ZBTMP

1) Mitchell – would have preferred a better start to AA but hopefully just a blip 2) Small – When he was on, he was on. Not sure how much of the goofy numbers are just the Brewers making him work on his secondary offerings 3) Frelick – I still don’t know why people like big league comps on draft day. Statistical comps never look alike. Every player is unique, and this one seems promising. 4) Ashby – Seems like he still needs alittle more finishing 5) Justin Bullock – K:BB ratio was intriguing before the injury. Being promoted 2 levels in a season says something. 6) Joe Gray Jr. – hitting the snot out of the ball but question how he will handle advanced pitching and making adjustments 7) J Quero – Checks boxes so far 8) Hedbert Perez – Would prefer better plate numbers but he is already off to a better start than the last time we saw this kind of hype (Lara) 9) Antoine Kelly – Unfortunately 1 lost year is 2 lost years. 10) David Hamilton – Enough of an idea at the plate and a carrying tool. The most likely to be a regular SS IMO 11) Zavier Warren – Probably time to move him up 12) Feliciano – Lost developmental year hurts. Losing hope that he will do more than clear the low bar set for catching offensively 13) Howell – Numbers have dropped since the hot start but exciting tools. 14) Turang – Walk rate is way down, not seeing enough offense to be a utility player or a low end regular. Maybe there is some iteration that works. 15) Black – The small school thing has me less optimistic. Maybe Im just weary of a Canadian who isn’t good enough to be a hockey player. 16) Zamora – Lots of rust, not sure he can shake it all off 17) Cousins – He is currently a dominant reliever and no reason why that can’t continue but relievers are fickle 18) Felix Valerio – Walking more than striking out makes him interesting but a long way to go 19) Max Lazar – Health would be good here 20) Eduardo Garcia – Start to rookie ball is kind of meh after an off year 21) Abner Uribe – Throwing hard is better than not throwing hard but doesn’t seem like he know where it goes. 22) Victor Casteneda – May not have much of a ceiling and not young for the level but keeping that healthy K:BB will keep him moving up 23) Dylan File – Holding his 40 man spot will be interesting 24) Micah Bello – I got nothing to say and that isnt a good thing 25) Weston Wilson – Knocking the snot out of the ball, but utility infielders generally come as NRIs. Will probably get to the bigs at some point but hard time imagining him as a regular

(1) month early for the decades promotion.

Probably not. With Wisconsin his only known visit scheduled and players expected to be on campus in less than 2 weeks, this wasn’t an unexpected addition. I suspect they desire 3 early down back options they feel comfortable with and someone in the Groshek/Ogumbawale passing down role. Plus someone in the freshmen class is likely to end up at fullback with Chanel’s eligibility running out. The immediate best path to playing time for Allen besides special teams is to standout in the backfield shuffle. The staff has a plan and I don’t think it changed yesterday.

Almost 4 years removed from high school and Turang has 1 extra base hit in 58 PAs. That is probably the most concerning early season stat for me right now.

That was a pretty heartbreaking loss. Had some great offensive zone execution along with some gritty goals. Somehow our defensemen keep messing up their primary responsibility on 2-on-1s. I get that the secondary responsibility is to take away the shooters time and space and you are relatively blind to where the 2nd man is, but this is D1 hockey. Emberson was clearly trying to take the passing lane away, but all I can say is you are an NHL prospect, do better. Vorlicky just wiffed. The problem becomes, the more times you mess up, the more you goalie start to cheat and then you have a mess. I dont know what the ref called by interference on Inamoto, but that was not a pretty sequence either. Weissbach always seems to be the player who gets caught on the ice too long. His half hearted poke check effort on the last goal, ugh. Oh well. The COVID and Hockey Canada made winning the B1G alittle too tough or a hole.

State Championships are set. Hudson-Verona, Superior-St Marys Springs. Not sure Im a fan of the 2 division thing. I guess it gets Minoqua to state, but youth participation and access to the sport in the community are bigger drivers of success than enrollment. There is no perfect answer but Springs-Superior could have easily been the D1 championship. I guess I didn’t even know Verona was fielding a WIAA team. As for the Badgers, I still think rotating the goalies until the postseason is a good idea. Right now Rowe should certainly be the #1 in the playoffs, but what if he starts to have struggles? You are going to go back to Beydoun after not playing him for weeks during the playoffs? Let the sample size get larger and make the decision at playoffs. If one becomes a consistent liability, sure; but I don’t think that’s the case yet. Certainly Wisconsin didn’t initially respond well when Michigan ratcheted up the defensive zone pressure and tried to take away their space with the puck. I think they can make adjustments, will be a matter of them being able to do it on the fly in a game. Keeping pace with Minnesota is going to be a challenge down the stretch. They’ve been flawless against the lower half of the big ten and relatively unscathed by the weirdness of this season.

Yes, but I am not feeling confident. I watched the last few Gopher games and they have looked so good. My hope is the rivalry game gets the juices flowing for Bucky. I'm just glad to see improvement and reason for hope after the last decade+ of misery. There is some weird emotion. Yea, the reality of the program since 2011 or whatever has made this season enjoyable, but it also feels like now or never. Caufield and Holloway are special talents who don’t come along every year. Yes, there will still be talent in the program but not at that level. I want to like Ryder Donovan, I really do. He is big and fast and easy to see why he was a borderline first round evaluation at one point. But the light bulb hasn’t clicked yet. He doesn’t maintain possession or create chances like his raw talents should. After his hit last weekend, I wouldn’t be upset if he was the health scratch both games. Dhoogie and everyone else is just adding more at the point I still think Wisconsin’s forwards are better than Minnesota. Rotate the goalies, stay out of the penalty box, defensemen don’t turn the puck over in their own end and don’t over pinch, don’t get caught on long shifts and I like Wisconsin’s chances.

Bay is gone too. Obviously you hope long snapper is never discussed, but he was a 4 year standout who has a decent chance at making a living. Williams sort of surprises me because he seems maxed out at this level and his reputation now has the refs anticipating PI and no benefit of the doubt. His play vs. Tyler Johnson was spectacular, but Id given up hope of a higher ceiling after some games last season. But hopefully Im wrong.

Overall, exactly what Wisconsin needed last weekend. Obviously there is a world of difference between the offensive playmaking ability of Minnesota and a depleted ASU but the defensive zone coverage and penalty kill were very good all weekend. Really only 2 breakdowns I can recall. I purposely left off Tyler Inamoto off of the criticism of the defensemen last week. He has looked very comfortable with the puck this season without taking unnecessary chances and played physical without taking penalties. Obviously Friday night was a bit more than you can usually expect, but hopefully he is not out for any length of time. The defense group as a whole was far better with little to no turnovers all weekend and took advantage when an offensive opportunity was there. Rowe looks like the answer in goal for the next few seasons. His NTDP/USHL stats weren’t pretty, but so far he looks comfortable and his puck handling is a bonus. Generally I don’t like the 50-50 arrangements in goal, but for some reason my perception is Beydoun looks better when he is fresh so I’d go 1 night each until more sample is available. Every weekend, Im holding my breath expecting them to fall apart, but we are 2 weekends into the new year and so far so good!

I hesitate to raise my expectations because of how much of a disaster the last almost decade has been, but they look good. I thought Holloway was the best player on the ice especially Sunday. Wisconsin forwards looked better than Minnesota. Gophers took advantage when Wisconsin got caught on a long shift with the bottom lines or a D pinched and shouldn’t have. Would be interesting to know what happened with Ranta and Wisconsin. Oh well. Gophers D and goaltending was far better than Wisconsin though and even if they don’t fall apart this year that is probably going to limit them. Beydoun was fine all weekend and did a good job taking the lower half away. But he got cleanish looks at puck upstairs and couldn’t stop them. Granted its not easy, but an elite goalie stops a lot of those. And the Badgers weren’t able to pick the corners on Lafontaine. Ok the pipes helped but that’s not all luck. Osieki needs to earn his paycheck. Vorlicky had a rough weekend and his 3rd period penalty is inexcusable. Peltonen looked out of place from skating speed and strength standpoint. Kehrer has shown potential this season but I thought he had a rough Friday night making bad decisions with the puck. Ess was out of position a few times as well. Next season could get rough assuming the 3 draft picks are gone. Coulemans should have expectations but asking him, with limited junior A experience, to play 25+ minutes a night and be the #1 d on a championship team isn’t fair. Laatsch still needs to add to his frame and NHL teams must not believe he is able to as he went undrafted despite being a plus skater and 6’5”. Martin should step in the lineup but again, would prefer him as a 18 year old that could be paired with a reliable veteran.

Not that Wisconsin shouldnt reach out to Mookie Cooper, but if Rudolph was correct that Davis and Pryor end up coming back, assuming reasonable progression from Dike and Chandler, the WR room should be fine next year. The coaches trusted Bracey and Abbott enough to put them on the field. Predicting which true freshmen see the field is difficult, but Allen has a good size and has been productive in a high level of high school football. I guess Whitted used the transfer market at CSU so I guess they could go there. As far as Stepp/Watson goes, Im skeptical of Stepp's USC stats but Trojan fans seem to believe he will be productive here. I was hoping a Ball like switch for Watson but it didnt happen. I guess there is a reason we were his only major offer. Still disappointed he didnt stick it out as he could help with depth even if he isnt a all conference back.

I’ll concede there is some risk that a player without a guaranteed contract for 2021 is going to get hurt and he isn’t good enough for the team to dedicate a roster spot through their rehab. But if you are that player, you weren’t guaranteed to be in the big leagues in 2021 anyway. Almost all players are going to be far better off with 30%+ of their salaries in their pocket than sitting this one out and the union probably knows that.

Just scrap this. Like anyone is going to take a 50-game season champion seriously. If you don’t care to watch Christian Yelich in his prime trying to tie a game in the ninth against the Craig kimbrel because the Pirates aren’t 15 games out, that’s your choice. Someone still has to win the games. There will be great individual performances, exciting improbably victories, playoff drama and everything we love about baseball. Sure the best team might not win it all. That’s no different than any other season just the probability of it happening that way is slightly greater.

I have severe doubts there will be college football this year. NCAA doesn’t have to get player agreement on how to split up reduced revenue. They also have large TV contracts at the power 5 level that more than cover expenses. Wisconsin football is expected to be on campus next week. You really believe the SEC isn’t having football? If certain midmajors decide not to play, there will be some scheduling chaos, but Id be very surprised if schools punted on $40 million+ in TV contracts. This is a positive development to me. Seems like there will be a season and the owners believe they can make money at 50 games. 50 games are better than no games from a player prospective. Its just a matter of how many games they can get.

A player making zero dollars is not the same as an owner losing money on an investment. Doesn’t matter, no owner is willingly going to sign up to lose $30 million just because they can just like the players aren’t going to sign up to play for free just because they can. Maybe Im missing significant additional revenue stream, but my simple math says the Brewers’ $10 million in local tv and $25 million in national tv isn’t going to come close to covering prorated salaries and overheads.

Its not about taking a side. Its about wanting games played. Sure owners could operate this season at a loss, but there is no motivation for them to do so. By the same logic, the millionaire players could play this season for free. If the players are going to take a hardline stance of no paycut with substantial revenue reduction, the season doesn’t seem possible. And here is the big thing to emphasize….. INCREASING PLAYER SALARIES DISPROPORTIONATLY AFFECTS SMALL MARKET TEAMS. I don’t care if that isnt the leagues primary motivation, I just care that it is the consequence. You touch on this yourself with the Brewers financing their own spring training renovation. I don’t want the Brewers to be obligated to spend that money on player salaries, I want them making more spring training facilities, stable development environments, increased world wide scouting, etc. Whether its decreasing free agent service time or raising minimum salaries; it will affect those teams who have a higher % of its payroll made up of these players. I will gladly get behind proposals to decrease revenue that increase fan access for the long term interest of the game but neither side has much motivation to pursue those things

Penney was mostly definitely back...he wasn't really a part of the FF team as a frosh... Penney, Bryant... my bad... Great win though yesterday. They seemed to have shortened their bench a bit with Wahl and Anderson not playing much. Hopefully they dont tire with the quick turnarounds the next couple weeks

The second one was the correct call. The ND goalie was so off balance because his left leg got clipped by the Verona player driving the net earlier in the play. The only thing that was weird was how long it took them in the replay. The first one... was a stretch that would never be called live without replay.

2000 Wisconsin was top 20 in Sagarin and RPI and had played the toughest schedule in the nation; lucky sure, but they were a better team than their raw record and seed. And most of that team besides Penney and Duany were back the next year for Soderberg with another season of development.

Im starting to think Granato's heart never really was in this job. How do you have 4 first round picks and another 9 NHL picks and be this bad? Id speculate his plan was to build a winning team and then turn it over to Osiecki. I thought his reported comment to Ryder Donovan when he originally committed to UND that he was going to coach him someday seemed like an odd thing to say.

Yeah, he really was. Especially in context. A freshmen safety starting in the B10? He was a sure tackler and always around the ball and helped turn around a couple early games with a big pick in a close game and another PD that turned into a breakup in back to back weeks. I mean...yeah, he wasn't Taylor Mays right out of the gate, but not sure where that "hype" you're talking about was coming from. I give you credit for repressing the Minnesota disaster, but that was one of the most brutal tackling performances I've seen from a player. He is great when he is the "center fielder" reading plays on the backend, but when he is required to play man coverage or fill a gap in the run game he has been exposed a bit. He was freshmen so its not like he cant improve but the coaches have to be willing to pull the plug if a team is repeatedly exposing him.

Goals last night for Caufield and Holloway! An exhibition game but still cool to look up the score and see gme notes on this year's team. Unfortunately, when they get into hockey, it gets harder to get to games as Im finding out. Hoping FS Wisconsin picks up more games this year.

What new faces? The only projected starters that haven’t seen significant meaningful snaps are Seltzner and Green-May, and they have both had strong camps reportedly. Yes some guys are going to be asked to play larger roles, but I don’t see a lack of game experience.

Most reports are Coan has taken the job and ran with it. I dont really see Jonathan Taylors likely final season as a developmental season. They have enough talent to win the conference now. They are going to need good health (Van Lanen, Ferguson, Rand, Loudermilk, Baun), but there arent alot of holes in the ones if the secondary progresses.

Im not buying his jersey for my kid anytime soon, but Im ok with the Brewers taking an occasional chance on a guy. From a baseball prospective, Kang is 190 at bats removed from a 132 wRC+ season. Its not hard to envision him as better than Perez and there is a possibility he can still be an MLB regular if Arcia or Shaw never come around.