Fear The Chorizo

On the other hand, iowa just housed osu, and it took psu the last play of the game to beat the Hawkeyes earlier this year...anyone else realize that both osu and Penn state don't really have a quality win between them aside from the game they played each other? Maybe they are viewed as quality teams more so by preseason rankings than on field performance? How does a win over iowa next week not drastically help wisconsin next week? To say losses by osu and psu today hurt wisconsin is what makes the cfp stuff garbage. Badgers are 9-0, and it's starting to look like their schedule may not look too weak after the dust settles after the year. After all, to date every team wisconsin has played has at least 1 quality loss...against the badgers!

Jungman should absolutely factor in next year's opening day pitching staff - IMO he'd be at worst a good fit as the middle relief/spot starting innings eater...if he has a good spring I'm sure he could be stretched out enough to serve as the #5 as needed.

Agreed on UW winning out and making the playoff regardless of what anyone else does...an undefeated Big Ten team should have no worries getting in on this landscape, where really the only other power 5 conferences with a shot at producing a 0-loss conference champion are the SEC and ACC, if Miami finds a way to run through a gauntlet during the season's final month. All the more reason to just eliminate CFP rankings until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The next few rankings are basically just fodder for pointless projection shows on cable sports networks, internet, and radio.

How the heck could he have known that? Around when these non-conference games were scheduled, teams like Nebraska and Iowa were mainstays in the top 25 and Nebraska was routinely winning the Big Ten Leaders division. Heck, Michigan was probably one of the poorer programs on this slate when the schedule was finalized, because it would've been done pre-Harbaugh. At that time Penn State's program was in the middle of potentially ending due to the Sandusky scandal. BYU was in the midst of a few double digit win seasons. When these out of conference games were scheduled, the Big Ten was still using its Legends and Leaders divisions...meaning they hadn't yet scheduled out of division Big Ten opponents based on the new East/West breakdown. At the time, WI was in the Legends division, which included Ohio State and Penn State. Picture their regular season schedule this year with those two teams on it replacing their games against Nebraska and Northwestern, for example.

I have a huge problem with this "playoff" system - to me it seems like results on the field be damned, where teams are ranked has more to do with booster and fanbase lobbying. I also think it's stupid for this "committee" to put these rankings out essentially 4-5 games before they actually mean anything. If it's a college football playoff committee, have the entire season play out, post your first set of rankings before the conference championship week so everyone knows which 5-7 teams actually have a shot after regular seasons are over, and then let the chips fall where they may. Those conference championship games should be play-in games to any national title playoff anyway. IMO, you can't win the national title without winning your conference - period. And for all this talk about WI's creampuff schedule to date - it's not their fault the rest of the Big Ten West is down. It's not their fault BYU stinks this year after they put together their 2017 schedule YEARS ago. It's not their fault that after expanding the Big Ten, they get one less out of conference game on their slate. I'm thrilled they have an easy schedule this year compared to the gauntlet of what they went through last year. At the time of their games, Wisconsin played teams ranked #5, #8, #4, #2, #7, #7, and #15 throughout the course of 2016. I for one am hoping for absolute chaos - Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama all end up beating each other in such a way that they have a 2-loss SEC champ, ACC/Big & Pac 12's all have 1 or two loss conference champs, and notre dame loses 1-2 more games. Then Wisky finds a way to run the table.

If Ohtani truly wants to be a two-way player, and AL team with the DH probably makes the most sense...injuries are a concern, but think of how valuable he could be to an AL club by essentially taking care of two everyday roster spots - starting pitcher and DH. On days he pitches, the team could use a more traditional DH to hit for whoever their weakest position player is if they'd prefer it. In the NL, yes, he'd get pinch hit opportunities - but he'd struggle to get lots of consistent ABs. Ohtani will not start in MLB as a Kieschnick role - his upside both at the plate and hitting far exceeds what Brooks had during his time in the majors.

The problem with the Cubs and Schwarber is that both Happ and Almora should be everyday outfielders, and they aren't getting away from Heyward's contract anytime soon - that leaves Schwarber without everyday at bats because you can't play him defensively anywhere but LF. He's the prototypical Cub fanboy's player-god...had alot of ballyhoo when flying up through the minors because his bat was advanced for the leagues he was tearing up, ended up getting called up during some interleague series where he could DH and hit well enough for people to think he was the second coming. Then, he blows out a knee too early the next season for pitchers to figure out his weaknesses - comes back and hits well in the world series, where he can again be a DH most of the games. Fans are over the moon about him at this point, yet he only had about 2 solid months of MLB at bats. Then 2017 happens and reality probably sets in for a guy with power but definite holes in his swing that pitchers attack. To me, he's a left-handed hitting Matt LaPorta moreso than Babe Ruth's second coming.

I'm a big believer that had McCarthy not been given two HOF caliber QB's while he's been the Packers' head coach, he'd have been fired a long time ago. Judging by yesterday's "game plan" with Hundley starting, my guess is that opinion will be cemented as fact for most of Packer nation by the end of this season. To me, the last 7 quarters of football shows just how much control Rodgers had over calling plays at the line of scrimmage. It's really unfortunate, because this year Thompson strayed from his typical offseason plan, and he added veteran pieces at key places of need both offensively and defensively...to have this year go down in flames due to Rodgers' injury is crippling to their organization. Look around at the rest of the NFC - if Rodgers stays healthy they are likely a #1 or 2 seed with a great shot at getting back to the Super Bowl. Without him, this roster wasted it's last best shot and will be in need for some big time retooling before 2018.

The Cubs have made it to the NLCS the past three seasons, winning the World Series in 2016. The only reason some see "flaws" in how they've been in contention as Brewer fans is the perspective that they basically have emptied their farm system over the past few years with callups (Bryant, Happ, Schwarber, Contreras, Edwards, Russell, & Baez) and trades to bring in pitching (Torres, Soler, Jimenez, Cease, Candelario, others). We're kidding ourselves with thinking our farm system outlook is as rosy as what the Cubs was 4-5 seasons ago when all their young talent acquired by a combination of drafting, international signings, and trades started moving into the big leagues. This offseason, the Cubs are going to need to trade at least one of Schwarber, Almora or Happ - my money is on Schwarber because he simply doesn't have a defensive position and the NL doesn't have a DH. Any of them should be able to headline a trade that would sent pitching talent back to Chicago. The current state of their team is very similar to when the Red Sox had to do some retooling between their 1st and 2nd titles under Epstein - since the Cubs play in the same sandbox as the Red Sox in terms of finances, it's not like they're going to need a 3-4 season rebuild phase between contention regardless of what their farm system looks like. Big market teams use the rest of MLB as their farm system because they can spend if they need to.

Well Arena's out, which is obvious. If Gulati isn't on Arena's heels out the door, US Soccer is an even bigger farce than I thought. The US has turned soccer into a sport that requires too much of family finances and time, and it doesn't allow enough opportunities for kids without means to play at higher levels of instruction/competition. Look at just about any list of the top collegiate programs for soccer in the country - it looks much more ivy league than what traditional football, basketball, or even baseball rankings lists resemble. In my opinion, the US program has done a terrible job at cultivating soccer to areas beyond upper middle class suburbia...the US federation can continue throwing money all over the place with training and facilities, but until the best athletes in the country start growing up playing soccer instead of all the other major US sports they are fooling themselves about taking the next step to being considered among the world's elite.

I don't think the fact that he pulled it back matters. I believe it's supposed to be awarded at the furthest position before you're ruled down or your forward momentum was stopped. I believe it's the position you've reached when you're ruled down, period, when it comes to forward progress. Reaching for a first down when you're in the grasp is fine, provided either the ball remains in the same spot or the ball carrier is contacted in such a way that forces the ball back when a player is ruled down. In Elliott's case over the weekend, he reached over the line to gain but then also voluntarily pulled the ball back behind it before the play was blown dead and he was ruled down by forward progress. To me it should be ruled the same as when a receiver catches the ball on a comeback route past a 1st down marker, get's immediately contacted by a defender that knocks him behind the line to gain but not down, and then gets stopped short of the 1st down while he's still running by another defender - for that situation, the ball is spotted where the player is finally ruled down. Regardless, it's too bad a GB defender couldn't have just taken the ball away from Elliott when he reached it out.

Since it's been made a challengeable play, I think spotting the ball has become much improved at the NFL level - and they have camera technology to thank for that. I remember as a kid watching the chain gang have to come out 12-15 times per game to "measure" what were questionable spots to begin with...you could see on the tv replay the ball was spotted a yard further or short of where it was supposed to be. At least now coaches have a way to challenge crucial spots during the course of games. Yes, there are still problems with spotting the ball - but I don't see the point of putting a GPS on it. That doesn't correct issues with forward progress, or with plays where they are looking for where a knee/shin/elbow hits the ground right as the ball is approaching a line to gain/goal line. To me, that's going to lead to more delays in a game that already takes almost 4 hours to complete even though there's roughly only 20 minutes of solid action during a 60 minute clock.

The injury bug seems to hit the Packers at specific position groupings from year to year. Last year it was the DBs, two years ago it was the OLBs. This year it appears to be the OL. With how NFL rosters are limited in numbers, I don't see how one can blame TT or any GM for not having multiple sets of starting quality players at every position - there's just no room or budget to carry those kind of numbers at certain positions. Any NFL team would struggle to get sacks if their starting and key backup pass rushers get injured. Any NFL team would struggle in the passing game if 75% of their starting nickle defensive backfield all were injured for chunks of a season. No NFL team would expect their QB to take non-stop 7 step drops with 3rd string tackles and guards playing out of position at LT due to injuries. Getting Bahktari and Daniels back healthy is critical to this Packer team winning a title. They are probably the 2nd and 3rd-most important players on this roster behind Rodgers.

Getting Bakhtiari back at LT will do a world of good for the OL - the Packers can do what they want to offensively if they only need to help a backup RT...with both tackles being turnstyles the past few weeks, it restricts how many backs and tight ends can actually get out in pass patterns. IMO, the Packers' O is at its best when they roll with 1 RB and a combination of 1-2 TE and 2-3 WR - then sending at least 4 of them out in pass patterns. Bennett's biggest strength as a TE for this team is actually his ability to run block. Those groupings can stay on the field, can both run and pass, and can keep opposing defenses from substituting. Injury-wise, I feel like the Packers are among the most cautious in the league when it comes to getting players back on the field, particularly with soft tissue strains and pulls. Seems like they'd rather roll with a backup at 100% health compared to putting a starter in at 85%...not sure whether that's the best way to approach things if there's a significant drop-off in talent at some positions. And it seems like they need to IR guys more frequently than other teams because certain position groupings get hammered and leave them with no healthy bodies to play (see DB's last year, OL/Tackles this year so far). I 100% agree that the NFL needs to change gameday roster rules - have a 53 man gameday active roster, keep the current practice squad roster rules as-is, and increase the # of IR-designated to return from 2 to 4 players.

Look around any stadium during a Cub series - there will be alot of Cub fans, particularly when they are good. They have a national following. Geographically, this will always be an issue...the best "solution" would be for the Brewers to beat up on them so the home fans can enjoy sending Cub fans home with a loss. It's the same way for Bears fans at Solder Field when the Packers come to town. There should be no special "strategy" for ticket sales, aside from slightly raising prices by calling them "premium games", like the Brewers already do. The Brewers, 2ndary market ticket salespeople, speed traps along I-94, and anyone else should gladly take as much of their money as possible before they crawl back across the border.

Enormous win today, and as disappointing as the last 3 losses have been, I'm encouraged by this groups ability to bounce back and fight. We all hate the cubs, but this is essentially the same team that won it all last year...and the brewere are giving them all they can handle during a prolonged stretch where they have been steamrolling everyone else on their schedule. Yes the division is now essentially out of reach, unless the crew wins tomorrow and STL beats up on them next week for 4 games. If nothing else the brewers show they belong and will play meaningful games right down to the wire in a year they were an afterthought.

I'll second that June 29, 2007 game against the Cubs - I remember leading up to that game that both the Brewers and Cubs were on fire, with Milwaukee maintaining their big early season division lead and the Cubs sorting themselves out under Pinella. Brewers had that huge 1st inning then did nothing offensively while the Cubs chipped away. Still entered the 9th up two with an on-fire Cordero in to close it, and he decided to give Aram a cement-mixer slider that he crushed...to go from celebrating the impending beatdown after a 5 run 1st to watching the Cubs walk off on the Brewers in Wrigley was about as deflated as I've ever felt after a regular season game.

Last night's game isn't on Counsell - the combination of baseball bounces in the wrong locations (weak Cub hits scoring runs, loud Brewer outs or Shaw's line shot single preventing a run from scoring), and moreso the Brewers' inability to come through in multiple late inning situations with RISP with a big hit or run-producing play cost them. Santana's AB with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 9th was horrible - I think he may have gotten 1 actual strike in that AB and he wound up striking himself out. I don't even care much about the move to bring Drake in to start the 10th - although leaving him in to face Bryant was silly when Counsell could've played righty lefty matchups with other relievers in the pen and still had Guerra/Garza for long late-inning relief had the game continued past 10 innings. Aside from that move, I thought Counsell did just fine with substitutions throughout the game - knowing that he was shorthanded in the pen due to key reliever overuse, he had to pull out all the stops to try and win the game in 9 innings. At some point, the onus has to fall on the players and not the coaches to actually come through in crunch time. In big games, the offense seems to generate the least # of runs possible in various situations aside from hitting solo home runs. Shaw got unlucky with the line shot single in the 9th, but aside from that Braun, Shaw, and Santana have been awful in big situations lately - a team that expects to be a playoff contender can't have their 3-4-5 hitters provide nothing when key late season games are on the line. In that last Pirates loss, that combination left THIRTEEN runners on base. Last night it was NINE. Braun has stranded twelve of those runners by himself over these 2 losses. Never thought I'd say this, but I'd almost prefer seeing him get tonight's game off to get another lefty bat in the lineup against Lackey. I know it's not every time in every game, but it's disappointing nonetheless.

Winning 3 of 4 in this series, with the Cubs having to immediately travel to STL for another 4 game series against a team still chasing a playoff spot, is still a very real scenario to win the division - it wasn't sweep or bust. That said, losing last night's game coupled with the night before in Pittsburgh in the fashion they did really does hamper the division chances, since they now need STL to beat up on the Cubs next week...something they've proven incapable of doing so far this season. At this point, the ideal scenario for Milwaukee is heading into Monday's off day at least even with colorado for the 2nd WC lead, still 1-2 games up on STL recordwise, and within 1.5 games of the Cubs for the division. Then if they take care business against the Reds while the Cards and Cubs battle each other, they'll still have a shot at both the 2nd WC and NL Central title going into that series in STL.

2nd night in a row where this team's utter lack of ability to basically just put the ball in play to blow an inning open or win a game has cost them a W

This is looking like it's gonna get worse before it gets better...

meat of the Cub order coming up against a gassed bullpen...what could go wrong? Starting to wonder if Santana needs to be pinch hit for in late inning situations with runners in scoring position and one out - wish I could be 100% sarcastic with that statement, but recent history is preventing me from doing so...

Weird to put this in the optimism thread, but the cards won again last night and inched up the standings....keeping them within arms length of the cubs in the standings will help the brewers since they get chicago at home for 4 games right after the brewers are done with them. Say the brewers win the weekend series 3-1, and get to 1.5 games behind the cubs. If STL takes 3 of 4 from them afterwards and the brewers win their series with the reds, there are scenarios where the nl central is a three way tie (or darn close) with three to play...add the rockies into the mix and it'll be a barnburner for two playoff spots!

That and our best reIievers are all gassed because this team couldn't hang a crooked number of their own when given multiple chances. Crud.

Time to blow the lid off this thing...glad I was wrong about not scoring here, but I want to be really wrong!