RobDeer 45

Ya I love adaptive cruise! I've had it in the last few cars and now have become accustom to it. When I drive a car without it, I always forget to break. One of our volvos also has driver assistance. It drives the car for you when the cruise is on. You need to move the steering wheel every minute or so, otherwise it will turn it off, because it's not meant to fully take over. I use it on road trips and it really does make the drive much easier. It's like you are driving but you have someone else making helping you, to make sure you're doing a good job.

I feel so bad for Lebron. His gang of misfits, should have taken game one. They can't afford to not win a game like that. Bad calls by the referees down the stretch. And yes, Green is the worst. It's one thing to get under people's skin, but it's another to be a blatant jerk. You're on a stacked team, playing a super star and a bunch of nobodies. Act like you've been there before.

I agree, the problem with the small dog is the owners usually, not the dog. Because they are always on the owner's lap, they get a false sense that they are equal to humans, or even dominant. I'm all for dogs cuddling and even sleeping with people (I used to do that) but I think you have establish that it's not their choice when they come up, they have to be called up. We have a puppy right now and we have not let him on the furniture yet. We will someday, but not until he knows he can't just go up there whenever he wants. Plus he's going to be huge....so not sure how much we will actually end up letting him up there.

Still a lot of time for everything to change. That said, I like what we are doing so far. I just hope we can keep up an above average pace as the season goes on.

This team has me, and so many other Brewer fans, absolutely buzzing. I love the excitement. I can't wait for the next game!

I thought the ump was doing pretty good early in the game. Seemed consistent and had some tough calls. But it could have just been the pitches I saw. I even commented to a friend about that. Of course that would jinx us in the 9th. That was a bad call. I think CC knew exactly what he was doing by jumping in. Awesome win and awesome bullpen night again!

Not sure I can say this in the Optimism thread, but I had them pegged for 12 wins this month! I thought it would be tough on this road trip. So now, I'm super optimistic for the rest of the month. Let's keep it rolling! I'm excited to watch tonight!

Fun little trip out west! Let's keep it going.

Greg35 - drink a 12 pack tonight and bring it back!!!!

We gave our son my wife's maiden name as his middle name. It worked well because it was a name that was short and can be used as a first name. I have a friend that used his wife's maiden name as their son's first name. It's unique and pretty cool.

I was stating that in terms of if he was a starter. If you only have two pitches, I feel like you will have less luck the second and third time through the lineup. That's why a lot of pitchers end up in the pen, because they only have one or two good pitches.

The guy is pitching so well right now, it's unreal. I love that he's getting national attention as well. Really cool. My thought is keep him where he is. I think he's so valuable in his current role. Question, how is his 3rd pitch, which I believe is the changeup, rated? My worry with him being a starter is does he have enough deception to go through the lineup multiple times. I'd hate to see him be a starter and be average, or struggle. No guarantee that if he then tried to switch back to a reliever, that he would be able to regain his form. I think it's too risky to mess with it right now. Another question, in a playoff series, what's more valuable, a starter, or a reliever in a role like he's in currently?

Streaking is so fun!!!!!! Let's keep it rolling. Can't wait to watch tonight.

Man, I was sad to hear this news today. He always seemed to be in such a great mood. He seemed to love what he was doing and loved the Brewers. Thinking about him and his family today.

Wow, that escalated quickly.

The southern slang has certainly rubbed off on me. I've become somewhat of a cross between the two cultures. Funny story, one time I had a guy at a bar question my out-of-state ID and he called his manager over to look at it to verify. The manager happened to be from Wisconsin and proceeded to ask me three questions...what do I call a water fountain, what's a beer you can only get in Wisconsin and to name three Packers wide receivers. Once I answered, he goes 'it's legit' and walked off. That's tremendous! I would love to get that interrogation happen to me someday. Welcome to the boards!

I actually feel almost bad for Braun, because I find him to be a sad character now. Like he's a muted version of what he was. Almost like the movie character who has everything, it all comes crashing down, then loses his money, wife/family, and is left with nothing. I don't feel bad for him for cheating, or all the aftermath stuff. I feel bad for him because I bet he wishes he could go back and do it all differently. He didn't need HGH to be great, but I think he needed to feed his ego. I've said this before, but I think Braun is hated because of the way he's always come across. I think he appears to be cocky. He appears to be a bit of a loner. I don't think he has a lot of real friends. I think when Prince was on the team, everyone else gravitated towards him and not Braun. This is just my opinion, and the way I've always viewed him, but have a hunch that others do too. I believe he still gets booed like he does, partially because of this, and the rest because of how everything went down after he was caught. To most people, he looks like a bad guy now, plain and simple. You can dissect it all you want, and try to justify, or make him out to not be so bad, but to baseball fans outside of Wisconsin, he's a bad guy. I like cheering for Braun and watching him play, but I'll never view him the same. Like I said, I feel sad for him. Sad that he made some bad choices along the way. He could have been great without HGH. Now, whenever he does something, I don't feel like he can fully celebrate it. He's not allowed to, because of his past indiscretions.

Seems like this offseason lasted forever! Really excited to have some baseball that counts, on the TV. Happy Opening Day everyone! Any special plans? We are doing beer brats tonight!

Hahahaha! Unreal. I copied the darn thing and then was typing in my predictions but missed the loss column! I'm going to keep it that way. This will give me a one free game I can put on either side to make my prediction more accurate.

I know the new trend in baseball is to rely more on your bullpen. It kind of clicked with me today that I wonder if DS is going to really discount the price and years he's willing to offer for aging starting pitchers. Why pay for average, and potentially hurt your team in the long term (because of long contracts), when you can use young, average to just below average starters, and lean on your bullpen more? I think we will see more of an emphasis on our bullpen in years to come. I do think he will also make a trade for a good controllable starting pitcher in the coming years. This is kind of a wacky comparison, but I think he's got a price for each player out there (signing or trade). Similar to how I go in to a fantasy football auction draft (In no way am I saying I'm a GM or an awesome FF player, just a connection I made in my head). I think he will hold strong to those prices. He may be way lower on some people, and therefore never come close to being able to get them. Similar to the pitchers he looked at this year. If he doesn't get them, he's ok and probably shakes his head and says, there is no way they are worth that. Especially important for a team that has to be extra careful with contracts. But when the market isn't reacting like it normally would, and he sees someone below his price, he'll jump on it. Like he did with Cain this year. Right or wrong, that's how I do it in my FF auction league. I don't do close to enough research (I have faith that the Brewers do), but I stick to the numbers I have. I kind of think that's going to be his approach. Way less emotion in his construction of a roster. Way more patience, and less "going for it" type moves.

2018 Brewers Season Predictions Win-Loss Record: 82-79 Playoffs (Yes, No): No Highest Playoff Level Achieved: None All Star Game Representative(s): Yelich Offensive Player of the Year: Yelich Pitcher of the Year: Hader Most Surprising Player: Arcia Most Disappointing Player: Knebel I'm usually pessimistic going in to the season because I don't want to get my hopes up too high! I'm worried that we had the ball bounce our way a lot last year, which is why our record was so good. I don't see that happening again, and feel like we take a step back. I think the offense and defense will perform well, but feel that pitching will be inconsistent. I also think we could get caught in a few bad losing streaks that will be hard to snap out of. Having Jimmy Nelson really change my outlook for this team. I'm worried he will not be the same pitcher he was last year, when he gets back.

Watched that a few times. I still love watching an episode of COPS here and there. So is this show really live or just made to look live? Always wanted to know....or maybe I don't want to know if it's the wrong answer.

Thanks and I'm cool with your thoughts here. I do think we have a shot at making the playoffs, but also at being average this year, which I'm ok with. I was more referring to if we are in a position where we are favorites, that I could see us making a more aggressive move. At this point, I don't see the need for the type of move that has the potential to hurt our future. Slow and steady, keep doing what we're doing.

Just curious why some think that because Cain and Yelich were acquired, that we had to make a pitching move. Can't we improve our team in other areas besides pitching? Yes we could use an upgrade at pitching, but that doesn't mean blindly spend money on one, just to get a small boost. I think DS saw good deals for people he thought would preform well and help our team. Those moves also give him more flexibility with trade pieces. This is just a guess, but I don't see Stearns signing too many aging pitchers for multiple years. I think we need to change our mindset. He's not going to overreact because we had a good year last year. He has a plan on a way to build a team and it's going to take a few years. Just because one move is made, doesn't mean another needs to happen right away. Patience. I think a small market team is better off bringing up pitchers and hoping some stick. Then when the time comes, make a trade for controllable pitching talent in their prime. Getting players like Cain and Yelich affords DS to package more controllable talent to other teams. That's what everyone wants now. So you find a team with a need in the OF and get a few pitchers from them. Prospects make the world go round right now. Keep acquiring that currency and use it to trade for needs. If and when we get to a point where we are one or two players away from being a favorite to make the playoffs, I think the checkbook will be open. But right now we aren't that team. I'm sure if Stearns really wanted one of these pitchers, he could have gotten the ok to pay for them. I don't think the Cain contract had anything to do with us not getting a pitcher. I think Stearns just isn't willing to overpay and over extend on a contract for someone that's not worth it.

I think there is too much being made out of us not getting a pitcher. I don't think DS is trying "go for it." I think he saw value in Cain and Yelich so he jumped on it. He probably hoped to get a pitcher at the right price, but the deal didn't present itself. I really don't think he's trying to "go for it" and therefore isn't going to make a desperate move. He can still do a back loaded contract in hopes of a trade this year or next, or a FA acquisition next year. We aren't in a tight window with expiring contracts. Our window is just opening. I think it would be a poor move to make an aggressive move right now, with how this team is setup. We are a small market team that needs to be patient and build through the draft and acquisition of young players. Sprinkle in some veteran moves, when the right player is available (Cain) and hope our youth can develop in to quality players.