The Best High School Cager In Wisconsin You MIGHT Have Heard Of

 As we head into a New Year with 2025 just down the road, here's a quick question.

Ever heard of Vaughn Karvala?

If the answer is negative, don't worry. You're probably not alone. I keep an eye on state high school athletes and this one is in my own backyard. Karvala is a 6-foot, 7-inch junior guard on the Oregon High School boys' basketball team. He recently poured in a school-record 44 points in a win, and for the season he's averaging 25.8 points, 11.7 rebounds and three assists.

Karvala has scholarship offers from Marquette and Wisconsin, among others. He's the kind of teammate you want to be around, the one who can shoot inside or out, rebound, find an open teammate. Marquette might have an inside track, since Coach Shaka Smart is an OHS alum!

He's not the top scorer in the state at the moment. That's Chris Davis of Sun Prairie East, averaging 39.1 points per game -- this after topping the state as a junior with 40.1.

Over on the football side of things, senior Christian Collins of Green Bay Notre Dame ran for 3,084 yards and 42 touchdowns in 12 regular season games. He tore things up in the playoffs, adding over 1,000 yards -- including 408 yards on 39 carries with TDs of 25, eight, 41, 65 and 72 yards, leading his team to a 49-28 win over Catholic Memorial in the D-3 title game.

Collins had to share Green Bay-area headlines with a West De Pere junior quarterback, as Patrick Greisen passed for 3,846 yards in a dozen games, with 49 TDs against just nine interceptions.

Milwaukee Brewer fans owe the late George Petak a debt of gratitude. The Racine senator, who recently passed away, was a first-term senator who cast the deciding vote for the 5-county sales tax, which effectively gave state funds to the Brewers for the construction of Miller Park, now known as American Family Field.

For his vote, Petak was the subject of a recall and lost his senate seat -- for will forever be in the hearts of Brewer fans. Petak effectively saved baseball in Wisconsin.

Speaking of baseball, we would be remiss if we didn't note the unexpected passing at age 65 of Rickey Henderson, probably the greatest lead-off hitter of all-time and Number One in stole bases.

Fond of speaking of himself in the third person ("Let Rickey Be Rickey!"), the Oakland native was a colorful character and Major League Baseball could use more than a few of them. Henderson once spotted the somewhat traditional JOHN 3:16 sign in the stands and remarked "What's so great about John hitting .316? Rickey be hittin' .330..."

May The Man Of Steal rest in peace.

The obscene money thrown at outfielder Juan Soto by the New York Mets (15 years, $765 million) is just another example of the need for baseball to bring in a salary cap.

The NFL, NBA and NHL all have them, which brings a bit of balance to the leagues and gives the "little guys" a more level playing field.

Baseball? Not so much. Look no further than teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Mets or Chicago Cubs -- clubs that can pour a lotta cash on the table to lure in free agents and, if the deal goes south, can more easily absorb the loss.

It would be in baseball's better interests to help smaller market teams. Unfortunately, that horse left the barn a long, long time ago and is unlikely to be saddled anytime soon.

Can't blame the players. After all, in the same position, we would all be happy to take the money and run as long as owners are willing to spend it.

A Happy, Healthy and Productive 2025 to all! Thanks for following these posts.

This 'Golden Bat' Is Too Tarnished To Use

Thought that Rob Manfred, the czar of Major League Baseball, was smarter than this.

He's a bright guy and I like many of the innovations that have been introduced to MLB. The pitch clock has sped up games. So has limiting the number of throws to first base to hold a runner, as well as the number of trips to the mound. Larger bases has led to more steals. Making the Designated Hitter a uniform part of baseball is a plus. Judicious use of instant replay gets things right.

The computer-generated strike zone they are experimenting with in the minors? Not so sure on that one. Have always liked the human element, even if the home plate umpire has been either generous or miserly with his calls. Or inconsistent -- what's a strike in the second inning should still be a strike in the ninth. That's a topic for another day...

But now Manfred has proposed something called "The Golden At-Bat" to liven up baseball even more.

As an idea, it sucks. It's really taking it a bit too far when it comes to refining the game.

Under Manfred's proposal, as I understand it, a team could substitute in any player for a one time, situational at-bat. Say you're the Los Angeles Dodgers (as if you don't already have a LOT of things going your way!). It's a crucial late season game, bases loaded in the sixth. Though he's not even close to being up, you can call on Shohei Otani to step to the plate for the at-bat. AND you can keep him in the game at his regular spot in the lineup.

Seriously?

Please, Mr. Commissioner. Absolutely. No. To. The. Golden. At-Bat.

The best thing about the first-ever 12-team college football playoff? NO ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE! Though the 9-3 team will probably bitch about it, they did lose to a 6-6 Oklahoma team by 21. And beating up on the likes of Western Kentucky, South Florida and Mercer (plus just being Alabama) shouldn't be enough to get you in the door.

Have seen egregious calls in NFL games before, but last Thursday in the Packers-Lions game may just take the cake. That's when the Zebras totally whiffed on the blow to the head that Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love took. Not that it cost the Packers the game -- terrible offensive play in the first half did that. But it sure didn't help.

Still, that one was pretty obvious.

Saw a note on social that cited a rule regarding a quarterback taking a knee -- and Detroit's Jared Goff did just that as he stumbled to make a handoff late in the game. Another blown call? Perhaps.

Wonder if that officiating crew will hear from the NFL league offices?

Thanksgiving Leftovers To Ponder

 Don't think I missed anything important while over the pond for a couple of weeks. But a few things to catch up of note since Thanksgiving.

Those loveable losers, the Chicago Bears, fired yet another coach, sending Mike Eberflus packing. This is a franchise with some talented players on the roster, and among their many loses (8-4) are six by just a single score -- so it's clear the desire and fight is there. Yet the Bears can't get out of their own way. In a stretch while the Green Bay Packers have had three quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love), Da Bears have had nearly 40! Their latest, Caleb Williams, has ability. He desperately needs good coaching.

The Luke Fickell era, just two years old, stands at a 13-13 record after the Wisconsin Badgers posted their first losing season since 2001 at 5-7. 

The Badgers went gently into that good night, wrapping up the season with a horrific 5-game losing streak, the longest since 1991 and the early, early years of the Barry Alvarez run. Wisconsin ended a streak of 22 straight bowl appearances (some notable, some so-so, but a post-season game is still just that). 

Perhaps Fickell regrets going with Phil Longo and his vaunted "Air Raid Offense", maybe the worst thing to hit Camp Randall since Don Morton and his "explosive veer offense" that never did explode. Fickell let Longo go after the 16-13 loss to top-ranked Oregon, a game the Badgers had in hand had just a little offense shown up. A Badger win in that game and things might have gone in a different direction the rest of the year.

Don't expect Wisconsin to fire Fickell, even after this disastrous season. The reason is money, as the school would owe him nearly $34 million. Do expect a lot of portal movement, with players leaving early or recruits jumping ship after committing to the program. Can't blame them. 

Fickell will need to make some major changes to his coaching staff if Wisconsin is going to rebound from this 5-7 season.

Thought I was a pretty hard-core football fan, but will take a back seat to a pair of Philadelphia Eagles fans we met on our excursion. We learned that the Eagles were playing a Thursday night game while we were in a time zone that put the game at 2a or so.

At dinner, Jack and Theresa told the story of following the game via cell phone -- and trying not to wake the partner on the other side of the bed, only to learn said partner was ALSO following the game via cell phone. That's just too funny, and their telling the tale was even better.

I said in an earlier blog (Sept. 23rd, to be exact) that Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers should be crowned NL Manager Of The Year. Lo and behold, that prediction came true. And while the Brewers have lost some pieces, expect Murphy & Co. to reload and challenge for the NL Central Title again. This is team is too young and talented not to.