Jim French Stepstool

I agree with this. His underage drinking adventure was at the opening football game at Camp Randall. You hafta "stand out" to draw the attention of authorities there with everything else that's going on. Throw in the fact that you're 6'8" or whatever he is......not smart None of us know the answer to this, but it's possible he's had issues with this stuff since he was fifteen, and now that he's thrown into a college atmosphere it's accelerated. There are many levels of attention that could be necessary to deal with this. Hopefully it isn't of the more serious vein, but either way at least some time away from the team seems appropriate.

Vogt was hired as the Guardians' new skipper.

Good synopsis of Weeks. I'll add that when he played, I used to imagine that if the third baseman positioned himself 35 feet behind the bag the guy still wouldn't bunt, mainly because I doubt he ever cared enough to learn how. If they go the former Brewer route, I'd much rather see Villanueva. Too bad Kevin Seitzer isn't younger. Espada, Snitker & McCullough are all intriguing. Murphy will join CC in his new job, right?

I saw your post & flipped on BTN. Holy crap. That's another Sun Belt team. Arkansas State may have trouble being the force I suggested lol.

It looked like they wanted to take away the 3-pt looks as Arky State shot it well from out there in their exhibitions. They did an OK job of that, but the transition D, switching & foot movement to prevent penetration left a lot to be desired. Resulted in a lot of reaching & out-of-position fouls from Wahl & Crowl, which resulted in foul issues & some extra minutes from the bench, and it snowballed a little. I've seen early season issues of this ilk before, it'll get corrected. If it doesn't before Friday it'll be tough to beat Tennessee, which guards well. Storr might be an all-B10 type if he gets more consistent on the defensive end. Winter had a pretty nice debut, Isaac Lindsey took advantage of his minutes with a solid game, and John Blackwell was just terrific. Arkansas State may wind up being a force in the Sun Belt simply by outscoring people. It won't happen based on getting a lot of key stops, that's pretty certain.

If pressed on why they didn't retain him, if I was the Brewers I wouldn't waste any time looking for some overly-convoluted excuse, or unique spin for the fans. If the above tweet is accurate, I'd say we made him an offer that would've left him as the highest-paid manager in baseball & he turned it down. Then I'd say "next question".

I've always loved it when that team to the south overpays, and fails. Just another opportunity to see the same thing. As successful as CC has been, if that 5.5 million offer is accurate then I have no problem with him leaving. As to a successor, I would be shocked if Gabe Kaplers' name doesn't come up. I think he's worthy of consideration. I'm a Quinton Berry fan, but three years as a 1B coach probably isn't a fat enough resume to warrant a look from Arnold. Hope when the smoke clears he's still here, though.

Arkansas State has played 2 exhibitions. As is almost always the case the competition wasn't strong, but they scored 112 points in both games, which should indicate how they want to play. They've shot the ball really well from 3-PT range in those games as well. They've also given up almost 80 ppg in the exhibitions. Run your stuff & you should be able to get a lot of good looks.

I don't know what the rule states, but from what I've seen in games it appears that if the interference occurs before the ball gets there it's usually called, catchable or not. I'm not claiming that makes any sense because I agree, it doesn't. As to not running the ball in the 2nd half---I'll never forget the game a handful of years ago when UW went into Ann Arbor & just manhandled Michigan, and IIRC they didn't throw a pass the entire 2nd half. One of the most satisfying, beautiful things I've ever seen. I assume we'll never again see anything even closely resembling that because even if we're picking up yards on the ground, after 3 or 4 running plays in a row I'd picture Longo standing on the sidelines like a drug addict in need of a fix, shaking, twitching, needing to justify Air Raid.

He does. There was also Van Zelst, who doesn't have an unusually strong leg but was their primary FG guy last season. I agree either would've been preferable to throwing the Hail Mary at the end of the half. AFA the other situation, I was less concerned about the decision not to kick & more about having a 35-yard attempt in your hip pocket, then the penalty followed by the sack. The mental pratfalls have to stop, and yeah, that includes the guys on the staff.

With the OF depth they possess I saw Canha as a DH/sometimes 1B if he was brought back. I don't know about the Chourio timeline, but this certainly opens the door a little wider for Black to crack the OD roster. It also increases the chances of bringing Santana back, something I wouldn't hate but am a little dubious about. I guess I'd like for Holub to be 22 or 23 but you can't have everything😄.

I think that's a fair criticism. It's been revealed that Vakos wasn't 100%, which could explain begging off the longer opportunities. But that was a potential 35 yard attempt, that 1 flag & one play later dissolved into a punt. Having that happen in week nine is hard to swallow.

My opinion of Tressel as a DC has risen as the season has unfolded. But the tackling leaves a lot to be desired. I've said before, I think under this staff they're going to be very tough to pass on, provided they can develop a pass rush. They really put an emphasis on the secondary in recruiting, with good results. Huge transition? Yeah, and with each passing week that seems to become more & more evident.

Obviously the injuries have hurt, but IMO this is their worst performance of the season. The tackling got better, but was poor in the 1st half. Both Hallman & Turner have a routine tackle opportunity late in the 1st half on 3rd down & both whiff. That cost them 7 points, and maybe more as they would've gotten the ball back with time left. Earlier, a terrific play call results in a 1st down run from Yacamelli, except 6'7", 300LB-plus Jack Nelson can't simply seal the edge w/o holding. Then there was the 3rd & 10 from the Indiana 18, which is immediately followed by the daily double--Delay of game, then a sack. I didn't have a big problem with Fickell passing up on the two long FG attempts. Their field position was crappy most of the day, at some point you need to get a strategic punt & a stop. Of course, the one time that happened the kid kicks it about 60 yd. I think Locke was anywhere from passable to very good his last two games. Today was obviously nowhere near that. Yacamelli & Acker gave you about what you can expect from your #3 & #4 tailbacks, but when you're lacking much balance the WRs need to do a much better job of finding open space for him. For the most part the O-line wasn't bad. This staff is going to recruit at a pretty high level, they already have. But obviously you need the discipline, reps, mental toughness, whatever it is to stop shooting yourself in the foot. Nothing left but to let it continue to unfold. Arguably Their best overall performance, followed by their worst. Frustrating, but kinda par for the course.

Aaaaaaand it's Purdue. On to next..........

Gus just released a tweet that dispensed no real hard info (understandable) but left the impression that he has no intention of pulling up stakes or anything like that & is looking forward to rejoining the team. Sounds like his support network is really strong, which is great to hear.

Yeah, I saw that a few hours ago. And he's someone who has more cred than most recruiting analysts IMO. That's the downside of being in an industry where you base your reputation on the whims of 16-18 yr olds. I feel UW would be a great landing spot for Jacobsen. I feel Purdue would be too. The thing is, PUs' well-deserved reputation for developing post players wasn't earned in the last 24 hours, it's existed for a long time. And I DO believe Jacobsen was a UW lean as late as a day or two ago. The cynical side of me says Purdues' equivalent of UWs' Varsity Collective just received an extra 2 or 3 hundred grand from a PU alum that owns some engineering firm & the NIL deal was sweetened. Welcome to the new world of P-5 college sports. Either that, or like I said kids at that age can twist in the wind pretty erratically. In any event, if he goes elsewhere you move on to Kai Rogers and Will Garlock, the two other post-types they've offered. Rogers has already received a boatload of offers & will be a tough get although he has visited UW more than once. Garlock has (I think) 4 offers & many expect UW to be tough to beat.

IF he earns a spot, I agree 100%. I'm just not a fan of the comp pick thing being in the forefront of a roster decision.

We're talking about Madison. He might be cited for NOT having a stash😛. Seriously though, if that happens to be the issue (and I think at this point it's appropriate to underline "if" about five times) it could be more of a team training rules thing, rather than anything involving legal authorities. What the statutes are, and if there are age limitations involved, I have no idea. EDIT: Didn't see Homers' contribution. In that case it would certainly add another layer to it.

I'm not a fan of the "First-round pick if he makes ROTY" thing. At all. I do however think there's an opportunity for him to make the roster out of spring training. As mentioned above it would have to be precluded by a deal of an OF or two, which sooner or later pretty much HAS to happen. If an attractive enough deal doesn't present itself yet I'm more than OK with him spending a little time in Nashville. Where the door might open for him, is I really think Wiemer could benefit from some AAA time. Would hate to sell low on him.

There are 2 or 3 sources I trust pretty well who seem to think he's going to Wisconsin. He played prep ball elsewhere but grew up in the state (Mt Horeb). Sounds like he definitely has re-classified to the class of '24. Whether hoops related or not, certainly hope Yalden works through whatever it is that's going on.

I actually know someone that used to work for Frank Balistrieri. Maybe I'll bring this up over a plate of carbonara.🤔

The game served the purpose of what you sked these exhibitions for. Nice lid-lifter. Focusing on the new guys......I'm not saying Storr is at a Johnny Davis level, but he fills that spot on the floor really well. Can score in a lot of ways, looked quite at home getting out on the floor in break opportunities, but also very comfortable in the half court. Decent on the defensive end too. Really liked what I saw from Winter & Blackwell. Winter will certainly have situations where lack of strength & bulk makes it challenging for him but the talent is undeniable. And he DOES stick his nose in there pretty well already. Blackwell does not defend like a first-year guy. And other than 2-3 times where he tried to do a little too much he was mostly in control & making good decisions on the offensive end, too. I don't know if he'll play a ton but I do see him getting some quality minutes. Looks like a real up-in-the-air battle for backup PG. As long as there are scorers at the other 4 spots I think McGee is OK, but Isaac Lindsay saw some time there, and they can always slide Klesmit over. Not sure how it translates once they get into the meat of the schedule, But Markus Ilver looks like a little better version of what we saw last year. From what I understand, Yalden is still in school. I'm also led to believe that his being behind a few other guys for frontcourt bench minutes has nothing to do with the leave of absence. Not sure I buy that, but we'll see I guess. On our way out, we walked through most/all of the Point team, standing around in the concourse meeting with family & friends. Up close, It's shocking to see how slight-of-build those kids are compared to D-I players. Makes it hard to compete for 40 minutes. Still, I'm all for these games, especially after seeing too many of their forerunners over the years--games vs third-rate foreign squads or "club teams" that aren't much more than pickup teams.

Jacobsen set to announce Friday between Wisconsin & Purdue. It also sounds like he's reclassifying from class of '25 to '24.

True. But they were short a couple linemen (Thompson, Rodas Johnson) & went a little further down the depth than they otherwise would have. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. The LBs certainly didn't step up though, and there wasn't any success at sealing off the edges. I agree, two down linemen when OSU is in run mode isn't going to get it done.