the Badgers

Bowden predicts the Badgers will finish EIGHT in the Big Ten, behind the four favorites and Mich St, Penn St., and the maroon and mustard clad Gophers.

He kind of pusses out by not giving record predictions and doesn't exactly go in depth with why he chose the way he did.

Now that Barry Alvarez has announced his retirement as head coach at the end of the season, you have to wonder what kind of distraction it will be. I never have liked the idea of the players feeling like they had to do something special for their coach in his final season instead of just going out and playing football.

With only nine starters returning, it is hard to imagine Wisconsin repeating last year's 9-3 season. But if Colorado transfer Brian Calhoun is as good at running back as Alvarez thinks, Calhoun could be the catalyst for another really big season.

A Pressing Bubba Franks Question

Is it just me, or does it look like Bubba has a "platinum grill"

Cubs Fans Are Hillarious!

I like this site, but where is the "We Need Trebelhorn" site?

Top 10 Reasons I Don’t like Dusty

10. The Wrist Bands
Do you sweat a lot making out those line-up cards?
9. The Toothpicks
Hillbilly Chic doesn’t play in Chicago
8. The Voodoo
Sprinkling unknown substances on the bats and the field can’t create wins. Maybe these weird notions explain some of the managerial decisions.
7. The reminiscing about California
If you like it so much there, go back, Please!
6. The reminiscing about the “Old Days”
Yes we know that you used to have to play 20 hour games in a blinding snow storm to get the win.
5. The favoritism toward certain players
Are there any secret illegitimate children that we should know about?
4. The refusal to play young players
Bye bye Murton and Cedeno. Players who can’t stretch for a batted ball without injuring themselves are obviously better choices.
3. The Cry Baby routine
Poor Dusty, you’re such a victim because after all it’s the sportscasters and the fans fault that the team is losing
2. The poor handling of the Pen
Until Wood arrived, you could flip a coin on who would be the set-up man du jour. I’m sure that made everyone comfortable in their roles.
1. The Stubbornness
So what if it hasn’t worked 152 times in a row, maybe it’ll work this time. The definition of insanity is performing the same action over and over and expecting a different result.

I don't know what they expected? Dusty Baker isn't a very good manager, he's always been an arm killer and has always played favorites. Maybe I just hate him for his lack of respect for white players, but the guy has always been a prick in my book.

Back to 500 this afternoon?

Wow Toma is now on fire just like Geoff Jenkins a little talking to by coach GBfan and bam they become baseball playing Monsters.

As for last nights game my first thought, Wasn't it nice to see someone else's team look like a tee ball team booting the ball around the park.

Toma pitched well still gave up his usual homerun but thanks to the bumbling fish the crew could sing "We shall overcome"

Another series won now lets see if we can get a sweep we will have pulled the fish 3 games closer.

Davis is so due for win number 10 lets hope today is the day. It has also been nice that they are winning with the Kindercare Line up. The future is starting now.

Final Thought is Paul LuDuca a warrior or what I don't care if he is on the other team damn I hurt just watching him play last night.

Anyone going to the game today (I'm looking at you ESK lol)

Regards,
GBfan

Re: Bowling Green

I have to agree with ESK on a few things, First yes non football betting is just wasting time till the real "betting" season starts.

I can tell you who also thinks Bowling Green can hang with the Badgers, the oddsmakers. The line on that game is UW -4 at the site I use. Come on this is the first week of the season if your a real national power you have lines in the 20's or 30's like a Texas or LSU or USC.

I am very worried that if this turns into a track meet Wisconsin will be starting the season 0-1.

Man what a wonderful time it is, Lord Football and all the gambling it brings is back, Brewers games still matter. Everyone Sing "Its the most Wonderful time of the Year"

Regards,
GBfan

Beware Bowling Green

and Omar Jacobs (someone backs up my claim that UW will have trouble against Bowling Green which was based solely on my trouble against them in NCAA06).

10. Omar Jacobs. I must admit, for all his gaudy numbers, I didn't see the Bowling Green QB in action very much last year. High noon, on ESPN, at Camp Randall. Prediction: Jacobs lights up Wisconsin's rebuilding defense for 380 yards.

If he passes for 350+ yards there is NO WAY the Badgers can win that game. If they do indeed lose to Bowling Green, I expect them to have a losing record.

Season starts in TEN DAYS ladies and gentlemen, and I am just plain giddy with excitement. All other gambling is simply killing time til The Season starts.

Quest to Finish Ahead of the Cubs: Update

Aramis Ramirez is lying face down between first and second as we speak. Dr. Ron Santo is predicting a quad/hammy pull in addition to a sprained ankle.

Dusty baker just pulled him off the mat and is dragging him into the dugout, he will not be returning.

Sweet!

Bill Hall: Hero.

This should be a challenge on fear factor:

Hall quickly manufactured another run, stealing third and continuing home on catcher Paul Lo Duca's throwing error. Considering what Hall ingested before Yost informed him 30 minutes before the game he was starting in place of Branyan, it was somewhat amazing he felt fast enough to attempt a steal.

"I was on my second piece of pizza and I had eaten about 20 mini tacos," said Hall. "When he told me, I was a little full. I got on the treadmill and got loose. But game time, I was all right. I felt a little lighter."

Franks Signs Lifetime Contract

Packers, Franks agree on new contract

Tight end Bubba Franks has a new lifetime contract with the Green Bay Packers, a source close to the negotiations told the Journal Sentinel this morning.

Late Tuesday night the two sides agreed on a seven-year, $28 million contract that will keep Franks in Green Bay through the 2011 season. The structure of the payout to Franks wasn’t available.

Franks is expected to be on the practice field for the team’s brief walk-through Thursday.

The deal averages $4 million per year, which had been Franks’ target since the start of negotiations months ago. Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez ($4.785 million), Baltimore’s Todd Heap ($4.58 million) and Atlanta’s Alge Crumpler ($4.429 million) were the other tight ends with $4 million deals, although San Diego’s Antonio Gates might have surpassed that mark Tuesday when he signed a six-year contract.

Story

Slump Buster? How Bout Rally Panties

In a story of clubhouse antics of days gone by, The Chicago White Sox decided to hang a pair of womens black panties in the clubhouse on Monday.


(pic from Hustler Lingerie)

They worked for exactly one game, as the ChiSox lost because of the awful outing by Freddy Garcia. Every hit he gave up was a home run as the Sox lost 1-0 to Johan Santan and the Twins.

I know that the slump buster is supposed to be an ugly chick, but come on, who wants to see that?

Yes, as a matter of fact, I did save this story for today.

Victor pitches himself right into the bullpen.

Victor Santos has lost his spot as the 5th starter for the Crew. According to Brewers MLB site Rick Helling will start against Atlanta instead of Santos.

I cannot say I blame Ned on this one other than the gem he threw in Colorado he hasn't been all that good since the break. The fact they never score any runs for him didn't help either.

Regards,
GBfan

I guess they figured they owed Cappy a few runs from the Colorado game

Wow 11 runs, batting around not once but twice. I wonder if Cappy will taunt Doug Davis over what it feels like to have a large lead. Ok very nice way to start off a series with a team your chasing. This game pulls us back to Jibs magic 2 under 500 mark.

Carlos showed signs of life tonight Home run and a couple of RBI's a couple of K's also but nice to see him getting hits, it was also nice to see him work out a walk when down 0-2 late in the game.

Window on the future tonight Hardy,Hall,Weeks and Hart all in line up on same night. Damn how about Ricky flashing the Glove tonight and nice to see JJ have a multi hit multi RBI night.

Toma tomorrow, he has been pitching very well since I gave him that verbal dressing down. Glad to see it worked.

Final thought did they make Josh Beckett their bitch or what? ;)

Regards,
GBfan

Anxiously Waiting?

Is anyone else anxiously waiting for ESK's racy post tomorrow?

Make sure you link to it from your blog. Remember we're trying to get traffic.

If this is timed correctly, we could submit it to the Carnival of the Badger. It is being put together by a Cowboys fan. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm ......... on second thought maybe we should boycott this second issue.

The NFL Offseason in Thirty Seconds

Just so everyone knows where everyone is in time for their fantasy drafts,

Ready? Go!

Randy Moss was involved in the biggest trade of the year moving from the Vikings to the Raiders in exchange for LB Napoleon "Dynamite" Harris. It's too bad that Randy sucks on grass because almost all of his games are on grass this year.

Harris will be joining an improved and revamped Viking defense that acquired Fred Smoot from the Redskins and Darren Sharper from the Packers. Smoot leaves a Redskin squad that still looks formidable on defense, but that did little to address their offensive woes. Their QBs are still terrible. They traded their best WR, Lavranues Coles, to the Jets for Santana Moss and lost Rod Garner to the Panthers.

The Panthers also stole Mike Wahle from the Packers, who just hemorrhaged players in the offseason. They also saw Marco Rivera depart for the Cowboys where he will protect Drew Bledsoe, late of the Bills, who will be replaced by second year man J.P. Losman who won't be handing off to Travis Henry.

That's because Travis left for the Tennessee Titans where he'll split time with the frequently injured Chris Brown. He'll probably end up hurt again as the Titans saw tackle Fred Miller take off for the Bears, and Steve McNair and Billy Volek may have a tough time finding open men as Derrick Mason left for Baltimore. He will attempt to make Kyle Boller actually look good as he replaces Travis Taylor who headed west for the Vikings.

It's possible that he'll be catching a few passes from new Minnesota backup QB Brad Johnson who was run out of Tampa Bay in favor of either Brian Greise or Chris Simms. They'll be throwing to the terrible Ike Hilliard who will be replaced on the Giants by Plaxico Burress, late of the Steelers. The Steelers grabbed Cedrick Wilson from the Niners, who grabbed Johnnie Morton from the Chiefs, who grabbed Sammy Knight and Patrick Surtain from the Dolphins, who picked up Vonnie Holliday from the Chiefs, and Tebucky Jones from the Saints. The Saints signed Az Hakim from the Lions, who signed Marcus Pollard from the Colts, (who still employ Jim Sorgi for some reason,) and Jeff Garcia from the Browns.

The Browns just lost the underrated Andre Davis (not to be confused with Andra Davis, of course) to the Patriots, who accidentally (I assume) acquired David Terrell from the Bears, who stole Mushin Muhammad from the Panthers, and Doug Brien, who missed two important kicks last year but is still better than Paul Edinger, from the Jets.

The Jets lost the excellent Lamont Jordan to the Raiders.

Where Randy Moss now sucks on grass once in a blue moon.

Edinger? He ended up with the Vikings. The former home of Randy Moss, and current home of Napoleon "Dynamite" Harris...

Isn't it nice when everything comes together?

Gentlemanly As A Kick in the Crotch

The 100 year anniversary of the debut of the Greatest Baseball Player to ever live is quickly approaching, and the Detroit Free Press has been running an excellent series on the man. It debunks many ridiculous myths that have sprouted and attempts to set the record straight on one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized figures in Baseball's past.

Ty Cobb broke into the league on August 30, 1905. I call him the greatest with no hesitation whatsoever. There is no one who has ever played the game that really even comes close to being as complete a ballplayer. The one place he is considered "lacking" by some is hitting the long ball, something he despised.

Cobb spent 24 seasons in the majors, from 1905 to 1928, all but the last two in Detroit. He was, hands down, the greatest player ever to wear a Tigers uniform. He still holds nearly every significant offensive mark in the club's record book.

Moreover, his name is near or at the top of the list whenever there is a serious discussion of baseball's all-time best. Many respected voices in the dugout and the press box, including Ted Williams, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson, Grantland Rice and Ring Lardner, considered Tyrus the greatest of them all.

"I never saw anyone like Ty Cobb," insisted Casey Stengel in 1975. "No one even close to him as the greatest all-time ballplayer. That guy was superhuman, amazing."

Cobb, who batted left and threw right, was a complete player. In his early years, his coltish speed and superb reflexes made him an above-average centerfielder. He got to balls that many others couldn't touch, though the pancake mitts of the era sabotaged his fielding percentage. Until he ruined it fooling around with pitching, he had one of the best outfield arms in the business. In 1907 alone he had 30 assists, a figure that modern "guns" like Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito and Bobby Higginson never approached.

Cobb, whose 892 stolen bases are still the fourth-best total ever, was a prolific and inventive thief. His 96 steals in 1915 was a record for nearly a half-century. Stealing home was a specialty. He did it far more often than anyone else in history, including eight times in 1912 alone. On several occasions he swiped second, third and home in succession -- at least once on consecutive pitches.

Although Cobb's image is that of a place-hitting singles hitter who would just as soon steal as trot his way around the bases, he had impressive power statistics. He remains the only Tiger to win the Triple Crown (in 1909). He also led the league in slugging percentage eight times. He did it without sacrificing bat control. In 1911, for example, he hit .420 (still the highest in American League history). He led the circuit in doubles, triples, total bases and RBIs -- and struck out swinging twice all summer. For good measure, he also swiped 83 bases.

"Cobb was similar to Wade Boggs," said Holmes, referring to the five-time batting champion recently enshrined at Cooperstown. "He was a big guy who could hit for power, but chose not to."

A series of rule changes, smaller parks and a livelier ball ushered in the era of the home run in the 1920s. Cobb detested the swing-from-the-heels mind-set that turned the long ball into a lowbrow substitute for the creative tactics he had long excelled at during the so-called dead ball era.

During a 1925 series against the St. Louis Browns, the now balding and jowly 38-year-old purposely went for home runs for the only time in his career -- and blasted five balls into the seats in two days. Having proved that he could keep pace with Babe Ruth and the emerging breed of "apple knockers" any time he cared to, Cobb went back to "nipping" at the ball with his unusual split-hands grip.

Cobb was player-manager of the Tigers from 1921-26 before spending two final seasons with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. He left the game holding some 90 records (which was a record in itself). It has been 77 years since he last played, but the Peach remains second on the career list in hits, runs and triples. He won an unprecedented 12 batting titles and hit better than .400 three times.

His shining achievement is a .367 lifetime batting average, a mark that outdistances many fellow Hall of Famers by staggering margins. For example, it is 70 points higher than that of Al Kaline, probably the more popular choice among today's fans as the greatest Tiger ever. The only thing missing from Cobb's resume is a championship. By the time he was 22 he had played in the last of three straight losing World Series.

In 1936, when the inaugural class of inductees for the Baseball Hall of Fame was elected, Cobb received 222 of a possible 226 votes. He outpolled everyone, including his chief rival over the years, Babe Ruth. What made the balloting more impressive was the fact that many electors personally disliked Cobb, while Ruth was a media darling. But the numbers he rang up were as impossible to ignore as his blowtorch intensity.

If you are a baseball fan I suggest reading the series and educating yourself beyond the ridiculous Tommy Lee Jones farse of a movie, which was based on articles written in a "conspiracy theory" magazine later turned into a book.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Part 4 is forthcoming.

Ty Cobb may not have a damn thing to do with Wisconsin Sports, but baseball is great because of men like Ty Cobb, and these stories are important, and I'd rather not pass up the oportunity to somewhat set the record straight on Cobb. His disturbing behavior is bad enough without making up rapes, kidnappings, and murders which have no basis in fact.

Big Ten Prediction

Wow, does Wisconsin have that weak of a Football team this year?

Predicted order of finish:
1. Ohio State: Most talent in the Big Ten and most in this program since 2002 championship season. Seven home games (first four in a row to start the season). Ted Ginn Jr. should run wild. The linebackers might be the best in the country. Once again, it all comes down to Nov. 19 at Michigan.

2. Iowa: The Big Ten is now on alert for the Hawkeyes, who have won 31 games the past three years. They are loaded with stars -- Drew Tate, Chad Greenway, Abdul Hodge. Kirk Ferentz must somehow rebuild the defensive line. The running game has to get better because it can't get any worse. Iowa should compete again for the Big Ten title.

3.Michigan: Five offensive line starters are back. Hart's biggest competition will come from his teammates. Secondary is the only question mark. Put Michigan down for nine wins, 10 if everything clicks.

4. Purdue: Trendy pick to win it because Boilers don't play Ohio State or Michigan. But in recent years, Purdue seems to be the league's No. 1 underachiever. Every defensive starter returns, but I just can't bring myself to pick these guys any higher than fourth. Trips to Arizona, Minnesota and a home game against Iowa loom among the first five games.
5. Wisconsin: Badgers everywhere hope for a rousing sendoff for Barry Alvarez. It's going to be tough. The offense will be painful to watch, which means a questionable defense will have to do it again. The entire line has to be replaced. Will that defense be any better after allowing 103 points in the final three games?
6. Penn State: Joe Paterno has basically scheduled a bowl game with an agonizingly easy early schedule. Five of the first six are at home. Figure at least 7-4; 8-3 if the ball bounces right. Contention for the title if the offense contributes anything at all and Ohio State falls Oct. 8.
7. Minnesota: Minny's traditional late-season collapse looms with Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa in the final four weeks. Until then, the Gophers will win five or six games and possibly inch into the rankings. Look for Laurence Maroney to lead the league in rushing.

8. Michigan State: In his third season, John L. Smith needs to start producing some of his magic. The eight-victory debut in 2003 is a distant memory. This is usually the kind of season where Smith's teams surprise. Armed with a mobile, veteran quarterback (Drew Stanton), this could be that year.

9. Illinois: Ron Zook's arrival will get the Illini fired up immediately. There is enough talent on offense to squeeze out five victories. Zook will need a couple of his recruits to contribute, though.

10. Northwestern: Not much to be excited about here. It took an overtime victory against Illinois for Northwestern to get into a bowl game last season. A three-win year looks more likely in 2005.

11. Indiana: So Terry Hoeppner, you wanted to be in the Big Ten? You are, but barely. The Hoosiers are the laughingstock of the league. Until the school commits more to football, it will remain that way. The former Miami (Ohio) coach left more talent at his old job.

Look on the bright side, the Big Ten does have two teams in the top 10 in the AP Preseaon Poll.

Ok it was an good road trip not a great one

Sundays game was Victor being Victor if you grove them the good teams will kill you. Once again the bats didn't do to well either they had Pettitte on the ropes early and let him escape. This home stand is huge you are playing 2 teams ahead of you in this wild card race. Yes I know Atlanta is leading their division but only by 3 games they have one bad streak and they become a team you have to climb over. I don't really think the Crew can climb over that many teams but you know what stranger things have happen.

But the bats have to wake up Carlos has to start carrying his own water. Take the walks let Jenkins drive you in. Yes I said rely on Jenkins but right now he is hitting and Lee is not.

So this homestand is huge my guess you have to go back to 92 to find late August baseball that mattered in Milwaukee. So no matter what happens we should enjoy this

Regards
GBfan

RE: Sherman extension

That is just wonderful we are extending the contract of the only man who has lost not one but two playoff games in Lambo, The man who was at the helm when we blew the Philly game. A man who as a GM made sure the Cupboard was bare. This team is on the decline and it has happen on his watch. Now the SOB wont even be playing for his job.

Going to be a long long season mark my words.

Regards
GBfan

Sherman on Verge of Extension?

From packernews.com

Mike Sherman is on the verge of signing a contract extension to remain as coach of the Green Bay Packers through the 2007 season, sources familiar with the situation said Sunday.

Sherman and General Manager Ted Thompson agreed to parameters for the two-year extension late last week and are waiting for their representatives to finish the details and language of the deal. Barring any unexpected hitches, Sherman will soon sign the contract.

I'm not really excited about this, it seems to me that it would be a good time to go in a new direction as the team goes younger and younger. I would hate for this to blow up and have Rodgers forced to start his career under a new coach however.

I hate preseason Football.

Am I the only one who hates the Preseason? Brett looked good on first drive so hopefully the Offense will be able to score 30 points a game. Because I believe we might need to. I turned game off in 3rd quarter just couldn't stomach watching no names play no names.

I will be honest I just haven't found my Packer Groove yet. I don't know if it is the fact that Baseball games actually mean something in Milwaukee on Aug 21st 2005 or if its fact I have no real playoff hopes for Packers. I am stock piling hope up for the wandering the desert years I see coming on the horizon. I hope I am wrong on this but the tea leaves sure don't look good.

I will still be there every Sunday bleeding Green and Gold waiting for my Goal of Mike Sherman being fired to come true.

At least there is always gambling to take away the pain lol.

Regards
GBfan

Another good road trip

Well locked up at worst a split with Houston last night, Nice job by Ben to bounce back after the disaster in Denver. Even though this will be another winning road trip the quite bats have me a bit worried.

The crew wins today we will really look back at the Performance of a Mr Kane Davis and see Red, I use the word Performance loosely. I believe what ever bad JU JU has been chasing Victor has left him and is now haunting Doug Davis. If Victor can battle Pettitte and get us a win he would be my MVP of this road trip he stopped the bleeding in Colorado and is in position to make this a great series and road trip.

One good sign is they keep winning even though Carlos is not hitting on all cylinders. 0-5 with an RBI last night. Hat tip to Jenkins for getting lead right back. Lyle up twice with bases loaded and only drive in 1 run he has to do better than that if we are going to really stay in the Wild Card chase.

Everyone think good thought about today's game.

Regards
GBfan

In Lieu Of Real Blogging I Offer You Cook-Out Reality

This afternoon a struggle of immense proportions took place, this clash of gargantuans occurred under the watchful eye of a sold-out crowd of 10.
The Champs being led by the All-American pitcher Ronnie "the flip" Walker (my eldest son), had just made short work of the Steeler team. Led by Walkers 3 ringers the champs had prevailed 21-13. The roll they were on was unprecedented in the annals of Shoe Throwing. The Walker team had amassed a winning streak of 5 games. It would take a monumental effort to dethrone this team.
The Walker team consisting of Ron and his work mate Justin seemed unstoppable. Only an old balding pops could challenge this juggernaut. I chose the younger Steeler backer as my partner, Rod.
Rod began the game by clanking the wood and leaving an open pit for Walkers Wonders. Ron immediately took advantage and posted 2 points. 2-0 Throwing second I was hoping for any kind of a target to shoot for. Justin accommodated my wishes and left me with the chance to take away one point and score myself. I knocked his "shoe" out of scoring position and with my second shoe scored the upstarts first point. 2-1 My P wiffed and Ron scored again. 3-1 Against all odds I scored again on my next throw 3-2 The strategy of lulling the champs to sleep was working as Ron left the field of battle to flip the hamburgers. The next toss was pivotal, I hit a ringer (wow that never happens) and we took the lead 7-3 The game plan was unfolding and working beautifully.
My P Rod hit another ringer later on and the score stood at 13-5 My internal optimism was racing. 8 points away from glory. I was worried though about being stuck on that number 13. My trepidation was founded as team "good guys" got stuck on 13 as the Wonders slow walked us down and took the lead. Ron (no longer my eldest son being disinherited earlier for taking away points that I thought were on the board) hit a double ringer. OK he is still my son ...but.
The score stood at 15-13 My P Rod slid a shoe up to the pin and we got off the dreaded 13.
15-14 I put 2 shoes right on the pin and fully expected 2 points. I may have been talking trash at this point but being the professional Iam I doubt it.
Ron once again hit a ringer and took away my points (not my son again). 20-14 My P zilched again and Justin scored his only point of the game. Sweat drenched bruised and battered from the battle I drug myself to the sidelines. Losers of the battle but undaunted. The fair Ella (the better half) soothed my weary body. I flipped the bratwurst with renewed vigor and the burgers were exceptional.

Eddie Gaedel ? Randy Moss ? I choose Gaedel

Randy Moss stands in front of a camera and admits to illegal drug use while under contract with the Minnesota Vikings, on record for the world to see. Correct me if I'm wrong, (all you legal types who post here) but wouldn't that be quantitively construed as full disclosure? Question should this guy be suspended?


Onterrio Smith was caught at Minneapolis International Airport with a Whizzenator device. The NFL and all authorities involved will not confirm a positive drug test. The implication here is that Smith has lost his career over a public disclosure of drug use through the revelation of shielding that use. Smith was suspended because the presumption of guilt was extrapolated from his posession of the Whizzenator.
Legally the question is (and again you lawyers should straighten me out if I'm out of line) If Smith gets creer ending suspension for public exposure, should Moss recieve that same suspension?
Remember Moss has one strike against him in the NFL program. He also has 2 suspensions against him from college (expelled from Notre Dame, after being expelled from Florida State University). Moss should miss three games and be enrolled in the NFL program. Until that happens the NFL drug policy is as big a joke as the NBA's drug policy.
Of course Shanoff (have I mentioned I hate this guy) will say (and he has) that drug use is of no consequence unless it involves steroids. I'm not debating what is "bad" or "good" only that it doesn't matter, rules are in place and if you find yourself above them...well I guess that's how it is these days. Cheaters prevail.
Really Shame to us all.

On This Day In Baseball History (Debut of # 1/8)

Eddie Gaedel, 3-ft. 7-in. midget, pinch-hitting to draw a walk for the St. Louis Browns, who were in last place in the American League in Aug. 1951. A subsequent ruling banned midgets from American League games.

Amaze your friends with the knowledge that the Browns filed the paperwork making Eddie part of the team on a Friday knowing baseball wouldn't open the mail til Monday, thus allowing Gaedel to get his AB in. The resulting aftermath saw not only the banning of midgets, but also an attempt by American League President Will Herridge to purge Eddie Gaedel from the recordbooks.

Oddjack: Bet On Clemens Steroid Suspension

In an interesting note, Oddjack is reporting they have a tip sayin Clemens will be outed on Monday.

Oddjack has received a tip from a reputable sports reporter that the rumors circulating about Houston Astros’ pitcher Roger Clemens testing positive for steroids are true and that MLB will release a statement this Monday. WagerWeb is still offering +200 on Clemens testing positive.

I have no idea what to make of it, this is time Oddjack has used anything other than number crunching and speculation to suggest a bet. They seem pretty strong, even saying where to go to get the best odds...

2-1 in the Preseason, Monster Underdog Parlay

Check out this parlay over at Bodog (tip to Oddjack):



Yeah, I jumped it, what's a little iron to not only hit a nice return, but also pick the most absurd upset parlay of the year?

Pitching Matchup's you ask?

Dodgers (Houlton 4-6 5.31 v Burnett 11-6 3.04) Not good.

Royals (Wood 3-4 4.25 v Harden 9-5 2.78) You're kidding right?

Giants (Hennessey 4-5 5.68 v Carpenter 17-4 2.25) And boom goes the dynamite.


Did I make the bet? Yeah. Am I pissing away 20 bones, absolutely. If it hits will I laugh and laugh and laugh? Of course and that ladies and gentlemen is what it is really all about.

I didn't really watch a ton of the football game last night, just enough to know that I had it in the bag. I won't be laying on this weekend's slate, mostly because I feel like a degenerate for taking three preseason games already, however I will say the over on the Titans/Falcons game looks promising, simply because both teams have solid backup QB's, and the Falcons even go three deep with Ty Detmer.

RE: Steroid Rumors

As noted earlier this morning Johnny Damon, The Rocket, and an "unnamed Yankee player" were outed by a New York radio mouth (what a freaking wimp,. the guy will name two guys not in his market, and not exactly beloved by Yankee fans, but he won't make up a Yankee?)

At this point it seems the Clemens rumor is totally spurrious. Richard Justice (Houston Chronicle) has said he talked to Commissioner Selig and Bud has totally denounced the rumor.

As to Damon, here is what he had to say:

Johnny Damon found himself in the awkward position of defending himself from a rumor that bigger names than Rafael Palmeiro are about to be announced as testing positive for steroids. Damon, Houston's Roger Clemens and an unnamed Yankee player were Topic A, at least in cyber-space, yesterday.
``No way,'' Damon said. ``If I tested something positive for anything, then someone threw something in the (sample). I think it's because of the way I'm built. I've had people thinking that since I was in high school.''

Damon went on to mention he is "used to rumors" since he got the Jeff Garcia treatment earlier this year.

I can't find the Justice article, but it was talked about briefly by Mark Patrick on the XM MLB morning show.

That's about all I can find right now, I'll post more as I hear about it.


UPDATE: Strange enough, Mr. Justice put the steroid refutation at the very bottom of the article.

He has been so close to perfect that he has become the object of a silly series of rumors. Talk-show gossip has him as one of the 50 or so big-leaguers who have tested positive for steroids.

There's just one problem with those rumors. They're not true.

"They're absolutely not true," commissioner Bud Selig told me Thursday. "I don't know where this stuff comes from. I know this kind of stuff is out there. This isn't journalism's finest hour. Some people ought to be ashamed."

It would be odd for the Commish to make a comment like that if in fact Clemens has failed a test, therefore I am 80% sure Clemens will NOT be suspended for steroid violations.

UPDATE 2: According to Richard Justice (on XM right now) Bud Selig told him there is only one player who has tested positive that has yet to be announced and his name "wouldn't cause any stir at all."

Steroid Rumor Mill

On The Score last night, around 10:00 pm, there was talk that a radio guy in Boston was reporting/creating a rumor that two high profile baseball players had lost their arbitration on steroids. Additionally, it was being rumored that the players were Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon.

Anyone else seeing or hearing things along these lines?

This Just in Dumb ass report

Randy Moss admits to smoking Weed while in the NFL in front of a TV camera. How stupid is he? I mean I never figured old Randy would ever win a Nobel prize but come on even my kids know how to keep thier mouths shut when they have gotten away with something.


So here is where we are at, my 3 year old is smarter than Randy Moss. But then again my three year old is a better person than Randy Moss too.

Regards
GBfan

Wow even the Rocket has a bad day once in awhile

First and foremost Hats off to Toma Okha, he kept it close and pitched his way out of a big jam. Wow what a way to start off the Series. I am so glad they got Toma the win couldn't ask for a better performance against the Rocket.

That 7th inning rocked nice job by all parties Bill hall big hit Carlos and Russell Taking the Walks, Damion Miller big hit and then Prince did what a pinch hitter is supposed to do he made contact and got ball deep enough to score a run.

Hell of a job by Rick Helling 2 scoreless innings then on to Turnbow. I totally agree with Ned using the big gun tonight but he is on shelf tomorrow after pitching in 3 games in a row.

I am not going to go nuts and say this was anything more than a great single game win, but what a nice way to start the series if Davis can get a win tomorrow you already have a split in hand. Plus Houston is a bit wobbly right now, a bit punch drunk you never know a couple of good shots might knock them down. Lets enjoy this one, not to often you get to say you took an for sure HOFer to the woodshed.

Man this is why some of those stupid losses drive you nuts this team can really hang and bang with anyone when they are hitting on all cylinders.

I dedicate this win to Jib out in his storm bunker in the Fort. Keep your head down bro

Regards
GBfan

Update: Nice you score 5 earned runs and beat the Rocket you get first story on SportsCenter a little love for the Crew.

Toma へのよい運の今夜十分のボート

Just wishing Toma a little bit of good luck tonight.

Regards
GBfan

The New Arizona Cardinals Stadium is so cool

I was watching the Cards and the Cowboys play last week on NFL channel and since it was the Cowboy feed they were interviewing Jerry Jones about the new stadium the Cowboys want to build. They were using the New Cardinal stadium as an example of what they want to do in Dallas. In the process of the interview they showed some animation of what the new Cardinals stadium will do.

Its pretty cool they are going to be able to move the Field out of the Stadium so they can grow the grass. Then before game day the whole field moves back into the stadium. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. Here is the official Cards site on their new digs. I am glad Lambo has been done this place is going to raise the bar for towns that haven't built new alters to Lord Football. Kind of like when Camdem Yards was built and it showed the White Soxs fans how bad their new park really was lol. But seriously this place is going to cost some other towns a lot of money trying to top it.

Regards
GBfan

Badger Hockey News

It's a sad day for Badger fans. Coach Eaves has decided to go outside the family and hire Kevin Patrick to fill the void at asistant men's hockey coach instead of beloved Badger great Gary Shuchuck.

Kevin Patrick, a Notre Dame alum, was captain of the Irish for two years where he played with Mark Osiecki's (another Badger hockey assistant) little brother.

My disappointment is mostly selfish, since it is looking like my family will be involved in Badger hockey on a greater level come the fall (can you say early commit?) and I wanted to meet Schu. He was the first Great player I remember watching, with Sean Hill of course. Also, I think Badger hockey is an incredibly tight family and it would have been nice to keep Shuchuck in the fold, paving the way for his ascension to atop the bench.

Offbeat Baseball

Just trying to spread out the love a little bit and let everyone know the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League, have fought their way into the NWL Championship Series for the second consecutive year after winning it all last year.

This team is pretty fun to watch, the best way I can describe it is somewhere between Legion Ball and Low Class A. If anyone knows Green Bay Gamblers hockey, that is basically the level of the Mallards. My cousins play Legion Ball so I am in the middle of the state every once in awhile watching ballgames, and went to a Mallards game a few months ago. They had some kid from DeForest on the mound and he was twirling.

Anyway, congrats Mallards.

NCAA ends anti-trust suit by purchasing competition.

Did this really happen? Can this really happen? If you recall, the NIT was suing the NCAA for anti-competitive practices because the NCAA has a rule that requires member schools to enter the NCAA tournament if they are invited.

So what do you do if you're accused of anti-competitive practices? Eliminate the competition!

The N.C.A.A. settled an antitrust suit yesterday by buying the preseason and postseason National Invitation tournaments for $56.5 million. As part of the settlement, the semifinal and final games of the N.I.T. events will continue to be played in Madison Square Garden for at least the next five years.

The suit had been brought by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association, which is made up of five New York City universities: St. John's, Manhattan, Fordham, New York University and Wagner. All five are N.C.A.A. members. The metropolitan association, which owns the N.I.T., had accused the N.C.A.A. of trying to kill its tournaments.

For two weeks, a federal jury in Manhattan had heard the N.I.T.'s case. In his opening arguments, Jeffrey Kessler, the N.I.T. lawyer, said the N.C.A.A. "deliberately set out to get a monopoly, to eliminate competition, to make it impossible to compete."

At a news conference yesterday at the Garden, Myles Brand, the N.C.A.A. president, and John Sexton, the president of N.Y.U. and spokesman for the metropolitan association, acted like old buddies. (Actually, both were reared in Brooklyn.)

"We've resolved all our differences," Brand said.

Sexton called the agreement "a victory without defeat" and said it would make for a stronger N.I.T.

Of course, when there is competition, "victory without defeat" is tough to come by.


Update: From The Sports Law Blog:

The settlement described above proves to be more of a sale agreement: the NCAA has purchased the NIT for $41 million, along with furnishing a $16 million pay-out in order to end the litigation. Thus, any potential rivalry by the NIT is eliminated. This outcome, of course, contradicts everything the NIT had claimed to be fighting for -- namely, becoming a legitimate rival to the monopolistic NCAA (which, with its purchase of the NIT, becomes a true monopoly). Instead, the NIT has sold itself out, and allowed the NCAA to not only continue, but expand the very practices that the NIT had claimed were deleterious to basketball fans.

Indeed.

Fielder Back Up

Hmm, I don't know about having a free swinging rook hit against Clemens (at least we get him at home, where his ERA is over 3 I believe) and Pettite but what the hell, a power bat is a power bat I guess and he sure showed that he has what it takes to pinch hit.

In the same Journal article, Drew Olson lists seven ballplayers that were pulled off waivers, but doesn't say anything about Ohka. Personally, I'll trust the Hall of Famer Peter Gammons.

Cappy a one man wrecking crew

As ESK said throwing a shut out when your pitching on the Moon aka Coors field is very impressive. Nice series come back and win last two games after Sheets got shelled shows some of that character they have been showing all year. I was surprised by how little offense they were able to generate in Series I believe only 2 home runs in three games. Cappy hit was 4th game in a row the starting pitchers have gotten a hit. Bill and Darron brought that up last night how the pitchers having to hit makes the NL a better brand of Baseball, They didn't use better but I will I believe NL baseball is a "True" version of the game. But that is a whole other post.

Toma vs the Rocket tonight, just keep us in it till they have to go to the bull pen Toma that is the only way to beat the Rocket this year.

As for the Phillys I don't think they can survive their September schedule. The have a tough month Atlanta twice, Marlins twice, Nats Twice and they have to play single series against the Mets and the Reds. My hope is that if the Crew is in the wild card hunt the eastern teams will be killing each other off.

Oh final thought 2nd inning 2 on no outs, My boy Russell Branyon once again struck out with men on base. Brewers got lucky strike 3 was wild pitch/passed ball and runners still advanced. Here is a question RB did run to first and beat throw but they said because there was already a runner on first he couldn't take the base.???????? Why not dropped strike 3 is a dropped strike 3 isn't it. They also said but if there had been 2 outs he could have run.

Oh Russell had two strikes outs last night now has 67 K's in 67 games still on one per game pace.

Regards
GBfan

Way To Go Cappy

Kinda wish he would have saved this outing for Houston but every win now is important. Shutout in Colorado is pretty damn impressive.
On a side note the Phillies fans in the area are beginning to crow about their wild card chances.
Can't blame 'em though they single handedly brought Houston back to the pack. And now Wash.
Oh yea and this from the houston chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bb/astros/3313816) yesterday.
IF Ohka pitches well, he may be worth something on the market (as noted by E.S.K.) and that trade should be made immediately.

I am not ready to call it a Flog yet

Darron Sutton of the Brewers/FSN has a blog, I am a bit prejudice because its a fancy MLB set up for him blog. Come on even Michelle Malkin started from scratch lol.

Here's the link let me know what you think. I actually like the Guy ( I think me and his father are the only ones who like him in Milwaukee) but he was in a tough spot following Matt V. I was never a pitcher and I think he does a good job of breaking down the mechanics of pitching. I like Darron and Bill they are no Hawk and Wimpy from my days watching the White Soxs in Valpo but I guess we could do worse. Next season I am going to spring for MLB extra innings on DTV and I will be able to compare them to other broadcast teams around baseball. Another strike against them is TMJ has such a strong radio broadcast team with Uke that half of the Milwaukee fans are watching game on TV with the sound off anyway.

Lots of good JU JU to Cappy tonight.

Regards
GBfan

Bloop and a blast...

"Get out the rye bread and mustard Grandma, it's grand salami time!"

-Dave Niehaus

Adrian Beltre just smoked a Grand Slam off Carasco in the bottom of the first and things do not look good for 'ol KC.

That was the first time I have ever heard the famous Niehaus grand slam call live, and I actually got chills. What a sweet experience. Thanks Carasco, I'll buy you a beer next time you change my twenty at a 7-11.


UPDATE: 6-0, and Carasco pitched 3 full innings, gave up a few hits in the fourth and is now hitting the perverbial showers, except in this case they are the actual showers.

Bottom 4: 6-0, #18 seems a lock. Congrats KC.

Take the Aint's, Quick!

Jim Haslett is going to try and add to the myth that Aaron Brooks is a good quarterback by letting the starters play for THREE quarters in tomorrows preseason game. Right now the line is around Saints +3.5 but will probably move closer to 1.5 or 2 before kick-off.

Assuming the Patriots use the traditional cut week strategy of playing starters for a quarter and a half, Saints fans could get all giddy over Brooks again, like some nameless folks are giddy about Nall and Jim Sorgi (Jim freaking Sorgi for Chrissakes?!?)

Take the favorites at the earliest line you can find assuming you can get in while still getting 2.

Gimmes

Badger Hockey great Curtis Joseph heads to Pheonix, just like every other Wisconsonite I know.

Royals go for 18(!) at 3:35, see if the two pitchers (Carrasco v Moyer) fastest pitches add up to 100mph.

Jay Mohr pounds the NCAA

Jeb Bush pounds the NCAA

Aaron Rodgers is the 10th best QB under 25.

Vikings suck so bad they use FANS in their drills (this is actually a pretty cool thing to do).

NYTimes has a piece on steroids (steroids, in baseball? who knew! The Times always breaking the news)...Surprisingly, Ben Sheets is quoted! I can't believe the uppity bastards in New York know where Milwaukee is.

Peter Gammons: Waiver Clears

Peter Gammons (requires Insider) lists the players who cleared waivers the past week, and yes, there are some Brewers on the list.

Waiver clears are something of a joke, as most players who go on waivers will not be traded anyway, it is more of an interest gauge. For example, Ben Sheets and Rickie Weeks both cleared waivers, don't look for them to be clearing out of Milwaukee anytime soon.

Doug Davis, Matt Wise and Russell Branyan were claimed, so the Brewers withdrew them.

In what could be interesting should he continue to pitch servicably well, Tomo Ohka did clear waivers and is tradable. Does it mean they are looking to trade him, no, but it does mean the option is now available come the last month of the season when the Brewers are audtioning Hendrickson and sitting Ohka and others while other teams are looking for starter to get them through the stretch.

Just something to think about.

Good News From the Sally Leagues

Ryan Braun is on fire right now. Not only is he playing solid ball for Low A (Sally League) West Virginia but he has cracked the top ten on the Baseball America "Prospect Hot Sheet."

Since batting .161 in his first eight Sally League games, Braun has hit .410-7-25 in 25 games for the Power, including a .462 mark (12-for-26) with runners on and two out.

Want some more minor league fun? Check out John Sickels Prospect Retro on baseballs version of Tony Mandrich, Todd Van Poppel (who incidentally was the first "sure-fire Hall of Famer" of my childhood).

TO: "I love me some me!"

TO is back in camp, and Sal Pal has a massive hard-on. He is finally doing what he gets paid to do, manshadow Terrel Owens. Hit the link and watch the breathless reporting by the only reporter in the same league as Pedro Gomez. (Seriously, those two need to get a life).

Terrell Owens returned to practice with the Eagles on Wednesday, one week after he was dismissed from camp following a heated dispute with coach Andy Reid.

Owens, again wearing camouflage and listening to oversized headphones, arrived at Philadelphia's practice facility at 7:27 a.m. He was greeted by several dozen fans, some holding signs, including one that read "TO must go."

Owens jogged onto the practice field shortly before the morning session began at 8:45. He ran routes and caught passes with other receivers in the early part of practice.

I think Andy Reed should drop a cool ten large on Brian Dawkins to snap TO's leg in half.





UPDATE: Dicky V (yes, Dick Vitale) tears into T.O. on the Mike and Mike show. It's really fantastic. He calls him among other things selfish, a disgrace, a "little boy", and a major major dilemma. He also assures us that "the game of football will go on without T.O. many greater players have come and gone before him and football has remained."

Mike Ditka got into the act yesterday, a really great interview: "they don'trespect the game of football, and the game of football deserves respect." The Coach would "metriculate down the highway." Ditka also goes after Rosenhaus, which is nice to hear.