Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Rumor Mill: Brewers hire Roenicke

UPDATE: Tom Haudricourt says the rumor has been confimed by someone close to the situation at the Brewers. Ron Roenicke is the Brewers' new manager

It's the third time in about a month that we have a rumor that the Brewers have hired a manager.


This time the source is a writer for a Chicago newspaper who's last claim to fame was a Twitter meltdown on all things Minnesotan.


Once again it's sources saying the hire has been made, so take it with a grain of salt.


Roenicke has been with the Angels for the past 11 seasons and has never managed at the major league level. He did mange in the minors and has spent the past five years as the Angels bench coach.


The Chicago media is interested in the Brewers hiring situation because White Sox bench coach Joey Cora is one of the finalists. ESPN.com is reporting that Cora was told today that he finished second in the decision-making process.


Monday, October 11, 2010

Stepan makes a splash with major league debut

Derek Stepan left Wisconsin after two years and there was some question as to whether he was NHL-ready, or if he'd spend time in the minors before joining the NY Rangers.

After leading his team in pre-season scoring, Stepan made the team out of camp and made a huge debut on Saturday.

He became just the fourth person ever to record a hat trick in his first NHL game.

The first goal came as a shot deflected off his stick into a defensive player and in to the net. The second and third goals came when Stepan scored twice 3:12 apart late in the second period to complete the hat trick and put the Rangers ahead 4-1.

Stepan was just the second Ranger to score three goals in his debut. Ron Murphy did it in 1955

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Doug Melvin squelches Brenly rumor

From Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt's Twitter:

"Brewers GM Doug Melvin just denied the report that Bob Brenly will be the next manger. Said he hasn't interviewed anybody. So false alarm."

"Melvin had this to say about Brenly rumor: 'Unless somebody else has been doing the hiring process, that's not true.'"

"'Just another rumor to squelch' Melvin said..."

Brewers looking at Brenly

Can't link Twitter from work, but 1250 AM's Doug Russell is reporting that a source says "Bob Brenly is close to agreeing to become the next Brewers Manager."

Brenly in the past has compared Miller Park to minor league stadiums and two seasons ago openly advocated a pitcher throwing at Ryan Braun.

When one of Macha's main problems was his inability to be close to Braun and Fielder, I'm thinking this is not a step in the right direction. While more fiery than Macha (who isn't?), this feels like another over-compensation. The pendulum swung from Yost to Macha (fiesty to asleep) and now it looks like Doug Melvin is letting it go way past center again.

Badger Hockey #13 in preseason polls

USA TODAY/USA Hockey men's preseason poll

Sept. 27, 2010


Rank School (first-place votes) 2009-10 record Points Final 2009-10 ranking

1 Boston College (28) 29-10-3 504 1

2 Notre Dame (4) 25-13-5 462 7

3 Miami (Ohio) (2) 29-8-7 437 3

4 Michigan 26-18-1 383 8

5 Yale 21-10-3 334 6

6 St. Cloud State 24-14-5 308 5

7 Maine 19-17-3 281 NR

8 New Hampshire 18-14-7 206 11

9 Minnesota Duluth 22-17-1 195 NR

10 Cornell 21-9-4 162 9

11 Denver 27-10-4 146 4

12 Alaska 18-12-9 125 15

13 Wisconsin 28-11-14 115 2

14 Boston University 18-17-3 69 NR

15 Minnesota 18-19-2 50 NR


Others receiving votes: University of Notre Dame, 43; Rochester Institute of Technology, 38; Bemidji State University, 36; Ferris State University, 36; Union College, 34; University of Vermont, 28; Michigan State University, 21; Northern Michigan University, 18; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 16; Colorado College, 14; Northeastern University, 14; University of Nebraska at Omaha, 3; Merrimack College, 2.

***

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll
October 4, 2010

Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Boston College (45) 29-10-3 993 3
2 North Dakota ( 3) 25-13-5 935 4
3 Miami ( 2) 29- 8-7 892 1
4 St. Cloud State 24-14-5 749 7
5 Michigan 26-18-1 741 11
6 Yale 21-10-3 719 8
7 Maine 19-17-3 639 18
8 Minnesota-Duluth 22-17-1 618 14
9 Denver 27-10-4 534 2
10 New Hampshire 18-14-7 510 12
11 Cornell 21- 9-4 509 6
12 Alaska 18-12-9 435 17
13 Wisconsin 28-11-4 295 5
14 Boston University 18-17-3 280 NR
15 Minnesota 18-19-2 271 NR
16 Michigan State 19-13-6 191 19
17 Notre Dame 13-17-8 156 NR
18 RIT 28-12-1 152 20
19 Union 21-12-6 136 16
20 Colorado College 19-17-3 127 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Vermont 105, Bemidji State 101, Northern Michigan 96, Ferris State 83, Nebraska-Omaha 49, Northeastern 39, Rensselaer 32, Mercyhurst 31, Quinnipiac 18, Merrimack 15, Ohio State 13, Colgate 9, St. Lawrence 5, Air Force 4, Mass.-Lowell 2, Robert Morris 1


Read more: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/?data=uscho1m&week=poll#ixzz11b3ByLVh

Former Badger Stepan Makes Rangers

Former Badger Derek Stepan made the NY Rangers final roster this week and will start the season in the NHL.

Stepan, 20, left Wisconsin early after his sophomore year.

Teammate Ryan McDonogh was left off the Rangers final roster and will start the season in the AHL.

Badger Hockey TV Schedule Released

(Dates and times subject to change)

DAY DATE OPPONENT All Times Central TV (Internet)


ICE BREAKER TOURNAMENT (St. Louis)

Friday Oct. 8 Boston University 8:30 p.m.

Sunday Oct. 10 Notre Dame/Holy Cross 3 p.m./Noon

FRIDAY OCT. 15 ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE 7 P.M. FSN/WC

SUNDAY OCT. 17 ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE 1 P.M. (Bigtennetwork.com)

Friday Oct. 22 at Denver* 8:30 p.m. FSN

Saturday Oct. 23 at Denver* 8 p.m.

FRIDAY OCT. 29 MICHIGAN TECH* 7 P.M. (UWBadgers.com)

SATURDAY OCT. 30 MICHIGAN TECH* 7 P.M. WISC/Charter/TWar/WC

Friday Nov. 5 at Minnesota* 7 p.m. FSN

Saturday Nov. 6 at Minnesota* 7 p.m. BTN

FRIDAY NOV. 12 NORTH DAKOTA* 7 P.M. FSN/WC

SATURDAY NOV. 13 NORTH DAKOTA* 7 P.M. TVW/Charter/TWar/WC

FRIDAY NOV. 19 MINNESOTA DULUTH* 7 P.M. FSN/WC

SATURDAY NOV. 20 MINNESOTA DULUTH* 7 P.M. WISC/Charter/TWar/WC

COLLEGE HOCKEY SHOWCASE FRIDAY

NOV. 26 MICHIGAN 7 P.M. (Bigtennetwork.com)

SATURDAY NOV. 27 MICHIGAN STATE 7 P.M. (Bigtennetwork.com)

Friday Dec. 3 at Alaska Anchorage* 10 p.m.

Saturday Dec. 4 at Alaska Anchorage* 10 p.m.

FRIDAY DEC. 10 BEMIDJI STATE* 7 P.M. TVW/Charter/TWar/WPT

SATURDAY DEC. 11 BEMIDJI STATE* 7 P.M. FSN/WPT

THURSDAY DEC. 30 MASSACHUSETTS 7 P.M. FSN/WPT F

RIDAY DEC. 31 MASSACHUSETTS 7 P.M. FSN/WPT

FRIDAY JAN. 7 CANISIUS 7 P.M. (Bigtennetwork.com)

SATURDAY JAN. 8 CANISIUS 7 P.M. (Bigtennetwork.com)

Friday Jan. 14 at Minnesota Duluth* 7 p.m.

Saturday Jan. 15 at Minnesota Duluth* 7 p.m.

FRIDAY JAN. 21 MINNESOTA STATE* 7 P.M. (Bigtennetwork.com)

SATURDAY JAN. 22 MINNESOTA STATE* 7 P.M. WISC/Charter/TWar/WPT

Friday Jan. 28 at Michigan Tech* 6 p.m.

Saturday Jan. 29 at Michigan Tech* 6 p.m.

Friday Feb. 11 at Nebraska Omaha* 7:30 p.m.

Saturday Feb. 12 at Nebraska Omaha* 7 p.m.

FRIDAY FEB 18 MINNESOTA* 7 P.M. BTN

SATURDAY FEB. 19 MINNESOTA* 8 P.M. FSN

Friday Feb. 25 at St. Cloud State* 7 p.m. Charter

Saturday Feb. 26 at St. Cloud State* 7 p.m. Charter

FRIDAY MARCH 4 COLORADO COLLEGE* 7 P.M. TVW/Charter/TWar/WPT

SATURDAY MARCH 5 COLORADO COLLEGE* 7 P.M. FSN/WPT

Fri.-Sun. March 11-13 WCHA Playoffs (Campus Sites)

Thur.-Sat. March 17-19 WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.) FSN

Fri.-Sat. March 25-26 NCAA East and West Regionals (Bridgeport, Conn., and St Louis)

Sat.-Sun. March 26-27 NCAA Northeast and Midwest Regionals (Manchester, N.H., and Green Bay, Wis.)

Thur.-Sat. April 7-9 NCAA Frozen Four (St. Paul, Minn.)

* - WCHA league games Home games listed in BOLD CAPS. All times Central. FSN- Fox Sports Wisconsin; BTN - Big Ten Network; WISC - WISC-TV; TVW - TVW 14; Charter - Charter Extra; TWar - Time Warner Sports; WC - Wisconsin Channel (delayed); WPT - Wisconsin Public Television or Wisconsin Channel (delayed)

Geoffrion to start season with Admirals

AP writer Colin Fly noted on Twitter that the Predators sent Blake Geoffrion to Milwaukee and that he will be with the team when training camp opens.

Badger Hockey Facility

Plans for a dedicated hockey facility that had been on hold due to lack of donations are back on track.


The facility will be used for both men's and women's hockey practices and would be a dedicated facility to host women's home games.



From the Wisconsin State Journal:

"A plan to build a $27.8 million practice facility for the University of Wisconsin hockey programs has been revived.

Six months after shelving the project, saying he was uncomfortable with the lack of private donations, UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said Friday that a "very good'' surge of gift funds has put it back on track."



This facility would be a huge boon for the program. The women's team seems a little lost in the size of the Kohl Center and would benefit from having their own ice.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

what the Brewers are asking for Hart

From MLBTradeRumors.com via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle the Brewers asked for either Madison Bumgarner or Jonathan Sanchez in exchange for Hart.

Both are young pitchers under team control for some years.

The Brewers faced each of the young pitches during the Giants recent four-game stint at Miller Park and were able to muster just one run each day.

According to the rumor, the Giants' manager was unwilling to part with either arm.


Brewer fans should be happy that GM Doug Melvin is reaching for the moon with this trade.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

TimberRattler Davis wins single A Home Run Derby

The single A All Star Game is happening in Fort Wayne this week and Brewer prospect and current T Rat Khris Davis rep-ed the team well by winning the Home Run Derby last night.

Davis hit a total of 25 home runs over three rounds to take the title.

Badger Trio gets high marks.

From UWBadgers.com, "
Rivals.com put up a story earlier this month ranking the top "triplets" in college football, meaning the team with the best combination of quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

The Badger trio of QB Scott Tolzien, RB John Clay and WR Nick Toon came in at No. 9 in the top-15 poll."

Here's what Rivals.com said about the Badgers' trio:
"The Badgers' trio isn't as flashy as some others on this list, but Tolzien, Clay and Toon get the job done. As usual at Wisconsin, a bruising running back is the centerpiece. Defenses know the 248-pound Clay will get plenty of work, but he still averages 5.4 yards per carry for his career. Although Wisconsin retains its run-first style, the Badgers are opening up the offense. Tolzien became the first Badgers quarterback to complete more than 200 passes in a season. In recent seasons, Wisconsin has relied extensively on its tight end in the passing game, but Toon figures to change that this season. He had 54 catches for 805 yards and four TDs last season."

Brewers Prospect Lawrie to play in MLB ASG Futures game

For the second straight year, Brett Lawrie will represent Canada on the World team during the All Star Game futures game.

Congrats Brett

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Brewers win on walk-off sac bunt

In case you didn't see it, tonight the Brewers had a bit of a stolen base/hit and run on with Carlos Gomez on first base. He never slowed and took third when the ball was fielded and thrown to first for the out. The ball was then thrown to third to try and get Gomez out, but was overthrown and Gomez came home on the error.

Make sense?

If not, Disciples of Uecker broke down the play with diagrams to analyze the Cubs' defense of the situation. Check it out here.

The World Cup is Here!

The World Cup starts tomorrow with a 900 am CST match between host country South Africa and Mexico. That will be followed by Uruguay and France at 130 pm CST

Of course, all Americans should be ready to watch the US face England on Saturday at 130 CST on Saturday.

Also playing on Saturday are South Korea and Greece at 6 am and Argentina v. Nigeria
at 9 am.

The Nomad on Brady Street is having a block party and will be showing all games, as will Brocach, who's sign says they'll be open at 6 am and serving breakfast.

The Highbury Pub on Linclon and KK will be open for all games, as well.

Make sure you check out Ladies... for all your Group Hotties.
And former Lady, The Starter Wife, is doing amazing things with Group themed food on her blog, Black and Gold Tchotchkes.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Brewers finally release Jeff Suppan

With his $10 million contract hanging around our necks, Doug Melvin and Mark Attanasio seemed to be hoping for a miracle resurgence from Jeff Suppan this season. When it didn't happen, they didn't seem to know what to do with themselves - or him. Already stuck paying for Braden Looper and Bill Hall's contract while they're no longer on the team, the Brewers seemed loathe to admit to another wrong contract.

But with the emergence of Kameron Loe, Zach Braddock and John Axford, the Brewers could no longer make excuses for trotting Suppan out in low-leverage situations while he wasted a roster spot and we constantly had to shuffle to make room for arms that are performing better.

Melvin was a bit defensive about the Suppan signing, rattling off the contracts of all the other FA pitchers that were signed during the same off-season.

Adam McCalvy has all of Melvin's comments here.


From J-S' Tom Haudricourt's Brewers Blog, Suppan's statement:
As I expected, Jeff Suppan did not want to do interviews with reporters about his release by the Brewers today.

Instead, Suppan released the following statement:

"I want to thank Mark Attanasio and Doug Melvin for all they have done for my family and me, especially how they handled this situation. I"ve played with a number of organizations and the Brewers are one of the classiest.

"When I signed in 2007, I was committed to winning and to this day I still am. Nobody is more disappointed with how things have turned out. I enjoyed my time here in Milwaukee, as both a player and a member of the community. As such, I will continue my involvement with the Brewers Charities for the remainder of the 2010 season. My commitment to this cause and the people it serves is unwavering.

"I wish the current organization, its fans and especially my teammates all the best."

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Johnny Jolly could see lengthy jail time

The prosecution is saying Johnny Jolly "bought, sold, funded, transported and aided in the buying, selling, funding and transportation of illegal narcotics including cocaine and marijuana" in Harris County from 2006 through May 2008.

It seems as though this may be an unfortunate side effect of Jolly's looking to not receive any punishment from the league by pleading guilty to any lesser charges.


Per Greg A. Bedard from the Journal-Sentinel, "Jolly has had – and I’m pretty sure still does – multiple opportunities to plead his codeine charge out for much lesser charges but has chosen not to do so at every turn. Likely because Jolly knew he’d get suspended if he pled guilty to anything under the personal conduct policy. Jolly rolled the dice but not making this thing go away quickly, taking his medicine from Roger Goodell and just getting on with his career. By going to trial, Jolly risked other things coming up as the prosecution prepared for trial. Whether these allegations are true or not, Jolly evidently lost on that gamble because if he would have pled out, the only thing most people would think about Jolly is that he made a stupid decision two years. Now he’s viewed in a whole new light."

Bedard answers all kinds of questions surrounding the case here, but the most important one is this:
Q: Did the Packers have any clue that allegations of drug dealing could be connected to Jolly?

A: This, I think, is a huge and very important question. If the Packers knew about these allegations and thought they had any merit, why is Jolly still a member of the team let alone receiving a first-round tender at $2.5 million? If the Packers did know, did they just turn the other way and hope no one found out so their on-field team would be better?

I don’t know and I’m not sure we’ll ever know.

Circumstantial evidence – the drafting of Mike Neal and C.J. Wilson, and moving Ryan Pickett to left end – could be taken as a sign the Packers thought they could be without Jolly for sometime.

But I talked with eight veterans in the locker room on Wednesday and seven said they had never heard a single rumor about Jolly and drugs. If most of his teammates didn’t know, how could the Packers? That is entirely possible. But the Packers, like every other team, employ security personnel that are at least supposed to have some idea about what their players are up to off the field.

One player said he had heard the rumors and thought the Packers had to have some clue.

So, like I said, we don’t know, and I’m not sure we’ll ever know.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Badger Men's Hockey Schedule

The men's hockey schedule was released. 22 home games, 11 games against 2010 NCAA tournament teams and they end the season at home. Of note should be the games against new WCHA team's Nebraska-Omaha and Bemidji State. Also, the lack of a Badger Hockey Showdown Between Christmas and New Year's. Instead the Badgers will host UMASS and Canisius. The team will also be taking part of a season-opening tournament.


DAY DATE OPPONENT All Times Central
ICE BREAKER TOURNAMENT (St. Louis)
Friday Oct. 8 Boston University TBA
Sunday Oct. 10 Notre Dame/Holy Cross TBA
FRIDAY OCT. 15 ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE 7 P.M.
SUNDAY OCT. 17 ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE 1 P.M.
Friday Oct. 22 at Denver* 8:30 p.m.
Saturday Oct. 23 at Denver* 8 p.m.
FRIDAY OCT. 29 MICHIGAN TECH* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY OCT. 30 MICHIGAN TECH* 7 P.M.
Friday Nov. 5 at Minnesota* 7 p.m.
Saturday Nov. 6 at Minnesota* 7 p.m.
FRIDAY NOV. 12 NORTH DAKOTA* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY NOV. 13 NORTH DAKOTA* 7 P.M.
FRIDAY NOV. 19 MINNESOTA DULUTH* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY NOV. 20 MINNESOTA DULUTH* 7 P.M.
COLLEGE HOCKEY SHOWCASE
FRIDAY NOV. 26 MICHIGAN 7 P.M.
SATURDAY NOV. 27 MICHIGAN STATE 7 P.M.
Friday Dec. 3 at Alaska Anchorage* 10 p.m.
Saturday Dec. 4 at Alaska Anchorage* 10 p.m.
FRIDAY DEC. 10 BEMIDJI STATE* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY DEC. 11 BEMIDJI STATE* 7 P.M.
THURSDAY DEC. 30 MASSACHUSETTS 7 P.M.
FRIDAY DEC. 31 MASSACHUSETTS 7 P.M.
FRIDAY JAN. 7 CANISIUS 7 P.M.
SATURDAY JAN. 8 CANISIUS 7 P.M.
Friday Jan. 14 at Minnesota Duluth* 7 p.m.
Saturday Jan. 15 at Minnesota Duluth* 7 p.m.
FRIDAY JAN. 21 MINNESOTA STATE* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY JAN. 22 MINNESOTA STATE* 7 P.M.
Friday Jan. 28 at Michigan Tech* 6 p.m.
Saturday Jan. 29 at Michigan Tech* 6 p.m.
Friday Feb. 11 at Nebraska Omaha* 7:30 p.m.
Saturday Feb. 12 at Nebraska Omaha* 7 p.m.
FRIDAY FEB 18 MINNESOTA* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY FEB. 19 MINNESOTA* 7 P.M.
Friday Feb. 25 at St. Cloud State* 7 p.m.
Saturday Feb. 26 at St. Cloud State* 7 p.m.
FRIDAY MARCH 4 COLORADO COLLEGE* 7 P.M.
SATURDAY MARCH 5 COLORADO COLLEGE* 7 P.M.
Fri.-Sun. March 11-13 WCHA Playoffs (Campus Sites)
Thur.-Sat. March 17-19 WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
Fri.-Sat. March 25-26 NCAA East and West Regionals
(Bridgeport, Conn., and St Louis)
Sat.-Sun. March 26-27 NCAA Northeast and Midwest Regionals
(Manchester, N.H., and Green Bay, Wis.)
Thur.-Sat. April 7-9 NCAA Frozen Four
(St. Paul, Minn.)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Doug Davis to DL

Doug Davis was scratched from his start for the Brewers tonight due to the inflammation of the lining around his heart.



According to reports, he had chest pains yesterday that he initially treated as heartburn but when it didnt get better, he Googled his symptons and headed to the hospital, afraid he was having a heart attack. Several tests later, the doctors had no answer and Davis was getting worried.



Turned out a cold virus in his system was able to get into the lining of his heart. The condition is not life threatening, but does require complete rest and lots of anti-biotics. He was placed on the 15-day DL and Adam Stern was recalled to take his roster spot.



The whole situation developed today, so there's been no word as to how this will affect the pitching rotation - though it's possible Jeff Suppan or Manny Parra could be moved from the bullpen to a starting role.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Preview of the Braves series

I spoke to a Braves blogger and we exchanged questions about our squads.

Here's my answers to his questions that are posted at TalkingChop.com

1. The Brewers will come into the series with a record of 15-16. What has gone right and what has gone wrong in 2010?

This team is extremely inconsistent. It feels as though it's either go big, or don't go at all. This is a team that scored 26 runs this past weekend, but only scored one run in the four-game series last weekend. Clearly the Brewers have a lot of offensive power in their lineup, but sometimes it just doesn't show up. There hasn't been a long enough stretch of no scoring for anyone to seriously discuss is as an issue - a 17-run game makes you forget pretty quickly - but at some point the feast or famine offense is going to be an issue, I think.

Pitching is what has gone wrong. His most recent outing aside, Doug Davis has struggled. We had Jeff Suppan in the starting rotation. No one has been able to go deep into games. The bullpen is getting a lot of work which will likely be a problem near the end of the season. Right now we're very heavily relying on the Brewers to use the "we'll just score a lot of run so it doesn't matter how bad our pitching is" theory. That's only going to work for so long.

2. Braves fans know all about Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder and how good they are at the plate, but who besides these 2 have contributed the most on offense?

Casey McGehee. He's the best player that no one has heard of. We claimed him off waivers from the Cubs after the 2008 season and that was a total steal. He got a chance to get on the field when some other guys struggled and basically continued to prove he belonged there. He led all rookies in RBI last season and should have been more talked about for ROY. He literally came out of nowhere.

No one knew if last season was a fluke or not, so we're super excited about him hitting .304/.385/.536 with 6 HR and 28 RBI. Adding him to the already potent 3-4 punch of Braun and Fielder has really opened up our lineup.

Also, he has a son, Mack, who is affected by cerebral palsy and he's damn adorable. Last year Mack threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a game and Casey got a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run in that same game.

My favorite Casey moment was a game last season where Casey made an error at third, dropping a really easy pop-up. He made up for it by hitting his first career grand slam in the same game. That's the kind of player Casey is.

Star-divide

3. Yovani Gallardo has been fantastic for the Brewers this year and will likely pitch Wednesday against the Braves. What makes him so good and where would you rank him among the NL's most elite pitchers?

I'm not sure if you can rank Yovani Gallardo as an elite NL pitcher yet. He has the talent but hasn't reached anything near his full potential.

The biggest knock on Gallardo right now is that he's getting high pitch counts early in games and seems to lack the killer instinct. He's a nibbler and it costs him and the team at times. He had a beautiful outing Friday, allowing just two runs and notching 10 K's, but was out of the game after five innings because he was over 100 pitches. In the other two games where he threw 10 or more strikeouts, he lasted five and seven innings. Until he can figure out how to lower his pitch totals, he's going to stay in the "potentially great" category.

What makes him good is that he makes batters miss. He's a strikeout pitcher and a command pitcher. He does not get flustered or show much emotion. His fastball is mid-90s and he's got a better than average curveball.

There's a security factor with Yovanni. The team is comfortable with him on the mound. He just signed a long-term deal, putting him at ease within the organization. Those two factors mean that team's are facing a pretty formidable foe every five days. He's not trying to pitch his way in to anything. He's doing his job and he makes the eight guys behind him confident enough to do there's.

4. Take your pick for the next 5 seasons: Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo and Alcides Escobar or Jason Heyward, Tommy Hanson and Yunel Escobar. Why?

I'd take the Brewers trio.

Though Hanson is clearly the better pitcher right now, I'm convinced we haven't seen all that Gallardo has to offer. Both Hanson and Gallardo are big talents and I think I'd call that one a draw.

Alcides is an above-average fielder and has great foot speed. He's young and makes some stupid throws, but that should settle down and I still think he is an upgrade from J. J. Hardy. He has shown some impatience at the plate and the Brewers would really like to see him settle down and become a true #2 hitter in the batting order. A healthy, productive top 5 of Weeks, Escobar, Braun, Fielder and McGehee would be potent and would include a lot of speed on the bases. While we have yet to see a full season from Alcides, we have no reason to believe he won't improve or that we should be worried about injuries. With Yunel, you've seen struggles and injuries and he's a talent who's true depth you haven't been able to see yet.

While everyone is high on Jason Heyward, I'd take Braun any day of the week and twice on Sunday. In fact, there are few players in the majors that I would take over Ryan Braun. He's as good as advertised and seems to have gotten better each year we've had him. Something changed with clubhouse philosophy and he's been given free reign to steal bases. He's 8-for-8 so far and it's really added another dimension to the offense. What you're getting with Braun, besides the obvious power at the plate, is a clubhouse presence. He doesn't screw around, he doesn't like to lose and he'll say what he's thinking. Last year he made a comment to a reporter about pitching and our GM responded to the media that Braun could become his deputy. The kid is cocky, but it's mostly controlled and funneled on to the field. You need a guy in the clubhouse like that.

5. What would be considered a successful season for the Brewers in 2010?

Realistically, this the Brewers do not have the pitching to be a contender. Though we know that, I think most folks will be disappointed if they're not even in the race come September. With Prince Fielder's free agency looming, there's been a feeling of "now or never" surrounding this team since about mid-season 2008. Fans aren't going to be happy to see all this young, farm-grown talent come together and not see a decent playoff run come out of it. Losing to the Phillies in four games isn't going to cut it for the general public. The Brewers reached 3 million in ticket sales the past two seasons, but likely won't get there this year. If the front office wants to continue to draw crowds, the team has to produce.

However, after some disaster starts and Trevor Hoffman's blown saves, expectations have gone down a bit. It's always a roller-coaster ride with this team - feast or famine. I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect every time they turn on the TV or show up to the park.

I think if the Brewers are within breathing room of the Wild Card as the season winds down, it will appease the fan base for another year.




Make sure you go over to Brew Crew Ball to see his answers to my questions!

Way to go T-Rats

Just wanted to say that we enjoyed the Mother's Day brunch with the Timber Rattlers. The alarm didn't go off and we were probably 40 minutes late in getting to the stadium, but there was still plenty of fresh food brought out and mimosas flowing. I was very impressed.

The game was slow and a little disappointing in it's lack of energy, but we still had a great time. Definitely worth the drive up from Milwaukee.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Bucks end of season links

A few links to some season-ending articles on the Bucks -

This yahoo blog has been down this road with Scott Skiles when he was with Chicago and wonders if Milwaukee is going to see the same result.

This AP article points out how this year's team success was a perfect-storm and is unlikely to be replicated.

The Bucks have the 15th pick in the NBA Draft and Channel 12's Dan Needles is hoping they'll pick a PG out of Butler.

This article combines the end of the season with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's excitement about going to South Africa for the World Cup

Picking up John Salmons before the trade deadline was crucial to Milwaukee's success. Now, less than a week from the season end, the Bucks are already in talks with his agent to sign a contract, says the J-S.

This article from Sydney, Australia talks about how Andrew Bogut's All-NBA third-team nod is the first for an Australian in the NBA. Bogut received the honor despite missing part of the season.

Zaun's throw-back issues make news

You may remember last Monday night when Gregg Zaun was having difficulties throwing the ball back to pitcher Yovani Gallardo. It was later reported that Zaun was having shoulder spasms and therefore had little feeling in his harm. A quick treatment between innings solved the problem and the story probably should have gone away, except the situation got major press play and poor Zaun's pathetic throws made headlines in some major places:

Yahoo Sports

New York Daily News

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Spoiled baseball fan

The Brewers are neither completely sucking nor riding the high tide, and I feel like there's nothing to write about. Sad, isn't it? If there are few things to cheer or few things to whine about, I'm stuck. Rough spot to be in, the Astros fans sarcastically say to me. I know it, I'm spoiled.

The best thing over the past few days?

Jeff Suppan didn't suck. He came in in relief in tonight's game and threw two scoreless innings, giving up one walk while notching one strikeout. Be aware - the apocalypse may be neigh.

But there has been some good:

While he was slumping to start the season, Gregg Zaun was on a lot of fan's Do Not Want lists, but his bat has heated up every since. Though he started 0-21, he is now batting .367 (18-49) during a five-game hitting streak. He was responsible for two of the three RBI tonight. Despite that awful beginning, he's hitting .270 - better than every regular starter but Braun and McGehee.

The bad? Despite getting out of it with no runs scored, Claudio Vargas once again struggled and loaded the bases with no outs. While he does seem to find a way out of these jams, that luck's only going to hold out so long.

With Trevor Hoffman's struggles at closer, some fans were calling for LaTroy Hawkins to take the closer's role. At the time Trevor gave up the two saves, Hawkins was just one decent appearance removed from his own pitching problems. Tonight, we were reminded why LaTroy wouldn't have been an upgrade. He, too, loaded the bases, but unlike Vargas, he gave up a game-winning, walk-off Grand Slam.

Badgers Joe Pavelski kicking major NHL butt

Make sure you go here and read my Ladies... Post about Joe and his amazing post season stats.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Mother's Day with the Timber Rattlers

It probably says a lot about me, my mom, and our relationship that we are all geared up to head to Appleton on May 9 to spend Mother's Day with the Timber Rattlers.

I've said before that I'd always rather be outside than indoors and the 10-day forecast right now show's upper 60's heading to next Sunday, so unless rain shows up, I can't think of a better way to spend a day than watching some Brewers prospects with Judy Buzzkill (my mom).

The T-Rats will wear special pink breast cancer awareness jerseys that will be auctioned off during the day and are also offering a pre-game brunch.

Ok, I know this makes me nerdy - but seriously, if we stayed in Milwaukee we'd go out to eat and maybe swing by Grandma's. This way we get to spend the whole day together.

MLB,com writer applauds Brewers for Suppan move

I'm a few days late on this, but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else, so I'll pass on the link to this column that basically says it's not Suppan's fault he's overpaid and while it's a bit "better late than never," at least the Brewers made the move.

Self-promotion

If you're a Brewers fan and you don't already read Brew Crew Ball, you should. And I'm not just saying that because I write there. You will not find smarter fan conversation, more in-depth analysis or better coverage elsewhere. We started something new this season to preview each of the upcoming series and today I posted my first. I asked some questions of some Padres bloggers and in return answered some of theirs.

Go here to read their answers at Brew Crew Ball.

Go here to read my answers at Gaslamp Ball.

More excited than I should be about this

ESPN announced the Juergen Klinsman will be one of their analysts for the World Cup this summer.

In general, soccer announcers and analysts here in the states are sub-par. Former players are trotted through a revolving door and ESPN has had a hard time finding one who's not only articulate, but able to provide insight.

Klinsman won the 1990 WC with Germany and coached the team in 2006's tournament. Having his experience on both sides of the touch line should lend itself well to commentating on the action.

But I got even more excited when I saw this quote on ESPN.com:

"What I can bring to the table in analyzing games and talking is to make people understand what goes on on a soccer field actually reflects a nation," he said. "I'd like to tell people why they're playing a certain way, what's in the back of their mind. It all goes back to roots of where they grew up and how they identify with their own nation.

"I think I can add quite a bit to certain background information. How you read games, how you explain certain things that happen because of the backgrounds people have."


He's light years ahead of many of the announcers in realizing not only that the analysis has been lacking but also what needs to be added.

I was already excited for the tournament to start, especially considering how poorly the Brewers season has started, but this just makes it so much better.

Let the countdown again.

Former Badger and WI native raking in playoffs

Joe Pavelski probably isn't even one of the first five names a Badger hockey fan can name off the 2006 National Championship team, but he's quietly made a name for himself with the San Jose Sharks and he's been having a hell of a playoffs so far.

Pavs was the difference for the Sharks in their series-clinching win over Colorado last weekend. He scored the goal that forced overtime as well as scoring the OT game-winner. Over the course of six games, Pavelski has eight points in his first NHL post-season.

But Pavelski isn't the only former Badger doing well in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In tonight's Western conference semi-finals, it looked more like the San Jose Badgers as Pavelski scored a goal that was followed about a minute later with a goal by teammate and former Badger Dany Heatley. It was Heatley's first playoff goal, though he contributed four assists in the Sharks' opening series and has missed playing time due to an undisclosed injury.

On the opposite side of the puck in this series is former Badger and Olympic silver medalist Brian Rafalski. Rafalski has also had his ice time limited by injury but managed to add five assists during the Red Wings opening series.

Madison native Adam Burish missed most of the Chicago Blackhawks season with a knee injury and has only seen limited time as he's eased back in to skating with the team.

Brian Eliott won the starting job in net for the Ottawa Senators as their other goalie suffered from a number of freak injuries. By the time his competition was ready to return, Brian had already won the starting job. And while he started the playoffs strongly, even being named Washington's top performer in game 2 with a .94 save %, he was pulled from the starter's role for the Sens final two playoff games.

Madison native Ryan Suter's Nashville Predators were knocked out of the first round by the Blackhawks

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Bob Uecker to have heart surgery Friday and is expected to miss 10-12 weeks. More details at a 3:30 press conference

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Michael Davies signs AHL contract

Thanks to @ChuckSchwartz for the heads up

Former Badger Michael Davies was signed to an AHL contract with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, an affiliate of the New York Rangers. Davies joines fellow WCHA'er Rhett Rakhshani as a recent signee.

Davies was undrafted, so congrats to him for being picked up so quickly after the season. With his numbers, it was only a matter of time before someone snapped him up.

In Saturday night's game, Davies was on the second line.

This article has this to say about Davies and the signing:

NEW KID -- New Sound Tigers forward Michael Davies scored 52 points this year at Wisconsin, which puts Capuano in mind of a former Sound Tiger.

"He reminds me a little of Colton Fretter," Capuano said. Fretter scored nine goals for Bridgeport at the tail end of 2007-08 and has 50 in the past two seasons for Portland and Springfield.

"They're similar size, but they've got great hands. They're good with the puck. He's a crafty kid. That's something that sure can help our team, having another skill guy around."

Davies, 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, joined the Sound Tigers on an amateur tryout on Tuesday. Capuano said he hoped to get Davies more conditioning and practice time before considering tossing him into a playoff game, especially against Hershey.

"It's going to be a great experience," Davies said.

"I hope I can use my creativity and I can help out the team in any way I can."



The Sound Tigers are playing the Hershey Bears in the first round of the AHL playoffs. Former Badger Andrew Joudrey plays for Hershey.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Blake Geoffrion makes Admirals home debut in playoff game 3

Saturday night the Admirals came home for Game 3 of the first round of the AHL playoffs trailing the Chicago Wolves 2-0. The game was also the hometown premier of new signee, former-Badger Blake Geoffrion.

Two Predators draft picks have made their debut with the Ads recently, first Ryan Thang joined the team from Notre Dame and on Friday, Geoffrion joined the team in Chicago.

Geoffrion was signed to an Amateur Tryout Contract. (for more info on the different levels of NHL contracts, read this breakdown) The way I understand it, the Preds wouldn't have brought Blake up to the NHL for the playoffs because they would have cost themselves a free agency year with him.

Multiple stories on Blake's signing and play mentioned that members of the Predators front office, including gene­ral mana­ger David Poile, assis­tant gene­ral mana­ger Paul Fen­ton and direc­tor of hoc­key ope­ra­tions Mike San­tos, were planning on driving up from Chicago (where the Preds had a playoff game) to see Geoffrion play.

The drive was surely worth it, as Blake scored two goals, put in significant ice time, and was named First Star of the Game.

Love the lead sentence in this piece: "Who could have doub­ted the com­bi­na­tion of Blake Geof­frion and Wis­con­sin ice?"

As I said a few days ago, the best part of this for me was Blake matching up with Chris Chelios just a week after Blake was in Detroit for the Frozen Four and Badger fans were gathering at Chelios' bar.

We were able to get front row seats to the right side of the goal the Ads attacked twice, so we had a great view of an incredible game for Ads fans.

After having been shut down the two previous games and with a half dozen players scratched from the night's roster, it seemed unlikely the Ads were going to walk away with a win.

However, Milwaukee was stellar on the PP, scoring four of their six goals while on the man advantage.

We were surprised to see Blake in the starting lineup after he was -2 the night before in Chicago.

Blake was matched up with Chelios on lines most of the night and as I tweeted last night, it seemed a bit like the Wolves had decided to give Geoffrion a little "welcome to the big leagues" party. Two separate times hits on Blake sent Wolves to the penalty box.

Geoffrion's first goal came on the opposite end of the ice and happened so quickly after period and so far removed from the goal that we didn't immediately realize that it had happened. He got the puck to the right of center and threw a shot on net from behind the face off circles that got through the keeper.

As the game progressed, Blake took a couple of face offs and looked to be the guy they cycled down and planted in front of the keeper.

His second goal came as a result - he got the puck just to the side of the net and threw it on the keeper. The rebound shuffled around and Blake got the puck back and put it home.

Early in the game the whistle was blown on the Ads offensive end and Blake was near the keeper so a Wolves player skated up to him to be chest to chest and "protect the keeper" as is often done. Except it was Chelios who stepped in and after a second they each realized who it was and they definitely talked to each other and Chelios gave Blake a butt slap.

Per the JS recap of last night, here's what Blake had to say on it: "It was unbelievable... On the ice for the first time with him, I was kind of in awe a little bit even though my dad said not to be like that at all."

"It was pretty cool. I said, 'Hello, Mr. Chelios.' He was like, 'What's up, kid.' That was my little moment with Chris Chelios and I'll remember it the rest of my life."

Lastly, here's a screen cap from the Preds website tonight as they are playing in the NHL finals. Game 2 is the top story - but Blake is #2. Pretty impressive after just his second game in the system.







(click on pics for enlarged version)


Here are the pics I took last night:






In the opening line up


























Opening face off






















































Fighting off Chelios


























Taking it to the net










Taking a hit at the net


























































































































Taking a face off






















Once again against Chelios


















Showing some D




































































Another face off




























































Chelios


























Being named First Star

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Second BLAKE GOAL! He puts a shot on from just right of the goal and it gets deflected in
BLAKE GOAL! Less than a minute into the 2nd period he put in a long shot from behind the face off circles
Ok, play came to a quick stop and guess who ended up face to face - Blake and Chelios. They definitely said a hey and there were butt slaps
I'm at the Milwaukee Admirals game to see Wisconsins Blake Geoffrion make his Milwaukee debut. Make sure you check my twitter stream for updates. @tristarscoop

Friday, April 16, 2010

Blake Geoffrion signs with Milwaukee Admirals

Blake made it pretty obvious yesterday with tweets asking about life in Milwaukee and mentioning he was packing for Chicago, but the Admirals made it official today.

Blake Geoffrion signed an ATO with the Admirals and will be suiting up for them tonight in their playoff game at the Chicago Wolves.

Apparently the Predators start their postseason play in Chicago tonight, so it was possible that Blake was just going to meet with the Predators, but a tweet by the Ads has confirmed that Blake will suit up tonight.

No one knows if Blake has also signed with the Predators. That information seems to be rumored, but not corroborated at this time.

One of the best parts of this for me? Blake was just playing in the Frozen Four in Detroit – the officially meeting place was Chris Chelios’ bar and and Chelios spoke to the boys in the locker room – now Blake will be playing against him.

We were already planning on it, but the boyfriend and I can’t wait to be in house for the Admirals game Saturday night at the Bradley Center. Tickets are just $10. Come out and support Wisconsin’s only Hobey Baker Award winner and make him feel welcome!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Best article on Blake yet

This College Hockey News article talks about the family legacy in a way that's not redundant and has some great quotes.

The final paragraph of this article:

But Geoffrion is only worried about one title this weekend and he’s dead set on adding his name to the small list of Hobey Baker winners and National Champions.

“The job is not done yet,” Geoffrion said.

Pictures of Blake winning the Hobey

I'm sure his mom is thrilled that all the pictures of this huge honor include his mullet and 'stache!



























Also fairly disturbed by the resemblance between Blake and Barry Melrose here

















Friday, April 09, 2010

Wisconsin's Blake Geoffrion just became the first Badger to win the Hobey Baker Award!

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Wisconsin wins - are heading to the National Championship!




Badgers win!
It was a no-doubter as the Badgers scored just 1:27 in the game and never looked back on their way to an 8-1 win over RIT.

Wisconsin will face the winner of the second semi on Saturday night at 6pm on ESPN.



Jim Rosvold picture from USCHO.com

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Badger Hockey Frozen Four Links

Andy Baggot's preview of tomorrow's game for the Capital Times

USCHO.com's Wisconsin preview


A USCHO article highlighting Blake Geoffrion and his decision to play his senior year at Wisconsin

Inside College Hockey (INCH) named Blake their Player of the Year

INCH also named Brendan Smith their Defenseman of the Year

Here's the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's coverage comparing this year's team to past UW National Champions

This bit from the New York Times blog matches each of the Frozen Four squads to a Final Four basketball team for some interesting parallels.

INCH's interview with goalkeeper Scott Gudmandson

This article from Madison.com
talks about ice conditions and there's a funny video on the side bar about the mustaches.

The Detroit Free Press sponsored a live chat, taking on all kinds of topics about each team.

Here's on campus coverage from the Daily Cardinal.

This article from NESN.com breaks down the Badgers in two sentences:

Wisconsin is known to play a hard-nosed, physical, in-your-face style of hockey. As long as the Babdgers [sic] can maintain a disciplined game and keep penalties to a minimum, they pose a brutally tough challenge to any opponent.


USCHO had blog points throughout today's media day at the Frozen Four:

This one points out that the Badgers are undefeated on football fields - which they'll be playing on again in Detroit

This one is my favorite and needs to be posted in its entirety:

Today’s Wisconsin press conference got off to a rollicking start when the Badgers were told that they’d have a tough act to follow since the RIT players had been very entertaining.

Blake Geoffrion showed that his quick releases aren’t restricted to wrist shots.

“We’re better looking,” he fired back.

This one points out that the first game for this team's seniors was the game where the 2006 National Championship banner was raised.

This one talks about how Badger hockey teams have played in two previous Frozen Fours in Detroit in 1977 and 1990 - and they both won National Championship

This one has quotes from Mike Eaves about the long break between the regional championships and the Final Four.

This one talks about how the team is dealing with being heavy favorites and how they're handling the pressure.

Lastly, here's video of Blake Geoffrion and Ryan McDonagh from their presser:

Suppan named Brewers' 5th starter

Using the excuse that his career track record outweighs his poor pre-season performance, Jeff Suppan has been named the Brewers’ 5th starter today. He will do a rehab assignment on Friday in Appleton with the Timber Rattlers and is likely to pitch Wednesday at Chicago, say Haudricourt and McCalvy.

In his comments on the move, manager Ken Macha seemed to say a lot without saying anything. He denied that salary was an issue and admitted that Chris Narveson had the bet spring, but appeared to use the small sample size argument.

This is all apparently based on how Suppan performs in single-A on Friday, I suppose giving everyone an out if he totally tanks and they can blame it on his “neck injury.”

In response to a question about keeping Parra and Narveson stretched out, Macha said he plans on using them in long relief and that they’re not single inning guys.

Of course, by assuming you’ll need long relief is assuming that multiple of your starters will fail miserably.

I think most people felt this was inevitable though they didn’t want to admit it. But I’m not thrilled that Suppan’s debut will be at Wrigley Field. His last outing was rife with long fly ball outs and homeruns. That’s only going to be amplified with the early spring, windy conditions we’ve been experiencing here along the lake.

That’s a combination just asking for trouble.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Opening Day is great - right?

Despite my somewhat recent obsession with the Brewers (2005), I’ve never actually been to Opening Day. I know it’s a Milwaukee holiday to be celebrated on par with St. Patrick’s Day, but see, even with my Irish roots, I don’t head out on March 17.

The last time I could have been classified as drunk, it was off a bottle or two of wine. I can face it – I’m a light weight.

Besides, at $60 a ticket, I want to watch the game. I’m the girl at Miller Park telling you to sit down so I can see the game – I’m not there to get drunk, party, take pictures with my friends or fail to remember anything that actually happened.

I enjoy the game.

Add last year’s abundance of Cubs fans and there wasn’t much you could have done to talk me into going.

Yeah, yeah, call me a stick in the mud, but I was just as happy listening to Uecker on the radio and starting my season’s Miller Park watching at the next day’s game.

But Opening Day is a rite of passage for all Brewers fans and we decided that this year it was time to go. We aren’t able to buy season tickets because we’re both looking at out of state jobs and could be gone next month, so we couldn’t get tickets that way. We weren’t picked for the lottery, so it seemed like our Opening Day virginity was going to stay in tact for another year.

The miraculously two Fridays ago the Brewers sent out an unannounced email saying they had some seats left and those who’d signed up for the first drawing were now being given a second chance. Ten minutes, I had club level seats in my hot little mandibles. Sweet – not only do I get to go to the game, but I’m in area where d-bagness should be kept to a minimum.

So we hooked up with some friends who have done this before and the tailgating begins at 8 or 9 am. The mimosa fixin’s have been purchased, the menu is set and the countdown has begun.

And I’m a little afraid I’m going to hate it.

I’m trying to keep a positive attitude, but 30 year olds who know their alcohol limit and go barreling over that line anyway drive me nuts. I’m proprietarial about my Brewers. I’ve spent six months waiting for the season to begin again. I’m going to be really annoyed when I don’t get to see Prince’s first home run of the season because the guy next to me can’t hold his liquor.

Am I being a negative Nancy?

I’m telling myself that knowing all these things are possibilities is preparing me for the situation so that I don’t get AS upset, but maybe I’m ruining the fun before it ever begins.

There have to be Brewer fans out there who don’t go to Opening Day just to get wasted, right? Are any of you out there?

It can’t just be another excuse to get wasted that makes Opening Day such a huge day in Milwaukee, right?

The food has to be at least part of the equation, right?

Some people will be making elaborate spreads and crazy food, but we’re sticking to our tried and true tailgating grub. It’s been months since we’ve had it and it wouldn’t feel right to not include the taco dip and pasta salad in the festivities.

I’ve spent at least an hour on the phone this week trying to figure out how I can have fresh Miller’s Bakery Pretzel rolls on Monday morning. The answer is – I can’t. No one will be open on Sunday, so I’ll be buying my rolls on Saturday and hoping they still taste yummy on Monday.

We’re also rocking the Sendik’s Jim Beam bacon cheeseburger patties. Yes folks – all those things are mixed into the patty. If you haven’t discovered the greatness of these burgers, I urge you to check them out.

The weather is calling for 60 degrees – the whole thing couldn’t be any better, right?

I really am excited for this – I swear. It’s just a cautious optimism.

What to do with Suppan

Yesterday, Brewers manager Ken Macha was asked what Jeff Suppan would be doing today, as it was his scheduled day to pitch. Manny Parra and Chris Narveson are scheduled to pitch in the Brewers’ Spring Training game, but Suppan’s workload hadn’t been announced. Here’s what Macha had to say: “Hopefully I’ll be able to answer that tomorrow. That’s my best answer.”

As Haudricourt put it, since when do veteran pitchers not know what they’ll be doing the next day?

Over on this morning’s Mug at BCB, Kyle wondered if Suppan would be pitching in a minor league game or some other such under-the-radar outing. Fan opinion is not behind keeping Suppan in the rotation and another poor outing that is reported on would not go over well here in Milwaukee.

Suppan’s contract is for $12.5 million dollars this year, which I understand the Brewers have a hard time swallowing, but they need to take a cue from the Bill Hall trade and accept that it was a bad business decision. Forcing him into the lineup purely to justify the expenditure only complicates and multiplies the problem. Yes, Bill Hall is with another team while we overpay for much of his contract, but at least we aren’t being affected by his poor choices at the plate or negative presence in the clubhouse, nor is the club dealing with the fan’s negativity. Other than the negativity, it’s the same situation with Suppan.

One week ago, ESPN’s MLB rumor page reported that scouts who watched Suppan pitch in AZ this spring have said that he is completely cooked and is no longer able to get major league hitters out.

As I’ve mentioned before, Suppan’s last outing was questionable when he needed to be told to use his off-speed pitches.

And now scouts are pointing out how crappy he is – meaning teams around the league must be rubbing their hands together at the thought of facing him every fifth day.

Watch BrewCrewBall.com for more on this tonight.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Behold the Power of the Mustache

These kids' parents deserve Badger Fan of the Year Awards. They were at Saturday night's win and made some great camera time. Of course they look a little like Mario and Luigi, but seriously, when I called for fans to sport mustaches I never imagined they'd drag their kids into it!
















Thursday, March 25, 2010

Suppan's even worst than we thought

Per John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus on ESPN Rumor Central via UeckerPowell ‘s Twitter feed:

Scouts who have watching (Jeff) Suppan pitch in Arizona this spring say he is completely cooked and no longer able to get major league hitters out.
_

Who knows what to make of this bit of information. Suppan’s been as horrible as we feared all Spring Training long, but this bit of information surprised me. Sure, he’s been giving up Braden Looper – like numbers of homers and the rest of his outs have been long fly balls, but I never imagined he’d just totally lose what little talent he had.

In today’s Mug over at BCB, Kyle provided a few quotes from both Suppan and Macha. According to Suppan it was his first chance to use all his pitches and he was “amped-up” and Macha said he had to send Peterson to the mound to remind Suppan to throw off-speed stuff.

The Macha quote is pretty disturbing – did Suppan think he was going to use his blazing fast ball to strike out the side? I mean, I never worried about Suppan’s smarts on the mound before that, but now I’m concerned he’s losing his mind as well as his ability.

Macha also said the problem was one that’s been gone over before. The Macha quotes came off sounding tired and resigned.

Badger fans and Mustaches Unite!



The Badger men’s hockey team went with the unconventional playoff mustaches in lieu of playoff beards this year.

This article from Madison.com talks about how the guys know they’re “cheesy” and compares notes on who’s got the best stache growing so far. The reasoning behind the ‘staches instead of beards? The beards haven’t worked over the past few seasons, so they changed it up.

If you’re not following Blake Geoffrion’s twitter account, you should be. Not only has he taken time to answer fans’ questions, but he’s provided some spectacular pictures of his teammates’ post-season looks.









Cody Goloubef Aaron Bendickson JohnMitchell and Michael Davies
The pics inspired me, as they should all Badger fans. What better way to support the hockey team then to sport some ‘staches of our own?

Heading to the Regionals in St Paul? Sport a ‘stache.

Watching the game at home? Sport a ‘stache.

I’ll be heading to a costume shop after work to pick up some mustaches. If you do the same, please post links to the pictures in the comments.






Sunday, March 21, 2010

NCAA Men's Hockey Championship Field Set

The Badgers are a #1 seed and will be playing in the west regional in St. Paul , MN. Wisconsin draws Vermont.

Vermont finished eighth in Hockey East during the regular season and were helped in getting an at-large bid when Boston College beat Maine for the Hockey East tournament championship and Cornell defeated Union for the ECAC title.

Vermont's pairwise ranking was no doubt helped by their 6-1 record against out-of-conference teams.

Tickets for the regional go on sale tomorrow at 10am here.

Badgers will play at 8PM vs Vermont, St. Cloud and Northern Michigan will play at 4:30. Winners play at 8PM Saturday.

Here's the rest of the pack:

East Regional, March 26-27
Times Union Center, Albany, New York


Friday, March 26, 3 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU HD
No. 1 Denver (27-9-4) vs. No. 4 Rochester Institute of Technology (26-11-1)

Friday, March 26, 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU HD
No. 2 Cornell (21-8-4) vs. No. 3 New Hampshire (17-13-7)

Saturday, March 27, 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU HD
East Regional Championship

West Regional, March 26-27
Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota


Friday, March 26, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN Syndication HD/ESPN360.com (ESPNU tape delay – Friday, March 26, 11:30 p.m. Eastern time)
No. 2 St. Cloud State (23-13-5) vs. No. 3 Northern Michigan (20-12-8)

Friday, March 26, 9 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU HD
No. 1 Wisconsin (25-10-4) vs. No. 4 Vermont (17-14-7)

Saturday, March 27, 9 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU HD
West Regional Championship

Northeast Regional, March 27-28
DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts


Saturday, March 27, 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN Syndication/ESPN360.com (ESPNU tape delay – Sunday, March 28, 9:30 a.m. Eastern time)
No. 1 Boston College (25-10-3) vs. No. 4 Alaska Fairbanks (18-11-9)

Saturday, March 27, 5 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN Syndication/ESPN360.com (ESPNU tape delay – Sunday, March 28, noon Eastern time)
No. 2 North Dakota (25-12-5) vs. No. 3 Yale (20-9-3)

Sunday, March 28, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU
Northeast Regional Championship

Midwest Regional, March 27-28
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana


Saturday, March 27, 4 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU
No. 1 Miami (Ohio) (27-7-7) vs. No. 4 Alabama-Huntsville (12-17-3)

Saturday, March 27, 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN Syndication/ESPN360.com (ESPNU tape delay – Saturday, March 27, 11:30 p.m. Eastern time)
No. 2 Bemidji State (23-9-4) vs. No. 3 Michigan (25-17-1)

Sunday, March 28, 8 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU
Midwest Regional Championship

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Arizona Cardinals and former Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson have agreed to a two-year contract worth $7.25 million, a source told ESPN.com Wednesday.

The source said the deal includes $3.25 million guaranteed, and with incentives would max out at $18.25 million

Whisenhunt said he got a text from Leinart on Wednesday saying he "knew there was going to be competition, but he was going to show he was ready to play. "

"So that indicated to me that Matt was in a good place," the coach said. ".... I don't know necessarily that it was a function of any announcements about us reaching an agreement with Derek as much as it was just Matt staying in communication. That is what we want from our players and I was excited to see that."
















Monday, March 15, 2010

Marquette unis featured on Uni Watch

Sunday’s Uni Watch blog installment was all about Marquette’s uniform history. It’s a great read with a ton of pictures. Make sure you go check it out.


How Wisconsin hockey could be #1 overall seed

From USCHO.com:

For Wisconsin to be the Overall Number One Seed, here it is per our PairWise Predictor and our Chief Editor Todd Milewski.

CCHA Semifinal #2: Ferris State defeats Northern Michigan
CCHA Semifinal #1: Michigan defeats Miami
CCHA Championship game: Michigan defeats Ferris State
CCHA Consolation game: Northern Michigan defeats Miami
ECAC Semifinal #2: Union defeats St. Lawrence
ECAC Semifinal #1: Brown defeats Cornell
ECAC Championship game: Brown defeats Union
ECAC Consolation game: St. Lawrence defeats Cornell
Hockey East Semifinal #2: Maine defeats Boston University
Hockey East Semifinal #1: Vermont defeats Boston College
Hockey East Championship game: Maine defeats Vermont
WCHA Play-in #1: Minnesota-Duluth defeats North Dakota
WCHA Semifinal #2: Wisconsin defeats St. Cloud State
WCHA Semifinal #1: Minnesota-Duluth defeats Denver
WCHA Championship game: Wisconsin defeats Minnesota-Duluth
WCHA Consolation game: St. Cloud State defeats Denver
Atlantic Hockey Semifinal #2: Sacred Heart defeats Air Force
Atlantic Hockey Semifinal #1: RIT defeats Canisius
Atlantic Hockey Championship game: RIT defeats Sacred Heart

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Tom Crean latching on to Marquette success

Former Marquette coach Tom Crean tweeted this today:

Congratulations to everyone at Marquette. 5 straight NCAA tournaments and some people thought the Big East was a reach when we entered.

Using "we" might be a bit of a stretch considering he bailed on the team two seasons ago. He's had a rough time getting Indiana started so maybe he's looking to up his credibility by taking retroactive credit for some of Marquette's success. Or maybe we're reading too much in to it. Either way, it rings a little false, doesn't it?

Friday, March 12, 2010

Packers jersey revealed

Here's what the jersey it's based on looked like.













And here's the new jersey that will be worn this year.

Thanks to Packers Lounge for the picture.

I love the jersey it's based on, but it doesn't translate well the current uniform fabric and layout.