qrk10000

I disagree, Aracko. While Redd is certainly not a top notch defender, he is a top notch scorer. He doesn't need to take 20 shots in order to score a lot as he shoots for a high percentage from just about everywhere. He is a go-to guy in crunch time too and just about the only player whom I would want to have the ball with the game on the line. I also think that because the Bucks are such a poor team overall defensively, Redd takes a lot of the heat. If we had a Gerald Wallace or a Bruce Bowen or perhaps even a rookie like Corey Brewer, I don't think people would be as quick to judge Michael. I think his defense has improved over the years, though.

How do you figure resigning Redd was such a "giant mistake"? It certainly has not hampered us from being active in the free agent market and despite his injuries last year, he was as productive as ever. He will never be a defensive stopper or a great rebounder but he can score from literally anywhere and is pretty much the only player that the Bucks can turn to in a tight situation. He is the only Buck that can, in a sense, take over a game (score 10-14 points in a row). I think the Redd signing was necessary and should be a good decision in the long term. He is not a head case and is a great teammate and seems to be well respected. I don't think you can ask for much more from him.

I have never been a fan of Mason's offense but respected him as a physical, defensive pressence at the 2 and 3. If the Bucks found a way to trade up and draft Al Horford and signed Mason, they would be adding 2, physical, defensive-minded players in the offseason. I think most Bucks fans would acknowledge that that is an area that we need to improve and perhaps adding these two pieces would go a ways towards doing just that. Unfortunately, it does not solve the point guard situation. I like Mo Williams as a 6th man but not as a guy running the offseason. He is as big of a reason for the Bucks' offensive woes as anyone because rather than directing the offense and spreading the ball around, he would rather shoot (as has been discussed in this thread quite a bit). If there was another option out there (either via trade or free agency) that would allow us to resign Mo as a 6th man, I would be all for that. He is a great offensive pressence off the bench. I just don't like him starting at the point.

Remember, this is still just speculation at this point. They haven't even done an autopsy at this point. I am assuming, though, that there must have been some evidence that investigators have not revealed yet (I thought I read somewhere about some strange text messages sent Sunday or something) if they would tell the media that they believe this is a murder-suicide.

I also disagree with the statement that Herb Kohl is a bad owner. I think he has made a few poor choices in coaches and made the mistake of trusting George Karl more than he should have. He has provided the assets to go out and sign players, though, and I really think that is the #1 responsibility of an owner. Have our GM's used that money wisely? That is certainly up for debate. Tim Thomas was a disastor. Anthony Mason was a foolish signing. So was Dan Gadzuric and Bobby Simmons. However, we also stepped up and paid our "premiere" players (Big Dog, Ray Allen, and now Michael Redd) considerable money to stay in Milwaukee. I think free agent signings like Mo Williams and Charlie Bell, and some of our other "smaller" signings have paid off nicely. He very well may have meddled with the Terry Porter situation, but I didn't blame him for doing that. He probably still feels a little uneasy after the whole Karl situation. It was obviously a mistake to hire Stotts and that is why he is no longer our coach. trwi7, I don't think you know the whole situation with the Bradley Center. It is much, much more complicated than just Kohl refusing to go out and pay for a new one. Blaming Kohl for the team's struggles is kind of silly. The players, the head coach, and the GM have far more responsibility when it comes to winning then an owner does. As long as he keeps providing the money for Larry Harris, he is doing his job.

Not sure if you are on a first name basis with any of her close friends (or sisters if she has any) but you could always try asking them what they thought she might like. They certainly could be wrong but chances are they will at least push you in the right direction. I certainly would recommend going with your gut and picking out the ring that you think will be the most special to her. This doesn't have to be the biggest or the best color or clarity, though. I also was impressed by friends that bought older, antique, one-of-a-king rings from an antique dealer. That certainly would be an A+ in the originality department. I personally have had a lot of success over the years with Kessler's. I can't stand their commercials (Richard Kessler) but respect their quality and their no-pressure attitude. Plus, they have always been good about cleaning jewelry for her and giving her free cleaner to bring home. Plus, you won't have to worry about a warranty either because their rings are guaranteed for life. My wife had a band that got damaged while she was working once and they did not hesitate to fix it for free. I believe they only use platinum to encase the diamonds now too so that should hold up pretty well. They always do their free upgrade program too where you can upgrade the diamond minus the value of your current diamond without any installation charges. I did that for my wife's earrings once and she loved it. As for cost, I think you should be able to find something really nice for a month's salary or less. You certainly could spend more but I would only do that if you found a ring that really, really caught your eye and made you think that she would really like it. I think I spent like $2000-2500 on my wife's and she loved it!

Al, you've shifted what had been a positive discussion of diversity and quality into a savage attack on an article that you and I seem to remember very differently. A "savage attack"? I think you are going a little overboard there, gregmag. Al, I actually do remember the article by the infamous Eugene Kane and that is pretty much the basis for every article he ever writes. I think his act has gotten pretty old and I wouldn't be surprised to see him out of a job in the near future.

The Richardson trade is interesting but I think it only happens if Simmons or Gadzuric are included for salary cap relief. Unfortunately that trade would not solve our problems at power forward, though. I hope Larry waits until draft day to make any deals. If Conley or Horford are available, I don't think the Bucks can deal away the 6th pick. If the Bucks are sincerely interested in Carl Landry and he drops to the 2nd round, I think he could be had easily. From what I have seen over the years, GM's don't hesitate to trade up and down in the second round. If Larry wants him and he doesn't think he'll drop down to the Bucks spot, I think he would make a move to move up and draft him, just like Damir Markota last year.

I don't think the Bucks can go wrong with Brewer or Wright. Brewer is probably more polished and some have called him the best defensive player in all of college basketball. Wright is young and raw but showed flashes of stardom this past season. I think he will be a better player coming into the NBA than Marvin Williams was too. Personally, I really hope that Mike Conley somehow falls to the Bucks. I love his unselfishness and his speed. I think he could really make Redd and Bogut better players. Plus, it would make Mo Williams expendable and potentially allow the Bucks to explore signing Gerald Wallace, arguably one of the best defenders in the NBA. That would be a heck of an offseason for the Bucks.

Reed, we had a problem with chipmunks and raccoons a few years back. The chipmunks were digging holes in the yard and eating a good deal of our garden. The raccoons were just plain trouble-makers and got into whatever they could. We tried a number of different things and ended up purchasing a live trap. It worked beautifully. Within a week or two we no longer had any problems and felt good about taking care of the problem humanely. Just be prepared to catch more than just raccoons in there. We caught several very angry squirrels and, sadly, a number of birds that ended up killing themselves trying to get out. I couldn't figure out exactly why but all five birds that got caught died, and died quickly. The faster you get them in there and then go and release them, the faster you can get rid of the trap. I would echo the suggestion to wait until the raccoons grew up a bit too or you could have an extremely mad mommy waiting for you when you go out to take the trap away to release them.

Thanks chuckiehacks. I may have to check them out as well. Does anyone have an opinion of Ray's Butcher Shoppe on Loomis Road? They have always been closed when I have stopped there but I heard they were halfway decent too.

I think I am more scared of the spandex and the Oklahoma heat. That is a recipe for some dangerous sweat stains. Yuck.

Al, I disagree. Our starters may be set for the short term and long term, but we certainly could use some infield depth at AAA. Counsell and Graffy are stopgaps right now but I would not depend on either beyond on this season. That pretty much leaves just Vinny Rottino as main backup at AAA. The outfield needs help too. I agree that Hall and Hart have spots locked up, but what about beyond them? And again, we certainly could use some solid depth at AAA. I don't think we need to add another starter, especially with Carlos and Yo waiting in the wings (and Chris Oxspring an option at AAA). That brings us to where I think we need the most help: the bullpen. I don't know much about the guys in the Phillies' bullpen, but the two I mentioned above looked intriguing. If we could land one of those arms and some minor league help for Bush or Vargas and then replace them with Yo or Carlos, I think we could be potentially be in a better situation.

And this, i would argue, is unreasonable. The manager can only put the team in position to win. He doesn't score and prevent runs. (I do think that managers can make good odds-defying moves that turn out well and should be credited for winning the game, but those are, and should be, rare events.) I think when it boils down to it, wins have to be taken into consideration over a certain period of time. A manager's sole responsibility is to win. Everything else is secondary. What that period of time is, I am not sure, but if a team employees a manager for 5 or 6 years and he still has not been able to put together a winning season, then his performance does need to be evaluated. That is when you need to look at things like how that manager is doing in terms of motivation, educating/mentoring younger players, player morale, and other soft skills that are not necessarily black and white. If that manager is doing those things well, I don't see how you can fire him. In that respect, that is why I think Yost still has a job. Every manager is going to make mistakes from time-to-time because they are human and that is their nature. I think it is difficult to look at Yost, though, and find any chronic mistakes that just keep happening over and over. He does things from time-to-time in terms of the bullpen and lineup that I am sure he would differently next time, but I think that is more of an exception rather than a norm. I do think he made poor choices last year with how he handled Jenkins and Turnbow, but so far this year, he seems to have learned from those mistakes.

rluzinski, are there any stats out there that can be used to show a manager's performance? You always seem to post some really interesting statistics to judge a player's performance (and even if I don't always agree with them I appreciate that you post them) and I was wondering if there was anything for managers? I can't even think what would be quantifiable outside of winning percentage, wins and losses, streaks, and lesser things like number of lineups used or number of pitchers used (though I think it would be very difficult to formulate a conclusion based on subjective stats that).

Thanks, blatzlight. I have not tried either of them yet but have heard good things about Metro Market.

Can anyone recommend a decent butcher in the Milwaukee area? My wife is from Sheboygan and whenever we visit there we stop at Miesfeld's and load up but I would really like to find a decent place closer to home. The grocery stores around us are ok but they just don't seem to have the same quality that you can get from a good butcher.

Chinabob99, you don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. I think that you may have identified a realistic suitor for Bush or Vargas too. In response to your question, I wonder if the Brewers could snag Yoel Hernandez or Mike Zagurski and a lower level prospect for either Bush or Vargas (preferably Vargas)? They both seem to have decent stuff and are having a pretty good years out of the pen. I like that it would allow Gallardo to move into the rotation too. Does anyone know anything about either of these guys?

As has been said by a few others, I don't think Yost is a great manager or a terrible manager. I think he is pretty average. I have never liked how he has managed his starting lineup or bullpen, and sometimes I think he is loyal to certain players to a fault, but I do like his attitude, the way he manages his rotation (save a few of Dave Bush's starts), and the fact that he trained under Bobby Cox. You also have to credit him for having the respect of his players too. That is certainly very important in this day and age. I don't think making a move during the season is the route to go, even if we played below .500 baseball until the all-star break. I don't think we have identified any real candidates to replace him other than Frank Kremblas or Dale Sveum and I doubt either of them would be able to do much if they were thrown into the fire midseason. I am not against reevaluating things once the season is over, though, especially if some new candidates emerge. However, we are not even halfway into the season and are currently above .500 and in 1st place. Both of those things have already exceeded my expectations for this season.

I second that. I missed AIC this past summer too and while it would have been to see them without Lane, it still would have been cool to hear Jerry Cantrell playing old songs. I wish I could have seen them when they were a complete band. I love Rage and am thinking of buying tickets this Saturday. Does anyone know of any buses or shuttles that go to and from Alpine? I loathe parking in that place. I got stuck there a few years back for about 3-4 hours waiting to get out.

Soundgarden without a doubt. I never could stand Billy Corgan's whiny voice but he made it work for a few albums. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was pretty good, especially when he played piano. Chris Cornell's vocal talents alone make this a no-brainer. He has always had one of the strongest voices in the business. Brettac, you seriously would listen to Zwan over Audioslave? I thought the Zwan albums was one of the worst things I have ever heard, and I listended to David Lee Roth open for a Bad Company reuinion 5 or 6 years ago. That was horrid!

If the Brewers were able to trade Mench, I would certainly welcome Williams to the Brewers. In a part-time role, I think he could still be effective and he has been in a winning atmosphere pretty much his entire career. I am not sure if he would be willing to come to the Brewers, but if he would, I would be interested. A Jenkins/Williams platoon would be fun to watch.

.402/20/52/2 in 52 games 55/16 BB/K .582 OBP .817 SLG .991 fielding percentage Overall college rankings: #1 in OBP #5 in SLG #2 in OPS #9 in HR #9 in BB Those are impressive numbers. I hope this pick works out. I certainly will not judge him until he has had a chance to play.

I had the privilege to go to a game at Fenway (against the Yankees, no less) in 2004. It was one of the experiences that I will never forget. The fans were absolutely nuts and so enthusiastic. I have never stood for 3 hours before but I did for that game. I couldn't believe how much they would cheer for the the most miniscule things (like Doug Mirabelli coming to the plate). They were very nice to my friend and I too (Several guys sitting around us kept trying to offer us drinks they smuggled in. One guy had 2 bottles of Seagrams and the other had some kind of lemon and lime soda. I have never seen full bottles of liquor inside a stadium before.). The seats were pretty small and the place was very crowded but the atmosphere was unreal. I loved the food and all the street performers outside of the ballpark. It really made you feel like you were walking into a different time. It actually made me forget that it was 40 degrees out and I was only wearing a long sleeve tee shirt. Of all of the ballparks I have ever been too, this was truly my favorite. I really hope to be able to take my son there someday.

Sheets, a top prospect (i.e. Yo, Braun, or Iman), and a second tier prospect (i.e. Garrison, Braddock, Salome)? I know he is a catcher and catchers are valuable but his minor league numbers have not been earth shattering. I don't think it would take that much to get him and if it did, I would certainly not want him.