Now He's A Jet...Careful What You Wish For, Aaron

 So, with apologies to "West Side Story" let's paraphrase these lyrics -- "When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way from your first INT to you limping away...."

(If you need to, kids, go ahead and Google it...)

Now that Aaron Rodgers has gotten what he wished for/pined for/asked for/demanded -- a trade -- he's a New York Jet. Hell, it's been decades since this original AFL franchise (begun in 1960 as the Titans, but after three years became the Jets, and by 1969 behind quarterback "Broadway" Joe Namath, winning Super Bowl III). 

There have been Player/Coaches before, like Bill Russell of basketball's Boston Celtics, Curly Lambeau of our own Green Bay Packers and Frank Robinson in baseball's Cleveland Indians.

Rodgers is apparently pioneering new ground as a Player/General Manager for his new team. Granted, during the last few seasons in Green Bay, it seemed like Number 12 (now Number 8 in The Big Apple) was in an apprentice GM program. He constantly wanted this player or that player around him in the locker-room.

That will no doubt get more emphatic in New York. After all, the already signed free agent wide receiver Allen Lazard. Other free agent/buddies include Randall Cobb, Mercedes Lewis and Mason Crosby. Of that trio, I have a sneaking gut feeling that Crosby will be back in Packers' Green & Gold before too long, kicking in Lambeau Field for a 17th season.

In New York, Rodgers will feel the heat from fans and an unforgiving media. AND there's a little thing called a schedule that may well keep the team reeling. Two games each with Buffalo, New England and Miami, as well as single games with Dallas, the New York Giants, Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia. Getting the Jets into the playoffs, a mythical place this franchise hasn't visited since 2010, will be a daunting task.

Maybe he gets the Jets to the playoffs, maybe not. Maybe he plays beyond this season, maybe not.

Whatever the future holds for Rodgers, let's be glad that the Season of (Jordan) Love has arrived in Green Bay. And let's keep our expectations in check, shall we? Remember, Rodgers was a lofty 6-10 in his first season as a starter after holding the clipboard for three years, while Brett Favre fared a little better at 9-7 in 1992.

When your best player, The Greek Freak, is a streaky free throw shooter at best (and has been his whole career), it can kill a team. It did, among many reasons, as Giannis went 10 of 23 from the free throw line and the Milwaukee Bucks dropped a 128-126 overtime decision to the Miami Heat. The loss ended a brief playoff run for the Bucks, with the 8th seed Heat winning, 4-1.

Tough series for the Bucks, who were without Giannis for essential three of the games (he only played 11 minutes in Game 1 before leaving with a back injury). I said all season long that a HEALTHY Milwaukee team was capable of winning the title. But the key word there was healthy, and things just didn't fall for them.

Expect more than a few changes during the off-season as the Bucks reload.

Bye Bye, Aaron (Finally!)

Now that the long-awaited, much anticipated (and dissected) trade with New York Jets has ended the 18-year tenure of quarterback Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers, let me speak for a majority of Packer fans.

'Bout friggin' time!

A long time ago, most of us reached our ARF, our Aaron Rodgers Fatigue limit. Ready to move on and begin the Jordan Love Era in Green Bay -- and hope against hope that our 30-year-run of Hall of Fame quarterbacking, from Brett Favre to Rodgers, continues with the Next Guy Up.

Green Bay and New York swapped first round picks this year (Packers moved up to 13th from 15th). Jets gave GB another second rounder this year, Packers gave Jets a fifth rounder. Jets also gave a second round pick in 2024 that could become a first round choice should Rodgers play 65% of the offensive snaps at his new home.

All in all, a good exchange for the Packers, who now have 11 draft picks (and four of the top 78). This should help reload the team AND give Green Bay an impact player or two. Think tight end will be the first position that the Packers fill on Thursday.

Thanks Aaron, by the way, for the GREAT memories. Enjoy New York -- though we all expect it will be a short stay career-wise.

A few weeks ago, John Brockington passed away at 74. The former All-Pro fullback ranks fourth on the Green Bay Packer career rushing list, rushing for 5,024 yards from 1971-77. Brockington was the first NFL running back to put up over 1,000 yards rushing in each of his first three seasons in the league.

I have a memory of Brockington's rookie season, 1971, that stands out. Had won a pair of tickets to the Packer-Cincinnati Bengals game on a charity drawing through Oshkosh Lourdes Academy. The game was Oct. 3, 1971. Attempting to tackle Brockington in the game, Cincinnati defensive back Ken Dyer suffered a broken neck, ending his playing career. We (had taken buddy Brian along to the game) were shocked as Dyer was taken from the field on a backboard. It really brought out the fact that NFL football is a violent, violent sport.

We even sent a card to Dyer during his stay at Green Bay's Bellin Hospital. Got a card back from him as well, though sadly that has been misplaced over the years.

Brockington would go on to carry 216 times for 1,105 that season, a 5.1 average and one of the few bright spots in Dan Devine's first year as coach, as the team finished 4-8-2.

Not sure if the Milwaukee Brewers were paying attention to littl' ol' me awhile back when questioned about the seventh inning "last call" -- probably not, in all honesty. But it seems are just one of many ballclubs that have extended beer sales with games being shortened in length.

Home Opener Observations From AmFam Field

The Milwaukee Brewers opened the 2023 season this week with their 54th home opener -- well, 55th if you count the one as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. The 10-0 beat-down of the New York Mets gave the Brewers a 28-26 home opener record (and 3-0 at American Family Field after going 10-10 when it was Miller Park along with 16-16 at County Stadium).

By my count, Monday's opener was my 31st, and this third straight win puts me at 19-12. Monday was a sellout, with 42,017 on hand (capacity is 41,700).  Trust me, there were NOT 42,017 witnesses to the game. Could see a lot of empty seats up on the fourth deck, which tells me a lot of people just stayed out in the parking lot, tailgating.

Gotta say, I was holding back on judgement of the new rules that Major League Baseball has put into place until I could see it in person. Those rule changes (pitch clock, limited throws to first base, no defensive shifts, larger bases) have shortened game length, in some cases by A LOT (like the Miami-Minnesota game on Wednesday that clocked in at one hour, 57 minutes!). Well, not all games are reduced by that much, but last year the average length of games in the MLB was just over three hours. Experimenting with the rules in the minors last year found games reduced by just over a half-hour.

Let's give it a until, say, June 1st to see just how much these changes have impacted the game and tightened them down. Personally, am thrilled not to see batters step out after every pitch to adjust every piece of clothing they have one, or for pitchers to walk around the mound getting mentally ready. Just play ball, fellas!

One wonders how that move impacts concession sales, especially beer sales which were traditionally given a "last call" in the seventh inning. But we digress...

This year's Milwaukee team featured six new starters, including three rookies -- centerfielder Garrett Mitchell (technically a rookie, though he had seen some playing time at the end of last year), second baseman Brice Turang and outfielder Joey Wiemer. Those three add a lot of speed to the lineup, as well as a shot of fresh enthusiasm.

As of this writing, after Mitchell's walk-off home run Wednesday led to a sweep of the Mets, the Brewers are on a five-game winning streak with a 5-1 record. The hated St. Louis Cardinals come to town for a three-game set this weekend.

Those very Mets that the Brewers just out-scored 26-6 in three games, in part thanks to 10-0 and 9-0 shutouts, have the biggest payroll in baseball as the 2023 season gets under way. spending $355,436,854 on their squad. The other New York squad, the Yankees, are second at $274,249,873.

Rounding out the top six are the San Diego Padres ($247,610.217), Philadelphia Phillies ($236,260,439), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($221,759,500) and Los Angeles Angels ($212,228,095). With the exception of San Diego, all are considered "big market" teams.

And where do our lowly small market Brewers fall? All the way down to 21st out of 30, with a payroll of $116,351,987. A large chunk of that goes to Christian Yelich ($22 million), and Brewer fans are hoping that he comes close to earning that salary this year.

At the very bottom are the Baltimore Orioles ($60,422,300) and the Oakland A's ($57,795,000). Let's toss in the fact that the Orioles are in a big, big rebuild and have brought a number of talented (and cheap) players up from the minors.

FYI those big spenders in Oakland attracted a whopping 4,930 fans to their Wednesday game. This is a franchise that is desperate need of a new stadium somewhere, though the odds of it staying in Oakland appear to be slim.

Johnny Davis, the 10th player taken in last spring's NBA draft, is finally getting significant minutes with the Washington Wizards. The former Wisconsin Badger star spent most of the season bouncing between the G-League and riding pines with the big club on home games. The past few games, he's been starting and scoring in double figures -- putting up 20 against the Bucks earlier this week and another 20 last night.

Meanwhile his twin brother, Jordan, has entered the transfer portal and will leave Wisconsin. This while Tyler Wahl has opted to stay for a final season, one granted via the COVID year.