Roscoe Chill

I agree with some of what you are saying, but would you take a 75 win over/under bet? I don't think so. So, the sky isn't falling, but we kind of get an idea of what the ceiling is.

Well internet bets are silly anyway. On 2007 draft day, I bet someone that Randy Moss would score more than 10 Tds in '07 with the Patriots...he doubled that total, and instead of what the bet was, the loser donated some money to a charity in the name of NDOG44 (yeah right). But at least FTJ's proposal had some consequences. Agreeing with someone for a "whole month" would just give me incentive not to comment on anything I didn't agree with, that's not creative.

Haha, nice try FTJ. Although your idea for the bet shows a serious lack of all creativity (I am actually very disappointed, I expected better). Here is what I propose. If Suppan finishes the year with an ERA under 5.25, I will agree with anything you say on this board for a whole month (October), no matter how ridiculous of a point you make. If he finishes with an ERA over 5.25, you will agree with anything I say on the board, no matter how much you disagree for a whole month (October). The loser will also have to include a note that he lost the bet in their signature. Perhaps with the phrase "I like the taste of crow". The person will be required to have it in their signature until the start of the next season. Either that or you could just "leave town" no matter what the result of the bet. I'd agree to that. And the that is "creative?" Sounds kind of like a lame comedy that is canceled before the WHOLE month is up. Lamest bet proposal ever...sorry. Just admit that you think Suppan is going to have an ERA above 5.15 or take the bet.

Yes, I will have to say that there really isn't anyone out there who screams 'better alternative.' It's just that people forget about the six starts in September last year (including the playoffs) where he never made it through the 6th, and only gave up less than 4 runs once.

The problem is, he's not a fifth starter, he's the #1 starter right? Or did I miss the first four Brewer games? Anyway, if what Macha is doing (and what I really hope is the rationale) is "sacrificing" Suppan in the #1 slot, then fine. But as FTJ really pointed out, had the Brewers gone with Gallardo yesterday, I doubt they lose...and if they still do, well, then we're in for a long season to make a long story short. And really, don't come back with "this was only one game." Why do you think we're even discussing this? Why was the thread started? Because of yesterday's game? Come on.

Well sure, I'm even talking about 2010. Obviously we won't know what will happen with other moves, or results over the next 12 months, but I guess I would rather see Hardy at 3B over 2B if he makes the switch.

Why (other than Mat Gamel, who isn't entrenched as the future 3B by any means) is Hardy to 2B the only option? Hardy's strong arm along with his bat would make a switch to 3B more sensible IMO.

There are enough off days and odd-numbered series for teams throughout the course of a 162 game season that by the time mid-May rolls around, every single team's pitching staff isn't matching up #1's, #2's, #5's etc. There are also enough off days to set rotations up for opponents and to give tired arms extra days off or missed rotation turns. As I said earlier, you would be surprised how often the slots do match up. And after the All Star Break, you slot them all over again, and again you'd be surprised how often they match up. Sure, it doesn't matchup ALL the time. But from having to pick on a daily basis starting pitchers from different teams for fantasy baseball, like I said, on some days I'd have four horses to pick from, and other days I'd have four #5 starters. I'm not making it up.

Would you rather lose 8-1 where Suppan gives up 7 runs in 6 innings, or possibly lose 1-0 with Gallardo giving up 1 run in 7 innings and having his outing wasted? In the first scenario you have Gallardo the next day against someone not quite as good as Lincecum. I say this because HOPEFULLY, this is the thought Macha is having...throwing Suppan to the wolves. Any time he pitches a gem and matches another team's ace, it's gravy. But in the end the other starters match up more evenly than who they are pitching against. I run a head to head fantasy baseball season where we have pitching staffs instead of individual pitchers, and I mention this because I know how many times #1 guys end up pitching the same days throughout the season, it's almost shocking. I had San Francisco, San Diego, Milwaukee, and Kansas City staffs last year, and on some game days, I had to choose between Lincecum, Peavy, Sabathia, and Greinke, and then on other days I had to choose between Zito, Suppan, and two other rummies. It's really surprising, and I wouldn't know this unless I played in a fantasy league like I do. I don't think that Suppan would be starting game 1 of a Playoff series the Brewers are in if they started today if that makes sense. So, my theory is Suppan is going to be falling on his sword for the entire year so to speak, and therefore making the team better in the long run. Why get blown out by another team's 5th starter, with Suppan, when you can just forfeit (so to speak) against a team's ace by throwing Suppan out there? Like I said, the few times he does well, it's all gravy. Brilliant if you ask me...or just stupidity that will work out.

Well, their best inside player next year Nankivil isn't a very good inside offensive player. He can hit the jump shots, but I just wonder without an inside presence whatsoever, what they can accomplish. We saw what happened this year when Landry was really the only inside option, and that wasn't pretty. Nankivil is not even close to Landry as an inside scorer. I just don't see anyone improving by all that much to give them a presence inside. EDIT: But I will say that Robert Wilson seems to be able to get to the basket...Jon Leuer can get to the basket for a 6'10" guy, and maybe Ryan Evans can be a slasher too. If they can become a team of drivers, kick outs, and open jump shots, that could work. But if Hughes is the only guy that is going to drive, they're going to turn it over just as much as they score.

I agree with a lot of what you say, but bottom 3 of the Big Ten? I doubt it.

I've heard the same about Bruesewitz too. I just don't expect him to play much next year, and if he does, he won't be nearly as good as Krabbenhoft has been over the last two or three years obviously, regardless of the comparisons.

Reed Johnson? Oh no you didn't.

I thought the same thing. I turned it to the Non HD CBS channel, and the HD channel is better, but you're right, it's really bad for HD.

I hope you're right about the next couple years. Great win last night, but I'm not sure I share your enthusiasm about the near future. First off, without Krabbenhoft, I think the team is going to struggle with rebounding and all the little things he does. There's not another player on the roster that will replace what he brings. Landry, of course, should be missed too, but in a way, I wonder if they'll be better off without him offensively because for the "go to guy" he's been awful ordinary. Speaking of offense, when did the swing offense turn in to the point dribbling around at the top of the key with another player coming over every 5-10 seconds to get a hand off and then hand it off to the point again until the shot clock ticks down and then they take a bad shot? Watching them offensively for most of the game last night (and year for the most part) was painful. Did Dick Bennett get rehired as a consultant or something? I think that next year depends on how good the two redshirt guys (Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren) are. If they are decent, or if Evans (or Robert Wilson) is a guy that can create on his own, they should be all right...at least a tournament team again. On paper, Leuer and Nankivil should be decent, but they have to have some freedom to do some things offensively. And I don't mean going to Nankivil who barely played over the last 10 games because he's hot and no one else acts like they want to shoot, I mean running plays through those two on a consistent basis. I think part of the reason Leuer was so terrible last night and at other times, is that he loses confidence in his abilities when Bo takes him out for shooting in the first two minutes or so of the game like last night. Someone has to want to score Bo. Too often, the Badgers don't have more than one guy on the floor that even wants to shoot.

You can either get a sticker to update your address, or update it on a new license. It's your choice, but the new card will cost you $10 or 20. If you don't get it updated and you get pulled over for anything, you can get fined. Most likely you'll get a warning, but you might just run in to a big enough jerk that will get you for it. And you'll for sure get that added on if you get tagged for anything else, kind of like a seatbelt ticket.

How about Jon Leuer actually playing in crunch time? Tim Jarmusz? Are you kidding me. The reason they blow leads and blow games down the stretch, is that they can't score. Leuer might be the best offensive player on the team. At the very least he's the most talented, get him some freaking experience!

Hopefully they can get Thabeet in foul trouble and pull out the win. How exactly are they going to do that? Pound it inside?

I'm as big of a Badger supporter as there is, ccbrew, but when they are down late in the game, they are not the same team. Well actually, they are the same team, but they shouldn't be if that makes any sense. There's almost no urgency. Like I said, there are exceptions. But I'm not even talking about games decided by just a couple or few points. My point is at the end of the game, they don't have very good clock management when trailing. That's just something I've noticed with Bo Ryan's teams. I've honestly got no other problems with Bo Ryan except for how they let too much time off the clock when they should be trying to score quickly in those situations. Obviously, that's what they do normally in their offense, is work the clock down, then take a shot. It's almost the equivalent of a football team being down 14 points with 2:00 left, and continuing to run the ball because that's their original game plan. You just lessen your chances to win doing that. That play at the end of the game last night was not a good effort, and didn't make much sense to me. It's not often announcers question stuff like that either, but they did last night. And I did too.

Yes, once again, just as in years past, when the game is close and time is short, the Badgers don't seem to know how to react/execute. In these situations, the normal offense/game plan should be out the window, but for some reason it's not, and it's same old same old, using way too much time on the clock that they don't have and then panic before an ill advised low percentage try. Obviously there have been some exceptions (Butch @ Indiana; Flowers @ Texas). But more often than not, they aren't prepared for these situations. Great game though, and I think the Badgers are going to be fine, it's just disappointing that they never seem to figure out the last second strategy to try and tie or win a game. Last night, they had the ball in the right guy's hands (Hughes) but they should have had someone like Leuer set up for a final three attempt from a kick out, since Bohannon was obviously going to be blanketed.

No offense to anyone in particular, but Sheets is gone. We can argue all day about how good he is, how injury prone he is, this and that. But at the end of the day, it's quite obvious Sheets isn't coming back to Milwaukee. Some of you are going to be quite surprised when he signs that "bargain" deal with some other team, a deal that the Brewers could have easily afforded, if A) they were interested. and B) he was interested. But you shouldn't be. It's time to move on no matter what you believe. Disclaimer: The above post is opinion, not to be taken as I am posting it as fact, but I also think it's time to start reading between the lines.

I'm usually with you on a lot of things JohnBriggs, but we're way off on this one. Getting Melky Cabrera in return for Mike Cameron was depressing, I don't care if Cameron is only going to be around for one more year. The fact that Cameron, not Cabrera will be in the Brewers outfield (as of now) with Braun and Hart makes me that much more optimisitic about next season. I don't see ANY pitchers out there that would be available for Cameron's money. This talk of John Smoltz coming to Milwaukee is a pipe dream. Randy Johnson? Maybe, but be careful for what you wish for. Other possibilities out there as far as pitchers go (starters) just don't do it for me. I'm still not cool with Mike Lamb getting the lions share of work at 3B. But Lamb and Cabrera in the lineup along with Kendall and the pitcher spot...that would have ended up getting ugly, I think.

I'm with valpocrewsader, not very funny. Other than Dwight, and of course the 5 seconds of Creed per week, the show has stalled big time in my opinion.

He's not even going to play for Dallas anymore because of it. Put me in the extreme overreaction camp.

I agree it's early. I also agree with those that feel the window has closed. That's why the Yost-led collapse was so disappointing in '07. I think people were thinking it was going to keep getting better, when in reality, '07 and '08 was the Brewers window. Again, I know it's early. But this is a Brewers message board, and if we all just wait to see what happens, this site doesn't really have much of a purpose, and we should just all buy the 2009 Brewers in Review video in 9 months, right? I don't think it's so absurd to have an opinion on the team that this site is based on.