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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Miss me? Didn't think so

Well, I'm finally back from my fabulous cruise. I'll do another post later on when I get pictures and such sorted out. Needless to say, I'm rested, relaxed and not quite as tan as I would have liked to be. The wifey insisted that I put on SPF 900 so I actually got whiter the longer I was out in the sun. It was like being covered with White-Out. Anyway, let's see what went on with the Bucks (I'll get to the Badgers another day).

The Bucks were on a tear in December and got over .500 they were the darlings of the NBA for a while. Teams got destroyed by overplaying Redd and Williams as Bogut and Patterson were playing at an otherworldly level. Some even suggested that Stotts was to be credited for this, he shouldn't be. It was the team chemistry that was getting into full swing, players were getting comfortable in their roles. This is a young team and they needed time to gel. Then their #1 and #2 threats went down.

Now the Bucks are predictably atrocious. I wrote back on the 9th of this month that after Redd's injury, this season was over. The Bucks losing 9 of their last 10 since then and neither Redd or Mo due back for another couple of weeks. But, I believe that I spoke too soon and was too pessimistic. "He got too much sun on his trip" you may say, but that's not it. Why the turnaround you may ask? I'll give you 5 reasons:

1 - Earl Boykins. This little fireball is a nightmare for opposing teams. Who the hell can guard him? Nobody. He's too fast. He's also a scoring machine since the trade. He's dropping almost 20/game since the trade. 20! Holy crap did we get a steal on this from Denver. What are teams going to do when Redd, Mo and Earl are on the floor? You cannot guard that much offense, especially when Earl and Mo attack the hoop as they do. Plus, he can come in for Williams and the Bucks lose nothing on offense.

2 - Charlie Bell. He's been put into more minutes with Redd gone and he's been hot and cold. He seems to be forcing his shot too much, but I believe that when his role is reduced, he'll slip into more of a comfort zone as he won't feel as much pressure. He's learning the limits of his game now and that is going to help him immensely. He's still a solid sub and good defender.

3 - Charlie Villanueva. He drops a double double in his first game back from injury in 30 minutes of action. With Skinner getting so much time while Charlie was out, they form a very solid #4 duo. Charlie has more ability to get that tough inside prescence to aid Bogut.

4 - These 3 players help make a much deeper quality bench for the Bucks. The Bucks can now go 3-4 players deep on the bench and still have a good unit out there at all times.

5 - The Bucks are still in the East. At a sad 17-26 record and losing 10 of their last 12, they are only 3 games out of the #8 playoff spot. If they can hold on and win a few until Redd and Mo come back, this team could explode through the Conference. Nobody will have as much offensive firepower as they will. The Bucks have only scored over 100 1 time in the last 9 games since the dynamic duo went down. The Bucks will assuredly score over 100 on an almost nightly basis when they come back. Their record when they score over 100 pts? 14-8, that's a 63.6 winning percentage. With Boykins and Bell coming off the bench, I would say that we could raise this % up to 67% over the final 30 games that Redd and Mo likely will be back for, the Bucks could very well get into the playoffs and be peaking at the right time.

I needed this

The first picture is how I'm getting to the second picture. Mrs. Cheesehead and myself (along with my parents and sister and her husband) are going on a cruise from Saturday until next Thursday. My parents retired recently and this is their way of celebrating. First time for all of us to be on a cruise, so it should be interesting and I'm quite looking forward to it. Given there's about 4 inches of snow on the ground and with temps in the teens here, I think it's the right time to leave. Big thanks to my mother-in-law for watching our kids and getting them to school while we're gone.

Oh, and it will be upper 70's to low 80's while we are there. And sun, lots and lots of warm sun. Yes, I may be rubbing this in, but so would any of you reading this if you were going.

We're #2, or is it #3?

The Badgers B-Ball team is at it's highest ranking, well, ever. The latest polls have them at #2 in the AP and #3 in the coaches poll. Either way, it's a view Bucky rarely looks from.

Tonight, the Badgers get a home win... err game against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Badgers are 40-2 in Big Ten regular season play at home. Somehow I think that Purdue is not going to be the team to add that 3rd loss.

Can't Purdue update their name? I mean it's so 19th century and they need to get with the times. I've got a great one for them. The Purdue Opossums. They share all the same qualities: roll over and play dead when danger comes, they stink and generally get run over a lot. See, it's perfect.

It's great to be a Badger fan.

The Badgers B-Ball team beat the Buckeyes 72-69 last night to make it 2 big losses in a row for the vaunted OSU sports programs. While this loss was not as embarassing as the major egg the football team laid playing for the national championship, it wasn't as good of a performance as the score suggests either. The Buckeyes were down by double digits in the 2nd half and had a big rally helped by some poor FT shooting from the Badgers near the end to make the score look closer than it really should have been.

This win undoubtedly cements the Badgers as one of the teams to beat come March/April as this is their 3rd win over a top 15 team. Barring a major tanking or an inexplicable early exit from the Big 10 tourney, they will be a #1 seed in the Midwest Region.

Even though this is THE best Badgers team I have ever seen, or anyone else has for that matter, the Big Ten schedule is not going to be all that easy. Currently there is only 1 team with a losing record (Minnesota, who the Badgers manhandled already this year) while the rest of the Big Ten has a winning % of .725. Wow! Even if the schools are playing cupcakes, that is still a very impressive stat. The rest of the Big Ten is not getting a lot of love given how dominant WI and OSU have been, but this conference could have four 20 game winners easily (WI, OSU, MI and Purdue) and possibly 5 (Indiana). So it's not going to be easy and likely the Badgers will lose 2-3 conference games (on the road, as they simply don't lose at home). It's going to be a fun ride and the Badger faithful should have plenty to be happy about.

It was fun while it lasted

Last night it was determined that the Bucks will be without Michael Redd for 4-6 weeks. The Bucks had started to get things together and were playing quite well after a poor start. This injury totally ruins it. Yes, Redd is this valuable to the team and no, I'm not making too much of this.

As proof, the team knew Redd would be out when playing Denver and they lost by 12. To Denver. Losers of their last 5. Crud.

If it weren't for the fact that the Bucks are in the pathetic Eastern Conference, the season would officially be over. The Bucks are at the #8 playoff spot right now and will in most certainty fall out of that. Redd is going to miss 16-24 games due to this injury and likely will need another week to get his groove back. That's about 1/2 of the remaining games. This was the season that they could have made some serious damage in the playoffs, I was confident of that. Now, it's just another disappointing season.

The Bet is paid - An Analysis

Ahh, there is nothing better in the whole world than starting off a New Year right, isn't there? I know I certainly did. How you may ask? Well my good reader I shall tell you. One may recall several weeks ago, my neighbor Shane made an ill-advised bet with me. To recap, the wager was for the loser to buy the winner a Triple Cheeseburger, fries and a Coke from Fuddruckers and to shovel the winner's driveway. Well, wouldn't you know it, but Shane lost yet again to me as the Packers easily dispatched of the frauds that are the MN Vikings. For those of you keeping track at home, that would be Craig 5, Shane 0 in the bet department.

Ever since the bet was made, there have been literally hundreds of requests to see the pictures from the payout. Well, I am happy to provide these for you.










The first picture would be that of Shane buying me the 1/2 lb, triplecheese cheeseburger, fries and Coke. The second picture would be that myself eating said cheeseburger. MMM MMM good!










Fairly self explanitory here, this would be Shane shovelling my driveway. True, it is not much snow, but I didn't want to put too much stress on the guy, he's kinda fragile.

I got to thinking, why is it that Shane keeps losing bets to me? Simple bad luck? My obvious superior intellect and skill? While the latter is clearly evident, I believe there is more to it. So I did some research and found the following:

The NAACP has come out with a study that WI drivers are actually better than MN drivers.

The National Endowment of the Arts reported that WI men are better lovers than MN men. Well, that's definately true.

The Rotary Club has found that WI is actually safer from terrorist attacks. Good to see that my parents and siblings are safe.

The Humane Society has definatively proven that WI sports are far superior and better attended than MN sports. They also found that MN fans are severely lacking in overall knowledge in regards to their teams and sports in general.

Consumer Reports reported that WI men are heartier, healthier and better suited against the elements than their MN counterparts.

Finally, Greenpeace has stated that people from WI are on average 78% smarter than their MN neighbors.

Simply fascinating. Good to see what has been known for decades to come to light by independent organizations that Cheeseheads are simply superior to the lutefisk-eating Minnesotans. Now, Shane may say that he was born in WI (which he was) and therefore has all of these positive attributes. Sorry Shane, but you renounced your Cheesehead lineage when you decided to foolishly praise all sports that is MN; and therefore all rights, powers and privileges associated with the gloriousness that is reserved for the children of WI.

New Year, Same Results

Once again, the Badgers go to the Capitol One Bowl and beat the overhyped-overrated-"superior" SEC Conference by taking out the high-powered Arkansas Razorbacks 17-14.

Last year, the critics thought that Auburn was going to rout the Badgers, instead, it was the other way around. This year, the Badgers were underdogs and again, they won. Time and time again, the Badgers are discounted as a poor team, beneficiaries of playing a soft schedule. Come on, it's not like they're playing the Minnesota Vikings every week. Good teams make bad teams look bad, that's a fact.

Other than 2 big, lucky runs by Arkansas, their offense was bad. Those 2 runs accounted for 1/3 of their total offense for the day. The Badger defense did a great job overall of shutting down the gimmicky offense they run. That junk may have worked in the SEC, but against a disciplined, smart, physical unit like the Badgers, it was as doomed as your average brother/sister wedding that is commonplace in Arkansas.

So, anyone still thinking that Bielema was a bad choice by Alvarez?

See you here next year when the Badgers are once again underdogs in a January Bowl game and once again prove everyone wrong.

Goodbye?

Is Sunday night's 26-7 ass-whipping of the Bears the last time we'll see Brett on the football field? I don't know.

What I do know is that this team is better than the media and others give them credit for. They went from 4-12 and left for dead last season to 8-8 with young players producing and a bright future ahead, regardless if Favre retires.

With a projected cap space of about 28M and a decent draft position, the Packers could very well get another 3-4 impact players this offseason and improve on this season's finish, especially in the weak NFC North. The Bears are not as good as their record indicates, everyone knows that. The Vikings have a horrible coach who is alienating his players left and right and is an offensive moron. The Lions, well, they're the Lions. It's not like there is a whole lot to be worried about here.

Favre says that he will make a decision soon, and when he does, I'll comment on it then. I will however leave you with this post-game interview he gave on Sunday night and let you make your own conclusions.

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.