UW Milwaukee Faces Old Problems....Again

Coach Rob Jeter was hoping that the negative press of the 2007 season had passed and the team was looking forward to a brighter future. With the suspensions and dismissals that the team endured last year it seemed the only direction the Panthers could go is.....up.

Well, Ricky Franklin had other ideas at 3:00am on Thursday (11/28) morning. Instead of being at home sleeping and getting ready to eat some turkey with his family and preparing himself for the state show down against Wisconsin today (11am), he thought it would be smart to be out driving around...drunk. He was arrested for drunken driving and will sit-out todays game until the matters get sorted. In the end, he will probably miss 5 games or so. Everyone makes mistakes, lord knows I have. But when you're playing D1 basketball on a team that is quite competitive this year, one would think you would have plenty of friends or family to call to come pick you up. That being said, I'm sure the young man will learn from this and move on. Meanwhile, the team will be with out their starting guard.

Ironically enough, Avery Smith will surely get another chance in the starting lineup. The Senior was coming off the bench and tearing it up for the Panthers. So that is great news as he is clearly the best player on the team. It was his poor decision making that led to him being dismissed last year from the team and starting the 2008 season coming off the pine.

This is a horrid time of the season to lose your staring guard and the leader of your team. This senior is the cornerstone to the offense along with Avery Smith. Now other will have to step up to the plate this morning and help the 3-3 team try to pull off the impossible. Beat Wisconsin.

Brewers Retail Surges

The Milwaukee Brewers earned a unique award for it's 2008 season. The Major League Baseball Properties named Milwaukee "The Club Retailer of the Year", which is a huge accomplishment for this small market team. Thanks impart to the states hard cord dedication to name & number T-Shirts that blanket the seats at every home game, the Brewers were able to beat out the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Loveable Losers. Even online sales have jumped 30% since this time last year. Pretty impressive. I know I contributed at least $500.00 to the cause. Let's take a look...


Ryan Bran Jersey - 105.00
Milwaukee Brewer Hat - 29.00
Milwaukee Brewer Hat - 25.00
Milwaukee Brewer Winter Cap - 25.00
Milwaukee Brewer T-Shirt - 25.00
Milwaukee Brewer T-Shirt (post season) - 17.00
Milwaukee Brewer T-Shirt (post season) - 17.00
Milwaukee Brewer Pennant - 7.00
Milwaukee Brewer Lamp - 35.00
Milwaukee Brewer Sweatshirt - 35.00
Milwaukee Brewer kids T - 8.00
Milwaukee Brewer kids T - 7.00
Milwaukee Brewer kids hat - 21.00
Milwaukee Brewers kids Sweatshirt - 17.00
Milwaukee Brewer light switch cover (Cecil Cooper) - 7.00
Milwaukee Brewer Female T- 12.00
Milwaukee Brewer Female T - 12.00
Milwaukee Brewer pink hat (wife, I know) - 18.00
Milwaukee Brewer name & number shirt (wife) - 12.00
_______________________________________________
434.00
(give or take)
meanwhile, I owe 1500.00 on my credit card. priorities.

It will be tough to beat 2008 considering this was an eventful season. The CC trade, play-offs, and being the hottest team in baseball for a couple of months will do that. I can't wait until next season though. I think I read or heard that Miller Park was expanding the gift shop...again. I love the gift shop, but I don't buy there. I keep note of what I see in the shop and then find it online. The prices at the gift shop are silly for jerseys and hats.

I'm tired of....

I'm tired of ESPN and Sports Illustrated trying to cram girls basketball down our throats. I mean let's get real here.

SI's recent issue had a cute little front cover with top male players in each region of our great country. But the mag then had to have them partner up with their significant other, that being their equivalent on the girls team. I'm all for college girls basketball. It's swell. But it's vastly different then Mens Basketball. Keep in mind, it's College Football and Mens Basketball that fund the entire athletics department for every University worth mentioning. So keep the two seperate. It's like the WNBA and the NBA. You don't have them matching up with their equivalent on the cover of SI do you? Also, SI this past week also had the two (mens/womens) jumbled together in a crash-course type spread on this seasons college basketball season. Like I care who the sleepers are for womens basketball? C'mon.

I really get pissed when I'm watching the sports ticker at the bottom of CBS or ESPN during the Big Dance and I find that they are running the Girls' score. I get confussed due to the 12 beers I drank and the similarities in the school names in both tournaments. So when Notre Dame falls in the first round, it's the girls team usually. But I fail to realize this and flip out. They should have the girls games in pink or bright orange to differeniate from the guys score. Guys scores should be in red or blue.

Just me getting bent.

Milwaukee Panthers off to hot start

UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, or Wisconsin-Milwaukee are off to a hot start with a 2-0 record and even set a new milestone. That milestone was the win over Cal-Davis today that witnessed the largert comeback in Milwaukee's D-I history. Down 24 points at the half, the Panthers outscored the Aggies 54 to 24 in the second half. Rickly Franklin looks like the clear cut leader of this underrated team, scoring 18 points in the effort.

The Panthers also beat Loyola Marymount on Friday 75-51.

JUCO transfer Tone Boyle led all scorers with 20 points. Freshmen Tony Meier had a double-double.

Milwaukee was picked to be in the middle of the pack of the surging Horizon League by most preseason magazines. They face their biggest test tomorrow against Iowa State.

Meanwhile, their rival Green Bay doesn't start until November 18th. They are picked to finished 3rd led by their underachieving coach.

Butler, the leagues top team the past two years, had an impressive win over Drake in a game the pitted two of the top mid-major schools in the Midwest. Butler won easily 58-48 over a well-touted Drake team.

Cleveland State (preseason #1) won only by three points against Oakland, 58-55.

Time Warner Cable will again host Milwaukee basketball for the Milwaukee market. For those who are outside of Milwaukee Metro, you can check out http://www.horizonleaguenetwork.com/ to watch (most)free games. Time Warner starts their 10 game packaged deal next weekend when Milwaukee takes on Marquette, for only the second time this decade, in a cross-town battle. Look for the Panthers to put up a much better fight then last years debacle.

Flawed Voting System!

Tell me....

How does Lou Piniella earn Manager of the Year in the NL, over Charlie Manuel of the Phillies? Please, someone tell me. This is a joke and a slap in the face to old man Charlie.
Was it not Lou's team that was ousted out of the playoffs in the NLDS? I know this award is based on the regular season, but what Charlie Manuel did in Philly is fanstastic. They were not picked to be contenders....Chicago was. So how is it that Charlie Manuel gets shoved aside for that prick Lou? Very mad.

Joe Maddon (rightfully so) was AL's Manager of the Year. That of course is a no brainer.

-Sad to see Torres retire yesterday. I think we knew it was coming though. It will be interesting to see what Melvin does to bolster the pen.

-JJ Hardy's name has been getting tossed around the rumor sites as possible trade bait for a starting pitcher. Thus far, only #5's have been mentioned.

Hot Stove for the weekend.....Great News!

Willie Randolph decided that he liked Milwaukee so much while interviewing for the manager position, he decided to take on a lesser role as bench coach. Regardless, this is a great addition to the coaching staff. I was not a fan of Randolph becoming the skipper in Milwaukee, but coming to the Suds City as a bench coach will only add more experience, winning experience. Another odd note on this news is that the Brewers have brought on the 3 out of the 4 finalists for the manager job. So this would tell me that Melvin is a brilliant interviewer. He sells them on the opportunity and in turn, these new additions buy on to what he has cooking.

Randolph will be the go-between for Macha and the young squad. That was ultimately Randolph's downfall in NY. However, have him be that players' coach and I think Macha will be that much more effective in getting his new team to buy on to his plan.

In all, I am quite pleased with Melvin and Macha's coaching decisions. They brought on some old coaches under the Yost regime and brought in some outside analysis in Randolph. Now if only they could get Bob Brenly to coach the bull pen? ..... Good idea by Jsonline. Never happen though.

Say it aint so.....

Fan-Favorite and Milwaukee Area icon has decided to leave FSN for bigger seas. She will be joining the MLB Network this spring. Despite her politics, she was a great contributer to the FSN team. Wish her luck. I will remain facebook friends with her, so that's good news.

-As I thought, Milwaukee will probably be unloading Cameron's contract soon here. The Yankees have expressed the most interest and have mentioned Melky Cabrera as one possiblity. A .268 career hitter who dropped off the face of the earth the second half of last season would not be the right move for this young Milwaukee club. Now the idea of getting a Phil Hughs? That's more like it. Won't happen though unless we package Cameron some how. Thanks to kosioutlook.blogspot.com for the heads up on this story.

NL Gold Glove Awards Announced

Not too many surprises here. Well, maybe one.

SHANE VICTORINO?

Greg Maddux notched his 18th of his career.

News

Better late than never on this, but Milwaukee is going to bring back Mike Cameron for 10MM. Not bad for a veteran centerfielder who hit 25 HR's last year. Minus a month of the regular season.

I will tell you right now, I like this. If/when he returns (pending not being traded) with the team for 2009, not only does he bring experience but he also brings leadership. This guy was the leader of the team in 2008. Even CC looked up to this guy. He is an ambassador too. With a guy like Mike Cameron who has played with some great teams and met plenty of players, he can be the Brewer franchise salesman. Literally.

Yes, he does strike out far more than I like. But he is a solid ball player who would be great batting 6th or 7th in the lineup.

- As expected, Macha brought back Ed Sedar and Bill Castro on his coaching staff. Last week Dale Sveum was annoucned as the hitting coach. Good deal man, good deal. They know the Crew and can help Ken get to know the players and their personalities. If Ken came on board and cleaned house, I would be highly concerned. His personality is tough and rugged... a no bull-shit kind of guy. Having Sveum, Castro, and Sedar back will help him mesh with the players, and more importantly help the young players mesh with him.

-Reports state that Melvin offerred CC 147MM. Some sources say 4 years, most say 5 years. This offer will be used for his scrapbooking at home during the off-season. Just under the contract paper will read, "this one cracked me up the most..."

-My all time favorite announcer for the Brewers on TV (beside Bob of course) Matt Vasgersian, left the San Diego Padres after a 7 year stint. He will help launch the MLB Network and bring plenty of years of experience with him. This is a great move for him. Expect Brian Anderson to get a call for this new opening.

-Willis Randolph may get another shot to interview with the Mariners with Jack Zduriencik (GM).

Maddux heads to Texas...Sheets will surely follow

Brewer pitching coach Mike Maddux decided to jump ship and take the same position with the Texas Rangers. In doing so, one can certainly imagine that Ben Sheets will follow suit. Good Riddance.

Although Maddux seemed to be held as a higher power in Milwaukee, one only has to look at the past couple of seasons to see what sort of impact he made. I'm not going to get in to stats and numbers here. That's not my point. My point is that Maddux never really delivered. He certainly had his claim to fame with the development of Turnbow, Cordero, and Torres in the closing roles. But not much success with the starting rotation. He never grasped how to deal with Manny Parra in the latter part of the 2008 season. Nor did he deal with the looming threat that Jeff Suppan wasn't much of a #3 or even a #4 for that matter. Granted, Ned Yost had a lot to do with that slop of a mess we had in our rotation in 2006 & 2007. It was Maddux who was feeding him these ideas though. Perhaps I'm reading too much in to this guy. I don't know.

So, let's go after Carl Willis now! I think we have a good shot.

So, with that being said... Texas, enjoy your new pitching coach and our sloppy seconds (Ben Sheets). Perhaps you can get more than 13 wins out of the guy.

-Dale Sveum was hired as the new hitting coach.

-Melvin is believed to have made a formal offer to CC of 5 year X 100MM offer. He probably wiped his ass with it the paper.