Saturday, September 29, 2007

Wisconsin Women's Hockey

This post is as much a reminder for myself as it is informative for you. I want to come back and do a much more in depth post, but for now I'll just link up.


The two-time defending National Champion Wisconsin Women's Hockey team has opened their season, picking up right where they left off.

They began the season ranked as the pre-season #1 for the third straight year. They received all 19 first place votes.

I absolutely didn't realize that they had started yet, so I'm way behind the times on getting the kickoff information to you.

from UWBadgers.com

Senior Emily Morris recorded a goal and three assists as the No. 1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to 28 games with an 11-0 victory over Union College Saturday night at Messa Rink.
...

The Badgers return to Madison to play host to Robert Morris Oct. 5-6 at the Kohl Center. Faceoff for both games is set for 7:07 p.m. Prior to Friday’s game, fans are invited to join the Badgers as they unveil their 2007 NCAA championship banner.

Saturday’s game will be the final portion of Wisconsin Hockey Night at the Rink, which also includes the first official men’s hockey practice of the season. Following practice, attendees can interact with the team during a casual, buffet-style dinner in the Nicholas Johnson Pavilion. At 6 p.m., Brian Posick, the “Voice of Badger Hockey”, will emcee a hockey season preview program featuring women’s head coach Mark Johnson, and men’s head coach Mike Eaves.



Also, Sara Bauer, who finished her career with UW last season, has been named one of 30 semifinalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Good luck Sara!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Prince Fielder for MVP

"There might not be a single other candidate whose fate is so intertwined with the fate of his team as the Prince of Milwaukee. "

I can't remember where I read this sentence (or a reasonable facsimilie thereof) a week or two ago, but I remember reading it as a negative on Prince's resume - that basically the reason Prince wouldn't get MVP is that the Brewers started to fall out of contention.

I'd like to argue that the fact that the Brewers fate is so closely tied to Prince is the reason he should be MVP. Not only should the MVP have the stats, but he has to be a guy that leads his team - a guy without whom the team would be struggling.

I'm not sure a better case can be made for a guy taking a team to the next level than with Prince and the Brewers.

Leads the league in: Home runs, slugging, at-bats per home run
Top five in: OPS, total bases, RBI runs created per 27 outs

This guy agrees with me.

Jayson Stark at ESPN.com has this to say:

Fielder Leads the league in: Home runs, extra-base hits (tied), slugging
Top five in: RBIs, intentional walksScoring position: 27 for 107, .252 (50 RBIs in 143 RISP plate appearances)

There might not be a single other candidate whose fate is so intertwined with the fate of his team as the Prince of Milwaukee. If the Brewers bumble out of this race, there are so many stellar candidates that voters could easily overlook Fielder's power numbers and focus on other stuff -- such as the fact that he has just 27 hits all year with men in scoring position. If the Brewers have a fun little comeback story in them, on the other hand, those same voters will focus on the fact that Fielder has a shot at Mark McGwire's all-time record for most homers by a 23-year-old (49). And that he's almost certainly going to break Robin Yount's record for most extra-base hits by a Brewer (82). And, maybe most importantly, that Fielder has grown into a formidable on-field and off-field presence on a team with very little postseason experience -- or experience, period. So it's a big, big month for this fellow -- and all his fellow Brew Crew-ers.

ESPN.com also has fan voting. Since midseason, Prince has been in first place all but two times, with David Wright taking the top spot those two weeks.

___

More thoughts on this later....

Prince hits # 50, kind of doesn't care

This article contains these rather telling remarks:

Prince Fielder didn't really want to keep his 50th home run ball as a souvenir.

The one he really wants is No. 52. And while he's at it, he wouldn't mind winning an MVP award - all in the name of sticking it to his estranged father. And he isn't kidding. "No," Fielder said. "That's serious."

Fielder's reaction to becoming the youngest player ever to hit 50 homers in a season - a feat he accomplished with two home runs in the Milwaukee Brewers' 9-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday - provided a telling glimpse into his fractured relationship with his father, former major leaguer Cecil Fielder.

Fielder said he wants to hit 52 homers in a season and win the MVP because his father never accomplished either. Doing that, Prince Fielder said, would "shut him up."

"That's why I'm so passionate about playing," Fielder said. "I don't mind them comparing me, but I'm totally a different player. Hopefully one day, whenever they mention my name, they won't have to mention his."

Monday, September 24, 2007

Funny stuff

Found this poem just now here, thought I'd pass it on.



The season is over, sad but true,
Ned Yost and his decisions killed our beloved Brew Crew.
Gone is the pennant, lost to the Cubs,
lost to some bitches who piss in big tubs.
Burned by our '06 all-star, broken by our fragile ace,
Buried by our big signings, who took the dough and put stand-ins in their place.
So we'll take our bright spots, our ROY and our MVP,
leave Ned at the bus station, and hire Joe Girardi,
Send Jenkins packing, let Estrada jog his fat-ass somewhere else,
We'll be back in '08 to take the NL Central Pennant, like a mafioso cartel.

It's official.
WE HAVE BEEN YOSTED.

However, the Pack doesn't suck

As I said in the previous post, I had low expectations out of the green and gold this season. I'm sure most Packer fans will agree with that sentiment.

No way did I (or anyone, really) expect us to open the season 3-0 (against 3 of last years playoff teams)

Nor did I think that the general agreement would be that the Packers will be NFC North champs.

Yet here we are, with what is without a doubt the worst rushing attack in the pros ... and we're 3-0. I'm certain there's no other 3-0 team out there that would feel they should throw on every down when it's 1st and goal from the one.

As this SI.com article states, the Packers are one of the great surprises to start the season.

""No one gave us a shot to be 3-0 right now,'' Favre told me Sunday evening, "including me.''

Let's start there, on the list of the things we never thought we'd see when the leaves started to turn:

1. Favre's under control, Green Bay's won seven in a row, and the Pack is one of five unbeaten teams in football. And there's that record thing. "Wow,'' Favre said an hour or so after the Packers beat the Chargers 31-24. "It's been a long time since we played a big game and we said 'wow' at the end.''

Favre turns 38 in two weeks, and it's like he can see the end of the line from here. He sounds so happy, so appreciative of having one last shot to be really good.

"I'm studying like I've never studied, preparing like I haven't prepared,'' he said. "The video guys have loaded all the tape on my computer, and I'm looking at it at home more than I ever have. This week, I was up 'til 11 o'clock working on the Chargers.''

His coaches told him last spring to be less Favrian, less daring, and he's doing that. Against the physically imposing Chargers, he had two negative plays -- two sacks, no interceptions -- while throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns.

"There may come a time when I think out of the box, but that time's not now because things are working too well,'' he said. "Now, dumping it off and letting guys run after the catch is working. It's great.''

As for tying Dan Marino's record of 420 touchdown passes, Favre was properly deferential to Marino on Sunday -- "I could throw for 600 and not be in his class," he said -- but he consistently lets it be known the numbers are fairly meaningless to him. He wants one more shot at January football.
"

So tired...

I'll be honest. The Brewers posts have been fewer and farther between lately because I'm just plain tired of saying the same thing. I'm tired of watching this team and I'm tired of waiting for that big thing to happen and always being let down.

Truth be told, I'm thrilled the roller coaster is over and I'm thrilled the Packers are over-acheiving. My expectations of the Packers are realy slim, so all of this winning is nothing but a bonus.

As for the Brewers, you're not needing to read here to see how they've spectacularly and miserably failed in the past week. We've lost 5 of 6 and we've lost 6 straight against the Cards, who come into Miller Park tonight.

So let's move forward. The brightest spot I've seen so far is the talk of buying out of Geoff Junkins' contract.

This article discusses how this is likely Jenkins' last home stand. However, it doesn't say much else.

This article looks at how GM Doug Melvin is hoping to get a longer contract on Francisco Cordero.

Flatliners

The Brewers finally gave up the ghost yesterday. There are 7 games left in the season and we're 3.5 games back. I'm calling it here. Yesterday was the official time of death.

I'm not sure anyone's particularly surprised, but I'm pretty disappointed.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Being a Brewer fan is torture

I've been agonizing for weeks and it turns out, I'm not alone. Two articles emerged yesterday, both equally capturing the pure agony and ecstasy of being a Brewers fan this season.

This one is from the Journal Sentinel and holds my favorite line of the two:

"You're barely savoring any of this. You hear the name Matt Wise and break into a cold sweat."

This one is from SI and opens with this paragraph:

"Here we are, 152 games into the Brewers' stomach-spinning ride of a season and I, for one, have a hard time figuring out what to make of this team. I know I'm not alone, either. A good portion of Milwaukee's baseball-loving populace wavers wildly between blind optimism about the Brew Crew's postseason possibilities and ready-to-leap desperation at their latest predicament. And that's just in the seventh inning of any given game."

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

More questionable bullpen decisions

"And the struggles continue for Matt Wise."

The sentence uttered by Brian Anderson as the winning run for the Astros crossed home plate in extra innings tonight illustrates quite plainly why the ball should never have been put in Matt Wise's hands in such a clutch situation.

The kid's had issues since he hit the batter and I can understand that he needs time to put that behind him, but the 10th inning in the second to last week of the season isn't the time for him to be figuring them out. Besides, I'm certain the statute of limitations on that excuse expired weeks ago. If, in fact, he is that messed up in his head about it - after this long, it's going to take more than a few "good" outings to right him. If he's messed up, that sucks - but let's get him the help he needs and let's not try and do it at the expense of the rest of the team.

I'm feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record in which you could have a fill-in-the-blank for the pitchers name and say that ____________ isn't able to handle the pressure and never should have been used in such a clutch situation.

There isn't a game, an inning, an out or a strike that isn't clutch at this point. Every single play, every single decision is important and I just don't feel like Ned Yost is making the decisions we need to win this game.

At this point, what I'm saying isn't even about Monday morning quarterbacking - it's common knowledge. And you can bet that if a 26 year old woman in Milwaukee can make these observations, the clubs we're facing knew them long ago.

Case in point:

It's a known fact that Derrick Turnbow CANNOT handle inherited runners. I would assume it's a mental issue and I won't presume to know the exact cause or reasons, but clearly the nerves and the pressure are too much. I wish I had the stats at hand, but I would lay some money down saying that DBow has not had a game where he stranded all of his inherited runners.

The problem in tonight's game was not the putting of Turnbow in the game, but the leaving of Shouse in the game. I actually don't question putting Derrick in, I just think he should have been put in for the whole inning. He frankly couldn't have done worse than Shouse and I just don't see how Ned can overlook Turnbow's history with inherited runners. When Shouse goes in and puts guys on the base, Ned needs to get someone else up in the pen and someone other than DBow needs to take the mound.

All facetiousness aside, I'm pretty sure you could have put a pitcher at the plate and Derrick would have given up a hit (and consequently, a run). You have only to look to his inattention to the base runners to see that his head is not all in it when he has the pressure of those inherited runners. The man on second all but walked to third base. He took off from the bag a good three counts before Derrick went into his stretch and Derrick didn't have a clue.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Another good sports weekend

It was another great sports weekend in the state of Wisconsin as the Badgers and Packers won and the Brewers took 2 of 3 from the Reds.

We’ll take them team by team:

Packers – Thus far, I’m thinking they are one of the big surprises of the NFL season, though much of the NFL is upside down. The Lions, Redskins and Texans all started 2-0 and the Eagles and Saints are 0-2.

Certainly things aren’t going as many thought they would and I think because of that, the Packers are running under the radar. This weekend’s San Diego game will obviously show more of the chinks in the Packers’ armor, but might not be the beatdown everyone has been expecting. LT hasn’t had a breakout game yet, but with the way our defense looked on Sunday, I can’t imagine he won’t stack up the yards against us.

Clearly, the Packers have to find a run game. Though there were the occasional glimmers of hope (heck, I’m trying to claim DeShawn Wynn off waivers in my fantasy football league) I think the running game (or lack thereof) is what’s going to cause some major stumbles.

Brett Favre passed Dan Marino and now holds the record for most career wins. He is just one away from the record for more interceptions and three away from the record for most TDs. We’d all love to see him break the TD record first, but I’m sure that’s just wishful thinking.

Speaking of TDs, Favre threw his first TD pass in a very long time. And Bubba Franks scored his first TD since (I think it was) the 2003 season. It’s nice to see that Green Bay remembered they had TEs this week.


Badgers – Once again that Badgers failed to impress anyone and lost ground in the rankings. I’ve been thinking on it for days now and I can’t seem to put my finger on what seems to be the problem with this team.

The QB question was answered, as Tyler Donovan has been more than stellar in his first three starts of the season. His accuracy is on, he’s proven he has the arm and he’s the most mobile QB Wisconsin has seen in a long time.

Luke Swann has certainly been the go to receiver, which I found a bit surprising after all the pre-season hype surrounding Travis Beckum. Now that we’re getting into a meatier part of the schedule, I’d like to see if Beckum’s getting double-teamed and that’s leaving Swann et,al open. If that’s the case, well I’ll take it. Sure, Beckum has a lot of hype, but if his hype means other guys are open and those guys are stepping up, I’m all for it.

I didn’t sweat the Citadel game as much as I did the UNLV game. I didn’t really doubt that we were going to wear them down and be able to outlast them. That’s part of Wisconsin’s MO and it’s something we’ll be working on doing to teams all season long. I’m not sure this past game was as discouraging as people would like you to believe. Everyone is pointing to the fact that the game was tied at half, but I think that’s something Badger fans need to get used to seeing. This isn’t a team that’s going to blowout it’s opponents.

Obviously everyone is looking to the Penn State game, but I have a feeling this week’s game at home vs. Iowa isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Iowa’s going to be pissed about the loss to Iowa State (go Iowa State!) and there’s the whole Bret Bielema connection. I think non-technical factors are going to be the issue here. It isn’t going to be the team that performs their plays the best that wins, but the one that goes out there the most fired up, I think. That sounds cliché, but with the vulnerability Wisconsin has shown in the first two games, I think everyone coming into Camp Randall is hoping to play Giant Killer.

Though I don’t think it’s the only issue, I think passion is something this team’s been missing. They’ve looked flat and lackluster at times and it isn’t from lack of talent. Every time Citadel made a stop or a completion, everyone of their sideline was going nuts and jumping up and down. Clearly, I don’t want us to be celebrating every little play, but it was be nice to see some enthusiasm. UNLV came out pumped for their game and we looked like we were asleep.


Brewers – This team is making itself hard to ignore. I’ve been trying to distract myself with football, but I can’t help being excited and waiting to see what will happen with our division race. I’m fairly certain this can only end in heartache for me, but really, I just can’t stay away. It’s like a train wreck. I just keep staring.

Last night the Brewers should have been able to tie things back up with the Cubs, but the Cubs scored in the bottom of the 9th to win their game, leaving the standings exactly as they were heading into yesterday.

There’s still two weeks of baseball left and it’s obvious that we are going to be biting our nails on this down to the very last game. I’m too afraid of eating my words or jinxing things to say which way I see this going. Clearly, it’s going to be an exciting September.

Lambeau Field

So Saturday we took the tour at Lambeau, and I have to say it's a must for any Packer fan. It's $11 and takes an hour, but you get a view of the stadium you'd never otherwise get. Even if you're a season ticket holder (lucky dog), I'd say this is worth it. You get to go to a luxury box and up on the "legends" level - where Paul Hornung's Heisman is on display.

The best part, by far, was getting to walk down the tunnel that the players use to enter the field. There wasn't a person in our tour group that didn't have goosebumps.

I'm trying to get these uploaded quick before I start work, so they aren't in the best order, my apologies.







A picture from outside the Hall of Fame









View from the luxury box










Down on the field











More HOF









I just liked these gates. I want some!


























Statue of Vince


Quick story. The entrance tunnel was moved from one area to another during the 2003 renovation. Because the team has so much history, some huge names had run down that tunnel onto Lambeau Field. Aware of the history, when they moved the tunnel, they took some of the slabs of concrete and laid them in the new tunnel so that the current Packers are literally running over the same place all these greats had run. This plaque is on the wall commemorating it.


















Curly Lambeau
























Sunday, September 16, 2007

More posts to come

I suppose I should have put this up before I left, but I spent the weekend in Green Bay for my anniversary.

My boyfriend is the luckiest ever, because we spent most of our weekend doing sports related things that include going to a sports bar for the Badger game, watching the Brewer game before we went to dinner last night and going to a sports bar for lunch to watch the Packer game today. Also, we did the Lambeau Field tour, mostly so I could get good pictures to put up today. *

So it was another great weekend for Wisconsin sports teams, and I'll get to writing them up either tonight or tomorrow.


*(just a reminder, for our anniversary last year, we went to a Badger game)

Friday, September 14, 2007

Junkins just got thrown from the game...

Is it too much to hope he gets a 2-game suspension, too?

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

An open letter from a Brewers fan...

Ok, I’ve refrained from being a bandwagon basher all season. I’ve tried to keep my frustration at manageable levels and I was desperate to not be one of those over-the-top fans that calls for this after their team goes on one losing streak ---- in May.

But the time has come to say the words: Fire Ned Yost and Mike Maddux.

As far as I’m concerned, there are no excuses for what happened today. You can explain away pitching difficulties all season, but today, to me, is symbolic of all the times Yost left pitchers in too long this season.

Every time he’s done so, we’ve all let it go. We, as fans, have deferred to his judgment and in our heads though “there’s plenty of time.”

But time’s running out. There are 17 games left in the season.

I just can’t wrap my mind around it. You’re Ned Yost and your team blew a large division lead. You are now fighting tooth and nail for every win and every game up in the division standings. Your team came from behind to tie the game in the 8th inning. You put in a reliever who can be described as unreliable and spotty, at best. He gets an out. He walks a man.

I honestly believe that this is where Turnbow should have been pulled. I can’t understand why he would have any kind of leash at this point in the season. Each game is entirely too important to take any risks. You have a full bullpen and a day of rest tomorrow. I brook no arguments, this is where you pull him.

But hypothetically, let’s say you leave him in. He walks the next guy. Whatever excuse you had for leaving him in after the first walk is now gone.

So why isn’t he pulled now?

He gives up a hit the next batter and the bases are now loaded with one out. You are a coach that believes in averages and matchups and past situations. The past has proven that Turnbow CANNOT handle the pressure of having guys on the bases.

Yet you leave him in. He throws two straight balls. The count’s 2-0.

WHY DON’T YOU PULL HIM HERE?

At my count that’s 4 different times that Yost could have and should have pulled Turnbow before he gives up the 3 RBI hit that puts the game completely out of reach.

___

This whole thing is so incredibly frustrating for me because I have tried my best to not be a Brewer Basher all season long. I know that all us fans have gone through years of disappointment and many of us just love to hear ourselves complain. We like to armchair QB and we like to second guess.

But at this point, I think Doug Melvin and Mark Attanasio have a lot to answer for.

Coming into this season, there as nothing but hype surrounding the pitching staff and they have more than failed to meet the expectations.

Besides the obvious disappointment of Chris Capuano and the instability of Derrick Turnbow and Matt Wise. I think the Ben Sheets question has to be raised.

Nothing tells the story better than looking at the team’s record when Sheets was in the rotation vs. when he was not.

So great, he’s crucial to our success and to our lineup. The problem is, he’s perpetually injured. In order to be crucial to the lineup, he actually has to BE in the lineup. The Man of Glass has missed portions of the past however many seasons due to injury.

So I ask, what goods an ace who can’t stay healthy for more than a few months?

So is Mike Maddux to blame? I can’t imagine how the pitching coach’s head isn’t on the block when his staff performs like our pitchers have this season.

___

If I’m a field player on this team, I would be up to my eyeballs in frustration, disappointment and aggravation. Certainly, at times, the hitting and fielding have been to blame for losses. But too many losses this year can be hung at the door of the pitching.

How incredibly pissy it must make the rest of the team to go out there and do everything they are meant to do, only to have the control of the game taken out of their hands by horrendous pitching and mismanagement.

Never forget that we’re talking about a team with an MVP candidate and a guy who’s a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year. Prince leads the NL in homeruns and slugging % and is near the top in RBIs and extra base hits. Corey Hart should finish the season hitting above .300.

With a talent level like this team possesses and the lack of depth the rest of the division has, this season should have been a given. I’m not saying we should have taken the cake, no problems, no questions ask. But no one else has the team we have. We got out to an amazing start and we should have been able to never look back. At two points this season we were 14 games above .500.

So our incredibly talented team that was mostly untouched by injury failed to meet the expectations laid our for them this season.

Who else is there to blame but the coach?

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Happy Birthday Todd!


Since he's regularly given me birthday shout-outs, I thought it was time for some reciprocation.

So Happy Birthday Todd..

McPhee's looking a little naughty/a little nice just for you

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Brewers make a comeback

In last night's game, the Brewers game up 3 runs in the second, putting themselves in a whole any Brewers fan who's been around this season despaired of them getting out of.

The Brewers aren't a team that comes from behind. They aren't a team that wins on the road. They are absolutely not a team that comes from behind on the road.

That changed last night. The Crew played really pretty baseball, holding the Reds to only those second inning runs and putting themselves on the board one hit at a time. Prince homered, but the other two runs were the result of some very impressive small ball. One of the runs was scored by the pitcher! Rickie Weeks hit a 9th inning triple to score Craig Counsell and the Brewers won 4-3.

Go Pack Go!

I'll be the first to admit that we looked pretty ugly today, but since the end result was a completely unexpected win, I'll take it.

I'm sure it will be a refrain all year, but don't forget that the Packers are the youngest team in the NFL.

I'm fairly certain not one "expert" picked us to win today's game and everyone in the postgame recaps have been kind and impressed.

The most impressive part of today's game was newbie kicker Mason Crosby. Early on he proved why we kept him instead of Dave Rayner when he hit a 53 yarder into the wind. Of course, for a guy who hit 60 yarders in college, this was a cupcake. He then hit the game winning 42 yarder with seconds left.

The kid's set his own bar pretty high, so here's hoping he lives up.

Brett Favre was prototypical today, throwing while he's halfway to the ground and shoveling a pass off that turned into big gain. He also tied John Elway's record for career victories by a starting quarterback with 148

Also impressive today was the Packers' DLine. The Eagles were able to post just 103 yards rushing and had pressure on Donovan McNabb all afternoon, keeping him at 15/33 for 184. yards with one TD and one INT. That's a passer rating of just 60.7.

Badgers win, don't look so great

Ok, my homerism is going to come out here, but I'm going to admit it up front, which is the first step to recovery.

I guess I just never looked at last night as a big upset bid. I'm not sure why. I think it's mostly that I can't get in my head that (at the time) we're a #5 team. I'm just not buying it. I've seen this team. It's not better than last year's team. Last year's team had a hard time cracking the top 25.

That being said, when we came out of halftime looking just as flat as we did in the first half, I lost some faith. There's no doubt that UNLV was hyped up during that game and we were not. Had we lost, that, for me, would have been the biggest factor.

I certainly don't think we strolled in there expecting to walk in and walk out with a win. Which is actually more scary than if we had. If we lost because we were cocky, I would have been pissed, but that's better than losing because your team hasn't looked like they're at all ready for this season or deserving of their ranking.

And Wisconsin, for 2 weeks now, has looked like they barely deserving #25, much less #5.

That's more disturbing than anything. There's no way this team can take the field against Penn State looking like they have.

And finally, I'd like to point out once again the Special Teams issue. Certainly it was better this week, than last. But that muffed extra point was damn near to being the deciding factor.

Holy college football craziness, batman!

Since I had a pretty chill weekend, we decided to head out to a sports bar type restaurant last night as the Brewers were on at 6, LSU was on at 8:15 and the Badgers were on at 9.

Little did we know that we picked such a great night to have every game imaginable on.

First off, the SEC had a really rough night.

I wish I could have seen more of the Auburn/USF game, but that was the TV turned a bit away from me.

Turns out Auburn's lucky they were even still in the game to make it to OT, as they gave up 5 turnovers. USF helped them hang around as they were 2 for 6 on field goals.

I saw someone pick USF in this game and thought they were nuts, but some research shows USF beat ranked West Virginia and Louisville in the past two seasons.


The other game I would have liked to see was the crazy back and forth between Hawaii and Louisiana Tech. Hawaii scored a TD on the first possession of OT, but LA Tech answered. And decided to go for the win with a 2 point conversion. They were stopped and Hawaii wins.

I'd like to say that I fully support the 2 point conversion decision by LA Tech. Go big or go home. LA Tech isn't going to a bowl. They aren't even going to win their conference. In the end, whether this game was a win or loss on their record mattered little. So they went for the glory of knocking off a ranked team. I applaud the coach for putting his butt on the line and for the crap he's probably taking all day today. But the loss means nothing and the win means a ton. Good for them.

The South Carolina/Georgia game ended in upset, but I can't say it kept my attention. Steve Spurrier as a defensive mastermind? Now you know this football season is upside down.

App. State clearly set a standard that we're hoping to see every week. I was more than a little disappointed that most of the upsets that seemed to be brewing yesterday ended up without any fireworks.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Some Packer pics

My brother was at last week's Packer preseason game in Nashville. Here are some of his pics:













Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Just a 1/2 game back

Despite the killer defeat Monday in which we gave up 5 runs in the final two innings (stupid, stupid pitching decisions and stupid, stupid bullpen), the Brewers showed up last night and now are just a 1/2 game back of the Cubs, who lost to the Dodgers.

Carlos Villanueva showed that being sent to the minors didn't affect him as he put in 6 solid innings of pitching.

Ryan Braun hit another homerun and the Crew played some serious small ball to eke out runs and top the Astros 5-3.

ESPN.com story here

Lastly, let's hope that JJ Hardy's horrible performance at the plate Monday is not a sign of things to come. JJ grounded out, then grounded into a double play at his next two at-bats, then, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, he popped up a foul ball behind homeplate. Ouch.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Badgers 42, Washington State 21

Some observations on this game.

First and foremost is special teams. Our punt and kickoff coverage units were some of the worst special teams. Thus far, I'm not impressed. All three of Washington State's TDs were a direct result of piss-poor plays on special teams.

We blocked a punt early on, only to have the kicker get the ball right back and gain 20 yards, giving his team the first down and allowing them to continue the drive and score a TD.

Luke Swann just plain dropped a punt return, giving them the ball back at midfield.

Ken DeBauche tried to pooch a punt, failed pretty miserably and had it go about 10 yards and bounce right back at him. He then scooped it forward, which is a 15 yard penalty. We'd have been better off going for it on 4th down and losing a few yards.

Other than that, despite taking a little time to really find the running game, the rest of the team was pretty impressive. The first half seems like a bit of a wash because Washington State was able to hang in and it seems like we didn't do what we were supposed to do. But we did hang 21 points in the first half.

Tyler Donovan was extremely impressive. I'm certain I'm not the only one who was apprehensive about the QB situation, and he's still untried against any "real" competition, but Donovan had great stats. He missed like 2 passes the entire first half. He showed the ability to scramble and wait for an open receiver. He had a few keepers where he gained 5 yards or so. He was moblie, which is not something Wisconsin QBs are known for.

I'm off to the Brewer game in 15 minutes, so any further discussion will have to wait. In the meantime, some pictures from Saturday.






I love this tradition. After halftime various sections of the marching band go around the stadium and play to each of the sections.











One of Luke Swann's stellar catches













Tyler Donovan dropping back














Kickoff












As the team entered the field. I really, really, really hate the all red unis.













The Blackhawk helicopters that did a flyover











A few minutes before gametime











Walking up Regent to Camp Randall

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Congratulations Clay Buchholz


Finally, another no-hitter so we can stop talking about how the Brewers were no hit!


But seriously, this kid looks about 16 and he just threw and absolutely spectacular game last night. Even in the 9th, his pitches were unbelievable. His curve ball is just plain nasty.

Congrats kid. Now good luck actually making it in the majors!

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Holy crap Appalachain State!

Unless you're dead, you've heard all about the fact that App. State went into Ann Arbor (is a whore) and led Michigan all game and then blocked a last second field goal to win.

And you've heard that this is the first time a D1-AA team has beat a ranked D1 team.

ESPN.com's coverage here.

The part of this story you won't see on TV?

This game wasn't televised anywhere near Boone, North Carolina (where App. State is located) unless you have Dish Network and have access to the Big Ten Network.

Dirty.