We're going to a Badgers game, We're going to a Badgers game, We'regoingtoabadgersgame!!!!

I'm quite happy to announce that despite my Labor Day weekend plans being washed away by the rains of the past week, I have managed to piece together quite a terrific (and sportsrific) weekend.

Tomorrow I'll be in Madison, sunning myself at the Badger football game. Sure, it's just Washington State. But since I paid about $15 a ticket, I'd watch them play the Sisters of the Poor if it meant I got to spend my afternoon in Madison and at Camp Randall.

Sadly, Sunday is family day. I don't want to talk about this, I'm in denial.

But Monday, I'll be cheering on the pathetically ailing Brewers. This is much more about being with my boyfriend, being out of the house and tailgating than it is about the Crew.

Pics to follow next week..

CuteSports Heaven!

It's football season, it's football season!

Sure, part of what I'm excited about tonight is a Packer pre-season game (but mostly just because my brother is there and 5 rows up from the Packers bench), but what makes tonight so special is the LSU game.

College football is about to begin, people, and I couldn't be happier. Enough of the pre-season tease. Most definitely enough of ESPN's 25 hours of leadup coverage.

Bring on the Tigers baby!!!!


















And to complete the trifecta, tonight the Brewers will be playing the rubber match against the Cubs. This is MUST WIN for the crew. Manny Parra, who has just one major league start, takes the mound for the Brewers.

My channel changing finger is going to be mighty tired by tomorrow!

Homesick

I've had a really rough day and talking about New Orleans is only going to make me cry more, so I'm keeping this short and sweet.

Today's the 2nd anniversary of Katrina and I just wanted to put some love out there for my adopted home.

My (very scary) first foray into Fantasy Football

Another writer at the newspaper I freelance with "challenged" me to join his fantasy football league. There's a lot of pressure, since I'm the only sports writer. Also, I think I'm the only girl in the league.

Here's my team:

QB Drew Brees
RB Laurence Maroney
RB Cadillac Williams
WR Reggie Wayne
WR TJ Houshmandzadeh
WR Julius Jones
TE Tony Gonzalez
K Adam Vinatieri
Ravens Defense

and my bench:

Braylon Edwards
Jon Kitna
Devery Henderson
Heath Miller
Anthony Thomas
Jeff Wilkins
Najeh Davenport
Rex Grossman

I'll be awaiting all jokes, comments and razzes

Brewers need some mojo...

Tonight they face Brandon Webb, last year's Cy Young winner who has pitched 42 scoreless innings - including back-to-back-to-back complete game shutouts.

Tyler Donovan to start at QB for Wisconsin on Sept. 1

ESPN.com is reporting Donovan as the starter based on the two-deep depth chart the Bret Bielema released today. Bielema had said he would name the starter this far in advance so whomever was picked would know and be able to prepare.

The whole two-deep chart looks like this:

Offense

QUARTERBACK
12 Tyler Donovan, Sr., 6-1, 185
4 Allan Evridge, Jr., 6-2, 226

TAILBACK
39 P.J. Hill, So., 5-11, 227
5 Lance Smith, So., 5-10, 203

FULLBACK
44 Chris Pressley, Jr., 6-1, 259
34 Bill Rentmeester, Jr., 6-1, 246

TIGHT END (H-BACK)
9 Travis Beckum, Jr., 6-4, 224
89 Garrett Graham, So., 6-4, 227

TIGHT END
43 Andy Crooks, Sr., 6-3, 269
36 Mickey Turner, So., 6-4, 237

WIDE RECEIVER
1 Luke Swan, Sr., 6-1, 190
2 Xavier Harris, So., 5-11, 175

WIDE RECEIVER
19 Paul Hubbard, Sr., 6-4, 213
14 Kyle Jefferson, Fr., 6-5, 195

LEFT TACKLE
68 Gabe Carimi, Fr., 6-8, 292
64 Danny Kaye, Sr., 6-8, 323

LEFT GUARD
75 Andy Kemp, Jr., 6-6, 324
74 John Moffitt, Fr., 6-4, 307

CENTER
65 Marcus Coleman, Sr., 6-6, 295
64 Danny Kaye, Sr., 6-8, 323 OR
58 Brad Thorson, Fr., 6-4, 287

RIGHT GUARD
63 Kraig Urbik, Jr., 6-6, 332
76 Bill Nagy, Fr., 6-4, 292

RIGHT TACKLE
71 Eric Vanden Heuvel, Jr., 6-7, 325
78 Jake Bscherer, So., 6-7, 297

Defense

LEFT END
5 Jamal Cooper, Sr., 6-4, 214
34 Kurt Ware, Sr., 6-4, 268

LEFT TACKLE
91 Jason Chapman, Jr., 6-4, 285 OR
54 Mike Newkirk, Jr., 6-3, 268
79 Jeff Stehle, So., 6-6, 297

RIGHT TACKLE
96 Nick Hayden, Sr., 6-5, 301 OR
54 Mike Newkirk, Jr., 6-3, 268
59 Brandon Hoey, Fr., 6-5, 292

RIGHT END
92 Matt Shaughnessy, Jr., 6-6, 247
99 Kirk DeCremer, Fr., 6-5, 238

SAM LINEBACKER
11 DeAndre Levy, Jr., 6-3, 230
27 Blake Sorensen, Fr., 6-1, 204

MIKE LINEBACKER
52 Elijah Hodge, So., 6-1, 235
15 Culmer St. Jean, Fr., 6-1, 226

WILL LINEBACKER
2 Jonathan Casillas, Jr., 6-2, 220
47 Jaevery McFadden, So., 6-2, 225

LEFT CORNERBACK
17 Allen Langford, Jr., 5-11, 197
7 Aaron Henry, Fr., 6-0, 169 OR
28 Josh Nettles, So., 5-10, 179

STRONG SAFETY
8 Aubrey Pleasant, So., 6-1, 194
26 Jay Valai, Fr., 5-9, 191

FREE SAFETY
25 Shane Carter, So., 6-2, 206
21 Kim Royston, So., 5-11, 185

RIGHT CORNERBACK
6 Jack Ikegwuonu, Jr., 6-1, 193
3 Ben Strickland, Sr., 5-9, 172

Special Teams

PUNTER
94 Ken DeBauche, Sr., 6-2, 214
97 Paul Standring, Sr., 6-1, 212

KICKER
10 Taylor Mehlhaff, Sr., 5-11, 184
96 Matt Fischer, So., 5-11, 181

PUNT RETURNER
1 Luke Swan, Sr., 6-1, 190
85 David Gilreath, Fr., 5-11, 160

KICK RETURNERS
28 Josh Nettles, So., 5-10, 179
85 David Gilreath, Fr., 5-11, 160

14 Kyle Jefferson, Fr., 6-5, 195
13 Marcus Randle El, Jr., 5-10, 193

Texas Rangers beat Baltimore Orioles 30-3

When the Baltimore Orioles led the game 3-0 in the 3rd, I'm sure they were thinking they were on their way to a win.

The Rangers had other plans.

Scoring five runs in the fourth, nine in the sixth, 10 in the eighth and six in the ninth, the Rangers scored the most runs in a game since Chicago set the major league record in a 36-7 rout of Louisville in a National League game on June 28, 1897.

The game was the first in a doubleheader and set a record for the number of runs scored in a two-gamer ----- before the second game was even played.

The Rangers hit 2 grand slams and two players(the bottom two players in the lineup, no less) with two home runs each.

Full story here.

Hmmm, what shall I do today? Apply for Medicare or play D3 football?

Mike Flynt, 59, made the Sul Ross State football team today. Neither the NCAA or NAIA keep track of the age of their players, but it's generally accepted that he could be the oldest man ever to play college football.

A strength and conditioning coach as well as creator of the Powerbase training system, Flynt is in better shape than anyone reading this. Read the whole story here.

Ladies and Gentlemen - Gabe Gross

Since being sent down to the minors, Gabe Gross is hitting in the neighborhood of .400 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs.

Including last night's game-changing grandslam in the 7th inning.

When he came to bat we were told the surprising stat that he is .455 (5 for 11) with the bases loaded with 1 HR and 14 RBI in his career.

Congratulations Gabe, especially since newly called up Scott McClung came in in the 9th and gave up 2 runs. The score was tied 2-2 heading into the 7th inning, but Gross' slam blew open the game, allowing Ned Yost to bring McClung in for his first chance when it didn't matter. McClung notched 2 outs, but couldn't finish out the inning. Francisco Cordero came in to finish out the game.

J.J. Hardy was 3-for-4 with a run-scoring single and Rickie Weeks added an RBI triple for the Brewers, who have won four of five on the road.

And actually, my favorite state of the night is noting that we were 5 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Also, that we're 5-1 against Arizona this year.

People, there still may be some hope.

The win is all the sweeter when you realize that both Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun were 0-4 for the evening. And people, this is not bad news. Our team has more than relied on these two and it was nice to see that we are capable of rallying in other ways to bring home a win.

Do you remember...?

Brewers fans, do you remember Jeff Cirillo - constant pinch-hitter/old man with bad knees? Last off-season we traded him to Minnesota where he promptly messed up his knees more and ended up on the DL. I'd missed it, but apparently he was picked up off of waivers by the Diamondbacks and last night he pitched a (yes, that's PITCHED) an inning Derrick Turnbow and Matt Wise would be jealous of.

Rillo pitched a scoreless ninth inning, giving up two walks and striking out Craig Counsell. Don't think Craig won't get razzed for that for weeks to come.

_____





In a completely unrelated story (but any excuse to post a pic of him), J.J. Hardy is batting an astonishing .433 when he hits from the 8 hole. I'm pretty sure this over 11 or 12 games, but don't quote me. Unreal. Apparently Ned has some aces up his sleeve this season.

The Brewers won one! and also, it appears the Packers might not suck

Now neither of these two stories should lead you to get your hopes up in any manner, but something's better than nothing.

The Brewers absolutely railed upon the Diamondbacks last night and it gave me great hope. Everyone has said that this road trip is the true test and is pretty much make-or-break for the Crew. Former Brewer Doug Davis lasted just 2 innings and the Brewers won 9-0. It was nice to see a rally and to see us post runs in multiple innings. Last night's recap here.

Also, the Packers absolutely cruised Saturday night beating Seattle 48-13. Sure, it's only the preseason, but the team looked vrrrrrrry nice. We had acorbatic catches, we had sacks, we had interceptions. I'm not getting too excited (stupid Brewers taught me what a bad idea that is) but I have way more hope for this season than I did Saturday morning. Recap.

3rd Brewer Block Party

Bill Hall right after answering a fan's question as to whether or not he was married and showing the left hand to prove it. Apologies to the boyfriend, but if Bill bought me earrings anywhere as big as the ones he himself had on, I'd be all over it.... Besides, he's a total cutie. It doesn't come across during games, but his smile lights up the area.







Every time I tried to take a pic of Ryan Braun he was speaking and frankly, this was the only one that was even remotely flattering. Admittedly, he's cuter in person, but not so much so as to justify the mid-to-late 30s woman near me who was ready to shove the police out of the way for a good pic of him.








Jeff Suppan and Geoff Jenkins showing off their laugh lines (and bald spot) *cough,cough* um, I mean, their spry, youthful selves








We stood in Jeff Suppan's line and I have to say I was way impressed. I've always known he had the mom appeal, but he seemed just genuinely nice, even asking the little boy in front of us about the Saturday morning cartoons he'd missed to come see the Brewers and quoting SpongeBob.









Damian Miller was much nicer looking (both "nicer" as in attractive and "nicer" as in attitude) than this picture implies. However, it's the only I seem to have of Damian, so...









Matt Wise reminds me of someone and I absolutely cannot place it and it's driving me nuts. Other than that, you all should be proud of me for the restraint I showed in not saying anything to him.











Geoff Jenkins, looking grayer and more like Brett Favre every day. Also, I refrained from calling him "Junkins." The restraint I showed that day was unprecedented!




Ben Sheets looked the most in need of the Starbucks the guys all walked up carrying. He didn't seem unfriendly, just totally unawake. However, I'm happy to report his Baton Rouge drawl comes across no matter his state of consciousness. (However, I'm confused about having your injured ace sign 100 autographs with his injured finger. Seems not so well thought out...)





And finally, a Polish Sausage on a swing.

Welcome to the game Geoff Jenkins...

It's actually nothing new for Geoff Jenkins to get hot as the season winds down. Normally, this makes everyone really, really bitter because he usually manages to get hot about 2 games after we're mathematically eliminated, thus making it completely unnecessary and wholly useless for us.
This year, Junkins, as I like to call him (special thanks to some drunk guys at a game a few weeks ago for passing on this nickname), has hit his stride exactly when we needed it most. Of course, the rest of the team is slumping, but hey, how much can you ask for, right?

He's hit more homeruns in the past 2 weeks than he hit the rest of the season.

So go ahead Junkins, prove me wrong. Every time you do well, everyone who knows my vocal and well-publicized dislike of you rubs it in my face. But it's well worth it if you make yourself worth while.

Wisconsin football

I've been so wrapped up in the Brewers that I've all but abandoned the upcoming football season.

But no longer. There's a lot going on in preseason for the Badgers. I'll get more in depth in another post, but first let's do some quick hits.

*Sophomore Garret Graham got a chance at some playing time at TE this week when Travis Beckum sat out and took advantage of the opportunity. Apparenlty Graham made some rather spectacular catches, prompting Bret Bielema to look at Beckum and say "Travis who?"

With his speed (4.68 in the 40) Graham looks to be a serious alternative to Beckum, who will get some serious defensive attention.

* Many people forget that Travis Beckum had a breakout year last year not because of his numbers ( 61 passes for 903 yards), but because until last season, he was a linebacker, then a defensive end. This article talks about that switch, as well as many others.

*This is a must-read. It's Madison.com's daily UW camp blog. Lots of great details here - from which guys leave plays with injuries to who has the best catch and best hit. Great stuff.

*This is from one of the student papers, The Badger Herald, discussing the team's transition from dark horse to having a target on their back.

*The Sporting News' preview article

*SI.com's feature on P.J. Hill, discussing his smaller frame (down 16 lbs.) and how he can avoid being worn down by the end of the season (you know, not running into - and over - people so much) that feature's this sentence: "Following that 12-1 campaign in Bielema's rookie year as head coach, the Badgers are viewed as darkhorse national title contenders with a few glaring questions on offense..." Well, OK THEN!

Also, make sure you read the 2nd page of the article for 3 observations on the season - including the QB contest.

Make sure you read the 3rd page for some interesting tidbits and discussion of last year's abysmal punt/kickoff team.

*This article from the Chicago Tribune website is from a series profiling all the Big Ten teams. It makes two interesting points early on:

" Tailback P.J. Hill's only other scholarship offers came from Indiana, Syracuse, Vanderbilt and Buffalo.

Linebacker Jonathan Casillas chose Wisconsin over Connecticut.

Receiver Luke Swan walked on after playing his high school ball in tiny Fennimore, Wis. The recruiting site Rivals.com gave him one star, its lowest designation."

and

" Just like the Badgers can play with anyone in the country. Over the last three seasons, only five teams—USC, Texas, Auburn, Boise State and Louisville—have more victories."

*ESPN.com's opening Power Rankings have Wisconsin at 10

*This article dismisses the preseason's big names and stories in favor of a few guys you haven't heard of, what he calls "Saturday's secret agents" - including Wisconsin WR Paul Hubbard

*BigTen-Fans.com has a full preview of each of the teams. Wisconsin's is here.

* Recruiting Planet's preview

*SIonCampus.com's Mascot Power Rankings have Bucky at 6. I personally think that's low. Can we BlogPoll this?

*This is Sunday Morning Quarterback's Big Ten Prediction. He has Wisconsin at 3 (or, you know, 2a. Basically, not one and somewhere between 2 and 4.)

Also...

A very interesting and thoroughly depressing stat that came out during last night's pre-game.

In innings 1-3, the Brewers run differential is +16.

In innings 4-6, the Brewers run differential is +16.

In innings 7-9, the Brewers run differential is -44!!!

And in extra innings, the run differential is +7

Because worrying about the Cubs wasn't giving me enough of a heart attack..

The Cardinals are now 3.5 games back after the Brewers' abysmal performance the past two days.

The Cubs are winning 7-6 over Cincinnati after a rain delay. Should they win we'll be just a 1/2 game ahead of them.

To top things off, Prince Fielder received a three-game suspension today for his scuffle with the ump in Sunday's game. He will, of course, appeal and likely get the sentence lessened. (P.S. - when Prince got hit in the head earlier in the season, the opposing pitcher got a 1 game suspension.)

Some interesting facts from today's jsonline:

The loss was the Brewers third straight overall and also their third straight at Miller Park, where they fell to 39-22. The last time the Brewers lost three straight at home was from April 4-7 when they lost the last game of the opening series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the first two games of the next series to the Chicago Cubs.

For much of the season the Brewers held the best home record in baseball. Now they have the third-best home record. The three straight losses at home
Joe Dillon is now 8 for 12 with two triples since being called up Aug. 1.

Since their 24-10 start vaulted them to the top of the NL Central, the Brewers have gone 38-48 over the next 86 games.

...

I'm trying so hard not to be a doubting Thomas or Nervous Nancy or whatever other cliched euphemism you want to use which maintaining a reasonable sense of whether or not we're going to blow this thing.

It's so easy to be down on this team right now and there are so clearly a ridiculous number of question marks on the pitching staff alone - but I've been following this team all season and I've yet to just completely give up. I'm well aware that we're so far down the "same old Brewers" path that we can barely see the starting gate, so don't think I'm completely delusional. Maybe I'm a homer, but I can't give up on this season yet. This is the most exciting a season I've ever experienced. Football starts soon and so far I haven't been able to care, so wrapped up in the Brewer's have I been. Maybe it's that I don't want to fail because I've got so much invested in this season. Only time will tell.



Coming Friday ... some football! Wisconsin's fairly universally ranked in the Top Ten preseason. Are we being over hyped and set up for more disappointment or is this team really going to make a run for the Big Ten title. We'll take a look this weekend...

Brewers/Cards Suds Series Rematch

I'll come back tonight with more on the game, but for now I'm starting with the absolutely killer throwbacks that were worn.

Paul over at UniWatch used a bunch of my photos, but you can check my full gallery here.

Milwaukee Loves Brad "Lights Out" Lidge

This is what Brad looked like (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) after he gave up back-to-back home runs in the top of the 9th last night to lose 7-4 to the Brewers. Ryan Braun hit a 3-run home run and immediately thereafter Prince Fielder hit his 36th of the year.













This is a picture of what the Astros fans looked like (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) when "Lights Out" was called in to "save" the game. And then promptly didn't.






Also, at the time of publishing, the Cubs were losing to the Rockies 11-2. From what I've seen on gamecasts, the Rockies have scored 9 unanswered runs and most of them have been with 2 outs.

Finally, prior to today's game Ryan Braun had 279 at bats. To qualify for the batting title you multiple the number of games your team played by 3.1 and that's the number of at-bats you need to have. That means for the season a player needs 502 at-bats. *That means Braun needs 5 at-bats per game for the next 47 games in order to qualify. Of course, he's hitting .344, which is higher than the current qualified leader. So good luck Ryan.

*(at least, this is how I understand it to be)

Holy Crap it's football season

So here's the thing. Normally I'm counting until the days until football season because the baseball season has been interminable. Normally, the Brewers stink and are already mathematically eliminated.

But of course, that's not the case this year. So though I had heard talk of the Hall of Fame game, and though I know I watched the first preseason game at WI State Fair last year, and ostensibly I knew tonight I'd be toggling between the Brewers game and the Packers game, there's just something crazy surreal about watching the Pack.

Of course, we've been in this season for an hour and already I'm hanging my head and worrying!!!

Well, it could be worse....

I refuse to talk about yesterday's debacle. Yesterday's game was The Game That Shall Not Be Named (TGTSNBN). However, in that game, early on Tony Graffanino lept to nab a ball and landed awkwardly. That awkward landing left him with a torn ACL and out for the rest of the season:

THURSDAY, Aug. 9, 2007, 4:29 p.m.By Rick Braun

Graffanino has torn ACL

Milwaukee Brewers infielder Tony Graffanino has a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will be lost for the remainder of the season, tests performed today showed.

The Brewers have recalled second baseman Rickie Weeks from Class AAA Nashville. Weeks will join the Brewers in Houston Friday in time for the game against the Astros.

Graffanino suffered the injury when he landed awkwardly in the first inning Wednesday after jumping to catch a line drive off the bat of Colorado's Brad Hawpe.Weeks was hitting .455 (10 for 22) with Nashville after being sent down to get his hitting stroke back in order. He batted just .212 in 75 games with the Brewers and hasn't homered since April 25 in a game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

After a slow start, Graffanino came on offensively in June and July. But he slumped to just eight hits in his last 46 at bats and was hitting .238 with nine homers and 30 RBI. His nine homers is a career high.

...

I'd also like to point out that the Yankees lost to Toronoto 14-4 yesterday, so we're not the only ones who lost really, really badly. So there.

New website find...

Check out Kickette, a british footie blog that focuses a bit more on the hotties and a bit less on the game.

It's like Ladies... but for soccer!

Lance Smith reinstated to football team

He had been suspended for breaking the UW Department of Athletics’ Student-Athlete Discipline Policy, supposedly after an altercation with his girlfriend.

Good news for us...

Torn quad lands Cubs' Soriano on DL

HOUSTON (AP) - Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano went on the 15-day disabled list Monday, a day after tearing his right quadriceps while running the bases against the New York Mets.

Soriano is expected to miss 2-to-4 weeks. He had an MRI exam Sunday night and did not travel with the Cubs to Houston.

"The latest from the MRI was that there is a small tear in the quad," manager Lou Piniella said before Monday night's game against Houston. "It's about one centimeter. We think he'll be out four to six weeks. We think it will be around Labor Day. We were expecting this. It could have been worse."

Chicago purchased the contract of infielder Eric Patterson from Triple-A Iowa to fill Soriano's roster spot.

Piniella said Soriano wasn't to blame for the injury.

"He does as good a job of stretching as anybody," Piniella said. "It just happened."

Soriano, who signed a $136 million, eight-year contract, is hitting .297 with 18 homers and 42 RBIs.
"It's a loss," Piniella said. "We're going to have to step up. We have a very young club. We'll just see how they respond."

Patterson was batting .299 with 23 doubles, six triples, 14 home runs and 62 RBIs at Iowa. The left-handed hitter, a Pacific Coast League All-Star last season, is the brother of Corey Patterson, who played for the Cubs from 2000-05.

Chicago also put right-hander Wade Miller on unconditional release waivers and designated infielder Brian Dopirak for assignment.

I loathe Matt Wise

and to a lesser extent, Ned Yost for putting Matt Wise into the game.

In case you missed it, the Brewers blew 6-1 lead in the top of the 9th and went on to lose 8-6 in extra innings.

The bullpen manufactured their most spectacular collapse this season - which, considering their performance this season, is saying something.

Scott Linebrink entered the game in the top of the 8th after Carlos Villanueva had runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Linebrink proceeded to strike out the side. His spot in the rotation came up, so we pinch hit (with a 5 run lead) - got nowhere and sent MATT FREAKIN' WISE in to close out the game.

You know, the Matt Wise that in his appearance in Tuesday's game threw 10 straight balls before Yost finally pulled him out of the game.

My question here is this: WHY PULL LINEBRINK?! We've heard since just before the trade deadline how tired our bullpen is. The man has been off all week attending the birth of his child. He's as fresh as they get. We don't need a hit. Put him at the plate and send him back out for the 9th.

Even if the argument can be made against this idea in principle, you cannot successfully argue to me that the better option was pinch hitting (for an out) and then sending Matt Wise out there.

Let's take out the guy who just pitched lights out to get you out of a jam in favor of the guy who's done nothing but put us in jams. WHERE IS THE LOGIC IN THIS?!

Finally, using everyone except Chris Spurling in this game before we go on a road-trip didn't exactly seem to solve the problem of a tired bullpen. As our bullpen blew 4 late-inning leads in seven tries on the last road trip, this seems like the most illogical thing Yost could have done.

In light of resting more guys and Wise's extreme suckage, I just cannot wrap my head around taking Linebrink out of today's game.

Article here.

Holy Crap, Corey Hart!

So the Brewers were down 5-1 to the Phillies tonight (who had Cole Hamels on the mound) when we put up a 3 spot in the 6th inning, to make it a 5-4 game via RBIs by Hardy and Fielder.
Then, in the 8th, Prince rips a 2-run homer to take the lead.

We head to the top of the 9th and Tadahito Iguchi nails one to right field. It's gone for sure when Corey Hart makes the most inelegant leap to steal the ball back over the fence and save the game-tying home run from clearing the park.

Watch both the home run and Corey's Web Gem of the night catch here

The come-from-behind win is something the Brewers have not so much mastered this year. I was certainly not the only one who thought the game was over when the Phillies went up 5-1 and knew we were facing the unflappable Hamels.



Over the TV you could hear the absolute roar of the crowd when Prince hit the go-ahead home run.

Ned Yost thought it was spectacular too: "Brewers manager Ned Yost usually doesn't even know the crowd exists when his mind is churning during a game.

But he simply had to pause when he heard what he thought was Miller Park's loudest ovation of the year as Prince Fielder trotted around the bases in the eighth inning of Saturday evening's contest.

"It brought goosebumps on your arms," Yost said. "You know what, I had to stop for a second, because I really wanted to stop and listen to it. It was really kind of neat."
...

"I'd have a hard time thinking back this year for a more exciting win," Yost said. "Our guys, you could see they were staying after it. They had a lot of intensity. They had a lot of fire in their eyes.

"It's hard to have a good feeling when Cole Hamels is on the mound, but you still kind of had a bit of a good feeling."
(from MilwaukeeBrewers.com)

Also from that article:

Hart's catch helped Francisco Cordero record his Major League-leading 34th save and left the closer wondering how he could possibly repay him.

"He's got some good jewelry," the 6-foot-6 Hart said, grinning. "If I'm 5-8, I don't think I get that ball. I'm good for something, I guess -- my height."

Aw Corey, we think you're good for somethings - like crazy facial hair, wearing high socks and hitting streaks!!!

I looked everywhere for pictures of Corey making the catch and even tried a screen grab of the video off of MLB.com, but no such luck.

USA Today Coaches' Poll ...

was released today.

Top 10 looks like this:

1. Southern California (45)
2. LSU (4)
3. Florida (9)
4. Texas
5. Michigan (2)
6. West Virginia
7. Wisconsin
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
10. Ohio State

Ok, as happy as I am that we went from unranked during last year's pre-season to #7 this pre-season, I still maintain that this is vastly overrating a completely untried team. (ok, maybe not completely, but you get the idea) We still haven't named a QB. I don't care that we're a run team, you still have to have a QB. In addition, we can't only hand off to P.J. Hill every down. And until a few weeks ago we had nice depth at tailback. The arrest of Lance Smith and the possible academic ineligibility of a big recruit, suddenly, if P.J. needs a break or gets injured (knock on wood) things could start to look a little bleak.

All I'm sayin' is that I've had more letdown that I can take this year with the Brewers, the last thing I need is more disappointment. I can't handle it!!

Sad times...

My alma mater cut the women's soccer program this week. Granted, we weren't any good, but I will admit to taking a little pride in saying I played college soccer.

Now the proof is gone!!

You're waking up this morning to your no-longer in first place Brewers

Thanks to the Cubs scoring a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth and the Brewers loss to the Mets, by a mere percentage point - good morning to your second place Brewers !

More Barry Bonds pics

Check them out on my Flickr page

Pics from St. Louis

My brother lives in Memphis, so for his birthday I got him tickets to the Brewers/Cardinals series this past weekend in St. Louis. Well, the game sucked, but he passed along a ton of pics:

Pics from St. Louis

My brother lives in Memphis, so for his birthday I got him tickets to the Brewers/Cardinals series this past weekend in St. Louis. Well, the game sucked, but he passed along a ton of pics: These are from batting practice...

Top D1 Programs of the last decade

ESPN.com's latest bid at extending the college football season as long as possible in either direction of the actual games being played was to rank the 119 D1 teams in terms of the last ten years.

Wisconsin game in a tie for 13th with Nebraska, just below Georgia and Virginia Tech and just above Auburn and Boise State.

There were some interesting tidbits thrown out here:

About Wisconsin: "Barry Alvarez built something out of nothing at Madison. Nice bookends: After consecutive Rose Bowl victories in the 1998 and 1999 seasons, the Badgers went 12-1 last season under first-year coach Bret Bielema."

Texas is the only team to win more games than the Broncos in the last 10 years.

Top 10:
1. USC
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan
7. Florida State
8. Miami
9. LSU
10. Tennessee

Brewers send down Weeks, bring up newbie Joe Dillon and Elmer Dessens

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WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1, 2007, 1:17 a.m.By Tom Haudricourt

Brewers send Weeks to Class AAA Nashville

The Brewers made a series of player moves after their 13-inning victory over the Mets Tuesday night, including sending slump-ridden second baseman Rickie Weeks to Class AAA Nashville.

The Brewers replaced Weeks on their roster with infielder/outfielder Joe Dillon, who was batting .317 at Nashville with team highs of 20 home runs and 73 RBI. Dillon, who will be 32 on Thursday, is a 10-year professional who has played only 27 games in the major leagues.

The Brewers also succesfully petitioned to place reliever Scott Linebrink on the bereavement list after his wife had a baby by Caesarean section on Tuesday. Linebrink, acquired from San Diego in a trade last week, probably will not rejoin the club before Friday.

To replace Linebrink in their weary bullpen, the Brewers recalled right-hander Elmer Dessens from his minor league rehabilitation assignment in Nashville. Dessens, who spent much of the season on the Brewers' disabled list with a shoulder strain, made three appearances for Nashville, going 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA (seven hits and two runs in 11 2/3 innings, with 10 strikeouts).

The Brewers decided they could wait no longer for Weeks to shake free from his season-long slump.

Weeks had surgery on his right wrist last August and experienced inflammation periodically, landing him on the DL for one three-week period.

But Weeks never could get going at the plate. He was batting .212 with five homers and 19 RBI in 75 games. Since coming off the DL on June 18, he was batting .156.Dillon is more of a corner infielder but the Brewers have veteran infielders Tony Graffanino and Craig Counsell to fill in at second base.

Brewers beat Mets in 13

And I was there!!!! Of course we stayed for all 13 innings. It's after midnight and I have to work tomorrow, so here's the Journal-Sentinel's write up so far...

TUESDAY, July 31, 2007, 11:31 p.m.

By Tom Haudricourt

Jenkins' homer in 13th beats Mets

The home magic returned for the Brewers tonight.

It just took awhile for it to show up.

Geoff Jenkins' two-run homer with no outs in the bottom of the 13th inning gave the Brewers a 4-2 victory over the New York Mets at Miller Park, allowing them to retain their one-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.

The Brewers are 37-17 at home, the best record in the majors.

A great play by Mets centerfielder Lastings Milledge denied the Brewers a victory in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and two down, Hall sent a fly into shallow right-center that Milledge grabbed with a diving effort just before it hit the ground.

Mets left-hander Tom Glavine turned in a strong outing and departed with a 2-1 lead but was denied his 300th career victory when his bullpen couldn't hold it. Glavine was seeking to become the 23rd pitcher to reach that plateau, 17 years to the day after Texas' Nolan Ryan accomplished the feat against the Brewers at County Stadium.

Glavine went six-plus innings, allowing two hits and one run, with five walks and two strikeouts. The Mets were still leading, 2-1, when the Brewers tied the score in the eighth inning.

J.J. Hardy led off with a bloop single to left off Aaron Heilman. Lefty Pedro Feliciano came on with one out to Prince Fielder but hit him with a pitch and was replaced by right-hander Guillermo Mota.

Bill Hall ripped Mota's first pitch into the leftfield corner and over the wall on one bounce for a ground-rule double that tied the score. Mota later escaped a bases loaded jam with an assist from home plate umpire Chad Fairchild, who didn't see a foul tip by Damian Miller hit the dirt and called him out on strikes for the second out.

Right-hander Jeff Suppan, who hadn't gone past the sixth inning since June 12 in Detroit, finally made it into the seventh. Suppan went 6 1/3 innings, allowing six hits, two walks and two runs.

The Mets scored both runs off Suppan in the sixth inning after Jose Reyes led off with a double. David Wright singled through a drawn-in infield to tie the game and Moises Alou later added a sacrifice fly.

Further damage was averted that inning when Shawn Green doubled but the relay home from second baseman Tony Graffanino got Delgado at the plate.