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The forecast failed miserably, especially in Sheboygan!!! Some areas that were expecting only a couple inches got almost a foot with near blizzard conditions. This was a big storm over the plains but it was supposed to weaken much more before it reached Wisconsin.

Highway cams in Kenosha look nasty, most of the snow is probably going to fall quickly this afternoon.

There's definitely potential, but too many uncertainties regarding the rotation and bullpen. Record: 78-84 Division: 3rd All Stars: Braun, Weeks Surprises: Hart will match his 2012 numbers, Gonzalez will be an important contributor Disappointments: Axford, Fiers World Series: Nationals over Angels

There's still some uncertainty with the Tuesday storm. However, the most reliable models suggest low snowfall totals (generally 3" or less). Don't expect anything big, especially in Madison.

3-5" across the entire state. Maybe a couple inches more to the west/southwest of Madison.

I really feel bad for Mat, there's still some hope for him to have a late career surge, but it's unlikely he will ever have a wide open chance to earn a starting spot again.

It's an active weather pattern so there are 3 chances for snow in the next 9 days. A quick couple inches are possible on Monday night, especially in eastern WI. The bigger storm on Thurs-Fri favors southwest WI where a winter storm watch might be issued. The third storm in about a week might end up being the biggest one for the Midwest, but it's too early to tell where the highest totals will be. Meanwhile, the high failed to reach 60 degrees in Miami today for the first time in over a year. Brrrr!!!!

Numerical weather forecasting has really come a long way if we are now to the point of forecasting a blizzard 8-9 days in advance. Unfortunately, I think some of the forecasters jumped the gun on this one. It looks like a big event for the high plains--Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas. Not sure if the storm will have anything left in the tank by the time it gets to the Midwest. I have my doubts.

All opinions aside, I guess the main conclusion is that there doesn't appear to be any evidence that would warrant a suspension.

ESPN has a new story on Braun...he's on a second list that shows him owing $1,500.

It could be worse, some of the highest model predictions for the Boston area are 30"-40"+. Most likely the maximum (depending on the rain/snow line) will be around 2 feet. Still lots of uncertainty with snow in Wisconsin, high boom/bust potential on this one.

There's a lot of emotion involved in this case, I'm not trying to insult anyone so I apologize for coming off that way. Obviously there is a lot of information that we don't know and we probably never will. In my view, that isn't grounds for reserving judgment since we do have a fair amount of evidence between last year and now this incident. It makes me really upset since I now think that he was almost certainly was a PED user. I guess what I'm looking for is a convincing argument to prove me otherwise, because I don't want to believe it. But all I see here is arguments that look like they are coming from others who don't want to believe it either. So I'm frustrated because I want one of you to prove me wrong, but it's probably not possible without more evidence.

Buying PEDs isn't exactly something you put on your Visa card. Those of you that are defending Ryan Braun are digging yourselves as big of a hole as Braun is in himself. I admire your creativity though.

Lets review: Ryan Braun's name is on a list from a known PED provider with known PED users on either side of him, one of which has been known to associate with Braun in the offseason. He spent $30-40,000 on something. Out of all the possible experts on PEDs, when Braun was in trouble, his lawyers chose to spend at least 30 grand on this shady Miami Boesch guy who everybody knew was providing PEDs to athletes--particularly those connected to the University of Miami, where Braun went to school. The good news for Braun (as others mentioned) is that for 30K, he should have no shortage of documents to back up his story. I'm sure we'll be seeing them any day now.

Umm...yeah...The New Times article made it clear that Boesch's business isn't the kind that provides consulting. But you have to commend his lawyers for the effort, it's clearly working on some of you.

It's very unlikely that the contract would get voided. If the Yankees try, it will likely end up in a legal battle that will turn both sides into losers. A-Rod isn't going to retire either. I think the "worst case scenario" has a decent chance of occurring. The relentless booing and media attention will force the Yankees to release him.

The weather maps have looked like mid-March almost all winter. There hasn't been any sustained cold air. The next cold spell will be brief again, followed by more temperatures well above normal. There's no cold air making it down here in Miami, it has basically been an endless summer with humidity and highs in the 80s all month.

Gio Gonzalez is completely denying that he ever had any contact with Bosch. It sounds like Bosch was a little cocky/arrogant (not surprising for Miami). But it seems unlikely that he would falsify clients. I think it's likely that MLB hands out suspensions.

I haven't read the article yet but I definitely feel better about Braun knowing that he isn't listed--although there is always the risk of more clients being leaked later. This clinic is about 2 miles from my current residence, it is literally across the street from the University of Miami baseball complex (and ironically, Alex Rodriguez field). I wonder if MLB has grounds to suspend Cruz and Gonzalez? Probably not, I'm assuming? Edit: Thanks JimH5

MJLiverock, that is a good analysis, I have a few comments. First, remember that 1/3 of TV revenue is shared, so if I understand the system correctly, if a team signs a $100 million dollar deal and the Brewers' deal is $30 million, the Brewers are really only being outspent by $46 million instead of $70 million. So the situation is still ugly, but not as bad as it could be. My second comment is about the inflating cost of sports programming in general. The possibility of a building bubble is described in this article. Sports are an extremely valuable commodity in the era of DVRs because they are watched live (with commercials) more than any other type of program. Because of this, ESPN can get around $5/month/subscriber for their family of networks. Some estimates suggest that up to 50% of your cable bill goes to sports. However, only about 25% of cable subscribers actually watch ESPN channels on a regular basis. The Dodgers' new deal will cost subscribers in Southern California an additional $4-5/month--and that is for an even smaller segment than the ESPN viewers! The Dodgers' deal will be used to leverage more expensive baseball contracts in other markets. These contracts are not sustainable. Cable/satellite TV subscriptions are already falling and that trend will surely accelerate if sports contracts drive another significant rate increase. Something is likely going to give before the Brewers contract comes up in 2019. I find it highly unlikely that baseball will still be on "regular" cable in 7-8 years. Most likely, cable companies will resolve the issue themselves by offering a "non sports" option which may be preferred by 50% of the population or more (by the way, sports are way more popular in Wisconsin than other places). The pricing of the sports package would be a major contention point, since they may be asked to make up the difference to sustain these long-term contracts. If nothing gives, it is possible that public outcry could lead to federally-mandated a la carte programming. Such legislation could be a destructive blow to MLB television revenues--although it would be interesting to see if long term deals like the Dodgers' contract would still hold up. Brewers fans should definitely hope for the TV revenue bubble to burst as soon as possible.

I think it looks sharp. I wouldn't want to see it as a permanent thing, but that wasn't the point of the contest. http://news.sportslogos.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/570x375xbrewers.jpg.pagespeed.ic.oTF3CA8JBa.jpg

A 100 million payroll is huge for the smallest market in baseball. It's amazing to even come close to breaking even with that kind of payroll. There is a long list of other expenses: taxes, interest, staff wages, minor leagues, and so on. That being said, the value of the franchise has doubled since 2005. So ownership is more than happy to operate a little in the red if it means that the Brewers continue to have success. It's good that they max out their spending and don't pocket the profits like a number of other owners. It's just puzzling that people continue to advocate for more spending this offseason when there isn't anything useful to spend it on. The money doesn't disappear if they don't spend it, they can pocket it for next year. And more spending does not equal more wins: the $105 million payroll Brewers didn't make the playoffs.

Seems like a different gold color than the yellowish ones that they wore last year. These look closer to the Padres' sand color. I guess we will see on Sunday.

Seems like it's about time to start up the annual Russell Branyan thread.

I just started learning acoustic guitar in October with no previous experience so I am still very much a beginner. I have been using justinguitar.com which has very good video lessons to learn the basic chords. He also has some videos to learn basic songs that are organized by skill level. I only have time to practice a few hours per week so progress is very slow, but steady. After 3 months I can play the basic major/minor chords (A-E-D-G-C) and change fast enough between them to play songs--and there are a large number of songs that just use those 5 chords or similar easy ones. The most effective exercise is trying to switch between 2 chords as many times as possible in one minute. That forced me to figure out which finger was slowing me down and concentrate on putting it in the right spot. There's no substitute for putting in the hours since you have to build strength and flexibility. One mistake was that I spent lots of time attempting songs that were far beyond my skill level, I think the time would have been better spent doing more reps with the easier stuff. As for lessons--if you have the money, I would say go for it. It will keep you motivated. Good luck!