hawing

Two weeks into 2024 is better than even later. But being two weeks late to start this thread bugs me. Blame covid.

I'll tell you what's bugging me. Someone gave me covid for Christmas and one of the many many things that got delayed while I recovered was closing this 2023 thread and starting one for 2024. 😠

For those of you who don't watch college volleyball regularly, this was truly the only clunker in Wisconsin's 2023 season. Extremely unfortunate that it came when it did, on a national stage. Both Wisconsin setters (Ashburn and Hammill) are done now. There's a super recruit coming in to set next year, but I don't even know who that person's backup will be. 2024 will be different.

As another who remembers the early days of FOX 47 in Madison, I checked out that video and OMG the promo at about 1:30 in. "What do you do when your opponent desperately needs to win to wrap up a division pennant and YOU desperately need to win to finish even and stay out of last place?" Besides that being just sad in a very late-1980s Brewers way, I'm surprised the promo was game-specific. I don't remember those at all - although the mid to late 80s were my undergrad years and I didn't always have a TV then.

Now that Wade's back...

I'd like it if they could spell Wiemer correctly. They did get it right for Andruw, Jahmai and Rickie, though!

In our diabetic household, this is another thing that makes Culver's popular.

A takeaway that is important to me is that I am once again younger than the Brewers' manager. 👍

Welp, here's the first IGT with Craiggers at the helm:

"I wonder what hawing thinks." Said by few if any of you, but too bad, you get to read my thoughts now, after a week of taking all this in. 😬 I'm having a hard time not feeling played by Craig. Perhaps he simply did a solid acting job reading the script for that “Born a Brewer” commercial in 2016 or whenever. I'm disappointed to realize that he doesn't feel that way now, and (per his comments in Chicago today) hasn't for at least the last couple of years. In a relative vacuum, Craig’s job change makes plenty of sense. New gig, doing what he enjoys, more money, no immediate need to relocate the fam. Indeed, one of my coping mechanisms when favorite players move around is to remind myself that ultimately, they all pretty much work for MLB, and the goal of the front office is to try to time acquisitions so you get people while they're at their best, as often as you can. But the Illinois/Chicago/Cubs-Wisconsin/Milwaukee/Brewers dynamic is some pretty critical context. The former's superiority complex and the latter's inferiority complex are not Craig's fault. But did Craig really expect Brewers fans to be sanguine about his moving to CHC? His professed surprise today comes across as disingenuous. (Those emotions aside, it’s uncool to aim for a job that’s occupied by someone and get that person the boot. We know it’s not the first time CHC has bounced an under-contract manager when someone they decided they liked better came along. I’m not impressed with any employer that does that.) Having said that much, I'm more disappointed in the Brewers' front office. In recent years, the organization has felt noticeably less fan-friendly - specifically, less interested in fan engagement. I expect the pandemic put something of a dent in that, but it has deteriorated even more since 2022. I follow the organization closely, attend a lot of games, and pay a lot of attention to the fan experience. I think my take is pretty knowledgeable in this instance. The difference is not in face-to-face guest relations interactions, but with communication from the top. For example, Mark used to put out an open letter to fans at the end of each season. That hasn’t happened in a while. There was no explanation for (or even acknowledgment of) the absence of a winter fan event in 2022 or 2023. Why not just admit that they're still concerned about covid or want to avoid the Wisconsin Center while it's expanded or the players hate winter or whatever? I get that they may not want to deliver a negative message, but no messaging at all frankly leaves fans assuming the worst, so the vibe is already negative. Another example: Sometime during the 2022-23 offseason, Mike Attanasio was named the Brewers’ VP for Fan Engagement - a position which a look at media guides suggests didn’t exist before. In January 2023 Mike asked on (at the time still) Twitter what Brewers and Norwich City FC accounts he should follow. He got a lot of Norwich responses, and interacted with some of the posters. I politely replied with some Brewers suggestions (including Brewer Fanatic, of course) - and got crickets in response. Maybe the 2022 drop-off is total coincidence, and has nothing to do with fan reaction to the 2022 trade deadline, followed weeks later by Mark A’s investment in the football team. I'm skeptical of that - and I’d need more inside information than a fan is probably entitled to - to change my mind. I understand that the Brewers’ fanbase could do worse than the current ownership, but it’s still hard not to wonder if we could do better. How much do you have to suck to drive noted hometown dude Craig out of the organization?! I’d feel better with an owner whose heart still seems to be in the work. Other thoughts: I absolutely lack the personality for a sales career, but I would hate hate hate to be a Brewers ticket rep right now. Imagine the ire of current customers they've had to absorb this past week; not to mention how do you attract new customers right now? How does the org attract (decent) free agents? In a similar vein, I cringe when I think of the front office’s current attempts to attract state and municipal government support for the Brewers’ longer-term future. That task already was hampered some by the Brewers’ prompt exit from the 2023 postseason, and after the past week I’d understand if legislators and local politicians are currently wondering just how solid an investment the organization is right now. Finally, for those who have marveled at (or been dismayed by) how insufferable CHC games in Milwaukee have become for fans...wait until May 27, 2024. I remember attending Paul Molitor's first game in County Stadium since joining the Blue Jays. I couldn't boo him, but I didn't feel like cheering him either. It was uncomfortable. Craig coming back with CHC will be worse.

At midday Monday, when the Counsell news was maybe an hour old, a colleague from HR in our building stopped by my office with a 💩 eating grin, saying "I'm just here to give you 💩." You will not be surprised to learn that this colleague favors chc. I want the Brewers to move past this and succeed just to take the grin off that person's face.

On the surface, it doesn't leave a great impression of the organization at a time when the Brewers might want to have their best foot forward. Legislators might wonder if the investment they're being asked to make is sound right now. Between this and the prompt deflation of 2023 postseason hopes, it's unfortunate timing. ETA: Some legislators may be able to take the longer view. Some of the Joe/Jo Taxpayers who don't follow baseball closely will be like Don't tax me for that clown show.

The real question is how can the Attanasios monetize this.

It looks like the Brewers are attempting a return to an off-season fan fest - a Winter Warm-Up over a mid-January weekend. Day 1 (Saturday 1/13): A fun-filled "Live Show" at the Miller High Life Theatre, including opportunities to be served drinks by former Brewers and to pose for selfies with Brewers players at photo stations. There's an optional (extra $, limited capacity) autograph session in the morning. Tickets are $22 for the live show and $42 for the live show plus autograph session. Day 2 (Sunday 1/14): A Kids Baseball Clinic at Ethic Sports Indoor in New Berlin. Kids need to be ages 6-14, there are two sessions available (250 kids per session). Tickets are $30 + processing fee. Tickets for the events go on sale to the general public this Friday, 11/3. Season seat holders will be able to purchase tickets Thursday 11/2. I guess it's better than not reaching out at all. I've been feeling like the organization's fan engagement efforts dropped off a cliff 4-5 years ago (I think for more reasons than the pandemic, though I'm sure the pandemic made a large difference).

Remember Brandon Pfaadt from three weeks ago? He's starting Game 7 tonight for the Diamondbacks, because of course.

Another thought, which is probably some kind of wafer-thin silver lining: If the Brewers' 2023 postseason had to be a crash-and-burn, thank the god/being of your choice that it wasn't against chc. 😬

First of all, thanks for asking! I took today off from work to catch up on laundry and sleep, so I'll get that question from people at the library starting Friday. But no one there will want to hear as much detail as I'll share below. Last night, for the first time in years, I didn't cry as we left the seating bowl and stadium. (Usher Bill, if you're reading this, I hope you noticed.) That doesn't mean I don't care. When I do get upset at the end of a season, it's almost always simply because there won't be games for me to attend for another 6-ish months, and I'm disappointed about that. I'm in the camp, well described above, of "rhythm and routine" fans who places a higher value overall on how a team finishes in the 162 game marathon than in the October sprint. My favorite thing about the postseason is that there are more games. Baseball is an emotional utility for me, so I never like when it's turned off. Would I take a(nother) stretch of awful seasons in exchange for a genuine World Series title? If that were a guarantee and no soul selling was involved, maybe. I've withstood enough crap seasons to be able to make that trade with eyes open. I'm not sure how much of the current fan base (the whole fan base, not the audience on this site) would have that patience, though, and it seems like the next few years would be an especially unfortunate time, financially, to risk tanking on attendance. Anyway, last night I was mostly tired, and now I'm a bit better rested and have clean underwear again. I'm not mad at the Brewers, just disappointed that the season has ended. I am glad to learn that I'm not the only fan who cares more about the regular season than the postseason. I imagine that makes me an un-American loser in the minds of some, but they probably would have thought the same for other reasons. 😉

Harvey Kuenn died in 1988, so it should have been that season they sported the H/K patches.

We still occasionally get mail for the people who sold us our house, who haven't lived here since 2005. (Maybe that's why they aren't supporting the causes who reach out to them anymore.)

...So he would have been worse without the drug? 😬 This just makes me think "fool me twice, shame on me."

I know we are beyond 3, but I'm going to add this for the old school bf.net vibe. Sound's pretty loud (for the library at least). Ned Yost 360 bomb

Just want to stop in and say how much I love magic number countdown threads. 🥰

I'm still low key mad that I let myself get sucked into this show, back in the day. That and Secret Life of the American Teenager. But I'm pleased that the magic number changed Sunday even though it wasn't due to a Brewers win.