The Milwaukee Brewers are gearing up for what should be an entertaining season. With Spring Training five weeks away the team avoided salary arbitration with all of their eligible players before last week's deadline. They signed one year deals with Travis Shaw, Corey Knebel, Alex Claudio (recently aquired from Texas), Zach Davies, Junior Guerra and Manny Pina. They also had catcher Yasmani Grandal fall into their laps. The 30 year old was the best catcher on the market both offensively and defensively and should improve the lineup especially on offense. The Brewers now have 20 players under contract for this season at $112 million and its expected that David Stearns isnt done. He would like to upgrade at second base and rumors continue that the team may make a trade for a big-name pitcher although the Bumgarner rumors appear to have cooled. And, if you wonder why the Brewers don't particulary like long term deferred contracts…they still owe Aramis Ramirez $3 million dollars this year. It is odd that Las Vegas doesnt like the Brewers to replicate last season. They have the Brewers slated for 83.5 wins finishing behind the Cubs and Cardinals. Hard to see that happening. I'll take the over on that line.
There was an interesting story at SI.com this week about how NFL teams are preparing for possible labor trouble in 2021. Adam Schefter reports that teams are structuring contracts for new coaches with language to save money based on the percentage of time being missed. He also said the new contracts for players will probably have some sort of strike/lockout language as well.The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in 2021. The NFL hasnt had a work stoppage since the owners locked out the players in the 2011 off-season.
Looking forward to checking out the 3rd season of “True Detective” that started last night on HBO. This season stars award winning actor Mahershala Ali. You may know him from Moonlight or the The Green Book but I first discovered him in a tv show called “The 4400” which aired from 2004-2007. The critics really like this season of True Detective
Former Badger James White continues to do it for the Patriots. He tied an NFL playoff record with 15 receptions on Sunday.
Ethan Happ had his 40th straight game scoring in double figures in the loss to Purdue on Friday. He's tied with Jon Leuer for second on the all-time Badger list behind Alando Tucker's run of 43 in 2006-2007. You would think he'd do it again tonight against Maryland. You can hear the game on WSAU…pre game at 630.
The Packers losing coach James Campen to the Browns. That's a big loss…the O-line loved him. One more Packer note from Rob Demovsky…”The Packers used 32 defensive players in 2018, 2 more than in any season since 2013 and 8 more than in 2014. On special teams they used 63 different players because of injury. So maybe it wasnt all Ron Zook's fault.
The date is now set for the final season of Game Of Thrones…it will start on April 14th. There will six episodes with some running as long as 90 minutes.
Things To Annoy You:
Rep Rashida Talib cursing got 5 times more coverage on cable news than Rep. Steve King embracing white supremacy.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has all the power he needs under the US Constitution to let the Senate vote to end the government shutdown. The House bills would undoubtedly pass. He's simply refusing to to so without Trump's permission.
The FBI collected fake green cards that Trump's staff gave to illegal immigrants working at his golf club.
Trump and the GOP blocking the contents of Trumps conversations with Putin is not just suspicious…it is outrageous. It is the behavior of a dictatorship. As Ronald Klain said, “If you think Donald Trump considers himself constrained in any way by the Presidential Records Act–or that any lawyer working in the White House has the guts or standing to insist on compliance–you are mistaken.
Quotes Of The Week
“Most illegal aliens enter the US by air. Maybe we need a roof.”-Skip Nelson
“If you are going to use a handful of crimes by undocumented immigrants as a reason for why we need an idiotic wall then you better as hell use the 325+ mass shootings in America last year as a reason why we need gun control. One is an actual problem, the other is manufactured.”- unknown
“Las Vegas shooter:not an immigrant…Sandy Hook shooter:not an immigrant…Parkland shooter:not an immigrant…Charleston Church shooter:not an immigrant…Aurora movie Theater shooter:not an immigrant…Gabby Giffords shooter:not an immigrant.”-Michael Skolnick
“Hell is only half full, so there's plenty of room for Alex Jones.”-Peter Gammons
“Defending Trump by saying he's a “non-traditonal president” is like defending Bernie Madoff by saying he's a “non-traditional businessman”.”-Bill Kristol
“That incompetence, along with his ingrained pathological narcissism, leaves us with a president who does little more than spout nonsense and lies, and pander to those who feed his egotistic needs. And all of this makes rational governance impossible.”- George Conway (Kelly Anne's husband) on Trump
“Imagine a world where the most loving thing you could do for your wife was compose tweets to get her fired.”-John Fuglesang
“White nationalist, white supremacist–how did that language become offensive?”-Rep Steve King
“At this point those who use the terms “racially tinged” or “racially charged” to describe white supremacy should be prepared to explain why they chose to employ those terms instead of “racist/racism”. If the answer is their own discomfort, they're protecting the wrong people.”-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“There is one reason why Trump keeps sounding more and more like a mob boss. It's because he is a mob boss.”-Ed Krassenstein
“At one point I thought Mike Pence was a little naive or playing dumb or being left out of the loop. But, nah. He's knowingly and shamefully complicit.”-Ana Navarro
“It is truly amazing to see all of these conservative “intellectuals” and “journalists” turning themselves inside out to defend something as wasteful, ineffective and profoundly unpopular as that asshole's stupid wall. “Fiscal responsibility” and “small government” my ass.”-Andy Richter
“I can tell you this for sure–whatever ridiculous propaganda we were fed in then Czechoslovakia, which was mandated by the Soviet Union–pales next to the lies being told and repeated by Trump and his ilk. Trump truly trumps the Communists. And that's not easy.”-Martina Navratilova
“Its not enough for Trump to resign. Every person involved directly, or indirectly through knowledge and silent complicity in the attmepted coup of our democracy needs to be brought to justice. We cannot rest until this is complete, however long it takes.”-Amy Siskind
Songs Of The Day (There will be a 50th anniversery Woodstock concert this summer from original organizer Michael Lang. It will be at Watkins Glen New York August 16-18th. Acts will not be announced until tickets go on sale in February. Lang says over 40 acts have bee booked so far including current rock and hip-hop groups, pop bands, and some legacy groups from the first concert. Here are some examples for those too young to experience the vibe of the orginal)
