The Wisconsin Sports Rant

Can you believe it? Just when you thought the Bucks were incapable of making a bad selection due to a very deep draft, they made a terrible selection! The one guy who has absolutely no desire to be in Milwaukee, and we pick him! He doesn’t even have to play in the NBA, and very well may not until the Bucks trade or release his rights! Rashard Griffith preferred to play overseas than for the Bucks, so it’s not like this is new to us. The question is, was this another Larry Harris debacle, or did the Senator sign off on it? It seems like Larry has spent the last few years secretly getting back at the Bucks for firing his father in 1992. I can’t think of any reason why he should remain the GM.

So, without further ado, let’s throw out some headlines we could potentially see in the Journal-Sentinel over the next few months:

• Peking Bust!
• Bucks Digging Hole to China
• Bucks Continue Losing Streak Without Playing
• Bucks Poo Poo on Draft Platter

and my personal favorite:

• Larry Harris Fired

Two posts in under 12 hours. Am I abusing my substitution role? Possibly. Don’t worry, Ranter. It’s not like you’re going to be tending to daddy duties and then all of a sudden find yourself wearing number 16 on the Kansas City Chiefs. But i read with great interest Bill Simmons’ draft advice for the upcoming NBA draft. He had some high marks for the Bucks saying they’re the Eastern Conference team that could make a quantum leap next season. He went on to suggest drafting Brendan Wright from North Carolina, sign Mo Williams, and shop Bogut and a 2008 #1 for Pao Gasol.

I find the recommendation interesting but i’m not ready to give up on Bogut yet. I’d much rather shift him back to the 4 spot and clog the lane with Wright or Al Horford (if the Hawks, Grizz and Celts make the mistake of passing on him). One would think that Bogut, Villanueva, and Wright/Horford would be a pretty formidable front court.

What i’m not in favor of is drafting Conley, Jr. I think the need is definitely up front. Even if we can’t resign Mo Williams, Charlie Bell could step up. Corey Brewer is great but we don’t need a swingman. I also don’t like Joakim Noah purely because he scares children. And it looks like Yi doesn’t want to give the Bucks the time of day. There are good options at 6 for a team that needs help at every spot except Redd’s. But allowing 104 ppg means too many easy buckets. The Bucks need to shore up the front line on draft day.

This week we witnessed two important births. First, and most importantly, the Ranter welcomed his new son into the world! The Field of Dreams moments are right around the corner. While the Ranter tends to fatherly issues, I’ll post in his stead.

Secondly, we witnessed the birth of what are sure to be four magnificent acting careers as JJ Hardy, Bill Hall, Jeff Suppan, and Chris Capuano made their daytime television debuts with cameos on The Young & The Restless. Until this week, the only time I had ever seen the show was when I accidentally tuned in early to The Price is Right. Who knew that drivel took place in Wisconsin?

Meanwhile, it looks as if the Crew has pulled it together while the rest of the division looks like Susan Lucci on Emmy night (that’s probably the extent of my soap opera knowledge - except for that one summer years ago when Marlena was posessed on Days of our Lives. Now that’s good television). It’s like the Brewers got nice and toasted on Milwaukee’s Best and while they were vomiting in the corner, no one else finished the keg. Fine then, more booze for us.

As we march towards the All-Star Break, it looks like Prince will be the first Brewer to start the mid-summer classic since Molitor in ‘88. I can’t wait for Prince to hit about 50 balls into McCovey Cove during the derby. We’ll undoubtedly also send JJ and Coco and with another win, I think Sheets makes it, too. They’ve gotta give the division leader the benefit of the doubt.

KC’s in town this weekend. Here’s a challenge. Name three Royals. Go ahead, take your time.

I’d like to think that my internet version of the “closed door meeting” may have spurred the Brewers’ current mini-streak. Well, that, or the embarrassment the players probably felt from being no-hit. Yet now that the Brewers have won 2 straight road series against teams with winning records (Minnesota came in with one…), perhaps they have righted the ship. I can’t help but dwell, however, on one of the comments I made in the last post…the ever present “fool-me-once” adage. Every time I get my hopes up that the worst is over, the bottom drops out. Even after my Carlos-Zambrano-style explosion, I have to admit, my frustrations have been temporarily eased by the Brewers climbing back to 8 games over .500 and 6.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Cubs. But I am ever vigilant. There are a lot of games yet to play; an equal amount of opportunity for a Turnbow meltdown as there is for another J.J. Hardy hot streak.

Still, the kind of post I wrote last can sound off-the-cuff, insensible, and not well thought out. I must reiterate: this is a fan blog, not a professional commentary, and to the contrary, it is very well thought out. It is just not done so with a time-removed perspective, which is the beauty of this blog. So, that being said, let’s get back to baseball.

Yay! More patheticness from the Brewers! The One Month Wonders returned to the top of the baseball world tonight for the wrong reason…they were no hit! Not one fucking hit! 27 chances and they post a bagel! Fantastic! Does it get more embarrassing than this? Around the beginning of May, you had all the baseball talking heads saying this was finally a Brewers team that was for real. This franchise wouldn’t know good fortune if it walked up to them and kicked them in the balls. I fully expect them to be in 2nd place by July, 3rd place by August, 4th place by September, and on a beach somewhere in October. Why? Because shame on me for being fooled into thinking this team was actually good. Wake up and smell the coffee everyone! These are your real Brewers…always have been. Always will be. Crapola.

UPDATE: The other thing I failed to mention is that this was an interleague game played in an American League ballpark!  That means that the Brewers had one “extra” real hitter every time through the lineup, and still they couldn’t muster a single base hit.  Makes perfect sense, no?

As the Brewers continue their ridiculous slide back to reality, what better way to blow a game than the way they did Saturday night? Sheets flawless? Check. Turnbow actually pitches a 1-2-3 8th inning against the meat of the Texas lineup? Check. Two Brewer insurance runs in the top of the 9th? Check. All that was left was the inevitable Cordero save. He even got the first two outs of the ninth. And then, in good old-fashioned Milwaukee Brewers style, the most ludicrous thing happened. The Rangers touched up their old teammate for more runs than he has given up all year! They scored four times with two out, most of them coming on 2 strike hits. Heck, they even scored once on an infield single!

Absolutely pathetic. Worst team in the American League, and they lose like this. This team has become a joke. I can’t believe they are still in first place. They simply don’t deserve it, but all the other foul teams in the NL Central deserve it even less. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!