JJ to the Packers? I hope not + Counsell with no clue ahead of 2021 season

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: Badgers lose to Iowa…… not a shocker for me…. I was truly shocked that with 5 minutes left that the Badgers were still within 6 in the game but the no offense, no defense, no coaching Badgers did not let us down. It was none other than Vitale that called out the Badgers offense….. no other on-air announcer has done the same this year even though it has been blatantly obvious all season. Gard has made no change, took no action and sent no statement to get this team fire up or motivated.

Green Bay Packers: Stories have come out last week that the Packers should be one of the teams that could sign JJ Watt……. I hope not……. Granted I like JJ Watt, I liked him in the NFL…. I liked him in college but as a Packer, it just would not work out. First JJ is consistently hurt and given how much money he would want vs how much we could give….. just not worth it. Second, JJ would not fit with the Packers ….. should the Packers continue to play the ridiculous 2 defensive line scheme with this new defensive coordinator then Clark will get double teamed along with Watt…… and as before the 2 LB’s will continue to be single teamed by a OL and TE…… leaving any competent QB with little to no pressure to pass at will. This will leave Watt frustrated and angry for even coming to Green Bay. The only way this work in Green Bay for Watt is to switch to the 4-3 (the best option) or play a true 3-4 with 3 TRUE defensive lineman with Watt on one of the ends.

Milwaukee Bucks: What can I say about the Bucks……. I was right? It does not matter how much talent you have on the team….. you need proper coaching….. you need actual plays….. they need a 1 on 1 breakdown player.

Milwaukee Brewers: Another Brewers season is almost of upon us and it is time for another topic…. me ripping on Craig Counsell.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thought #1: Stories have come out this week that Phil Mickelson is talking about his transition to the broadcast booth….. this got me thinking. Why do these networks think that a top caliber player will make a top tier announcer? Back in the day where sports announcers were put through their paces at lower level lower tier games….. Even people like Pat Summerall and John Madden did lower tier games before being named to their top tier status and eventually paired together. Nowadays it seems that we get a player retired and BOOM they are top tier right away….. but what have they shown in broadcasting up to that point? Look at Romo who predicts every outcome before the play then people said he was right or Witten who was a disaster.

The Draft DOES Matter + NASCAR wreck week

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: On Wednesday, the Badgers had a closer than the scoreboard will show you matchup with 4 win Nebraska…… it is bizarre how inept our offense is given how each broadcast keeps referencing how old this team is on the court. There is no flow, there is no touch on the shots and there are no plays most of the time…… I say again, we don’t even look like a Division 1 team out there….. not kidding…. we physically look smaller, thinner and underwhelming. The Badgers got lucky Wednesday but my prediction for the last 6 games is 1-5 with the lone win against Northwestern.

As for the Michigan game….. who didn’t see that coming? I figured that Michigan would have issues in the 1st half given their layoff but they came out in the second half against the poor offense and poor defense Badgers. This game showed more than any how much non-Division 1 talent is on this roster…… nobody can shoot….. nobody can take over…… nobody can body up…….. Reuvers somehow plays a foot shorter than his 6′ 11″ frame…. Davison is too short, too dumb and can’t shoot….. Trice tries these ridiculous shots where most fail……. Potter should be inside more…….. It just baffles me that Gard has come up with none….. ZERO….. go to plays to get points when were are on these looooooong scoreless streaks. We just dribble-stop-think for 25 seconds then fire up some horrible shot at the end……. that is not a long term success plan! You should be creating or trying to create shots right from the start and if you get the shot….. take it!

Green Bay Packers: I thought I would bring up this week…………. The draft does matter! When you are the Packers and in the 2020 NFC championship game where you lost to the 49ers then you bring most everyone else back, you have to figure you are about one or two pieces away. Normally you should draft with your first couple of picks those pieces but instead you draft for 2 or 3 years down the road………. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

You could see during the season and during the playoffs that the draft can be the difference between making it to the NFC championship game and playing for the Super Bowl (and possibly winning based on how Tampa took care of KC)

Example #1: During the Week 11 lost to the Colts we blow a big lead thanks to our 2 Defensive Line scheme + 10 yards off the ball defense but the game was already lost for the Packers even before it started……. in the DRAFT……….. Lets take a look at the production of each team based on their first three picks.

	Packers	Game Production		Colts	Game Production
1st	Jordan Love	NOTHING		Michael Pittman Jr.	Caught Pass TD
2nd	AJ Dillion	NOTHING		Jonathan Taylor	Key Rushing Yards in 2nd Half and OT
3rd	Josh Deguara	NOTHING		Julian Blackmon	Forced Fumble in OT to set up GW FG

As you can clearly see here that the Colts first three picks all contributed to the 3 point victory in overtime in some way…. if the Packers would have drafted for this year and not the future….. this very well could have been a 7 point (or more) victory the other way if we had taken a WR, LB or D-Line.

You could be saying “sure but the Packers still got the #1 seed” but I say……… if you don’t at least make it to the Super Bowl, does it matter what seed or what your record was? When other teams can expose your flaws in the regular season and then those same errors are exposed again in the postseason….. when it really matters…… does that loss not matter now?

Example #2: As my other example lets look at the team we lost to in the regular season and in the playoffs….. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers…….

	Packers	Season Production		Bucs	Season Production
1st	Jordan Love	NOTHING		Tristan Wirfs	Played all 16 games
2nd	AJ Dillion	242 yards, 2 TD’s		Antoine Winfield Jr.	Played all 16 games… key player in SB
3rd	Josiah Deguara	1 rec, 12 yards		Ke’Shawn Vaughn	10 Games, 109 rushing yds, 1 receiving TD

For AJ Dillion, who was severely under utilized during the season, 50% of his yards and all his TD’s came in one game (Tennessee). Deguara was hurt after his one and only catch but on a team that had Lewis, Tanyan and Sternberger already on the roster….. did we REALLY need to waste our 3rd round pick on another Tight End when there were so many other positions we needed??????

That is EXACTLY the difference between getting to the NFC championship game and playing for the Super Bowl………. if we had the one more Wide Receiver …….. a couple more dominate D-Lineman…… maybe one more high pick Linebacker or Corner the game would have went in a different direction for the Packers……… When you are one step away from the Super Bowl, the draft is for what you need now to be better first than what you need 3 years from now…………… THE …………..DRAFT…………….. DOES……………… MATTER

Other Thoughts:

Other Thought #1: I could have provided my Super Bowl thoughts on last weeks post but wanted a day to think over the game. Wow, that game was not even close. Tampa played the EXACT defense the Packers should be playing…. you rush heavy up front and play close on the receivers in the 5-15 yard range …. mainly because if you can get a good rush that is about the distance the receivers will be when the ball comes out.

As for the KC defense….. it was like watching the Packers game…….. no pressure up the middle so Brady which means he could just stand there and just throw it at will. Really this game was over at half.

Other Thought #2: One thing that drives me crazy about Super Bowl ads is when a company drops mega bucks on a ad and is has nothing to do with their company, what they sell or what action they want you to do….. I know in the past that Chevy use to be the biggest offender of this where they would have someone just talk about America for 30 seconds…….. ad’s like those are just pointless and a waste.

Other Thought #3: I’m sure I will bring this up again and again but why does FOX use the NBA on NBC team for their college basketball? Whenever I hear that song I think of NBC not college basketball on FOX.

Other Thought #4: Packers ….. DO NOT GET JJ Watt who was released on Friday….. he will ask for too much money than you can pay him and even if you do get him he will be totally neutralized in our ridiculous 2 Defensive Line scheme. This is not a time to try and plug the holes on this defense…. this is a time to blow up the current concept, current culture and current alignment.

Other Thought #5: NASCAR….. what can I say that I have not said before…… I watched Trucks, Xfinity and Cup Daytona races this past weekend. As controversial as it is to say this…… NASCAR needs to drop Daytona and Talladega. These are performance capped tracks…… nobody on any team or manufacturer can do anything to their car give them an edge in the race enough to cause a 4, 5, 6 car breakaway….. instead of we have these 25 car packs at the very end…… which makes the first 95% irrelevant then we have wreck after wreck after wreck………. I’m fine with close races at the end but to truly appreciate the close races you need ones were one driver has the edge and dominates the race with the perfect strategy. The last time someone won on a restrictor plate track by more than a second? Harry Gant in 1991 at the Winston 500. This is the same problem the NBA has….. it is too close to the very end so why watch the first 3 quarters?

This is an era of NASCAR where there are teams with unlimited budgets, unlimited cars and drivers that just have at it and don’t care about the equipment.

Bad Badgers + Bad Packers = Bad Week for Me (2021 Week 6)

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Football: This week it was reported that the Green Bay Packers were interviewing current Badgers DC Jim Leonard. When I first read this my first reaction was “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”. For me Jim Leonard is a Badger fan favorite first of all, second if he was hired by the Packers that would be replacing one 2 Defensive Line scheme for another DC that runs the 2 Defensive Line scheme…….. so what will really change? Granted now Leonard has turned the down the job.

Jim Leonard’s current success is predicated on a couple factors that only work at Wisconsin…….. 1) The talent pool is more diluted at Wisconsin……. when you play teams where they have a smaller O-Line or less talented you can get away with the 2 Defensive Line scheme especially you do have the best of the best linebackers in the nation. 2) What he runs at Wisconsin works but does struggle against good teams like Ohio State. What is one team that we continue to struggle against? Ohio State ……… since they can counter our front and outrun our secondary, that is why they win against us…… now lets say he goes to the NFL with the exact same scheme….. that means he is going up against more talented teams like Ohio State 16 straight games.

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: If you weren’t watching TV this week, you would have missed a rare occasion lately……. a Badgers Win…… yes that is right, the Badgers pulled one out on Tuesday with their victory over Penn State avenging the prior loss. I was glad to see that we turned it on in second half….. the ball movement was much better plus the shots started going down (which is always a plus).

As for the players I love to rail against…….. lets start with Brad Davison…… 3 for 10…….. 3 for F’ing 10……. does this guy know when he does not have it? Does he know to try to get it to someone else? For the 4th consecutive game Davison does this thing where he tries to drive around the high screen to the bucket, then gets doubled at the rim and still tries to put it up which gets thoroughly blocked…… most of the time he is the smallest player out there so there is no reason to even attempt that kind of shot unless you do a step back fade or spin back to the paint. Frankly I can’t wait until he is no longer apart of the squad.

For the Illinois game…… wow…… nothing like running into a brick wall, failing, getting back up and trying the exact same thing again……. maybe try changing your game plan? I know I have said this in previous posts but it bears repeating….. nobody (besides Potter) looks like a Division 1 player…… the previous night to the game I watched the UW-Whitewater vs UW-Stevens Point and the current Badgers players actually looked like they would have fit in physically on that court. Plus we have no finesse to our shot….. it is just put it up and watch it clang off the rim.

Green Bay Packers: This team taking it to the next level…….. previously we would not learn from our own mistakes, we are taking it to the next level by not learning from other teams mistakes with the hiring of Joe Barry as defensive coordinator.

Where do I even begin with this hire???? ……….. [thinking] ……… [thinking]……….. so we went out and got the guy who led the 32nd ranked twice over Detroit Lions defense including the infamous 0-16 season of 2008. Then he went to Washington and had the low-mid pack defense in 2015 and 2016 with being rated near dead last in yards allowed.

This hire almost feels like we wanted to make a change but did not want anyone that would come in there to make a “culture change” to the defense……. one that the Packers desperately need. We can not continue with the 2 defensive line scheme up against NFL offensive lines. This hire feels just more of the same disguised as a change….. I feel this is like when Solwik replaced Ed Donatell…. sure Solwik came it and blitz like hell in that first game versus Carolina on MNF but the Bears (and petty much every other team) after that had us planned and we were right back to where we started.

I guess we are stuck with him for next season…….. I would have preferred someone with some new ideas or someone who wanted to switch to the 4-3……. but what do I know……. I’m just a guy blogging as time allows who loves to complain.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thought #1: Just a bizarre quick thought this week….. Why at Taco Bell can you order some items online or mobile app? It just does not make any sense!!!!! If you can make the item then sell it to as many people as possible……. why would you intentionally limit your sales?

Other Thought #2: How does MLB and the MLBPA not at least come to a consensus on the universal DH? MLB is the only league in America where teams playing could be playing under two different rule sets……. it makes no sense. I mean does progress have to move at an iceberg pace in baseball? Just like instant replay….. it took until 2014 for MLB to implement full replay which is 15 years after the NFL put in their current system, 12 years after the NBA and 23 YEARS after the NHL!!!!! That is right the NHL has been using instant reply in some form since 1991! Yet we heard the classic dumb and stupid arguments “You can’t stop to replay every play” ….. nobody was asking for that…. most were saying 2 per team per game max……… “The game is long enough already” ……… yet we are fine with a 8, 9, 10 minute argument with the manager/umpire when it could have been cleared up in 2 minutes and a blown call not being talked about for 2 days. “Umpires don’t want close plays to be on the replay board”……… why? because they might be………… boo’ed?

MLB is in need of a great step forward in progress…… the younger generation does not watch …… this will come to a head at some point…… get out ahead of it………

1. Get in the universal DH in.
2. Pitch clock….. I’m not happy about this one but it needs to be done and they need to be firm on it by issuing ball/strike penalties.
3. Consider mercy rules for 7 inning games or even shorten the games to 7 innings.
4. Allow umpires to start issuing ball/strike penalties for excessive arguing or egregious acts. Just getting kicked out is not enough (especially when a coach does it)….. the action must impact the entire team just like it does in the other 3 major sports.
5. Auto Ejections for being third man in for fights with auto 3 game suspension. Enough of these mass brawls.
6. Do pitchers that warm up in the bullpen need to warm up on the mound? Sure if there was a injury, that would make sense they need to warm up on the mound but for planned entry to the game, just have them come out of the dugout from a tunnel where they were warming up and just restart the game. No other sport give the players time to warm up during normal game play
7. Consider going to a 2 ball 2 strike count system….. players would have to be more aggressive at the plate.
8. Robo ball/strike for called pitches…. the tech is there……. just use it….. you only hear complains from the “traditional” generation but if we stuck with tradition we will still have telegraph lines, wash boards and horses instead of cars to move long distances.

Other Thought #3: Do you ever wonder while you are watching a football, baseball or basketball game if the TV announcers are watching the same game as you? I felt that way during the Wisconsin/Illinois game on Saturday. I’m referring to Kevin Kugler & Donny Marshall who had the call which had some bizarre moments including:

1. On the Tyler Wahl taking an elbow to the head which was called a Flagrant 1 after a stoppage in play then they went to instant replay….. so the announcing team says “Great job by the ref’s to catch that and make the call”………….. WHAT??????? ….. there were two ref’s with a CLEAR view of the play….. looking that direction but did not make the call on the floor on something that is blatantly obvious.
2. Near the end of the first half the ref’s missed a another blatantly obvious double dribble on Illinois Cockburn but zero comment from the team and they even complimented the player for the play.
3. There was a scramble on the floor for the ball in the 1st half which the Badgers got and called timeout which was blatantly pointed out by the ref’s but what does out top notch announcing team say “Held Ball with the possession arrow pointing to Wisconsin”
4. The ref’s missed a obvious traveling call in the 2nd half which was correctly pointed out by the announcers but then they followed that up by mentioning what a great job the ref’s did today……. SMH
5. Talking about Trice effect on the team and how good he is……… really? What season have you been watching? Really Trice had been the same for the past 5 seasons and this season he has taken a ever so slight dip in game play.
6. They were talking about teams from the Big 10 that have a chance at the NCAA title this year and said that all the teams have a chance that were on screen (luckily Wisconsin was not one of them) …. but how does Illinois have a chance…….. I would say that Michigan has a chance…. maybe 10%…….. maybe Iowa with a 1% chance (would be better if they had better coaching)

Other Thought #4: A few posts ago I made the comment how the media loves to overhype and overate Norte Dame in football…….. so I thought I would cover a couple teams that I see get overrated with Texas and Tennessee……… teams that have consistently underperform by a mile but get highly rated just to disappoint.

Mike Pettine Gone + You don’t hire the assistant of the person you just fired! (2021 Week 5)

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball:

The old adage goes something like “No lead is ever safe” ……. this was no truer than during the Maryland game on Wednesday…….. holding a 18 point lead at half, Maryland came out and basically erased it in only 8 minutes. Plus we were held without a Field Goal in the last 7 minutes (ala Bo Ryan years). Granted Wisconsin was able to hold on for the win so that is the positive. For the player I love to hate…… Brad Davison was 2 for 8 from the field…. normally I would insert a long rant here if it wasn’t for the fact the player that would take his place, Davis, was 2 for 7.

Given how the Maryland game went in the second half, it is no shock that the Badgers go down in a embarrassing defeat at Penn State…….. This game was no different than the 2nd half of Maryland game…. all we do is Dribble ……… Stop……….. Think………. there is no plan, there are no plays. This falls squarely on the coaching of Gard…… you need to adjust your coaching and plays to the talent and style of the team. As for the Brad Davison watch for our Division 3 player macerating around as a Division 1 player…… 3 for 11 while fouling out………. does he really know when he does not have it that he should shoot LESS not more.

For example in the 2011 Denver Broncos season the Broncos had to put in Tim Tebow….. sure John Fox could have kept calling plays like Kyle Orton was still in there but instead he ADJUSTED his offense to work for Tebow…….. it go the Broncos in the playoffs and even got him a win.

Nobody looks like a Division 1 player on this team except Potter and Reuvers. You look back to teams even a couple years ago and just watch video…… the players look big, play big and look like men. This team look like a senior high school team, they don’t age, they don’t progress and they don’t get better.

My bold prediction……. if next year does not go well for the Badgers……. I predict that the Davis brother will both transfer……. They will not sit around while their soul gets sucked dry in this offense. They are more slash/drive move and shoot, but that does not happen in this Gard Dribble/Stop/Think offense.

Green Bay Packers:

It was announced that Mike Pettine would not be coming back as Packers defensive coordinator….. and after this year I’m glad this happened. I know there was a number of people wanting Pettine gone after the disaster in San Fran in the NFC champ game last year but I did not as I chalked it more up to a 1st year coach along with personnel….. but after this season, it was time for him to go. I could no longer take the 2 defensive line scheme…… there is a reason that 10 out of the last Super Bowl winners played the 4-3……. you need fat people to move the fat offensive lineman.

So what is next? Who knows…… I don’t think we are lucky enough to get a D-Coordinator in here to switch to the 4-3 so I think we will be stuck with another season of us stat packing on the bad teams then against good teams we get Zero pressure on the QB and play 10 yards off the ball.

The other topic I want to discuss is the firing of Special Teams Coordinator Shawn Mennenga and the hiring of the assistant Maurice Drayton to run the special teams.

It is like one bad decision after another for the Packers………… You don’t hire the assistant of the guy you just fired! The reason, the assistant is probably going to have the same traits/tendencies/faults/philosophy of the fired coached…… else why did that coach hire him in the first place to be an assistant if his philosophy was different than his? This would not happen has there would be a clash and the area this coach coached would be compromised before it could even get going.

The Packers did not learn from their past mistakes …….. I’m talking about Ron Zook and Bob Slowik who were assistants to fired predecessors who got the same jobs which led to continued failures at their positions

Milwaukee Bucks:

The Bucks barely win to the bad teams, they were due to lose to a bad team when they lost to New Orleans. This team does not need more players….. this team does not need better players…… this team needs better COACHING……. that’s right I’m saying it…….. Coach Bud might have had a good run a couple years ago but last years disaster showed what is truly wrong with the team……….. the inability to run plays……… the ability to pass the ball to one player and even before that player gets the ball he knows what he doing with the ball while another player is setting up a screen or something. Miami did this last year to great effect all while the Bucks just have the Gannis, he would drive the lane, get triple teamed then get off a contested shot with a good chance it would be a miss.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thought #1: One non-sports thing that I have started watching on the internet is the Price is Right….. the Bob Barker years on Pluto TV. I love watching these episodes as compared to the Drew Carey years. Now granted the Carey years are ok but they do not compare to the Barker years.

During the Carey years currently, it is not like he is cheering for the contestants to win…… he is almost there just to officiate the money games instead of instruct, entertain and cheer on the people. Also I feel that Carey would laugh at contestants while Barker would laugh with with the contestants. Bob Barker looked like he wanted to be there, he enjoyed every show while Carey has lost that energy from The Drew Carey Show and looks like he just wants to get through each show and collect a paycheck with a minimal amount of energy.

The Carey years have featured the show being “pumped up” to volume 12 with everyone screaming and jumping around like their pants on fire. The show needs that ebb and flow with some hyper then some that are calm to give it variety you appreciate the out of control moments…… It would be like watching a baseball game with all fastballs and nothing else. The demographic has seemed to go to a much much younger contestant…… now granted this started happening somewhat in the mid-90’s under Barker where I saw more college students on the show but has worsen under Carey. At least under Barker there were also middle age and older people on the show.

One more thing I notice with the Carey year just in the last couple years is how Drew Carey makes fun of the sponsors products…. I can’t believe that this has not blown up in their face….. you generally don’t want to insult companies that are giving you products or assisting your show. This is why I have enjoyed the Price is Right, the Bob Barker years on Pluto TV along with the Amazing Race channel.

Other Thought #2: My prediction for the Championship Game

• Chiefs 38; Bucs: 20
• Number of times that “Ageless” will be used to describe Brady? 4

Then we will have ESPN 5 minutes after the game coming out with their 2021-2022 season predictions where they will rate everyone EXACTLY the same as this current season with no changes…… as they prove they put no more than 5 minutes into their analysis

Packers Lose, Badgers Lose… we are all losers (2021 Week 4)

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: The Badgers beat Northwestern somewhat easily last week. But that 2nd half was burial to watch….. 18 points point for Northwestern with 27 for the Badgers. Usually in most game, the 2nd half has more points than the 1st half just because the tempo is picked up as the end of game is near. Granted both teams are a little more pragmatic with the ball but there were multiple 90 and 120 second stretches with no points scored at least for the Badgers. This the same age old problem that happened in the later years for the Bo Ryan Badgers……. looooooonnnnnnnng stretches of the game with no scoring which usually come back to haunt them when they play a team that can break them down one on one (like Maryland). Now I felt this was worse under Bo as I remember multiple times where we would not score for 5. 6 or 7 minutes.

As for the Ohio State game, this was a collective failure. One thing I noticed this year is that nobody on the team (besides Trice) has any finesse on their shots like we saw out of Ohio State. We are unable to break down the defense one on one to get a short to mid range shot….. our shots are either 3’s or driving shots at the rim. We also lack the ability to go inside to create the outside shot like we saw with Ohio State. Once the ball goes inside with us, that is where it stays.

Green Bay Packers:

It comes as no shock to this writer but the Packers blow another NFC championship game with their loss to Tampa on Sunday. The same old issues creep up again (and again)……. lack of the pressure on the QB and lack of coverage down field because of the ridiculous 2 Defensive Line scheme…… If you have not noticed since the 2011 title defense season we have been playing this ridiculous scheme where we only have two defensive lineman while supplementing with Linebackers to rush the QB. The problem with this scheme? The O-Line of the opponent can double team the D-lineman while singling blocking the linebackers that are 50 pounds lighter than them. I have been saying for a decade now that the Packers need to switch back to the 4-3 defense….. you match up fat people with other fat people not lighter people. It does not matter who in bring in or draft…… the problem is not personnel on the field but the scheme itself. With this scheme with the 2 defensive line is like a Ford Fiesta (Linebacker) going up against a Tank (Offensive Lineman).

The reason I rail on this 2 Defensive Line scheme is because nobody truly wins with it, 9 out of the last 10 champions play the 4-3 and this years big game will feature two teams that play…….. any guesses???? 4-3….. if there was another style defense that works would you not think that other teams would jump on board?

You could clearly see it today…… when Brady was under pressure (rare occurrence) he would make mistakes, rush throws or miss on throws. When he was not he would make the plays he needed to make. While Rodgers was under constant pressure the entire game and was always moving or rolling out or getting hit from one Tampa D-Lineman.

The Field Goal call at the end of the game was questionable in my opinion but the dye was cast already with many many bad decisions even before the season when you take a QB we didn’t need, a RB we under utilized and a TE we need not need when we needed D-Line, O-Line, a Wide Receiver and maybe a Corner…… But there was one other thing I wanted to mention. The pass interference call near the end on King…….. By the letter of the law, it was PI, but based on how the rest of the game was called…. this was NOT pass interference. First of all there were multiple holding and other calls that should have been made all day including two obvious missed defensive holding calls on Lazard but then when King tugs the jersey a little then the Wide Receive acts like he was blasted out of cannon, you can’t make that call……. Additionally he would not have caught it anyway.

It is sad to say that Rodgers will continue to have disappointing loss after disappointing loss until he has a defense that either plays a true 3-4 with 3 high quality defensive lineman or switch to the 4-3.

Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks played the now rostered James Harden for the Nets…. and of course we lose….. The game was close but it comes down to it…… running plays mater! Granted the Nets really did not run plays either…. the Bucks should not rely on talent alone. I foresee another 2nd round exit from the playoffs this year for the Bucks if they do not learn to adjust in game and start running some real plays more consistently

Other Thoughts:

Other Thoughts #1: As I watched Ohio State lose to unranked Purdue…… Why is Ohio State consistently overrated for Basketball year in and year out in the AP poll? Really…. Why? Since 1998 Ohio State basketball has finished in the polls lower than where it started 11 times….. not 1 ……… 11 times!!!!! How many times in the same timeframe has Wisconsin done the same? Only twice!

Additionally in the same timeframe the both Ohio State and Wisconsin had the same number of final fours….. with 3 and 1 national championship final lose at ….. 1

Number of times missing the big tournament same timeframe: Ohio State: 6 ; Wisconsin 1

As in Football…. this is why I have been in favor of the AP and Coaches not releasing any polls until the third week of each of their seasons.

Other Thoughts #2: Onto Soccer, just like my Ohio State and my previous Norte Dame rant…. this same principle applies to the English Premier League for Soccer. Currently Leicester City is in the hunt for another title…. yes another title….. yet all you hear is Man City! Man United! Liverpool! …….. the British media fearing another non-Big 4 winning the title as that does not pay the bills, they almost treat it as a “disrespect” to the power of the league as buying all the international players in the world do not buy you the title….. the British media will have to go back to the “underdog” storyline like their first title.

What the EPL fails to understand is that having a variety of winners is beneficial to the sport and league overall?

Badgers take it on the chin then win one. Packers win despite themselves (2021 Week 3)

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: In the big game of the week, the Badgers failed to show up to a non-hostile environment….. Gard once again showing perplexing decisions in playing Davison over Potter….. Davison was giving it up again on defense and was 1 for 7 in the 1st half on offense…. Davison repeatedly trying to ram the ball inside. Gard is incapable of realizing that you want the BIG people to get the ball inside and the SMALL people should mainly play outside. We lack any kind of inside back outside plan….. it is either 1) Drive it inside and that is where the ball stays or 2) Pass it around the perimeter and take a three…… There is no throw it inside, kick it back outside or pass it to another inside player.

In the other game of the week, the Badgers hang on in the soul sucking arena at Rutgers….. The Badgers offense has really been plagued with no inside game with Reuvers in some kind of funk but I wonder if it is a sign of the bigger problem with the Gard offense of having big players play outside while the small players go inside?

When Potter and Reuvers are off their game then you have to turn to the offensive black hole known as Brad Davison……… 3 for 12 ……….. at what point do you ask yourself if you are Gard is Davison helping or hurting you? You have to ask how bad the Freshman that arrived in Madison have to be to not get more playing time or usurp some of the current players? Or Gard just does not want to try other concepts……… Kind of like MM cutting Taysom Hill who every Packers fan I talked with knew he was better than Brent Hundley but since Hundley was MM pick, there was nothing anybody could have done to override that decision.

Green Bay Packers: So the Packers were able to pull one out against the Rams Saturday night. The offense was moving for the most part besides the two big drops that could have made the score worse. The defense continues to be up and down…… we play this off the ball “bend don’t break” style….. but I have to ask you…. have you seen a Super Bowl winner with the “Bend don’t Break” style? No …. do you see a team win the Super Bowl with a 2 Defensive Line scheme? No……. We had this scheme in 2014 and we know how that ended up. You win by playing though, opportunistic and in your face defense. Nothing draws my ire more is when we blitz with 4, 5 or 6 but then play 10 yards off the ball across the board…… if you have faith in your defense, you should be able to play close on the WR’s because if the blitz gets home the ball will be coming out quick else the QB will have to eat it and take the sack. By playing 10 yards off, you are negating the blitz as the QB will just hit his quick/hot route.

The other possible obstacle could be the special teams….. a bad snap on the extra point from our DRAFTED long snapper…. I’m already on this player because we had to draft a long snapper when you traditionally should not have to…… not necessarily his fault this is more of the organization drafting a punter and long snapper. These are positions you don’t need to draft as you need to just find the 32nd best player in America or even THE WORLD. I can stomach it if it is a 7th round pick and all our other needs are covered.

Milwaukee Bucks: So the Bucks have won a few since the last posting but issues remain on the horizon…. the Bucks are winning on skill along which will work for about 2/3 of the league but you need actual plays to beat the top 1/3 consistently.

Milwaukee Brewers: So the Brewers for whatever reason are bringing back Hader on a 1 year / $6.6 Million….. The Brewers severely overpaid for him. This is a pitcher who pitches only a reputation and not on skill….. he only throws about 30% of his pitches in the strike zone (League Average ~50%)….. It baffles me that more teams don’t just sit there at the plate and let him walk them like the Nationals did a couple years ago in the Wild Card game or the time the Pirates did last year when he walked 5. I know that it is difficult to say “Just sit there” but that is what these hitting coaches should be telling their players until there are two strikes (if you get there)

Getting Woodruff at $3.2 Million is a STEAL for the Brewers and he is more than worth it. Woodruff can pitch and hit so 3.2 is great.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thought #1: Mike McCarthy doing what Mike McCarthy does best…….. evade to cover his own issues. Sure you can say that injuries derailed the season but since his Super Bowl victory, there has always been an excuse. Additionally it seems that when he is coaching that injuries increase to key personal go up (I have no numbers to prove that)

• 2018 – WR Cobb, LB Ryan , WR Adams, CB King
• 2017 – The long snapper….. that is right MM could not keep his LS healthy, OL Barclay, DL Adams, CB Goodson, CB King, QB Rodgers, OL Spriggs
• 2016 – RB Lacy, OL Lindsley, CB Shields, OL Tretter
• 2015 – WR Nelson, DL Boyd, LB Barrington (who was not that good but was MM lap dog along with Jarrett Bush), The long snapper (again), RB/WR Montgomery, TE Quarless
• 2014 – OL Barclay, DL Raji, LB Mulumba, LB Palmer, OL Tretter

This is only the last 5 years of MM reign in Green Bay…. if you look at 2020, the only players that got hurt that were or were going to figure David Bakhtiari who got hurt in practice ahead of the Week 17 matchup.

Mike McCarthy has his built in excuse for this year with the injuries and already has his excuse ahead of next season as he will say “It is the first year of my new defensive coordinator”. Players were already complaining early in the season that MM and staff “totally unprepared and claimed that they weren’t good at their jobs”. With Ted Thompson might have put up with this in Green Bay….. Jerry Jones will not.

Other Thoughts #2: Just a quick thought, in college football, it is time for college to implement the illegal man downfield rule for punts like the pro’s. In the last decade the number of the “rugby” style punts has increased to the point where few punts are returned anymore.

Badgers B-ball, Bucks Fail (again) and another Ohio State QB fails

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball: Only one game since my last post with a squeaker in double OT over Indiana. This game was won in my opinion with Trice and Wahl….. these two were the best players for Wisconsin while Brad Davison was the best player for Indiana in OT.

Davison starts out OT with a 3 after the Indiana basket….. then proceeds to miss a contested layup which he had no business taking then turning the ball over. Then proceeded to foul the Indiana shooter allowing him to make the shot easy to give him the +1 opportunity….. in the 2nd OT he goes 1 for 2 on his FT attempt……. Davison KNOW YOUR ROLE!!!! But this is on Gard….. so you could not play Ford or Potter because you were irrationally mad at them??? Davison is giving up points on both ends of the floor…. at least Potter was having a good night on the offensive end.

Green Bay Packers: The Packers last week got the #1 seed, which is great…. but in my irrational mind I can see the NFL doing the same thing that they did last year to the Packers….. think that they are “fraudulent” and now make the #1 seed play a wild card game for the 2021-2022 season just like last year when the Packers got the #2 seed. Then the NFL will be able to market the MEGA wild card weekend with games starting at 11am, 2:30pm, 5:45pm and 9:00pm each day.

Milwaukee Bucks: I hate it when I’m right…… the Bucks continuing to show that you can have all the talent in the world, but without plans, plays and adjustments you can not consistently win.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thought #1: Is anyone else concerned about the possible talent exit in College Football after the 2021 season? After the NCAA granted an additional year for all Football players, this means that after the 2021 season, all 7th, 6th, 5th, some 4th and some 3rd year players will exit the college ranks…. that is 5 years of talent gone possibly in in swat. I would think that might have kind of quality of game impact or a power vacuum for the 2022 college Football season, wouldn’t you think?

Other Thought #2: Another Ohio State QB fails in the NFL when the Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins was let go. Granted if he was 10 or 11 win QB, I’m sure he would have been just hit with a fine and life would have gone on but when you have 3 wins in 13 starts….. you can’t escape outside indiscretions. Haskins is just one of a number of QB’s from the Meyer era to not find success in the NFL along with Miller, Barrett and Jones.

There is a reason for this lack of success in my opinion…… Ohio State QB’s feast off their system which works in college but not the NFL. The Meyer/Day offense uses speed to open up pass routes and eventually the run. The Ohio State passing game mainly has 5 routes….. now I know they have more but theses are the 5 main ones if you watch closely which requires the Ohio State QB for focus on the defensive Safety.

1. Go route to the end zone
2. Deep cross field post (usually run around the 40 to 50 of the opponent to the end zone)
3. 10-15 yard square in across field to hopefully turn up field after catch
4. TE 5 yard out route
5. Deep routes on one side, with RB leaking out opposite side

………. The first 3 route fully rely on speed past the CB or S. #4 on the list plays off the first 3 of the list while #5 is used when the safety is shifted over to help with routes 1 through 4. This works in college but the talent is condensed in the pros so CB’s can cover closer, the safeties play quicker and the defensive lines descend on the QB faster. Pro QB’s have to have proper form, get the ball out quick and learn how to change plays plus take what you have to read the ENTIRE defense and not just the safety. These issues on not directly a problem with Ohio State themselves….. they run an offense that works for them and it works, but the pro scouts have to look closer to see why a play looks good or a player looks good when drafting someone instead of just looking at the number .

Other Thoughts #3: Watching the Colts-Bills game, it is baffling how teams are so adverse to the QB sneak with 1 or less yards to go or to score. So on 3rd down Indy has the ball at the 2 foot line to score but instead of the sneaking it they pitch it to Taylor after the fake jet sweep. This failed because the jet sweep person has to be someone who has run the jet sweep before with some success plus the jet sweep person must be perceived as more dangerous than the RB in the backfield.

This is why this play worked for New England under Brady than it does for the Rams (or Packers, they try this too) ….. New England would stick their 2nd or 3rd RB in the backfield so when the top WR goes in motion, everyone is going to that player.

But anyway, the fake sweep pitch was the wrong play call from the start as the QB sneak allows for the most direct route to getting the TD in this case. If the QB sneak is attempted you only have to snap the ball back 1 yard, make that 1 yard up and get the 1 yard to the end zone for a total of 3 yards.

If you do a traditional short yardage handoff you go 5-6 yards back, then the RB has to make that same 5-6 yards back up then get the 1 yard…… so 11-13 yards.

Think about it….. if you just stood on the field at the 3 yard line as compared to the 13 yard line, which position is closer and has a better chance to get you to the end zone?

Packers, Badgers, Overrated Norte Dame and trying to Blog again (2021 Week 1)

For the 165th time I will trying to blog again……. hopefully I will try to keep it simple…. but I have said that before…… but here we go.

I would really like to know what you think on all or some of these topics…. go ahead and leave a comment below!

Wisconsin Badgers Football:

The Badgers take home the Duke Mayo bowl trophy. This was a good win in my opinion as I thought this team was done for in the first quarter when we were down 14-0 but the defense did step up when it needed to. I know some people are panicking over the yards difference but if you intercept it 4 times and return it close to the endzone, you are going to be short on offensive yards.

There is one change that needs to occur for next season……. Joe Rudolph needs to give up the play sheet for 2021….. I think this is the second time he has called plays in a season and it has not got any better. Too many puzzling calls where we pass it on 3rd and short while running it on 3rd and Long. Plus not using the players you have to full potential….. for example in the Northwestern game not calling more deep passes to move their safeties back but instead we again and again tried to run it up the middle, right into the teeth of Northwestern’s defense …….. why no deep shots? Why no fly sweeps? Why no outside runs?

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball:

An up and down time for the Badgers basketball with the victory over Minny but a painful loss to Maryland…… The Maryland loss shows the exact shortcomings for this team that we have seen for about five seasons……….. the inability or apprehension for this team to go inside….. which in turn leads to us hucking up 3’s and not getting to the FT line (which we are good at this season). I’m not saying we have to slam it in for a contested shot, but just get the ball inside, cause the defense help to come then pass it back out to a hopefully open shooter.

Another problem with the Badgers is the overuse of one Brad Davison…….. as I’m sure you all will see in future posts….. Brad Davison draws my ire for many reasons….. 1) Under Sized 2) Can’t consistently make his shots for a guard 3) Consistently gets Flagrant 1 and Technical Fouls 4) Brings nothing to the floor to help the team score the ball….. basically we are playing 4 vs 5 when he is on the floor. I have been saying it for years and it still holds true……… Brad Davison is a low D2 or High D3 player that somehow got onto the Wisconsin roster…… He only brings fire/attitude but any player that can score can do that too.

Green Bay Packers:

The Packers were “gifted” a win today thanks to the inexplicable 4th and inch pass play by Chicago when the QB sneak was working just fine. Granted the better more talented team did win today but I feel that if the Bears do QB sneak there, they get the first down and do score a TD to take the lead. But the Bears today overall played so that their QB did not cost them the game by playing short all day. Now Rodgers could have led a scoring drive to retake the lead but you want to be the team ahead than the team coming back. With the first round bye locked up, where does that leave the Packers in my opinion? Kind of up in the air…. all year long the Packers have got off to quick offensive starts only for the offense to fizzle out hard. Then when the Packers did have the chance to move the chains with 2nd and 1 and then 3rd and 1, they did not run the ball. You make simple play calls in simple situations…. when the competition is upgraded in the playoffs you can not be making mistakes.

The big issues in the playoffs will be around two things 1) Not slowing down the outside run 2) Playing 10 yards off the ball with the blitz when it is less than 5 yards to go.

If we have to play Tampa…. even at home, it will be a tough game….. the home field advantage is not what it use to be be since players are not always from the area they play for and the playing field itself is taken care of better now a day….. no more mud field or snow bowls.

Milwaukee Bucks:

I saw something the other day that the Bucks are off to the sluggish start…….. of course they were going to be……. the Bucks are continuing with their issues from last season. No changes and no plays…… if you watch that Miami game last season Miami actually ran drawn up plays to counter the Bucks while the Bucks just give it to Gannis who drives it inside, gets tripled teamed and misses the shot. It happened last year and it is happening again this year….. no amount of players you bring in to help Gannis will help this team overall if there is no plan.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thoughts #1: Not shocking to me but Norte Dame once again blown out in a major bowl game. People ask “Why does Norte Dame under perform again and again in major bowls?”….. the answer is simple….. They don’t deserve to be in those games! The playoff committees, voters and computers consistently place ND in these games which they only get because of their name….. their reputation from of 30+ years ago.

ND Trivia time: When ND was ranked coming into the season, what are the last two times that ND finished higher in the last poll than the preseason poll?

2018 and 1993………….. 1993!!!!!!!!!!!

The last time they won a major bowl game to finish their season?

1991…………… 1991!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where is this “Norte Dame” recent tradition or succus? Because I don’t see it, but take some school like Wisconsin since 1991:

9 times finished higher than the preseason poll and 4 major bowl wins.

…… Yet it is Norte Dame! Norte Dame! Norte Dame! As long as the money is coming in for them, we will not stop talking about them. This is why I liked the computer a little bit better than the committee…. while the committee does give teams more of an “eye test” they also can be influenced by notoriety or past performance. The computer had the same issue, but on a smaller scale with the polls but those are factors that could be adjusted in the formula and it would be applied uniformly to all teams.

Other Thoughts #2: The other item I wanted to discuss is the fight between Tulsa and Mississippi State in the post game. I don’t know why the announcers were shocked that this happened saying they never saw this before as this was happening 5+ years ago until the schools started saying that they would self impose banning themselves from next years bowls which seems to stop the issues for a while.

These fights, in my opinion are because of a variety of unaddressed issues for decades in college football:

1. Just like with MLB players/coaches getting ejected with no consequences (a topic I’m sure I will bring up again and again)…. the same applies here in college football. There was pre-game activity before but since there could be penalties/ejections, the same does not hold true for the post game. If you can take something for free without any penalty then most people will. The same with college football, if you can get in one more verbal shot or one more hit, then there is nothing stopping them. Sure you could say they could get kicked off the team but if the incident is minor shoving nothing will happen and if there is a huge brawl like here…. they (the AD’s) will no kick everyone off the team because they need the money coming in. I personally would kick every player involved to send a message but then again that is why I’m not an AD.
2. The second reason is the culture of college football itself plus the bowl season. In most cases you have players that could be playing one more game and the coaches are getting the players fired up for sometimes for over a month and if it does not work out it is like letting go of a slingshot that has been pulled back every day further and further….. then the NCAA, colleges and broadcasters are shocked when it snaps.
3. The third reason is a brewing issue in the last 20-ish years in college football……. on field jawing and trash talking…… at the time of writing this, I have been on this earth for 35 and a half years and I have noticed a sharp increase to on field “getting in the face” of the other players and other on field antics. Occasionally you hear F-this, MF-that……. plus you are hearing it from the coaches…. when you hear it from coaches (Last Chance U for example) then you are legitimizing it. It is time for the NCAA to step up the efforts to get this out of the game, start throwing flags and start suspending players (and coaches) for repeated offenses…. once you make it impact the whole team, then players will hold their own teammates accountable. If you did the same behavior in a normal workplace, would you be celebrated or demoted/fired? I go with the later.
4. The final reason….. this is more of a minor one but it still ticks me off. The use on the sidelines of non-football related equipment for “motivation”….. I guess. The one that started it for me was the turnover chain for Miami only because the Badgers played them in the orange bowl but now we have pencils and people dunking makeshift basketball/hoops to name a few. But I have to ask, why? Or will it all stop when someone get hurt with one of these or someone totes out some overly gaudy/offensive that it catches the eye of the media or the more likely…… a fight breaks out over it. The NCAA needs to get out ahead of this now and ban all non-football related objects from the sidelines/field.

NFL rating down, no surpise

The last couple of weeks I have seen stories in which the NFL ratings are down and they are getting worse.I guess I have a few thoughts on this and why the NFL is finally having issues.

• With all the concussion talk, it was just a matter of time before people stopped watching
• The product on the field is not as good as it use to be, when you have up’ed the flags for how you hit, how you block, how you line up on special teams you end up with cookie cutter games with no excitement or great team plays. Basically you have teams going out there and passing it for 60 minutes and nothing else.
• The NFL policy in which each of their teams has to be on national television once every three years (I believe)
• The NFL lost it unique brand when it put it money ahead of the people. When you have to have extra long commercial breaks, coaches that are required to wear NFL gear, NFL gear for everything, a restrictive social media policy, people can not relate to that and over time you will lose people.

Battlefield 1 Review

So I have been playing Battlefield 1 now for about 24 hours for both Campaign and Multiplayer. I thought I should get a couple quick initial thoughts out there about the game.

• Campaign
  • The visuals on the cutscenes amazing and detailed
  • The layout of the five stories is good
  • My only issue is the length of Campaign is short in playtime terms
• Multiplayer
  • The classic modes are still good (Rush, Team Deathmatch, Conquest, Domintation)
  • The horses are more imortal than tanks…. If horsers were this durable, why did the army need tanks?
  • Flying the airship is awesome!
• Misc
  • The UI is a bit clunky as the top level menu does not stay like on the website
  • It appears that there is no loadout option on the menu

Overall, this is a good game which I will continue to explore and probably curse when it is overrun by aimbots/hackers in two weeks