Today On "As The Packer Logo Turns"

You would think that things around the Green Bay Packers would finally start to settle down with the draft in the rear view mirror. Yet the soap opera continues.

Along comes Brett Favre to stir the pot a bit. Well, more than a bit. On the Rich Eisen show this week, talked about the Packers disrespecting current quarterback Aaron Rodgers by qb Jordan Love in the first round.

And though he's friends with Rodgers now (not so much the first three years Rodgers was riding the bench), Favre is hardly the expert I would turn to here. Yes, he left Green Bay under a cloud. But ONLY because, every season, he sang the "gee, I'm not having fun, think I'm gonna retire" blues. Could you blame the Packers for wanting to have some insurance?

Granted, a LOT of us in Packer Nation questioned that draft pick. They should have filled needs, either on offense or defense. Yes, Rodgers is under contract for four more years. And Rodgers, who will be 37 in December, says he wants to play into his 40s (like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers). Well, A-Rodg, nothing  is guaranteed. I wanted to be feet tall. Didn't happen. I want to shoot in the mid-40s on the golf course. Doesn't happen.

Wanting something is different from it happening.

I look at the Love pick as insurance. Rodgers has been beaten up more than a little the last few seasons. You need a solid backup at this position or you're screwed. Where would the New Orleans Saints have been last year if backup Teddy Bridgewater doesn't go unbeaten off the bench for an injured Brees. And the Saints have replaced the departed Bridgewater  with free agent Jamis Winston.

I believe Rodgers will be the Packer qb for at least the next three seasons. Will he finish his career in Green & Gold? Favre doesn't think so. Me? I'm not so sure. Much depends on how healthy Rodgers stays.

Random Thoughts While "Safer-At-Home"

The mind is wandering down various paths lately. Might be a little of cabin fever stemming from this whole weird world we're in now.

• For example, IF the upcoming college football season is cancelled by Covid-19, will there be a push from our friends in the south to just hand the national title to either Alabama or Clemson, since those programs seem to feel entitled enough to claim the right?
• Green Bay shocks most of Packer Nation by trading up (four whole spots mind you) to take quarterback Jordan Love. While the Pack has other more pressing needs (wide receiver, defense come to mind), I get the move. While Aaron Rodgers is under contract for a couple more seasons, and wants to play into his 40s, having a project on deck to develop isn't a bad move. Think back, Packer Nation, to the names Brunnell, Detmer and Brooks -- clipboard-carrying QBs that studied under Brett Favre, and were then traded for draft picks. Seems to have worked out for all involved.
• Wondering if the Packers were hacked? That might be the only way to explain picks on Day 2, although I do understand the logic with A.J. Dillon, since running backs Jamal Williams and Aaron Jones are entering the last year of their contracts.
• Have to give the Packers a barely-passing grade in this draft, a "C-/D+". Granted, you need to wait two or three years in to really know if a draft was successful or not. But, there doesn't seem to be a lot of right now help coming after this draft. Most draftniks that I looked over had them dead-last in the NFL for this draft.
• Area golf courses finally opened this past week, and I managed to get out and play nine at a local course. They had those pool toys known as "noodles" in each hole -- so you didn't have to remove the pin. Actually kinda liked that, since anything hitting the noodle was considered down.
• Speaking of golf, looks like the oldest league in Madison, the Gisholt Golf League which plays at Odana Hills Golf Course, is going to gear up mid-May. May 14th year in the league (all with big ol' Gary as my partner). Still waiting to hear of some of our members will be allowed cart use or not -- many members are well north of age 65, a few are in the 80s and still going strong.
• Will there be a baseball season? If there is, it will be unlike any season ever. It might just come down to a tournament.
• The NFL is preparing for several scenarios due to Covid-19. We may see a shorter season that doesn't even start until October, doesn't have bye weeks and wraps up the end of February with the Super Bowl. 

We're all in the same boat here, friends, playing the wait-and-see game. Stay positive, stay safe and keep that social distancing going!

Amid "House Arrest", It's Come To This

Week 6 of life after sports. It's not a pretty sight!

Down to a four-page sports section (most days), the Wisconsin State Journal manages to fill two, and sometimes three, of those pages. Mostly features, analysis (thankfully the National Football League draft is still going) and a catch-all piece under the heading "The Wide World Of No Sports" which is pretty clever. It brings readers an on-this-date-in-sports-history piece, notes on a couple of high-profile events we're missing, a trivia question, birthdays and a nice book & movie review. Have gotten more than a few ideas from here.

As for television, both network and cable stations have taken to running "classic" games and the like. Although, the NFL draft is tonight and ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network are all carrying the first round. Gotta feed the sports-starved masses, right?

Me? I'm missing the library and my usual source of books and movies (and the golf course, but that's a story for another time!).  I have run out of new reads after finishing the reading list for the University of Wisconsin class "Baseball & Society Since World War II". This class, co-taught by former baseball commissioner (and Milwaukee Brewers owner) Bud Selig, was fascinating. Would be happy to pass along the required reading list to anyone interested.

One of these titles was Jim Bouton's Ball Four, the tell-all one-season diary that follows Bouton's 1969 season with the expansion Seattle Pilots. The Pilots, of course, ran into financial issues and were purchased by Selig and moved to Milwaukee for the 1970 season. Bouton's insightful, humorous title holds up pretty well. I had read this back in high school, and went to listen to Bouton speak while a freshman at UW-Oshkosh.

Now, I'm taking on George Plimpton's Paper Lion. A respected writer, Plimpton found a niche for doing pieces of "everyman-takes-on-pro-sports". In Paper Lion, Plimpton headed to pre-season camp with the Detroit Lions of the NFL in 1963. This later got film treatment with Alan Alda in the feature role.

Would never get this book done today -- not with social media. Plimpton could go to the Lions as an unknown quarterback prospect then and players wouldn't think twice. Today, there really are no unknowns.

On deck (unless the library starts doing curbside service) will be Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer, the 1967 season diary with the Green Bay Packers.

Pickers Add Funchess, Prepare For Draft

All in all, it's been a rather quiet free agent period for the Green Bay Packers when it comes to adding pieces.

Several players departed, and rightfully so. But GM Brian Gutekunst, a little hamstrung dollar-wise, has been careful. Perhaps the most impactful signing was wide receiver Devin Funchess. He's a big target (6-4) who was a second-round pick by Carolina in 2015. In three seasons there, he hauled in 164 passes for 2,265 yards (13.81 yards per catch) and 21 touchdowns. Signed by Indianapolis last season, he broke his clavicle in Week 1 and missed the rest of the season.

It's a reasonable one year deal for Funchess, who gives the Packers experienced depth to go along with Davante Adams.

Wide receiver is one of the deepest pools of talent we've seen we've ever seen, so look for a quality pick to be available anywhere from the second to the fourth round. This means Green Bay can still shore up other areas (inside linebacker, offensive line, tightend) at the end of the month in the annual NFL draft.

Speaking of the draft, Covid-19 has altered that as well. The NFL says teams can meet at their facilities as a group, if that is safe, or all parties will video conference. Either way, the draft will be online for the 32 teams, which will eliminate bringing in players to sit for uncomfortable hours in the green room, waiting to be called (that was the case for Aaron Rodgers in 2005, who dropped from first to 24th and has made teams pay for it since!)

R.I.P Tom Dempsey, the professional place-kicker born without one fingers on his right hand and toes on his right foot. Dempsey, born in Milwaukee, set a then-NFL record with a 63-yard field goal while a member of the New Orleans Saints. His 63-yarder game as time expired at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, beating the Detroit Lions 19-17. This was when the goal posts were on the goal line, and not at the back of the endzone.

I recall reading how Alex Karras, star defensive tackle with the Lions, said he and his teammates were laughing when the Saints lined up to attempt such a long field goal. Dempsey's record stood for 43 years, until Matt Prater topped it with a 64-yarder in 2013 (but that came at Denver, were thin air has helped kickers for years!)

Dempsey, 73, had battled Alzheimer's and dementia since 2012. He was living in a care facility and was diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 25th and died on Saturday.

Jordan Over Jabbar? No Way!

Without any real sports going on, the sports-only media have taken to tossing out questions and polls to create views.

It's a massive hot-stove league. Pick a topic, form a question and toss it out to the masses to debate. Hell, we're all stuck at home anyway, so this is taking the place of the more traditional "tavern talk".

ESPN recently fueled one on it's twitter account (I am not a tweeter, by the way) when it put together a 64-player field to determine who was the "Greatest College Basketball Player Of All-Time".

The age of the voters seems to have skewed this, as Michael Jordan was the pick. Truly one of the greatest professional basketball players of all-time, no doubt. But college? Hardly.

That honor goes to Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), the 7-foot center who dominated at UCLA. Hell, even before he took to the hardwood, he had changed the face of basketball when the NCAA banned the dunk shot.

This was a time when college freshmen were NOT eligible for varsity competition. As a frosh, Alcindor's games (played before the varsity contest) had bigger crowds. And when he did hit the varsity? Boy, howdy, that set the bar.

Alcindor's teams went 88-2 in his three seasons (he lost both games by less than four points). They won three national championships, with Alcindor being named player of the year,  along with the Final Four's most outstanding player, all three seasons.

Seeing his signature skyhook shot? An unstoppable thing of beauty. I confess I copied that shot, as a height-challenged guy -- and it was pretty darn successful for me.

So Alcindor is, and should forever be, the Greatest College Basketball Player Of All-Time.

I welcome & encourage your thoughts on this!

A Little Of This, A Little Of That

Observations and thoughts as we cruise through Week 3 of "Safer-At-Home"

• The NCAA finally does something in the best interest of it's members, giving ALL spring sports athletes (not just seniors) an additional year of eligibility due to Covid-19. But this does NOT apply to winter sports such as men's and women's basketball, men's and women's hockey or wrestling, for example.
• They finally pull the plug on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, rescheduling for July 23, 2021. About time, actually, as it will give organizers a year to reset housing, facilities, and the like. I would still go forward with the 2024 Olympic plan, tho. No need to go too far off the every-four-years program.
• My MLB newsletter posted an interesting feature that highlighted strange things from all teams. For the Atlanta Braves, it noted that Red Barrett (on Aug. 10, 1944) pitched a 2-0 shutout against the Cincinnati Reds. He needed just 58 (you read that right) pitches in a nine-inning night game; the shortest ever played as it took only one hour and fifteen minutes to complete. And WE can't get a game under three hours today!
• In the same feature, the Milwaukee Brewers were called out for their "Secret Stadium Sauce" which, it seems, came about during a game in the 1970s. Running low of condiments, Rick Abramson mixed barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard and a few others and ends to create the topping.
• Sheboygan Lutheran senior Jacob Ognacevic led all Wisconsin high school scorers, averaging 39.4 points per game, topping 50 twice. He added 16.1 rebounds.
• Mason Johnson, senior from Milwaukee Golda Meir, led with 18.5 rebounds per game.
• Brandon Wilde, a four-year starter at Palmyra-Eagle, was tops with 13.3 assists.

Keep in mind that, as we ALL face this Covid-19 together, that this, too, will pass.

Stay safe out there!

Why Scott Boras Is A Complete Idiot

There's a line in the movie "As Good As It Gets" that comes to mind these days.

Jack Nicholson's character tells someone at his front door with the phrase "Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here..."

That's just what someone needs to tell Scott Boras. This is the guy who is a super-agent to star athletes. Owners and general managers hate him because of his outlandish contract demands. Stud athletes love him because he gets those outlandish, long-term contracts with Monopoly money type dollars.

Just in the last three weeks of 2019 alone, Boras had a billion dollar offseason, getting deals for Mike Moustakas (four years, $64 million), Stephen Strasburg (seven years, $245 million), Garrit Cole (nine years, $324 million), Anthony Rendon (seven years, $245 million), Dallas Keuchel (three years, $55.5 million) and Hyun-Jin Ryo (four years, $80 million). Even if all Boras got was eight percent, that's a cool $80 million in his pocket.

No wonder Boras is worth $450 million. And why he has jumped in to save the day for baseball fans everywhere. Riding in his white charger, Boras, has a plan to rescue baseball with a full 162-game schedule. OR a 140-some-game schedule. Either way, it A) saves the game and B) saves those big, big contracts for his clients (and his cut, but let's not quibble).

His solution? Simply play baseball until late December. His logic? There's plenty of warm-weather cities, along with teams with domed stadiums (are you listening Milwaukee Brewer fans?) to make it happen. And hell, yeah, we can play the World on a neutral site.

Can you picture fans of, say, the New York Yankees getting behind this? Or Chicago Cub fans? Or any fan in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota. Pretty much any Northern fan is just gonna jump up and down with glee for the right to freeze in November.

As they get the pitchforks and torches ready, I'm sure fans (and teams) would be MORE than happy to give up home field advantage for the playoffs.

 I say we tar and feather the doofus and run him out of town on a rail. Who's with me?

So Much For Opening Day Celebration

It's Thursday, March 26th, 2020.

There should have been a huge party at Miller Park today, celebrating the 50th Opening Day for the Milwaukee Brewers. It would have been the 26th with my oldest son, and probably close to 35 for me.

It would have been a BIG party, too, with over 40,000 of my closest friends. Smoke from hundreds of grills hanging in the air. Team owner Mark Attanasio's sons singing the national anthem, following in the tradition of Mark's father doing the honors (wonder if Mark can sing?). A special celebrity tossing out the first pitch. The teams lining up on the first- and third-base sides to be introduced.

And we would have been there in the log infield box, section 213, row 17, seats 10-11-12. Cheering the Brewers on along with long-time friend (and long-time Opening Day participant Stevie), booing and heckling the hated Chicago Cubs.

Instead, baseball at the major and minor league levels is closed until further notice. That not only sucks for fans, but for all the thousands of stadium workers (not to mention ancillary businesses AROUND those stadiums) that suffer. And while MLB teams have allotted $1 million per team to help out, it still won't be enough.

Let's say baseball shuts down until May 17th (picking an arbitrary date here).

Milwaukee would lose 48 games (23 home, 25 road) from the current schedule. That leaves 114 games to play. Roughly 70% of the schedule. Or say baseball comes back, does a brief "spring training" to get back into shape, and returns with 81 games to play -- 50% of a normal schedule.

Either way, easily enough to determine division winners and wild card teams. Or a revamped, just-once playoff scheme.

Meanwhile, the other city's major professional team, the Milwaukee Bucks, is doing what it can to help. After Giannis and Middleton each donated $100,000 to Firserv Forum employees, the ENTIRE TEAM kicked in money to help them.

Golf Course Shut Down By Covid-19

Oh, the horror. The horror.

Yesterday, when Gov. Tony Evers announced that we all need to "stay safer" and closed non-essential businesses and activities, golf courses were included.

The move closes golf courses until April 24th.

I can understand shutting down golf course bars and restaurants, in order to keep proper social distancing. And courses can certainly limit contact by getting rid of sand trap rakes, ball washers, limiting passengers in golf carts to one, etc.

But on the course itself, golfers are seldom within six feet of one another, unless it's on the green -- and golfers can police that themselves. Mark Twain once described "golf is a good walk spoiled".

Personally, the governor's move hits me where I live. This is my 14th year in the Gisholt Retirement League (at Odana Hills Golf Course), the oldest golf league in Madison. There are about 30 active members in Gisholt. That's a dozen two-man teams, plus subs. On my two-man team, Gary and I are usually on opposite sides of the fairway (sometimes in different fairways entirely, but that's another story). So we have been practicing proper social distancing for years.

I expect this particular move to be questioned in the courts. For now, we can only hope that we can tee it up come April 24th.

Unbalanced NFL Schedule Can Be Handled

As the NFL owners and players wrangled over the latest CBA -- tossing around a 17-game format with expanded playoffs, I got to thinking.

Didn't I tackle a similar issue, and make suggestions, last August? Sure enough, I blogged about the piss-poor exhibition games and wrote the following:

There has to be a better alternative, one which the players AND the owners can find middle ground and agree. The owners, bless their money-grubbing hearts, want to see an 18-game regular season. The players, concerned about player health, want to stay at 16 but probably wouldn't mind an extra off-week.

So here's what I'm proposing (in my role of NFL Commissioner For A Day)...

The Canadian Football League has been around for a long, long time. Known as the CFL since 1958, it's roots actually go back to the 1800's and rugby. But by 1909, our neighbors to the north had moved away from their rugby roots and more towards American football.

North of the border, the league plays two preseason games, 18 regular season games AND still gives teams three bye weeks during the course of the season. The season starts the end of May, finishes up Thanksgiving weekend. That's six months of play.

The NFL currently starts playing in August, wraps up the first weekend in February -- roughly six months. So, if the league would turn the last two preseason games into regular season tilts (still a home and away format), provide two to three bye weeks, doesn't it seem like a win-win.

I would take it a step farther and eliminate the pathetic Thursday night games. OR assure teams of a bye week going into that Thursday game, thus ensuring a better product on the field.

And here's something the NFL Players Association could go for -- expand game-day rosters from 52 to 58 and the practice squad from 10 to 15 players. That's more jobs, more NFLPA members (and dues) and a few more bodies for Special Teams, etc.

Got a better idea? I'm listening.


MORE SCHEDULE VENTING

Okay, so after venting about the Green Bay Packers' closing schedule, on the road six of the final seven games, I decided to look at a few select NFL teams. How did the schedule makers treat them?

In the NFC North, Green Bay's home, the Chicago Bears match Green Bay's schedule, while the Detroit Lions are away five of the final seven games. Those pesky Minnesota Vikings? Four home games and three road games in the final seven.

Other playoff contenders?

• Seattle Seahawks: two road games, five home games
• San Francisco 49ers: two road games, five home games
• New Orleans Saints: three road games, four home games
• Dallas Cowboys: six road games, one home game