LouisEly

Rake Bauers

So he was holding players accountable and getting in their face when they screwed up?

I'd call it karma.

So sad to see Duke on the business end of a last second shot in the tourney....

Contreras saw some time at 1B in the WBC.

Ethan MacIntosh also has a chance to be a 4-star as well. He has the frame and the athleticism and absolutely projects to left tackle; he's held back in the ratings because he hasn't fully filled out yet. 24/7 has him at 6'7", 250. If he can get to at least 280 in a year he has a decent chance to rise to a 4-star.

UW lands their 5th in-state recruit in 4-star OT Cole Reiter. 24/7 is projecting the Mallinger brothers and Kingston Allen to UW which would make 8 in-state kids and three of them 4-star with one of the Mallinger boys a chance to make it four 4-stars. I don't know if UW has ever had that many in-state scholarship recruits.

WOODFORD!!!

IT'S OPENING FREAKIN' DAY!!!!

Yesterday Denver broke the all-time high temperature for that day. By 13 degrees.

About every six months or so I get a random letter in the mail from some company about a data breach involving some of my data being exposed, and get 12-24 months of a credit monitoring service free. I've had free credit monitoring for several years now. Just got extended another two years.

I've heard from sources that it takes about $5M to field a good basketball team these days. I'm guessing that football is a lot more, simply by having 7x as many players even though not all get "NIL". Gard has been able to showcase what a Storr or Tonje looks like in his system, but if they had blown their knees out early in the season and have little to no stats to show for it (like the football QBs), I wonder if as many agents would be knocking on Gard's door.

Reminiscent of the 2019 Marquette team that lost to #12 seed Murray State. They had this Ja Morant kid...

High Point gave Arkansas all they could handle. Was a 2-point game with less than 3 minutes left. Much more that High Point was way under-seeded than UW "choking".

Badgers got a 3 seed. Was hoping they would get the Loveland, CO, region so I could see them but get Worcester, MA.

I think there's a pretty good chance that Tucker Kraft makes All Pro if he doesn't get injured. Maybe Zach Tom too if he stays healthy. It also is a lot harder to land those when they're constantly drafting in the back 1/3rd of the round. The two All Pro QBs went 1/1 and 1/3 the years they came out - never had a chance to draft them. Yeah, they got Rodgers and Matthews late in the 1st but other teams had to pass on them first. (And Matthews wasn't their first 1st round pick that year - they picked Raji 9th overall and he never made All Pro, only once Pro Bowl.) Rodgers was in the discussion for 1st overall, and then 24 other teams over-thought it. And you can't cherry pick what years to include. Last six years also includes 2021 and 2020 - and they're still one of the top teams. The point is that every team misses on some picks; the Packers have missed on less than most.

I know this will generate some "lively" discussion, but there have been questions about how the Packers have drafted relative to their draft position and picking in the back 1/3rd every year but one since 2020. Not all picks have panned out, but neither have all the picks for all other teams. And if the Packers are constantly drafting in the back 1/3rd of the round, most teams should draft more impactful players. But most teams don't. From a quantity standpoint, 2020 and 2021 weren't great years. But getting Jordan Love at #26 at the cost of a 4th round pick to move up was an absolute coup. (Think about how much resources the Packers would have to use at QB if they didn't have Love.) Looking at Pro Football Reference's wAV as a proxy, the only player in the entire draft who has a higher wAV per game started is Jalen Hurts. Not Joe Burrow, not Justin Herbert, not Justin Jefferson. And 2020 was a stinker for a lot of teams - two of the top 12 picks are already out of the league (for different reasons), one top 3 pick has started 31 games in 6 years, and a top 10 DT pick has 13 career sacks, and another top 10 pick is on his 4th team. People complain about A.J. Dillon at the end of round 2, but he has a higher career wAV than 13 first round picks that year (and is tied with two others).

Just frees up more time for the inevitable. Now I can do whatever I want on Saturday. With pay for play and the portal, on top of the randomness of a single-elimination tournament of the top ~40 or so teams in the country, UW isn't going to realistically compete for a national championship in football or basketball. They'll have good seasons, but a final four isn't happening in today's college sports environment. That's the flip side with Boyd - you don't get the hero without the hero ball.

I'm exhausted from all that Googling. Might have carpel tunnel from typing those 15 words. https://overthecap.com/apy-on-injured-reserve https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2025/12/03/which-nfl-teams-have-been-most-and-least-affected-by-injuries-in-2025/ https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/most-injured-nfl-teams-of-2025-102815

Now, compare where they rank on the salary $ on IR and games missed by starters lists.

And that's why the Brewers scout heavily in Venezuela.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being absolutely no need and 10 being a dire need. I’m not going to play the “what if someone gets injured” game because this is the NFL and you can say that about every position. It’s based entirely on who they have now. QB: (3) – Need for a starter, 1. Need for a backup, 5. They have a backup, but Gutey said they want to get back to drafting QBs and they have done that, picking two in the last three years. There is a track record of drafting QBs before they are needed, and if someone falls to them they won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. RB: (2.5) – Same as QB, need for a starter, 1, backup, 4. We’ll find out what they think about Lloyd’s health, but I don’t see it as being higher than a 5th round pick. That they let Wilson walk may mean they’re likely to go with who they have. Strong was a 4th round pick, Martinez a 7th round pick, so they may feel comfortable with those guys as backups. TE: (9) – Right now they have only three TEs who were on the 53 last year, one may start the season on the PUP or in limited action, none are currently under contract past 2026, and they like multiple TE sets. Not a day 2 need, but I’ll be shocked if one isn’t picked on day 3 because they’ll likely need multiple TEs in 2027. WR: (2) – They’re full here, even though few are under contract beyond 2026. I just don’t see the roster space for a pick. They’ll extend guys they already have. OT: (3) – They’re set here, too. They have their starters in Morgan and Tom, their swing OT in Kinnard, and Belton can step out and play OT if needed. An OL with inside/outside flexibility may be picked, but more so as a guard who can play tackle if needed. OG: (7) – Banks rarely was both healthy and good, upgrades from Jennings and Glover are needed, and we don’t know anything about Williams except that he was a 7th round pick. Positional flexibility will be key as he will be a backup. OC: (4) – Really depends on what they think of Monk. But they have three draft picks here – Rhyan, Monk, and John Williams was getting some looks at center late last year, so it would not surprise me if they didn’t pick one. A guy who can play both center and guard is a good bet. DT: (7) – A true NT would be helpful, as upgrades from Stackhouse, Riley, and Ford are needed. Edge: (5) – A sneaky need, as they need to make a decision on LVN’s 5th year option in 6 weeks and I don’t see them exercising it if they didn’t exercise Walker last year. Parsons will likely start the year on PUP or limited action, leaving just LVN, Sorrell, Oliver, and Cox. Another body would be useful, and Gutey believes strongly in pass rushers. ILB: (1) – they’re set here with Cooper/Franklin, Hopper/McDuffie, and Welch/Niemann, and they gave significant guaranteed money to Jamon Johnson last year. CB: (9) – Nixon and Carrington have been average to above average, but both are UFAs after this year. St. Juste is the only one under contract for 2027. Need a 2nd-4th round pick here. S: (1) – They’re set here with McKinney, Williams, Bullard, Oladapo, Simpson, and Baldwin. K: (3) – Could use an upgrade here, but I don’t see an immediate upgrade in the draft. It usually takes kickers a few years to hit their stride in the NFL, so maybe a 7th rounder with a big leg who they try to stash on the PS. P: (1) – They have one of the best they’ve ever had.

Oh, yes. Last year agents for players were contacting Gard in January telling him that if the Badgers were interested their player would go in the portal. I guarantee the same is happening this year. Storr, Tonje, Boyd... they know they can come to UW and blossom.

Walker for some reason chose an agent who only has three other clients, the most of whom any are making is $4M/year. I wonder if his agent blew it and if he had higher offers but the agent was trying to get him to hold out for a contract like Dan Moore.

Went to Costco last night around 8pm to grab a couple of things when I thought checkout would be quick. The self-checkout line was unusually long, but walking by it appeared that there were a couple of checkout stations that were open but nobody using them. Grabbed a couple of things, looked for another I couldn't find, and the line is still long, but there clearly are stations that are open. Turns out there are three Costco employees scanning the items in carts with a hand scanner before people get to self checkout. What is this? Finally gets to me and I ask what they are doing. Guy says "pre-scanning". What the hell is that? I look at the guy and say, "How does this make the checkout process more efficient? Because there are open stations where people can be checking out right now." He says I don't have to "pre-scan" and can use an open station. "Thank you", and walk right past a couple of people getting "pre-scanned" and check out my two items. I can assume this is some type of way to reduce retail theft to ensure everything that goes through self-checkout gets scanned and paid for. But if it builds a line while there are stations open, it won't last.