DId Anybody See This Chicago Steal Coming?

 All through the late- and post-season of baseball, the talk surrounding Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell was "Will He Go Or Will He Stay?"

Asking permission to talk with Counsell before his contact expired on Oct. 31st, the New York Mets were thought to be the front-runners. Especially so with former Brewers GM David Stearns now leading them.

So, as far as anyone in Wisconsin was concerned, those were the only suitors involved. And the Mets had the money to out-bid the Brewers.

Like thieves in the night, in swooped the blasted Chicago Cubs this week to steal away Counsell. Hey, it's not like they drove into town, put a bag over Craig's head and rushed him down to Wrigley Field.

No, they did it the old-fashioned way: With MONEY. And lots of it. $40 million over five years, making Counsell the highest paid manager in all of Major League Baseball. As my Mom used to say about people piling up wins "them that has, gets." And I say that about the deep-pocket Cubbies.

Hell, Counsell can stay living in Whitefish Bay and helicopter to work if he wants to for that kind of cheddar.

The Cubs not only land a manager who had a Milwaukee franchise record wins with a 707-625 record, but one who had taken the Brewers to the playoffs in five of the last six years. And been a thorn in the side of the Cubs the whole time.

Tired of seeing him in the opposing dugout on the opposite side of the field, the Cubs decided if you can't beat 'em, hire 'em. And promptly showed popular ex-player and manager David Ross the door.

Where will the Brewers turn to fill the managerial position now? If they stay in-house, maybe bench coach Pat Murphy gets a shot.

But let me throw out a wild suggestion. How about looking to a former Clintonville, Wisconsin kid named Mike Jirschele? He's been a part of the Kansas City Royals organization for 32 years, as a minor league player, minor league manager, major league coach.

Seems like he's paid his dues.

When the Houston Texans lost their kicker to an injury Sunday, they were ham-strung. No longer confident on kicking extra points, they went for two over and over again. 

Yet with nine minutes to play, tied with Tampa Bay 30-30, they trotted out running back Dare Ogunbowale to attempt, and make, a 29-yard field goal to take a lead. He became the first non-kicker or punter to make a field goal in a regular season game in 19 NFL seaons.

Wisconsin fans might remember Ogunbowale as a former Badger who grew up in Milwaukee. He hadn't kicked since high school.

Makes you wonder just who is the emergency kicker, or punter for that matter, in Green Bay.

Those of us a certain age remember that, back when NFL rosters were smaller, offensive guard Jerry Kramer filled in as kicker in 1962, 1963 and 1968. He made 29 of 54 field goals (53.7%) and 90 of 95 (94.75) extra points (the distance was shorter then, not today's 35-yards).

Answers To Those Pressing Questions

Every now and then there are questions that come up from calls or emails. So let's take a look in the ol' mailbag and see if we can't come up with some answers, shall we?

Dear Cheeseheadrants: What The Hell is going on in Green Bay??!! Granted, I didn't have high expectations for the season, but I did have some! Now they go and trade away defensive back Rasul Douglas and weaken the team even more. Pondering in Prairie du Chien.

Dear Pondering: Just because I'm an owner doesn't mean I have the answers to this 3-5 start to the season. Am as shocked and dismayed as you are with this situation. Still think that Jordan Love has shown enough to be encouraged. What makes me confused is why the lack of success in the first half. Can't Coach Matt Lafleur get this rocket off the ground quicker?

Looks like Green Bay is in a real rebuild mode now, which puts more pressure on General Manager Brian Gutekunst with more scrutiny. Do I think that Green Bay will follow the action of the Las Vegas Raiders, firing the coach and GM in the season? No, that's not the Packers' style. And keep in mind that team president Mark Murphy's term expires this year, so there will be changes there as well.

Stay patient, Prairie du Chien, as should Packer fans everywhere. I liked what I saw, for the most part, in the win over the Rams on Sunday. The team has to continue to grow and move forward.

Dear Cheeseheadrants: I  see Craig Counsell has interviewed with both Cleveland and the New York Mets. Do the Milwaukee Brewers have a chance at bringing back their very success manager? Stumped in Sonoma

Dear Stumped: I don't blame Craig for checking out those teams. It makes sense to sit down and listen. And let's fact it, the Mets can pile a boatload of money on the table in front of Counsell. After all, this is the club that had the highest payroll in MLB this year (of course, they finished 75-87 and 29 games out of first, so just how much did all that payroll help? And they are STILL paying off that contract to Bobby Bonilla -- $1.19million every July 1st until the year 2035 no less!).

If the money and appeal of the Big Apple makes sense, and can't bet ignored, then Counsell is gone. BUT I still hold hope that this Wisconsin-born guy comes back. And as I answer this, am hearing the Mets have put a boatload of money on the table -- and that the Brewers have also put forth a substantial offer.

Dear Cheeseheadrants: How can I get a job as an offensive coordinator in college football, suck at it by having the WORST offense in all of college football, but stay employed for seven years? Asking in Oshkosh

Dear Asking: This one is easy. Your dad is Kirk Ferentz.

Scanning the paper recently, I noted there were 31 college football games on television in some form or another.

Geez, for those of us of a certain age, we can recall when there were two, or maybe three college games on TV on any given Saturday. And one of those was ALWAYS Notre Dame, which had it's own deal with NBC.

Pondering Life's Mysteries

 For those of you still wondering how the Milwaukee Brewers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the answer it clear: You can't leave 20 runners on base in two games and expect to win!

It's not all about hits in baseball, but also when you get them. For Milwaukee, timely hitting disappeared. Can't count the times that the Brewers either had two runners aboard, or the bases full, with less than an out. All you need there is a flyball to score and perhaps create a big inning. No such luck at AmFam Field in this year's playoffs.

The only positive coming out is the fact that the D-Backs just swept the deep-pocket Los Angeles Dodgers, moving on to the NLCS against either Philadelphia or Atlanta (Philly leads the series 2-1 with the deciding game today.

Brewers GM Matt Arnold met with the media this week, indicating that he expects pitchers Corbin Burns and Brandon Woodruff to be in Milwaukee uniforms this season (they are both free agents after the 2024 season).

Not so fast there, Matt. It might be wise for the franchise to deal Burns during the off-season, when the club can get the most bang for it's trade buck. A solid, power-hitting corner infielder, and a prospect or three, might be in the best interests of the Brewers.

As for Woodruff, well he's damaged goods and awaiting a second opinion on his shoulder. I say keep him around and let's see how this plays out.

Meanwhile, Arnold thinks a decision is forthcoming on the Craig Counsell front, as the team's manager has yet to sign a contract for next year.

If you're among the Green Bay Packer fan base grousing about the team's 2-3 record and ready to jump off the band wagon -- go ahead. With the youngest team in the NFL, the Packers are going to be a work in progress, a team that will delight one play and disappoint the next.

Let's give this squad some time to grow into NFL players. My expectations at the start of the season were pretty low. I imagine yours were, too.

However, this doesn't stop me for thinking Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry ought to be given his walking papers sooner rather than later!

Been reading Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty by Charles Leerhsen and ran across this that I just had to share with you. This references 1915, a time when Cobb had been in baseball with the Detroit Tigers for 11 seasons. He would play 24 in all, the final two with the Philadelphia Athletics.

By 1915 he was considered to be the best player in the game, and was coming off a season in which he hit .369 in the "deadball" era, driving in 99 runs and stealing 96 bases.

           Everyone in American knew who he was, and to prove it a newspaper in Syracuse, New York, asked its editorial cartoonist to draw a picture of a necktie and another of a corncob on the face of an envelope. The piece, with no other markings on it, was dropped in the mail and a few days later it reached the home of Ty Cobb in Augusta (Georgia).

If that's not star power, I don't know what is. Cobb was a career .366 hitter, scored 2,246 runs, drove in 1,938 runs and stole 897 bases -- and 54 of those were of home plate!

Saw a recent high school football score that boggles the mind. Green Bay Notre Dame (back when I was with the Oshkosh  Daily Northwestern in the 1970's, this was Green Bay Premontre) defeated Green Bay West 71-8, and had a 44-8 lead after the first quarter. I tried to find details of the game on several sites, but either came up empty or was asked to pay for a subscription. 

Anyhow, the ND Tritons have scored at least 42 points in each game during a six-game winning streak and has topped 50 points five times. They finish the regular season this week at 3-5 Manitowoc.

Time To Go Barry Picking In Green Bay

 Let's face facts. Joe Barry's stint as defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers is on thin ice.

Not one to have had much success in his previous NFL stops, Barry now seems to be all hat, no cattle. His schemes are questionable at best.

But let's consider this question: 

Is the lack of a run defense and struggles on the field due to

A) Barry's schemes and play calls

B) lack of execution

C) lack of players

D) the fault of an offense that can't stay on the field

E) all of the above

Have NOT been a fan of Joe Barry since his hiring. He was D-Coordinator for the Detroit Lions for two seasons (2007-2009) under Head Coach Rod Marinelli -- his father-in-law. Talk about nepotism. Until that time, Barry had, at best, been a defensive position coach. Let go in Detroit, he drifted around the NFL in various position coach spots. In 2015 he was hired to be the D-Coordinator in Washington, then fired a year later.

Let's face it, folks, the answer to the little quiz above just might be A. I put the blame for the current Green Bay situation on Head Coach Matt LaFleur, who has kept Barry on staff despite the lack of production. You watch the Packer defense and see all those first round picks flying around out there and wonder if they're being used to the best of their abilities. Cornerbacks playing soft on short yardage situations, the love of the zone defense against the passing game, inability to stop the run.

Of course, the players deserve more than their share of the blame here as well. Can't anybody tackle a runner on that team?

Congrats to Caleb Boushley of the Milwaukee Brewers. The former Hortonville Polar Bear picked up  the win Friday, pitching the final 2 1/3 innings. Despite giving up a game-tying home run in the ninth, the 29-year-old settled in, finished with two walks and five strikeouts. The 4-3 win in 10 innings was the 91st of the season for Milwaukee, and further dimmed the postseason hopes of the Chicago Cubs.

Speaking of the Brewers, after wrapping up the season taking two of three from the Cubbies, the team heads into the first round of the playoffs by hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks -- all three games will be at American Family Field.

AmFam Field has a listed seating capacity of 41,700 -- yet against the Cubs the final two games saw crowds of 42,562 on Saturday and 42,946 on Sunday (helped to not have a Packer game on the schedule, -game I think). The three-game series attracted 124,814 fans.

For the season, the Brewers averaged 31,497 per game, finishing 15th in all of Major League Baseball in attendance -- smack in the middle with 2,551,317 fans total.

Can't wait to see what the crowds will be like starting Tuesday against Arizona.

Good Vibes from NYC

 Have to thank CC in NYC for thinking David Stearns, now the General Manager of the New York Mets, will make a run at Craig Counsell for manager.

It's a good, valid consideration CC. However, I don't think Counsell will head to the Big Apple. Yes, it's a chance to manage a big market club with big, big bucks to throw around. But would the Mets play with the desire and back-to-basics style that Counsell has with the Milwaukee Brewers?

Don't think so. Way too many high priced contracts.

Meanwhile, the Brew Crew has a chance to end the post-season hopes of the Chicago Cubs this week. With a 90-69 record heading into the final three-game series, the Central Division Champion Brewers will be hosting the a wild card round next week.

I will give the announcers who handle Green Bay Packer games on Fox, etc., just one more week before I start getting testy. About what, you might wonder? Just having the name of our Former Quarterback Now Out For The Season in New York rammed down our throats, er, ears.

For the first two or three games, I get the sense of the story line. It's a big one. BUT enough is enough, folks. It's time to put it to rest and find something else to enlighten us on.

Wrote the above section prior to the third game of the season, the thrilling and improbable come-from-behind 18-17 win over New Orleans. And I must say that the announcing team was much, much better and only made a handful of Former Quarterback references.

There's a local sports columnist who produces a lot of copy. He's happy to share his opinions. In fact, down right giddy. He seems to me like a guy who doesn't see the glass as half-full or half-empty, but as smashed to bits on the floor. Give him any situation and, like Eeyore, it's an oh-me-oh-my response.

Maybe I'm just wired a little different, but as I came up as a 15-year-old sportswriter covering my high school for a nearby daily paper, I had to look for positives. After all, I lived and went to school with the athletes I was covering. Couldn't very well come down too hard, right?

Those hated St. Louis Cardinals have had a lot of success in their storied history. This season, not so much. They are currently 69-90 -- they haven't had 90 losses in a single season since 1990. On top of that, they will finish last in the Central Divison. That basement finish is only their second since 1918!

During the 34-20 thrashing the Detroit Lions were administering to the Packers, the graphic was posted that the Lions have won only a single playoff game in 68 years. But then, you have to GET to the playoffs in order to WIN there. This year's Motor City Kitties look like a team that will reach the playoffs and have success there. After years of struggling, all those high draft choices should finally pay off with a coach like Dan Campbell lighting the fire.

That would be nice, sine in reality the team hasn't been relevant for ages. Hell, the last won the NFL championship in 1957 (following a win in 1952).

Time For Craig Counsell To Be Manager Of The Year

Going to get right to the point, as you might have noticed with today's headline: Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers must be the National League Manager Of The Year.

Not should. Not might. Not maybe. Counsell simply stated is the Manager Of the Year. Milwaukee doesn't have the big market bucks or deep owner pockets of the Los Angeles Dodgers or Atlanta Braves, two teams currently posting better records than the Brewers.

Instead, Counsell pushes the right buttons, makes the right moves and adjusts to the roster limits he has. And let's face it, he's dealt with a lot of injuries this year, plugging in rookies to fill out the lineup and still has the Brewers in the top spot in the NL Central.

Milwaukee is currently 84-64 as of this writing. Counsell, since taking over manager duties in 2015, has been in charge of the club for 1,237 games, including playoffs. His regular season record? Well, that's 670-601, a winning percentage of .525. Counting this season (unless there's a horrific collapse in these final two weeks), Counsell will have taken the Brewers to the playoffs in five of the last six years.

And while he's not under contract for next year, I get the feeling that he soon will be. A Milwaukee and Wisconsin guy through and through, he's the right man for the job.

There were cheers and tears this past week when the Former Green Bay Packer Quarterback went down with a season-ending injury. I didn't wish this on him, and am saddened that he won't be on the field. After all, he will be a Hall of Fame player and was OURS for 17 seasons. And the fact that the Packers will lose out on a first round draft pick for him, getting a second rounder from the New York Jets, doesn't make it any better.

Appreciate what that guy did for the Packers during his years here instead of focusing on the ugly way he left.

Can't help but wonder, though, how many of the scheduled prime time games of the Jets will now be flexed out. With the star of the show on the sidelines, doubt if a national audience (or the network suits) are keen on what the understudy brings to the stage.

 

Where Have The High Schools Gone?

 In a previous life, as a sportswriter with the Oshkosh Northwestern, I got acquainted with the newspaper's agate page. Well, addicted is more like it. I enjoyed scanning through the long list of type, looking for scores from schools I followed.

Those of you who still read newspapers (physical or on-line) know the agate page. Maybe not by name, but by sight. It's the page in the paper that carries the smaller type -- scores, standings, soccer, golf and NASCAR lists, etc. Pretty much a hodge-podge of information. It used to carry a long strip of high school scores (football and basketball) that wrapped up the entire state., but this is long before the internet.

The Wisconsin State Journal no longer carries those high school results. And while I'm far removed from those sportswriter days, I am still addicted to looking over the state's scores, following schools I am familiar with. I fill that addiction now via a Wisconsin High School Sports website. Sometimes the scores carry full results (scoring plays, yardage, etc.) and others just the score. But it fills the need.

The present high school season is a couple of weeks old, and I noticed something with a couple of  small schools I follow. THEY AREN'T PLAYING HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ANYMORE!

Well, at least not at a varsity level. Their varsity schedule has been cancelled, and I've learned they are only playing JV due to a lack of numbers. Other small schools are opting to co-op with nearby districts. I keep wondering when Wild Rose will do this with my alma mater, Wautoma, for example.

Still others are going the 8-man football route. This is an especially popular move in the northern half of Wisconsin. Better for costs and roster sizes.

I quizzed a long-time friend in Eagle River, where Northland Pines High School had cancelled it's varsity football season, as to what was up.

"We just don't have the numbers," he said. "When my girls were in school, enrollment was around 800. Now it's nearly half that. We get retirees moving in, and that doesn't help the numbers. We're starting to see younger families with kids moving in. But interest in soccer has grown, and that takes the fast kids away from football. So we're playing a JV schedule and hoping for the best."

Am sure what is playing out in Eagle River and Wild Rose is happening all across Wisconsin. Not necessarily a trend I'm happy to see.

The Green Bay Packers get their regular season going on Sunday down at Chicago against Da Bears. Some of the Las Vegas lines have put Packer wins at 7 1/2. I'll bet the over on that one, as I think Jordan Love and Company will surprise fans, especially as the season continues and the team grows together.

Every fan I've spoken with over the past few months is optimistic AND excited. Let's hope patience factors in as well.

Speaking of the Packers, noticed going through one of the NFL magazines I pick up that most professional coaching staffs number anywhere from 26 to 28 members. That's a lot of specialty coaches for teams that number 70 (53 regular roster, another 17 on the practice squad.

Back with the 1961 Packers, the 11-3 NFL champs (shutting out the New York Giants, 37-0), the 40-man roster was coached by Vince Lombardi and four (count 'em four) assistants! There was a defensive coordinator (Phil Bengston, who succeeded Lombardi as head coach), plus coaches for the defensive backs, defensive line and offensive line.

By the 6-8 1970 squad, rosters had grown to 47, but still had just four assistant coaches.

Just proves what a big, BIG business professional football has become.

Back at the end of March, I predicted 90 wins for the Milwaukee Brewers. Many thought I was insane. But here we are with 23 games to play and the BrewCrew stands at 77 wins, just a game and two games in front of the Chicago Cubs.

Milwaukee has a fairly tough schedule left: three games with the New York Yankees and Washington, seven with Miami and St. Louis before wrapping the season with three home games with the Cubs. In fact, The Brewers have 13 home games remaining, including their final six.

Meanwhile, those pesky Cubbies have six with Arizona, seven with Colorado, three with Atlanta and the three at Milwaukee. Only 10 of the final 24 are in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

Thinking that the Brewers will win the division and secure three Wild Card playoff games at home, while Chicago qualifies as a wild card. In fact, division foe Cincinnati could also snag a wild card spot.

Heading Into Baseball's Second Half

 

We've passed the mid-way point in the baseball season. The All-Star Game break always seems like the half-way point, but in reality it was a bit past that.

Milwaukee's Brewers hit the break at 49-42 -- 91 games, while 81 would be half-way. Still, that's a good place to be. And coming out of the break with a pair of shutout wins over Cincinnati's Reds is an even better start.

In fact, beating the Reds1-0 to head into the All-Star break, then again1-0 to open the second half was the first time in franchise history that the Brewers had won back-to-back 1-0 games. Add in Saturday's 3-0 victory and you can see that this squad has some serious pitching. Completing the sweep with a come-from-behind win yesterday gave the Brewers a two-game lead in the NL Central standings.

What has helped Milwaukee is the resurgence of Christian Yelich. After shattering his kneecap with a foul ball back in September of 2019, it has taken this long for Yelie to get his groove back. He's currently hitting .286 with 14 home runs and 49 RBI (not bad for a lead-off hitter). Yelich has been on f a tear since May after early season struggles. I'll take this average all day long.

Now, if a few other bats can start to heat up, it will make for an interesting second half. Especially if the front office can find a full-time firstbaseman to fill the gap left by the most recent injury to Rowdy Tellez. Heading down to see then play the Reds in a couple of weeks. Will give you an in-person scouting report then.

The best part of the season, though, is seeing those pesky St. Louis Cardinals roosting in last place, 11 games or so out of first. Don't be surprised if they start trading away pieces. Meanwhile, those Oakland/Las Vegas A's are turning their squad into a Triple A club while sitting at 25-70! Come on boys, you can set the futility record for losses.

One of the pluses that has come out of the rule changes in baseball has been length of game. When the Brewers won 1-0 heading into the break, it only took 2 hours and 4 minutes. That time was bested the same day by the San Francisco Giants, who only took 1 hour and 56 minutes to post a 1-0 win. Pitch clocks, no defensive shifts and the like add up to a quicker game. Nothing wrong with that.

We're just days away from the Green Bay Packers heading into training camp and the official start of the LoveFest in Green Bay. After 30 years of quarterbacking from a pair of Hall of Famers, the Packers will be led by Jordan Love.

Their schedule is only 24th in the league on opponent strength of schedule. They have three short weeks, which is a lot, but less punishing when your starting quarterback is under 25.

Had to laugh when I saw this on the wire, that a doctors' group that promotes plant based eating and animal rights was making a big fuss over a summer college baseball team named Macon Bacon.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sent a letter urging the team to change it's name. The group has also sponsored a billboard imploring Macon fans to "keep bacon off your plate."

Geez. Lost your sense of humor down there in Georgia?

Baseball's Newest 25 & 40 Man

Hats off to a dear friend, now baseball's 25&40 man.

Not a statistical leader by any stretch of the imagination, mind, you but a front office leader.

Ted Tornow, who grew up in Menasha and was a three-sport athlete for the Bluejays, took the field this week for his 25th Opening Day as General Manager of the Clinton LumberKings. In fact, this Opening Day was Ted's 40th of his career in baseball, one started right out of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Hail Titans!). Been friends with Teddy since his high school days, when I was covering teams in the Fox Valley for the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern. I could tell you some great stories, but I digress.

Clinton is part of the Prospect League, a summer league for college athletes much like the Northwoods League of the Madison Mallards. Which, by the way, is a franchise where Ted's oldest son, Brett, is working in the front office. (Must be in the genes!)

When Ted took the job at Clinton, the city was still part of the country's minor league system. That unfortunately ended a few years ago when MLB dropped over 100 minor league affiliations. But Ted and the LumberKings shopped around and found a home in the Prospect League.

Congrats, Teddy. Proud of you, buddy...

Major League Baseball hit June 1st and perhaps we can say that the Oakland Athletics are close to being mathematically eliminated. The franchise, packing it's bags to move to Las Vegas (and a 30,000 seat stadium that has yet to be built) is already 34 games below .500! At 12-46, this club could break the all-time record for futility set by the 1962 New York Mets. In their first season, the less-than-amazing Mets lost 120 games. With 104 games yet to play, the Athletics have a shot at the mark. By the way, the A's are a bit of a vagabond club to begin with, starting in Philadelphia in 1901, moving to Kansas City in 1955 and then to Oakland in 1968.

Oakland is averaging just 8,675 fans per game in their pit of a stadium, the Oakland Coliseum. That's dead last in MLB. Hell, the afore mentioned Madison Mallards get nearly 6,000 (and more) per game at Warner Park!

Those folks who clamored for baseball in Florida? Miami (third in the National League East) ranks 29th at 12,119 while Tampa Bay (tops in the American League East with an amazing 40-18 record) sits at 26th, averaging just 17,360. Your Milwaukee Brewers? Leading the NL Central and ranked 13th with 28,849 fans a game.

The Green Bay Packers are having OTAs this week, crucial for a young squad with 32 rookies on the roster and a host of first-year men.

David Bakhtiari, the somewhat grizzled veteran offensive tackle, talked with media earlier in the week about being part of the rebuilding process. And make no mistake about it, Green Bay is rebuilding with a massive youth movement.

Perhaps Bakhtiari should give Wisconsin native Joe Thomas a call. Seems like he was part of a rebuild annually while forging a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns.

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.