Monday, February 26, 2007

Heartbreaker

The Badgers lose at OSU 49-48 in a great 1 vs 2 matchup. Even though the Badgers didn't win, this was a very enjoyable game. But I will look at some positives and some negatives from the game:

Negatives
- Teams have been able to cut down on the Badgers' inside game lately. The Badgers have made a living at the FT line and lately they haven't been doing that. Bo needs to drill it into their players heads to get back to this style. They are settling for ill-advised jump shots from 17 feet or farther.

- Brian Butch out for the season with a sick elbow injury. I grabbed my elbow when I saw the replay. His prescence will be sorely missed.

- The guards have been very poor in defending against the fast break. Taylor and Flowers seem to be caught watching the game too much lately.


Positives
- Jason Bohannon is starting to shine. The Badgers desperately need him to continue to have the hot hand from outside as that opens things up for Tucker.

- Chappell had an outstanding defensive game. He man'd up on Odom and did a fantastic job on the future #1 NBA draft choice. His defense was as good as his offense was bad (and boy was it ever)

As a comment: Greg Oden is not ready for the NBA. There I said it. This guy is a freak, that is for sure, but his game is not ready. His footwork is terrible and he gets by on his athletic ability, plus he is not in physical shape for the extended minutes in the NBA. He hasn't even played a full season yet of college. There are some slightly above average players in the NBA that will eat him up right now. I mentioned to the guys I was watching the game my views with and they looked at me like I was on drugs. I'm not saying he's not going to be a good NBA player, I just believe that a year more in college will do wonders for his game overall that he could not get in the pros as he lacks some fundamental skills. Problem is, the money is way too hard to turn down.

Overall the Badgers played a very tough game and had a very good chance to win it. Tough break that Taylor couldn't hit the FT to put more pressure on OSU. I still have big hopes for this team come tourney time. They have the players and the coaching to win, let's see what March brings.

Big thanks to Dean for hosting the game. He and Shane were good guys to watch the game even if they were more rooting against OSU than for WI, it was still good to have some guys cheering for Bucky.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Nice while it lasted

All one day of the Badgers being the #1 team in the country. Like I said before, it's nice to have the ranking, but what matters is March Madness. I'd rather be #1 after all is said and done than #1 when the regular season ends.

The Badgers did not look past MSU to the big matchup vs OSU on Sunday. MSU played a hell of a game and deserve all the credit for the win. Neitzel torched the Badgers D as nobody has all season long. Combine that with the Tom Izzo staple - awesome rebounding, and that will carry MSU a long way. I thought the Badgers offensive execution was rather poor in the last 6 minutes of the game as they settled for far too many 17 - 23 foot shots rather than try and go inside and get the fouls and FT they win so many games on. They went away from their strengths and I believe Bo will hammer that deviation home this coming week of practice.

I figured the Badgers would lose 3 conference games or so this year, and so far they have lost 2 with 2 to play. Would love to have the Badgers beat OSU and essentially clinch the #1 seed for the Midwest regional.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

About time!


The Badgers men's hoops have reached the top spot in the AP poll this week. First time ever in school history. Now they just have to be at this spot 7 weeks from now, which is ultimately more important, but it's nice to celebrate this.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Good always wins over evil

The Badgers proved this addage quite convincingly last night with a trouncing of Minnesota 75-62. Player of the year Alando Tucker dropped 29 points against the sad Goophs. The Badgers even did all this at Minnesota, and laughed about it as you can see from Kam Taylor.

How much of a mismatch is WI vs MN? The Border Battle between these two schools is heavily in favor of WI
265-95 and after the Badgers' wrestling team destroys the ring-worm laden MN squad, the spread will be even greater.

It's a great time for Badger sports. There are nationally high-ranked programs on both the men's and women's side. We could very well be in the golden age of the university athletics.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

I was right the first time

The Bucks season is over. I had hopes that if they could be somewhat respectable while Redd was out, they could have a chance in the sorry Eastern Conference. Originally, I thought the team was doomed, then I tried being optimistic after the Boykins trade. I made the classic blunder, no not trying to fight a land war in Asia, but assuming the Bucks could compete without Redd or Williams (well, actually just Redd). This team is 3-17 in it's last 20 games and Redd won't be back for a bit yet. Boykins suddenly shut his game down after Williams comes back and Bogut fell of the face of the earth. Outside of Patterson and Williams, it seems nobody else gives a damn. That is on Stotts. His job is to get this team ready to play and compete. He has absolutely failed in this regard. He needs to go after this season if not immediately. It's completely clear that the team has given up on him.

Funny, when the Bucks were winning, the pro-Stotts crowd was saying how foolish the anti-Stotts people were. They've been amazingly quiet this past month.

Friday, February 09, 2007

To Randy, or not to Randy?

That is the question.

Rumors are flying about like flies on a Bear fan about the Packers trading for Randy Moss. That's right folks, the Packer killer may be coming here. Yes, it does seem wierd to talk about this. Now, understandably many Packer fans have some strong feelings about this ranging from "Yes, time to have him destroy teams for us!" to "You want that lazy, goodfornothing, cancer on our team?"

Well, let's take a look at
this situation shall we? Oops, wrong one (or is it, hmmmm?)

Does Randy still have it?
He was a force of nature for 8 seasons until last year. Randy did not had a very good 2006 in Oakland with only 42 catches and 553 yds and 3 TDs. Why was that? The detractors will tell you that he's lost a step and without that speed he's nothing. Well, the Oakland offense had THE worst OL in the NFL last year thus giving the QB no protection or time to throw. With this OL, the running game was pathetic (29th in the NFL). Teams could just load up on defending the pass. The OAK QB's were Andrew Walter and Aaron Brooks, who combined for about a 57 QB rating with only 7 TD passes, that's right, 7 total. Worst QBs in the NFL hands down. They were even worse than Brad "Noodle Arm" Johnson in MN and that's bad. In short, he was stuck on a bad team that couldn't and didn't use him. So using last season as a guide for Moss is not an accurate one. His previous 8 seasons are far more indicitive of how good a player he is.

Many questioned his commitment to making the offense succeed and the phrase of "I'll play when I want to play" continues to haunt him. This was an overblown comment at the time and still is. There are plenty of WR out there that do the same thing when they know the play is not coming their way. WR's are required to run so fast so often that this is expected and not surprising in the least. If you don't think Driver does this to, you're mistaken.

He has all the skills to dominate, he just needs a better supporting cast and I daresay that Driver, Jennings, Favre and Green are light years better than anything Oakland has to offer. Moss and Favre both admire each other's abilities and would be happy to work together. Favre would be happy as Moss is perfect for the jump balls Favre loves to throw and Moss would be quite happy in GB playing with Favre and Driver in a very good offense; and a happy Moss is a devastating Moss.


We got this guy in FA from Oakland... Woodson was his name. Most said he lost a step and that the Packers got a lemon. I recall he had a hell of a good year and was a borderline All-Pro CB. All he needed was a change of scenery. Same with Moss.

Is Randy a cancer?
No. I don't know a simpler way to put it. Does he speak his mind? Yes. So does Favre, but we call it leadership when it's him. "But great Oracle, what about his off the field issues? Didn't he once run over a cop and said he smokes pot?" As far as I know, Ahman Green has been arrested for beating up his wife and has had several restraining orders against him, but he still gets welcomed for the Lambeau Leap. Many fans even want him back next year. If Green can get a free pass, so can Moss. Let's face it, so long as the players perform on the field and we win, we love them and find a way to explain the off-field behavior.

What would it take to get Moss here?
The latest rumor is a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick and TE Bubba "fingers" Franks. Given that Franks is an absolute waste at TE, trading him and a 3rd for Moss is a no-brainer, I don't know if I would give up a 2nd and a player though. The Packers have over 29M in cap space and can easily accomidate his 9M in salary due next season. Rumor also is that Moss is willing to redo his contract to make it more palatable if needed.

What about the fans, will they accept him?
We had Jim McMahon on our team once as a backup QB to Brett. One of the cockiest opponents that Packer fans loved to hate. So don't give me that junk Moss won't be welcome. The minute Moss catches his first TD or even first down from Brett, the crowd will welcome him with open arms. Get over the "mooning" episode Packer fans. It's known that the residents of Green Bay moon the opposing team's bus after a game. Turnabout is fair play.

So should the Packers do the deal?
Absolutely. With Driver opposite him, who do you double team? There are going to be plays were either Moss or Driver are going to be wide open. Add in Jennings with a 3 WR package and you've got one of the best WR corps in the NFC. With teams having to worry about both Driver and Moss, the running game becomes that much better as teams cannot put 8 in the box. Also acquiring Moss gives the Packers a legit red-zone threat that they haven't had since the days of Chmura. The offense will open up far more than it has in about 8-9 years. Favre has made a career out of making poor WR good and good WR great. Imagine what he could do with a elite one.


There's nothing to do but speculate and debate the point until March 2nd, when FA begins and this can all become reality, one way or the other. I am for this move though as the positives far outweigh the any negatives. Packer fans, you need to get over your hatred of the man and see what he can do for the franchise.

Friday, February 02, 2007

He's Back! Hell Yeah!


Photo from JSOnline


I'm going to go home and have a drink or 6 to celebrate this. Playoffs, here we come!

Root for the Bears and you're a Commie!

The Super Bowl is this Sunday, in case you've missed the insane amount of TV hype and webspace dedicated to it.

As a diehard Packer fan, I hate all of my division foes. I don't care how "good" they may be, I refuse to root for them under any circumstance (unless it directly helps the Packers). Therefore, I will be rooting for the Colts, completely and with every fiber of my being. Manning and Dungy deserve a SB ring, Grossman and Chicago do not.

It was brought up by a fellow Packer fan of mine, that Packer fans rooting for the Bears because they are from the same division is blasphemy. He brought up the history of the rivalry. The game where the Fridge made his FB debut and got his first TD. The SB Shuffle arrogance. The Majic replay. The special hatred between Bears and Packers fans. When Lovie Smith was hired, he said that priority #1 was to beat GB. Not win a SB, but beat GB. He made rooting for Chicago akin to the Red Sox rooting for the Yankess in the World Series, or vice versa. It's an unforgivable sin. He finished his rant with the following sentence:

Decide if you want to be a Bear fan on the final game of the season. And if you do choose to wish a championship for the Packer’s most hated rival, don’t do it halfway. Paint your house in Bear loving colors and put on a Rex Grossman jersey. Then look at yourself in the mirror again, and consider what you are doing.
I love that sentence, and if that doesn't wake you up to what you are doing, then just keep the Bears jersey on for next season too.

I hear on the radio and TV that the Bears are going to win as they are sick of hearing how they can't and how the Colts are so superior. The analysts equate this to how FL was prior to their game vs Ohio State. In a word: bullshit. Some said prior to the game that FL should not have been there and now that is said about the Bears. "See how that worked for FL!" the sports guys say, like the 2 situations are similar. My counter: well, the Pats were nowhere near good enough back in '86 and look how that worked out. How about the Buffalo in '93, SD in '94, ATL in '99 or the NYG in '01? Very often in the NFL, the team that is the decided underdog in the SB gets spanked. Don't start comparing the college game with the pros. They don't compare and you know that the analysts are reaching for someway to make Chicago look like they have a chance if they have to look to college ball for some hope for the Bears.

I hope Indy wins and wins big. And I'll enjoy every minute of it.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Streak is over

The Badgers 17 game win streak came to a halt with a loss to the #25 Indiana Hoosiers 71-66. I did say that the Big Ten schedule was going to be tougher than people were expecting it to be, and this was one of the games that was going to be a problem. Indiana is a good squad and are 13-0 at home this year (remind you of anyone?). The Hoosiers are a very good offensive squad and last night, they were on their game. I think this is the first game that the Badgers allowed over 50% FG shooting all year. Butch needs to step up his game against opponents like this, 3 pts and 8 rebounds in 23 minutes? Also, Chappell put up a nice line himself: 4 fouls in 5 minutes. Thanks for showing up Jason!

I figured that the Badgers would lose about 3 conference games at the start of the Big Ten season, and this was one that I thought would be a tough one. Fortunately, thier next 5 games are fairly easy ones. They get Northwestern, MN, Iowa and Penn St. twice. The Badgers are 21-2 and one of the best teams in the nation, let's not lose sight of that with this last loss.