Weekly Wisconsin Sports Wank 12/18

by Theruffian

This article can also be viewed at my website theroguehour.

Packers. B+ Pack is looking good right now after trouncing the hapless Raiders and Rams, but that loss to the Cowboys is still sticking in my craw. Especially after they just lost to the Eagles who we beat earlier in Week 1. I just would like to know though how a team that we kicked the crap out of twice already this year and is only two games over .500 get double the number of players elected to the Pro Bowl that the division leader does. But it could be worse I guess if your are the NFC South division leading Bucs or the 10-4 Jags who got 0 players on the roster. It's a particular travesty that Fred Taylor did not make it, one of the most underrated running backs of this era and maybe all time.

Really I should probably be giving the Pack A+s all season becuz who expected 12-2. But I've let all the media hype get me caught up in looking at the Pack as an elite team again. And elite teams don't have successful seasons unless they are going deep into the playoffs. That being said they have a good chance to do just that, even if the NFC Championship is played in Dallas. I just don't want to play the Vikings again in the playoffs. Beating a team three times in one season is not impossible, but not easy either.

Update:What the hell was that!? Can we just not beat the friggin Bears anymore!? You know what really gets me is that when Lovie Smith came over to the Bears from the Rams he made it a point to say that he knew how to beat Green Bay and the Pack has won like one game since he has been the coach. Way to jack off home field advantage guys. But if you are going to make a run might as well do it the hard way and earn it.

Bucks. C- Bucks are assuming the position figuratively and literally, settling down into the Eastern Conference 8-spot after leading the Central a couple of weeks ago. I think one of the problems is they don't really have that defined identity as a team yet. It's like they are emotinally torn between becoming more of a defensive team like Krysto wants or being the team that will just try to outscore you and not even pretend to defend. According to Brew Hoop Coach K might be looking to shake things up to give some people a kick in the ass starting with Moe Williams. But again this is kind of what I expected from Milwaukee this season so I'm not really sweating it. This season really will probably only be useful to develop Yi into a consistent performer since we've found out he doesn't totally suck as I feared.

UWM basketball. C+ Yes at 4-7 and at the bottom of the Horizon Leauge it looks like the Panthers 15 minutes of fame in the national spotlight left town with Bruce Pearl two years ago. They're really just not getting the same talent that Pearl was able to attract. But I'm not bailing on the current coach Rob Jeter just yet. He has a solid foundation of knowledge after playing for and coaching under Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and he's being consistent in showing what kind of players he wants on his team. This is the kind of guy where your gut feeling tells you it's only a matter of time before he has the program back on the rise again. And that he's not the kind of coach who would bail for a higher profile job after the first breakthrough season.

Brewers. B+ So typical of the Brewers luck that their first big name free agent signing in a while (since Richie Sexson??) is immediately involved in the latest/biggest scandal of the steriod paranoia era. In Gagne's case though I think there might be some legitimacy to the argument that a lot of the players named in the Mitchell Report took steroids to aid in recovery from injury, not saying that makes it ok just a little more understandable as to why a professional athlete might take that risk. If he can stay healthy and avoid any kind of reprecussions for his name appearing on that report Gagne could be a good pick up for the Crew. For the first time in a long time they are being pretty active in the free agent market this year, even rumored to be thinking of signing Kenny Lofton. Wow, just like an actual MLB franchise (sniff).

UW Basketball. B+ Badgers holding steady like they are supposed to do before hitting the Big Ten schedule, just got finished beating up on in-state rivals UWM and UW-GreenBay. As long as they can stay healthy I think they have a good chance to be in the top three at the end of the season. For some reason Minnesota worries me though. They have decent talent and just got a big upgrade at coach with Tubby Smith. Who says the Big Ten is an overrated leauge with all these high profile coaches: Bo Ryan, Tom Izzo, Bruce Weber, Kelvin Sampson, John Belein, and now Smith.

Update: Badgers just squeaked out a close one against Valpo, who always seems to field solid teams. Valpo has a 10-2 record but hasn't really played anyone of note, which makes me nervous that UW didn't blow these guys off the court.

Marquette Men's Basketball. A- I can't really fault Marquette this week. They're ranked 13th, have been blowing out the teams they are supposed to, and Dominic James is looking real smart for having decided to take another year in college to polish his game. Most nights he is leaving no doubt that he is the best player on the floor.

UW-Whitewater Football. A+ Warhawks are NCAA Division III champions after defeating perennial power Mount Union in the title game. Whitewater is kind of a Div. III powerhouse themselves having been in the title game in 2005 & 2006 also. The DIII state schools in Wisconsin all generally have pretty good football programs and are part of a in-state conference that is very competitive. Known locally for being a bigger party school than the one in Madison (but on the low) I myself have some fond memories of Whitewater from when my older brother attended school there. Congrats all current students and alumni on some well earned national exposure.