I don't know how any of you felt about it, but that Super Bowl we just witnessed was awful in just about every aspect until it entered the final three minutes. Terrible commercials. Terrible halftime show (I'm still waiting for LMFAO to perform). A National Anthem performed correctly. And of course the actual game which lacked exciting, meaningful plays. In fact, there was only one play that got me off my seat (well, not really) and it's pretty apparent which play I'm talking about. Anyway, the Giants beat the Patriots...again...and anyone who places bets on sports (I'm getting there) would have been stupid to take New England in this one. Nevertheless, the moment after the Packers managed to hold off the Giants in week 13 38-35, I knew the one team I didn't want to face in the playoffs: the Giants. It happened, and there's no doubt in my mind that it should have been the Packers on that podium with confetti falling down on them on Sunday.
So football is over and if you haven't already done so, it's time to either turn your attention to basketball or hockey because it's not quite time to start tailgating in the Miller Park parking lots (however, here's a link to get you thinking about the upcoming baseball season). Since there isn't a professional hockey franchise in the state of Wisconsin, I'm not going to talk about hockey. And since there still hasn't been a decision made on the Ryan Braun situation, I can't discuss that, either. That only leaves one point of interest, and that's basketball. Soon it will be time to preview the Brewers and think about what the heck the Packers need to do with that putrid defense, but for now, the state of Wisconsin has two nationally ranked division I college basketball teams and a professional basketball team sitting in the eight seed in the Eastern Conference. That's right - the Wisconsin Badgers, Marquette Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks would all make the postseason as of right now. I can guarantee you this much...two of those teams will certainly extend their seasons in 2012. Still too early to tell with the Deer.
Before you get excited over this prospect, let me dampen your spirits a bit. Not one of these teams is going to win a championship this year. Call me a negative Nancy, but all three of the major basketball teams that we follow in this state have notable flaws that championship teams simply don't possess. You can even look at the Packers...that defense was simply not good enough to win a Super Bowl and the prolific offense led by Aaron Rodgers helped cover that fact up for 18 weeks. Finishing near the top of their respective conferences may look good in the eyes of fans and the selection committee for Marquette and Wisconsin, and they might even get through a round or two of March Madness. But here is a major flaw(s) for each team that will prevent further success.
Marquette (20-5, 9-3): Slow starts, No inside presence
Coming into the season, for once their was promise down low with Chris Otule rapidly improving as a big man and Javante Gardner ready to back him up after dropping 20 pounds. Otule went down with an ACL injury and now Gardner has a nagging ankle injury that has kept him out of the last three games, leaving Jamil Wilson, who is 6'7", as the tallest Marquette player. We saw it years ago when the Warriors played Stanford and the Lopez twins, and it looks like we're heading down the same path - Marquette's athleticism fails to overcome the extreme height differentials it has with other tournament teams. Couple this problem with Marquette's tendency to always fall behind early in games and it's going to be difficult for this team to make it past the sweet 16 even though they are second in the always tough (but this year down) Big East.
Wisconsin (18-6, 7-4): Too reliant on the three
Aside from Jordan Taylor, there really isn't anyone that can carry the Badgers this season. Guys will occasionally step up, and thank goodness they have, because Taylor hasn't had the privilege of having Jon Leuer to lean on and hasn't been as good as expected. Speaking of not having Leuer, there is almost no inside presence with the Badgers either, which is probably why Marquette was able to beat them back on Dec. 3. This leads the Badgers to rely too much on the three point shot, which is something I did and look where I am now. This isn't to say Wisconsin can't get hot and string together some wins in the tourney, but it's just not something we're used to seeing and the Badgers just don't seem to be built for March Madness.
Milwaukee (10-13, 8th in East): Defending the paint, consistency
When Andrew Bogut (shockingly) went down with an injury earlier this season, all hope appeared to be lost for the Bucks. But Brandon Jennings has emerged as a legitimate All-Star candidate and Drew Gooden has been surprisingly effective filling in for Bogues. Other than that, there isn't much going for the Deer. It's a team mainly composed of role players and Gooden, who really isn't a true center, is being counted on to replace Bogut's rebounding numbers. This isn't realistic, and while guys like Ersan Ilyasova have helped fill that void, teams are out-rebounding the Bucks. Meanwhile, some nights Milwaukee has been able to defend well and other nights, like tonight against the Suns for instance, it's been God awful. Inconsistency has never resulted in overall success and unless the Bucks go out and find a legit big man (maybe in a trade for Stephen Jackson) and become more consistent on both ends of the floor, this team will likely find themselves out of the playoffs.
Showing posts with label Playoffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playoffs. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Friday, September 30, 2011
And Here. We. Go.
Consider this the "mega-blog post" of all blog posts because there's A LOT to get to. I've finally come to the realization that this will be my last post ever. No, I'm not willingly quitting the blog. I'm accepting its fate. Just take a look at what I have on my plate this weekend.
Saturday:
12:00 AM - My 22nd birthday
1:07 PM - Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers, Game 1 NLDS
7:00 PM - #8 Nebraska Cornhuskers @ #7 Wisconsin Badgers
Sunday:
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Recover, get picked up by from Oshkosh by Mommy
12:00 PM - Round up the troops for Game 2 of the NLDS
1:30 PM - 3:00ish PM - Tailgate the s*** out of the Miller Park parking lot
3:15 PM - Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers
3:37 PM - Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers, Game 2 NLDS
Uh huh. Yeah. This one's gonna be a doozy. Before I look ahead to what's about to completely rock my world and probably change the course of my life forever, I'd like to recap what happened in the past even though it's impossible to change. I'll start with the Wisconsin Badgers' final pre-conference tuneup against poor old South Dakota. The Coyotes (pronounced "kai-otes") I'm sure were paid a whole lot of green to march into the vice grip of Camp Randall Stadium and to be perfectly honest, I don't recall exactly what the final score was. What I do remember is Russell Wilson and Nick Toon hooking up over and over and over and me beginning to think that Toon has the makeup of a pro wide receiver. I know it was against South Dakota, but there's no question Wilson has found his favorite target with Jared Abbrederis being a solid number two option and tight end Jacob Pedersen eating up the redzone. This is probably the most I've ever talked about the air attack of the Badgers. Don't worry. Montee Ball is still there. James White is still there. The run game is still the bread and butter for this offense.
The Badgers now face their first test of the season, and oh, what a test it is. Nebraska makes its Big Ten conference play debut and no way was the Big Ten going to allow the Cornhuskers to play the Indiana Hoosiers back in Lincoln to help them get acclimated with their new conference. Hell no. You guys get to play a night game...in Madison...against a top ten team...with College Gameday in town. Have fun with that. In all seriousness, though, this game is going to take a four quarter effort from the Badgers offense and most importantly, their defense, in order to escape with a victory. The number one unit for Wisconsin hasn't given up much this season as far as points are concerned and kind of have that bend-but-don't-break mentality...that phrase is really starting to become cliche, but I'm too lazy to think of a better descriptor. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the D handles Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, a sophomore dual-threat quarterback. There's no denying that the Huskers can put points on the board, but their defense has been unimpressive and with the second most efficient passer in the nation and one of the best running back duos there is, Wisconsin should be able to exploit this weakness. Sure, it's hard to gauge just how impressive the Badgers are from top to bottom because they haven't played anyone yet, but what about Nebraska? Their most difficult opponent to date has been a home date with middle of the Pac-10 team Washington (see what I did there?) and they gave up 38 points to the Huskies. The most Wisky gave up thus far is 17 to UNLV with most of those points coming in garbage time. I think the Badgers have the edge on offense, on defense and in location. Looking forward to watching the game on my couch enjoying a few cold ones, although I do envy those who will be in the house at the game that has produced the most coveted ticket in Wisconsin's history. Go Bucky.
In case you forgot (which I'm sure you didn't...just needed a transition), the Chicago Bears foolishly believed that they would be able to knock off the Packers in Soldier Field for the second straight year in week 3, but the Packers would have nothing of it. They took care of Da Bears 27-17 in a game that was never really all that close. Green Bay never relinquished their lead after Aaron Rodgers found Greg Jennings what seemed like 15 times on the first drive, leading to a touchdown catch by Jermichael Finley. I'm not going to give a play-by-play because I know everyone saw this one, but I would like to point out a couple of performances that shouldn't go unnoticed. First of all, I understand that Finley's performance didn't exactly fly under the radar, but did you notice how he was getting his scores? The Bears' secondary was so afraid of Rodgers throwing up the fade in the corner of the endzone to Sirmichael that they forget he can just cut inside on a slant and find himself wide open. Man, talk about a dilemma for future opposing defenses. Are they really going to have to focus two guys on our tight end to avoid him beating us? Probably, and I don't know why more teams do it. After all, Finley is the Packers' only real threat through the air and...wait a minute...you're telling me Green Bay has five wide receivers that are good enough to start for any other team in the National Football League? Oooooo. That sucks, rest of league. Good luck with that one. And if that's not enough, Ryan Grant is kind of starting to rekindle that old flame inside as he rushed 17 times for a convincing 92 yards, although he did suffer a bruised kidney and could be held out of the Broncos game as a precautionary measure. That's fine by me, because James Starks can then take over and maybe we would even get to see a little of the rookie, Alex Green. I mean, c'mon, let's be real...it's the Denver Broncos coming into town. I think we'll survive. The only downer about the weekend I'm about to experience is that I'll miss the Packers' game in its entirety because of the scheduled time of Game 2 that I HAVE to attend. But I think I'll get over it. I mean, c'mon, let's be real...it's the Denver Broncos coming into town. Quick shout-outs to Morgan Burnett (2 picks against the Bears, you the man Morgan), and injured Packers offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga (glad the knee injury isn't anything serious, get well soon), defensive end Mike Neal (take it slow, buddy) and linebacker Frank Zombo (apparently 100 percent now). Go Pack.
Get this, everybody. It'll be October 1st on Saturday, and the Brewers will still be the talk of the state; at least in my mind. Why's that? Well, the Milwaukee Brewers have stolen the hearts of Wisconsin because of their potent 1-2 punch in the middle of the lineup, an outspoken and fiery competitor who gives the best interview in sports...other than the mustache aficionado John Axford, a team that set the franchise record in wins with a 96-66 record and obtained home field advantage in the first round. But most importantly, we're here today because of a competent starting rotation and a bullpen with defined roles. I remember 2008 quite vividly, and I'm in the same boat as many when I say that I was just happy that the Brewers reached the playoffs. Whatever happened after that was gravy. I'm embarrassed to an extent to admit that, but...it was the Brewers in the POSTSEASON. It hadn't happened before in my lifetime...by a long shot. What I will always remember most about the Brewers' first playoff appearance in 26 years is Ryan Braun's game clinching go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th against the rival-Chicago Cubs, then watching the New York Mets fall to the Florida Marlins to give the Brewers the NL Wild Card position. The champagne started to flow, hilarity ensued and tears flowed from my eyes. Seriously. Don't judge. Three years later, albeit about a week earlier than in '08, Braun once again stepped to the plate in a 1-1 ball game with a chance to clinch a playoff berth and what happened? Of course. Braun bashed one out to deep center for a 3-run homer and the Brewers were NL Central Divison champs. All that was left to do was root for the Braves to hold onto the Wild Card position (they didn't...that honor belongs to the hated Fightin' LaRussas) and cling onto the number two seed so that the Crew had home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the best efforts of the baseball gods, Milwaukee earned the two seed and will host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Divisional Series beginning on Saturday.
I'm not sure if anyone wanted that two seed worse than I did. In case you weren't aware, I was randomly selected out of over 190,000 entries to have the OPPORTUNITY to purchase postseason tickets to a Brewers' home playoff game. When I opened my email last Saturday and saw the "NLDS Ticket Opportunity: Congratulations" subject heading, I went completely bonkers, immediately texted longtime friend/fellow sports enthusiast/friend of the blog Kyle and we held about a 15 minute conversation screaming "Oh my GOD" back and forth to each other. There was nearly an identical conversation that took place last Friday night (good song) after the Beer Makers clinched a playoff spot. The email told me to follow a link and enter a code on Tuesday, beginning as early as 9 AM. I got in the waiting room. I was selected instantly. I nabbed those left field bleacher seats. The only aspect that poked at me was that I bought tickets for the 2nd home game rather than the first. Why? Because two of the people I would be bringing with me to the game go to Madison and the first home game was potentially going to fall on October 1st (enough said). So what was the problem? Well, what if the Brewers hadn't gotten the two seed? They would be on the road the first two games, then return to Miller Park for game three. It would've been unlikely to happen, but what if the Brewers got swept in three? I'd be stuck with tickets for game four. No playoffs for me. Someone would surely die. Thank goodness for the will of the Crew and the managerial skills of Ron Roenicke to help lead Milwaukee to that coveted two seed and restore comfort to my insides.
So it'll be 17-game winner Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers unprecedented ace no matter what you tell me, against 21-game winner Ian Kennedy, a former Yankees reject who appears to have rejuvenated his career. Arizona is just as hot if not hotter than the Brewers and won the season series over Milwaukee, 4-3. It's all out the window now. Playoff baseball is a totally different monster. Now we wait for the Crew to announce their playoff roster on Saturday morning as well as the game 2 starter, who we can only hope is Zack Greinke. If you don't hope it's Greinke, here's why you should: the Zack Attack is 11-0 at Miller Park this season and the Brewers are 15-0 when he starts at home. 15-0! Holy, man. I know it would be his second start on three days rest, but he didn't go as deep into the game on Wednesday as he could have and my feeling is that he will be able to talk his way into a start on Sunday. Grienke at home >>>>>>>>>>>>> Greinke on the road. 'Nough said. Go Crew.
On a lighter note, I went to see the movie "Moneyball" a few hours ago and it basically rocked my socks off. For a baseball nerd like me and a stats nerd like me, I was hooked from the very beginning and the emotional roller coaster that Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill lead me on helped me forget that it was over two hours long. Every single minute of that movie was worth it. I hate to hype up a film and cause anyone who plans on seeing it to have high expectations going in, but it's that good. Then again, that's just me talking. I HIGHLY recommend it, baseball fan or not. It goes beyond baseball and that's what helps make this film so special.
Well, guys...it's been nice knowing ya. I hope the state of Wisconsin has braced itself for what's about to take place this weekend, because I have. That's for damn sure.
Saturday:
12:00 AM - My 22nd birthday
1:07 PM - Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers, Game 1 NLDS
7:00 PM - #8 Nebraska Cornhuskers @ #7 Wisconsin Badgers
Sunday:
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Recover, get picked up by from Oshkosh by Mommy
12:00 PM - Round up the troops for Game 2 of the NLDS
1:30 PM - 3:00ish PM - Tailgate the s*** out of the Miller Park parking lot
3:15 PM - Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers
3:37 PM - Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers, Game 2 NLDS
Uh huh. Yeah. This one's gonna be a doozy. Before I look ahead to what's about to completely rock my world and probably change the course of my life forever, I'd like to recap what happened in the past even though it's impossible to change. I'll start with the Wisconsin Badgers' final pre-conference tuneup against poor old South Dakota. The Coyotes (pronounced "kai-otes") I'm sure were paid a whole lot of green to march into the vice grip of Camp Randall Stadium and to be perfectly honest, I don't recall exactly what the final score was. What I do remember is Russell Wilson and Nick Toon hooking up over and over and over and me beginning to think that Toon has the makeup of a pro wide receiver. I know it was against South Dakota, but there's no question Wilson has found his favorite target with Jared Abbrederis being a solid number two option and tight end Jacob Pedersen eating up the redzone. This is probably the most I've ever talked about the air attack of the Badgers. Don't worry. Montee Ball is still there. James White is still there. The run game is still the bread and butter for this offense.
The Badgers now face their first test of the season, and oh, what a test it is. Nebraska makes its Big Ten conference play debut and no way was the Big Ten going to allow the Cornhuskers to play the Indiana Hoosiers back in Lincoln to help them get acclimated with their new conference. Hell no. You guys get to play a night game...in Madison...against a top ten team...with College Gameday in town. Have fun with that. In all seriousness, though, this game is going to take a four quarter effort from the Badgers offense and most importantly, their defense, in order to escape with a victory. The number one unit for Wisconsin hasn't given up much this season as far as points are concerned and kind of have that bend-but-don't-break mentality...that phrase is really starting to become cliche, but I'm too lazy to think of a better descriptor. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the D handles Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, a sophomore dual-threat quarterback. There's no denying that the Huskers can put points on the board, but their defense has been unimpressive and with the second most efficient passer in the nation and one of the best running back duos there is, Wisconsin should be able to exploit this weakness. Sure, it's hard to gauge just how impressive the Badgers are from top to bottom because they haven't played anyone yet, but what about Nebraska? Their most difficult opponent to date has been a home date with middle of the Pac-10 team Washington (see what I did there?) and they gave up 38 points to the Huskies. The most Wisky gave up thus far is 17 to UNLV with most of those points coming in garbage time. I think the Badgers have the edge on offense, on defense and in location. Looking forward to watching the game on my couch enjoying a few cold ones, although I do envy those who will be in the house at the game that has produced the most coveted ticket in Wisconsin's history. Go Bucky.
In case you forgot (which I'm sure you didn't...just needed a transition), the Chicago Bears foolishly believed that they would be able to knock off the Packers in Soldier Field for the second straight year in week 3, but the Packers would have nothing of it. They took care of Da Bears 27-17 in a game that was never really all that close. Green Bay never relinquished their lead after Aaron Rodgers found Greg Jennings what seemed like 15 times on the first drive, leading to a touchdown catch by Jermichael Finley. I'm not going to give a play-by-play because I know everyone saw this one, but I would like to point out a couple of performances that shouldn't go unnoticed. First of all, I understand that Finley's performance didn't exactly fly under the radar, but did you notice how he was getting his scores? The Bears' secondary was so afraid of Rodgers throwing up the fade in the corner of the endzone to Sirmichael that they forget he can just cut inside on a slant and find himself wide open. Man, talk about a dilemma for future opposing defenses. Are they really going to have to focus two guys on our tight end to avoid him beating us? Probably, and I don't know why more teams do it. After all, Finley is the Packers' only real threat through the air and...wait a minute...you're telling me Green Bay has five wide receivers that are good enough to start for any other team in the National Football League? Oooooo. That sucks, rest of league. Good luck with that one. And if that's not enough, Ryan Grant is kind of starting to rekindle that old flame inside as he rushed 17 times for a convincing 92 yards, although he did suffer a bruised kidney and could be held out of the Broncos game as a precautionary measure. That's fine by me, because James Starks can then take over and maybe we would even get to see a little of the rookie, Alex Green. I mean, c'mon, let's be real...it's the Denver Broncos coming into town. I think we'll survive. The only downer about the weekend I'm about to experience is that I'll miss the Packers' game in its entirety because of the scheduled time of Game 2 that I HAVE to attend. But I think I'll get over it. I mean, c'mon, let's be real...it's the Denver Broncos coming into town. Quick shout-outs to Morgan Burnett (2 picks against the Bears, you the man Morgan), and injured Packers offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga (glad the knee injury isn't anything serious, get well soon), defensive end Mike Neal (take it slow, buddy) and linebacker Frank Zombo (apparently 100 percent now). Go Pack.
Get this, everybody. It'll be October 1st on Saturday, and the Brewers will still be the talk of the state; at least in my mind. Why's that? Well, the Milwaukee Brewers have stolen the hearts of Wisconsin because of their potent 1-2 punch in the middle of the lineup, an outspoken and fiery competitor who gives the best interview in sports...other than the mustache aficionado John Axford, a team that set the franchise record in wins with a 96-66 record and obtained home field advantage in the first round. But most importantly, we're here today because of a competent starting rotation and a bullpen with defined roles. I remember 2008 quite vividly, and I'm in the same boat as many when I say that I was just happy that the Brewers reached the playoffs. Whatever happened after that was gravy. I'm embarrassed to an extent to admit that, but...it was the Brewers in the POSTSEASON. It hadn't happened before in my lifetime...by a long shot. What I will always remember most about the Brewers' first playoff appearance in 26 years is Ryan Braun's game clinching go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th against the rival-Chicago Cubs, then watching the New York Mets fall to the Florida Marlins to give the Brewers the NL Wild Card position. The champagne started to flow, hilarity ensued and tears flowed from my eyes. Seriously. Don't judge. Three years later, albeit about a week earlier than in '08, Braun once again stepped to the plate in a 1-1 ball game with a chance to clinch a playoff berth and what happened? Of course. Braun bashed one out to deep center for a 3-run homer and the Brewers were NL Central Divison champs. All that was left to do was root for the Braves to hold onto the Wild Card position (they didn't...that honor belongs to the hated Fightin' LaRussas) and cling onto the number two seed so that the Crew had home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the best efforts of the baseball gods, Milwaukee earned the two seed and will host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Divisional Series beginning on Saturday.
I'm not sure if anyone wanted that two seed worse than I did. In case you weren't aware, I was randomly selected out of over 190,000 entries to have the OPPORTUNITY to purchase postseason tickets to a Brewers' home playoff game. When I opened my email last Saturday and saw the "NLDS Ticket Opportunity: Congratulations" subject heading, I went completely bonkers, immediately texted longtime friend/fellow sports enthusiast/friend of the blog Kyle and we held about a 15 minute conversation screaming "Oh my GOD" back and forth to each other. There was nearly an identical conversation that took place last Friday night (good song) after the Beer Makers clinched a playoff spot. The email told me to follow a link and enter a code on Tuesday, beginning as early as 9 AM. I got in the waiting room. I was selected instantly. I nabbed those left field bleacher seats. The only aspect that poked at me was that I bought tickets for the 2nd home game rather than the first. Why? Because two of the people I would be bringing with me to the game go to Madison and the first home game was potentially going to fall on October 1st (enough said). So what was the problem? Well, what if the Brewers hadn't gotten the two seed? They would be on the road the first two games, then return to Miller Park for game three. It would've been unlikely to happen, but what if the Brewers got swept in three? I'd be stuck with tickets for game four. No playoffs for me. Someone would surely die. Thank goodness for the will of the Crew and the managerial skills of Ron Roenicke to help lead Milwaukee to that coveted two seed and restore comfort to my insides.
So it'll be 17-game winner Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers unprecedented ace no matter what you tell me, against 21-game winner Ian Kennedy, a former Yankees reject who appears to have rejuvenated his career. Arizona is just as hot if not hotter than the Brewers and won the season series over Milwaukee, 4-3. It's all out the window now. Playoff baseball is a totally different monster. Now we wait for the Crew to announce their playoff roster on Saturday morning as well as the game 2 starter, who we can only hope is Zack Greinke. If you don't hope it's Greinke, here's why you should: the Zack Attack is 11-0 at Miller Park this season and the Brewers are 15-0 when he starts at home. 15-0! Holy, man. I know it would be his second start on three days rest, but he didn't go as deep into the game on Wednesday as he could have and my feeling is that he will be able to talk his way into a start on Sunday. Grienke at home >>>>>>>>>>>>> Greinke on the road. 'Nough said. Go Crew.
On a lighter note, I went to see the movie "Moneyball" a few hours ago and it basically rocked my socks off. For a baseball nerd like me and a stats nerd like me, I was hooked from the very beginning and the emotional roller coaster that Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill lead me on helped me forget that it was over two hours long. Every single minute of that movie was worth it. I hate to hype up a film and cause anyone who plans on seeing it to have high expectations going in, but it's that good. Then again, that's just me talking. I HIGHLY recommend it, baseball fan or not. It goes beyond baseball and that's what helps make this film so special.
Well, guys...it's been nice knowing ya. I hope the state of Wisconsin has braced itself for what's about to take place this weekend, because I have. That's for damn sure.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Duhhhh...WINNING
What a week for Wisconsin sports. I can't remember a more exciting time to be a sports fan in Wisconsin. Well, maybe that whole Super Bowl thing last February, but now we have multiple teams that are legitimate in their respective sports. I challenged the Brewers a week ago to step it up and trim that magic number down to about four and whaddaya know; it's four. The Philadelphia Phillies did the Crew a favor by beating the Cardinals once this weekend, but the Beermakers took care of their own business and won four of five games during the week, including a sweep in Cincinnati, to basically wrap things up in the Central. Along with the Brewers recent success, the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers won games that they should win, albeit the Pack didn't do it in the most convincing fashion. At least we haven't seen either team drop a game this fall. Let's hope it stays that way.
I'll begin with Wisky, who brought a bunch of cheeseheads with them down to Chicago and Soldier Field to play a "neutral" field game against potential dangerous mid-major Northern Illinois. You might think that my sarcastic use of the word "neutral" meant that I felt NIU would have an unfair advantage as far as fan support because they were playing in their own backyard. You'd be mistaken. Badger fans were in the majority Saturday afternoon and Wisconsin took care of business by defeating the Huskies 49-7. Northern Illinois didn't stand much of a chance after Wisconsin pulled away for good from a 7-7 tie midway through the first half. I'm guessing the Badgers looked good - apparently the MAC had television rights for this game and therefore it wasn't televised in my neck of the woods. Sure, I could have walked down the street and watched on ESPN3.com, which is free on college campuses, but I decided it wouldn't be worth my time. That, and I'm a lazy piece. What I got out of watching gamecast on ESPN is that Russell Wilson and Montee Ball are still viable Heisman candidates, especially Wilson, and that the Badgers' defense is doing a good job of keeping teams out of the endzone. So now Wisconsin stands at 3-0 in preseason college football and faces one more joke of an opponent before we reach the big test: Nebraska coming into Camp Randall for arguably one of the biggest games in school history. Oh yeah, and it's on my birthday. We'll see whether or not my birthday combined with either a depressing loss or an inspiring win powers my binge drinking Saturday night. Just kidding, mom!
Fortunately on Sunday, I actually got to WATCH football rather than follow it on the internet when the Packers took the field at Carolina. If this one didn't scream "trap game" going in, I don't know what did. Low and behold, the Pack started off about as bad as you can by letting Cam Newton walk down the field (with some pretty impressive throws, mind you) and jump ahead 7-zip. If that wasn't bad enough, upstart rook Randall Cobb ran into the back of his own teammate returning the ensuing kickoff and coughed up the football. 10-0. Then it was a three-and-out for the offense and the Panthers' offense had the ball back once the first quarter came to a close. That's right. Green Bay's offense was on the field for three plays in the first quarter. THREE. PLAYS. Ouch. But after the Packers' D was able to limit the Panthers to a field goal again, the O kicked things into high gear.
After Aaron Rodgers hooked up with Jermichael Finley what seemed like 15 times, John KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHN punched it in after dropping a touchdown and it was a ball game. The offense absolutely exploded in the third quarter, racking up four scoring drives. Unfortunately, only one of those drives resulted in a touchdown...the first one, which took under three minutes and ended with a wide open Greg Jennings hauling in a 49-yard touchdown. Even though the Packers were unable to bring the hammer down on their next three drives, the Panthers started turning the ball over...a lot. For as awful as the Packers' defense looked early in the game, particularly Chuck Woodson covering Steve Smith, they made up for it and then some. Charles "In Chuck We Trust" Woodson picked off Cam-not-really-the-man-especially-in-the-red-zone on the first second half Panther possession and then recovered a Smith fumble on their next possession to make up for his lackluster start. After it was 20-13 Packers, Newton carelessly threw another pick, this time to safety Morgan Burnett. 23-13. Game's over, right?
Not so fast, my friend (Lee Corso voice). All of a sudden, the Panthers were knocking on the door inside the GB 5-yard line down by just a touchdown. But it was fourth down and Clay Matthews smelled blood, bringing down a scrambling Newton...all he does is make huge plays..before the goal line to get the ball back in A-Rodg's hands. Rodgers hits Jordy Nelson on a slant route for a rather exhilarating 84-yard score...Jordy's only catch of the game, by the way...and that was your dagger. Sure, Newton racked up a bunch of meaningless garbage time yards through the air, but he looked like a rookie in many ways. Also, there was no Tramon Williams, no Frank Zombo and no Nick Collins after a scary play in which Collins' neck got jammed, leaving him to be carried off on a stretcher. Thankfully, the news is promising regarding Collins, and the Packers beat those pesky Panthers 30-23 to improve to 2-0. Never a dull moment in Titletown. Week 3 presents a matchup with Da Bears in Soldier Field. If they can do half as well as Bucky did yesterday and get either/both Collins and Tramon-man Williams back, the Pack should be in good shape. Then again, losing against the Bears last season in week 3 didn't exactly turn out to be the end of the world...hmmm...
Saving the best for last (in my opinion), the Brewers eliminated any doubt in the minds of their fanbase...which honestly shouldn't have been lingering around in the first place...and trimmed their magic number down to 4. I'm sorry. There actually IS still some doubt. ESPN currently has their "% chance of making the playoffs" at 99.9. Don't breathe easy just yet! To make you feel better, it's now a 6.5 game lead over the Cardinals for the division crown, and if the Crew really needs to look somewhere for motivation, I've got a couple places. First, that two seed would be nice to obtain. They have a two game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for that number two seed and if they were to relinquish that spot, they would have to face the Phillies - again - in the first round of the playoffs with no home field advantage. Should they hold on, they would get to play the slumping Braves - with home field advantage. I think I know which option I'd prefer. Second, have you seen the Brewers' road record lately? 38-40. If they sweep the Cubbies at Wrigley, they will have broken .500 away from Miller Park, which would be completely insane. And then their last six games are at home. Milwaukee holds a half-game lead on the Phils for the best home record in baseball and I'd like to think that's an honor the Brewers would like to hold. So there you have it. The Brewers are 90-63, would have to completely tank to not surpass my prediction of a 91-71 record (a prediction I'm sure all of you found ignorant), and are set to claim their first title in 29 years. Cool. Pretty much all that's left is to figure out who will be on that postseason roster. Taylor Green over Josh Wilson? I think so.
Coming up...
Milwaukee (90-63): @ Cubs (MON-WED), vs Marlins (FRI-SUN)
Green Bay (2-0): @ Bears (1-1) SUN, 3:15
Wisconsin (3-0): vs South Dakota State
Let the good times roll.
I'll begin with Wisky, who brought a bunch of cheeseheads with them down to Chicago and Soldier Field to play a "neutral" field game against potential dangerous mid-major Northern Illinois. You might think that my sarcastic use of the word "neutral" meant that I felt NIU would have an unfair advantage as far as fan support because they were playing in their own backyard. You'd be mistaken. Badger fans were in the majority Saturday afternoon and Wisconsin took care of business by defeating the Huskies 49-7. Northern Illinois didn't stand much of a chance after Wisconsin pulled away for good from a 7-7 tie midway through the first half. I'm guessing the Badgers looked good - apparently the MAC had television rights for this game and therefore it wasn't televised in my neck of the woods. Sure, I could have walked down the street and watched on ESPN3.com, which is free on college campuses, but I decided it wouldn't be worth my time. That, and I'm a lazy piece. What I got out of watching gamecast on ESPN is that Russell Wilson and Montee Ball are still viable Heisman candidates, especially Wilson, and that the Badgers' defense is doing a good job of keeping teams out of the endzone. So now Wisconsin stands at 3-0 in preseason college football and faces one more joke of an opponent before we reach the big test: Nebraska coming into Camp Randall for arguably one of the biggest games in school history. Oh yeah, and it's on my birthday. We'll see whether or not my birthday combined with either a depressing loss or an inspiring win powers my binge drinking Saturday night. Just kidding, mom!
Fortunately on Sunday, I actually got to WATCH football rather than follow it on the internet when the Packers took the field at Carolina. If this one didn't scream "trap game" going in, I don't know what did. Low and behold, the Pack started off about as bad as you can by letting Cam Newton walk down the field (with some pretty impressive throws, mind you) and jump ahead 7-zip. If that wasn't bad enough, upstart rook Randall Cobb ran into the back of his own teammate returning the ensuing kickoff and coughed up the football. 10-0. Then it was a three-and-out for the offense and the Panthers' offense had the ball back once the first quarter came to a close. That's right. Green Bay's offense was on the field for three plays in the first quarter. THREE. PLAYS. Ouch. But after the Packers' D was able to limit the Panthers to a field goal again, the O kicked things into high gear.
After Aaron Rodgers hooked up with Jermichael Finley what seemed like 15 times, John KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHN punched it in after dropping a touchdown and it was a ball game. The offense absolutely exploded in the third quarter, racking up four scoring drives. Unfortunately, only one of those drives resulted in a touchdown...the first one, which took under three minutes and ended with a wide open Greg Jennings hauling in a 49-yard touchdown. Even though the Packers were unable to bring the hammer down on their next three drives, the Panthers started turning the ball over...a lot. For as awful as the Packers' defense looked early in the game, particularly Chuck Woodson covering Steve Smith, they made up for it and then some. Charles "In Chuck We Trust" Woodson picked off Cam-not-really-the-man-especially-in-the-red-zone on the first second half Panther possession and then recovered a Smith fumble on their next possession to make up for his lackluster start. After it was 20-13 Packers, Newton carelessly threw another pick, this time to safety Morgan Burnett. 23-13. Game's over, right?
Not so fast, my friend (Lee Corso voice). All of a sudden, the Panthers were knocking on the door inside the GB 5-yard line down by just a touchdown. But it was fourth down and Clay Matthews smelled blood, bringing down a scrambling Newton...all he does is make huge plays..before the goal line to get the ball back in A-Rodg's hands. Rodgers hits Jordy Nelson on a slant route for a rather exhilarating 84-yard score...Jordy's only catch of the game, by the way...and that was your dagger. Sure, Newton racked up a bunch of meaningless garbage time yards through the air, but he looked like a rookie in many ways. Also, there was no Tramon Williams, no Frank Zombo and no Nick Collins after a scary play in which Collins' neck got jammed, leaving him to be carried off on a stretcher. Thankfully, the news is promising regarding Collins, and the Packers beat those pesky Panthers 30-23 to improve to 2-0. Never a dull moment in Titletown. Week 3 presents a matchup with Da Bears in Soldier Field. If they can do half as well as Bucky did yesterday and get either/both Collins and Tramon-man Williams back, the Pack should be in good shape. Then again, losing against the Bears last season in week 3 didn't exactly turn out to be the end of the world...hmmm...
Saving the best for last (in my opinion), the Brewers eliminated any doubt in the minds of their fanbase...which honestly shouldn't have been lingering around in the first place...and trimmed their magic number down to 4. I'm sorry. There actually IS still some doubt. ESPN currently has their "% chance of making the playoffs" at 99.9. Don't breathe easy just yet! To make you feel better, it's now a 6.5 game lead over the Cardinals for the division crown, and if the Crew really needs to look somewhere for motivation, I've got a couple places. First, that two seed would be nice to obtain. They have a two game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for that number two seed and if they were to relinquish that spot, they would have to face the Phillies - again - in the first round of the playoffs with no home field advantage. Should they hold on, they would get to play the slumping Braves - with home field advantage. I think I know which option I'd prefer. Second, have you seen the Brewers' road record lately? 38-40. If they sweep the Cubbies at Wrigley, they will have broken .500 away from Miller Park, which would be completely insane. And then their last six games are at home. Milwaukee holds a half-game lead on the Phils for the best home record in baseball and I'd like to think that's an honor the Brewers would like to hold. So there you have it. The Brewers are 90-63, would have to completely tank to not surpass my prediction of a 91-71 record (a prediction I'm sure all of you found ignorant), and are set to claim their first title in 29 years. Cool. Pretty much all that's left is to figure out who will be on that postseason roster. Taylor Green over Josh Wilson? I think so.
Coming up...
Milwaukee (90-63): @ Cubs (MON-WED), vs Marlins (FRI-SUN)
Green Bay (2-0): @ Bears (1-1) SUN, 3:15
Wisconsin (3-0): vs South Dakota State
Let the good times roll.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Road is the New Home
I believe I've wasted several hours of my blogging career complaining about how pathetic the Brewers' play was on the road. It was hard to ignore. My hope was that the All-Star break would be a time for players and coaches to not only get some rest and forget about their road woes, but to also look forward and figure out what exactly they needed to do to improve away from Miller Park. They didn't have a choice. If the Brewers wanted to reach the post-season, they would have to start winning on the road - it's what good teams do. Oh, and it just so happened that the Crew had to play 11 games on the road to start off the second half of the season. It was make or break time, no question, and after Milwaukee was able to get by with a 5-6 record against the top three teams in the West Division, they were still right near the top of the standings and began a stretch loaded with beatable teams. Let's just say the Beermakers took that opportunity and flew to the moon with it...the Brewers are now 76-52, nine games ahead of the second place Cardinals and 13-7 on the road post-All-Star break. Huzzah.
Believe it or not, that nine game lead is the largest division lead in baseball and the largest division lead in franchise history. I knew that this team was something special and continued to reiterate during the Brewers' early struggles, but their performance recently is absolutely ridiculous...there's no other way to describe it. I believe it is now 22 of the last 25 games Milwaukee has pulled off, and it's due in part to an entire team effort. King Fielder and The Hebrew Hammer continue to battle amongst each other for MVP honors (Braun for a batting title, Prince for a HR & RBI title...combined Triple Crown, anyone?), the starting pitching has been superb and the bullpen keeps on keeping on, with Marco Estrada filling in nicely in a couple spot starts and the Ax Factor refusing to let one get away. In Saturday's afternoon melee against the New York Mets, it felt like the Brewers of old had returned...I was upset with how hard our pitchers were getting hit, but I was also disappointed in Ron Roenicke's decision to leave Jerry Hairston in center field late in a close ball game with Tony Plush readily available. It cost the Brewers and spoiled K-Rod's return to Citi Field and completed the Brewers blowing a six-run lead...and then some. It was 9-7 Mets heading into the top of the ninth; that's when the Brewers of new returned and did what it took to win the game. Those who have come up clutch all season long...Nyjer Morgan, Mark Kotsay, Prince Fielder and even Casey McGehee...put up incredible at-bats and then it was just up to Axford to close it down. The comeback victory seemed like gravy at this point. The Crew could probably afford a loss like this thanks to the division lead they've stretched out, but their resiliency wouldn't allow it, and that as a fan is incredibly comforting.
I try not to do this too often, but I want to look ahead into my Milwaukee Brewers' crystal ball and figure out what the Crew will do once they are faced with a few difficult decisions. One of them was just made today as Felipe Lopez was designated for assignment (a.k.a. released) to make room for Chris Narveson, who will start the front end of the doubleheader today against the...yes...Pittsburgh Pirates. Rosters expanding once September rolls around will make bringing Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez back a lot easier since the Brewers won't have to send anyone down. I'm still pretty excited to see who Milwaukee decides to bring up in September and who will begin to see their playing time diminish. But back to the real issue here...who would we see not make the 25-man playoff roster should, hypothetically speaking, of course, the Milwaukee Brewers make the post-season? We just saw a position player (Lopez) take the hit when Narveson was added back to the active roster. I suspect that bullpen member Frankie De La Cruz would not make the cut when Weeks gets back, who I think will return before Gomez. When Go-Go is ready to come back, this is where things get a little more difficult. The Brewers will have 12 pitchers and 13 position players on the team and I doubt Roenicke will want to drop down to 11 arms for the playoffs. So which position player walks? Hmmm...I can't even figure that one out. I know everyone is screaming "Craig Counsell" right now, but I just don't see that happening. Perhaps Josh Wilson falls out of favor by then. Perhaps Gomez doesn't become healthy enough to make the playoff roster. Or maybe Counsell really does get left off. Kotsay isn't an option because of his ability to play the outfield, and the Brewers only have four true outfielders on the current roster. I guess we'll see what happens...remember, this whole playoff thing is only hypothetical.
Way back on Friday night, the Green Bay Packers played their second pre-season game and their first game at Lambeau Field since I was in attendance to watch the Pack down the Bears to make the playoffs. Again, this is the pre-season, so I don't really feel like getting all hyped up about things or go into great detail. The one guy who really stood out was practice squad member Chastin West, who caught five passes for 134 yards, including a 97-yard connection between West and Matt Flynn. Flynn looked quite solid as well, which makes me believe the Packers will eventually part with him to not only give Flynn a chance to start in this league, but to also get a valuable commodity in return. Third stringer Graham Harrell isn't to shabby himself and could probably be a viable backup to Rodgers as well, but for now let's enjoy the incredible depth the Packers sport at quarterback. Speaking of incredible depth, the Green and Gold has a few players at wide receiver that might contribute this season. And even though Jermichael Finley isn't a wide-out, he might as well be. It was good to see Sir Michael back in action for the first time this season and it doesn't look like Finley missed a beat, catching four passes for 33 yards. Rodgers and Greg Jennings hooked up for a touchdown for the second straight game...the league might want to look out for that tandem. We also saw rookie Alex Green for the first time in a Packer uniform and he managed to run for a score and have a significant reception. Otherwise, the first team defense looked stellar, but it was all downhill from there. Last season, I wasn't really happy with the defense in general when the Packers were in their early stages last season, so I'll consider this an improvement.
Today, look to see how the Narve-Dog does in his return, if the offense can continue to stay hot and if Greinke can continue his dominant second half performance.
Believe it or not, that nine game lead is the largest division lead in baseball and the largest division lead in franchise history. I knew that this team was something special and continued to reiterate during the Brewers' early struggles, but their performance recently is absolutely ridiculous...there's no other way to describe it. I believe it is now 22 of the last 25 games Milwaukee has pulled off, and it's due in part to an entire team effort. King Fielder and The Hebrew Hammer continue to battle amongst each other for MVP honors (Braun for a batting title, Prince for a HR & RBI title...combined Triple Crown, anyone?), the starting pitching has been superb and the bullpen keeps on keeping on, with Marco Estrada filling in nicely in a couple spot starts and the Ax Factor refusing to let one get away. In Saturday's afternoon melee against the New York Mets, it felt like the Brewers of old had returned...I was upset with how hard our pitchers were getting hit, but I was also disappointed in Ron Roenicke's decision to leave Jerry Hairston in center field late in a close ball game with Tony Plush readily available. It cost the Brewers and spoiled K-Rod's return to Citi Field and completed the Brewers blowing a six-run lead...and then some. It was 9-7 Mets heading into the top of the ninth; that's when the Brewers of new returned and did what it took to win the game. Those who have come up clutch all season long...Nyjer Morgan, Mark Kotsay, Prince Fielder and even Casey McGehee...put up incredible at-bats and then it was just up to Axford to close it down. The comeback victory seemed like gravy at this point. The Crew could probably afford a loss like this thanks to the division lead they've stretched out, but their resiliency wouldn't allow it, and that as a fan is incredibly comforting.
I try not to do this too often, but I want to look ahead into my Milwaukee Brewers' crystal ball and figure out what the Crew will do once they are faced with a few difficult decisions. One of them was just made today as Felipe Lopez was designated for assignment (a.k.a. released) to make room for Chris Narveson, who will start the front end of the doubleheader today against the...yes...Pittsburgh Pirates. Rosters expanding once September rolls around will make bringing Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez back a lot easier since the Brewers won't have to send anyone down. I'm still pretty excited to see who Milwaukee decides to bring up in September and who will begin to see their playing time diminish. But back to the real issue here...who would we see not make the 25-man playoff roster should, hypothetically speaking, of course, the Milwaukee Brewers make the post-season? We just saw a position player (Lopez) take the hit when Narveson was added back to the active roster. I suspect that bullpen member Frankie De La Cruz would not make the cut when Weeks gets back, who I think will return before Gomez. When Go-Go is ready to come back, this is where things get a little more difficult. The Brewers will have 12 pitchers and 13 position players on the team and I doubt Roenicke will want to drop down to 11 arms for the playoffs. So which position player walks? Hmmm...I can't even figure that one out. I know everyone is screaming "Craig Counsell" right now, but I just don't see that happening. Perhaps Josh Wilson falls out of favor by then. Perhaps Gomez doesn't become healthy enough to make the playoff roster. Or maybe Counsell really does get left off. Kotsay isn't an option because of his ability to play the outfield, and the Brewers only have four true outfielders on the current roster. I guess we'll see what happens...remember, this whole playoff thing is only hypothetical.
Way back on Friday night, the Green Bay Packers played their second pre-season game and their first game at Lambeau Field since I was in attendance to watch the Pack down the Bears to make the playoffs. Again, this is the pre-season, so I don't really feel like getting all hyped up about things or go into great detail. The one guy who really stood out was practice squad member Chastin West, who caught five passes for 134 yards, including a 97-yard connection between West and Matt Flynn. Flynn looked quite solid as well, which makes me believe the Packers will eventually part with him to not only give Flynn a chance to start in this league, but to also get a valuable commodity in return. Third stringer Graham Harrell isn't to shabby himself and could probably be a viable backup to Rodgers as well, but for now let's enjoy the incredible depth the Packers sport at quarterback. Speaking of incredible depth, the Green and Gold has a few players at wide receiver that might contribute this season. And even though Jermichael Finley isn't a wide-out, he might as well be. It was good to see Sir Michael back in action for the first time this season and it doesn't look like Finley missed a beat, catching four passes for 33 yards. Rodgers and Greg Jennings hooked up for a touchdown for the second straight game...the league might want to look out for that tandem. We also saw rookie Alex Green for the first time in a Packer uniform and he managed to run for a score and have a significant reception. Otherwise, the first team defense looked stellar, but it was all downhill from there. Last season, I wasn't really happy with the defense in general when the Packers were in their early stages last season, so I'll consider this an improvement.
Today, look to see how the Narve-Dog does in his return, if the offense can continue to stay hot and if Greinke can continue his dominant second half performance.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Baseball...Baseball...Football?
I love baseball. Possibly more than life itself. We all know that. But it's been awhile since there's been anything to talk about OTHER than baseball. Football ended last February (in dramatic and awesome fashion, I might add), but then we went into a lockout and haven't had anything to talk about other than the NFL draft. Pro basketball is a subject that hasn't been touched for awhile and probably won't be touched for many months to come because of, yes, another lockout...only the Bucks' draft picks and trade have been discussed ever since they floundered their playoff chances away in March. College basketball will receive more attention as a result, but that doesn't begin until November, nor gain much relevance until January and February. As much as I have fallen in love with the NHL over the past few seasons, I don't have a team to discuss on this blog because Wisconsin doesn't have a pro hockey franchise. So I'm going to talk about baseball some more, but there's no need to worry. Remember when I started this thing up back on August 8th of last year? That time is drawing close, and I believe that my preview of the Wisconsin Badgers football team was done on August 10th. Which means...that's right. I'll be talking about football soon. Not only that, but once this NFL lockout comes to a close (which supposedly is very soon), the Packers can start looking at free agents, begin practicing and...holy s---...their first preseason game is on August 13. Can that be right? Like...three weeks from now? Nice.
So we've got some things to look forward to. College football. Pro football. The one-year anniversary of Balls, Brats and Beer. But that's not all. How about playoff baseball? The Brewers once again reclaimed first place from those pesky Pirates last night despite new acquisition Francisco Rodriguez doing his best Derrick Turnblow impersonation and won against the D-Backs 5-2 in ten innings. For those keeping track, the Brewers have now won back-to-back road games twice...and both have happened in the last five days. Milwaukee is 4-3 on the current road trip, which to be honest is better than I expected. Before I get to the big picture, I'd like to discuss a few things from last night's game that caught my eye that pertain to rookie manager Ron Roenicke.
Once the Brewers had grabbed a two-run lead after seven innings and had seen Stephen Drew break his ankle sliding into home and Carlos Gomez fracture his clavicle making a beautiful diving catch in center (both are likely out for the season), Roenicke made a decision that is easy to look back on and criticize. Starting pitcher Chris Narveson had been brilliant through seven innings and his pitch count was only in the mid-80s, but RR decided to go with what had worked on two separate occasions and bring out K-Rod for the 8th. A half-inning later, the game was tied due in part to Rodriguez getting behind in the count and Ryan Braun's calf preventing him from cutting off a ball that was heading for the left center field gap. So why didn't Roenicke leave in Narveson to see if he could keep on rolling? Good question, but it's already been answered. The K-Rod/Ax Factor 8th-9th inning combo had yet to fail, so RR turned to it again. However, this situation was different and Narveson should have been given the chance to finish what he started. In the other two games that K-Rod and Ax have finished it out (both against Colorado), K-Rod didn't relieve the starting pitcher - he relieved another reliever. Roenicke shouldn't have treated it like any other situation. The Narve-Dog was rolling along and even if he did get left in and ran into trouble in the 8th or 9th, then that's where you should step in and put in Ax or K-Rod. Simple as that. I'm sure Roenicke has learned a valuable lesson. Luckily it didn't cost us a victory.
But get this: Roenicke redeemed himself almost immediately. In the bottom of the ninth with a runner on third and no one out, Reliever Takashi "Tsunami" Saito was in a jam and a half. Just like he has done on previous occasions, RR brought in a fifth infielder from the outfield (Brauny) and put his faith in Saito to force the batter to hit a ground ball. The next two hitters grounded out to McGehee and the Brewers were able to put Braun back in left and return to their normal alignment. After a fly-out to Gomez' replacement, Tony Plush, the Crew had momentum back on their side. The very next half inning, none other than Nyjer Morgan had the game winning and go-ahead base hit and Axford put the Ax down for yet another save. Pirates lost. Cards lost. Brewers win. Brewers in first. Everyone's happy.
The Milwaukee Brewers now sit at 53-46 and 0.5 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who don't play the Crew again until August 12 (the first of nine remaining games against the Brewers, including the final three games of the season), a game which I will be attending in the Miller Lite Beer Pen thanks to Kyle's birthday. The August 13 game was moved to an afternoon start so that it could be nationally televised. Really? An August Brewers-Pirates game? And if that's not enough, to close out the season the Crew and the Bucs will play three games at Miller Park. Get your tickets now, folks. I have my doubts that the schedule makers put the Pirates-Brewers series at the end of the season because they knew it would have playoff implications, but that seems to be what it's shaping up to have. What the Brewers have going for them is that they have completely dominated the Bucs over the past couple seasons, especially at Miller Park. As a matter of fact, they are 5-0 against Pittsburgh this season. But as the season has progressed, the Pirates have morphed into a team with exciting young talent and a surprisingly good pitching staff. People are waiting for Pittsburgh to fade...and it's not happening. Not yet, at least.
Things have been promising lately for the Brewers. Ryan Braun appears to be getting closer and closer to 100%...the bullpen received a nice boost with the addition of Francisco Rodriguez (despite last night's effort)...another move to improve the bench and/or left side of the infield appears to be in the making...and the Brewers are holding their own on a very difficult road trip that will close out with a showdown against the fellow first place San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, Go-Go's loss means no late-game insurance in the outfield or on the base paths for some time to come. To replace Gomez, outfielder Brett Carroll, 28, was called up from Triple-A Nashville. This season, Carroll was hitting .281 with 15 HR and 51 RBI, but has been struggling as of late and hasn't exactly proven himself at the big league level. I would've preferred to see someone like fellow outfielder Caleb Gindl (22 years old, .290 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI) or even another infielder like Taylor Green (24 years old, .316 AVG, 13 HR, 55 RBI), but perhaps the Brewers don't want to tinker with Gindl's progress or make the infield too crowded. Besides, Gindl is a left-handed hitter so he wouldn't be able to replace Gomez in the righty/lefty platoon in center field. Still...why not give this Green guy a shot? I talked about him earlier in the summer as a possible replacement for McGehee, who continues to do a whole lot of nothing for the Brewers this season. At the very latest, we should see Green as a September call-up (or late August call-up so that he's eligible for the postseason roster) perhaps get a few chances to start over Casey. Just another little something for us Brewer fans to look forward to.
That's all I've got for now. Don't worry. Football is on the horizon for those of you who are tired of me blabbing about baseball. For now, let's just sit back and enjoy...no...let's ride an emotional roller coaster...as we watch the Brewers duke it out for a spot in the playoffs.
So we've got some things to look forward to. College football. Pro football. The one-year anniversary of Balls, Brats and Beer. But that's not all. How about playoff baseball? The Brewers once again reclaimed first place from those pesky Pirates last night despite new acquisition Francisco Rodriguez doing his best Derrick Turnblow impersonation and won against the D-Backs 5-2 in ten innings. For those keeping track, the Brewers have now won back-to-back road games twice...and both have happened in the last five days. Milwaukee is 4-3 on the current road trip, which to be honest is better than I expected. Before I get to the big picture, I'd like to discuss a few things from last night's game that caught my eye that pertain to rookie manager Ron Roenicke.
Once the Brewers had grabbed a two-run lead after seven innings and had seen Stephen Drew break his ankle sliding into home and Carlos Gomez fracture his clavicle making a beautiful diving catch in center (both are likely out for the season), Roenicke made a decision that is easy to look back on and criticize. Starting pitcher Chris Narveson had been brilliant through seven innings and his pitch count was only in the mid-80s, but RR decided to go with what had worked on two separate occasions and bring out K-Rod for the 8th. A half-inning later, the game was tied due in part to Rodriguez getting behind in the count and Ryan Braun's calf preventing him from cutting off a ball that was heading for the left center field gap. So why didn't Roenicke leave in Narveson to see if he could keep on rolling? Good question, but it's already been answered. The K-Rod/Ax Factor 8th-9th inning combo had yet to fail, so RR turned to it again. However, this situation was different and Narveson should have been given the chance to finish what he started. In the other two games that K-Rod and Ax have finished it out (both against Colorado), K-Rod didn't relieve the starting pitcher - he relieved another reliever. Roenicke shouldn't have treated it like any other situation. The Narve-Dog was rolling along and even if he did get left in and ran into trouble in the 8th or 9th, then that's where you should step in and put in Ax or K-Rod. Simple as that. I'm sure Roenicke has learned a valuable lesson. Luckily it didn't cost us a victory.
But get this: Roenicke redeemed himself almost immediately. In the bottom of the ninth with a runner on third and no one out, Reliever Takashi "Tsunami" Saito was in a jam and a half. Just like he has done on previous occasions, RR brought in a fifth infielder from the outfield (Brauny) and put his faith in Saito to force the batter to hit a ground ball. The next two hitters grounded out to McGehee and the Brewers were able to put Braun back in left and return to their normal alignment. After a fly-out to Gomez' replacement, Tony Plush, the Crew had momentum back on their side. The very next half inning, none other than Nyjer Morgan had the game winning and go-ahead base hit and Axford put the Ax down for yet another save. Pirates lost. Cards lost. Brewers win. Brewers in first. Everyone's happy.
The Milwaukee Brewers now sit at 53-46 and 0.5 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who don't play the Crew again until August 12 (the first of nine remaining games against the Brewers, including the final three games of the season), a game which I will be attending in the Miller Lite Beer Pen thanks to Kyle's birthday. The August 13 game was moved to an afternoon start so that it could be nationally televised. Really? An August Brewers-Pirates game? And if that's not enough, to close out the season the Crew and the Bucs will play three games at Miller Park. Get your tickets now, folks. I have my doubts that the schedule makers put the Pirates-Brewers series at the end of the season because they knew it would have playoff implications, but that seems to be what it's shaping up to have. What the Brewers have going for them is that they have completely dominated the Bucs over the past couple seasons, especially at Miller Park. As a matter of fact, they are 5-0 against Pittsburgh this season. But as the season has progressed, the Pirates have morphed into a team with exciting young talent and a surprisingly good pitching staff. People are waiting for Pittsburgh to fade...and it's not happening. Not yet, at least.
Things have been promising lately for the Brewers. Ryan Braun appears to be getting closer and closer to 100%...the bullpen received a nice boost with the addition of Francisco Rodriguez (despite last night's effort)...another move to improve the bench and/or left side of the infield appears to be in the making...and the Brewers are holding their own on a very difficult road trip that will close out with a showdown against the fellow first place San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, Go-Go's loss means no late-game insurance in the outfield or on the base paths for some time to come. To replace Gomez, outfielder Brett Carroll, 28, was called up from Triple-A Nashville. This season, Carroll was hitting .281 with 15 HR and 51 RBI, but has been struggling as of late and hasn't exactly proven himself at the big league level. I would've preferred to see someone like fellow outfielder Caleb Gindl (22 years old, .290 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI) or even another infielder like Taylor Green (24 years old, .316 AVG, 13 HR, 55 RBI), but perhaps the Brewers don't want to tinker with Gindl's progress or make the infield too crowded. Besides, Gindl is a left-handed hitter so he wouldn't be able to replace Gomez in the righty/lefty platoon in center field. Still...why not give this Green guy a shot? I talked about him earlier in the summer as a possible replacement for McGehee, who continues to do a whole lot of nothing for the Brewers this season. At the very latest, we should see Green as a September call-up (or late August call-up so that he's eligible for the postseason roster) perhaps get a few chances to start over Casey. Just another little something for us Brewer fans to look forward to.
That's all I've got for now. Don't worry. Football is on the horizon for those of you who are tired of me blabbing about baseball. For now, let's just sit back and enjoy...no...let's ride an emotional roller coaster...as we watch the Brewers duke it out for a spot in the playoffs.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
50
My 50th post...I'm on the verge of tears. I know...I'm just as shocked as you guys. 50 blog entries and 3,575 views. If my math is correct, that's 71.5 views per post. Not bad, but I was looking for a number that was closer to Dirk Nowitzki's free throw percentage in the playoffs, which is somewhere between a billion-gazillion and infinity. Watch for Dirk to miss one in game 4. Anyway, I was trying to think about how I could associate the number 50 to this blog post. After I gave up on that idea, I decided that I could talk about why this Milwaukee Brewers team is different from what Brewer fans have grown accustomed to seeing, say, over the past five years or so.
I've been a Brewer fan my entire life, but I think it's safe to say that we saw a "new generation" of fans that flocked to the Crew once players like Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and especially J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun (ladies...) worked their ways to the major league level and new ownership took over the franchise. 2007 would be my estimation as to when baseball was officially back in Milwaukee. It was a time where the disappearance of the Selig's ownership and a bundle of young talent injected new hope into both die-hard fans and newbies who fell in love with one-year wonder and heartthrob J.J. You-Make-Me-Hard-y. Poignant, but (almost) whatever it takes to bring more fans in, I'm in full support. The point I'm trying to make is that there was a lot of excitement surrounding the Brewers for the first time in 20+ years, but there was something missing. C.C. Sabathia brought us along for a ride no one could've predicted, but even then there was just a "cool, we made it to the playoffs and that's good enough" feeling. I got swept up in this vibe along with the Brewers and everyone else, and the result was a first round playoff exit. The disappointment level that loomed over the state of Wisconsin wasn't even as strong as the moments after a week 6 Packers' loss.
You can't really blame the 2008 Brewers for not fully grasping the opportunity that presented itself by the throat. Sure, some players had playoff experience and even World Series experience, but the majority didn't. It was also nearly a total repeat of what happened in 2007 save for a complete late season collapse. Jump out to division lead, blow division lead, miss playoffs. Thankfully, C.C. was a one-man wrecking crew and avoided the miss playoffs part in '08. 2009 and 2010, the Brewers were led by a man with an American League-style mind set who had no idea what stood two feet in front of his face. C.C. signed on with the Yanks to everyone's surprise. One-time free agent signing extraordinaire Jeff Suppan fizzled and burst. Several players came, overstayed their welcome and left. In fact, when I went back and looked at the 2009 roster, there were only nine current Brewers on the team for the majority of the season, two of which are currently on the disabled list (Fielder, Braun, Hart, McGehee, Weeks, Gallardo, Narveson, Parra*, Stetter*). Hard to believe. One thing that Milwaukee's front office knew they had to do was keep their main core of young talent together for as long as humanly possible while filling in the pieces around them correctly. It's obviously been easier said than done.
Fast forward to October of 2010. Prior to the beginning of the '10 season, there wasn't much optimism surrounding the Brewers and if it was, it was false. Macha would receive the customary grace period and be given another chance to lead Milwaukee back to the post season, but the man was a sitting duck and everyone knew it. Some positives to take away from the season? New talent was discovered (John Axford, Kameron Loe, Marco Estrada), some of it finally arrived (Jonathan Lucroy, Zach Braddock, Mark Rogers), some of it figured out its place (Manny Parra, Chris Narveson) and some of it would eventually be shipped away (Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, Brett Lawrie). Towards the end of the season, I was accepting the 2010 team's fate and beginning to turn the page to 2011. A solid bullpen was beginning to formulate and new guys were stepping up unlike in previous years, perhaps giving the Brewers something to build from. But what good is a building when you know the core is about to collapse? Prince would almost undoubtedly be walking after '11 and perhaps even more would soon be lost in the years shortly following. Something had to be done NOW. What the Brewers had for '11 was promising, but not satisfying. Doug Melvin strung together a series of moves, some of them almost out of sheer desperation, and to be perfectly honest, a few of them shocked the hell out of me. To be clear, the first one did not.
October 3rd - Manager Ken Macha is fired
November 4th - New manager Ron Roenicke is hired
December 6th - Star prospect Brett Lawrie is dealt to Toronto for Shaun Marcum
December 19th - Zack Greinke is acquired for a boatload of players, including Escobar and Cain
February 16th - Rickie Weeks is locked down long-term
March 27th - Prospect Cutter Dykstra is dealt for Nyjer Morgan
April 21st - Ryan Braun is locked down long-long-long term
Loads of young talent lost, but some centerpiece-players secured and immediate hope provided. Except it's not just one guy this time; it's several guys. A few of which many didn't know about that would give the Brewers a shot in the arm...and one who would be held to standards close to if not the same as Mr. Sabathia. Instead of a pre-2010 feeling, there was a pre-2007 feeling, only better. The nucleus had matured and gained experience. There was a legitimate 1,2,3 in the starting rotation. The Brewers' strength from a year ago, the bullpen, had its important pitchers returning while a few new ones were thrown into the mix. But then...
Greinke hurt
Lucroy hurt
Hart hurt
Parra hurt
Hawkins hurt
Brewers: 13-17 on May 4th
Sure, some players were out and a new man was in charge, but 13-17? And then two days later, 13-19?? What was going on? The Brewers' front office had done almost everything in its power to put a contender on the field knowing full well that this would be the year they would be "all-in", and they were sitting in 5th place. Ahhh...this is where being an experienced fan pays off. I’ll admit that I had my late-April rant after attending my first Brewer game of the year and returning home disappointed (my only loss at Miller Park this year), but April 24th Dave still had this to say:
As in life, in sports it’s best to always keep things in perspective.
Greinke returns on May 4th
Zack attack loses in his much-anticipated return from his fluke injury and stint on the DL. He hasn’t lost since. For as much as the Brewers lacked discipline in the first month of the season…for as much as coach Roenicke struggled to understand what he had at his disposal while being given the difficult task of inserting unproven players in positions they had no business being in…for as much as Brewer fans wanted to jump off a cliff because their favorite team was six games below .500 and heading down the path that would return them right back to the late 90s…Zack Greinke had returned. Others followed suit. Roenicke learned what he had and started to mix and match. There was finally some stability. Winning all of a sudden became expected.
Brewers: 29-24 on May 27th
8-17 on the road
So Milwaukee had made a drastic rise and was five games above .500. Everything was clicking, but June 1st Dave had a bone to pick with the Brewers:
Milwaukee was in the midst of a seven game road trip in which they were 1-1. They would finish this road trip 5-2 against two teams who are very capable of making it to the playoffs. The Brewers had answered my call yet again.
Brewers: 34-26 on June 7th
Three game series against the Cardinals (1.5 Games Up) June 10-12
Allow me to apologize for not immediately answering my proposed question. Why is this Brewers team different? Wait…I already answered it. To put it into layman’s terms, this team overcomes adversity. They overcome roadblocks. They have leadership. They have meat in the middle of the sandwich. They have a starting rotation. They have a bullpen. They have an aggressive-minded manager. They have focus. They have experience. They have players who can snap you over the head with a newspaper. They have a confident demeanor, not just a swagger.
They give fans a unique feeling they aren’t really used to having. I can vouch for that. Allow for June 8th Dave to make another brief statement that I hope to ring true:
“I’m not naïve. This team isn’t in first place yet, it’s June 8th and they have yet to prove that they can beat the stiffest of competition, especially within the division, which is another vital key to success. What’s happening right now can change…injury, bad breaks…whatever…but over the next three-plus months, I expect to see a team that continues to overcome whatever is put in their way because of what ‘They have.’”
I've been a Brewer fan my entire life, but I think it's safe to say that we saw a "new generation" of fans that flocked to the Crew once players like Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and especially J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun (ladies...) worked their ways to the major league level and new ownership took over the franchise. 2007 would be my estimation as to when baseball was officially back in Milwaukee. It was a time where the disappearance of the Selig's ownership and a bundle of young talent injected new hope into both die-hard fans and newbies who fell in love with one-year wonder and heartthrob J.J. You-Make-Me-Hard-y. Poignant, but (almost) whatever it takes to bring more fans in, I'm in full support. The point I'm trying to make is that there was a lot of excitement surrounding the Brewers for the first time in 20+ years, but there was something missing. C.C. Sabathia brought us along for a ride no one could've predicted, but even then there was just a "cool, we made it to the playoffs and that's good enough" feeling. I got swept up in this vibe along with the Brewers and everyone else, and the result was a first round playoff exit. The disappointment level that loomed over the state of Wisconsin wasn't even as strong as the moments after a week 6 Packers' loss.
You can't really blame the 2008 Brewers for not fully grasping the opportunity that presented itself by the throat. Sure, some players had playoff experience and even World Series experience, but the majority didn't. It was also nearly a total repeat of what happened in 2007 save for a complete late season collapse. Jump out to division lead, blow division lead, miss playoffs. Thankfully, C.C. was a one-man wrecking crew and avoided the miss playoffs part in '08. 2009 and 2010, the Brewers were led by a man with an American League-style mind set who had no idea what stood two feet in front of his face. C.C. signed on with the Yanks to everyone's surprise. One-time free agent signing extraordinaire Jeff Suppan fizzled and burst. Several players came, overstayed their welcome and left. In fact, when I went back and looked at the 2009 roster, there were only nine current Brewers on the team for the majority of the season, two of which are currently on the disabled list (Fielder, Braun, Hart, McGehee, Weeks, Gallardo, Narveson, Parra*, Stetter*). Hard to believe. One thing that Milwaukee's front office knew they had to do was keep their main core of young talent together for as long as humanly possible while filling in the pieces around them correctly. It's obviously been easier said than done.
Fast forward to October of 2010. Prior to the beginning of the '10 season, there wasn't much optimism surrounding the Brewers and if it was, it was false. Macha would receive the customary grace period and be given another chance to lead Milwaukee back to the post season, but the man was a sitting duck and everyone knew it. Some positives to take away from the season? New talent was discovered (John Axford, Kameron Loe, Marco Estrada), some of it finally arrived (Jonathan Lucroy, Zach Braddock, Mark Rogers), some of it figured out its place (Manny Parra, Chris Narveson) and some of it would eventually be shipped away (Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, Brett Lawrie). Towards the end of the season, I was accepting the 2010 team's fate and beginning to turn the page to 2011. A solid bullpen was beginning to formulate and new guys were stepping up unlike in previous years, perhaps giving the Brewers something to build from. But what good is a building when you know the core is about to collapse? Prince would almost undoubtedly be walking after '11 and perhaps even more would soon be lost in the years shortly following. Something had to be done NOW. What the Brewers had for '11 was promising, but not satisfying. Doug Melvin strung together a series of moves, some of them almost out of sheer desperation, and to be perfectly honest, a few of them shocked the hell out of me. To be clear, the first one did not.
October 3rd - Manager Ken Macha is fired
November 4th - New manager Ron Roenicke is hired
December 6th - Star prospect Brett Lawrie is dealt to Toronto for Shaun Marcum
December 19th - Zack Greinke is acquired for a boatload of players, including Escobar and Cain
February 16th - Rickie Weeks is locked down long-term
March 27th - Prospect Cutter Dykstra is dealt for Nyjer Morgan
April 21st - Ryan Braun is locked down long-long-long term
Loads of young talent lost, but some centerpiece-players secured and immediate hope provided. Except it's not just one guy this time; it's several guys. A few of which many didn't know about that would give the Brewers a shot in the arm...and one who would be held to standards close to if not the same as Mr. Sabathia. Instead of a pre-2010 feeling, there was a pre-2007 feeling, only better. The nucleus had matured and gained experience. There was a legitimate 1,2,3 in the starting rotation. The Brewers' strength from a year ago, the bullpen, had its important pitchers returning while a few new ones were thrown into the mix. But then...
Greinke hurt
Lucroy hurt
Hart hurt
Parra hurt
Hawkins hurt
Brewers: 13-17 on May 4th
Sure, some players were out and a new man was in charge, but 13-17? And then two days later, 13-19?? What was going on? The Brewers' front office had done almost everything in its power to put a contender on the field knowing full well that this would be the year they would be "all-in", and they were sitting in 5th place. Ahhh...this is where being an experienced fan pays off. I’ll admit that I had my late-April rant after attending my first Brewer game of the year and returning home disappointed (my only loss at Miller Park this year), but April 24th Dave still had this to say:
“We are FINE. All you people jumping off the bandwagon are still free to hop right back on if you so please because this team is going places. You can take my word for it.”
As in life, in sports it’s best to always keep things in perspective.
Greinke returns on May 4th
Zack attack loses in his much-anticipated return from his fluke injury and stint on the DL. He hasn’t lost since. For as much as the Brewers lacked discipline in the first month of the season…for as much as coach Roenicke struggled to understand what he had at his disposal while being given the difficult task of inserting unproven players in positions they had no business being in…for as much as Brewer fans wanted to jump off a cliff because their favorite team was six games below .500 and heading down the path that would return them right back to the late 90s…Zack Greinke had returned. Others followed suit. Roenicke learned what he had and started to mix and match. There was finally some stability. Winning all of a sudden became expected.
Brewers: 29-24 on May 27th
8-17 on the road
So Milwaukee had made a drastic rise and was five games above .500. Everything was clicking, but June 1st Dave had a bone to pick with the Brewers:
“The fact of the matter is that good teams are able to win a respectable amount on the road and then build up a solid record by winning two out of three at home time and again. The Cardinals…have had just as much success at home as on the road. This leads me to believe that the Cardinals will be able to hold their lead on Milwaukee because they will naturally begin to win more at home...UNLESS the Brewers begin to win more on the road.”
Milwaukee was in the midst of a seven game road trip in which they were 1-1. They would finish this road trip 5-2 against two teams who are very capable of making it to the playoffs. The Brewers had answered my call yet again.
Brewers: 34-26 on June 7th
Three game series against the Cardinals (1.5 Games Up) June 10-12
Allow me to apologize for not immediately answering my proposed question. Why is this Brewers team different? Wait…I already answered it. To put it into layman’s terms, this team overcomes adversity. They overcome roadblocks. They have leadership. They have meat in the middle of the sandwich. They have a starting rotation. They have a bullpen. They have an aggressive-minded manager. They have focus. They have experience. They have players who can snap you over the head with a newspaper. They have a confident demeanor, not just a swagger.
They give fans a unique feeling they aren’t really used to having. I can vouch for that. Allow for June 8th Dave to make another brief statement that I hope to ring true:
“I’m not naïve. This team isn’t in first place yet, it’s June 8th and they have yet to prove that they can beat the stiffest of competition, especially within the division, which is another vital key to success. What’s happening right now can change…injury, bad breaks…whatever…but over the next three-plus months, I expect to see a team that continues to overcome whatever is put in their way because of what ‘They have.’”
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