More Wisconsin beats Texas goodness

This spectacular screen shot came from this website that was linked on Deadspin today. Apparently the blogger's a Texan and likes to post random screen shots. The site also has an A&M fan "diggin' for gold" during the bowl game last night.

Good stuff!

Oh yeah, I'm still enjoying that bball game from yesterday! Recap here

Holy crap, Holy crap!!!

The Wisconsin men's basketball team just upset #9 Texas on a spectacular 3-point shot with 2 or so seconds left by Michael Flowers. Flowers than stole the inbounds pass and threw the ball as high as he could so that the time ran off the clock.

I hope to find it YouTube-d or at least some pictures later on. But hot damn, that was a great end to the game!

From the only in Wisconsin files...

This story comes up every two years or so, but I'm passing it on to you non-Wisconsinites out there.

At Lambeau, when there's too much snow in the stands, they put out the call and pay people to come in and shovel.

Full story here.

All kinds of interesting facts...

This column by Jayson Stark amasses a large number of strange, but true facts from this past baseball season. Some of the feats are truly remarkable.

Worth the read.

Things I got for Christmas

The bestest gift I got I don't have a picture for, but it's a new stereo for my car so that I can be able to plug my ipod in and listen to it. That's from the fabulous boyfriend.

Other things I got include:

Mea Culpa

My Christmas was not complete without a scolding for not recognizing Appalachian State for winning their 3rd straight D-1AA football championship.

I was remiss in my coverage, so check the full story here.

ASU is the first NCAA Division I program to win three consecutive national titles since Army accomplished the feat in 1944, 1945 and 1946.

Quarterback Armanti Edwards finishes the season with 1,948 yards passing and 1,587 yards rushing. Edwards falls just short of becoming the first player in NCAA history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards twice in his career.

DB Corey Lynch finishes his career with 52 pass breakups, capturing the NCAA Division I record for career passes defended.

Happy Howl-idays!

Flash, the CuteSports Basset Hound/Reindeer wants to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.





















Here's to bigger and better things in '08!

A fun picture

UWBadgers.com had a fun article today about how the band has been practicing just as hard as the team in preparation for the upcoming Outback Bowl game. But while the team practices indoors, the band is out on the field.

Full article here

Congratulations Donald Driver!

In the first quarter, Donald caught his 500th pass as a Green Bay Packer.

He joins James Lofton and Sterling Sharpe as the only other 2 Packers to reach that mark.

Congratulations and thanks for sticking around!

Bowls galore

I just got back from my Thursday night bowling game so I thought this was as good a time as any to pick my winners for this year's bowl games. There's little to no scientific thought here. Here we go....

Poinsettia Bowl
Tonight, 9 pm
Utah vs. Navy
I'm going with Navy, because you don't pick against a service academy.

New Orleans Bowl
Dec. 21, 8 pm
Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis
Memphis it is, but mostly just because my brother lives there

Papajohns.com Bowl
Dec. 22, 1 pm
Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss
Southern Miss is Brett Favre's alma mater. Nuff said.

New Mexico Bowl
Dec. 22, 4:30
New Mexico vs. Nevada
New Mexico's mascot is the Lobos, which I love.

Las Vegas Bowl
Dec. 22, 8 pm
BYU vs. UCLA
BYU because (just ask the candidates) it's the year of the Mormon. I'm callin' it.

Hawaii Bowl
Dec. 23, 8 pm
East Carolina vs. Boise State
After last year, you don't pick against Boise State in a bowl.

Motor City Bowl
Dec. 26, 7:30
Purdue vs. Central Michigan
It's the one time a year when I root for everyone else in the Big Ten.

Holiday Bowl
Dec. 27, 8 pm
Texas vs. Arizona State
Texas, because how sad would it be if they went from Vince Young in the Rose Bowl to losing the Holiday Bowl in just 2 short years?

Champs Sports Bowl
Dec. 28, 5 pm
Boston College vs. Michigan State
This one is rough because my two tenants are root for the Big Ten and root for the Jesuits. Gotta stick with conference glory here and go with Sparty.

Texas Bowl
Dec. 28, 8 pm
TCU vs. Houston
Luckily, no matter what, the state of Texas wins. Unfortunately for me, I hate Texas. But you can't help but love a team named the Horned Frogs. TCU it is!

Emerald Bowl
Dec. 28, 8:30
Maryland vs. Oregon State
I have absolutely no interest or care for either of these teams, so I'll take the Terrapins because it's more fun sounding.

Meineke Car Care
Dec. 29, 1 pm
Wake Forest vs. Connecticut
UConn, because admit it, before this season you didn't know they had a football team.

Liberty Bowl D
ec. 29, 4:30
UCF vs. Mississippi State
Mississippi State because of Sylvester Croom

Alamo Bowl
Dec. 29, 8 pm
Penn State vs. Texas A&M
Who doesn't love JoePa (you know, when you're not playing against him). Go Big Ten!

Independence
Dec. 30, 8 pm
Colorado vs. Alabama
Alabama, because I have Roll Tide friends, but also because I saw Colorado lose to Iowa State (IOWA F'IN STATE) earlier in the season.

Armed Forces Bowl
Dec. 31, 12:30
Air Force vs. California
Air Force for that whole service academy thing

Sun Bowl
Dec. 31, 2 pm
South Florida vs. Oregon
South Florida for their crazy season and because the Ducks are Nike incarnate

Humanitarian Bowl
Dec. 31, 2 pm
Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State
Georgia Tech because their mascot is cool looking and because I don't know that there are more than 13 people genuinely interested in this game.

Music City Bowl
Dec. 31, 4 pm
Kentucky vs. Florida State
HAHAHAHA! Stupid Florida State.

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Dec. 31, 7:30
Auburn vs. Clemson
Auburn has two mascots. They're the Tigers. They're the War Eagles. They're the War Tigers? I hate it. I hate Auburn on the basis that I have friends who are Alabama fans and so it's like an extension of their hate. Also, Wisconsin beat Auburn 2 years ago when everyone thought we'd get our butts kicked. Clemson it is!

Insight
Dec. 31, TBA
Indiana vs. Oklahoma State
Big Ten Baby!

Outback Bowl
Jan. 1, 11 am
Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin! DUH!

Cotton Bowl
Jan. 1, 11:30
Missouri vs. Arkansas
Mizzou, because they got shafted. Plus, Houston Nutt left Arkansas for Ole Miss, I'm not sure if Arkansas can even show up for this game after that humiliation.

Gator Bowl
Jan. 1, 1 pm
Virginia vs. Texas Tech
Virginia, for Howie Long's kid.

Capital One Bowl
Jan. 1, 1 pm
Michigan vs. Florida
It pains me to pick Michigan, but something has to go their way, right?

Rose Bowl
Jan. 1, 4:30
USC vs. Illinois
Big Ten and I HATE, HATE, HATE USC

Sugar Bowl
Jan. 1, 8:30
Hawaii vs. Georgia
I'm still not convinced Hawaii is for real, so go Bulldogs!

Fiesta Bowl
Jan. 2, 8 pm
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
I think this is where WVU proves once and for all they belong with the big boys.


Orange Bowl
Jan. 3, 8 pm
Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
Kansas has to win to salvage their dream season.

International Bowl
Jan. 5, 12pm
Rutgers vs. Ball State
Who cares?

GMAC
Jan. 6, 8 pm
Tulsa vs. Bowling Green
Bowling Green, because I've seen them play before

BCS National Championship
Jan. 7, 8 pm
Ohio State vs. LSU
bum bum bumbum GEAUX TIGERS!!! LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU!

My happiest day as a Brewers fan yet...

Matt Wise was "designated" for assignment today which was done to clear a roster spot for Eric Gagne. He will be "non-tender" after 10 days and will for all intents and purposes, be released.

My dislike of Matt Wise has been well documented on this blog, so I'm certainly not sad to see him go.

But I have to feel a little bad for him today. You know your career isn't looking good when the team you're with introduces their newest player to the press wearing your number! The story about Gagne mentions that Mench was designated for assignment but the Wise story didn't break until a little later.

I'm sure it makes me a bad person for finding the story more than a little funny.

Goodbye Matt Wise, I will not miss you at all!

CuteSports Snow Day

I took a self imposed snow day today because there's freezing rain and dangerous conditions and now it's snowing on top of that. Plus, I have vacation I have to use. This is what it looks like outside here right now.

Brewers sign Gagne

I'll be the first to say I didn't see this one coming. Apparently Doug Melvin knows how to wait it out, because the Eric Gagne talk had all but disappeared here in Milwaukee as there were other teams interested.

Instead I awoke this morning to news that, pending a physical, Eric Gagne will be the Brewers' closer next season.

From the vantage point that I don't want Derrick Turn-blown-save as our closer, this is spectacular. But I'm prone to misgivings any time we offer a guy a 1-year reportedly $10 million dollar contract.

It irks me that we would only sign our next closer (whomever he was going to be) to one year. It feels that the disappointment of last season has led to a push that this season must be the season. I understand we have all the tools, but I don't know that we're at "now or never" quite yet. If this coming season proves to be as much of a learning season as last one was, then we've blown a lot of money and we'll be in the same boat closer-wise, next season.

That being said, we were offering more than $10 mil a year for CoCo and at least if something were to happen to Gagne, who isn't young anymore and has had two surgeries on his elbow (one in '06) and (also in '06) had back surgery. So we're secure in not getting stuck with a big contract on an injured guy.

And if Gagne has a good year, if we lose him to free agency, he'll be the type of free agent that brings us two extra draft picks.

There were talks that if we did get Gagne, he and Turnbow would be "fighting" for closer role. The $10 mil salary puts that to rest. No way you pay a guy that much that isn't "your guy."

This column, that ran in today's Journal Sentinel, says that Ned Yost expected to field more interest in our over-loaded pitching core at the Winter Meetings than we did. That we have a surplus of pitchers is news to no-one. According to the column, Yost and Melvin figure they'll be getting the calls once names like Santana are off the board.

Brewers acquire Torres, sign Riske

Just before they hopped their planes home, the Brewers and the Pirates reached a deal that brought reliever Salomon Torres to Milwaukee for relief prospects Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts.

From MilwaukeeBrewers.com: Torres is signed through 2008 under a two-year, $6.5 million contract that pays $3.2 million this season and has a $3.75 club option for 2009. The short-term nature of the Brewers' commitment was also appealing in making the trade.

Full story here

David Riske, a free agent righty who was most recently with Kansas City also signed this week. Rumor has it that he could be able to give Turnbow a run at the closer spot. Whether or not he gets it (though his deal includes some big bucks if he is named closer) I think it's good to put some competition up for Turnbow.

From MilwaukeeBrewers.com: The deal reportedly guarantees $13 million over the course of the contract and could pay more than $20 million if Riske emerges as the closer. The contract includes an option for a fourth season worth about $4.75 million, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Full story here

BCS cluster*@#%

This is the shakedown:

Ohio State vs. LSU in the national championship

Georgia vs. Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl

USC vs. Illinois in the Rose Bowl

Virginia Tech vs. Kansas in the Orange Bowl

Oklahoma vs. West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl


Normally you'd discuss what they got right, but I think the more glaring point here is what they got very, very wrong.

There is NO WAY that Kansas should be playing in a BCS bowl while Mizzou is relegated to the Sugar Bowl. Let's look at the stats:

Kansas:

Strength of Schedule: 109th out of 119 teams

1 loss: TO MIZZOU

Ranked teams beaten: #24 Kansas State

Final BCS rank: #8

Mizzou:

Strength of Schedule: 26th of 119 teams

2 losses: both to Oklahoma

Ranked teams beaten: #25 Nebraska, #24 Texas Tech, #2 Kansas

Final rank: #6

I cannot fathom a situation in which this leads to Kansas being in and Mizzou being out. Mizzou got punished for making it to the conference championship game. Kansas is getting props for not losing to a lot of really bad teams.


As for what they got right, I think OSU vs. LSU in the final was the only way this could fall.
They are the two most physically dominant teams in the country. Period.

You can make points about LSU having two losses, but the fact that they were both triple overtime has to be a factor.

Georgia didn't get a chance at LSU this year, but they lost to Tennessee, who lost to LSU in the SEC Championship. They didn't win their division or their conference. If one-loss Kansas wasn't in the equation, I don't see why one-loss Georgia was.

Virginia Tech may have won their conference, but they were absolutely dismantled by LSU, 48-7, earlier in the season.

I'm not sure I think Hawaii should be in at all. Sure, they're unbeaten, but I don't know if that should mean an automatic bid into a BCS game. They had the worst strength of schedule and they needed a bit of a miracle last night to remain unbeaten.

Ohio State made their way into the championship by virtue of not playing. By the time all is said and done, it will be 50 days between their last game and the championship game. They benefited hugely from not having a conference championship game.

And by the way, do you remember the beginning of the season when Wisconsin was a top ten team and Michigan hadn't yet lost to Appalachian State and Juice Williams was making Illinois a team to watch? Ohio State was expected to be a non-player in the Big Ten this year. They lost too many players. They needed to rebuild. So much for that, I suppose. The rest of the Big Ten beat up on each other, Michigan shot itself in the foot and Wisconsin showed how they never really were a #5 team.

It was such a messy season and I certainly never thought two weeks ago that I'd be able to proudly sport my LSU gear. After the loss to Arkansas I thought I'd have to hang my head in shame. Instead, I can say

bum bum bumbum GEAUX TIGERS!!!!