JosephC

Even if the receivers were playing great, it would still be a priority because after 2025 both Doubs and Watson are free agents. They raised some eyebrows this last draft when they took Monk who pretty much projected as a pure center. From what I hear, Myers is nothing special...I think the Packers were already thinking they were parting way with Myers after 2024 and wanted to have a guy they liked already in the pipeline, Packer unrestricted free agents after 2026 that have played over 30% of the snaps in 2024 (at least according to overthecap, so if this info is wrong, blame them not me)- OT - Rasheed Walker (99.1%) OT - Zach Tom (98.5%) LB - Quay Walker (78.2%) * WR - Romeo Doubs (63.4%) WR - Christian Walker (57.0%) EDGE - Kingsley Enagbare (45.5%) LS - Matt Orzech (33.8%) IDL - Devonte Wyatt (33.4%) * I'm assuming, as first round picks, the Packers have the option for an additional year on Walker and Wyatt.

Following the Teoscar Hernandez signing, Cot's has the Dodger's 2025 luxury tax payment at $105,242,098. They current project the Brewer's opening day payroll to be $101,250,727, and currently there are 8 other teams that have an opening day payroll projection lower than the Brewers. MLB completely broken at this point.

Both lines are terrible. The defensive line gets a "passable" grade pass rushing, but are terrible against the run. I don't think the starting offensive linemen are very good to begin with, and they've had a lot of injury problems there and have had some guys on the field that have looked no better than practice squad material. And their highly touted wide receiver and defensive back groups, seems like their are a few selfish whiners mixed in there...guys who should be better than they are and flat out quit a few weeks ago and have likely dragged the entire team down. There are obviously massive culture issues there. Guys who were complaining about Eberflus...who you would figure would come out with their hair on fire and really play hard to show that Eberflus was the problem...first game with Eberflus gone was the 49ers game, and San Fran put a 300+ yard performance on in the first half while the Bears had 4 yards. NFL team...4 yards in a half...right after the players helped push the head coach out the door. I would expect a 300+ yards versus 4 yards in a half of football if I was watching the Georgia Bulldogs play the Weber State Wildcats. That should never, never happen in the NFL game.

...and there are 6 teams that currently have a worse winning percentage.

Let's face the facts, Indiana is not a bad team but they are not a team that should be in a playoff. They are the poster-child for why 18 team conferences are just stupid. Indiana's conference schedule in 2024. Big 10 record in parenthesis @ UCLA (3-6) Maryland (1-8) @ Northwestern (2-7) Nebraska (3-6) Washington (4-5) @ Michigan State (3-6) Michigan (5-4) @ Ohio State (7-2) Purdue (0-9) And the out of conference schedule was Florida International (4-8), Western Illinois (not even a 1-A school and finished 4-8) and Charlotte (5-7). Very weak in-conference schedule and then got the extra home game on top of that. 66% of their conference opponents could only win 1/3 conference games or less. I'm not going to try and talk up Bucky, because they were not a good team, but Wisconsin is at least 7-5 with that schedule and I don't think an 8-4 is out of the question. Indiana finished ahead of Ohio State in the Big 10 standings this year. I remember the days where there were 10 teams, 8 games played so everybody missed 1 conference opponent. We used to talk what a great advantage or disadvantage that 1 miss would be. But look at the system they have now. Complete joke, just like everything else that has happened with college football over the last decade.

I think that all depends on the ratings in the college football videogame. https://www.patspulpit.com/new-england-patriots-social-media-video-podcasts/2024/12/19/24324917/jets-owner-nixed-major-trade-immensely-stupid-reason-jerry-jeudy

I had no idea that the NBA TV ratings have dropped as much as they have. https://www.nysun.com/article/nba-cup-final-faces-uphill-battle-to-end-slumping-tv-ratings

Terrible news. Would rather see the Brewers and MLB foot the vast majority of this bill. The Bucks arena was such a huge cash cow for the city and county that all the dumb-dumbs that live there now have the joy of paying a 7.9% sales tax. Maybe with this new baseball stadium, we can get that number over 10%. At least this tweet was nice enough to say the government is picking up the entire 500 million dollar tab, which is probably much more accurate than the previous taxpayer = 400 million, Brewers/MLB = 100 million lie that was sold to us earlier.

The experts I work with (seriously, people who watch A LOT of football and have opinions that I trust) did not have great things to say about Edwards. One said, if Locke is a "D," Edwards is probably a "C-." Other opinion was, "I don't ever remember seeing O'Neil play, but I'm hoping he can beat out Edwards because that guy is nothing special." I thought Reiger looked the most interesting on paper. Then did more research and, from what I understand, he was expected to play last year after having a knee injury from 2023, but then developed complications and missed all of 2024. That doesn't sound good. Parker Peterson seems to be the big "get" so far. Have to admit that the additions seem pretty underwhelming to me.

Cots has the Cubs about 61 million away from the luxury tax threshold after this move. If their goal was to stay under the luxury tax, they either didn't need to move Bellinger or they have a couple big moves happening. Any word on where Alex Bregman may be headed? Roster Resource currently projects Matt Shaw as their starting third baseman. Shaw is a former 1st round pick but his selection was so recent that he is not on the 40-man roster yet.

As of this morning the Badgers have 77 scholarship players, so room for 8 transfers (there could be late signings from high schoolers, but I wouldn't anticipate any). And while all the outgoing transfers have probably made their intentions known, we could always lose a couple more early entries to the NFL draft. There obviously can be position changes between now and the fall, but right now Joe McNamara projects as following- https://wisconsin.rivals.com/news/football-projected-scholarship-distribution-1 QB - 3 (2 true freshmen) RB - 5 WR - 10 (1 true freshman) TE - 7 (2 true freshmen) OL = 16 (5 true freshmen) DL = 7 (3 true freshmen) ILB = 6 (2 true freshmen) OLB = 9 (3 true freshmen) CB = 7 (3 true freshman) S = 5 (3 true freshman) Special Teams = 2 One QB, multiple defensive linemen and defensive backs all look to be significant and equal priorities. Some pretty alarming numbers as those spots.

Why do the projections at Fangraphs have Cortes at <1 WAR for 2026 (Fangraphs DC = 0.5, Steamer = 0.8)? Is he injured? Was it likely he was heading to the bullpen in 2026?

Gastineau was all about self-promotion and trying to get the spotlight on him. When he made a sack he would have these ridiculous celebrations where he'd jump around and throw his arms around, and this was in an era where an elaborate TD celebration was a guy simply spiking the ball. Gastineau would only play for sacks, if a running back was going towards him, Gastineau would generally just stop and let the back run right by him. If "selfish player" was in the dictionary, Gastineau's picture would be right next to it. It was even known back then that all of his teammates disliked him. It was a completely dick move for Favre to do what he did, because IMO that was a selfish move that disrespected his own teammates. Mark Tauscher and Bubba Franks work their tails off to block that guy and then Favre goes and gives him a freebie. It must be pointed out that was all Strahan got thiat day, as Tauscher put on a dominating performance. Packers went up and down the field and eventually just took the fourth quarter off, as they had a 34-10 lead at the end of the third.

I had a pretty good time listening to the score out of Chicago this morning. Even though they will acknowledge that the offensive and defensive lines are terrible, the result of this game was really due to Shanahan coaching circles around the new head coach/offensive playcaller and new defensive playcaller. For some odd reason, I am thinking that if Shanahan took the field with the Bears roster, then he is the one who would have taken the beat-down. I honestly, 100% believe that if the Georgia Bulldogs had walked out on that field yesterday, that they would have managed more than 4 yards of offense in the first half. Lots of really gutless Bears players to complain behind closed doors and get the head coach fired, and then not show up for the following game.

That's crazy (not bad, just crazy). McIntosh looked at Fickell, Aranda, Leonhard and Leipold to replace Chryst, and now the Badgers are interviewing an offensive coordinator whose last two jobs were under Leipold and Aranda. His bio is still up on the Kansas website, long history as an offensive line coach. Coached at LSU under Les Miles and at Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer.

I didn't think they released the all-conference lists until after the conference championship game. Wow, what an ugly list for Wisconsin. One 3rd teamer. I guess one has to take into consideration the ridiculous number of teams in the conference. But still, one 3rd teamer...makes me feel like I am a Purdue fan, Apparently, I picked the right year to stop going to and watching games altogether. The Huber thing is funny because the media seemed to talk about Nelson, Mahlman and Brunner, but I never heard much about Huber. The fact that Nelson, Mahlman and Brunner were 4-star recruits, and Huber was a transfer, probably played a role in that. But I agree, considering Huber played that well, then Wedig and Barrett were not significant losses. I still see Paez and Johnson being pretty big losses, especially after reading quotes from Fickell about lacking enough big bodies (especially at end where Johnson would have been a big help). Still can't believe Johnson left Madison and wound up in the situation he did. Since NFL teams just draft guys based on workout numbers now, these projections may change dramatically, but as of today...Nic Scourton appears to be a round one lock and probably slightly better than 50/50 to go in the top half of round one...Shemar Stewart looks to be a round two or very early round three pick...Shemar Turner is probably late round three or round four....DJ Hicks, 2023 class, #3 at Rivals, #11 at 247sports. I'm probably biased on Jordan Turner because I thought he had shown pretty good improvement the more he played here and was disappointed to see him go. It's nice to see that he seemed to do well at Michigan State.

To sum up the losses, I was as excited as probably anybody over Nick Evers, but he sure doesn't look like anything special as he ended up splitting time at UConn and ended up with a 5/5 TD/INT ratio. Burkett started at a lower level but the stat line is pretty unimpressive. Wide receiver, big losses there. Have to believe that Dike, Bell and Lewis would have made this team much better, even with questionable QB play. Rucci is another 5 star bust. It will be interesting to see if he just stays home or if he transfers again (or if Franklin boots him back into the portal). I'll be interested to see if Wedig gets some all-conference mentions (Big 10 OL is deep enough where I don't think he gets all-team type honors, but maybe an honorable mention). From what I've read, it doesn't sound like Wedig or Barrett would have been starting ahead of Nelson, Mahlman or Brunner. Maybe if these guys would have stuck around, the Badgers would have had an upgrade at RG? I really don't know much about Joe Huber, as I didn't read much of anything positive or negative about him. The stat sheet on Paez is nothing special, but he was a starter and was playing the nose for LSU. Seems like he was a pretty big loss as I wasn't hearing very much positive stuff about the Badger defensive front six. Rodas Johnson picked the wrong team to go to, as A&M have 3 defensive lineman that look to be taken within the first 5 or so rounds of the upcoming draft, and the 4th one is a 5-star sophomore who was the #1 DLman in his class according to both 247 and Rivals). Jordan Turner was a pretty good player for the Badgers and appears to have been the biggest individual loss the Badgers had. Have to believe he would have been a significant help to the defensive front. Defensive backs, really didn't appear to lose much there.

DB - AJ Tisdell - Incarnate Ward = 12 games, 45 tackles, 1 interception, 7 pass breakups DB - Amaun Williams - Concordia = ???, I checked five different schools named Concordia, and did not locate Williams on any roster. Also could not locate him using general internet searches CB - Michael Mack - Ohio = 12 games, 12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss I think that is it for the guys who transferred out last year.

DE - Darian Varner - Cincinnati = 12 games, 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery DL - Rodas Johnson - Texas A&M = 12 games, 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack DT - Gio Paez - LSU = 12 games, 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup DL - TJ Bollers - California = 12 games, 22 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 pass breakups DE - Jordan Meyer - Penn State = 11 games, 2 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks EDGE - Kaden Johnson - Nevada = 8 games, 17 tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss, 1 pass breakup DL - Mike Jarvis - Liberty = 10 games, 3 tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss, 1 pass breakup LB - Jordan Turner - Michigan State = 12 games, 66 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions, 1 pass breakup (tackles and tackles for loss were team highs, sacks ranked 2nd on team) LB - Aidan Vaughan - Liberty = 11 games, 16 tackles, 1 pass breakup LB - Ross Gengler - Wisconsin-La Crosse = 12 games, 38 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 forced fumbles

QB - Nick Evers - UConn = 8 games, 97/179, 54.2% completion percentage, 918 passing yards, 5 TD, 5 INT, 234 rushing yards, 3.0 average, 3 rushing TDs (other QB on roster had 183 pass attempts, so looks like a 50/50 split in playing time) QB - Myles Burkett - Albany = 145/265, 54.7% completion percentage, 1845 passing yards, 10 TD, 7 INT, 129 rushing yards, 1.7 average, 0 rushing TDs WR - Chimere Dike - Florida = 36 catches, 687 yards, 19.1 average, 2 touchdowns WR - Keontez Lewis - Southern Illinois = 49 catches, 813 yards, 16.6 average, 5 touchdowns WR - Skyler Bell - UConn = 47 catches, 783 yards, 16.7 average, 4 touchdowns WR - Tommy McIntosh - Central Michigan = 9 games, 2 catches, 15 yards OL - Nolan Rucci - Penn State = Appeared in all 12 games, only started 2 OL - Trey Wedig - Indiana = Started 11 games at right tackle OL - Dylan Barrett - Iowa State = Started 8 games at right guard and then got hurt

The NFL will not change the rule because the NFL has fought major court battles to keep this rule in place. College football is a completely free developmental league/minor-league system for them. What could be better?

So when we had the designated hitter argument, the biggest pro was "I want to see pitchers pitch, and hitters hit. I do not want to see pitchers hit." Of course, the same thing could be said for other positions. Who wants to see defensive catchers hit? Who wants to see defensive shortstops hit? Almost every lineup has a player who is in there only because of his defensive ability. Why not have a second designated hitter? Baseball as a money-making venture (not the game itself!), by it's very nature, has a major problem in that it's star players are not active participants in a large percentage of the game. If you are an NFL fan, and tune into a Chiefs game, you get to see Patrick Mahomes is on the field and an active participant roughly 50% of the time. If you are an NBA fan, the star player is on the court 90% of the time. Nobody pays their money to watch Aaron Judge play the outfield. So if you watch a 3 hour baseball game, you only get to see Aaron Judge perform at the plate for roughly 7-8 minutes. Over the last few years I've become convinced that it's only a matter of time until baseball resets the lineup and starts at the top of the batting order every half-inning. People can think that it won't happen because pitchers and bottom of the order hitters will scream bloody murder. Baseball historians will throw all their record books away (can you imagine Juan Soto's season statistics with 1400+ plate appearances?). But if MLB, MLBPA and television think that, ultimately, there is more money to be made, then they will do this "for the good of the game." (Even though it is not good for the game, just good for their pocketbooks) I am older but still think I likely have 15-20 years left in me. I expect to see this happen before I kick the bucket. And when it happens, I'll be glad that I stopped watching many years earlier.

I would also guess this stadium does not happen under the current situation. In addition to the 380 million dollars they are getting from the state, they are also getting tax breaks worth an estimated 220 million. So they are getting roughly 1/3 of the money from the public, meaning Fisher's bill comes out to 1.15 billion (the 1.15 billion does include projected interest on the loans). Fisher's net worth is estimated at 3.2 billion by Forbes, it doesn't seem very likely that he would be willing to pick up 66% of the price-tag. If Fisher was willing to add a partner and spend 1+ billion right from the start, it seems like they would have already broken ground in Oakland, Las Vegas or somewhere else. It's not like he just started working on this stadium thing 9 months ago. And I still can't figure out why anyone in Las Vegas would like this idea, even if they were a true baseball fanatic. You have a cheap owner who wants to build the smallest stadium in the smallest television market and you really think this is going to be a competitive team long-term?

Do I have this college football playoff thing figured out correctly? If I do, this system will not last very long because ESPN will sure be howling about this. Top 4 ranked conference winners get the top 4 seeds? So let's just assume that all the favorites win this weekend. Using current AP rankings as CFP rankings have not been released..... Big 10 - #1 ranked Oregon -3.5 against #3 Penn State SEC - #3 Texas -2.5 against #7 Georgia ACC - #8 SMU -2.5 against #18 Clemson Mountain West - #10 Boise State -4 against #19 UNLV Big 12 - #12 Arizona State -2 against #16 Iowa State So if all of the favorites win, we are looking at SMU and Boise State being the #3 and #4 seeds in this playoff? Even if Clemson wins, unless the committee takes orders from ESPN and throws all "fairness" out the window, we are looking at Boise State and Arizona State being the #3 and #4 seeds (assuming they both win)? This is really the system they came up with? Please tell me I got this wrong. So, as best as I can guess, the playoff would look something like this? #1 - Oregon #2 -Texas #3 - SMU #4 - Boise State --------------------------------------------------- #5 - Notre Dame #6 - Tennessee #7 - Ohio State #8 - Penn State #9 - Georgia #10 - Arizona State #11 - Indiana #12 - Alabama So I am assuming the brackets are locked and they do not re-seed. Is that correct? So in this scenario, does Oregon's first game come against either Penn State or Georgia? Meanwhile, Tennessee in the #6 seed gets Indiana in game #1 and then SMU in game #2? If this is all correct, I congratulate the morons who came up with this. Giving conference champions an automatic bye would have been reasonable if there were four conference that were similar from a competition standpoint, but clearly that is not the case. PS - I see now that ESPN will give the order to flip Alabama and Indiana so Notre Dame's game #1 chance of winning increases by about 5-fold.

Chryst had a .713 winning percentage in the regular season, .705 against the Big 10 and .857 in bowl games.