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

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.

Thinking once again….

It’s been over two years and I’m once again going to give this blog thing a try. I’m going to try to post a little less often to avoid burnout(Once every 7-9 days), hopefully on Sunday’s for the most part. Looking back at my last posts, this is what I see that has happened since the last time I posted:

• Bret is still the coach as Arkansas and it did not turn out to be the disaster I predicted [can’t get them all right I guess :)]
• Gary Andersen is gone from Wisconsin (Thank God!) and Paul Chryst is the coach. Hey, we are off to a very good start….better than Bret 🙂
• Bo is gone a Wisconsin for basketball and Gard is in. He seemed to over achieve last year with mid-level players.
• The Brewers ended up taking since the last post thanks to the incompetence of Doug Melvin and we had to blow the whole thing up. Amazing that the Cardinals never have to go into a rebuilding mode (and it is not because of that larger fan base.
• Bench clearing brawls still happening in MLB even though the solution is SIMPLE. New GM, same idiotic policy (See prior post)
• The Bucks got new owners and getting a new stadium.
• Listening to the Dan Patrick show the other day and they mentioned that the NBA will make it a point of emphasis to enforce traveling. I laughed too.
• A point that is close to me…. The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters of the Northwood’s League won the championship this year. As a 9-pack holder and was at all the playoff games it was truly great following the team including the walk off home run in game 1 of the championship.
• The Pro Bowl is still as boring is bad as always….. If they would only change it to a future stars with rookies and second year players
• Now onto soccer, I have really have started following Sacramento Republic FC
• Carlisle FC having a good season
• Big Brother has really gone into the toilet. It basically has become repeat comp after repeat comp. It really lacks in game play in recent seasons, as alliances don’t matter and skating through is the new norm
• What is this with CBS delaying Amazing Race?
• I bought a drone to fly in the park. Videos are here.
• Countdown to Battlefield 1 has started
• House of Cards was great and the following season was good
• Other Netflix shows I have been watching:
  • Last Man Standing
  • Poirot
  • Family Guy
  • Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 2 is stupid IMO)
  • Narcos
  • Chopped
  • Cutthroat Kitchen (Is awesome!)

Thoughts for the week

It has been a while since I have published a meaningful post so here is goes. This week I would just like to do a couple of quick hitters thoughts.

• A big win for the Badgers on Sunday over Michigan State. A couple of things I noticed with the victory.
  • Traevon Jackson did come up with the big shot, but did do plenty along the way to shoot the team in the foot. When Traevon does not think about the shot is when he comes through.
  • Sam Decker comes out with another below average game. He was only 3-8 from the field with all 3 pointers along with 2 free throws. Decker, who claims that he was going to be more aggressive inside took only 3 shots inside. It appears that Decker let the NBA 1st round pick status go to his head.
  • Bo Ryan has shown that he is unable to learn from his past mistake and truly understand how good coaches play certain situations. The other night Bo did not understand that in a last shot situation with under ten seconds. You should get the ball in the front court and either take the shot or make one quick pass and then shot. Traevon hesitates and the game is lost. Tom Izzo being down 3 at the end of the game, inbounds the ball, makes one quick pass and buries the three. Only the three ball hurts you, but yet he seemed not ready to cover it.
  • Bo Ryan as has the trend to put the final play in the hands of the point guard. This is generally countered by the double team, but this did not occur Sunday. Any team that plays the Badgers should understand this and exploit it in the future.
• I have been doing a lot Olympic watching and have noticed a couple of things.
  • NBC has to be thanking the television gods for the location of this Olympics and the location in 2018. This time difference between Russia and the United States allows NBC to cut the broadcast/sport down and insert as many additional commercials. There should be no reason that NBC loses money this year. I think that is why some people do not watch, or do not watch as much as they should.
• On the lighter side of news, I was crowed 1st division champion on Saturday on Smallball.com on the football side.
• I see that the Brewers are having another go around with K-Rod, any guesses to who will he be traded to?
• Flappy Birds is a really addictive gam.

TJMG: Traevon Jackson must go!

The reoccurring theme during this post will be about, after another loss this time to Ohio State, how Wisconsin point guard Traevon Jackson is the reason for the recent Wisconsin struggles on both ends of the floor.

In addition to his recent flub up on the final shot against Ohio State, the Wisconsin offense seems to go or no go based on the fact if Traevon Jackson is on the floor. Whenever Bronson Koenig, take over, the offense seems to take over. For example in the first half when Bronson came into the game, the Badgers, there was a six minute stretch where we were able to move the ball freely inside and outside, but for the final five minutes, when Jackson when back into the game, we went on one of our patiented loooooong field goal droughts that have plagued us the last two seasons.

This is due to Traevon Jackson inability to move the ball or run the offense. Traevon is unable to direct people to move the ball around and run a play. Traevon is only capable of doing a couple of unnecessary cross leg dribbles with a covered shot. This leads to many misses and lower shooting percentage from a position that should be solid. Along with today’s game, Traevon is shooting 27%…. 27%.

Treavon Jackson is not a point guard, per 40 minutes, Treavon averages 3 turnovers which by and far leads the team and something that should not be allowed out of your point guard. This is almost a full turnover more per 40 minutes that Jordon Taylor while playing less minutes than Taylor did. This is an area that should be improving but has not.

While most of this is on Treavon Jackson, a small part of this is on Bo Ryan for not noticing this issue and making the needed changes and allowing Bronson to play more minutes. Bo should know that Jackson was going to be incapable of running the final play.

It is time to send Traevon packing, if he wants to play the dribble through 3 defenders every play, then maybe he should transfer to UW-Superior where they like to do that kind of stuff… or maybe transfer to Ohio State, that way we might have a chance when he is cleared to play.

Wisconsin Basketball End of Season Wrapup

Another year, another season of Badger basketball is in the the books with a loss Friday Ole Miss. The loss to the Rebels was due the same reason that plagued the Badgers this season in most all other losses, long painful scoreless droughts.

You can also see when these droughts are coming, there were some key tips to look for that started the droughts:

1. We stop throwing the ball inside
2. We just pass around the perimeter
3. We only fire up 3-pointers
4. Ryan Evans starts shoot whenever hes not open

This season was not all bad with two victories over Indiana and Michigan along with a victory over Ohio State. In those game was were able to do the the following:

1. We throw the ball inside, even if we do not shoot it
2. Good Defense
3. Good Rebounding
4. Ryan Evan does not shoot the ball
5. Sam Decker plays

I saw people writing that “Bo must go!” after the way this season went and how the offense functioned. I really wonder if these people know how well they really have it with Bo Ryan as a coach. Bo has got the Badgers to the Tournament for the past 12 seasons compared to 7 times in the 103 seasons prior to Bo.

In the end somebody has to win the games and somebody has to lose the games, there is only 1 winner out of 347 Division 1 teams. You never know what you are going to get with a different coach, we might end up like Chelsea. Bo has been able to finish in the top 4 in the Big Ten every season, even this season with a less than stellar senior class plus the issues mentioned above.

This year was a difficult year for the Badgers, but Bo was able to put together a good 20+ win, so its time to give Bo a break since all this guy does is win.

“Bo Must Stay!”

Time to ease up on Bo

First things first, big win against Michigan on Saturday. Second thing, will this be the win that will ease up the grumblings against Bo Ryan? I hope so, because for the past two years I have spent the winter trying to defend Bo Ryan from the “Bo Must Go” (a.k.a “BMG”) groups. These kind of groups are dangerous since they are the kind of people who like to bail at the first sign something does not go right with their team(s).

I agree that the offense in the past two season has been a little sub-par and can be painful to watch from time to time, but nobody is going to be perfect season to season. Bo is still able to win without jumping on every trend in basketball or recruiting players that do not fit the team culture or playing style. Bo Ryan has proven to be a winner season after season pulling out the big wins.

With this being said, people need to lay off Bo Ryan since he has not got Wisconsin to the Final Four. Getting to the Final Four is a difficult task, only 4 teams out of ~347 schools get there every season, and since we have not reached a Final Four to the same amount of time like Dick Bennett, everybody is in a panic. Bo has led the Badgers to the NCAA tournament every season which in itself is quite an accomplishment.

A national championship may never come again to Wisconsin no matter who the coach is, but it should be noted that John Wooden did not win his first national championship until his 16th season coaching the Bruins.

In this era of the quick championship or your out, it is refreshing to see a program like Wisconsin stick with Ryan because first, he wins more than he loses (which always helps) and second, plays by the rules, which you do not see from many national champions lately. It seems that most programs are investigated for some kind of violation years later. You have not heard about any program related violations with Bo Ryan, and I hope it stays that way.

I really hope, when Bo does leave, it is on his own terms. People now a days live in a “Grass is greener on the other side” culture. We are unable to the accept the fact that we can not win it all every year, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. Bo has won ~72% of all his games as head coach at Wisconsin and I think there is no other coach that could come in at that level for that many years. Sure Bo has not taken us to a Final Four, but what guarantee would you have that Wisconsin would win with somebody else much less get to a Final Four? We could go back to a long hibernation like from 1947-1993 with no tournament appearances.

In conclusion, this is no time to even mention anything about a coaching change, especially after Saturday’s win, Bo has put us in an era of prolonged period of stabilization with consistent winning and I see no reason that Bo must Go.