Based on the photo above, I imagine hanging out with Ersan Ilyasova is quite entertaining.
One of the greatest Bucks players of all time, Jodie Meeks, attended Game 1 of the Bucks/Hawks series.
I don't think Andrew Bogut likes Kevin Garnett. Bogut posted something along the lines of, I see there was a fight in the Boston game. I wonder who could have started that. Hmm. Seems like Bogut has the same thoughts as Jakim Noah.
Jermichael Finley hung out at Brothers in Madison on Friday night. I would would have known this ahead of time, I would have grabbed Stryker and rounded up the rest of the college crew and headed up to Madison. I can only hope he was drinking swampwaters while listening to DJ Kool.
"This Year Halloween fell on a weekend. Me and Geto Boys is Trick-or-Treatin'."
Just a great song. One of the first rap songs I liked that wasn't a mainstream rap hit ("Bust a Move", "Parents Just Don't Understand", "Wild Thing""It Takes Two"). The video was solid as well. Plus it has a sweet Issac Hayes sample. I think this may have to make the Opening Day playlist.
Went to the Bucks game last night with Gopher Bandanna Man and sat in the same seats that Stryker and I sat in on Saturday night. Unfortunately, maybe due to the insane road conditions, none of the characters that were in attendance on Saturday night were at the Bradley Center last night. Thus, I did not get to see overweight walking stick man, physics guy, Mr. beer spilling ass slapper, the worn out former Energee current hair stylist/admin assistant/dental assistant/fitness instructor girls, and last but not least, backwards v-neck Packers jacket guy.
What I did see was the Bucks kick the crap out of the Hornets. Bogut continues to dominate useless centers. A few nights ago he killed the undersized David Lee. Tonight he killed the appropriately sized but talent lacking EmakaOkafor. Bogut scored in the mid-20's and had double digit rebounds and didn't even play in the 4th quarter. That was the nice part about this blow out. With another game tonight and the Bucks playing 5 games in 7 nights, Bogut and Jennings sat the entire 4th quarter. Salmons and Mbah a Moute hardly played in the 4th. It was nice to be able to rest these guys. It was also a great moment when PrimozBrezec made his Bucks debut and picked up a rebound in 2 minutes of action. Some day I will be able to tell my children and their children that I was there the day Primoz made his Bucks debut.
One other highlight was listening to the Bucks pre-game show on the thrilling drive to the Fortress on Fourth. Our favorite local radio douche Bill Michaels was opining about if it was worth it for the Bucks to make the playoffs only to lose in the first round. Bucks play-by-play guy Ted Davis responded that people who feel that way are probably "too stupid to breathe". Pretty much sums up how I feel about Bill Michaels.
All in all a good game to attend. The Bucks are 6-1 at games I attend this year. It has been a fun season. The schedule isn't the easiest coming up, but we know this Bucks team always competes and it will be fun to watch them try to make the playoffs and maybe even get a decent seed.
Fresh off the news that the Brewers will be sporting a new road alternate uniform this season that features the word "Milwaukee" comes word that the Packers might have an alternate throwback jersey this season. So says Uni Watch:
Based on something I saw earlier, I’m almost certain the Packers will be wearing 1929 throwbacks. Those are dark blue jerseys with a dark blue numeral inside a gold circle over khaki pants and dark blue socks. Of course, per today’s uniform standards, the circle and numeral on the front would be much larger, and I believe the style guide showed a solid brown helmet with gray mask to simulate the leather ones some players wore in 1929. It’s gone from the server now, however — I guess I’m lucky I saw it.
The Brewers jersey is nothing exciting but placates those who have been crying for years that the Brewers road jerseys don't mention where they are from. The packers jerseys, now those are a change from the usual. If the lose while wearing this jersey, I am pretty sure Ted Thompson will be blamed.
I have always found Dick Vitale to be over the top, but I have put up with him for years. This has been the season where I just can't handle watching games he broadcasts anymore. He adds no insight and is just too intent on pushing his agenda across no matter what is going on in the game.
Last night I watched the end of the Carolina Duke game. I love to watch Roy Williams lose. That guy is a first-class d-bag. I feel that way ever since he said that the Wisconsin-MSU Final Four game set back basketball 50 years and that that style of play should be outlawed. This deeply hurt Bennett and was one of the big factors leading to his retirement.
Anyhow, towards the end, Vitale mentioned that Carolina was obviously way overrated at the beginning of the season and the only reason they were ranked so high was that they were North Carolina and that they had a ton of young players who had great high school resumes. About two minutes later he said that people who are laughing about Carolina struggling this year better enjoy it because next year they have some of the best high schoolers in the country coming in and they will be a force.
Hold it. What? Didn't you just say that you can't base how good a team is going to be based on guys coming in from high school? Seriously, just retire.
Spring training is right around the corner. Time to pack up the sausages and ship them to Arizona. I am also hoping that between now and when pitchers and catchers report the Brewers sign another old random player. Would Jesse Orosco like a second go around with the Brewers? I am also hoping Corey Harts head falls off before Spring Training.
Not going to lie, I love to watch the Badgers beat the Spartans. As painful as it is to watch the Badgers offense sometimes, last night's victory was pretty sweet. It was nice to build a 15 point first half lead even though the badgers were sans their two best players (Luer - injured; Hughes - 3 miutes, foul problems). Tough break for MSU with Lucas going down. They can join the parade of Wisconsin, Ohio Stat, Purdue, and Northwestern in sustaining an injury to a key player. This opens up the Big Ten race. Oh, and it gives me an excuse to post this Erin Andrews photo.
From today's JSblog post it sounds like the Brewers are willing to go to an arbitration hearing with Corey Hart. This would be the first time a player has gone to a hearing in the Melvin reign. I think the Brewers are fine with this because they know it is a slam dunk win on their part. Hart is awful. No way does he even deserve $4 million. I really wish this hearing was on tv. I would love to watch it. The Brewers could bring me in to show how much the fan base, outside of those living in Union Grove, dislike Hart. At the very least, they need to release the transcripts form this thing.
So, I am sitting at home tonight drinking beer and watching random basketball games. My first question is, why doesn't Hakim Warrick get more playing time? Next question is, who thought it would be a good idea to have Casy McGehee in cowboy boots be part of a jump ball instructional on the Bucks post-game show. Third question is, how come the Miss America competition doesn't have throwing a baseball as part of the competition? I would immediately get rid of all the chicks that have no clue, except the ones with big tits. Last question is, how come I don't eat breakfast at the Comet Cafe at 3 PM more often?
Anyhow, I'm putzing around on the internet and the following are the first dozen random illegaly downloaded songs that popped up on my music player:
I hope that at some point during the game today Favre gets sacked. During the sack, his leg breaks in half and the part the breaks off gets impaled in his ass. While he is being tended to on the field, I hope the Saints' Saint Bernard mascot walks over and takes a dump on his face. That would be a fitting end to Favre's season.
Holy crap. It has been a while since I posted anything on this site. So many good Wisconsin sports stories have taken place over the past few weeks (Badger Bowl wins, Badger Basketball starts out 2-0 in the Big Ten, Packers on fire heading in to Playoffs, Brewers deferring money on Wolf's contract to sign Washburn, etc.) however I have had no drive to post anything. Well, I figure I might as well get the ball rolling again with the latest installment of "Random Pair of Shoes I Once Wore". This installment brings you one of my favorite pairs of shoes ever. The Air Force 180's from 1991. Also known as the Charles Barley shoe.
These things just looked awesome. They were a little bit heavy but not as bad as the David Robinson Air Force V's I previously discussed and wore a year earlier. These were also the shoes that I wore while getting cut from the Freshman basketball team at Case. There was no need for a slow, good passing, OK shooting guard at that school. So these shoes became my inter-mural/wear to school shoes. Even though they didn't get a lot of basketball use, they were sweet shoes to wear around. Unfortunately my feet grew out of these before I could wear them out.
I still get an Eastbay catalog about twice a month. Looking at the basketball shoes thay have out now, I would still rather purchase a pair that loked like these. Seems like basketball shoe styles peaked in the early to mid 90's and have just gotten very strange and ugly since then. Doing a quick search, I noticed someone is selling a size 8 of these bad boys for $180 bucks on Ebay. Who the hell wears a size 8?
According to Adam McCalvy, the Ryan Braun Tavern and Grill is set to open up in Lake Geneva sometime this winter. It is said to be an upscale place with menu items ranging from $8 - $20 with some higher priced steaks. From a long ago post on Chuckie Hacks, we learned that Ryan Braun likes to spend his free time in Lake Geneva. He must need a place to eat when out there.
Anyhow, should we place bets on how long it will take before this place goes under? Lake Geneva just doesn't seem like the best location to attach his name to a place. If he wanted to own a restaurant out there, fine, name it something else, but I don't think his name will be a huge draw in a vacation haven for people from Illinois. Plus, they are looking to open in the middle of winter. Is there anybody in Lake Geneva in the middle of winter? Having said all this, after playing a terrible round of golf at one of the many courses out there next spring, I would be interested in checking this place out.
In general, athlete restaurants seem to have a very short shelf life. Heck, even at the height of his popularity, the Brett Favre Steakhouse couldn't cut it in Milwaukee. The Danny Jackson restaurant in Kansas City was closed when I got there. On the plus side, it was located in the bowling alley that Jackson owned. But, seriously, Danny Jackson thought it would be wise to open up a place an attach his name to it? That would be like Jeff Suppan opening up a place. Heck, even Ozzie Smith's place went under in St. Louis.
This takes me back to when I was working in Kansas City and one day at work we came up with an idea for a restaurant. Our only distinguishing characteristics were that the hostesses would be hot and wear slutty catholic school girl outfits and that we would call the place "George Brett's T and A All Star Grill". we figured attaching the place to the George Brett name would be the way to go. Well, shortly after we devised this, Brett opened up a place on the Plaza in KC and the Tilted Kilt came into existence. I need to jump on these ideas a little faster.
Nike Air Force V. David Robinson Signature Shoe. Purchased in 1990 for 8th grade basketball.
Growing up I was a big David Robinson fan. I had Robinson posters on my hall and way too many Spurs t-shirts for a kid in Wisconsin. So when Robinson's first signature shoes came out, I had to have them for what would be my last basketball season. My feet had just recently grown to the point where I had to start buying adult sized shoes which meant more money. The Air Force Vs were top of the line stuff, so they were up there in price. My parents set a $60 limit and I had to pay the rest with my snow shoveling money. I believe these things were at or over $100.
I that they looked awesome and loved them. Until I tried to play basketball in them. In 8th grade I was just your average sized guard and a stringbean. I think these things weighed as much as I did and came half way up to my knee. It felt like I had blocks on my feet. These shoes were definitely not designed for 8th grade point guards. Eventually I talked my parents into buying some $20 pair of shoes at the Nike Outlet to replace these monsters. However, they did look great with the Catholic school uniform.
The one other thing I remember about these shoes is that they game with some giant plastic Nike Air square key chain thing attached to the shoes. I took it off right away, but remember seeing others waring them with the key chain thing still attached. Remember, this was back when keeping all the tags on your baseball hat was cool. Anyhow, I can't imagine these shoes being any clunkier, but adding a key chain would definitely do the trick.
I cant imagine these things were that popular. They were just so clunky. There is a reason Nelly sang about Air Force Is and not Air Force Vs.
A little more info according to NiceKicks.com: The ultra high top cut is a favorite for vintage heads as well as the rubber mesh netting that covers the tongue and on the heel. The big Force logo is stamped on the tongue in case anyone thinks this shoe wasn’t made for a big man and the toe box features micro perforations.
The other night I was watching NFL's Greatest Games on ESPN and it was Super Bowl 34 (I believe) between the Rams and the Titans. Great game and the NFL Greatest Games series is a joy to watch (when it is not the Packers-Broncos Super Bowl or the Jerry Rice fumble playoff game). Super Bowl 34 provided an excellent second half. It seemed kind of strange watching McNair trying to lead the Titans to victory. It appeared to be a real tough and emotional loss for the Titans.
Anyhow, the part of this program that is now burned into my mind is Torry Holt's finger. He was one of the players who NFL Films interviewed to look back on the game. He was talking about something and using hand gestures and his left hand went across the screen. My first response was, "what the hell was that?" I had to rewind and watch several times, but sure enough it was a badly misshapen finger. I mean that thing was just brutal. I post the above photo for all to enjoy and look for the finger's cameo in the Rams-Titans NFL Greatest Games interview.
Really? When I first heard the news the Packers were working Ahman Green out, my thought was, "You have to be shitting me." Now that the word is on the street that they actually signed him, I don't think I even have a response. Wow. At least my Ahman Green Mcfarlane figure has some relevance again. I have a Desmond Mason Bucks figurine as well. If he is back for his 3rd tour of duty, that would be great.
When I saw Chan Ho Park pop up in Game 1 of the NLDS, I was stunned by the great beard he was rocking. what an excellent look. However, every time I see him now, I think he looks like the puppet from Team America where they try to make Gary look like a terrorist. Good Times.
In the ever competitive Milwaukee Architects/Engineers Bowling League, Roger Murdock III managed to roll a 724 series for the first 700 series of his life. Roger Murdock is pretty proud of this accomplishment and knows if his father, Roger Murdock II, and his grandpa, the original Roger Murdock, were still alive, they would be pretty proud of him as well. Roger Murdock III still has a way to go to approach Roger Murdock II's bowling accomplishments (I don't have a banner hanging in a Racine bowling alley like my dad did) but hopefully this is a sport I get better at with age.
A solid 220-267-237 night help raise the average to 210. So, while I have declared that ever being good at golf being a lost battle, there is still hope for bowling. Prior to the start of the league this year, I had not bowled since I bowled 6 games with a house ball during the Lane Meyer bachelor party bowling marathon. That may have forced me to concentrate more and spurred me on to this season. Looking forward to the start of the Lane Meyer-Port Washington Thursday Night Bowling Spectacular starting up in a couple of weeks.
That was a pretty sweet finish to the US-Costa Rica soccer match last night. I watched the last 25 minutes, just enough time to watch the US come back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match. Thanks to Costa Rica's putzing around at the end of regulation, there was 5 minutes of stoppage time and the US scored on a corner kick in the 95th minute. Yah, it was pretty exciting, even for someone who isn't that in to soccer. A lot going on in this match even though the US was already qualified for the World Cup. There was the emotion of playing for their teammate who almost died in a traffic accident on Tuesday and the fact that Costa Rica would have qualified for the WC with a victory. All in all, a pretty exciting 25 minutes of sports right there.
In other news, should a top flight US national team lose to Costa Rica in any sport?
Last night's episode of South Park was great. Butters becomes a pimp. It was probably a 9 out of 10 on the Miller High Life Watchibility Scale. And yes, I am 32 and still watch South Park.
Peal Jam played 4 concerts out in LA last week. At one of the concerts Chris Cornell joined the band on stage for a Temple of the Dog reunion and sang Hunger Strike while Alice in Chains leader Jerry Cantrell came out and played the final guitar solo on Alive. That would most likely be the best concert ever.
I really hope we don't have a Phillies-Yankees World Series. Angles-Dodgers is what I am hoping for, but please, just not the Phillies-Yankees.
Game of the year for the Badgers on Saturday. If they win, they have a great shot at going 11-1. After Iowa the play at Indiana, vs. Purdue, vs. Michigan, at NW and at Hawaii. A loss and they still have a good shot at going 10-2, but it doesn't mean much when you lost to the only 2 good teams you played.
As best as I can recall, here are my bets from this past weekend:
Mizzou +3 in the Second Half against Nebraska. I wanted to bet on Mizzou for the entire game but I didn't get to the book in time to place the bet. If I would have and saw that there was a downpour going on, I would have taken the under. Did make it to a book at halftime and took Mizzou +3 in the second half. This was working well through the 3rd quarter as a MizzouFG consisted of the only points scored. Then Nebraska unleashed a shitstorm on Mizzou. A long pass followed by a Mizzou TO, Nebraska score, another TO and another Nebraska TO and my fate was sealed.
Game 2 ALCS, Twins +250. I really liked this bet. Good payout and I knew that Burnett had struggled in September. Granted, I didn't have a ton of faith in Nick Blackburn, but I thought, what the heck. Well, everything looked dandy as the Twins scored 2 in the top of the 8th to take a 2 run lead. Even though he was facing the meat of the order, I felt good with Nathan coming in to get the save. Of course, Teixeira leas off with a single and then Rodriguez blasts a homer. I stopped watching at this point knowing there was no way the Twins would win this one. Teixeira's laser shot ended this one.
Game 2 ALCS Angles/Red Sox Under 8. Hey, hey, I won one! I liked the Beckett/Weaver match-up. Not only did I win this one, but the Red Sox lost as well. Good times all around! Plus I got a handful of drink tickets for this bet since the book was dead. Even better times!
Now, I planned on placing a ton of college football bets, however, the activities of Friday night/Saturday morning severely reduced my mental capacity and ability to drag my ass to the book by the time of kick-off for the early games. I had several bets I had circled and didn't bet most of them. Of course the ones I forgot about all won. On to the mixed bag:
Minnesota -3 against Purdue. As Kern has stated, betting against Purdue is like free money. Purdue sucks. There is rally no nicer way to put that. I was passed out for the first half, but by the time I found the score of the game, the Gophers were up. Now, I hate the Gophers, but I don't let that get in the way of me making money. That is only reserved for Iowa.
Georgia +1 at Tennessee. This was a stupid bet. I thought, hey, Tennessee lost at home to UCLA and UCLA blows, so I am sure Georgia can beat them. I conveniently ignored Georgia's terrible play so far this season. I really dislike Georgia. Don't know why I bet this game. The have tormented me since I had to endure that 1998 Outback Bowl game in 40 degree weather where Hines Ward and Mike FrickingBobo lit up the Badgers. That was not fun. Neither was the result of this bet.
Wisconsin +16 at OSU. Was this some kind of joke. Really? Wisconsin was getting 16 points? Sign me up!. Oh, it does appear Vegas knows what they are doing. Ohio State fans are the biggest bunch of douchbages in the Big Ten. This loss sucked on many levels.
Oregon -3 at UCLA. As I mentioned above, UCLA blows. Oregon has righted the ship since the Boisie debacle. I was worried when UCLA was leading 3-0 at half, but then I walked away from the book for a bit and came back to see that 4 minutes into the second half, Oregon was up 21-3. OK, I like that. Oregon came through for me, but if anyone was watching this game, the int for a TD that the UCLA guy had in the end zone was one of the most athletic plays I have ever seen. Unreal.
In other news, Dudy, who knows jack squat about college football won a 3-team parlay that included Temple and Duke. I didn't know you could even bet on those teams. Dudy has a knack for this sort of stuff including placing multiple bets on one ticket and thinking they were all individual games but in reality having a 4-team parlay and winning it. At this point in time (1999) he didn't even know what a parlay was. Good times my man.
Since Erik isn't getting married this Saturday, I can actually watch Minnesota piss away the game live this year!
Hey, in case you have not heard, there are a couple of big games going on up in Minneapolis this weekend. And I am not talking about that exciting Royals/Twins series closing out the Twins run at the Metrodome. The game I am most interested in is the Badgers/Gophers game in which the Badgers attempt to maintain possession of the Paul Bunion Axe for what I believe will be the 36th straight year (or something like that divided by 6).
Anyhow, this game kicks off the most critical stretch of games for the Badgers this season and a win would go a long way in keeping up the momentum gathered in the first four games. After this game the Badgers go to Columbus and then face Iowa at home. I don’t expect the Badgers to go undefeated through these three games, but if they come out of it 2-1, I would be thrilled. 1-2 would not be good, but not the end of the world. 0-3 would be vomit inducing.
Wisconsin will look to continue to ride their balanced offensive attack. Tolzein has obviously been a heck of a QB so far this year. He has a great presence in the pocket and is aware of his surroundings. I think I read somewhere that Wisconsin has only given up 2 sacks so far this season. That has helped Tolzein’s confidence in the pocket. Minnesota would be wise to attempt to bring guys up the middle in an attempt to flush Tolzein out of the pocket. He has not had to throw on the run much this year and it would be interesting to see how good that aspect of his game is. He can run if needed, but can he throw on the run? The key to the passing game is how the Gophers attempt to defend Graham and Kendricks. If they try to double up on these guys, the Badgers have the receivers to get open against man coverage and do some damage after the catch. Tolzein hit a ton of passes in the flat early against MSU. When they brought guys up to defend against that, he hit Toon and Anderson deep. Tolzein is the first QB since Stocco who can throw a solid deep ball.
The O-line is still coming together for the Badgers. John Moffit got his first start of the season at guard last week and the rust showed. He picked it up in the second half but was relatively brutal in the first half. 3rd string center Peter Konz has been solid in the middle. Ogelsby appears to be having problems with speed rushers off the end. However, as mentioned above, the line has only given up 2 sacks this season (thanks to Tolzein’s pocket presence) and the pass blocking has been solid. The run blocking is not what it has been in the past for Wisconsin teams. However, sending the same guys out there on back to back weeks for the first time will help. The run blocking is coming together and the RBs need to do a better job of hitting the hole when it is there.
Speaking of running backs, I am still waiting for John Clay to have that truly big breakout game. I’m talking a 200-yard, 2 TD game. Last week against State he ran well but it seems he left some yards out on the field. However, the key was that he didn’t leave the football out on the field. I think the fumbles in the Wofford game were an aberration and this isn’t a guy with a fumbling problem. John needs to do a better job of finding the holes the line creates. I am excited to see him get in the open field and use his 250 pound frame to just blow up a DB. Zach Brown will get his touches as well. He did destroy the Gophers two years ago in the dome, but honestly, he is just a guy in terms of Big Ten running backs. A solid back up for sure, but not the workhorse.
The Badgers’ D has improved as throughout the season. The line is getting better now that guys are coming back from injury and a set rotation is in place. They are making plays in the backfield and getting to the QB off the ends. The problem is that they have no big run stuffer in the middle. Against the run game, they are vulnerable up the middle but do a good job of running to the boundaries. MSUs big runs were all up the middle. The Linebackers have been playing great. Schofield has been lights out all 4 games and the Freshmen Taylor and Borland really played well last week. Lot of young guys on this D that are getting playing time and will only get better.
The D-backs are still a work in progress but are getting better. Did a good job of containing the Spartan passing attack for 57 minutes last week. The ability to get pressure up front helps out this secondary immensely. There has been a lot of talk about the play of Chris Maragos. He has made some clutch plays and has had a handful of picks so far this season. However, he is no Jim Leonhard. Maragos is a solid player with good hands, but he doesn’t have the greatest speed and gets out of position sometimes.
The special teams have been solid this year. They don’t appear to be the best blockers in the world, but Gilreath came close to busting one last week. The kick coverage has been good so far this year. After a couple early misses, Welch seems to be back on track after bombing that 57-yarder against FresnoState.
After all that rambling about what Wisconsin has, lets actually get to the game. It will be Wisconsin’s first road game of the season and it comes at an unknown venue. How will Tolzein and the rest of the young team react in the first game on the road? Normally this wouldn’t be an issue in Minnesota since the crown is usually 40% Badger fans, but that will not be the case this season. Wisconsin has also done a piss-poor job of closing out opponents at home so far. Will the slip ups they have had cost them on the road?
From all reports, it sounds like Minnesota got their running game going last week. This will be big because if Wisconsin has to respect the run, it will be harder for them to generate a pass rush to help out the secondary. Also watch out the academic wizard MarQuis Gray running some out of the backfield. He has only gotten a handful of touches in the first few games but I am wondering if they were not holding him back a bit to unleash him against the hated Badgers.
It will also be interesting to see how Nutpunch Decker fairs in this game. He suffered an ankle injury in last year’s game. Last week, the Badgers shut down Blair White but MSU was able to work the ball to the other receivers. If the Badgers take away Decker (a humongous if) will Weber be able to find anybody else. Decker leads the team with 35 receptions and the next closest guys have 10. Hopefully Aaron Henry can step up his game and limit Decker.
All in all this should be a good game. I don’t see it as a blow-out either way. Will Wisconsin block any rugby style punts? Who knows, but it is always fun when these two teams play and your team wins. Wisconsin has won the past 5 meetings, so it has been pretty fun lately. I see that streak continuing this year. Wisconsin’s balanced offense will steal the show and the badgers will put up a 31-24 victory, but not before enduring some tense moments at the end of the game. I give this bad boy a 10 high lifes out of 10 high lifes on the Miller High Life Watchability Scale. Granted, that is for me. If you live outside of Wisconsin or Minnesota, this one would probably rank a 4.
