The Wisconsin Sports Rant

So why have I not posted in a month?  Well, besides being extremely busy, I knew that despite the fact that the Brewers had a superb August, that the same old shit would happen again.  Go back to either of the last two years of posts in this time frame, and you will undoubtedly see that I could really copy my writing almost verbatim (just change a player name here and there).  Again, the Brewers are falling apart when it matters.  Again this playoff-deficient franchise is finding a way to piss off its fans, and look absolutely ridiculous at the same time.  My dear friend who hosts a certain radio program in Milwaukee had a topic one day during the Favre debacle earlier this summer.  The question to the listeners was “Would you rather see Favre starting for the Packers, or the Brewers in the playoffs”.  There were a lot of differing opinions.  Some people were adamant about Favre.  Some people leaned towards the Brewers.  Seems to me that it all may be one huge moot point as when October 1st rolls around Favre will be winning with the Jets and the Brewers will be where they are EVERY SINGLE YEAR - DONE.

Yep…I admit it.  One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome.  By that rational I truly am nuts.  Again I actually believed this Brewers team was different; that they would be a playoff team and play like one against the division leading Chicago Cubs this week.  Instead, this entire homestand has become an outright disaster.  I encourage you to re-read this post from last season:  I am continually fooled by this pathetic franchise.  I can’t believe this is the same team that won 8 in a row to grab a share of first place in the NL Central.  What a difference a week makes.  This group of players along with Neddy Yost should feel embarrassed, and realize that they are far less of a team than they thought they were last Friday morning.  I appreciate Melvin making the huge trade to get a bona fide Cy Young pitcher in to help push for the playoffs.  It is the first sign management has shown that they believe this team can win now.  But when this Brewers club falters as they have this week, they turn believers back into the skeptics.  To treat the nearly 300,000 fans that will have passed through the turnstiles this week to this kind of baseball borders on criminal.  I just don’t understand how a supposedly good team can fall apart so horribly in front of the fans that are buying their tickets in record numbers.  I know there are still 2 months left in the season, but a week like this simply terminates any belief I harbored that the Brewers would be in the playoffs.  I have been ranting about this for two years now.  I’ll believe it when I see it.  Until then, this franchise is and always has been, a LOSER.

I know, I know…long time no post. Well, today seemed as good a day as any to make a comeback (right Brett?). After seeing that Corey Hart made the All-Star team today, I took a moment to sit back and realize what this says about baseball in Milwaukee. Through all the years of futility we have endured as Brewers fans, we are a tremendously forgiving and enthusiastic bunch.  We have the distinction of having used incredible grass-roots campaigning to get not one, but TWO players voted onto the NL team.  In the week before Ryan Braun made the team as a starter, and this partial week of Final Vote voting, Brewers fans turned out in massive numbers. This is a huge accomplishment for the organization, which did a great job of using creative methods to get people to vote, and the fans, who sat in front of computer screens at home, at work, on their mobile phone, and even at Summerfest to ensure their guys got in. When you think about “small market” Milwaukee, and how we are going to put over 3,000,000 butts in the seats this year, and how we can out-vote the fans of MUCH larger markets such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, you have to say we have some of the best fans in the league. While I didn’t post about it last week, the statement management made by acquiring CC Sebathia shows that this franchise now means business, and they are going to do what it takes to put a playoff team out on the field. It truly is a great time for Brewers fans, and hopefully we will all be rewarded with the first whiff of October baseball (outside of the first three days) since 1982.

Roll Out The Barrel!

After more than 3 years of losing series at Shea to the Mets, it was great to close out the Brewers short history there with a win. The final game saw some pitching that was pretty awful, but the defense and stellar hitting from the bottom of the order allowed the Brewers to continue their hot start to the season. It is somewhat alarming that so many of Milwaukee’s runs are coming off the long ball. During the three game losing streak that encompassed the end of the Reds series and the first game in New York, the Brewers got only 7 runs, 2 of which came on solo home runs. Relying on the HR in baseball is somewhat like relying on the 3 pointer in basketball. If you aren’t getting the ball to fly out of the park, you cannot survive without manufacturing runs. The Brewers showed a bit more of that ability on Sunday, getting several clutch 2 out hits as well. When you can make the most of your offensive opportunities, you can even withstand that aforementioned poor pitching as they did on Sunday. I found it ironic that the first 1-2-3 inning came in the 9th, with Gagne shutting the door for his 3rd save.

All in all, a good two weeks to begin 2008. If you recall, the 24-10 start to 2007 was somewhat derided as the Brewers played some of the softer teams in the league. This year, they have already won series against three of the upper level teams, and look to do so again against the surprising Cardinals this week.

It may have been a less than perfect way to win the opening game, but you gotta love beating your division rival on their turf, which is exactly what the Brewers did today. What started as a dual between staff Aces (Sheets versus Zambrano) ended with the polar opposite of pitching prowess, as both closers struggled mightily (Gagne and Wood). In the end, though, it was a guy that may only be on the active roster due to the suspension of the primary center fielder that brought home the bacon. Tony Gwynn, Jr. had big at bats in both the 9th and 10th innings that carried the Brewers to the 4-3 win.

Things I Liked:

• Ben Sheets pitched amazingly well, even with a significant amount of time between innings due to the rain delay. 6 1/3 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, and perhaps the best thing: He didn’t get injured!
• Guillermo Mota - it was a short outing, but a good setup man will be very important this year
• That after a relatively poor showing by the offense all day, the meat of the order got it done big time in the 9th inning, and of course, scratched one out in the 10th

Things I Didn’t Like:

• Really, there was one thing I didn’t like, and it was Eric Gagne’s debut outing for the Brewers. Honestly, Eric, for $10 million you should at least be able to blow the save with more style than Derrick Turnbow.

All in all, defeating the Cubs at Wrigley, especially after giving them hope in the 9th inning, made this a beautiful Opening Day. Roll Out The Barrel!

There had been considerable discussion the last few days of the Brewers trading for their NL Central Rival St. Louis Cardlnals’ Scott Rolen. While the possibility of pushing an already powerful lineup even further, the overall cost benefit of the trade would have been poor. Don’t get me wrong, Scott Rolen is a good ball player. The problem is that that statement is true only when he plays, which is far from every day. Rolen has battled several injuries in the last few years, and is getting paid handsomely for incomplete seasons. This is not a path the Brewers should or can afford to pursue at this point. I agree with Michael Hunt’s column from yesterday stating that it would be a better idea to go after a closer. We are facing the prospect of a season with Turnblow back in that role. This is something that, frankly, makes me want them to remove the roof at Miller Park, because the rain is a far more effective game-shortener than Turnblow has been.

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Time has been scarce to work on the blog lately. Still, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been basking in the amazing season Brett Favre and the Packers are having right now. It is very exciting to see the 38 year old Hall of Fame QB perform like an MVP. It will be hard to beat out Tom Brady with the numbers he is putting up, but honestly, is there a player that is more valuable to his team right now? I am not suggesting that Brady is not valuable, or Peyton Manning for that matter. Still, Favre is the reason for all but one of the Packers’ wins this season, and that is the true measure of an MVP. The Pats and Colts very well could have 5 or 6 wins without their star QBs. That being said, I don’t really care to debate the issue anyway. The bottom line is the winning is such a pleasure to watch, that any accolades for the players really don’t matter. The time left in Favre’s career is an unknown, and though he is playing some amazing football right now, it is still unreasonable to expect that he will have that many more chances to win another Super Bowl ring. The last best chance was blown in 2003, but with a weak NFC, and a team that has made major mistakes and still has managed to accumulate 6 wins against 1 loss, this year presents as good an opportunity as any. All you have to do is make it there, and if you are peaking at the right time…who knows how far they can go. I just love that the Packers are relevant again!

Moving on to quick topics:

• The Badger football team really proved they were terribly overrated earlier this year. They can really get back to a respectable team by knocking off the Buckeyes this weekend, but if I were a betting man I would wager heavily against that possibility.
• The Bucks opened the season tonight in Orlando. Does anyone really care? I have been such a huge Bucks fan in the past, but I just have a very hard time getting excited about this team, Yi or otherwise. Besides, tonight, it was a tie game in the third quarter when I stepped away to take care of a few things. When I returned just before the end of the period, the Bucks deficit had ballooned to 23 points. Nice.
• I wanted to post this when the regular season ended, but does anyone else find it interesting that of the 4 expansion teams to enter the league since the Brewers last winning season, 3 of them have reached the World Series, and 2 of them have actually won the whole thing (the Marlins even did it twice). Also, most teams wore pullovers and elastic-waist pants the last time the Brewers played in the post season. Ouch.

Hopefully I will be able to return to a regular posting schedule shortly. With NCAA basketball right around the corner, I will have to anyway.

The inevitable occurred tonight…the annual baseball holiday in Milwaukee known as MED (Mathematical Elimination Day). Since the Brewers belong to the worst division in baseball, it happened much later than usual this year, but nevertheless, it happened. Unfortunately, Cory Hart’s home run in the 4th inning prevented the loss from being officially credited to Mr. Loser himself, Chris CRAPuano (who, by the way, should never ever ever be allowed near the Brewers clubhouse again - sorry Chris, you may pitch well for another team next year, but to the Brewers you EQUAL a loss). In further irony, the Padres cemented their lead with Khalil Greene’s 2 run home run off of none other than ex-teammate Melvin’s Mistake (or if you prefer his birth name, Scott Linebrink, another player who has been nothing short of disastrous for this team). And just like that, the Brewers continued their losing streak, both game-wise, and season-wise. The announcers on ESPN talked about how the Brewers led the division for 133 days this year. I also have heard a lot of talk throughout the year about not getting down on the team for a single bad performance because it’s a long season. Well, that long season ended tonight and looking back, we see a team that was not nearly as good as their attendance numbers would have you believe. In fact, unless this bunch of losers wins one of the last two games, they will continue another dubious streak… a string of non-winning seasons started in 1993.

As late as a month and a half ago, there were still those delusional optimists who said “If you told me at the beginning of the season that we would be in first place in August, I would have been ecstatic!” How about now? If I told you on June 27th, La Crosse day, after Damian Miller’s walk off home run would complete a sweep of the Astros that we would end up out of the playoffs, I would have been called a downer or a pessimist. That day, we reached the high point of the year, 14 games over .500. We had a 7 1/2 game lead in the NL Central. We had weathered the 10-20 storm by going 12-2 ro get back to our high-water mark at 46-32. All we had to do was play somewhere in the neighborhood of .450 ball the rest of the way. But this is a franchise that has been as pathetic as any in major North American professional sports. They were incapable of doing that menial task of staying afloat by winning at even a below-average pace. That’s not hyperbole. That’s the truth. The Florida Marlins, a team that wasn’t even in existence the last time the Brewers had a winning record (let alone made the playoffs), has more World Series Championships than seasons in which the Milwaukee Brewers have even participated in October baseball. So am I a pessimist, or a realist?

The bottom line is that this team is a tremendous failure. That kind of sounds like the post from March where the Wisconsin Men’s Basketball team made an abrupt and embarrassing departure from the NCAA tournament. Well, at least that team made the postseason. For the Brewers that is only a pipe dream; a fantasy world that does not exist. This was the best chance in 15 years they had to play for a championship, and, as with Prince and the bases loaded last night, or Craig Counsell with the bases loaded tonight, they simply could not get it done. There will need to be serious evaluation of this team. Sure, they have what may become a great infield for years to come. But what good is that infield when your pitching staff self destructed like the child actors from Diff’rent Strokes? What does 200 homers get you when the opponents score runs in droves due to shoddy defense? I may not espouse the popular opinion, but I still don’t know that Ned Yost belongs here anymore either. What progress has this team made? They were 81-81 two years ago. Does the result of this season really show a team that has improved? All the individual achievements of Fielder, Braun, Cordero, and whoever else mean absolutely nothing except that even those performances were not good enough to push this team into the playoffs from a division where mediocrity would have sufficed. In reality, this team has not made any overall progress, which should be the ultimate judging factor.

So goodbye Milwaukee Brewers of 2007. Your season will end in just a few short days the same way it does every year. Poorly.

And now the football season is really underway! The Milwaukee Brewers officially screwed the pooch this weekend, and unless a miracle occurs, will complete one of the most amazing collapses in their pathetic history. As they have every single year, save for 1982, they will complete their season without a trip to the playoffs. Ben “Tissue Paper” Sheets can now go and get his legs waxed and eyelashes permed since he won’t have to pitch anymore this year. Francisco Cordero can go reflect on all the great saves he had while realizing that when they really needed him to get the job done, he didn’t. And the rest of the pitching staff can all worry about their jobs too, since really, none of them have proven they can play an entire season without a severe decline in performance. All in all, an expected end for this miserable franchise that can do no right.

Now, on to the real teams in our fair state! How about them Packers?? Brett Favre was absolutely brilliant today, completing tough passes all over the place. For the first time in several seasons, I was not worried about him throwing a bad pick at the end. I really felt like he was either making the pass, or putting it somewhere where it wouldn’t be picked off. Quite frankly, I am a little shocked that the Packers are 3-0 with a running game straight out of 1991. Everyone knew the pass was coming all day long, and the offense was still able to make plays. I love James Jones, and of course, Donald Driver continues to prove he is an All-Pro receiver. Greg Jennings’ return to the field proved critical, as he outran the defense for the game winning touchdown. The defense was a bit shaky with regards to the pass rush, but you cannot fault a unit that held the reigning league MVP in check. All in all, a very successful afternoon. To beat three straight playoff teams from last season to start this one is truly a remarkable feat. I think Packer fans everywhere are probably a little higher on the team than perhaps they should be, but I do believe the Packers are for real.

Last, but certainly not least, are the Wisconsin Badgers. Say what you will, they have now won 13 straight football games.  Think about that for a moment.  13 straight wins.  This game was a battle, and could very well have gone the Hawkeyes’ way, but the bottom line is that the Badgers found a way to win, as they have in almost every game of Coach Bielema’s short tenure. Kirk “I hate the Badgers” Herbstreit stated throughout the game that Iowa’s defensive speed up front was beating Wisconsin’s size on the offensive line, and for a long while that may have been true. But as Bielema said at the end of the game, it is a 4 quarter game (actually 5 at Wisconsin home games, but who’s counting?). In the end, the Badgers’ power allowed them to prevail. Now it’s on to a matchup with the rising Michigan State Spartans. This game should never be taken for granted. Wisconsin seems to struggle mightily against the Spartans, especially when it appears to be a lopsided matchup in their favor. 2004 anyone? Still, you have to believe that since each victory has come with a struggle, the Badgers are preparing for each game without arrogance.

Next week should prove to be one for the ages, as Favre looks to become the all-time career touchdown leader. More importantly, the Packers look to move to 4-0, something they didn’t even do in either of their two Super Bowl seasons in the 90’s. Football rules supreme in Wisconsin, and if the first month of the season is any indication, things are going to be very interesting indeed!

Now you can see why I am pessimistic and negative so often on this site.  Every time I try that optimism thing, the Brewers prove me wrong.  1 run will not win you any games, yet that is exactly what they got tonight in Atlanta.  That is truly pathetic.  Now they trail the Cubs by 1 1/2 games and one in the loss column.   Someday I will understand how it possible for a team getting 7 runs a game for the last two weeks can have every single one of their bats go silent in one night; and against 5 different pitchers no less!  Two nights in a row, the starting pitching has done more than enough to win (amazing!), and the team finds a way to lose.  Simply astounding.