Author Archives: andylwellman

Are The Badgers For Real?

January 10, 2014 – 3:10 am

The reason I ask is because this morning on the Mike & Mike show, during the “what everyone’s talking about” segment, there was a list of three topics. The first two related to this weekends upcoming NFL playoff games, and the third one was concerning the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball team’s game from last night. Funny thing is, you wouldn’t have know that unless you were watching the show on TV, as I was. That’s because when it came to talking about the last item, they instead went off on some other NFL related tangent. Personally, I was flabbergasted. They stuck faithfully to the script through the first two, then completely disregarded the concerning Wisconsin. Just let me cry “no respect!” and I’ll move on.

Are the Badgers for real? It’s tough to say at this point. They have had some quality wins against good opponents, including last nights blowout against a ranked, conference rival in the Fighting Illini. But it was in the Kohl Center, and the road to the Tournament isn’t going to get any easier. Big Ten basketball is shaping up to be very formidable this year, with some other highly ranked teams. In fact, right now UW finds themselves sandwiched between Ohio State and Michigan State in the rankings. They are off to a 16-0 start, the best in school history, and at #4 as highly ranked as I ever remember them.

The team is built differently than in past years as well, with athletic big men that can run the perimeter AND drive to the basket. This is a formula that could do well in March, and after a less the spectacular end to the football team’s season, could be just the tonic for UW fans everywhere.

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I Want To Like The Bucks…

January 8, 2014 – 12:48 am

…I really do. Even though I’m not nearly the NBA fan that I once was some 25 years ago, they are the professional basketball team from my home state. I’m not old enough to remember the Championship, but I can recall watching playoff games when they were on tape delay. I grew up on the Don Nelson teams of the 80’s, when they would make annual trips to the playoffs with the likes of Sidney Moncrief, Marcus Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, Harvey Catchings and Brian Winters. And later with Terry Cummings, Craig Hodges, Alton Lister and Paul Pressey. While they never won an NBA title, you could always expect a decent showing in the post season, with some classic matchups with the Celtics or 76er’s. Now they’ve become the equivalent of the 90’s Brewers; a lackluster team playing in a less than spectacular building.

The reason I was thinking about this today was because nearly simultaneously I received an offer for some tickets to the game while ESPN 540’s D-List’s question of the day was if you were to receive a free limo ride, free tickets and free food to tonight’s Bucks game at the Bradley Center, would you take them? Now, I’m not one to shy away from a freebie, but considering how cold it is, I would have to think twice. They are playing the Clippers, one of the more exciting teams in the league, but I’ve never been the type that goes to their favorite team’s games to watch the other guys. Which brings me back to the less than mediocre, pre-Miller Park Brewers.

Back then, I would think about taking the kids to a game, an experience I’m sure they would remember for a lifetime. But I just couldn’t do it, considering how much it would cost and what we were getting in return. Never mind the less than family friendly environment that we might sometimes encounter, the ubiquitous “product on the field” would never measure up. And that’s the problem with the current edition of the Milwaukee Bucks, a last place team seemingly playing for the first pick in this summer’s NBA lottery. At least the Badgers Men’s Basketball Team is ranked in the top 5…for now.

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Packers Post Game: 2013 Wildcard Playoff Edition

January 6, 2014 – 6:14 pm

Well, the 2013 season finished a lot later than I had expected. After it was revealed that Aaron Rodgers had broken his collar bone in October, I held little hope that they would even win one game without him. The fact that they still had a shot at a division title going into Week 17 was nothing short of miraculous. So many things had to come together for it to happen that this group started to have that “team of destiny” feeling to it. Of course the 2003 Packers had that same feeling until “4th and 26”.

And so the Green Bay Packer’s season came to an end yesterday on the “frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field. A place that used to be a guaranteed W but has hosted the end of the Packers post season in 5 of the last 9 playoffs. And for the second year in a row, it came at the hands of the San Francisco 49er’s, a team that is fast becoming for Aaron Rodgers what the Dallas Cowboys had become to Brett Favre. But instead of being thoroughly run over, as was the case last year in the City By The Bay, the Pack held their own. After being beat up and bruised all year long, and limping into the playoffs against an arguably superior opponent, the team managed to acquit themselves quit well in a close 23-20 loss.

The day after, I find this game leaving me with an unusual feeling. They were playing with house money, and while I always want them to win, the loss doesn’t leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, like what which would have been had they lost to the Bears the week before. A game that they would have been just as likely, if not more so, to lose. It was a game of dichotomies. While the defense rose up to twice deny the Niners a touchdown inside their own 10 yard line, and came away with a momentum generating turnover, they also could not get the timely third down stop and allowed San Francisco to bleed the clock while getting into position to kick the game winning field goal with no time remaining.

The offense started out miserably, found it’s rhythm and was able to keep up score for score, but then couldn’t find the end zone from 1st and goal at the 9. A score that would have given the Packers a four point lead and forced San Fran to score a TD to win the game. Aaron Rodgers had another miraculous escape to complete a 4th down conversion, but in the end the miracles ran out, and now we’ll have to suffer the arctic cold wondering what might have been, what needs to happen in the off season and dreaming of the warm summer days of mini camp.

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It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

March 22, 2013 – 12:57 pm

As I was saying to my Brother at BW3’s, amongst the beer and deep fried pickles, yesterday (and today) constitute one of the three best days in the sports calendar. Along with the Superbowl and Sunday at the Masters, the opening round (I still don’t consider the play in games as the first round) of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament are the most enjoyable sporting days of the year. And as fans of Wisconsin sports, we’ve been very fortunate in March. Both the Badgers and Golden Eagles have been annual contenders for going on a decade and a half now, and add to that the occasional appearance by UWGB and UW Milwaukee gives us all a lot to root for. Filling out brackets and settling in for an entire day of exciting college basketball action has become a right of Spring, and is as eagerly anticipated as Christmas morning.

Marquette gave as a heart stopping, bracket saving win yesterday, and today it is Bo Ryan and the Badgers turn. I have Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen and the Golden Eagles in the Elite Eight. So now I get ready to strap it on for another day of great company, thrilling wins and bracket busting loses. Here’s to hoping your having as much fun as I am!

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It could be worse…

November 20, 2012 – 3:12 pm

…we could be Bears fans. After Sunday’s less than spectacular win over the Detroit Lions, some Packer fans are still not satisfied by their level of play. The fact is that there are always going to be some fans that will always view the glass as half empty. On the other hand, you have Bear’s fans.

While I normally like to listen to the various Packers post game radio shows, win or lose, one of my guilty pleasures is to listen to Chicago sports talk radio after a Bears loss. Last week, after a home loss to the Houston Texans, the wailing and gnashing of teeth south of the border wasn’t that bad. Afterall, it was a close, low scoring game and Jay Cutler went out during the middle of the contest. But after last night, the hounds have been unleashed. Suddenly, a defense that was at times being compared to the imcomparable ’85 squad, is now exposed as relying TOO much on generating turnovers. Brandon Marshall is an all-pro wide receiver when Jay Cutler is throwing to him, pedestrian at best with any other signal caller. And that offensive line is really offensive.

The Bears and Packers have identical win-loss records atop the NFC North Division, but Green Bay is in first place by virtue of their head-to-head record. Apparently, Chicago needs to finish the season 5-1 to have any chance at the Lombardi Trophy, because 3-3 will put them on the road in the first round of the playoffs, where they don’t stand a chance. This is the analysis from our friends to the South, and it makes for some darn good listening pleasure.

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1st Annual Badger State Sports Fantasy Basketball League

October 27, 2012 – 3:41 pm
Hello all,
 
I’ve set up a fantasy basketball league at Yahoo. The season is set to start on OCT 30th. It’s an automated draft, so you just have to rank the players and the computer will conduct the actual draft. I will set the draft to run approximately 48 hours after the league is full, or the evening of the 28th, which ever comes first.
 
If you are interested, go to http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/nba the league ID# is 62791 and the password is BSSFBA12. Hope to see you there!
 
Thanks,
Andy Wellman

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This one’s for you Buddy

October 19, 2012 – 3:33 am

The Raider’s dream season came to an end this rainy evening on Field 1 at the Pleasant Prairie  RecPlex. After starting out 0-3, they went the rest of way 5-0-1 to finish second in the 5th-6th grade division. Last Tuesday they won their first round playoff game, and met the 6-2-1 Cardinals in tonight’s championship game.

The same Cardinals that they tied in the season finale exactly one week ago. The same Cardinals that handed them two of their three loses. The same Cardinals they beat back on October 2nd. You could say that this had developed into quite the rivalry. And it showed tonight.

Penalties for tackling and flag guarding were being handed out left and right in a see-saw battle that ended with a Raiders game tying drive coming up just short as time expired. At least one Raider’s player chalked up the disappointing result on the weather. “We would have beat them if it wasn’t raining”, said star center and defensive lineman Jake Wellman. “The Cardinals were like fish, and we are more like squirrels. They do good in the water where we would have done better if it were dry out”.

And with that we say goodbye to the 2012 season. Great job Raiders!

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Plan B

October 9, 2012 – 2:53 am

Five weeks into the 2012 season, and this year’s Packer squad still remains an enigma. A prime example was yesterday’s game; a first half domination on both sides of the ball followed by a near historic collapse in the second. After last year’s 15-1 regular season, many fans expected a repeat performance this year, with a hopefully better defense. The only change in the formula would be to not rest too much heading into the playoffs, to keep the momentum rolling through a glorious, home field advantage run to a another Superbowl title. However, it has become quite apparent that this will not be the case this year. While the defense has at times played much better than in 2011, the offense isn’t anywhere near what it was a year ago. So onto plan B.

Much has been made about the teams of the last two championship runs; the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. The fact that they headed into the post season as wild card teams, and rolled to the Lombardi trophy. Speculation has been that it is no longer necessary to be a dominate team during the regular season, as long as you can get hot towards the end and carry the momentum through the playoffs. And so far this season, it seems that this will be the formula that the Pack will have to use if they are to fulfill the promise so many of us felt heading into this year.

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At The First Turn

October 6, 2012 – 2:35 pm

The Packer’s season is one quarter over, and they sit at an even 2-2. That means they are on pace to finish 8-8, and more than likely out of the playoffs, and quite frankly, that’s what they deserve. Just kidding. We all know that if it weren’t for some highly incompetent officiating, they would be 3-1 and tied for the division lead. And if you continue to break out the rest of the season in quarters, I think they will continue to go 3-1 and finish with 11 wins and 5 loses. Hopefully that will translate into a division title and a first round bye. But they’ll miss home field advantage throughout by one game, and then we’ll have plenty to talk about regarding the week 3 debacle!

The opening to this post was obviously sarcasm, and it is aimed at those who believe that this year’s Packer squad “sucks”. Of course, this line of thinking can be traced back to last years record breaking 15-1 season. Those people need to step back, take a pill and realize that last year was truly a once in a generation occurrance. And let us not forget, that as well as that team performed during the regular season, they were one-and-done in the playoffs. So I would eagerly accept an 11 and 5 finish with an NFC Championship game on the road if it ends in the same magical fashion as the 2010 season.

Sure, the offense is not performing at the same level as it did last year. And the offensive line looks like it’s going to get Aaron Rodgers killed sometimes, but they did start to show flashes of brilliance against the Saints on Sunday. Combine that with the much improved play of the defense and I don’t think we have so much to worry about.

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Don’t Look Now…

September 13, 2012 – 7:46 pm

…but here come your surging Milwaukee Brewers! After being as much as 19 games under .500 at one point, they have climbed above the Mendoza line and joined the Wild Card race discussion. And with the prospect of an 0-2 start by the Packers, they have created a nice little positive diversion for Badger State Sports Fans.

Of course, the Phillies have decided to throw their hat into the ring as well, which makes the prospect of post season baseball in Brew Town an even longer shot. Never the less, it has created a nice little diversion from a very disappointing week of football in Wisconsin.

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