Purple gone, finally!

Yesterday, the Bucks brought forth their new team colors, to the left (yes your left) is the new look. The logo design itself is pretty much the same, it's just that the hideous purple is gone, replaced by a deep red. They even updated their web site, which does look much better now. The Bucks did have some red in their unis back in the 70's and 80's I believe, so this is not a big wholesale color change. No, that was that awful purple color. I am so glad they got rid of that abomination of a color scheme. I mean, what professional team would ever voluntarily want to have purple in their colors? All purple says about the team wearing it is "I'm a loser".

Days of our Packers

Heeeyy-OOOOO! As you can see, lately I've been on vacation and didn't feel like posting too much. I've been doing this site for a year and a half, and did The Frozen Tundra for 8-9 months while trying to do this one. I simply got burned out and needed a break. Well, break's over for a bit so let's see what is being presented as "news" about the Packers.

PackersNews.com had an article about newly acquired LB Ben Taylor and given there is no news, decided to make a story about him. Here is an actual quote that really got me:

“Although he has his limitations, he’s a football player,” said Reggie McKenzie, the Packers’ director of pro personnel.
“That’s what we liked. We felt like he was a football player"

Well thank God they didn't get a swimmer or cricket player, because that would have been embarrassing. Seriously, does anyone get the whole "he's a football player" quote? The poor personnel guys, having to make crap up like this to give the sports writers something to do.

First, Al Harris says he may hold out, then his agent says he's not going to. Crikey, just make up your mind and if you are going to hold out, tell TT and MM now or else just shut your damn pie-hole.

The JS says that the rookie OG are projected starters at this point. I got no problems with this. It's obvious that Colledge and Spitz are better than what was filling those spots that passed as football players last year, and that is what is known as a good thing. Sure they'll mess up, but these two guys have huge upsides and will become solid starters.

The latest fan favorite, Brady Poppinga, might be ready for the season opener as he is ahead of schedule in his rehab. Many fans see a fast LB who in spot playing last year was outstanding prior to the knee injury. While intrigued, I'm holding off of proclaiming him as anything until the pads come on and he can perform. He plays to last season's level though, the "football player", Ben Taylor, may be relegated to the bench.

As far as the whole "no shows" go for the OTAs. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are voluntary, it's June, and nothing can really be decided on these. So who the hell cares who was there or not. Training camp is far more important than these.

That's all I got for now. There is going to be an absolute wasteland of Packer news until the July training camp. I'll try and fill this site with some Brewers babbling or such.

It was awesome!

That is the best way to describe my vacation to WA with the wifey. Whitewater rafting is such an incredible experience by itself, and to add in the gorgeous scenery of the Cascade mountains (Mount Hood pictured) around you and it's heaven on earth. A big thanks to Blue Sky Outfitters who we used to go on the trip down the Wenachtee River. I cannot give a higher recommendation for a company than I can for them. The guides genuinely had as much fun as we did and totally enhanced the trip that much more with their enthusiasm.

There is nothing like an 8 foot wave crashing down on you. I was extremely fortunate enough to sit in the front of the boat and take the brunt of most of the waves. The rest of the crewmates (including the wifey and guide) acted and yelled like a bunch of pirates while going through the sections of rapids. This was THE most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.



















The first picture is us crashing through the waves and the second is a shot of our guide Lars and a gratuitous plug for Blue Sky. Yes, Lars was the only one wearing a helmet, but he also wore it on the bus ride over to the drop in spot. That's when I knew he was the perfect guide for us. I am on the opposite side of the boat as the photographer, but I am in the front seat of the raft, and yes, that is the wifey in pink behind me.



















We stayed in the town of Leavenworth for several days, a touristy town that back in the 1960's decided that they were going to make the town look like an Alpine village. In that town I found:

Yes, the Cheesemonger's Shop. Naturally we went inside and upon meeting the owners of the shop I announced that I was the famous Oracle of Cheese. They immediately bowed in my presence and offered me tributes of Gloucester, Schloss and other cheesy-type foods. They showed me around and were incredibly friendly hosts.

On top of this we spent 2 days in Seattle and visited many of the sights (and foods) the city had to offer. Overall a great trip that I would recommend to all.

Vacation's all I ever wanted

I'll admit it, I've been crabby lately due to a variety of reasons. However, hopefully this attitude is going to change as the wife and I are off to WA tomorrow for some whitewater rafting, seeing Mount St. Helens (hopefully it will blow, that would be cool) and tooling around Seattle. It's a vacation I've been wanting to do for several years and finally have an opportunity to do. Here's a picture of the river we'll be on. Catch y'all next week!

Not cut from the same cloth

A recent article over at PackersNews.com mentions that the Packers OC Jeff Jagodzinski has now added in the controversial "cut blocking" technique for the OL. For those who don't know, I shall endevour to facilitate your understanding.

"Cut blocking" is the practice by the OL of going low, by the knees and ankles, on the DL on the back side of a running play in order to knock them down so that the RB can see the entire field better and make a good decision on where to run the ball. Example: if a play is designed to run to the right, the OL on the left side of the line "cut" down the pursuing defensive players. This aides in helping the RB in seeing if he can cut the run back to the left.

The controversy lies in that this low blocking can lead to a greater chance of injuries by the defensive players (sprained ankles being the main one). Many defensive players that played against the two teams that currently do this, Denver and Atlanta, have been very vocal against this type of what they call "dirty play". According to the rules, there is nothing illegal about what is being done so long as the OL are in front of the defender and no other offensive player is currently blocking that man. It is similar to what you see Favre do on the reverses, he goes down by the players knees and ankles to knock him down. For those defenders who call this "dirty", please explain the well-documented actions such as grabbing a man's "jewels" that happens in the pileup on a fumble and how that is just "part of the game" (I'm in a quotation marks mood today).

For my own opinion, I'm not a fan of this. I realize that this is a very successful system and could very well work as good here as in Denver and Atlanta and lead the Packers back to being a successful team. Also as stated previously, there is nothing illegal about it. But it being legal and successful should not be the defining factors if you should do something. I believe that the increase in injuries to other players is simply too great to implement this system. You know damn well that if say, the Bears used this system and Nick Barnett or Aaron Kampman got an ankle or knee hurt by a "cut block", that Packer fans would be up in arms about it. I will support my beloved Packers and hope the good parts of the system (insane rushing yardage) can be maximized with very little of the bad parts (injuries to defenders).

Whatever floats your boat

You know, I'm kinda sick of all the anti-Packer garbage that's been floating out there on the "news" websites lately (yes, this includes the almighty ESPN). Everyone wants to take a shot at arguably the most successful franchise in the NFL for the last decade, the Packers, now that they are down (don't think they've been chomping at the bit for this to happen do you?). A few players don't show up for voluntary minicamps and suddenly "McCarthy has lost control of the team". It's June people, quit making up stuff just so you can make a "story" for your deadline.

Also, one of the sites that I see quoted for stories is profootballtalk.com, which is one of the biggest pieces of garbage sites out there. They are so blatantly anti-Packer is ridiculous. Their "Picture of the Day" for most of the last month has been about the Packers and they simply just take juvenile shots at the team. Whatever, got better things to do with my time than bother with them. There's my rant for the day.

Look! A pretty Bonsai tree

The sports world for WI is a bit dull with virtually nothing from the Packers camp, Brewers are the Brewers and the Bucks and Badgers are hibernating. So I thought a nice Bonsai tree picture would be good for everyone. I love Bonsai trees, and really should get back into doing them. They just bring about a calmness and serenity. Plus, they remind me of The Karate Kid and any image of Ralph Macchio getting his ass kicked always brings a smile to my face. Wait, this is about calmness and serenity, so becoming calm... calm... Ok ok, the crane technique? Come on, I mean seriously. Sweep the leg. Great stuff.

Warning: Profanity ahead

Everyone has slumps, I understand that. However I can no longer hold myself back and I need to vent...

Derrick Turnbow is a fucking piece of shit and I am fed up with him!

The pitching staff as a whole is in fucking disarray being the worst staff in the National League and Yost and Maddux need to get their heads out of their mother-fucking asses and start trying to fix it instead this bullshit "riding it out" crap they seem to be doing.

Turnbow needs to be relieved of his reliever role and used in a differnt role. He has been an absolute horseshit of a reliever over the last 11 games:

10.1 IP and 10 Earned runs, that's fucking ridiculous! 4 blown saves! A WHIP of 1.84. 1.8fucking4!

Put Kolb in there and see how he does. It cannot get any worse.

My rant is done.

Terribly sorry

I go and spout off about the great Brewers offense, and how the road trip is going well and now the Brewers have lost 4 straight including 3 to the Pirates by a combined score of 32-5. I am certain that I caused this with my boasting, so I am now going to shut the hell up about it and hope that this appeases the baseball gods.