Author Archives: andylwellman

Enough Already

September 9, 2012 – 1:56 am

When Barry Alvarez took over the moribund football program at the University of Wisconsin, an invite to the Billy Bob Bowl would be enough to get most Badger fans to do cartwheels in their underwear. But several Big Ten titles and Rose Bowl Championships later, and the bar was moved exponentially higher. When he stepped down to become the AD at Madison and handed the reigns over to Brett Bielema, he had built a perennial Conference Championship contender and a near lock for a January bowl game. The one thing that was never really considered was the possibility of a National Championship, and most fans were content with that. Afterall, we were in the same conference with recruiting powerhouses Michigan and Ohio State,

Then the Big Ten instituted a Conference Championship game and suddenly the idea of UW getting a shot to play for the AFCA Trophy became a real possibility. Along came Russell Wilson, and even the national pundits were seriously considering the idea of the Badgers playing for the National title. The problem was that over the years, Beilema’s teams had gathered the reputation for playing some very flat games. Usually one or two, enough to ensure that there would be no undefeated season and or a shot at finishing #1 on the polls. For whatever reason, he has been unable to keep his squads fully focused through every week of the regular season. And once again, today, this year’s team came out flat in an inexplicable loss to Oregon State. And once again, we will not have a BCS title in Madison thanks to Brett Beilema.

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Buy Or Sell

July 6, 2012 – 1:37 am

It’s that time of the year again in Major League Baseball. The time for GM’s to decide if they’re all in for this season, or if it’s time to trade their best players for prospects (of course some will choose to stand pat, but there’s no fun in that!). And the Brewer’s Doug Melvin will be no different.

Most times when a team chooses to sell one of it’s top players, it’s because they have an expiring contract and the team feels that they won’t be able to resign them. So it’s better to try and trade them for something than let them walk away for nothing. The Brewers benefitted from such a situation a few years back when the Cleveland Indians decided to “sell” on C.C. Sabathia.

Now the tables have turned with our own Zach Grienke. His contract is up at the end of this season, and the Brewers need to decide if they are going to hang onto him and risk not being able to sign him, or if they will essentially give up on this season and try to trade him for some other teams prospects. And thus the debate begins.

Is the Brewer’s season over, and if so, do they give up on the current make up of the roster in an attempt to become competitive again some time in the future? For what it’s worth, I’m for standing pat. Use the money that wasn’t paid to Prince Fielder and get Grienke signed. It was the injuries that sank this season (along with a freakishly bad showing from Rickie Weeks), and with a solid offseason to get healthy and tweak the roster, the Brewers should be very competitive in the NL Central next year.

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Badger State Sports Week(end) In Review

March 12, 2012 – 9:44 pm

The NCAA Tournament

Both the Wisconsin Badgers and the Marquette Golden Eagles made it to the dance this. And while it probably was never a concern that they would, I have to admit that I am surprised by their seeds, particularly the Badgers. While both go in as 4th seeds, Bucky doesn’t usually get much love from the selection committee. Of course, this just plays into all of the pundits who are waiting to line up for the boring Badgers are a first round upset. Personally, I’ll have both Marquette and Wisconsin going to at least the Sweet 16.

The Cadillac Championship

Steve Striker finished tied for 8th at 11 under par, five strokes behind the winner. He started out looking pretty good, holding or hovering around the lead through much of the first round. But hovering wasn’t good enough as others in the field began to pull away.  This does, however, give him three top 10 finishes, including a win in the season opener at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, in the first 4 events so far this year.

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The Best To Have Never Won

March 8, 2012 – 3:04 pm

The always fun and interesting sports talk question, “The best player to have never won a championship”, presented itself once again last week. Of course, all of the usual suspects were brought up; Dan Marino, Charles Barkley, Ted Williams, and that started me thinking about the best players from Wisconsin’s pro teams that never “won the big one”. I was going to post a blog on that very subject, when I decided to take it a step further. Over the next couple of posts, I will be putting together the best starting line-ups of ringless players for the Packers, Bucks and Brewers/Braves.

The list of Packers players that have excelled on the field of play is long, and many of them did win championships. But there were some players between Lombardi and Wolf that were all pros on some pretty mediocre to bad teams. As for the Bucks, you could simply pick any number of Don Nelson’s teams for your starting line-up of all stars that fell short of the championship win. And with the Brewers, and to a lesser extent the Braves, it could be the most challenging of the three.

So, I invite you to join me on memory lane and give me some of your own suggestions for these stellar starting line-ups, and let the debate begin!

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Wow…

January 16, 2012 – 3:14 am

…that’s all I can say.

Now I should write something about the Packers playoff loss at home to the New York Giants. Where should I begin?

DEFENSE

This was a 15-1 regular season team that made the playoffs without a playoff caliber defense. They were statistically ranked last in the league, and tonight it was easy to see why. They could not generate any kind of consistent pass rush against Eli Manning. He was allowed to stand back and calmly survey the field while his receivers were able to run their routes and improvise themselves open for easy completions and big gains. Big gains that usually came on 3rd down and long situations, keeping drives alive and adding confidence to the Giant’s offense. Big gains that often came by way of very poor tackleing efforts, all of these things that were very apparent throughout the regular season. So for the defense it could be said that tonight the chickens came home to roost.

OFFENSE

Dropped passes and fumbles, combined with a less than sharp Aaron Rodgers, equaled a completely unrecognizable offensive performance. The players were the same, but the group than ran roughshod through the regular season schedule forgot to show up for this game. The Giants defensive front produced constant pressure while their secondary apparently had the Packers receivers on lock down. How many times did Rodgers wind up running for his life, having to pull the ball down and try to make something happen with his feet? What happened to the quick slant, that combined with yard after the catch would produce some of the most exciting plays of the season?

COACHING

Again, what happened to the quick slant? The book on Eli Manning says that if you get him under pressure, he makes mistakes, yet we continued to use a completely impotent three-man front that allowed him to sit back and wait for his receivers to work themselves open. And what was with the call to go for it on 4th down when the game was still within reach and there was plenty of time left on the clock? A surprise onside kick, really? The playoffs are no time to get cute!

So now a historic season has come and gone, ended by a historically bad game. When do pitchers and catchers report?

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A Product of the System?

January 6, 2012 – 2:32 am

“He’s just a system quarterback”. None more hurtful words can be uttered about that position on a football team. It’s most commonly used to describe a successful college quarterback who can’t make the transition to the NFL. The list of such players is long and storied, with some of the more notable ones being Andre Ware, Gino Torretta, David Klingler and more recently, Colt Brennan, Tim Tebow and Aaron Rodgers.

Wait a minute, Aaron Rodgers?? Yes, after this past Sunday’s record setting performance by back-up Matt Flynn, some people are actually beginning to question whether success at the quarterback position in Green Bay is based on individual talent or the offensive system. And this is not the first time this question has been raised about Aaron Rodgers.

After a very successful career with the University of California Golden Bears, Aaron was drafted 24th overall by the Green Bay Packers in 2005. Prior to the draft, many had projected him to be the number one pick overall, but when he fell as far as he did, the questions began. And one of them was whether or not he was a product of the “system” at Cal State. Afterall, his head coach was Jeff Tedford, who was gaining a reputation for producing great college quarterbacks, Akili Smith, David Carr and Joey Harrington, to name a few, that didn’t seem to be able to make the transition to the pros. And Aaron Rodgers appeared to be next in line.

He carried the ball too high, his mechanics were all wrong, etc. In fact, I recall some outraged fans who actually compared him to Rich Campbell, a former Packers first round pick at quarterback who went on to have a rather unspectacular NFL career. Of course, quite the opposite has occurred for Mr. Rodgers, World Champion and Superbowl MVP. And just as Matt Hasselback and Mark Brunnel did behind Brett Favre, under the tuteledge of QB guru Mike Holmgren, so has Matt Flynn behind Rodgers with Mike McCarthy, another noted teacher of quarterbacks, at the helm.

And by the way, where was the “system quarterback” chorous when Matt Cassel stepped in and took over for Tom Brady in the middle of the first game of the season, and led the New England Patriots to an 11-5 record?

So, for all of you naysayers, you can keep your “system” and I’ll keep one, possibly TWO, of the best quarterbacks in the league.

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Bullpen Smells Like Cowpies

July 10, 2011 – 11:13 pm

I wonder if when Mark Attanasio went to sign up Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum he mentioned how the Brewers were on the rise. How this team could contend for the post-season. How a large part of the players were signed for the next 4 years. How committed the Brewers were to being successful franchise for years to come.

I wondered if he also mentioned how the bullpen will lose or give them a no decision in roughly half their starts. I wonder if he mentioned that in two-thirds of the games the offense would score 5 or more runs, but that would still not be enough for the bullpen to hold.

So much enthusiasm, so much promise, so much hope was placed in the signing of these two guys. Add them to a rotation that includes Gallardo and Wolf and The Brewers have as good a rotation as anyone in the major leagues. As an added bonus, Narveson is a 5th man with a winning record. With these pitchers, not only is the post-season possible, but we should be thinking division title.

Now it seems we can’t count on our bullpen to hold a game. I can’t even imagine how much intestinal fortitude it must take for our starters to hold back from thanking the bullpen for another blown game. How much courage and inner strength it must take for our offense to let go of the fact that their good game was washed away by a poor relief effort. I do know however, the feeling of stress, the turning upside of the stomach and the nails bit off of having to watch a pathetic bullpen TRY to hold a game for the win.

With the All-Star breaking coming up and the trade deadline not to far ahead, it’s time to see how Mark Attanasio addresses this glaring need in our pitching staff. In the mean time, there’s no forgetting our bullpen now, they’re where the smell of manure from left-center field is.

Posted in Milwaukee Brewers, Steve Wellman | Comments (1)

No Respect

July 6, 2011 – 2:52 am

It’s an expression heard hundreds of times, in both the professional and non-professional ranks: “We don’t get any respect”. Whether it’s fans talking about their favorite teams, teams talking about themselves or even players feeling like they’ve been “dissed”, it’s heard often. And while I’m sure there are some instances where a lack of “respect” is actually the case, I’d bet 9 times out of 10 that simply is just not so. Now, I can’t personally relate to this feeling from the stand point of being a player, because I’m not one. But as a fan, I have felt that way many times. Most times it’s a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees, being so emotionally invested in one’s favorite team can lead to such biases. And being a fan of the smallest franchise in professional sports, I think we are born with the “no respect” gene.

Which brings me to the reason for this post. I belong to Facebook, and follow both the Green Bay Packers and the NFL. Recently there was a discussion and poll as to whom people thought was the best QB in the league last year. Invariably, the consensus was Tom Brady. Now, I can understand this as he did put up some very nice stats last year, and he’s still riding the coattails of having put his PK in position to win a couple of Superbowls. So, all in all I don’t have a problem with this, at least not from the lack-of-respect standpoint. What really bothered me was their follow up question, and I quote, “Besides Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who’s the best quarterback in the NFL?”.

Really?? Who is the best QB other than the two who didn’t win a single playoff game last year? How about the one that carried his team to six must win victories in a row to end the season? How about the QB that won four playoff games in a row, three of which were held in hostile stadiums? I’m having a hard time believing that this is really a question. Brady may have been voted best by other players in the league, but are you really going to throw Manning in there over the guy who won the last game of the season, and took home the MVP trophy doing it?

Now I know the media loves to stir the pot, and admittedly, I am a die hard Packer fan. So is this a case of actual “no respect”, or simply another rabid, over reactionary fan. Let me know what you think.

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