What's Eating The NFL?

Okay, I'll be up-front here. Don't like to touch on political topics -- too much animosity created by that. After all, seems like we can't have sensible dialogues anymore. Civility is not dead, but certainly seems to be passed out somewhere in an alley.

Anyhow, I got to thinking the other day, pondering this. Just WHY is our President so hell-bent on being critical of the National Football League. He's come out loudly complaining their stance on the National Anthem, the actions of  their players, etc. Freedom of speech seems to be limited in some circles.

It finally dawned on me. He's a wannabe NFL owner who can't buy his way -- or force his way -- into the league. This goes back nearly 40 years. When he's been turned back from buying a team, he got heavily involved in the USFL. This league ran from 1983-1985 and lost over $163 million by the time it folded in 1986.

It was the Prez who helped pour gasoline on that dumpster fire. As owner of the New Jersey Generals, he talked other owners into moving the league to the spring and filing an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. This was done to hopefully force a merger with the NFL, thus gaining access to NFL ownership. Lo and behold, the courts ruled in the USFLs favor. But only awarded the league a buck (yes, a crisp one dollar bill). The league folded before playing any games in the spring of 1986.

And since a certain someone holds a grudge like no one's business, this explains the attitude towards the NFL and it's players.

Sizing Up The NFC North

With the NFL season kicking off, this is a good opportunity to take a look at the NFC North Division, where the Green Bay Packers will be looking to knock Minnesota off the divisional pedestal.

We know Green Bay's pluses -- a high-powered offense led by a healthy Aaron Rodgers -- and their negatives -- an unknown defense now led by first-year Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine. Pettine showed none of his cards in the preseason, playing a vanilla brand of D through four games. Granted, GB's youth in the defensive backfield, and questions about quarterback pressure, are tops on the list.

But Pettine has a track record of building good defenses, tailoring his schemes to the talent he has. This is a big change from Dom Capers, who stressed scheme-scheme-scheme over play strengths & weaknesses.

Green Bay probably needs at least a dozen wins to get home field advantage in the playoffs, something Rodgers has never enjoyed. Is a 12-win season possible? I'm thinking so, while Sports Illustrated predicts 11, has them finishing falling to the Vikings in the divisional round.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS perhaps made the most news with the signing of free agent QB Kirk Cousins -- who inked an $80 million+ contract that was totally guaranteed. Cousins has some great weapons in wide receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, plus RB Delvin Cook is back from an injury.

Still, Cousins is Cousins -- long on talent, short on results with the Washington Redskins. Vikes had a pretty solid defense last year, lost a couple of key pieces. Still, Green Bay's neighbor to the north will be the main challenger.

CHICAGO BEARS made headlines just before the season started by trading for Khalil Mack, a talented defensive player who can rush the crap out of the QB. However, the Bears may have mortgaged the future with this move, giving up a pair of first-round picks and more, then inking Mack to a huge long-term contract.

All the local hacks (and I count Chicago on this) are saying how unstoppable Mack will be, how the Packers won't be able to block him Sunday night in the opener at Lambeau Field, etc. This might be the case as the season wears on, but not Sunday. Mack did not have a training camp, and he won't be in football shape. Sure, the Bears will run him out there for a handful of snaps. But being a force? Sorry, not this week.

The Bears could make the Khalil deal because the really, truly believe (and hope) that Mitch Trubisky is their quarterback of the future. They have him on his five-year rookie contract, which means they have money to load up in other areas (much like the Seattle Seahawks were able to do for Russell Wilson's first few seasons). They have a solid RB in Jordan Howard, some questions at wide receiver and a pretty decent defense for first-year head coach Matt Nagy.

Sports Illustrated tabs them to win seven games this season -- that's a reasonable number. They will improve as the season goes on.

DETROIT LIONS welcome the emotional Matt Patricia, who served as defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, as head coach. Quick! Name the four teams that have NEVER appeared in a Super Bowl. If you tabbed Cleveland, Jacksonville, Houston and the Lions, go to the head of the class. In fact, Detroit hasn't won an NFL title since 1957 -- the second longest drought behind the Arizona Cardinals, who started in Chicago, then spent 1960 to 1987 in St. Louis..

Detroit has a fairly solid QB in Matt Stafford and more than a few weapons -- yet they always seem to underachieve and disappoint their fan base. SI tabs them for 10 wins, and that's about right. But in the NFC North, they will still finish third.

Down The Stretch With The Brewers

As I write this, the Milwaukee Brewers have a off-day. They have 21 games remaining, a dozen of those at Miller Park. They've got a 79-62 record, four games behind Central Division-leading Chicago and a half-game ahead of St. Louis for the top wild card playoff spot.

In order, Milwaukee will face San Francisco, be at Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, at Pittsburgh, at St. Louis and Detroit. Of those 21 games, the Brewers probably need to go 15-6 or so to sew up the home field in the wild card playoff. But based on Chicago's schedule, winning the division is not out of the question.

Chicago's Cubs have 23 games (13 home) and will be at Washington for four games, then home against Milwaukee and Cincinnati, at Cincinnati, at Chicago's White Sox (practically a home series) and finish with four against Pittsburgh and three with St. Louis.

The St. Louis Cardinals have 22 games left (13 at home) and start at Detroit, host Pittsburgh and the LA Dodgers -- another team in a tight pennant race -- at Atlanta, home against San Francisco and Milwaukee, then finish the season at the Cubs.

There will be eyes on the scoreboard the next three weeks, but really, all Milwaukee can do is concentrate on the team across the diamond from them and let the rest play out. It will take steady starting pitching by the Brewers to complete this run. That and a consistent offense.

Let's Take A Deep Breath, Badger Fans

Let's just tap the brakes a little on the upcoming season, Wisconsin Badger fans. That's not just my opinion, but one Head Coach Paul Chryst is pretty strong on. He's been telling his squad to ignore the hype, and for good reason.

Wisconsin is highly ranked in the pre-season polls, yes. For example, Athlon has the Badgers 9th, Sports Illustrated puts them 3rd.

But those rankings are, by and large, pretty bogus. If given the magic wand, I would wave it and ban ALL polls until the first week of October. Let teams get some games behind them before judging.

I'm not raining on the parade, here, just being a realist. Granted, Wisconsin returns 9 of 11 offensive starters (losing TE Troy Fumigali and FB Austin Ramesh, an unsung hero in the team's 13-1 season). The entire O-Line has returned, which bodes well for RB Jonathan Taylor and QB Alex Hornibrook.

This an offense just plain loaded. It may well be superior to the team Russell Wilson led.

But then we look on the other side of the line, where Defensive Coordinator lost 8 starters. That means a new-look defensive backfield, inexperience at linebacker and a green defensive line.

The young guys MUST step up if Chryst (34-7 in 3 years, a winning percentage of  82.93%) is to continue on his very successful path.

As an aside, the Badgers caught flack last season for having BYU on the schedule. Schedules are set so far in advance that, who knows how strong (or weak) a team might be. For example, earlier this year Georgia Southern scheduled a one-off game with Wisconsin for the 2023 season. They're a Sun Belt Conference team, so another softie put on the schedule along with Buffalo (MAC member). Both of those squads will get a big payday for coming to Camp Randall.

The only possible strong non-conference foe is Washington State of the Pac-12 -- and again, who knows how good or bad that school will be five years from now.

A Trip Into Enemy Territory

The Bucket List got another check mark this week. Journeying into enemy territory, I caught the Milwaukee Brewers in a game with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Brings my number of Major League Baseball stadiums visited to a dozen -- and counting.

From my Sunset Boulevard hotel, it's a 10 minute walk up Vin Scully Avenue, across Vin Scully Place (boy, they really, really like Vin!) to the stadium with my nephew, Bill. Wearing  Brewers colors, but never bothered by the Angelenos -- who are more concerned about the evening's promotion, $1 Dodger Dogs. Usually $6.50, "Doyer Dogs" are nine-inch hot dogs. Pretty good deal for a meal. And you can't beat the weather.

Dodger Stadium is impressive. It's clean. It's friendly. It's orderly. And while it's an older venue, it does not show it's age. The team is celebrating 60 years in LA. The Brooklyn Dodgers (known forever as Dem Bums) pulled up stakes and moved, bringing Major League Baseball to the West Coast -- joined by the San Francisco Giants. Both clubs fled New York for greener pastures. Not the last to do so -- the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee and, eventually, Atlanta; the Athletics left Philadelphia for Kansas City, then settled in Oakland.

Prior to the Dodgers and Giants, the farthest outpost MLB had was St. Louis, home of the venerated Cardinals. But as the years passed, Ray Kroc (of McDonald's fame) got the San Diego Padres while the Singin' Cowboy himself, Gene Autrey, roped the Angels for Los Angeles. And while the Pilots moved to Milwaukee (becoming the Brewers) after a single season, Seattle ends up with the Mariners.

Great game, by the way, tho the Brewers fall in 10 innings, 6-4, after Yasmani Grandal bangs a two-run home run inside the right field foul pole. Milwaukee wastes a lot of opportunities -- bases loaded with 1 out and Travis Shaw hits into an infield double play. But still, a fun evening & the Crew wraps up the West Coast road trip going 5-3.

young dbs

The Green Bay Packers started training camp last week. In some respects, it's more a day care when one considers the very VERY youthful group of defensive backs.

When it comes to NFL experience in the defensive backfield, the emphasis is on GREEN for the Green Bay Packers. Of the 11 cornerback hopefuls and 6 safety candidates, 12 are under 25 years of age. And of that age group, only HaHa Clinton-Dix has any real amount of actual NFL game experience. Granted, last year's rookie stars, Kevin King and John Jones (both 23) played a bit, but both were slowed by injuries.

Toss in first-year defensive coordinator Mike Pettine's new approach and system, and it's more school than day care for the young group.

Former defensive coordinator Dom Capers said that his complicated defense was best run with veteran players. Former general manager Ted Thompson's squads were consistently among the youngest in the league, so that might have been part of the problem. But Pettine has had success wherever he's been -- and former players, like Wisconsin DC Jim Leonard, speak highly of him.

Folks, be patient. There's gonna be a learning curve here. Learning how to play defense the Pettine way, and learning how to adjust to the speed of the NFL game. Mistakes will be made,  no getting around it. But will they LEARN from those and improve, or just be the same old/same old from week to week.

Don't look for a lot of flash in the pre-season, either. Teams tend to play vanilla defense, for the most part, in these tilts. So we probably won't know a lot about this defensive group until September. And that's being generous. I don't think we'll get a real read on the defensive backs until October. In other words, until we've seen these kids getting trial-by-fire game experience.

Let's Make A Deal...But Not Just Any Deal

Unless you've just been rescued from a water-filled cave in Thailand, as a Milwaukee Brewers fan you're well aware of the rumors flying as the trade deadline approaches.

Yes, word on the street has the team hot on the trail of Baltimore Oriole soon-to-be free agent Manny Machado, a versatile power-hitting infielder. It's a rent-a-bat kind of thing for Milwaukee (think Paladin from "Have Gun Will Travel"), since Machado would likely only be in a Brewer uniform for a couple months. Pundits and talk shows have been piling up prospects to deal for Manny.

I think the Machado hype is smoke-and-mirrors. It's much like a magician directing the audience's attention to one hand while working the trick with the other. In this case, Milwaukee General Manager David Stearns is the magician, and the baseball world the audience.

For, while the attention is on Machado, Stearns is no doubt looking hard at helping the Brewers with pitching. Yes, the team has several throwers on the DL -- Wade Miley, Zach Davies, Brent Suter. But will the club hope one or all of these guys can come back to help the staff, or will Stearns make a move, one that won't gut the farm system but help the club win the division and reach the playoffs.

The faltering New York Mets are said to be dangling Jacob deGrom (under contract until 2020) and Noah "Thor" Syndergaard (eligible for free agency in 2022). Either would be better additions to the Brewers, as playoff baseball success stems from front-line pitching. Even guys headed to free agency next year, like Toronto's J.A. Happ (cousin to Wisconsin Badger basketball's Ethan Happ) and James Shields of the Chicago White Sox might be appealing.

Stay tuned and trust Stearns, who has made good moves thus far in his young GM career. And don't be surprised when Manny Machado ends up in Dodger or Yankee or Indians uniform after the dust settles.

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On the subject of the Brewers, who won Tuesday night in Miami, a deeper look at the box scores the last two days shows the Marlins (and yes, folks, this is supposed to be a Major League ballclub) drew 5,996 fans on Monday and 5,624 on Tuesday. These are tickets sold, of course, and not necessarily the fannies in the seats.

Hell, the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League, a league of college players, routinely draws bigger crowds than Miami.

R.I.P Dutch

Lawrence "Dutch" Rennert, 88, died Sunday in St. Augustine, Florida -- and the world of baseball lost a colorful character.

There was never a question about a call with Dutch. He was as animated as they come when calling a strike. Heck, if you were sitting in the upper deck, you heard him.

Dutch was from Oshkosh, WI. A long-time minor-league umpire, he was promoted to the National League in 1973. He worked 2,693 regular season games, plus six NL Championship Series, three World Series (1980, '83 and '89) and two All-Star Games.

I first met Dutch while working with the Oshkosh Northwestern back in the  '70s, heading over to his house to interview him before he headed off for spring training. In the off-season around the Fox Valley, you often saw Dutch (paired with Larry Van Alstine) working high school or college basketball games.

What you saw with Dutch was what you got. He was a real story teller. He loved his job, and he loved people, from fans to players. He told a great story of working games in Montreal when the Expos were there, and a fan who showed up for every game, calling "DUTCHEEEE" to him before the game. He was proud of his work, and humbled by the opportunity.

RIP Dutch. I know you're behind the plate again and loving every minute of it.

Transgender Competiton Creates Questions

Sometimes, things can sorta slip under the radar. Out of sight, out of mind you might say.  So I thank one of my California contacts for bringing this to my attention. When I started covering high school sports in 1969, this sort of thing never entered my mind.

I'm speaking of an incident in Connecticut this past week, when during the State Open track and field championships, one person broke the State Open records for girls in both the 100- and 200-meter runs. That person is a biological boy. Terry Miller of Bulkeley, a transgender, won both events. In the 100-meter dash, the runner-up was Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell -- also a transgender.

The line from the theme song of the Archie Bunker show comes to mind -- "And you knew where you were then....goirls were goirls (loved that Archie accent!) and men were men". But, the time's they are a changin'.

I totally support those of the LGBTQ community. Athletes, non-athletes. Doesn't matter. It's your life, go for it.

That said, I think the whole Connecticut situation will call for some steps to clear up the muddy waters. The only solution I can see -- if an athlete is biologically male, then the athlete competes with the males. It's just not a level playing field if said transgender competes against females. It's just a fact of life.

For example, in the just completed WIAA State Track Meet, the winning time in the girls' Division 1 100 was 11.99 (and only 1 of 11 finishers was under 12.0) while the 200 time was 23.76 (again, the only sub-24.0 time turned in). For the boys, winning time was 10.65 in the 100 and 21.43 in the 200. In both events, all competitors were sub-11.0 and sub-22.0, respectively.

Hey, I don't have the answers here. Just want to get a dialogue going because sooner or later we will need to get to an answer that's fair for all. This isn't a red/blue topic or an across-the-aisle topic. It's a PEOPLE topic. And our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors...well, they all deserve a thoughtful, respectful approach.

time

Kneeling, Standing & Everything Inbetween

I'm not a big fan of mixing sports and politics, mind you, but it happens. Sorry, but I just can't ignore this week's events without comment. 

Those of us of a certain age can still picture African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. On the platform, the two of them with a single black-gloved fist thrust into the air, their Black Power Salute.

That 1968 summer saw a lot of racial unrest and violence in America. These men were drawing more attention to it -- I would hope to help correct it.

Fast-forward to this 2018. Players across the National Football League kneel (or on occasion thrust a fist into the air) during the National Anthem. Again, to peacefully protest racial unrest in America. And this week, President Donald Trump cancelled what had been a regular White House event, hosting a sports champion. In this case, he pulled the rug out from under the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.

His reasoning? Teams are showing a lack of respect to him -- and, by the way, the National Anthem and the military. Of course, the fact no Eagles knelt during the season was ignored. As was the fact that a significant number of Eagles were not going to attend the White House ceremony. Is it a true disinvite when the invitee chooses NOT to come? Last year's NBA champs, the Warriors, didn't go. And this year's NBA champs won't, either.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney blasted Trump's decision, saying "These are players who stand up for the causes they believe in and who contribute in meaningful ways to their community. Disinviting them from the White House only proves that our President is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which not one wants to attend."

Does the action of professional (or college athletes) during the National Anthem really mean disrespect to the Anthem, the flag or the military?

And do military veterans see it that way?

I reached out to a friend for his thoughts. Mike is a huge sports fan AND from a true military family. His mother and father are both veterans -- Vietnam -- while he served in the Navy and has a son in the Marines. His thoughts?

"As for the kneeling issue, this issue is very well blown out of proportion by the media. I am under the firm belief as a service member that I fought and defended this nation to preserve the rights of citizens. I am grateful to whomever spoke to (Colin Kaepernick) to get off the bench and kneel when he first started to protest.

"Ultimately I am grateful of his choice to kneel and not stand on, burn or mutilate our ensign (flag). The country has seen multiple protests and acts that have spoken out for cause for (INSERT). The great part of our constitution and our country is "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

That probably sums it up best. Veterans served to give ALL of us the right to freely and peacefully speak our mind. To disagree with those in power. Somebody needs to tell a certain draft-dodger the facts.