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It's not quite Ted Williams Popsicle Night but this is a great idea to generate some publicity.

Maybe it's wrong of me, but I'm excited to hear any news that might be bad for the Yankees. Hopefully this is the first of a number of bad events that lead to the Yankees missing the playoffs again.

Things aren't that bad. Going into 2002, we all knew the team was going to be horrible, they were completely out of it a week into the season, it didn't get any better as the season went on, and the all star game turned out to be an embarrassment. This year, we're projected to be over .500, we should be in competition for things, we have a new manager, we have a solid coaching staff, we didn't reduce our payroll at all, we didn't lose any starting position players... There's been some painful losses, but did anyone really think that CC was coming back? Same with Sheets. To me, Sheets' loss is especially painful since he had a great career as a Brewer but will forever be tarred by this injury and the way he left. He's going to get booed when he returns to Milwaukee--even though he signed a contract here and was a positive member of the community. That's just sad.

I was fortunate enough to get into the Middleton Sonic on the first day it opened--with no wait--during happy hour. I guess the word hadn't spread yet. The cherry limeade was excellent and it cost less than a dollar. I don't think the food is anything special but the breakfast burritos are quite tasty (and you can get them after 10:30 AM) and the prices are fairly low.

I'm planning on turning the game off after the halftime show tonight...and I wore my Brewers stuff today to celebrate the end of football season. Back to the topic...I agree with the basic premise of the article that MLB could do more to promote the World Series. Maybe they should play game 1 at a neutral site with all the hoopla and then go 2-2-1-1 after that. That would get rid of the home field advantage controversy as well.

Last Winter vs. This Winter snowfall 8-14 Day Forecast (calls for warm and wet, not cold and dry)

There's been some recent model disagreement about the southward extent of some arctic air for early next week. I'm thinking it won't be anything worse than highs in the teens but it's hard to tell. The long term forecast (next weekend) is for warmer temperatures with continued dry conditions. A more active weather pattern is possible for the week after that, but we could be talking about rain instead of snow. That's kind of far off though.

I'm not sure if the Cubs have improved, but I can't come up with an argument for why they are any worse either. The only way that is possible is if you assume injuries, which occur every year. Even if Harden only pitches 1/2 the time, that's still more than they had him for in 2008. Zambrano pitched 25 innings under his career average in 2008. Dempster was great, but he has a solid track record as a reliable starter. Theriot had great numbers, but his age suggests that he should have continued success. DeRosa and Wood are important subtractions...but I think the result is inconclusive. They should be about the same as last year and will have spending money with the new ownership to make a deadline trade. Furthermore, the Brewers have definitely not improved and there certainly hasn't been big news from anyone below them. Thus, I see the Cubs around 95 wins with the Brewers/Astros/Cardinals somewhere in the 80-85 range. Should be a fun wildcard race again and I expect that we will still be in the race in September.

I'm not going to take the time to see if someone guessed this already... 289

The biggest walk up crowd of all time has to be August 2, 1997. The Brewers somehow managed to win 9 games in a row including 4 wins in 2 days against the Blue Jays. On a warm Saturday evening, 43,000 showed up to see them go for 10 in a row against the Mariners. Steve Woodard was on the mound for the Brewers, fresh off beating Roger Clemens 1-0. I'm guessing at least half, maybe more of that crowd was walkup (they drew 23,000 the night before). If I remember correctly, the game was delayed about 20 minutes due to the incoming crowd. Anyway, the game was over before most of the people got in the stands, as Woodard gave up 6 runs in 2 innings and the Brewers went on to lose 14-4.

I'm glad to hear that our hometown hero is returning for another year. Counsell may not hit for average or power, but he does just about everything else right. He showed (once again) that he can be counted on in big situations, as he had a crucial at-bat ahead of Braun's walk-off Grand Slam as well as the game-tying RBI in game 162. If $1 million is the correct figure, then he will barely be making double the minimum, which makes this a low risk signing. In addition, it allows Escobar more time at AAA instead of possibly sitting on the bench behind Hardy.

Fielder's weight had a negligible effect on his 2008 numbers. Some possible reasons (some are restatements): -His defense was poor but it was not any worse than years past. -He hit best in September--when he was the heaviest. -He didn't reach 40 HR because of his 1st half numbers. -He was pitched differently in 2008 because of his big 2007. -Only 9 players have hit 50 HR in a season twice in their careers. Also, it seems to me like Brewers fans (in general) have taken production from players like Prince for granted. This is a guy who the A's decided was too fat, even for a team that liked to draft out of shape players. He has overcome numerous barriers to get to this point. He has exceeded all expectations to this point. Nevertheless, I've seen way too many people thinking that we can just throw someone like Gamel in there and expect comparable production. The same thing happened with Sheets--there were endless complaints about his injuries and lack of effectiveness (which have gone on for years), but as soon as he left town and the post-Sheets starting rotation was announced, the cries to get him back suddenly appeared. I think Prince will have a higher OPS than Braun in 2009.

They should be getting a first round NIT game this year...

Another painful day to be a Brewers fan. Most announcers get their share of criticism, but I've never heard of anyone not liking Jim. That being said, the Brewers have done a great job hiring announcers in the past--especially taking a risk with BA--so I certainly expect that they will find a good replacement. Who wouldn't want to work with Bob Uecker?

For the longest time, my mom did not understand that you don't have to hit "enter" when you reach the end of a line in MS Word and that it automatically drops you down to the next line if you keep typing. Obviously, this caused major problems when she had to edit anything that she already typed. However, I am proud to say that she is now competent with word, email, and knows how to use a web cam. My 82 year old grandparents also have a computer now and are able to browse the internet and send emails. They initially were very afraid of it, but they were willing to learn and they figured it out after awhile like the rest of us. I think some people just don't want to take the time to learn.

The Brewers could definitely fork out another $10 million if they wanted to, but what good would it do them when teams keep overpaying for mediocre pitching? Better to wait until mid season or next winter when everyone else will really be feeling the pinch. It worked for the A's this year, why can't that be us next year?

If Harden only gets 15 starts but is effective, it won't be a big deal. If the injuries reduce his effectiveness, then you have trouble. I don't see who was going to catch them anyway--they probably win the division by at least 10 games if they are healthy. If Zambrano goes down and Dempster's 2008 turns out to be a fluke, then they might be in trouble, but that seems like wishful thinking for the rest of the NL Central.

Q: How do you stop the Badgers from scoring goals? A: Put them on a power play

With the team right now...no. When we are one of the few with spending money at the deadline and can make a move...YES! The key is to stay above .500 until mid July and then go for it again.

I'm so mad right now. I agree with all the other comments about the game. The only way that the swing offense works is if all 5 players on the floor buy into the system. Trevon Hughes may have improved, but his selfish play especially as time is running out is the reason the Badgers may be headed for the NIT this year.

I think the issue with the NFL is that the teams with the worst records get the easiest schedule the following season. Miami's schedule this year was a joke--they played Arizona, San Diego, Houston, Baltimore, Denver, Seattle, Oakland, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Kansas City. Only two of those teams had winning records in 2007. No wonder they made the playoffs. A few smart moves by Detroit (which apparently requires at least some competence) and they have a chance next year. If the Packers played that non-divisional schedule, they would have been a playoff team this year. Still, I agree with others here that a salary cap isn't necessarily the best or most fair option. What do you set the salary cap at? What would the minimum be? What happens to the extra revenue for teams like the Yankees? Without major revenue sharing, you can't just force the lower teams to spend $60 million or so per year--and what if they are spending millions on player development and the minor leagues that doesn't go into the payroll? As for the Yankees, if you hold them at $150 million or so, do the owners just get to pocket the extra money or do you force them to put significantly more back into the pot? I don't have all the answers, but I don't think a salary cap could be achieved without a long strike. This could possibly work out well if the fans feel like progress was made (like in the NHL), but if it backfires, baseball could get knocked down to the same level as hockey. I fully support Mark A. for setting this as a goal, but I would be fine with the following concessions: 1) Increased revenue sharing with the criteria based on net income and not payroll 2) Get foreign players in the draft

Apparantly there were no serious injuries. According to an eyewitness, the plane landed so smoothly on the water that he thought it was a training exercise and not an emergency.

MPS has called off school tomorrow. I expect there will be lots of 2 hour delays on Friday as the temperatures should warm up fairly quickly. The weather should be nice (30s above zero) next week, but long range models are showing a possibility of more arctic air for the following weekend...details to come in a few days. Also interesting was the lake effect snow band off Racine this morning. Some areas reported up to 8" of snow from this mini vortex.

Tomorrow is going to be the coldest day in Southern Wisconsin in about 10 years. Madison: High -4 Low -19 Wind chill -30 to -40 Milwaukee (airport): High 1 Low -10 Wind Chill -25 to -35 Notably, this is still about 10 degrees warmer than the record lows/low maximums.

Fortunately, the lake effect snow band has moved back over the lake. I'm not sure why the NWS freaked out about that, it never looked like the band was going to move very far onshore to me.