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Vinny Capra is on a pace for 162 Home Runs! (God, I love Opening Day.)

I don't know that you can say the Badgers only go for 1-year guys, considering Klesmit and McGee (and Storr for that matter) all had multiple years of eligibility when transferring to Madison.

The Badgers are positioned to keep getting bites at the apple, to use the phrase we've become accustomed to on the baseball side of things. Their willingness to open up the offense, and embrace new players in the transfer portal, plus the University's being reasonably competitive in NIL means they will be good enough to make the tournament in most years. This year's team was a legitimate contender for the Final Four, but it came up a bit short, and ran into a lower seed that hit 3s at an above-average rate. Realistically, this team is going to be in about the same place in the NIL era that they were before: they're never going to have a bench full of All Americans like Duke, Kansas, UConn, or Kentucky, but they can still bring together enough talent to be competitive with those teams in a 1-and-done setting.

https://badgerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/badgers/mens-basketball/2025/03/24/wisconsin-basketball-early-transfer-portal-interests/82626213007/ Adding a few more names to the list.

That’s about as bad a start as possible.

I expect Jalen Hurts will be a bit rusty, on account of all the missed practice time in the concussion protocol. To me, that gives GB the proverbial puncher's chance...but you really hope it includes: If not a fast start, then just avoiding early turnovers and getting behind more than 1 score. Packers Receivers holding on to the ball (during and after the catch)! Keep Saquon contained. He'll get his touches & yards, but avoid giving up the chunk plays that bring the crowd into it (and lead to scores). Pass rushers finishing the play, rather than letting Jalen break the pocket and scramble for first downs. Hoping for Doubs and Tucker Kraft to elevate the offense, and for the Packers secondary to limit the number of deep balls to the Eagles receivers. I wish I felt more comfortable predicting a win, but they're not coming into the playoffs with the momentum I'd like.

Wow. Happy to see them returning the favor to Arizona with the Home-and-Home.

A major variable on winnability of games in the second half is the health of Jaire Alexander. 2 of the 3 Packers losses came with him unavailable due to his injuries (...and the 3rd game was a Rams team without its top 2 WRs). Hoping the bye week worked wonders, because the pass defense is better when he is on the field.

I think it has more to do with Evan Williams forcing his way into the nickel. Nixon wasn't playing poorly in nickel, so they moved him to boundary with Williams on the slot receiver. Williams is now taking starting reps from Bullard, who is now playing the in the slot. Credit to the new DC for putting his best DBs on the field, even if it's a little unconventional to run 3 safeties in nickel.

Happy for BA, but the French Open is another 2 weeks during summer he won't be available for Brewers games.

Not much to add, but allow me to say there was a big difference watching the Brewers on Direct TV Stream (which is what I have) versus the standalone service (which my parents had, and watched via Roku). Direct TV was virtually identical to watching on cable: you have a designated channel, which carries other programming when the Brewers / Bucks aren't on, and ran regular commercials during ad breaks. On the App - at least watching from central Wisconsin - 90% of the ads that ran were house ads for other Bally's programming (I can practically do the British Basketball League ad from memory), or Public Service Announcements. My biggest concern about the Brewers operating as a standalone is the ability to sell ads; it's a major component of the revenue model, especially given the innings breaks and pitching changes which are baked into MLB games. This may well prove easier for an MLB team which already has in-stadium advertising (and a sales staff who can package the in-stadium ads with streaming service ads) than it proved to be for Bally's. It's why Bally's initially wanted to hold on to the team broadcasts where they had standalone streaming; the streamer got to keep the ad revenue...but I don't think they ended up with nearly the amount of streaming ad revenue as they had expected, which is why they dropped the Brewers alongside the other teams. There is a real chance the Brewers will generate more revenue from streaming and ad sales than they would have received under the Bally's deal...but it's still likely to pale in comparison to large market teams, given the advertising "reach" of the other home markets.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41679292/jaquan-brisker-concussion-protocol-not-bears-london Hm....so he ended up with a concussion, just like the Panthers Tight End who fumbled on the helmet-to-helmet collision during Sunday's game. Wonder if those two are related? (Still can't believe the play wasn't flagged, and can only hope the NFL issues a fine later this week. It was that bad.) I liked Brisker coming out of college, but I'm relatively glad the Packers didn't get him, especially since the need at the position brought in McKinney as well as the drafting of Bullard and Williams.

The one thought I had going into the game, and still have is that Tucker Kraft seems to either have surpassed Luke Musgrave as the top tight end, or is close to doing so. Not only does he seem to be more productive in the offense (4 receptions to 1 for LM), but when only one of them is out on the field, it seemed to be Kraft more often than not. APC snap counts from yesterday seem to back that up. I don't think I've seen a team running counters off their reverse game quite like the Packers did in the first quarter yesterday. At least 2-3 times on the early drives the team would fake an end-around to the left, only to pull the guards and run to the right side with an inside handoff. The Colts were clearly geared to stop the actual reverses, but doing so left them open to the counter. Just good strategy on MLF's part. Likewise, I think the offense did a good job building in high-percentage, short passes for Willis to get his confidence going early...but a lot of that comes back to having "convert first-and-20" -type success with the running game.

They just keep winning.

Size and depth from international scouting. Hard not to like what the Badgers are doing here.

I think it's from this, combined with the anguish of being a Brewers fan:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-hijab-assassin-wanted-over-125400796.html Failed hitwoman Aimee Betro was arrested in Armenia, and will be extradited for criminal proceedings. I dare suggest she won't be selling Brewers tickets any time soon.

Can the Aaron Rodgers posts be moved to the NFL discussion thread. He's not our problem anymore.

The #1 receiver in the Packers offense, regardless of personnel, is the guy who's open. My frustration with late-years Rodgers was the unwillingness to get the ball to the open man, in hopes that Davante or Aaron Jones would come open late. Keeping the offense high-tempo was the best part of Year 1 for Jordan Love.

Barton was the guy I was hoping would be available when the Packers picked, but I'm okay with Morgan, especially if the front office thinks he has a better chance of sticking at LT. Curious to see the Day 2 picks, but even more curious to find out whether the Packers move up to get a DB even earlier than 41, with both DeJean and Kool-Aid on the board.

Considering the location for the 2025 NFL Draft, I would not be at all surprised if Green Bay moved some of their picks this year for extra Day 1-2 picks next year. Next year's draft is expected to be deeper as a combination of NIL and the extra year of eligibility from Covid, so it might make business sense as well. I have done less research on this year's draft than most past seasons. My expectation is their first round pick will be an OL or a DB, though I would never count out a DL pick if the Murphy or Newton slips (only so many guys that size). The pick at 41 could well be a guy who has been discussed for the Packers' first pick...I just don't see either Barton or DeJean being the guy who slides that far.

Yet another error by the shortstop.

Yes for Green Bay & Milwaukee, no for the other Packers TV Network affiliates in the state. Think about an NFL Network simulcast, rather than a preseason game.

Confirming what I said earlier, either the Packers or the Browns will play "at Philadelphia" (road game) in Sao Paulo, Brazil... ...in a Peacock-exclusive broadcast. 🤑

Packers are one of two (?) teams eligible for the Brazil trip. Reading the tea leaves, I think Green Bay is going to be playing internationally this season.