The Wisconsin Sports Rant

In 1993 the Bucks changed to purple, silver, and green to shed themselves of the ugliest color scheme in the NBA. Sure, they had already ditched the red in the mid 80’s, but they still looked like 5 athletic green paint swatches out on the court. They have at least looked respectable the last 13 years, but now I fear that if the “new” logo is any indication, the next unis will make them look like Christmas on the hardcourt, or maybe even worse.. Besides, that logo isn’t even new! It is OLD with a tweak here and there and a decidedly downward turn with the colors. I don’t mind red…but WHY WHY WHY must they mix it with green??? Why not DUMP the green and use the red and silver? I just don’t know why green is such a requirement for this team. YUCK. However, I will say, that unless David Noel can help bring a huge improvement to the team (no 1st round pick is on YOU Jamal), they will deserve to look as putrid as they play.

I received this email from zgold007 before the Brewers’ series with the Kansas City Royals:

Following up on Gabe’s recent post on whether these are in fact the SOB, this weekend’s series against the woeful Royals will be an interesting test. The SOB would lose at least two-out-of-three (if not get swept), while the NOB (New Opportunistic Brewers) would at least win the series to get back to .500.

Stay tuned…

I tuned in, and will now tune out.  They are the Same Old Brewers.  Losing two of three to a team like that is completely unacceptable.  WHEN ARE WE GOING TO MOVE PAST THIS REBUILDING BULLSHIT????  This season is pretty much over, in terms of making the playoffs.  There is no way a team like this is going to catch either our division leader or the Wild Card unless they go on some serious hot streaks.  Why can Detroit turn it around?  The Mets?  The Reds?  Why are we perpetually shit, even after putting some money into the roster?  It’s just ridiculous.  Come late July, it will be Packer season once again in Wisconsin, and the Brewers can slip meekly back into the back pages of the sports section.

I don’t know what to make of this team right now.  In the past, after going through an atrocious spurt as the Brewers did a couple of weeks ago, they would not have come back to be over .500 this quickly.  Such is life when you have such a young team I guess.  I hope they can continue this, although running into a team on the rocks like Cleveland was simply lucky timing for the Brew Crew.

I actually sat and watched an entire half of football, er, soccer today — the first half of the USA’s tie with Italy. Not only did I watch it, I really got into it! Watching how the teams worked the ball up the field through skilled passing and movement without the ball (sound familiar) really showed how the game is so simple, yet can be so strategic (which is a far cry from my playing days in Milwaukee Kickers on the JCC team).  So why will we never consider MLS the fifth major professional sports league in the USA? Why don’t we all gather around the telly to watch Manchester United play Arsenal? It’s simple. The tie.

Americans don’t like games that end without a clear victor and loser. To us, ties belong around our necks, not in the field of play. We like a definitive ending. We love the thrill of victory with the agony of defeat. Without it, we feel lost, blasé, and uncomfortable. Think about it. How often is there a tie in the NFL? Infrequently enough that if one does occur, it is usualy an early highlight on SportsCenter, and everyone laughs about it. You look at the standings the next day and just feel a little dirty that there are actually a couple of ones in that usually useless third column, and are not sure quite what to make of them. Honestly, at the end of the NFL season, when teams are clinching or being eliminated from playoff spots, do you even consider that clause about “if so-and-so wins or ties“? If you said yes then you are being anything but honest.

Heck, basketball games can’t end in a tie, even in the regular season (anyone remember the 5-overtime thriller between the Bucks and the Sonics in 1989 that ended in a 155-154 Bucks win?). Baseball games are played until there is a winner, even if it means finishing the next day (or if it is the All-Star game played in the Commisioner’s backyard, in the new crown jewel of a stadium that took 7 years to finish from government approval to opening day, and all available players have been used). Even hockey, in which ties used to occur nightly, has now adopted a system that makes ties almost obsolete.

The bottom line is, when you have to explain to an American what the consequences of a tie are for the national soccer team, you have already lost him (or her). We simply don’t like it. We want to win. And if we don’t win, we lose. Even if we tie. Get it? No? Exactly. Oh well, perhaps the USA can win the match against Ghana (who looked and played like world-beaters today), and Italy can beat the Czech Republic. That way we would advance, because even though we tied Italy, we really won.

Mighty Gosling pointed me to this article this morning about the new contracts Marquette signed with UWM and UWGB to play some basketball.  Very exciting, although it would have been much more exciting if MU and UWM had squared off each of the last 3 years.  I guess MU wanted to keep that unblemished 34-0 record versus the Panthers.  In light of this news, I say they should just take the logical step of making a Wisconsin Hoops Showcase even each year.  Take the four NCAA Division 1 basketball programs and put them in a tournament every year.  Think of the ratings, the ticket sales, the tremendous state interest it would generate!  It may help keep Wisconsin players in Wisconsin as well, if they had the chance to play in something like that.  I know it is a pipe dream, but hey…even pipes can dream.

Losing a championship series sucks.  Even though I cannot consider myself an Admirals fan since I have never been to a game, nor do I follow the team, it brings a somber mood to the day whenever a home team’s season ends in defeat.  At least they made it that far.  Wisconsin teams have played for a championship so infrequently that this is a major accomplishment.

So we have released yet another of  Sherman’s worst draft picks after poor attitude and performance.  What is it with Sherman and the 3rd round?

Up 6-0, most teams would think they have a pretty comfortable lead.  Not those wacky Milwaukee Brewers and their bull(shit)pen!  Did you know that the average ERA of the 5 pitchers they used today was 5.94, which ironically, should have still been enough to win with a 6-0 lead?  3 innings.  10 runs.  Game over.  The Cardinals are 13 games over .500 without their best player playing right now.  We are 4 games under and we are basically out of it since two of our top four starters are still collecting paychecks without working for them.  Hopefully they can get to or surpass .500 before the All-Star break, and still have a chance at the Wild Card.  However, and you will hear this in this Rant all season long, Brewers’ history dictates nothing but disappointment come September.  Well actually, disappointment usually sets in long before September, but a man can dream, right?

This in from Mighty Gosling:

There are still whispers Bucks center Jamaal Magloire could end up being traded to the Toronto Raptors, and that super-sub guard Mo Williams could accompany him in a blockbuster deal. Swingman Mo Peterson and forward Charlie Villanueva are the Raptors most prominently mentioned in such a deal.

This would certainly be an attractive trade, although we will need to find another backup point guard. Still, Magloire has been such a bust that almost any frontcourt trade will benefit us.

Update:  This comes from a source close to those who would know