The Bucks are coming! The Bucks are coming!

Soon this phrase will be shouted along the streets of cities where the Bucks are visiting. Much how this phrase struck fear into the colonial Americans when Paul Revere made his famous ride, so too will this one. Last night the Bucks beat San Antonio 114-107. That's right, they not only beat the Spurs, at San Antonio, but they dropped 114 against one of the best defensive teams in the league. I was going to write more, but I am going to let the best Bucks writer out there do the talking today. Sky Hook has his blog: Bucks Diary, that has such a great writeup that I simply cannot top it.

The game turned suddenly at the 8:32 mark of the fourth quarter. With the Bucks trailing by five, and the Spurs calmly looking to close out another victim, Milwaukee's Michael Redd blew down the lane like an Ohio tornado. Tim Duncan stepped to meet him. Undeterred, Redd wrapped a finger roll around the big man's head and raindropped it into the net. The furious Bucks rally was on. From that point to the buzzer, the Bucks tore their teeth into the wounded and lumbering Spurs like a pack of starving hyenas, scoring 25 of the final 38 points. I still don't think the Spurs know what the hell happened.

I'll tell them. The Bucks opened the wagon and unleashed what looked like a Green Strike Team. That fourth quarter stretch that began with the Redd layup and ended with a huge Bucks win was one of the sweetest displays of coldblooded basket attacking I have seen from this team since the days of Marques Johnson. It was surreal. It was dreamlike. It took my breath away. During one stretch within that stretch, the Bucks scored 10 straight points on lay-ups. At crunch time. Against the seasoned Spurs. It was beautiful. Am I getting across to you how excited I was? The Bucks OWNED the lane in the fourth quarter against an elite team on the road. Reread that sentence a couple of times.

The Bucks are a steamroller baby, gonna roll all over you

The win streak is at 5, the run is at 8 of 11. And it includes a spectacular win on the road against the San Antonio Spurs. I think notice has been served. The Bucks want to be taken seriously again.This win will ring out because of the way it was produced. Unstoppable offense, TERRIFIC DEFENSE, energetic rebounding, and a 'my hairs on fire' fourth quarter rally. I don't want to hear about the "ailing Spurs" either. They had a healthy Tim Duncan, didn't they? And still the Bucks dominated all major phases of the game last night. Let that ring out. The Spurs were fortunate to have even been in the game at all. Three pointers and an obnoxious hometown disparity in free throws attempted (28 to 14) is all that kept that them from being completely wiped out.

But can the good times last in BucksNation? Believe it or not, I think they can. The Bucks may genuinely be a team reborn.

Hey, they won the bet for me

That was, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst NFL game I have ever witnessed last night. The Packers stumbled and bumbled their way to a win over the Raiders 9-7. Wait, you're saying that was against the Vikings? You sure, because 108 yds of offense, 3 first downs gained and 0 points by the offense along with 10 team penalties sure as hell sounds like the Raiders.

But I won the bet!

Seriously, the Vikings have turned into the NFC equivalent to the Raiders. A horribly coached team with absoultely no discipline on the field. The Packers defense completely dominated the Vikings last night. This is due to equal parts of the Packers DL manhandling the Vikings severly overpaid OL and complete offensive ineptitude of Brad Childress.

But I won the bet!

The Packers did do many things right this game, but screwed the pooch at key moments though. The defense played outstanding, although the 2 deep throws from Jackson could have been disastrous, they nevertheless made the worst offense in football look like the worst offense in football. Too often the Packers D makes opposing teams look good, not so last night. The DL harassed Jackson all night long, did a great job in stopping the run and KGB even looked good. Harris and Woodson were absolutely in shut down mode last night and the LB played a hell of a game.

But I won the bet!

Favre made several outstanding plays and some completely boneheaded ones. The 2 INTs were totally on him. The first was a pick even if Jennings stops his route, the second one, Jennings was wide open in the hole in the zone and Favre decides that his buddy Sharper needs a highlight for his season. As bad as those were, his pump fake late in the game where he had rushers all around him then completed a pass back to Franks was a glimpse of the HOF QB that he is.

But I won the bet!

That brings us to Bubba Franks. Poor, poor Bubba. He had the absolute worst game a player could have last night. Two drops, two fumbles, one of which just prior to crossing the goal line on the aforementioned play by Favre that would have likely won the game. He commits a stupid holding call on a big 30 yard completion to Green that would have given the Packers a 1st and goal from the 5 and either a TD or a chip shot FG to win. His game has completely disintegrated over the last 2 years to where he went from a legit threat to a well below average TE.

Let's look at this though, the Pack are 7-9, 3 wins better than last year and have loads of upside. They could beat Chicago next week and come out of this year with an 8-8 record, which after last season, everyone would welcome. But most importantly...

But I won the bet! (if you don't know what I am talking about, please read the comments between me and my neighbor from the previous post, it's quite enjoyable)

Poe was a Packer Fan

If Edgar Allen Poe was alive today, he would most assuredly be a Packer fan. So, here is what his poem "The Raven" would likely look like had he written it this week. Enjoy!

Once upon a Thursday evening, while I sat with the fish I was cleaning
That I had caught on the ice not more than three hours before
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some NFL team rapping, rapping at my stadium door
“Tis some dumb-ass Viking fan” I muttered –
“only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December
And as the Vikings fell on their ass then as they have always before
Eagerly I wished the kickoff; - As these “fans” began to piss off
Piss me off even more – So much I hoped we would run up the score
It is time for the man who has beaten them time and time before –
Time to bring out number Four.

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Look dumbass, your team and offense is a bore.”
“Your receivers are all lacking, and your losses are all stacking
Your team unity is simply cracking – your offense cannot even score.”
“Your coach is a moron” this I stated many times before –
“only this and nothing more”

And the purple painted loser, wobbling like some drunken boozer
Thrilled me filling him with fantastic terrors never felt before;
For he cannot help agreeing that no living Viking being
Could survive without fleeing – Fleeing from the number Four
Sharper, Williams, Childress, Johnson or even Mewelde Moore;
Not even their mascot, Pauly Shore.

The scrawny Vikes fan stood shaking, in his stupid Helga hat quaking
Teared up eyes begging that the truth he hear no more
But the thought of cold Lambeau, either with or without snow
A place where no Viking really wanted to go – A place of hallowed lore
With quivering lip full of fear, nay dread of the final score –
He peed himself upon the floor.

We're #4! We're #4!

The Badgers men's B-Ball team is now ranked #4 in the AP poll after demolishing the previously undefeated #2 Pittsburgh 89-75.

Without a doubt, this is the best team the Badgers have had, well, ever. Tucker is playing like a man among boys, Taylor is a very solid PG, and if Butch can keep playing like he did against Pitt with that agressiveness inside, this is going to be a very tough team to beat come March (and hopefully April). Many pundits were willing to give the Big Ten title to OSU before the season even started, now the Badgers are proving that thinking flawed.

Tune in tomorrow for a very special Packer/Viking poem.

Could Jenkins have been the key?

In an undoubtedly better season than last year, the Packers finally reached that magical 6 win mark for the year with a sloppy 17-9 win over the Motor City Kitties.

The running 1-2 punch of Green and Morency clicked for the 2nd straight week of getting over 130 yds rushing. Morency punched in 2 TDs as well (both very nice runs). I have to admit, I was not a big fan of the RB-by-committee approach that some teams use, which apparently the Packers subscribe to now. However, the results have been good this year so while I won't gush over the practice, I'm sure as heck not going to complain about Green not getting enough touches.

As good as the RB were, Favre was about as poor with 3 INT, 2 of which were unforgivable being in the red zone. He is getting ever so much closer to that all-time INT record, which is just as far away as the TD record, and Favre having an equal shot at hitting either one first. Given Favre turned the ball over so frequently, how did America's Team win this one? Defense.

Yes, that's right, the much-maligned Packer defense came through big yesterday: 6 sacks, 2 INTs, multiple QB pressures and a fumble recovery. Normally the Packers D makes pedestrian QBs look good and helps them keep their jobs a bit longer. Not so yesterday. Kitna had a horrific day with only a QB rating of 42.9 and only 135 yds passing.

The running defense was even more impressive with limiting Detroit to 58 yds rushing on 20 carries (2.9 yds/carry avg). Granted, Kevin Jones being out was likely a big part of that, but another move that happened a week ago perhaps had a big part of it as well. That being Cullen Jenkins being moved from DT to DE replacing KGB.

Jenkins has flourished since moving to DE and showed it as such with 3 sacks yesterday. Jenkins is a playmaker and the more of them you get on the field, the better your team is. His move to DE has had 4 big impacts with this defense so far. Granted, I am fully riding the big game he had yesterday, but the changes are noticable.

1 - Teams can no longer game plan to run at that side of the line where KGB was. Jenkins is far more stout against the run and does not take himself out of plays as KGB did and has proven this in the last 2 games. Plus, he's got about 40 more lbs for OL to move and is stronger than KGB.

2 - He's got good pass rushing skills to go along with his run stopping ability. He's deceptively quick and has good power and can go with a speed rush as well as a bull rush and be equally as effective vs the on-trick pony that is KGB. His ability to rush the passer will take some pressure off of Kampman as teams will need to account for him. This has already beared some fruit with Kampman getting 2 sacks himself yesterday to end his latest dry spell.

3 - He is able to occupy OL on running plays better than KGB and thus gives the LB that much more room to flow to the play and frees them up to make a play. With our LB, this is an absolute must.

4 - This also allows one of my favorite players to get some more playing time, Corey Williams. Williams has been a project for several years and has shown some flashes of the player he can be. With Jenkins moving to DE, Williams gets more playing time and has now been given the opportunity to display that talent. He's big (313 lbs) and like Jenkins is surprisingly quick for a DT as his sack yesterday attributed to. He is a playmaker, and I will say this again, you get more playmakers on the field, the better your team is.

This DL (Jenkins, Pickett, Williams and Kampman) has the potential to be a very good one. They all are very good against the run and they have proven to be good pass rushers. With a better pass rush from the front 4, the rest of the D can only be better in pass coverage.

Since Jenkins has been moved to DE, the Packers have given up just over 100 yds in rushing over 2 games (SF had under 50 after the move was made) combined and the Packers have given up only 21 total points. Granted, it was against SF and Detroit, but that's what they are supposed to do against them. Plus, add in that in the 2 games (and one possession) prior to that, they gave up 76 points, it's too coincidental.

There is a very good running team in the Vikings coming to town on Thursday and Jenkins is going to lined up against their $500 million left side of the OL. The true test is coming then, but I'm feeling pretty good about it.

$1 billion? You gotta be kidding me

That's right, the Cowboys are building a new stadium that will cost $1 billion. All I have to say is "Holy crap" (ode to Peter Boyle there).

• The stadium is going to seat 80k, 100k if they sell tickets to the standing room only area in the endzones (who the hell wants to stand for 3+ hours at a football game anyway?).
• They are putting a scoreboard that is 60 yards long and 50 feet high hanging over the field. Dear heavens. Just wait until that falls someday. You know, I may just have to rethink my dead pool to include some Cowboy players.
• At the unveiling party, several things disturbed me. One, Bob Costas was there to be the master of ceremonies and called it "the most extraordinary athletic facility ever conceived". I used to hold Bob in such high regard due to his thoughts on and passion for baseball. But to schill out on this monstrosity like this is beneath you Bob. Two, they played videos of the Pyramids and the Colosseum as if this stadium is on the same level as those structures. That's ridiculous. This is nowhere near as great as those. You never saw Nero clamoring for better luxury suites, more wine and women perhaps. Plus, this stadium will be considered "out of date" in about 30-35 years anyway and be torn down.

Clearly Jerry Jones has a big case of stadium envy. Think he's trying to compensate for something? Hmmmmm? No matter how hard you try Jerry, you'll never be able to top the masterpiece that is Lambeau Field.

To me, this is being built because it can, which is never a good reason to do something. You want a legacy Jerry, donate a bunch of money to a university to help research a disease (not like ED which you cleary have).

One thing that has been discovered about the new stadium that is going to be a problem:

There's not enough room in it for Jones' ego.

The alarm didn't go off

I have to admit something, I didn't watch the game today. My children had their annual Christmas program this afternoon and I gladly missed the game to see them sing and store away some great memories, as my kids were simply fantastic and exceeded all hopes I had in their performance. Afterwards, we went out to eat and I had completely forgotten about the Packer game.

Got home from a great dinner with my family and we started to decorate the Christmas tree. It was fairly late (7pm) when we started. After about 30 minutes of decorating with some incredibly great Christian music softly playing in the background, my wife asks "So, how did the Packers do?"

I didn't know. The evening had been so much fun that I had blanked out about the game. So, I quickly ran downstairs to the computer and pulled up the Yahoo! Sports page (it loads way quicker than anybody else), bracing myself for the impact of another bad Packer loss. Then I saw it: Packers win 30-17. A smile came across my face as I quickly went to the boxscore.

Favre: 22-34 293 yds 2 TD 0 INT. I quickly figure a QB rating of 111.52 (I am the Oracle after all).

Green & Morency combine for over 140 yds rushing and a TD

Driver: 160 yds receiving and a TD

Packers D got 3 turnovers and were actually good for a game.

I simply couldn't believe it. I thought I was dreaming, I was waiting for the alarm to go off and wake me out of this dreamland. After all, my kids who seem to be terminally shy come performance time were outstanding just a few short hours ago and the Packers won a game convincingly on the road.

The alarm never came.

So I went back upstairs and walked into the living room watching my wife and kids smiling and laughing while decorating the tree. The music was joyously perfect and there I was, realizing that sometimes, dreamland does exist outside of sleep.

Woodson's not a stiff

Remember back when the Packers were trying to decide if they should get Lavarr Arrington or Charles Woodson? Both were available and both played positions that the Packers desperately needed to upgrade. Many thought that at the time when Arrington chose the Skins that the Packers got the wrong guy in "settling" for Woodson.

You heard the critics:

• Woodson has lost too much to injury
• He's a loner
• Doesn't play well with others on his team
• Not a playmaker any longer

Well, Woodson has more than proved them all wrong. He leads the team with 5 INTs, which also happens to be near the top of the NFL. He has 15 passes defensed, again, near the top of the NFL. Add in that he has 3 forced fumbles (that makes 8 total turnovers forced) an has solid run support what you have here is a resume for an elite CB.

What was that? He's not an elite CB? Well, let's compare this to the stats of a well-known CB who is labeled as the best there is currently. This CB currently has:

5 INT, 17 passes defensed and no forced fumbles.

Who is this CB? Champ Bailey of the Broncos.

So it's perfectly clear that Woodson has come back to his pre-injury form. He's not as fast as he used to be, but that's just fine as he's still got the goods and is producing.

I've heard far too much from Packer fans that Woodson is average and is replacable. The above shows that this line of thinking is crap and completely unfounded.

Oh, and for that other guy the Packers missed out in getting? He's currently injured, has done nothing all season (only 16 tackles over 6 games) and is one of the biggest busts this year. We not only signed the right guy, but one of the best FA signings all season.

My interview with Mike McCarthy

Below is my "mock" interview with Packers HC Mike, McCarthy (and some, ok a lot, of help from Monty Python).

CC: 'Ello. I wish to register a complaint.
(The coach has his back to the register and does not respond.)
CC : 'Ello, Miss?
Mr. McCarthy : (turning around, very angry) What do you mean, "miss"?
CC : I'm sorry, I have a cold.
(The coach nods, understanding.)
CC : I wish to make a complaint!
Mr. McCarthy: (hurriedly) Sorry, we're closin' for lunch...!
CC : Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this defense, what I have been watching not more than the beginning of my life.
Mr. McCarthy: Oh yes, the, ah, the Green Bay Packers defense... What's, ah... W-what's wrong with them?
CC: I'll tell you what's wrong with them, my lad. They’re terrible, that's what's wrong with them.
Mr. McCarthy: No, no, they’re ah... they’re resting for the playoffs.
CC: Look, matey, I know a terrible defense when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
Mr. McCarthy: No no, they’re not terrible, they’re, they’re restin'!
CC: Restin'?
Mr. McCarthy: Y-yeah, restin.' Remarkable team, the Green Bay Packers, aren’t they, eh? Beautiful stadium!
CC: The stadium don't enter into it. They’re terrible!
Mr. McCarthy: Nononono, no, no! They’re resting!
CC: All right then, if they're resting, I'll wake them up!
(shouting at the locker room)
'Ello, Sanders! Mister Bob Sanders! I've got a lovely fresh Lombardi Trophy for you if you wake up, Mr. Sanders...
(coach hits DC, Bob Sanders)
Mr. McCarthy: There, he moved!
CC: No, he didn't, that was you pushing him!
Mr. McCarthy: I never!!
CC: Yes, you did!
Mr. McCarthy: I never, never....
(CC pulls Bob Sanders off the bench and screams into his ear.)
CC: 'ELLO Bobby! Bob-EE! Bobby Sanders! WAKE UP!
(He bangs Bob’s head against the locker, horribly hard.)
TESTIIIING! TESTIIIING! THIS IS YOUR NINE-O' CLOCK ALARM CALL!
(He does it again, harder.)
BOB-EEEEEEE!
(He shows footage of the past several games where receivers are running free and running backs meet no resistance)
Now that is what I call a bad coordinator.
Mr. McCarthy: No, no.... No, he's stunned.
CC: STUNNED?
Mr. McCarthy: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Bob Sanders stuns easily, major.
CC: Look my lad, I've had just about enough of this. That coordinator is definitely terrible, and when I bought into his hiring not 4 months ago, you assured me that his total lack of movement was due to him being tired and shagged out after a long speech.
Mr. McCarthy: Well, he's... he's, ah... probably pining for Jim Bates.
(CC looks angrily back and forth, stuttering.)
CC: PININ' for JIM BATES? What kind of talk is that? Look, why did he fall flat on his ass the moment he got on the field?
Mr. McCarthy: Bob Sanders prefers fallin’ on his ass! Remarkable team, aren’t they, guv, eh? Beautiful stadium!
CC: (coldly) Look, I took the liberty of examining that coordinator when I got it home, and I discovered that he is extraordinarily terrible.
(pause)
Mr. McCarthy: He’s not terrible! If he had been terrible, I wouldn’t have hired him, you just wait, his scheme will work and the defense will go VOOM!
CC: "VOOM?" Look matey, this defense wouldn't "voom" if you put four thousand volts through it! He's bleedin' terrible!
Mr. McCarthy: He's not! He's pining!
CC: He's not pinin,' he should be passed on! This coordinator should be no more! It has ceased to be anything resembling a defensive coordinator! His time is expired and should be gone! He's a stiff! Bereft of talent, he should be unemployed! If you hadn't hired him to be the coordinator he would be filing books in the local library! His cerebral processes are history! This should be.... an EX-Coordinator!

At this point I was attacked by security but was able to elude them as they could not get near me or tackle me as Bob Sanders is apparently in charge of them as well.

Hodge Podge

Time to just on some topics that have crossed my mind.

Packers
What a mess this defense is. Sanders has not progressed in his prepwork, playcalling or adjustments this season. Here's hoping Bates is around in the offseason and willing to come back to fix this mess. I do not like this matchup against the J-E-T-S jetsjetsjets, no sir I don't. Remember, the J-E-T-S jetsjetsjets beat the same NE team that kicked the holy hell out of us.

Bucks
Kinda hard to win games when your starting #4 and #3 are out for over a month. Redd has been fantastic and is apparently immune to Stotts' horrendous coaching. Anyone else think Stotts looks like a guy you just would just want to give a wedgie to? No leadership comes forth from this man.

Badgers
The B-Ball team is looking very good. Some fans got all riled up after the Missouri State game and claiming it was unfathomable for Bucky to lose to them. Get over it, it's college hoops and most teams will lose at least 6-7 games/year and it's not like State was a 1-6 team or something like that. The Badgers are an elite team in the country and will likely be around for the Sweet 16 this spring, barring injuries or the academic issues from last year.

The football team is still awaiting it's opponent for the Capitol One Bowl. My belief is that it will not be Auburn as the COB folks say they do not really want a rematch. On this note, Arkansas is looking like the choice. Although, should ND be shut out of the BCS, the Capitol One folks would love to get them as between thier fans and the Badger fans, the game would be sold out in about 30 minutes after the matchup was announced. As much as I don't care for ND, they have great fans.

Jack Ikegwuonu is a moron! Here is a guy who has loads of talent, is starting on one of the better defenses in the country , reportedly is from a family that is rather well off and he and his twin brother are out stealing a friggin' XBox! Likely he is gone for the Bowl game as Barry will have none of this crap. Plus, it's a XBox! Doesn't he know that the PS3 is a much better system? Sheesh.

Just to continue on the college football kick. I am completely against an OSU/MI rematch for the national title. The game was not as close as the final score indicated. MI scored with 2 minutes left to bring it under 10 points. They were manhandled and had to play a perfect game while OSU played sloppy and being down by double digits for most of the game was their reward. Obviously if USC loses to UCLA, then MI likely will get the nod and that's that. MI would still lose the rematch anyway. OSU is clearly the best team in the country.

I just started a 6v6 football league on Wednesday. It's 2 hand touch above the waist on a 40 yard field with only a half width field. It's not co-ed though, my wife threatened me with severe bodily harm if I joined that one. Too bad, Hooters sponsors a team in that league... mmmmm Hoooooterrrrsss... Anyway, it's the first football I've played since high school and it's amazing how some abilities just never go away. I have no problem catching the ball and playing defense. The route timing and running needs some work, but that will come with more games. We lost our first game 18-26 to our opponents who had just won the fall league 3 weeks ago. It was a good showing and yours truly had 3 catches, one for a TD.

Oprah Winfrey - Packer Fan

After yet another horrible loss by the Packers last night,24-34 to the Seahawks. I needed to chat with yet another loyal, famous Packer fan: Oprah Winfrey. So we got together at my place after the game to discuss how the team did and what to do about them:

CC: Thanks for coming by Oprah, I assume your International Foods Coffee is ok.

Oprah: Absolutely Craig. By the way, your place is gorgeous.

CC: Thanks Oprah. So, that was yet another sad loss by the Pack tonight.

Oprah: Oh dear heavens it was. I wrecked at least 5 of my TV's in my 48,000 square foot home.

CC: It sure was frustrating. So, where do the Packers go from here?

Oprah: Well, first off, I need to be put in charge.

CC: Really? You want to run the Packers? What would you do with the team?

Oprah: Yes I do. First off, I fire all the men on the coaching staff and replace them with women of all shapes, sizes and colors. No part of womanhood would be left unrepresented.

CC: Well, that's an interesting first step. Please, go on.

Oprah: Then, I would buy not only the staff, but all the players a new car!

CC: That's... something.

Oprah: I would have the players read books from my book club to help them become better players and people. For the pathetic secondary, I would have them read I Feel Bad About My Neck to help them with their problems of watching the opposing WR run past them.

The front seven would read How Stuff Works so that they see how teams running plays work so that they can stop them from having a RB who has been out most of the year from running over 200 yards against them.

The special teams definately need to read The Best Way to Play. They have been horrific this season and appear to not even be coached. They look like a bunch of Pop Warner kids out there.

For my dear, dear Brett Favre, he would have to read A Fine Balance, that way he can see the difference between forcing a throw to make a big play and just making the play to move the chains.

CC: You would have the team read books from your book club huh? That seemed to work out well with A Million Little Pieces by James Frey didn't it?

Oprah: Real funny Craig.

CC: What about having to deal with all the contracts and agents and stuff?

Oprah: If we win the division, I'd give all the players a new car!

CC: You really like that new car thing don't you?

Oprah: That's what I do. Besides, any agent or player that messed with me with all this holdout and contract nonsense I would flay him on my show and get all of America against him. After all, I AM OPRAH!

CC: Thanks for stopping by Oprah, you're truly an inspriation.

Oprah: Cars for everyone! Wheee!

Things to be thankful for

This Thanksgiving, there is a great amount of things to be thankful for for Cheeseheads.

I'm thankful that I'm not a fan of the other NFC North teams.
Detroit is one of the biggest laughingstocks in the league and are doomed to have crappy teams for the rest of their existence in the league. Along with season tickets, the team sends out brown paper bags for the fans to cover themselves in. The Vikings have no leadership or direction and the fans always puff their chests out each year about how great their team is, only to jump off the bandwagon, usually by midseason when their team puts forth their crappy performance year after year. To be a Bears fan, you have to live in a trailer by the railroad tracks and think that Keystone really is good beer *shudder*.

I'm thankful that the Badgers are an elite football and basketball program.
The football squad is ranked in the Top 10 yet again and are going to yet another New Years Day Bowl game, likely the Capitol One Bowl. The poor saps the Badgers have to play from the SEC will not know what hit them. The basketball team is also ranked in the Top 10 and is a preseason favorite to make the Final Four.

I'm thankful that there is great optimism for the Brewers.
They did finish under .500 last year, but that was with a patchwork PS. Sheets and Ohka stay healthy and with the young kids having another year of experience, the future is bright at Miller Park.

Plus, we have outstanding stadiums to watch all our teams in. Miller Park, Kohl Center, Camp Randall and of course, Lambeau Field; nobody can hold a candle to WI stadiums.

Have a great Thanksgiving all!

Tom Cruise : Packer Fan

After this latest embarrassment by the Packers in their 35-0 drubbing by the Pats, I decided that it was time to ask a famous Packer fan about his thoughts on the game. So I dialed up Tom Cruise at his Italian hotel where he is spending his honeymoon with his new bride, Katie Holmes. Here is our conversation:

CC: Hey Tom, thanks for talking with me today.

Tom: No problem Craig, that was one hell of a loss wasn't it? I had to watch it with my Eyes Wide Shut.

CC: No kidding. How do you deal with it when the Packers play this badly?

Tom: Well, I don't make any noise during or after the Packer game for 1 hour. It's just like the birthing event for my daughter. I watch in complete silence as do all others around me. In fact, I mute the TV as well.

CC: Seriously? That's got to be tough. I mean, I'm yelling and trying not to curse around my kids.

Tom: I know that I am in the Minority Report in regards to that, but I do have a Cocktail or two during the game and that helps.

CC: I see. So what are your thoughts on the Packers this year?

Tom: Well, Brett Favre is obviously still a Top Gun at the QB position, he's a Legend. The Young Guns on the OL and the defense are improving. In fact, I think that Pack are just A Few Good Men away from being a SB contender again. Some may think that dream is a Mission: Impossible, but not me.

CC: You seem really sold on the Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy plan.

Tom: This is Far and Away the best management we have had since Holmgren was here. It was a Risky Business hiring both Thompson and McCarthy, but so far they have made All The Right Moves.

CC: Your optimism is a great inspiration for me, Tom. Thanks.

Tom: You're welcome Craig, anytime. I have to get going on my honeymoon now. Katie is calling and unless I want the Days of Thunder to come and end up having the War of the Worlds, I gotta go.

CC: Say hi to Katie for me and next time you're in Minneapolis, stop on by.

Tom: Absolutely buddy!

Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Cruise - Packer Fan. Tune in next week when we'll hear from another famous Packer fan.

Six Pack is Back

With the big game coming up this weekend, and no, not the Badgers/Buffalo massacre, I figured I would bring back the 6 things to watch for for the Packers/Patriots game.

1 - Favre cannot turn the ball over. It's pretty clear that if Favre throws INTs, the Pack loses. Cannot be on the wrong side of the turnover battle in this one.

2 - Pass rush has to get to Brady. These are not the Pats from their SB days, the WR corps is not a good unit and if you can hurry Brady, he may start to force the issue and the Pack have to capitalize with getting the picks.

3 - McCarthy needs to get better at red-zone play calling. Coming away with FG instead of TD is a sure way to lose a game against the Pats.

4 - The running game needs to get back on track. Have to win the time of possession and this is the way to do it. With or without Tauscher at RT.

5 - Pass protection has to continue it's great streak. Last week the Pack put on a pass protection clinic and if they can continue to give Favre time like that, he'll pick NE apart.

6 - Cannot give up the 40 yd-oops-I-messed-up-my-coverage-TD that they have over the last 2 weeks. Brady will absolutely eat them up if they do that. He can see this far more quickly than Johnson did last week and Brady can eat the Packers DB's up if they play a good game, let alone leave WR uncovered.

I have a feeling that this could be a high-scoring game. Would not be surprised to see a team get 30 points in this one.

The sweetest win of the year

The Packers come out of the Big Inflatable Toilet with a very solid 23-17 win over the Queens and with it, they have already reached their win total from last year, Yeee-Haw!

There are several reasons for the win today and let's look at all of them in their cheesy glory!

1 - The OL was a stone wall on the Vikings pass rush. They gave Favre all day to throw and simply destroy the Vikings secondary. The numbers don't lie: 347 yards, 2 TD, virtually no pressure and nothing close to an INT.

2 - The Packers pass rush was relentless. It seemed as if everyone was able to get in a shot on Johnson today. They created turnovers and just demolished the vaunted OL of the Vikes. Big games by the LB corps today.

3 - Driver was in that rare zone with Favre where both knew where the holes in the D were and they exploited them to their fullest.

4 - Mike McCarthy outcoached Childress of the Vikes. MM had a great gameplan, stuck with the run even though it wasn't very productive, but in keeping the Vikes D honest Favre was able to throw easier. Remember all the hubbub about when Childress went to MN and the Packer fans were mad that we were "stuck" with MM? (I was not one of them) How many people out there now are still questioning the MM hiring? Not me, we clearly have the better coach and it's not even close.

5 - The Oracle said that they would win, and they did.

Rejoice all ye Packer fans! This team is improving every week, it's clear they are. We are on an upswing as an organization, which I cannot say about the team with the silly purple jerseys we whopped today.

Lee Corso can suck on my cheese balls

All season long, Lee Corso (photo on the right, preparing to suck up to one of his favorite teams) at ABC has railed against the Badgers. He has said that the Badgers do not deserve a high ranking as they did not play Ohio State this year and doesn't care about anything else that the Badgers are doing. Great logic, USC hasn't played them either, but you're willing to sing their praises all day long. Prior to today's game, he was asked who he thought would win, he just said "I really like Iowa in this game". Gave no other reason than that to support his view. Just a loud-mouthed know-nothing who gets national media attention just because he's "entertaining". He's a joke who just hams it up for the home crowd they are at each week and says outrageous things for the sake of doing it. I'm glad UW has stuck it to him time and time again this year.

The Badgers pulled out a close 24-21 win over the evil Hawkeyes. The Badgers D gave up some uncharacteristic big plays, but they nevertheless frustrated Drew Tate(r Tots) for a 10-31 day. No doubt Iowa played with passion today, as a win would have saved their dismal season. But given they loaded up against the run, Tyler Donovan, in his first start for the injured John Stocco shredded the Hawkeyes D and with 228 yds and 2 TD on 17-24 passing to go along with his 61 yards rushing. How good are Badgers that they can beat a team with a winning record with their backup QB?

Great job by Bielema to rest Stocco if he didn't need to play. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if Stocco was saved until the Capitol One Bowl game in January as the Badgers get the lowly Buffalo, err Buffalos next week at Camp Randall.

Judging by all the losses in the top 11, with 5 teams losing, the Badgers could very well jump to possibly #11 themselves in the newest polls. This Badger team could go down as one of the best ones ever when all is said and done. They are now 10-1 and have a shot at 11 regular season wins for the first time.

This is it

The Badgers head off to Iowa and face the Hawkeyes (6-4) in their final Big Ten game of the season. This is a huge game as the Badgers are 0-4 in their last 4 meetings against them and a win tomorrow would make the Capitol One Bowl a stone cold lock.

The Hawkeyes have an average defense that has the ability to completely break down at any given time. Many Hawkeye fans realize that their Def Coord is behind the times and don't care for him. Thier offense is nothing special either and the Badgers D should have some good success in holding the Hawkeyes in check.

The big question mark is at QB for the Badgers though. John Stocco is apparently a game-time decision and this is going to make things interesting. With a healthy Stocco, this offense can explode at any time. With Tyler Donovan at QB, the WI offense has to be more run oriented and a bit more predictable. Tyler can run better than Stocco, but he's no Troy Smith Juice Williams or anything like that.

I would expect that Stocco will start if he is able to, but that the run will be heavily emphasized. Look for PJ Hill to get a lot of carries and for the Badgers to go for a ball-control heavy offense. I say the Badgers win by 13 in a low scoring game.

Top 10 Reasons for a Packer win against MN

Even though the Bills loss stings me like... a stingy thing does, I am still not giving up on the Pack. Not when the opponents are the Minnesota Vikings this week. Rivalry games are always great and this week is a desparate week for both teams. So today I am doing a complete 180 from yesterday's post. Let's review why the Packers will win this game.

10 - The Vikings offense is horrible and couldn't even come close to scoring more than 3 points against the woeful San Fran D.

9 - The Vikes new unis are silly looking, and silly looking teams don't win football games.

8 - The Packers new running attack will continue it's success and wear down the Viking defenders.

7 - The toughest guy the Vikes have is their mascot, Ragnar. He was seen crying while watching the Oxygen network this week.

6 - It bears repeating, the Vikings offense is horrible.

5 - The Packers DB's will eat up the Vikes so-called WR corps.

4 - Ryan Longwell will realize he loves the Pack too much and will intentionally miss the game winning FG.

3 - God hates the Vikings and loves the Packers.

2 - Even though the Packers have lacked that killer instinct, the Vikes don't have it either.

1 - Come on, it's the frickin' Vikings.

No winning instinct

I haven't written about the Packers' embarrassment from Sunday against the Bills as whenever I tried, I got too pissed off and stopped. Whether it was Brett having a ball snapped off his face, or 2 completely ill-advised throws to a covered Donald Driver on a quick slant, or the defense just giving up after that 2nd INT, it just all did me in.

It's the 3rd game this year where the Packers should have won and didn't. The Packers lack that something that winning teams have. Some may say it's experience or talent. I say it's this: killer instinct. For example:

End of the 2nd Q, Packers driving and have a first and goal from the 5 with 10 seconds left. Wells snaps the ball to Favre who is simply looking to the right. He's not calling a play or shouting instructions, and the ball goes right off his face mask because he's not paying attention. The rest of the offense moved at the snap except for Favre.

Start of the 3rd Q, the Pack have busted off some huge runs, but then decide to quit running the ball, and 3 incompletions later, waste an opportunity inside Buffalo territory.

4th Q, the Packers D has owned the Bills offense all day. They have forced a 2nd and 20. Inexplicably, the secondary (Al Harris and the safety) do not cover Lee Evans, Buffalo's best WR and thus, a TD is scored.

4th Q, the Packers had been running the ball at will against the Bills in the 3rd and 4th Q. They had a first and goal at the one. The killer instinct would have been to give the ball to Green, step on the Bills throats and score the TD to tie the game. Instead, they step off of the Bills and call a foolish pass play that turned out to be the finishing blow against the Pack.

Time and time again, the team had prime opportunities to score points, and failed. The defense, while very good all day, failed miserably in the 4th Q, when the team needed them most. Some of it is play calling, other times it's miserable execution. But you don't see good teams meltdown like this as often as the Packers do. It's not as easy as just blaming the overall youth of the Packers, as the young kids did well enough. Simply put, the Packers don't know how to win right now, and it's showing.

Lion Tamers

Yeah, I'm sure this title will be used by a lot of other posts about the Badgers 13-3 win over Penn State, but I like it anyway.

This Badger defense is incredibly good. Say what you will about the level of competition, but they are dominating that competition. The PSU offense did nothing all day.

The offense did a fine job moving the ball and keeping the Badger D rested. PJ Hill had another solid day and showed why he is going to be a Heisman candidate next season. The injury to Stocco is very concerning though. I think there was no reason to call for that pass play that knocked him out of the game. The Badgers just needed to run the ball and take time off the clock. Why throw on 1st down? Bielema is going to be kicking himself for that move and will likely get an earfull from Barry during their Monday walks that they have. Hopefully Stocco is not seriously hurt, but I have a feeling this is not good.

Next week is the final Big Ten game against Iowa. Even if Stocco is unable to play, I expect the Badgers to roll over the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes D is terrible and the team is unravelling this year. A win next week solidifies the Capitol One Bowl for the Badgers.

Bucks start strong

The Bucks manhandled the Detroit Pistons in their opener last night 105-97. Did I mention this was at Detroit? Against the team marked to possibly contend for the Eastern Conference and NBA title? Bogut was brilliant and is showing why he was the #1 pick last season now that he is in his proper position. Mo Williams played his usual turnover-free game. Villanueva gets 16 pts and 12 rebounds which is exactly why the Bucks traded Ford for him, a solid inside presence to compliment Bogut. Then there is Michael Redd, the scoring machine. The man drops 37 on a defensive-minded team on 63% shooting, that's all that needs to be said. Just a great showing all around.

The Bucks are being picked to be in the cellar of the division and I have seen 1 writer out of about 20 pick them to be the #8 seed in the playoffs. This is hogwash. These Bucks are going to surprise a lot of writers this year and be the #6 seed at least. I don't think a 46-36 record is out of the question for this year. This team is arguably better at every position than they were last year. It's all about staying healthy this season and living up to their potential. Last night was simply a great start.

Tony Romo is a Demon

Some may wonder why I am plugging a Dallas Cowboy QB of all people on the Oracle of Cheese. They say "Hey, he's a stinking Cowboy! He's one step short of a Bear, Viking or pondscum!" or "He's a one game wonder. He'll never make it as a legit starter in the NFL."

I put him on as I want to point out his bio on the Cowboys website (you'll have to actually click on his name for a pop-up window). Go ahead and open it and read it and come back here, I'll wait.

Ok, are you done reading it now? (and checking out the cheerleading squad) If so, you would have seen that he is from Burlington High School in Burlington, WI (the Demons). Coincidentally, this is my hometown and high school. Not too often does a kid from a town of 10,000 people make it in the NFL, let alone become a starting QB for a high-profile team. Damn proud of this. The Oracle is officially cheering for Tony to make it big in the NFL. He certainly seems to have the tools to be successful. And no, I don't know him as I graduated many years prior to him.

You may now return to the Cowboys site and view the swimsuit calendar, and you're welcome for the link.

And now, we dance

The Packers looked like a professional football team for the 2nd straight week with a 31-14 win over the Cardinals. They had a running attack, a pass offense and even some defense today. The special teams, well, not so special.

The Packers did one of those rare feats where they have 2 100 yard rushers in the same game (Green 106 yds and Morency 101 yds). That OL sure looked good out there. The holes were huge and both the backs took full advantage of them. This zone blocking thing really is starting to work ain't it? Favre had a good day and didn't throw anything close to an INT that I saw. I must say that the only thing uglier than Favre running is the "Lambeau Leap" Favre. Now we know why he's never done it before. Favre has been the biggest benefactor of the recently improved running game. Favre no longer feels he has to force the issue to make a big play. He justs stay within the offense, and it is working out.

The defense was good today. Kampman had a very good 2 sack day, Hawk was solid against the run. Heck, even Barnett had a solid outing. Anyone notice that Woodson had nothing completed on him? He had a shut down day and came up with a INT even. He is certainly having a season of redemption so far this year. He's been everything the Packers could have hoped for when signing him. Plus, his punt returns have been very good, you just get that feeling that he is going to bust one all the way sometime this year.

Some may scoff at 2 wins in a row, but I shall not! Besides, this gives me a chance to put Carmen Miranda up on the Oracle. A winning streak is worth dancing about. Let the dancing begin!

Close one for the Badgers

Bucky dodged a bullet on Saturday with a 30-24 win over Illinois. The first half was just atrocious as Dave Heller at the Journal Sentinal pointed out during the game: "One press box member responded that the Badgers are playing more like the No. 17 team in the Big Ten". That was a fairly accurate description. Then the second half happened.

The Badgers dominated the second half by scoring 20 points getting almost 200 yards of offense, getting 2 turnover (on on downs), having over a 5 minute TOP advantage and limiting Illinois to just over 80 yards of offense. Illinois was only in the game due to an INT for a TD and a fumble inside the Badger 30. They didn't earn much of their scoring by any real offensive prowess. Great comeback by the Badgers.

The Badgers were almost caught looking past a much lesser team, but they survived and got the W. Now, onto hosting Penn State (6-3) in a huge game. Bucky cannot come out with the effort they had in the first half against Illinois in the game against PSU. Look for a much sharper, more focused team this coming Saturday.

Well I'll be

I just noticed that on ESPN they released the pre-season college basketball rankings and the Badgers are ranked #9! Hell, the Badgers are ranked higher than Duke. Let me say that again, THEY ARE RANKED HIGHER THAN DUKE! To accomplish this task over the most evil college basketball program ever is quite the day-brightener.

That's what happens when you keep over 90% of your scoring and rebounding and you get your #6 & 7 players back from suspension. I haven't been this excited about Badger basketball in quite some time. They went over to Italy and played a 5 game exhibition schedule against some pro and semi-pro teams and went undefeated. This was well noticed by the writers and I'm looking forward to yet another great Big Ten season and March tourney.

Just a break from the football season with this news.

Ok, break over. The Badgers should stomp the living hell out of the damn FIBs and the Packers should do the same to Arizona. Badgers by at least 24 and the Packers by 10.

Mailbag... MAAAAILBAAAG!!!

Today the Oracle shall answer a question from a loyal reader:

"O Great Oracle: Let me begin this humble request for information by noting that it was my pleasure to see Mrs. Oracle for a brief time when I was visiting the home of your esteemed neighbor last week. Unfortunately, you were not at home. Let me also apologize for defeating you in Fantasy Football, although please note that I really needed a win!

My question regards Brett Favre and the near-constant speculation regarding his future. I note that he needs only 16 touchdowns to pass Dan Marino on the all-time list. Do you think this record means anything to him? If so, do you think he would come back next year to break the record, assuming that he does not do so this year? Perhaps you feel that the record has no impact on his decision whether or not to play after this year. I would be most interested in hearing of your views in regards to these questions.

Thanks much and take care.

Curt in Grand Forks"

Well Curt in Grand Forks, you do raise some interesting points.

First, let me say that my wife was pleased to see you as well. I am saddened to have missed being in your prescence, but it could not be avoided as the great Seer of Bratwurst was in need of assistance.

Second, you are welcome with the fantasy football win. I saw that that would be a good time for you to enjoy some modicum of football success and granted it to you.

Third, on to Brett Farve. This year there is definately a different Brett Favre than we have seen in years past. For the last 4-5 years, he has been a far more stoic Brett, content to keep what he feels on the inside. He was simply existing on the football field and going through the motions of playing it seemed. This year, he is noticably more excited and frankly looks as if he's having fun. I know this is a cliche in regards to him however, hear me out. He is showing far more on-field leadership and encouragement to his teammates than he has in years past as well. His running up to Driver and carrying him around last week was testiment to that. He has particularly been very encouraging to the rookie OL in front of him during games. He knows how far his encouragement can take a player and has dished it out quite effectively this season as the OL has responded with better and better play as the season has gone along.

Perhaps he feels that this is his final goodbye and is wanting to do the most with it, or maybe he has rediscovered an old fire. I believe it is the first part, and he wants to go out fighting. He has always said that the TD record is not what he is going for, but I think he really wants it, but is giving it this year as his last chance. I did say after last season that he would not come back and I was wrong. However, not even the great Oracle can see into the havoc that Phil Simms can bring, as nobody can understand his logic.

So gentle Curt, regardless if Favre breaks the TD record or not, I do not see him returning. I appreciate your inquiry and may you have safe journeys in life.

The jinx is broken!

Finally the Packers and Badgers win on the same weekend. Sorry for the delay in my postings as my folks were visiting for the weekend, so blogging had to wait.

The Badgers started off with yet another extremely good defensive effort in demolishing Purdon't 24-3. The defense held the #11 offense in the country to under 300 total yards and 3 measly points. PJ Hill had yet another awesome game of over 160 yds and likely will be a Heisman frontrunner next season.

The Badgers are getting some great national love as they are now #17 in the AP Poll, #18 in the coaches and #18 in the BCS. As I said at the beginning of the season, it looks to be another Capitol One Bowl for the Badgers this year.


The Packers showed some great signs of life in their 34-24 beatdown of the Dolphins. Green's hamstrings proved durable when he broke off a 70 yd TD run early in the 4th. The pass defense was still spotty at best, even with the 3 INTs they got. WR were still running free and Harris was clearly beaten for a TD had Harrington not been the QB for Miami. Given that Miami had to throw over 60 times in the game the pass numbers are a bit inflated so I shouldn't be too hard on the unit.

Was there any better sight in sports than Favre picking up Driver and carrying him around after his spectacular TD catch? It's moments like that which can spark the morale of a team for the rest of the season. Yeah, I'm drinking the Green and Gold Kool-Aid big time today, and I don't care how it looks.

B-Bye Koren!

Koren Robinson has been suspended for 1 yr by the NFL effective immediately stemming back to his "incident" in MN while speeding drunk from the po-lice. His time here went by fast, faster than a speeding cop car (almost). So, what does this mean for the Packers? Several things:

1 - We now need yet another #3 WR and KO returner
2 - No hit at all on the salary cap
3 - Guess no Super Bowl trip this year

Don't forget the Bucks!

I have been so wrapped up in the Packers and Badgers that I forgot about our Milwaukee Bucks. Shame on me. The Bucks have had some injuries already, but this is a deep team and luckily the injuries happened early enough in the pre-season that Bogut and Simmons won't miss much playing time.

The injury to Bogut is unfortunate, but given that just means that Gadz gets more time, it's not so bad. Gadz is one of the fan favorites and deservedly so as he simply hustles his tail off. Which is a good thing as a tail could be a detriment on the floor. Certainly I'd rather have Bogut on the floor, but Gadz is not a bad fallback position as the team can function just fine while giving Bogut plenty of time to heal.

Anywho, for the naysayers who jeered when Patterson was brought in, the injury to Simmons shows why he was signed. Not only will Patterson fill in nicely while Simmons is out, but he could push Simmons for the starting spot. We saw last year how Simmons seemed to be mailing it in and just didn't live up to the hype and contract. Patterson should help Simmons realize that he needs to step his game up.

Looks to be a great season brewing up for the Bucks. Playoffs seem a certainty as does a winning record. I'm going with a 46-36 record for them this year.

That was an Axe whipping!

In front of 82,010 fans, the Badgers absolutely bitch-slapped the Goophs 48-12 to keep Paul Bunyan's Axe and win Homecoming. Redshirt Freshman phenom PJ Hill gets 164 yds and 2 TD, while getting the 4th Q off. John Stocco has yet another fantastic game going 12-19 193 yds and 4 TDs.

The Goophs (they are still a D-I team right?) were pathetic in every aspect of this game, even the radio announcers were terrible. I live in MN, and had to listen to the game on the radio here. The announcers actually said just after the Badgers scored to make it 35-3, "The Gophers need to do something before this game gets out of hand." What? I started laughing my ass off at this comment. The game was already out of hand at that time, hell, it was out of hand for the Goophs when they arrived at the stadium.

I stated 3 weeks ago that this stretch of games against Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota were easy wins for the Badgers and they were as they outscored their opponents 141-38. Next game is at Purdue, which is going to be a tough one as they can score. I originally had that as one that could go either way, but man the Badgers have been impressive.

Very impressive win today as the Badgers flat out dominated yet again. I'm going to play my WI marching band CD tonight and have a couple in celebration.

I could just watch this all day long

To continue our YouTube Badger week, I give you the greatest finish to a game ever. This is better than the "Hail Mary" by BC over Miami, which was simply total luck. The Cal punt return? Please, play never should have counted as there were band members on the field. Nope, the 2005 Badger/Goopher game at the Metrodump is unequivicably the greatest finish ever. If you look closely, you can actually see the Goophs punter sh!t his pants when the Badgers come at him. So sit back and enjoy!
Oh and...

THEY BLOCKED THE PUNT!!!

Jump Around

"I came to get down, I came to get down
So get out your seats and jump around
Jump around
Jump around
Jump around
Jump up Jump up and get down.
Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump
Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump"




It's Homecoming Week! This week's victim will be the Minnesota Goophs. Those poor Goophs, they simply just aren't ready for the insanity that awaits them. I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards... almost.

Tune in tomorrow when we will have a WI/MN special video.

When you say Wisconsin...

You've said it all!
This week I've decided to put some some great You Tube videos of the Badgers in honor of it being Homecoming week. And yes, I do have THE video which will be up in a couple of days, just be patient. For now, just enjoy the greatest college band in the USA, the UW band!

Where's the Pass Rush?

The Packers lose a heartbreaker to the Rams 23-20 falling just short on the comeback attempt. This would be game #2 that the Packers had a legit chance of winning this year, but just didn't do enough to get the job done.

Some may point here or there for the reasons: not enough experience on the team (but the rookie OG sure did a nice job opening gaping holes for Noah Herron didn't they?) or that Favre got cold in the 2nd half (he did have the big TD to the Rookie Of the Year Greg Jennings and had a great 4th Q). True, the fumble killed them, but how about some pass blocking there? Still others will comment on the 3 dropped INT's by the D (how could you drop that one in your chest Al Harris?). But for me, I'm going with the non-existant pass rush.

Sure, point out that they had 2 sacks, but other than those, there was virtually no pass rush. On many of Bulger's pass attempts there was nobody in his face or even making him move around. Our secondary and overall pass defense is poor enough without the opposing QB getting so much time to choose that he can play some Jacks, a game of Euchre and then throw the ball.

Can we bring back Ezra Johnson and Sean Jones please?

Bring forth the sacrificial cat!

Tomorrow the Badgers get game #2 of their 3 game streach of games they should win, this week's victims are the Northwestern Wildcats. This season the Wildcats are anything but fierce, in fact they are a bunch of pussies, pussy cats I mean. They have lost to the powerhouses that are New Hampshire and Nevada and they barely beat Eastern MI. Last week they were trounced by Penn St 33-7.

NW is poor against the run and gee, that would be the Badgers modus operandi. Look for PJ Hill to once again have a huge game. I would expect about 150 yards and 3 TD from him. The NW team is young and they are starting a freshman QB for the first time this week. The Badgers D, while not playing consistently themselves, should be able to eat him up.

This won't be as bad as the Badgers whipped Indiana last week, but a 3 TD win is certainly not out of the question and frankly quite likely. Look for Hill and Stocco to once again get the 4th Q off.

Free at last... Free at last...

In a move that was a long time coming, the Packers finally released Ahmad Carroll after another hugely disappointing game. He's been nothing but consistently bad for the last 3 years and as much as I have defended him last season, I'm glad he's gone. Some other team will pick him up and he may have a good career there, but he's worn out his tired act here. He has talent, but his resistence to coaching and poor mechanics were his downfall.

Now if Thompson will have the balls to throw DB coach Shitenheimer to the curb, our secondary will have a chance to get better. Let's see: In 2004, the secondary was horrible and he was fired. In 2005, the secondary was remarkably improved with the same players. In 2006, he's brought back in and now they suck again. How in the world can Thompson or McCarthy not see this man is a horrible DB coach? Everywhere he has gone, players perform poorly and they say that he simply seems as though he doesn't care, he's too laid back, too hands off. When the DB's have to wear wristbands to simplify the defense so that they are in the right coverage, then that's a sign of a poor coach who's too f'ing lazy to teach. The guy essentially has a famous brother who is a darn good coach and has been living off his accomplishments and name.

When the fans and other players can see how bad he is, the biggest question is, why can't the Packers?

Half and Half

Last night was a tale of 2 halfs, the first half was full of optimism and hope. The second half was, well the opposite of that. Due to how the Packers played, there are some out there trying to be optimists by pointing to the first half (the glass is half full), while others point to the second half (the glass is half empty) as the more correct gauge of the team. Let's hear the arguments:

Glass is half full: The Pack were leading at half 9-7 over the highly favored Eagles and had all the momentum going their way

Glass is half empty: The only reason the Pack were in this game was for 2 blunders by Philly fumbling inside the 5 yard line when they were going to score a TD. This game should have been 21-9 at the half.

Glass is half full: The Packers defense caused one of those fumbles and they did a good job harassing McNabb and sacked him 4 times and caused several hurries.

Glass is half empty: Oh please! Ahmad Carroll got absolutely torched repeatedly and Al "I want more money" Harris played pitifully. The secondary is awful and McNabb ate them up in the second half.

Glass is half full:Morency ran for almost 100 yards in place of Green and the run blocking looked very good.

Glass is half empty: Big deal, his inability to catch a ball caused a huge momentum changing INT and his fumble gave the Eagles another TD. He was responsible for giving Philly 14 pts.

Glass is half full: Greg Jennings is becoming a star. The WR were getting open.

Glass is half empty: Driver dropped a sure TD pass, wasn't aware of the back of the end zone on the other one, dropped a huge 3rd down pass that would have kept an early 3rd Q drive going. Franks dropped yet another big pass.

Glass is half full: Ryan and Raynor were fantastic on special teams.

Glass is half empty: If you gotta go with your punter and kicker being good, you are indeed reaching for positives.

Here's my take, after that game, just finish your damn beer and get another one and stop arguing if it's half full or half empty before it gets warm, it's going to be a long season.

Packers Magic 8 Ball

There was a comment posted by the one known as Murph (who apparently had his birthday this weekend) that bears repeating:

"Oh great and mighty Oracle, what do you see in your tea leaves for the Pack breaking free of their inverse relationship with the Badgers.

e.g. Badgers win - Pack loses - and vice versa.

Will this be the week? "

I had commented about this odd relationship last year as it happened for 8 straight weeks I believe. This year, it is back in effect as the lone Badger loss occured the same weekend as the lone Packer win. This Murph brings up a valid concern, however I do not use something as crude as tea leaves to decipher the future. I am the great Oracle and have far greater powers than that.

Let's see, where's that Magic 8 Ball? (rustle rustle) ...Hustler magazine... complete collection of 1985 NFL season cards... dress shirt I never wear... Aha! found it.

Oh great Magic 8 Ball... Tell us if this curse between the Badgers and Packers shall be broken tonight... (shake shake shake)
Not a chance. You do realize the Pack are playing the Eagles @ Philly right? Come on, Westbrook and McNabb are going to destroy them.

Will Brett Favre have a good game? (shake shake shake)
Outlook hazy. Given the Packers cannot run the ball with any consisitency, and the Packers D is about as stout as a wet paper bag, Favre is going to have to throw a lot. Expect about 40-45 attempts tonight. He'll put up yardage, but there is a good chance he could force the issue and revert to the 4 INT night.

Will Cheesehead Craig have a better time at his friend's house where he will see the game on a 52" HDTV with beer and tons of snacks with 8 other Packers fans than anyone else reading this blog? (shake shake shake)
Oh hell yes!

In case you are wondering, my Magic 8 Ball gives me much more complete answers than the cheap ones you get at the store. I am after all, the great Oracle! Oh, and Happy Birthday Murph!

On Wisconsin...

What an emphatic win what was for Bucky today. I mean they took Indiana out behind the woodshed, gave them a whipping, restocked the woodshed, then whipped them some more.

How odd is it when a team wins 52-17 and the game was not even as close as the score indicated? Just total domination by the Badgers. Let's look at some numbers:

Stocco 15-17 304 yards 3 TD. That's a QB rating of 158.33, in other words: the highest rating possible.

PJ Hill 23 carries 129 yards 3 TD. He was pulled after 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter.

The Badgers had 539 total yards to Indiana's 264.

The Badgers punted on their first drive. They then scored on 8 of their next 9 possessions and only punted again with 6 minutes left in the game.

At halftime, about half the crowd had left the stadium, embarrassed by their team. I told you the Badgers were going to win this easily. That is why I am the great Oracle.

Bucky to get back on track

The loss to MI was not unexpected by any Bucky supporter last weekend. It was actually encouraging that they hung with MI for 2.5 quarters on the road.

This weekend the Badgers go to Indiana to take on the pathetic Hoosiers. Last line was that Bucky was favored by 27.5 pts. Last week Indiana was outrushed by UConn 257-0, at home. I kid you not, here is the box score to prove it. PJ Hill is going to go off for about 175 yards and 3-4 TD this game for the Badgers prior to being pulled out after 3 quarters as the score this weekend should be laughable.

This game begins a streak of 3 games where the Badgers should go 3-0 as their schedule has some weak teams on it with Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota. The Badgers should beat all of these teams. Honestly, I expect a win by 3 TD this week.

That's much better

Your Green Bay Packers win their first game of the season against the De-toilet Lions 31-24. Brett Favre had his best game ever against the Lions going for 340 yards (for the 2nd straight week) and 3 TDs for a 127.1 QB rating. While the running game was rather poor, the passing game more than made up for it and the pass blocking was as exceptional as my mother-in-laws country-style ribs (oh, they're gooooood).

One of the blocking schemes I saw and loved was with going with a 3 WR set, 1 RB and TE. Franks then comes in motion and sets up as a quasi-FB. He, along with the RB stay in to block if there is a blitz, otherwise they go out on delayed, short pass routes. This worked perfectly all game. Favre had lots of time to throw, even when the blitz came. This formation puts a lot of pressure on the defense and gives Favre a bailout option. It really looked like the WC offense of old.

Once again the Packers pass defense was atrocious with multiple blown coverages. DB coach Kurt Schottenheimer is an absolutely horrific coach and proved that the last time he was in town. Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, well, SHAME ON YOU!

Another issue with the defense is the ineptitude of the blitzing. It only worked a couple of times and the Packers were burned repeatedly when the attempted it.

However, the D came through big when they needed to in the 4th quarter so let's give them credit there. Hawk was great all game long and is showing on a weekly basis the reason he was picked #5 overall. He is well on his way to being the defensive Rookie of the Year.

It was a great win for all of Packerland, we should celebrate it. It may have been against the Lions, but a win is a win.

All good things...

Today, I'm going to take a break from the WI sports that I so poorly write about and talk about something else. One of my best friends and the inspiration for me to start my own site has decided to call it quits. My neighbor Shane, author of the Greet Machine, has decided to hang up his keyboard (well, not literally hang it up mind you).

Shane blogged about getting a new Twins (and Vikings) stadium for the past 3+ years. He knew more about the bills and voting patterns of the legislature than anyone else, including the legislators I believe. His voter's guide of how those legislators voted was a work of art and one of the more impressive documents I, or many others, had seen. He wrote with a fantastic blend of humor, common sense and intelligence that I will never achieve (and am highly jealous of). Even his posts about chickens at the MN State Fair are better than anything I've done. His obsession with these creatures still disturbs me though.

He had developed quite a following with his site and found out during the process of writing that the Twins organization themselves were reading him on a daily basis. They also had reps come and visit him to go over his voters guide and how he came up with how the legislators voted. He was always glad to help them out and never asked for anything in return, such was his humble nature.

This past summer, Shane's dream came true: a new, outdoor Twins stadium. He was like a kid at Christmas time. You couldn't wipe the smile from his face for quite a while.

At a celebration party after the legislation passed at the Summit Brewery (which is now my favorite beer), the man who owns the site where the stadium will be built got up to speak and said that Shane was a major reason that the stadium bill passed and gushed about how great he was. Never saw anyone blush as much as Shane did that night.

He accomplished the one thing that many bloggers go into the "business" for, to make a difference. He did so and asked for nothing in return for himself (well, except for the stadium, but not that it's actually "his"). I have more respect and admiration for Shane than just about anyone else I can think of. He had a dream and through hard work helped make it happen. He'll say he was simply a blogger and didn't have all that much to do with it. His readers, the developers and the Minnesota Twins all beg to differ.

Needless to say that his blog has served it's purpose and he's off to new adventures. I just know that my internet surfing is now a bit less interesting and enjoyable.

Thanks for being an inspiration Shane.

It's Official

The Brewers will have a losing record, again. Just a disappointing season for the Crew and their fans. If the pitching staff can stay healthy next year, they should be able to get over that hump. Obviously there are some question marks with the offense, but there seems to be some bright spots that can step up next season, plus I'm dying to see what Fielder can do next season. As has become the official slogan for the Brewers: "There's always next year".

Better, but still bad

That would be a rather apt way of describing the Packers game yesterday. They were able to pile up over 400 yards of offense and score 27 points, but blowing a 13-0 lead after the first quarter at home to lose 34-27 is inexcusable.

I put up a six pack on what the Packers needed to do to win. Let's see how these stacked up:

1 - Third Down Conversions: 9-18. 50% is real good. However 2 big ones they missed were on the early FGs. They convert and score TD's there, this game would have been over early. Overall: Succeeded

2 - Secondary Coverage: Woodson and Harris did a good job. Some early miscues, but for most of the game held up strong. Manuel, Collins and Carrol were burned for 3 TDs and were atrocious in the passing game. Overall: Failed

3 - Kick return game: Robinson was average and seemed more willing to fight with the Saints players after the tackle than fight for yardage. Nice job there Rocky. The blocking for kick and punt returns is not all that great either. Overall: Mediocre

4 - Taking Poppinga out on passing downs. They put him on Joe Horn! Horn then gets a 57 yard catch on a 7 yard slant. Poppinga was once again torched on passing downs. Overall: Failed

5 - Green needs 100 yards. There was absolutely no running game from the Packers which forced Favre to throw over 50 times. So much for MM saying they were going to stick with the run. Overall: Failed

6 - Franks in the offense: Bubba dropped far too many passes and was outdone by fellow TE Martin. Bubba was the reason for several failed drives and is starting to look like he's on the downswing. Overall: Failed

That's 1 success, 4 failures and 1 mediocre. Not too good there.

The biggest problem on this team is the pass coverage. It's bad. Real bad. Like Rosanne Barr singing the national anthem bad. If teams can complete over 65% of their passes and get tons of yardage, which is going to result in lots of points, this team has no chance of competing, much less winning.

On the bright side, it was nice to see McKenzie get absolutely schooled by Driver and Jennings. That juke that Driver gave him on the reverse was just filthy.

Once again, it's going to be a long season and hopefully the Pack can beat Detroit this weekend, if not, then I don't know who they are going to be able to beat.