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So basically, the idea is to leave the horrible football BCS alone, while completely messing up the basketball tournament that everyone likes the way it is.

I think season ticket renewals were solid again, but they will start hurting when single game tickets go on sale. Nevertheless, 2.7-2.8 million should be attainable this year.

Just want to thank everyone for the music suggestions. I have especially enjoyed Vampire Weekend, M.Ward, and Motion City Soundtrack. I also recently added The Ting Tings--We Started Nothing after seeing their SNL performance and Train--Save Me San Francisco after reading some good reviews. Keep the suggestions coming!

A few thoughts... First of all, I see absolutely no way that Prince is traded this season. There is no logical way to compare Prince to Halladay. The Blue Jays were an organization in decline, with management changes and the Red Sox/Yankees in the same division. The Brewers are in a much different situation where the playoffs are more easily attainable without a major rebuild/youth movement. Besides, that isn't Melvin's or Attanasio's philosophy and it would be a tough sell to the 2.5 million+ that will show up to Miller Park this year. It is clear that Prince is most interested in signing long term with a winning organization. I think that actually hurts the Brewers' chances of getting a long-term deal. Milwaukee has a commitment to winning but can not compete with a team like the Red Sox, who are essentially guaranteed a playoff appearance 50-75% of the time in the current economic system. The biggest factor is clearly the Pujols contract situation. If the Cardinals hang onto Pujols, they will have a top-3 offensive duo between Albert and Holliday. The Brewers will be much more inclined to match that with a Braun-Fielder duo. The Cardinals and Brewers could temporarily jump their respective rivalries with the Cubs if that happened. There could potentially be 50+ Cardinals/Brewers national TV appearances over the course of a 7-year contract. There have already been 4 announced for this year, and it is still January! If Pujols heads elsewhere, the situation becomes much more complicated. I also consider the Cubs situation to be important. If the Cubs are interested in a first baseman as Lee's contract expires, the Brewers would be more likely to pay more to keep Prince or trade him in advance. It is bad enough to lose a HOF-caliber superstar, but if you lose him to your #1 rival. That would be like Favre going to the Bears in 1997. I can think of better ways to spend my entertainment money than having that sword jabbed through my heart for the next 7 years, and I am not a fair weather fan by any means. Basically, I think there are lots of factors involved--it is fun to sit here and play around with the possibilities, but there are just too many unknowns at this point. Both Fielder and Melvin are not going to do anything until some of this stuff sorts itself out. The most important thing for Prince and the Brewers is to have a good 2010 and keep drawing fans to the gate. The more popular he gets in Milwaukee, the better. As Brewers fans, we need to give the guy as many standing ovations and curtain calls as possible. Prince can become the king of Milwaukee--which is something that he could never do in a big city where he shares the stage with many other stars.

That SE storm moved north at the last minute. Much of the Carolinas ended up with virtually nothing while the heavy snow band moved into Virginia and Washington DC. Looks like some light lake effect snow this morning in Milwaukee--less than 1" expected. A weak storm system will move through here on Monday night. Snow amounts should generally be in the 1-2" range.

The difference is that I use--in fact, I need the road system to be well-maintained, reliable, clear of snow, etc. Wisconsin does not need this train. This is nearly a billion dollars coming to the state--and we are spending it on a rail system that runs right next to a highway. The infrastructure in this country is falling apart and we are going to build a train--because it looks good in the short term for politicians. What about the Milwaukee sewer that dumps billions of gallons of raw sewage into Lake Michigan? What about the Asian Carp? What about fixing bridges? What about the budget shortfalls and layoffs at public schools? What about the Milwaukee County Parks system, which is slowly falling into despair? What about doing something to save the manufacturing jobs that are still here? The list goes on and on. Instead, most of the 800 million is going to be spent on steel and iron. Some will go to construction jobs, but those are just temporary. It is almost all for raw materials and construction. How many actual permanent jobs will this create? Even if you try and include the potential economic benefit, you are still talking about a relatively small amount. Yes, they are building the trains here, but the Milwaukee Road used to crank out thousands of trains. We are talking about eight train engines. What would it have cost to save GM in Wisconsin and build thousands of cars here? Certainly not $800 million or even $100 million. Furthermore, this does not change the fact that the roads still need to be maintained with the same amount of money as before. Railroads are not going to replace any roads. For railroads to be anything but a niche attraction for a few wealthy businessmen and tourists, we would have to completely restructure our cities. The suburbs would have to be compacted/removed and the US would have to model itself like Europe, with mostly empty country and the population confined to dense urban areas. It makes much more sense to continue maintaining the highways and work toward zero-emission vehicles powered by green energy and batteries. By the way, there already is a "toll" on all roads in Wisconsin. It is charged by the gallon of gas--$0.513 per gallon, which is good for 8th highest in the nation. So for every 20-25 miles you drive, you pay about 50 cents to maintain the roads. An excise tax is extremely fair in that context, although like the trains, or any other form of transportation, it has to be further subsidized beyond the fares/taxes. I love the idea of public transportation. It is great to be able to get work done while you are commuting, instead of wasting time in traffic. However, our cities are just too spread out for it to work. Even if the train is put in place and connects all of the major cities in the Midwest, it will still require added steps of inconvenience to use for any person that owns a car.

The train issue is complicated. First of all, I will say that I am all for high speed rail. However, this is not really a high speed rail, since it only averages 85 mph or so. That's only 10-15 mph faster than the freeway. The reason that it has to be that slow is because we do not have the technology in America to make real high speed trains like Europe/Asia--and they can't export the jobs or it would defeat the purpose of the stimulus. If the train could average over 100 mph, I would start to get interested, but they only say the max speed because it sounds better. Second problem is that the Badger Bus already services this route (and it now goes to Minneapolis also!). I was a UW student for 4+ years and now I work in Madison with family in Milwaukee. I rode the Badger bus frequently and was always satisfied with the service. It picks up in walking distance of downtown, costs only $35 round trip, and has convenient drop off points in suburban Milwaukee/Waukesha. It does have a few stops so the trip takes about 1 1/2 hour, or 60 mph. The government needs to remember that they are competing with this service--I'm sure Badger Bus could provide a fine service with $800 million--that would be enough to add an extra bus/carpool-only lane to I-94 which could conceivably have a higher speed limit than the standard lanes! Anyway, I doubt that I would ride the train more than once for the novelty, but it will almost certainly cost more than the bus and only save about 20 minutes. Not worth it unless the station is built downtown, which it most likely will not be--remember buying private property creates lots of controversy. The only other idea I can think of is to include free city bus tickets with the purchase of a train ticket and design a special bus route to get people to/from downtown. The other problem is the operating costs. A bus is not really that expensive to keep up, but a train is extremely expensive. It takes one person to drive a bus. There is not even a bus station anymore in Madison, so there is nobody on staff at the stops. The train needs at least 3-4 staff on board in addition to staff at each of the stations, staff to maintain the rails, money to upkeep the stations, money to upkeep the trains, etc. In other words, it can not be profitable, period. In fact, the average annual loss will probably be in the tens of millions of dollars. This means that the taxpayers get to cover an expensive service that is already provided by private industry. My only suggestion is to impose a tax on businesses along the route who see economic benefit from the rails. Most likely, you will be paying for the train whether you use it or not--and it will be a significant sum of money. Even worse, other posters suggest that the route will be most convenient for people going from Chicago to Minneapolis--so Wisconsin taxpayers will be subsidizing a rail line that helps commuters get quickly through our state without spending money at our gas stations or roadside attractions! I am also curious about the "success" of the Milwaukee-Chicago rail line. It has seen recent popularity increases, but I wonder if that will be the cas3 when the 8-lane I-94 is finished. Most likely, people will choose to drive. I have gone to Chicago many different ways, including the train. I found that the most convenient/cheap is to drive to the northern suburbs, park for free, and take the commuter rail into the city. A group of 4 of us once took the train to Chicago: the total cost was $160! Gas is going to have to cost about $10/gallon to make that a smart decision for a family. I have a 30 mpg car, so it only costs about $7 in gas to make the one-way trip right now. Unless you are totally going to commit to public transportation, meaning $10-20 billion+ to have an integrated transportation system with commuter rail, subways, more bus lines, bike trails, etc, I just do not see how this is a good idea. Better to spend the money developing hybrid/electric cars.

I think that Casey McGehee will actually be the surprise player again by slightly improving from this 2009 numbers. Corey Hart will also get back on track.

They are charging the shuttles far, far less than the cost of general parking. I am actually somewhat surprised that they were not already being charged for accessing the parking lots. The end of bar tickets was one of the best things ever to happen to Opening Day. There was a considerable difference between 2009 and 2008 in the upper corner of the terrace. People were actually watching the game last year instead of the drunken mayhem that was ongoing in the concourse in previous years. Yes, Opening Day is always going to feature plenty of drunk people--but there is a big difference between having a few really drunk people and the majority of the section being completely wasted.

I think the A's actually got a good deal here. A Cy Young caliber free-agent pitcher for a 1-year, $10 million contract? We've seen that before, but this isn't Gagne. Sheets has proven that he will pitch at an elite level even when he is struggling with soreness/injuries like he was through most of 2008. He missed an entire season--his arm probably feels better than it has since he was in high school. The only worry is the possibility of him getting injured again--but since he only missed 15% of his time in Milwaukee with injuries, this also seems like a rather low risk. The only concern that I have is with his velocity. Sheets always seemed to have trouble in the first inning when his fastball velocity was low--but you have to wonder if that could be attributed to his curveball usually not being effective until the 2nd or 3rd inning. I also disagree that Sheets is a two-pitch pitcher. His two-seam fastball is an integral part of his success and is a completely different pitch than the straight 4-seam fastball. He also uses a changeup occasionally--the main reason he does not throw it more is because his other pitchers are so good that he doesn't have to. I am glad he went to Oakland so it will not negatively affect the Brewers if he has a big year.

I'm interested to see what that new retractable roof stadium will do for the Florida/Miami Marlins. They have major issues with rain/stadium accessibility and a fan base that is still somewhat alienated from the 1998 fire sale. A new beginning might turn things around like it eventually did for other teams moving into new stadiums. I am surprised that they did not mention the Rays as the most likely candidate to move to Orlando. They played several regular season games at Disney for a few years due to low attendance.

I was dangerously close to turning that game off and doing something else. Taylor was throwing up air balls that weren't even close and Battle was doing whatever he wanted. Sooner or later they are going to lose one of these "easy" games at home.

When I saw the thread title, I thought it was about our spring training home!!! I do not expect the Brewers to move in 2030. Miller Park is extremely well-maintained and will still be in excellent condition. Another advantage is that Milwaukee only has 2 major sports teams, and the Bucks will likely leave at some point. The Brewers do not have much competition for entertainment dollars in the summer and people in Wisconsin are very passionate about sports. Even if the Brewers suffered another lean decade, they would continue to draw well due to the roof, tailgating tradition, group sales, road attendance from Cubs/Twins fans, etc, etc. The list goes on and on!

CBS consistently destroys the other networks in ratings because they attract an older audience, which watches more TV than younger people. However, a younger audience is more valuable for advertising money, so the ratings do not necessarily tell the whole story.

The Olympics take up most of February. I have really been enjoying the Tonight Show this week. Conan and Adam Sandler both took some great shots at NBC last night.

If he goes to the Mets, I take back my comments. He'll be on the DL by May at the latest.

I'm excited about the 90s uniforms. That will bring back some childhood memories and I will make the effort to attend that game. As hideous as the uniforms (and the teams) were in that era, those were the Brewers that made me into a baseball fan. Although we clearly have some bobblehead collectors here, I image that most Brewers fans have a rather sporadic collection like I do. I think those games will all be popular (and sellouts).

I like the outfield situation. At least we have a 4th outfielder going into spring training, which wasn't the case last year.

There's a risk of some light freezing rain this week--especially Thursday. Forecasting has been trouble lately because the models do not do a good job picking up on the giant inversion caused by the snowpack. For about the last week, the temperature has been as much as 10-20 degrees F warmer about 1/2 mile aloft and it is difficult to predict which days the warm air will mix down to the surface. For the long term, we have finally moved into a typical El Nino pattern, with California getting tons of rain and temperatures at or above normal in the Midwest. Looks like a good chance of rain on Saturday night actually, changing to some light snow/flurries on Sunday. Beyond that, temperatures should stay at or above normal with another chance for a decent rain/snow storm sometime around January 26-28.

I really hope he does not sign with the Cubs, because Sheets is going to be great when he gets back--and plus he will have added motivation against the Brewers. He always had a reputation as being injury prone, but he was only hurt 15% of his time with the Brewers. The other 85% of the time he was one of the top 5 pitchers in the NL--and he was the absolute best in 2008 before his elbow gave out (the first ever "normal" pitching injury that he ever had). In addition, Sheets was dominant while pitching through pain at times, including that clutch shutout against the Padres in September 2008 when the slumping Brewers desperately needed a win. Now that he had a year off, he will be completely healthy. I suspect he will start slow (as always), but by mid-summer he will be back at his game and worth every dollar for the team that signs him. As a baseball fan, he was my favorite pitcher ever to watch in person--even over C.C. and Halladay. His quirks were great--always came out throwing all fastballs in the first inning, had virtually no athleticism, horrible hitter and defender, etc. He worked extremely fast, especially when he got on a roll. Almost never threw over to first base. Could go a month without walking a batter. He was at his best in about the 5th inning when his fastball was up to 95 and he had the curveball going. The Braves looked like little-leaguers in the 18K game--flailing aimlessly at balls that bounced 2 feet in front of the plate and then watching a dead-straight fastball down the middle. As much as I hate the Cubs and love the Brewers, I will laugh if Sheets comes back and beats the Brewers--especially the Brewers fans that booed him, called Capuano the ace over him, and wanted him gone because of the injuries. I'd rather have Sheets 70% of the time than any other starter on the team 100% of the time. Edit: I can't believe I said that about the Cubs. Never!!!

One appearance does not equal 10 years of dominating late night. Leno got somewhat of a raw deal to begin with--he was prematurely forced out of the Tonight Show, and it wasn't because of bad ratings. I agree that Conan is getting completely screwed now--but the root of the problem is NBC's incompetence, not Jay Leno. I predict that Leno will go back to beating Letterman like he did before. Although we seem to have a few Leno supporters around here, the majority of his audience does not post on online message boards and does not watch Conan. For the record, when I do watch late night, I used to watch the Colbert Report at 10:30 and then Conan at 11:30. Now, I still watch the Colbert Report and then I watch Craig Ferguson at 11:30. Conan lost me (and I suspect some other viewers) because he is competing against Stephen Colbert. I wish Conan would have taken the offer to start at 11:00 CT, because I would have watched him more. If he moves to 10:30 on Fox, I will continue to watch Colbert instead.

Bailing at the deadline was not a reasonable option last year. The Brewers were .500 and 4 games back. Good luck selling that to a fan base that has seen one playoff appearance in the last quarter-century. The bad thing about deadline trades is that you have to give up something besides money and usually have to pay a premium for 2 months of use. The good part is that you can directly address your needs. Some years (like 2009), it is obvious that the Brewers needed starting pitching. Other years, we do not really know on April 1st what our biggest need is going to be on July 31.

I think most of that Kimmel/Leno dialogue was scripted. Why would Jay ask "Have you ever ordered anything off TV?" Did they expect Kimmel to answer that he sleeps in his snuggie every night? Jay makes his living from making fun of stupid people/newspapers/criminals/celebrities/etc. I think Jay knows exactly what the situation looks like and he's making fun of himself. Jay Leno knows that his career is based off of simple, often dim-witted jokes. It isn't innovative, it isn't that difficult, and it made him #1 for 10 years. Why would he change anything now?

I have been reading that all four major networks are likely to remove their free over-air broadcasts in the next 10 years. Fox will likely be the first to go, but with NBC's struggles, I could see them being one of the first to make the switch. There simply isn't enough advertising revenue anymore to justify giving away a free product. My family always watched Jay Leno. I still think he is the best standup comedian out of the late night comics, by far. I have not watched the new Jay Leno show though. The tonight show has been disappointing with Conan, especially with Stephen Colbert rocking Comedy Central at the same time. The only one that I will occasionally watch now is Craig Ferguson--who I think does the best (or at least most entertaining) interviews of the group.

From the WBC, it appeared that the differences in style actually favored the Asian pitchers. I think we need to watch it with our superiority complex based on Team USA's lackluster performances in the WBC. The MLB hitters have the advantage of seeing opposing pitchers time and time again while analyzing endless videos of their styles. The Japan-US World Series would have very little advanced scouting and players would have to rely more on what they pick up over the course of a game. Based on that logic, I expect that the series would be highly competitive--with the Japanese champion maybe not being at MLB playoff caliber, but certainly MLB level and capable of winning games.