Out With The Old, In With The New

 Well, 2022 is in our rear view mirror. From a sports standpoint, let's home in on a couple of things from the year and keep them in the past.

For example, let's hope that Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich regains at least some of his magic at the plate. Brewer fans would settle for a .280 or .285 season with 30 homers to start with.

Or how about Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers putting a tough 2022 start behind him and heating up in the rest of the regular season -- leading the Pack into the playoffs and finding success there. Certainly got things off to a rousing start by kicking the crap out of the Minnesota Vikings. Yes, Rodgers didn't have an over-the-top game to spark the win -- that was honor goes to the defense (and to Viking qb Kirk Cousins, who wilts away under the big game spotlight), and in some respects the special teams.

After starting the year 4-8, did even the most optimistic of Packer fans think that, going into a home finale with Detroit's Lions, that Green Bay would still have a shot at the post-season? Win and in, that's what it will take.

Expect Rodgers to come back to quarterback the Packers in the fall of 2023. He's too proud to walk away from Green Bay after this season.

Speaking of the Green Bay Packers, this may have flown under the radar for many. Kicker Mason Crosby quietly took over the spot of playing in the most consecutive games in a Green & Gold uniform. He passed Brett Favre for that honor, and it now stands at 257 and counting. Granted, Favre had to deal with getting smacked around by nasty linebackers and 300-pound defensive linemen. But it still is an amazing record for Crosby.

Even more so, I learned recently, as Crosby hasn't missed kicking in a game since his sophomore year of high school (2000). So tack on another 50 games in college, a couple more high school seasons and his Packer stint and Crosby has a string of well over 300 consecutive games.

By the way, that 56-yard field goal the 38-year-old Crosby hit at the end of the first half Sunday against Minnesota? The one that hit the crossbar and kicked over like the Vince Lombardi was giving it a hand? That was the longest by a Packer kicker in Lambeau Field history.

New Head Coach Luke Fickell might have gotten the credit for the Wisconsin Badgers' bowl win against Oklahoma State officially, but I count it for Jimmy Leonard. The walk-on who rose to stardom in college and the NFL took over the Badger football program as interim head coach and directed the team to a 21st straight bowl game. He was 4-3 in the regular season (could well have been 6-1 with a break here or there). Tack on that bowl win and he's 5-3 while Wisconsin finishes 7-6.

He has three young sons, so I think Leonard may take his time deciding on his next challenge. Still think he may end up in Green Bay as the defensive coordinator -- even though Joe Barry might have saved his job with Sunday's performance against Minnesota. Still, if the team has further defensive melt-downs, I think the leash is pretty short for Barry.

Lots of people have overlooked the Wisconsin Badger men's basketball team, but the 10-2 Badgers have moved up to 14th in the nation on the latest top 25 poll. Think this squad is only going to continue to improve, and an invitation to the NCAA tournament is sure to follow.