Joe Knows Stuff

The Fire Burns Again

2011-12-28T19:45:00.000-06:00

Anyone that knows me knows I have very little to complain about these days. My life is good, I have a good job, a fantastic wife, a loving home, great pets, and all that jazz. My sports teams are doing fantastic as well, leading to me not needing to complain too loudly about them, either. The Packers are not only the Super Bowl champs, but have won the most regular season games of any Packers team, and stand a more than decent chance of repeating. The Brewers merely won more regular season games than any other Milwaukee major league baseball club ever. The Badgers are in the Rose Bowl back to back, the basketball team is getting deep in the tournament, and the hockey team continues to pump out NHL players like a pipeline. Heck, things are even going well for my adopted Canadian teams. The Bombers got to they Grey Cup, and the Jets, well, the Jets exist again, and that's enough for now.

So what sparked my fire with the effectiveness of gasoline and a lit match?

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/cfl/blog/cfl_experts/post/Roughriders-vs-Rough-Riders-Saskatchewan-contr?urn=cfl-wp2533

In case you either don't care to click the link or don't understand the significance, one CFL team is apparently denying a new CFL team from using the name the city and the country associates with the CFL in Ottawa.

Let me get one thing out of the way, and let's never speak of it again. Yes, this is the same Roughriders-Rough Riders thing that Americans (and Canadians, as well) use to point out that the CFL is, to put it mildly, something less than big league. The AHL, the top tier minor league of the NHL, also has a similar situation, as does the SEC, which is about as big league as it gets in college sports. The AHL's situation (having two leagues merge with one another) is very similar to the CFL situation (East and West coming together to form one league), and if it's good enough for the SEC, it's good enough for America. So let's move on.

Why is this a bad thing, you may ask? Ottawa has had a linkage to the Rough Riders name since as early as 1869, and the club that became the CFL Rough Riders existed as of 1876, and took the name as of 1897. The Rough Riders won 7 Grey Cups, and while they struggled in their last two decades of existence, they had a long and storied history, one that I couldn't do justice to, so I'll just let the fact that the team existed for 120 years stand by itself for the time being.

It came to an end in Ottawa for the Rough Riders because the CFL hit a rocky patch, started losing money hand over fist, and had the bad luck to have some of the worst owners a CFL team could ever have. The last one, Horn Chen, left the team hanging, and the CFL owners, having had to salvage more than a few potentially lost causes over the past 5 years, had to let the Rough Riders slip into history. The other Riders out west were almost in the same boat, but a telethon and support from a province that was struggling economically as well kept the Green Riders from fading into the same history books as the Ottawa club.

Another attempt at CFL football in Ottawa was made with the Renegades, as the owners of the Renegades were not willing to battle Chen for the name and logo of the former squad. These owners would also bail on the team quickly, leading to Bernie Glieberman, one of the aforementioned worst owners ever, taking over the team. It was ironic, because Glieberman wanted to move the original Riders to Shreveport in the early 90's. Glieberman bailed on the team himself, and the CFL was unwilling to pick up the pieces. The team is scheduled to resurface in 2014, this time under (hopefully) competent leadership.

Through it all, the true CFL fans in Ottawa have stayed true, and have had to suffer the indignity of not once, but twice, losing their team because of circumstances beyond their control.

And now this. Sure, small in the big scheme of things, as they would gladly take their team back under any circumstances, but to have another team take their name and claim it as their own?

I suppose, though, that in a place that can't count to twelve, and a people that have been described as banjo playing inbreds by Troy Westwood, the old Bombers kicker, the top brass in Regina may have worried that their fan base would get confused with two teams with almost the same name.

And if you think that was a cheap shot, it pales in comparison of kicking a fan base when it's down.

Another Roundtable....

2010-10-16T14:22:00.001-05:00

Brought to you by three guys that love their football teams and have opinions about them!

1. Some of us have easier weeks than others (I'm looking at you, Doug), but each of us has a team that could very well knock us off, even at home. How is your team going to come out on top this week?

Norm: 1. How will Michigan come out on top this week? Simply put, they need to realize that they can still run with anybody. I read in more than one place that Denard Robinson gave a postgame speech in the locker room after the loss to MSU that earned him a bunch of respect and reinforced that he is the leader. Good, the team needs that. Now they need to apply the lessons against a very tough Iowa team. Can they do it? I honestly don't know but I'm comfortable the defiance QB1 is showing.

Doug: 1. Illinois is one of the easier teams we've played this season, but I'm hoping the team doesn't take them lightly because of their poor reputation-- Zook has his team on fire this year. How are we going beat them? By minimizing turnovers, running the ball, and completing big passes. The stabilized offense has killed this season, and it's lead by one of the most potent running games in the country (as you both know now). I don't think Illinois can stop the run with 3 different guys carrying the load, and Cousins is having a monster season throwing the ball. He's easily the most under-appreciated QB by the media.

Joe: If they can overcome the bad smell lingering from hosting Minnesota and Ohio State back to back, and they can make a big play every so often, I think the Badgers can end up on top. The defense has to keep Terelle Pryor throwing, because he can't do that as well as he can run against good teams, and we have to get up early and grind away. We aren't built to come from behind.

2. What has been the biggest disappontment this season? Doug, you have to answer this too. :D

Norm: 2. I'll answer that with a question: What the f*ck is defensive coordinator Greg Robinson still doing on the Michigan sideline???? How anyone in power at the University hasn't slapped the sh*t out of that guy is beyond me.

Doug: 2. It's hard to pick a disappointment after starting 6-0 (had to say it), but if I had to pick one, it's coach D being in the hospital. It sucks to have your coach dealing with health issues, and I honestly thought it would hurt us. But Treadwell knows what he's doing obviously-- the two are connected at the hip. Other than that, I haven't seen much else to be disappointed with this season.

Joe: Besides the obvious (thank your team for that, Doug), we lost our best linebacker, Chris Borland, early. It's mitigated somewhat that he qualifies for a medical redshirt, but he made it big as a freshman last year, and could have been our best chance to make big plays tonight.

3. Why is your team a threat to win the Big 10?

Norm: 3. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...next question. That being said, NO ONE in this conference is going undefeated.

Doug: 3. We beat the most hyped (Michigan) and the best (Wisconsin) teams on our conference schedule. And we're just hitting our stride. It also helps that somehow we missed Ohio State this year on our schedule. I am, however, not looking forward to Northwestern and Iowa. We can beat them, but they're going to be VERY tight games, if I had to guess. Northwestern always ruins seasons.

Joe: Because we can win tonight, and because Michigan State has a bad habit of not finishing what they start. On one hand, they don't seem to be the Michigan State of old, on the other hand, they still bear the same colors. We'll have to see if they can take care of business the rest of the way.

4. Put your reputation where your mouth is. I need your picks this week, and I need a score. Show me how good you are at this stuff. :D

Norm: 4. Michigan - 24, Iowa - 21: somehow, someway, I see the Wolverines pulling off the upset they couldn't steal away in Iowa last year. Had this game as a loss at the beginning of the season and I honestly don't know why I'm switching it now.

MSU - 27, Illinois - 24: TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP

Minnesota/Purdue: who cares, part 1.
Indiana/Arkansas State: who cares, part 2.

Wisconsin - 28, Ohio State - 27: Camp Randall at night is a very dangerous place for the '#1' team in the country to go with that new ranking. That place is going to be rocking and, unlike two years ago when the band got suspended for the game, they will be there to provide that ol' college atmosphere. I'm not saying that was the difference a couple of years ago, but Randall wasn't rockin' like it usually does.

Doug: MSU 31 Illinois 21-- they're upset-worthy, but they beat a weak PSU team last week. MSU is just too powerful for them I think.

Michigan 17 Iowa 28-- Iowa has an even better defense than MSU, and especially defensive line. What does this mean? Denard Robinson should get shut down again.

Purdue 21 Minnesota 20-- comes down to defense here, because neither team has an offense. Also, Minnesota likes losing the close ones.

Indiana 28 Arkansas State 17-- as Norm said, who cares?

Wisconsin 24 Ohio State 20-- I think they're angry enough to do it. This is also a bit of wishful thinking. BUT Ohio State hasn't played anyone this season, so this is going to be a big test for them, and I'm hoping Wisky takes 'em by surprise.

Joe: My goodness, we have a clean sweep. I don't know if this is wishful thinking, or if we all truly believe, but Wisconsin 17, Ohio State 13.

MSU 31, Illinois 13. If everyone identifies a game as a trap game, is it really a trap game?

Indiana 55, Arkansas State 17.

Purdue 45, Minnesota 3.

Iowa 24, Michigan 10. Robinson is shut down again, and we wonder what we saw early on.

College Football Roundtable

2010-10-02T08:08:00.000-05:00

This week, Norm decided to play host to Doug and I going back and forth about our teams for today's big matchup between the Michigan State Spartans and the Wisconsin Badgers. Check out all the stuff that we both said, although I'm sure one of us will wish his words weren't in stone later today, or at least online. http://farfromthenorm.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/a-wolverine-hosts-a-spartan-and-a-badger-an-msuwisconsin-preview/

Ranking the Big 10: My Preferences

2010-09-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a slightly unusual way of ranking teams. I'm putting them in order simply based on who I'd cheer for, assuming it had no impact on the Badgers, of course.

1. Wisconsin

Duh. And I'm rooting for whoever makes it easier for the Badgers to win the Big 10. Moving on, however...

I find myself rooting for these teams....

2. Michigan

I blame Norm for this. I do find an attraction in the tradition, Hail to the Victors, the winged helmets, and the fact that they don't run a (really) dirty program, at least as far as we've been able to tell. Plus, people from Ann Arbor can throw a good party and are fun to drink with.

3. Penn State.

Again, tradition, the plain blue uni's, Joe Pa's corpse being the head coach in the next 10 years, Weekend at Bernie's style, and the fact that they tend to make the Big 10 look good and don't choke on their cupcakes. (I'm looking at you, Michigan)

4. Nebraska

This is obviously subject to change, but them looking good this year really helps our street cred.

I'm rather indifferent to these teams....

5. Northwestern

They have the underdog thing going for them, but I'd like them a lot better if they didn't continually beat us in Evanston, even when they're not supposed to be good enough to do so. Expect games in the high 40's each between us there.

6. Indiana

Tough to dislike a team that doesn't beat you. Except for a bit of an issue around 2001-2002, we have beaten them consistently since 1992. Therefore, I tend to root for them by default, because they usually don't hurt us.

7. Michigan State

These guys annoy me more than anything. They tend to beat us when we're going good, but roll over for us when we're not. It seems to be vice versa with us, and we've both knocked down otherwise great seasons for each other.

8. Illinois

They aren't usually much of a threat, but every so often, they go nuts and have a great season, knocking us off along the way. It isn't really worth rooting for them, as when they're good, they're too good, and when they're bad, they're bottom of the barrel.

9. Purdue

I just don't like them much. It's just one of those things. There's no reason for it, they haven't done anything that would make it this way, it's just, yuck.

They're rivals, but I don't hate them TOO much....

10. Iowa

This is a rivalry in which you want to beat the other, you dislike the other, but you can appreciate their successes somewhat and tip your hat when they best you.

If they play each other, I root for a meteor....

11. Minnesota
12. Ohio State

Everything about these two schools rubs me the wrong way. Mind you, Ohio State isn't technically a "rival", but they will be a division mate, they run a dirty program (Tressel ran a dirty program at Youngstown State, and you KNOW Clarett wasn't eligible, but you don't see Ohio State forfeiting victories, while USC is the "worst thing to happen in college football in decades." Tell me how fair THAT is), and they're arrogant about the whole thing. Seeing them get it handed to them in BCS games, even if it hurts the conference, makes me happy. Minnesota taking a digger against South Dakota also makes me happy.

So there you have it. Besides the bottom two, who I wouldn't root for if my life depended on it, the others can be interchanged depending on the standings situation. But hey, this was fun to do, and it's something more than a link to the latest college roundtable. :D

The Roundtable, Part 4

2010-09-25T21:36:00.001-05:00

http://thedetroittransplant.blogspot.com/2010/09/ncaa-round-table-part-iv.html, and stay tuned for a special this week, as MSU and Wisconsin duke it out.

College Football Roundtable, Week 3

2010-09-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. Week 4 is almost over. I was busy with friends and football. Here's what we have for the roundtable for week 3, and look for the link to week 4 soon enough.

1. What did you like about your team's performance this week?

Norm (Michigan): Shoelace. The offensive line was solid once again. Shoelace. Beating Notre Dame in their own house. Shoelace...and Shoelace. I think that just about covers it.

Doug (Michigan State): I don't know that it's possible to NOT get excited about having a 183 yard rusher, and the 3rd 100 yard rushing performance in 2 weeks. Baker is explosive, and he should be able to carry us for a season with Caper and Bell subbing in fairly consistently for fresh legs. This takes the pressure off Cousins, and as we've seen, he's had solid outings because the run game has been so effective. Right now, MSU is 11th in the nation in rushing yards-- not too shabby.

Joe (Wisconsin): We can play good old Wisconsin football. We can run effectively, and the defense seems to be able to make up for our offensive mistakes. Our kickers can do the job as well.

2. What didn't you like about your team's performance this week?

Norm:  Almost everything else not named Shoelace. The running backs need to contribute more to Michigan's offense down the road. The defense gave up too many big plays and nearly gave the victory back to the Irish with stupid penalties at the end (thank you Dayne Crist for throwing that last pass over the endzone). The kicker sucked...and that description is about as polite as I'll get.

Doug: There wasn't a lot to complain about last week, but giving up 265 passing yards to FAU is never a good sign. We held them to under 50 rushing yards, which is good, but that kind of pass defense will get destroyed in the Big 10.

Joe: Our special teams, besides the guys that actually kick the ball, are special with a capital "Durrrr." We're short kick returners, and our kick coverage teams have been an issue for a few years. I'd advocate for the firing of the special teams coach if we HAD one. Instead, Bielema thinks he can make it work himself. It's clearly not.

3. What Big 10 team looks stronger to you this year than you thought?

Norm:  I have two: Wisconsin and the team that shall not be named. Both teams have defenses that are stout and will cause problems for anyone they face. I can't wait until these two face each other, it's going to be a battle.

Doug: Without a doubt-- Michigan. Who would've thought the guy with a 38% completion percentage last season would be a heisman front runner? I mean, it's hard to read into at this point because they haven't played full-strength teams (just teams that were good last year and lost some good players), but I definitely picked them to lose to UConn, so they're already way better than I expected.

Joe: Michigan can score points, which I thought was going to be an issue, and Ohio State seems to be more than we expected, which is usually not the case.

4. On the flipside again, which Big 10 team looks weaker than you thought?

Norm:  That's hard to say, really. I tend to think all teams in the Big Ten are weaker than those in other BCS Conferences (except the ACC and the Big East-those teams suck).

Doug: Penn State and Minnesota. Penn State is always decent, and Bolden looked good in his first week... Against a horrible school. Then they came out and laid an egg at 'Bama. How many red zone turnovers? It was ugly. Minnesota was at least decent last year, and I think we're seeing what happens when Eric Decker leaves your offense. They lost to USD and had a hard time with MTSU... Enough said.

Joe: You have to say Minnesota after they lost to what amounts to a Division II team. They did that a few years ago as well, so that should be proof enough a new stadium does not a football program make.

5. Can your quarterback tie his shoes, or does his mommy have to do it for him? :)

Norm:  Of course he can. Now is there any defender out there quick enough to catch him and make him tie his shoes? There's still plenty of football left to be played but so far, the signs point to 'NO'.'

Doug:  Kirk Cousins doesn't need to be a trend-setter. He goes out and takes care of business with his shoes tied, like any sensible football player would do. Stay safe kids, tie your shoes.

Joe: Scott Tolzien shows leadership in a lot of instances, and he also shows the younger players that tying their shoes is preferable to not tying their shoes. I can just imagine Robinson being caught by one of those flapping shoelaces and losing an ACL or Achilles. I'd be scared if I were a Michigan fan, but I suppose if I was a Michigan fan, I'd have bigger things to worry about.

College Football Roundtable, Week 2

2010-09-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

Check out Norm's blog here (http://farfromthenorm.wordpress.com/) to see our college football roundtable discussion for week 2. Next week, I do believe it's my turn. Now, time to think of some intelligent questions...

Wait a sec....

2010-09-08T19:13:00.000-05:00

Manager, coach, player, and fan all ejected in last night's game?

I think Bob Davidson and crew hit a rare cycle for ejections.

Mid-Week Bullet Point Blog Post

2010-09-08T19:00:00.000-05:00

Look for another roundtable coming up soon as well.

* The wife starts 13 hour days twice a week due to school, work, and interning. It's not gonna be fun.

* Football is officially back. I watched last night's Brewers game simply because there wasn't a football game to see. Glad I caught 600, because I doubt I would have otherwise.

* Speaking of which, this is a disgrace. Really, it's a disgrace on all levels, if the part about the slur is true, which I don't really doubt. On the other hand, I suppose it's nice to see Bob Davidson pay attention to SOMETHING, as he doesn't seem to pay attention to the strike zone and game winning hits.

* I rarely link to anything St. Louis related, but this is worth a link.

* Pizza's done. Gotta run. :D

Big 10 Blogger Roundtable, 9/4

2010-09-04T10:39:00.000-05:00

Our Big 10 panel of experts (or whatever term you'd like to use :D) has completed a round-table discussion. See it at http://thedetroittransplant.blogspot.com/2010/09/round-table-ncaa-preview_03.html

Big 10 Division Split

2010-09-01T19:15:00.001-05:00

This is an issue that will likely be discussed in the roundtable discussion post later on, but I figure I'd tackle it now while it's fresh, from a Wisconsin perspective.

From my perspective, this sucks for Wisconsin. We got the worst of this entire deal.

Understand that I see the best way to do things as having the rivals play in each other's divisions, and to have an equal split of 3 opponents from the other division alternating evenly. That may give you an idea why this is so grating to me.

To recap for the uneducated, the Big 10 is splitting up as such:

Division 1: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota
Division 2: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois

I would have to say that Wisconsin's main goals out of all this were to face Minnesota every year (preserved because of the automatic cross-division matchup), face Iowa every year (nope, not happening), and in a perfect world, see Nebraska every year (not happening either).

One out of three might work in baseball, but in football, that's pretty bad.

I don't terribly mind facing Ohio State every year. Out of all the Big 10 teams, I have the least amount of like/respect for them. Penn State is always a top tier team as well, but don't color me too excited about Purdue, Indiana, and Illinois. None of them inspire rivalry talk, trophy games, and the like.

Here are the protected crossover games:

Michigan-Ohio State, Penn State-Nebraska, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Northwestern-Illinois, Purdue-Iowa, Michigan State-Indiana.

So, uh, tell me, Indiana and Purdue isn't enough of an in-state rivalry to be worth preserving? I can't see Purdue-Iowa or Michigan State-Indiana as being hot enough rivalries to trump that. Iowa-Michigan State would be an odd pairing, but no less odd than the two that exist now.

At least for the Michigan-Ohio State fans, they get everything they want. Besides that, though, I can't see how the Big 10 could have done any worse.

Since I've been attacking it for this long, I might as well give you my thoughts. Had they asked me, here's what they may have gotten.

West Division:
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Penn State
Illinois

East Division:
Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan State
Indiana
Purdue
Northwestern

Even this isn't perfect, as it splits Illinois-Northwestern, but that may be fixed with permanent crossovers, if necessary. Penn State could also be shuffled east, but that would put the traditional powers within one division, for the most part, and probably wouldn't fly. Not that one of those traditional powers has been powerful lately. *hides from Norm*

All right, enough of my whining. Let's see how this plays out.

UW Badgers Preview, 2010

2010-08-31T22:09:00.001-05:00

Links to other Big 10 previews:
Michigan State

It has been the best of times in Buckyland lately. The last losing season is 2001, and while the team has had their share of setbacks,an argument could be made that the program has been the second best program in the conference over the last decade. Mind you, the best team over the last decade hails from Columbus, routinely chokes in BCS games, and occasionally chokes our quarterback, but here's hoping the 2010's belong to a team not wearing the Scarlet and Gray. I prefer the Cardinal and White, but anything's better than the current champs.

For the first time in a while, the Badgers return a quarterback that doesn't scare the crap out of me. Scott Tolzien had a fantastic season last year, especially considering no one had this kind of expectations for him, except maybe him and close family. I'm happy to be wrong in cases like this. If he goes down, God help us. John Clay is another in a long line of workhorse backs, but he's not the only one that can shoulder the load. Montee Ball is a sophomore that got a lot of touches last year, and can take over if need be. Nick Toon provides solid work at wide receiver, and hopefully he'll be another in a line of receivers that this school somehow produces while focusing on the running game. Speaking of which, you must be new around here if you're worried about the offensive line.

Losing O'Brien Schofield hurts, obviously, but the defensive line always seems to make things happen. JJ Watt will be stepping up to take the playmaker role on the line. We'll forgive Chris Borland for being from Ohio, simply because the sophomore makes plays, and makes them often. The secondary is in a state of flux, with Aaron Henry playing safety next to Jay Valai, a big hitter, with Niles Brinkley trying to live up to expectations at corner.

Phillip Welch and Brad Nortman handle the kicking chores well, and the Badgers have a few talented returners to keep Big 10 special teams coaches awake at night.

Key Stretch:
10/16 vs. Ohio State
10/23 at Iowa

Duh. Besides a loss in Evanston, where our defense is apparently not allowed to enter the stadium, these were the two teams that dealt the Badgers losses. The Badgers last beat Iowa in 2007, and last beat Ohio State in 2004.

Stay tuned for a Big 10 roundtable discussion post, coming soon.

Wakey wakey....

2010-08-23T21:02:00.005-05:00

It's about time I got back to this. The wedding made me stop, and, well, I just didn't start again.

New Stuff:

Celebrated the anniversary yesterday, and said goodbye to the best year of my life and hello to the next best year of my life. I plan to make that a habit.

Worked on painting Steph's office. She's got a new blog too. It's at http://stephsmultiplehats.blogspot.com/. Follow it. You know you want to.

We got a laptop a few weeks ago, and a wireless printer today. Spent less than 100 bucks on the printer. It's a good thing, plus now, I can print from downstairs too. I'm way too impressed with technology that's been around for a while.

Woke http://www.joeknowssports.com up again. I may actually use it for more than just hosting the USFL league site. That's gotta get put back up sometime too, but not quite yet. No sense in rushing, it's gonna be a while before Cam finishes the software.

We have kitties. They're awesome.

Say hello to Hobbes and Raven. We've had them about a month now, and we fall in love more every day.

Aight. Enough of this. Bed, and work tomorrow, beckons. Long weekends aren't long enough sometimes.

Not dead yet...

2009-07-28T21:45:00.003-05:00

At least not completely. I still use the sidebar quite frequently myself, and Norm dropped me a line to tell me to add this: http://thetripledeke.blogspot.com/

Check it out if you're a hockey fan.

I'm also adding http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/. It's a great blog about true baseball fan suffering. It also talks about teams that aren't better suited for AAA once in a great while.

.....

2009-07-03T16:27:00.004-05:00

Please, please, please. When you have the bases loaded, two outs, full count, and the winning run on third, do not, I repeat, do not walk the guy. Groove a 85 mile per hour fastball down the middle for all I care, just make the guy beat you. Yes, it was a bad call, but don't give the ump the chance to blow it. Make it happen.

This public service announcement brought to you by a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. I really hope I don't have to use the "ranting" tag again any time soon, as I've had to go to it the last two days.

Hey, look, a post!

2009-07-02T23:45:00.004-05:00

Yes, I do that occasionally. This one will even have some content!

I love me my football. I love me my CFL, too. Don't ask why. It's just the way I am.

I'm just going to spend a second bitching about the Bombers, and why they don't sign a kicker that, I dunno, doesn't miss three extra points, causing his team to lose to highly rated LSU by a point in Louisiana. Yes, I know he's gotten better since then. Still, I'll never be able to shake the fact that he once was so shaken, he ended up doing that.

Tonight, he missed a 48 yarder in one of the toughest stadiums in the CFL, and the Bombers lost by two. Not an easy kick to make, by any means. And yet, I had no faith whatsoever that he'd make it. None. He's also taking up an import slot, which in the CFL, means that he's non-Canadian. Imports are a little over half the roster. Filling the spot with a Canadian gives the Bombers more flexibility on signing another American, for any position anywhere.

Eh, who am I kidding? They'll stick it out with him until it becomes well too late to matter.

Talkin' Baseball....

2009-06-24T22:22:00.003-05:00

I'm eating, sleeping, and living baseball since, gosh, probably mid-May. If it's baseball related, I'm involved. If it means watching the Brewers, I'm there. If it means playing MLB 09: The Show, I'm there. If it means running an internet baseball league, I'm there. If it means cruising the net all day for historical baseball articles, I'm there.

In short, baseballbaseballbaseballbaseballbaseball. Ben would not approve.

Oh, and hello Hyderabad, India! I see someone over there has peeked at my blog, whether by accident, or looking for something interesting. Sorry about the lack of interesting things. Also, hi to Battle Creek, Michigan, and New Berlin, Wisconsin.

Phew...

2009-06-17T12:39:00.004-05:00

It's been busy here lately. That screwy work schedule I'll only have to mess with for a few more weeks takes a toll on my mental well-being, but thankfully, it's over in July.

The USFL is now on hiatus, but will be back when the software is done and ready.

Check out the Blitz, though, because there's a new baseball league started by me to pass the time until we get the USFL back up and running. Steph's joining the baseball league, which I hope to give a launch to Friday.

I had fun putting together the USFL Championship game writeup, complete with some commentary and commercials! http://blindsideblitz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38399

More Melvin when I feel like it.

The Doug Melvin Years: 2005

2009-06-03T13:54:00.001-05:00

2005 would be better, and there was even hope for a winning season. The hopes would be dashed on the final day of the season, but still, 81-81 was to be celebrated given the sorry state of the organization just a few years before.

Melvin's penchant for free talent led him to the Atlantic League, where he plucked Mike Rivera off the Atlantic City roster. Rivera has been hitting as of late, and now catches for the team every five days.

The June Draft would bring both Ryan Braun and Mat Gamel. Braun is obviously an all-star left fielder, and Gamel is in a semi-platoon at third with Bill Hall. Good times all around here.

Junior Spivey would be traded for Tomo Ohka, and Ohka would start for two years, while Spivey wouldn't play after 2005.

It would be a quiet trade deadline again, and the first major move after the season was trading Lyle Overbay, who had no more useful purpose in Milwaukee with Prince Fielder on the horizon, as well as Ty Taubenheim for Dave Bush, who's done league average starting work for the Brewers, Gabe Gross, who was decent as a backup outfielder for a few years, and Zach Jackson, who didn't work out in the end.

The Brewers also added Corey Koskie for a minor league pitcher in Brian Wolfe, but Koskie would be laid low with injuries after delivering decent numbers over the first half of 2006.

2006 lay ahead with high expectations after the additions of Koskie and Bush, as well as Prince Fielder starting at first base every day.

The Doug Melvin Years: 2004

2009-06-03T13:40:00.001-05:00

2004 wasn't to be the Brewers' year either. They actually dropped a half a game, falling to 67-94 for the season. On the other hand, the team kept adding assets and re-building a crumbling foundation.

The June draft proved bountiful again, as Yovani Gallardo, the team's ace, and Angel Salome, the team's best catching prospect, were both picked up.

During the season, it was a fairly quiet time, as the team didn't do much for building. Russell Branyan was added to be a bat and bring people into the park, but he was nothing more than a stopgap. The team did add Derrick Turnbow after the season on waivers, but most of the changes were addition by subtraction. The team also lost Craig Counsell for a season, as Counsell opted to go back to Arizona for two seasons.

Damian Miller was picked up, and would catch for the team for three seasons. Two trades came up over three days, though, which would shape the course of the next few seasons. Well, at least one of them would.

Dan Kolb was shipped off for pitching prospect Jose Cappelan. Kolb's effectiveness was coming to an end, and while the Brewers didn't get a bounty for him, they had the chance, as Cappelan was a hard throwing righty. It didn't pan out, but it didn't hurt the team either.

However, the team shipped off Scott Podsednik, their center fielder, and relief pitcher Jose Vizcaino in exchange for Carlos Lee. Lee would be a slugger for two seasons, but wanted too much to stick around in the end. Still, it was a good attempt at finding a building block. Podsednik would never reach the heights he did in Milwaukee, although he'd hit a homer in the 2005 World Series. Yes, he was named to the All-Star team that year, too, but his OBP was better than his slugging percentage, and he got caught stealing 23 times. It went downhill from there.

Rick Helling, Ricky Botallico, and Jeff Cirillo would be their freely available talent over the offseason, Helling and Botallico wouldn't amount to much, but Cirillo would return to Milwaukee to become a bat off the bench and their jack of all infield trades, pretty much Craig Counsell's role.

Step by step, the team would start to gel into something very much different than what it had been. It would still take some time, though.

The Doug Melvin Years: 2003

2009-06-03T13:12:00.001-05:00

Rock Bottom. 56-106. Still a half game better than the Tigers that year, but yuck. The Milwaukee Brewers did do one thing right that year, though. They picked Doug Melvin up off the scrap heap after the Texas Rangers sent him away. Melvin had gotten the Rangers to the postseason 3 times from 1994-2001, but apparently that wasn't enough. Two losing seasons, and Tom Hicks was thinking of bigger things. Didn't quite work out for them, since they've had only one winning season since, but points for the effort.

Top of the mountain? The Brewers made the playoffs in 2008, one of the best seasons in team history, ending a 25 year drought. From bottom to the top (or maybe the top comes this year? Next year?), Melvin's been the big mover behind it all.

Wikipedia says Melvin was hired in October 2002, so I'll start in November 2002, just to be safe. Just the important stuff, because a lot of the little line-items didn't make any impact whatsoever. This is the first in a series, and will cover 2003.

Melvin has a talent for finding gems among the freely-available talent around the league. To start, he picked up Brady Clark for the waiver price in January of 2003. Clark played 4 years in the Milwaukee outfield, giving the team a cheap solution at a time when the team didn't have a lot of money to invest in talent.

In April, he picked up Dan Kolb off the scrap heap from Texas. Kolb was a Melvin draft pick in 1995, and got another chance to be a big league pitcher from him. He'd pick up the closer's job in 2003, and keep it through 2004, when the Brewers sold high on him, and Kolb would end up back as a Brewer in 2006, but would be on his way out of the bigs by the end of 2007.

Dave Burba falls under the same umbrella, although he wouldn't give as much performance or any return, besides taking up a roster spot and making the team look major league. Still, that has its advantages in luring people to come and stay.

The June draft of 2003 was a bountiful one, as the Brewers picked up Rickie Weeks, Tony Gwynn Jr. Mitch Stetter, and Ty Taubenheim. The first three contributed in the majors in some way, and Taubenheim was trade bait for a later deal of Melvin's which has worked out pretty well.

Cutting links to a terrible past helps too. Jeffrey Hammonds got shipped out on June 4th, a bust if there ever was one. His 3 year, 21 million dollar deal was just what the Brewers didn't need to be doing at the time.

Alcides Escobar was picked up a few days later, and he's one of the Brewers' best prospects.

Doug Davis was let loose by not one but two teams in 2003, but became a Brewers asset, one that came in very handy during trading time. He also gave the Brewers three and a half years of nearly .500 pitching.

On December 1st, Melvin made what may still be his masterpiece deal. Richie Sexson was sent to Arizona for Chris Capuano, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Lyle Overbay, Jorge de la Rosa, and Junior Spivey. Sexson played all of 23 games for Arizona before injuries started taking a toll on his career. On the other hand, Capuano gave the Brewers a few years of quality starting pitching, plus the potential for more to come if he ever recovers from injury, Counsell has been a steadying influence on the Brewers' clubhouse and an important jack-of-all-trades, Moeller, well, he did hit for the cycle, does that count? Overbay gave the Brewers two years of quality first base work, and then became a key cog in a trade when the Brewers had some guy named Prince ready to go, and de la Rosa and Spivey didn't exactly pan out the way we had hoped. We did get Tomo Okha and Tony Graffanino from the latter two later on, though.

The Brewers got 4 years of relief work from Matt Wise, a freely available talent who hadn't pitched in the bigs in 2003. The Brewers also got Carlos Villanueva, a quality reliever for us at this point, for Leo Estrella and Wayne Franklin, both of whom never did anything outside of 2003 in Milwaukee.

2003 had been a bounceback year, although the bounce didn't get the team to 70 wins. 2004 promised to be more of the same, but the rain seemed to be slowing down a bit, and the day just got a little bit brighter for those who had some patience.

Mmm.... Bobbleheads!

2009-05-31T08:25:00.000-05:00

Gonna go get me a Trevor Hoffman one at the Brewers game today!

I be employed!

2009-05-26T13:02:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be working with claims for Allstate. In an effort not to make it completely obvious who I am, or to say anything that may antagonize them for any reason, I'm just going to leave it at that.

Say, Norm...

2009-05-17T10:22:00.003-05:00

I'm thinking of reviving an EHL-type league on my PC. Either I'm going to split the NHL in parts due to the lockout going for more than a year, or the extra-long lockout is going to cause a re-organization, with tiering, like the Euro leagues. Thoughts?

Woot

2009-05-17T09:56:00.002-05:00

It's been a good week plus. I still have Cam around today and a bit of tomorrow. It's a good thing.

P.S. Remdog loves Chunk

Blog List Update

2009-05-08T15:29:00.001-05:00

I feel shame. I added a Toronto Maple Leafs blog. It's that good, though.

Down Goes Brown has been added, and make sure you check out the fake TML facebook page.

I also lopped off a few blogs that were either not being updated any more or have lost their fastball, so to speak.

Dear Pittsburgh Pirates...

2009-05-06T09:15:00.001-05:00

How does it feel to be our bitch?

Signed,

The Milwaukee Brewers

Less than a week.

2009-05-03T10:37:00.000-05:00

I am STOKED.

No idea why.....

2009-04-27T08:52:00.002-05:00

We've never considered Front Office Football for a sim for our BSB leagues. It's good stuff, and it has a college version too (although it's mostly about recruiting and player management, from what I can tell). I own FOF 2004 (although 2007 is the newest version, and the only one easily available for purchase) and the college version (The College Years), and they can interact with each other, with draft classes from college going to the pros. It's very deep, and quite fun.

The downside is that the leagues are fixed at a certain number of teams, that being 32. That said, the AI seems to be decent, so open teams wouldn't kill us. It's something to chew on the off-chance that the new software doesn't make it off the drawing board (although I have the ultimate faith that it will).

ETA...

2009-04-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

On Norm and Cam invading Madison: 2 weeks and a day.

Shock!

2009-04-20T08:59:00.003-05:00

Norm updated again!

*faints*

....

*dusts self off*

Aight, enough of that. My mission in life is complete. Next item on the agenda: Roberto Luongo may or may not be human. His WORST game of the playoffs so far has been a two goal game, and he finally gave up his first even-strength goal in three games last night. Vancouver's also scoring enough to make a 2 goal game against Luongo still count as a W. Quite frequently, that's not the case. St. Louis had a few dumb emotional penalties in the second and third, and a few 5 on 3 kills by Vancouver quieted down a raucous crowd at Scottrade Center. Next stop: San Jose. Wait.... maybe not. The Sharks are down 0-2 to Anaheim, not an easy team to handle.

Even better, the Brewers did NOT lose yesterday. They're now 4-9. A five game winning streak in the middle of May would easily make up such a thing, and another one in June would put them where I expect them to be, assuming they play .500 ball the rest of the time. I think that's pretty plausible. It's way too early to jump to judgments, except to say that Corey Hart seems to have figured out how to take a pitch or two. That can't be a bad thing.

Fixed!

2009-04-19T10:30:00.002-05:00

The last template was ugly as sin, and all the color tweaks I added didn't help, either.

So, back to basics. It's pretty now.

Congrats to TheNorm for finally updating his blog after 7 months. The downside is now I'll have to harass Cam to do his, and he'll just tell me to do something anatomically impossible.

Damn that Cam. He's got me re-addicted to NHL 09, so much so that I re-figured out how to score goals on a regular basis. Might have to re-fire up that NCAA dynasty I put on hold when I was scoring maybe a goal a game.

*giggle* Huston Street's already not the closer in Colorado. Something about how closers and middle relievers are interchangable, and that you don't have to spend a ton of dough on anything but the best of the best (ping: Doug Melvin). Ping the second: Hey Colorado, do you NOT realize that finesse pitchers don't work there? Sure, fastballs can be hit a mile, but so can curveballs that don't curve, and fastballs are harder to hit.

So Norm...

2009-04-17T16:10:00.001-05:00

Since it's just you and me here (along with a few Cam visits and a random one from Wyoming, Minnesota...), how's about we revive that Great Lakes Sports Thingy we tried before on BSB?

Another week....

2009-04-14T21:09:00.001-05:00

Another distinct lack of content. It's like this place is becoming "Far From the Norm" or something. :D

Hopefully I'll work myself up to an actual post soon.

I hate to post just to post...

2009-04-07T14:54:00.003-05:00

But sometimes I gotta, just to keep rolling.

Brewers opener starts soon, but I'm not starting to watch until Steph's ready to watch. Apparently I'd be "cheating on her" by watching the game before she does. Fair enough. That's what DVR and the NHL network are for. :D

Don Cherry's Grapevine is on in a half hour. I like.

New Links

2009-04-04T09:25:00.003-05:00

I'm always looking for good links to add to my sidebar, and I found one here: http://noalibisnoregrets.blogspot.com/

It's a Badger Hockey blog, which makes me happy, for obvious reasons.

http://noalibisnoregrets.blogspot.com/2009/03/badgers-in-pros-update.html

That post makes me ecstatic, though. Why can't every team have a blog like this? :D

WCHA News

2009-04-02T13:51:00.002-05:00

http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com/2009/4/1/817720/no-one-wants-to-be-in-the-wcha

This isn't good news for Bemidji State, who just lost their conference with College Hockey America disappearing. Bemidji makes a lot of sense for the WCHA, especially with a lot of in-state rivals. I almost wonder if Alaska-Fairbanks makes sense there, with Alabama-Huntsville ending up in the CCHA....

Werewolf

2009-04-02T13:37:00.003-05:00

This has been eating time from me lately. You know about our games, and FOFC hosts some great games too at http://www.operationsports.com/fofc. Very much fun to play and follow.

As for everything else, let's just hope North Carolina loses a game this weekend. I like winning bets.

Brackets Broken

2009-03-30T10:29:00.002-05:00

So I have no teams left in my basketball Final Four, and only one in hockey, since I did one of those, too. Thank you Boston University for not letting me down. The rest of you won't be getting my vote next year. Especially Michigan hockey. :D

Oh, Look, Actual Content!

2009-03-26T10:23:00.003-05:00

Seems our Hobey finalist at Wisconsin is more than likely done here. No shock there.

Jamie McBain's headed to Albany, to play for the Carolina organization.

Bigger thought in my mind: The Hurricanes have enough fans to run a successful blog?

Another New Post!

2009-03-26T10:15:00.002-05:00

Norm can rest easy. Cam, on the other hand, had better get his ass updating his blog again.

Job search continues fruitlessly, but Spherion has me doing a small bit at Netflix that could grow. They also have a state job they may or may not get any time soon, so here's hoping.

Really pushing the USFL stuff lately, getting pictures off of a vast array of DVD's I now own. That's what's been making the USFL site and the new Stars site look pretty. I wish someone would pay me to do this, I'd gladly do 8 hours a day of storyline work. Someone, anyone? :D

Brewers start in just under 2 weeks, and I can't say I'm terribly thrilled. This year's gonna be tougher than last year, no doubt.

Hey Cam, your team's a bunch of slackers. I put up 8 more points than you did on Washington. :D

Speaking of the big guy, May 9th through the 18th, he "graces us" with his presence. That's got the potential to be a hell of a lot of fun.

That be it, that be all that's on my mind at the moment. Oh yeah. Hey NFL, stop living up to the No Fun League moniker. It doesn't suit you well.

Update

2009-03-24T03:06:00.002-05:00

Because some Michigan smartass was making pot-meet-kettle suggestions to update, here it is. (Speaking of which, update yourself. 6 months? :D)

My last week has been like follows:

Get up early as shit on Monday and Tuesday because of a job on the other side of town.

Be sleepy and crabby the rest of those days.

Sim USFL games on Wednesday, get excited all over again by showing the new owner the ropes.

Go bonkers creating a website for the team after I burn out of sending out job apps Thursday.

Own everyone in the NCAA tourney brackets.

Get annoyed that Wisconsin and Marquette bounce out in the 2nd round (but not too annoyed)

Get more annoyed that the Badgers didn't show up against Denver in hockey, and are now done.

Be in Racine at the future in-laws this weekend.

Come home from work on Monday, burn out doing apps by 2, and do website updating for some of the rest of the day, as well as creating pictures for the USFL league and picture sorting.

There. Happy? :D

So.... sleepy....

2009-03-17T18:54:00.001-05:00

Up at 3:45 Monday, 3:10 today. Netflix is a demanding mistress.....

On the other hand, naps rule.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

2009-03-14T11:07:00.001-05:00

Badgers hockey. Playoffs. American Family Insurance box. Free. Free food. Free drink. Free fun!

Linkage

2009-03-12T14:14:00.001-05:00

It appears my best friend Cam has a blog too.

Mafia!

2009-03-10T22:28:00.001-05:00

http://www.blindsideblitz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36782

Also known as Werewolf and other such things. The easiest way I've found to explain things is this: http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=53377

So if you're new around here, sign up at BSB and come play!

Tis been a while

2009-03-09T22:53:00.002-05:00

I have an excuse. A week long vacation to San Diego counts as an excuse, right?

I have not much to say on the Brewers, but I'm digging the WBC. More baseball that matters = more better.

My USFL league continues to be fun. I just got a boatload of new footage to use as pictures in the league forums, too. If you're unfamiliar with it, check it out at blindsideblitz.com/usfl

I plan to get the college hockey thing rolling again too, since I'm back. No promises on when, but I've put too much work into it to let it sit much longer.

Anyway, that's about it for now.

Fingers crossed....

2009-02-26T19:55:00.002-06:00

I put together Steph's new computer chair tonight, as well as posted the playoff games for Cam's VFF league (thevff.net is your friend, and so is blindsideblitz.com). I hope the chair doesn't fall apart.

Good times....

2009-02-25T21:06:00.002-06:00

Not much to blog about lately. Didn't work Monday, still looking for jobs, yada yada. Side projects are taking up my time, such as my USFL league at http://www.blindsideblitz.com/usfl. Check it out, it's good stuff. In other news, I'm headed to San Diego next week, so the blog shall be silent from the 2nd through the 7th, pretty much for sure.

So I'm employed. Sort of....

2009-02-20T12:52:00.001-06:00

Through a job agency called Spherion, apparently I'm now "on call" if a secretary calls in sick on Monday, while they look for a more permanent placement. I have no complaints, given how hard it's been so far to find anything worthwhile out there. Apparently Madison is one of the better places to find work around here, so maybe I'm lucky.

Milt Says Goodbye

2009-02-19T00:45:00.002-06:00

Speaking of legends retiring....

Bit of background, ladies and gents, yes, I'm a Wisconsinite, and yes, I've been one all my life and intend to be one until the day I die, but I'm also a big CFL fan. Even wrote a bit on scout.com when CFL writer Jack Bedell ran the place. Don't ask me why I like the league. Always have, always will, somehow.

Anyway, in a retirement that's as big to the CFL, maybe bigger, than the retirement of Brett Favre, Milt Stegall made it official that he was hanging them up. I wish every pro athlete could see how he conducts himself on and off the field and take notes. He will be missed. I have not the words to convey how wonderful he was to watch, even in the limited amount of times I got to see him, be it on tape or in person.

#22 in Action

2009-02-17T23:05:00.003-06:00

See this post for what I mean by that.

The Brewers signed Eric Gagne to a minor league deal today, a far cry from the $10 million deal he got last year from us.

My reaction: He could have value, given we're not paying him much, if he makes the team.

Steph's reaction: Disbelief, "Are you kidding me?," Anger, Questioning Why?

Also had the Weeks-Hart debate again tonight. No decision rendered, although in her mind, she wins. She always wins there.

Since I'm rambling about the Brewers, my guess as to at least April's starting rotation is as follows:

1. Dave Bush

2. Braden Looper

3. Yovani Gallardo

4. Manny Parra

5. Jeff Suppan

Reasoning? I heard somewhere (and failed to remember or find the link again) that Macha doesn't want the young guys to worry about being the top guys in the rotation, and Suppan just hasn't had a great stint here in Milwaukee. That leaves Bush and Looper, and I think the guy that's been with us for a while will get the nod on Opening Day.

25 Random Baseball Things

2009-02-17T14:53:00.002-06:00

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/shysterball/article/25-random-baseball-things/

Thank you, Craig Calcaterra, for making me actually want to fill out a 25 Things... uh... thing, this will actually be fun!

1. My earliest baseball memory comes from before I moved across my small Northwestern Wisconsin city when I was 5. Panini sticker albums were what got me into the game. I had worked on a few albums of other 4 year old attention-grabbers, although I can't seem to remember anything other than the one I helped my sister do at this point, but for two years, I could expect a 25 cent sticker package any time my dad went to the store. Life was good.

http://completist.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/the-top-5-oddballs-of-all-time/

Check out #3. That's what I started with.

2. Like Craig, I fell in love with a team in 1988, the kind of love only a five year old can have. It was the year I really tuned into the world of sports, and I can tell you more about those Brewers and Packers teams than I can about the teams 3 or 4 years ago. My parents own a double lot, with the house on one part and the extra lot being the ballfield of dreams for a good 10 years for me. The garden had a tiny rabbit fence surrounding it, easy enough for a five year old to step over, and that became a home run fence. Tiny wood blocks became my bases until I got plastic bases from my uncle for my 6th birthday the next May. At that point, my yard took on the properties of the old League Park in Cleveland, or the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, although I wouldn't realize that for another 20 years. A big maple tree sufficed as the left field "foul pole" until I grew a bit more, and the right field street was blocked by a large tree as well. The center field "flag pole" was actually the street sign. For about 10 years, our yard would have brown patches in the spring where I knew I would put the bases when things dried out.

http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/LeaguePark.html

http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/BakerBowl.html

3. The same uncle that provided me with the bases also cleaned out his closet at the farm, and I ended up with quite a few "season preview" books, mostly football, but one baseball. My search into baseball's past started there, I was learning about the exploits of Pete Rose around the time the rest of America was learning that he was a gambler.

4. Being from Northwestern Wisconsin, we were at the mercy of the Brewers' schedule as far as when we could see them on TV. We'd see them if they were away during the weekend, and that's about it. That, or the one game or two ESPN would care to share with us as well. If I wanted to watch baseball, the Cubs on WGN were the best option, as the Braves played quite a few west coast games in the years before geography really mattered in the divisional alignment. I fell in love all over again, since I never had to worry about the Cubs playing the Brewers, except in the spring, and I'd even get a few of the spring training games the Cubs would show on TV, even a few extra Brewers games. Day baseball, Harry Caray, the vines, the Eastern Division title run in 1989, life was good.

5. A dice game helped me love baseball even more. It was a game where you'd take your baseball cards, check out the average and home runs, and roll on a propped up chart that told you your results. I think I still even have it, somewhere in the middle of the attic at my parents' house. I've since moved on to other baseball simulation pursuits, but for years, the results off the chart colored my perception of what was good (20 homers was the benchmark for a "power hitter," and at the time, it was right, anyway...) and what wasn't (You'd rather have a .260-.279 hitter up with runners on than a .280-.299 hitter. That seem wrong to anyone else?).

6. Random quote break: "If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base." ~Dave Barry

7. Innocence lost: The loss of Paul Molitor to Toronto after the 1992 season was the end of my baseball innocence, as it were. I wasn't knowledgable to get upset over the 1990 lockout, except that it kept spring training games from being played. I wasn't happy about that.

8. I was never that good as a ballplayer myself. I led off when I was 10 because I was small and could draw walks, and I played first base because no one else on the team besides the pitcher could catch the ball consistently. We won one game that year. I wonder why.

9. For 3 or 4 years in the mid 90's, we didn't get ANY Brewers games on local TV or cable, save anything national, which was very rare. Given the Packers and the Badgers had most of my attention at that point for their football prowess, that's the mark of the low point of my baseball worship.

10. Thank God for Midwest Sports Channel. It brought the Brewers back to me, and it brought them more than I had been used to. 120 games a year is a treat when you're used to 3. This was also the first year of the Brewers' National League odyssey. At that point, I fell in love with the pitcher hitting and the strategy behind it.

11. It was also around this point that I lost any ability to care for the Cubs. Not because they were competitors now. No, we were never in contention for the playoffs at this point anyway. It was more that I realized that the local Cubs fans (remember, northwestern Wisconsin) were frontrunners. I'd never see a Cubs hat during a losing streak. I always saw them in 1998, for some reason. Something about Slammin' Sammy chasing Maris and McGwire. I just wanted them to shut up and go away. They did for the next two years. Funny how that works.

12. It was around this time I got heavy into baseball "literature," and I'm not talking Roger Angell and the "romance of the game." I'm talking Sparky Lyle, I'm talking Bill Lee, I'm talking about the Bronx Zoo and a deeper look into what makes baseball what it is. Funny thing, I read Ball Four a few years later, and I didn't see what the big deal was, after having started with the Bronx Zoo. I think I did that backwards. Nothing unusual for me

13. Funny thing, I've never really disliked the Twins. I tend to dislike any Minnesota sports club, but the Twins never gave me a reason to hate them. I also couldn't complain about being able to hop in my car every so often and catch a game for about 50 bucks total, accounting for gas, parking, and ballpark expenses. The Metrodome is underrated. It's not ideal for baseball at all, and probably wouldn't be in the top half of my ballpark rankings when and if I catch all the stadiums at some point, but it's comfy, at the very least.

14. Baseball is a game that's always had its less desirable side. I wonder how today's media would have handled the Black Sox Scandal.

15. Random Quote Break: "I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it." ~Rogers Hornsby

16. Local Red Sox fans did the same thing that the Cubs fans did when they were constantly losing to the Yankees in the playoffs at the turn of the century. You'd see the hats and shirts and hear the talk, until after Game 7, that is. Heck, during 04 when they finally broke through, you heard NOTHING at all from them for about three or four days after they fell behind 2-0. Also, another thing that turns me off about the Red Sox fanbase is the attempt to make the Sox look like the little guys. Sorry. Little maybe in comparison to the Yankees, but you take off the Red, and it's the same machine that spits out cash these days, and spends it just about as well as the Bronx Bombers. Small market fans can see right through that argument, believe you me.

17. At this point, the Metrodome drapes a big banner of Twins legends across the upper deck in center and right field. I remember sitting behind that banner when I went to my first Brewers-Twins game in 1991. At one point, the Twins could pack the place like few other teams.

18. Again, like Craig, sabermetrics brought me another level of caring for this game I love. I can't say I'll ever be one to see the game as nothing but numbers, but I'd hate to be a casual fan at this point. I like feeling like I see things in a slightly different light. Always have.

19. I got to see Turner Field on a high school music trip in 2001. The Mets were in town for one of the first series of the season, right after the Subway Series. I was slightly surprised that the place wasn't packed, especially with the reach that TBS still gave the Braves at that point. There was a group there from Jay Payton's hometown with a banner, and Payton tossed a ball or two in that general direction during the game.

20. Rick Reed pitched in the aforementioned game. He also pitched two starts in a row that I was able to see in 2003, while a camp counselor. We'd make trips to the Dome twice a year after the day's activities were over, and I believe I had to be his good luck charm. He gave up only one run on three hits for the Mets, lost to Esteban Loaiza when Loaiza was having a career year, but only gave up two runs, and won the next game we saw, when the Twins touched up Tim Hudson for five in the first, thanks to three errors. He was done after that year, and would only win one more game in the bigs, even, but it's those kinds of little things that make this game fun.

21. Final Random Quote Break: "This is a game to be savored, not gulped. There's time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings." ~Bill Veeck

22. My fiancee loves the Brewers, and is the definition of a casual fan, although a daily casual. She doesn't quite buy my argument that Rickie Weeks is a good leadoff hitter, because his batting average doesn't tell her that. She also doesn't understand why I'm so down on Corey Hart, because on-base percentage is not in her vocabulary quite yet. I have the rest of our lives to work on that, though.

23. CC Sabathia was worth it, even if all the players we traded for him end up in the Hall of Fame. I now have a much better perspective on the Doyle Alexander-John Smoltz deal.

24. Speaking of which, after travelling to Ann Arbor to see my football team die a brutal death in the second half, I spent five hours the next day at a Buffalo Wild Wings there seeing Sabathia win us the Wild Card. The TV was directly to my left, but over my head, so for three hours while my three Canadian buddies watched all the football games on the big screens (including the Packers, and including the Jets with Favre, still a success at that point), I watched Sabathia work his magic, and on the TV next to that one, saw the Marlins win for pride. It was a great day. Even better, I saw Michael Phelps that night after the biggest bender of my life, and no, he didn't have a bong.

25. I start itching for baseball again in early January, play the video games, card games, and dice games incessantly, and pray for spring. It's the time of year where baseball becomes a pursuit, something to chase and find, and that makes it even more fun. The season comes and goes, but baseball's always available these days. Life is good.

Random Baseball Quote of the Day

2009-02-16T17:16:00.000-06:00

"Chuck Tanner used to have a bedcheck just for me every night. No problem. My bed was always there." - Jim Rooker, former pitcher

Ugh.

2009-02-16T10:13:00.000-06:00

Job searching sucks. Job searching in this economy? *headdesk*

Another A-Rod link

2009-02-14T09:58:00.002-06:00

http://theyankeesrepublic.blogspot.com/2009/02/trial-of-alex-r.html

I'm not planning this to be a links-only blog, but lately, people have been expressing my opinions better than I can put them down on paper. Or on the internets. I'll find something to give full rant to soon enough. :D

The Local Paper Says It All

2009-02-13T16:00:00.003-06:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/turns_out_craig_counsell

I can claim this is local, because I live where it was founded. :D

Hat tip to Craig Calcaterra at Shysterball.

There's a problem, but it's not the obvious one

2009-02-12T13:17:00.005-06:00

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/a-slap-at-liberty/

John Brattain hits the nail on the head. People are spending all their time looking down their nose at A-Rod (or whatever cutesy little nickname they've so cleverly given him in the last few days), and don't see the big picture, which is that the government is hell-bent at making an example out of Barry Bonds, and won't stop at anything to do it. Furthermore, someone leaked the information that shouldn't have. I find that to be more of a problem than a player doing what he has to do to be successful in a given environment.

Something's Brewing in Milwaukee

2009-02-11T15:07:00.002-06:00

As a Brewers fan, I'm blessed to be able to read Al's Ramblings and Brew Crew Ball (both linked at the right of the page), as both deliver a different flavor of Brewers news than the mass media does. A lot of outside the box thinking goes on there, helping me feel like I know more about this team than Joe Average, my sworn nemesis. :D

With that, let's take a peek at this team this year.

Catcher: Jason Kendall can do the job, and I was wrong about doubting him last year. Yes, sometimes Joe doesn't Know. Laugh it up. He does well with the pitching staff, and he's durable. We don't know what we have in Mike Rivera, really, because he never seems to get to play, but I've liked the little I've seen.

1st Base: We have Prince there until Boras takes him away the first moment he can. Until then, settle in, and hope he doesn't get hurt, because then we're screwed.

2nd Base: Rickie Weeks is underrated, in my book. A lot of people take a look at only the .234 batting average, and think he's not a good hitter. Not so. I've learned a few things lately, and one of them is that batting average is extremely overrated. Getting on base is the number one thing you want from a leadoff hitter, and he does it at a .342 clip, not great, but definitely worthy, especially since he's coming off a nasty wrist injury in 07 that really limited him. Another thing I've noticed is that strikeouts are overblown. Weeks is a leadoff man. Does it matter if he strikes out or flies out? Not at least one of five times he's up in a game. I think he's worthy of at least one more look.

Shortstop: I always harass my girlfriend about JJ Hardy, because she's one of his fanboys, but really, he had a great season last year, and I expect him to get even a bit better. Hardy has the range that I think he could play any one of the infield positions at least adequately, which is important, with the supergloved Alcides Escobar waiting in the wings.

3rd Base: And I think Hardy ends up here at some point, as Bill Hall isn't able to hit righthanders, for the most part. Hall had a career year in 2006, but since then, has struggled, as he's been moved from the infield to center to back to third base, and his career on-base against righties is only .300. I can see Hardy being here by the end of July, and Escobar ranging at short. Another thing we could do is bring up a prospect named Mat Gamel, who supposedly has a big bat and a glove full of holes, from most sources I read.

Left Field: Please, please, please, don't let Ryan Braun be hurt. Next question.

Center Field: Mike Cameron seems to bring enough intangibles into play, as well as a great glove, to make his penchant for striking out less important to me. Even at age 36, he gets on base enough, and hits with power. I hope we have something in the farm system to back him up for next year, but for now, I'm fine.

Right Field: Corey Hart was an All-Star last year. Then September arrived. When the dust settled, he had only a .300 OBP, with somewhat decent power numbers, but that September swoon downright frightens me, because before that, Hart had been getting better every season, so far. This year is his age 27 year, generally a peak year for the average player. I think we'll find out just what we have there, if we have a long-term keeper, or if he's hit his peak already.

Starting Pitching: Signing Braden Looper yesterday helps, as the depth is nice, but the rotation will miss both Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia. I forsee a rotation of Yovani Gallardo, Dave Bush, Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan, and Looper, with Seth McClung on the outside looking in early, waiting for an opportunity.

Bullpen: Losing Salomon Torres hurts, as he had a very effective year as a closer last year. However, the addition of Trevor Hoffman adds a proven arm to the bullpen group, and the addition of Jorge Julio adds depth to a group including Carlos Villanueva, McClung, Mitch Stetter, Todd Coffey, and a few other arms that proved to be major league caliber, at least for last season. I'm not too worried about this, as long as the starting rotation holds up.

I predict a bit of a downturn this year, with 84 wins, but I think this team has the potential for more, especially if the young pitching is as advertised.

Brett

2009-02-11T14:26:00.003-06:00

I'm a Wisconsin sports fan through and through, although I pass on basketball, for the most part. Being that I am one of those people, I got to go on the fun fun ride of Brett Favre's retirement and reinstatement last year. I was one of those people on the side of the franchise, as I believe there's nothing more important than the team itself, as opposed to the individual players, who come in, play, and move on.

On the other hand, I'm not one of those that wanted Favre to break a leg in New York, and now, today, as he's announced another potential retirement, I am fervently hoping that in a year or two, this will have all blown over, and we can properly celebrate the career accomplishments of #4 the way it was meant to be celebrated, with his name up at Lambeau Field, and with his enshrinement in the Packers Hall of Fame.

Welcome

2009-02-11T13:43:00.000-06:00

Hi. You've found my blog. Congratulations. Your reward is getting to hear my opinions. On stuff. Mostly sports stuff, some real world stuff, some stuff not pertinent to anything in particular. In other words, stuff. I'll be posting some of my rants and raves on things here soon, so you can get a taste of what's to come.