Done with Baseball

For the past 15 years I have had the ultimate love-hate relationship with Major League Baseball. I love the game of baseball and there is nothing like going to a game, especially now that I have a son that soon will probably love the experience. I would love to cheer for the hometown team just like I do with the Packers and Badgers.

But here is the problem. Since the strike of 1994, baseball has done nothing to legitimately fix the disparity between the free spending teams and the financially-strapped franchises. For awhile I was like many of my baseball cheering friends where I would simply enjoy going to the ballpark. It didn’t matter that the Brewers and Twins lost nearly every game I went to in the 1990s. Then I had the ignorant stage where I thought that with smart draft picks and the right manager, my small market teams could compete on a yearly basis with the big boys.

Then I adopted the philosophy that I now have realized is extremely ignorant when the Florida Marlins won two World Series. I thought that this was the rationale for thinking that there wasn’t an issue and any team could win the championship.

But then I started coming around to reality. There is no chance for a small market team to compete on a yearly basis. The Marlins had two good years over the past 15 and caught lightning in a bottle. They benefited from baseball’s lone saving grace, the playoffs where anything can happen (unlike the regular season where the best team is almost guaranteed to win over the course of an obnoxiously long 162-game regular season). Others that disagree with me will bring up the Minnesota Twins’ division championships this decade. The Twins are in the AL Central which has one large market team, the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox have been one of the largest underachieving big city teams of the past 15 years which has allowed the Tigers, Indians and Twins to win the division. Put the Twins in the AL East and they would experience the same thing Toronto, Baltimore and Tampa Bay have experienced year after year this decade: playing third fiddle to New York and Boston.

But speaking of Tampa Bay, what about the Rays’ division championship a year ago and Bud Selig’s comment that they are not a one-year wonder? Well Bud, like nearly everything you’ve done as commissioner, you are wrong. The Rays have had one good year in their history and probably won’t have a second for quite awhile, especially in that division.

So now, my feelings on Major League Baseball have gone from disgruntled fan to not a fan. I have given MLB chance after chance and get continually frustrated. And now look at which cities are in the playoffs this year: Philadelphia, New York, Boston, two L.A. teams. I’m done. I am absolutely done with Major League Baseball. I am done watching games. I am done caring who wins. I might take my son to a game here and there and let him decide if he likes it, but I am done.

I do not do this hoping to start a movement, and I know that Major League Baseball doesn’t care about losing fans like me. There are plenty of fans who don’t care about the payroll disparities and don’t analyze how the Yankees and Red Sox make the playoffs nearly every year and many other teams have to have nearly everything go right (and yes that includes being in the “right” division Twins fans) to just have a chance once every few years. I’m just saying that I’m done. MLB has lost me.

Good riddance.

NFL Picks

I can’t believe it’s time to do my annual NFL football picks. It seems to have snuck up on me this year, and I feel like I haven’t done the same diligent research I usually do, but I think I’m ready.

Unlike baseball, I don’t base my predictions on team payrolls. By the way, my baseball picks which are based completely on how much teams spend are looking really good. Baseball is so easy to pick. I don’t even know why they bother playing the regular season sometimes.

Football on the other hand is a crap shoot. Take the NFC South for example. I think the team that has finished in last place has come back to win the division five or six times in the past seven years. Or look what the injury to Tom Brady did to the Patriots a year ago. They went from 16-0 to out of the playoffs (although they were 11-5). Even payrolls, injuries and the short season create high excitement no matter what team you cheer for (again, unlike baseball).

So I’ve learned that when you make predictions, you have to go out on a limb sometimes and make a couple outrageous picks. Here we go:

AFC East:
Patriots-A healthy Tom Brady will lead this team to another double-digit win season.
Dolphins-They won’t win 11 games again. In fact they might struggle to go .500.
Jets-Sanchez is going to struggle.
Bills-Never good to fire your offensive coordinator a week before the season starts.

AFC North:
Steelers-Great defense will be enough to help this team win another division crown.
Ravens-Good enough to finish over .500 again but will be in a fight for final playoff spot.
Bengals-Will be better than a year ago and will challenge for a playoff spot.
Browns-Back in rebuilding mode but have a weak schedule and could surprise some teams.

AFC South:
Titans-I wanted to pick Jaguars as a surprise first place team here but Titans are too consistent.
Colts-Manning won’t let this team drop off far but I have a hard time picking them for Super Bowl.
Jaguars-Great running game. Will that be enough to get this team into the playoffs?
Texans-Lack the defense to be a factor.

AFC West:
Chargers-The most obvious pick to win a division. This team is really good and the rest stink.
Raiders-This tells you how bad the division is when the most dysfunctional team in NFL is second.
Broncos-Defense will be better. How can it be worse? Offense is worse though.
Chiefs-Could be the worst team in the NFL. Watch out Lions.

NFC East:
Eagles-Too much fire power to not win this division. Too well-coached also.
Giants-Defense might lead this team to a division championship. Will be a good race with Eagles.
Redskins-Will be in the running for a wildcard.
Cowboys-Maybe this is wishful thinking but I think this team really struggles this year.

NFC North:
Vikings-Great defense and an offense that all of the sudden has weapons other than AP.
Packers-Aaron Rodgers could be NFL MVP and will take this team to the playoffs.
Bears-Good team that will fall victim to being in a tough division. Cutler is overrated.
Lions-Will be better than last year :) Might win 3 or 4.

NFC South:
Saints-The defense is not good but this offense is too good to miss the playoffs again.
Falcons-Wanted to pick them first but they have a history of not having two straight good years.
Panthers-Like the Bears they will fall victim to being in a tough division.
Buccaneers-It’s going to be a very long year for this young team.

NFC West:
Seahawks-This team is going to rebound and win 8 or 9 games which will be enough in division.
Rams-If defense holds up, this team could easily win division.
Cardinals-They have the Super Bowl loser hex on them and they looked horrible this preseason.
49ers-This team just can’t make that next step.

AFC Wildcard Round:
Steelers over Jaguars
Titans over Colts

NFC Wildcard Round:
Giants over Saints
Packers over Seahawks

AFC Divisional Round:
Chargers over Steelers
Patriots over Titans

NFC Divisional Round:
Vikings over Giants
Eagles over Packers

AFC Championship:
Patriots over Chargers

NFC Championship:
Eagles over Vikings

Super Bowl:
Patriots over Eagles

Being so near and dear to the NFC North, I really want to see a Packers-Vikings NFC Championship game. But given our division’s past, I have a hard time seeing it. The darn NFC East always seems to prevail.

For more Songer Sports and more visit www.songerstudio.com

Another Strong Packer Showing

Is there such thing as peaking in the preseason? Yes. The last time the Packers went undefeated in the preseason was in 1999. They went on to post their most disappointing season of the first 14 years of the Brett Favre era. That was the Ray Rhodes 8-8 year.

So there is no reason to get too excited about the Packer start this year. However, let me take you back to two years ago. The Packers were coming off an 8-8 season with Mike McCarthy. Nobody was talking about Green Bay as a threat in the NFC. I remember a particular preseason game that year in which they destroyed Seattle. Their starting units looked tremendous as they compiled an impressive 3-1 preseason. That year, Brett Favre found the fountain of youth, Greg Jennings and Ryan Grant emerged as stars and the Packers would go 12-4 and advance to the NFC Championship Game.

I remember thinking as they were dominating their preseason opponents that this team was going to be a force. They needed that kind of preseason to build confidence. After a 6-10 season a year ago, I think the same could be said for this preseason. Once again, nobody is talking about the Packers. But look what their starters have done this year.

The first offensive unit has scored eight touchdowns and two field goals in twelve possessions. Aaron Rodgers has thrown for six of those touchdowns and close to 500 yards in virtually five quarters of play. The starting defense has allowed only one touchdown in twelve possessions and has created six turnovers.

I know it’s preseason, but come on... this team looks very good.

Here are the concerns.

Aaron Rodgers struggled in putting together game winning or tying drives last year. It’s kind of hard to practice that in preseason when you are out of the game after a quarter or two.

The defense is taking the ball away at an incredible rate but struggled against the pass against Arizona especially. It’s great to see this team attacking the ball, but they need to tackle better.

Mason Crosby has missed four field goals including a 29-yarder this past week. Part of that is because the starting two holders are hurt and one of those holds was truly terrible. But we need more consistency here.

Our special teams is very suspect in general. Not a good punter. And we have a bunch of young guys competing for spots on this team who will be starting on special teams. They need to build some cohesiveness quickly.

From the website: www.songerstudio.com

Quick Start For Packers

Preseason football means different things to different teams. But if you are an NFC North team this year, strong consistent showings from your first string units are very important this year. Last year, the Vikings, Bears and Packers were all very inconsistent on offense and defense the entire year. I think all three head coaches want to see their starters put together some solid play in the first half of preseason games this year and build some confidence going into the season.

There is no doubt that Packers are doing this. So far, the offense and defense have both looked unstoppable in the first two games of the 2009 exhibition season. The Packer starting offense has put up 35 points in six possessions against Buffalo and Cleveland. Aaron Rodgers has completed 75 percent of his passes and is showing his year of experience as compared to his lack of experience a year ago at this time. Ryan Grant looks sharp. Driver and Jennings look like they will continue to be a Top 5 1-2 punch in the NFL. And look out for Jeremichael Finley at the tight end position. This guy was a disaster last year but has come to camp as a different person this year. He is running routes precisely and doesn’t drop anything thrown to his vicinity.

Defensively, the 3-4 defense is making an impact. With the potential of nine different guys rushing the quarterback on any play and all sorts of different looks, the Packers are confusing its competition. This combined with a new knack for stripping the ball is causing turnovers at an alarming rate for the other team on the field. The starting unit is yet to give up a point and has only allowed a handful of first downs in its first two games.

It doesn’t surprise me. I think this was the plan all along for the Packers organization when they let Brett Favre go. They knew that there was going to be a down year when Brett left. But they were hoping with the young talent coming up that once Aaron Rodgers had a year under his belt, that this team would become good quickly. And now it’s happening.

www.songerstudio.com

Brewers Shake Up Wednesday

Shake Up Wednesday

On Wednesday night the Milwaukee Brewers lost their second consecutive game to the lowly San Diego Padres. This seemed to be the last straw for Brewer General Manger Doug Melvin who announced that they were firing pitching coach Bill Castro, sending JJ Hardy to Triple A and assigning Bill Hall for assignment, another words, releasing him.

I’m not sure if the move came out of frustration over how the team has played or frustration over how the ownership and management of this team has failed to take the next step from an average team to a World Series contender.

To address the latter first, it never seems to amaze me that I am the only one who seems to get this about Major League Baseball when it is so painfully obvious. YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO BE A CONTENDER YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT PEOPLE! Just because the Florida Marlins captured lightning in a bottle a couple of years and the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs a year ago, does not mean that every team can do that. And it ESPECIALLY doesn’t mean that teams can do it for an extended period of time. The Marlins stunk both years after their World Series championships and really haven’t done much above average in any of their other 15 seasons. The Rays and Brewers, although not terrible, will not be in contention come September this year.

Meanwhile, the teams that spend money like the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Braves are in contention for a championship every year. A bad year for them is finishing around .500 and missing the playoffs by a few games. That is a good year for the Brewers, Rays and Marlins amongst many other small market teams.

Brewer management, YOU HAVE TO SPEND DOUBLE WHAT YOU ARE SPENDING NOW IF YOU WANT TO CONTEND FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS! They don’t get it. They think they can be the team that bucks the system.

As for the moves, none of these moves will affect performance the remainder month and a half of the season, but I have a small take on each one. The firing of Castro is ridiculous. There is no pitching coach on this planet that could have succeeded with the hand dealt this year. He was obviously the fall guy. And I don’t see things improving just because Chris Bosio comes on board. Hardy going to the minors is probably good as long as he is not down there long. Let him try to work out of this year-long slump and then bring him back up in September to give him another shot at turning it around at this level before the end of the year. Releasing Hall should have happened last Winter. It was obvious at that time that this guy no longer had Major League stuff. It’s unfortunate. Bill Hall is a great guy and gave it a ton of effort. But it just didn’t work out.

Check out www.songerstudio.com weekly for more editorials on sports and much much more!

We'll Miss You Brett (revisited)

One of the many problems with Brett Favre continually retiring and coming back is that we never know when he is actually never going to play again so it’s hard to have that moment where we look back on his career and reminisce. I did it a year ago though when he was traded to New York so I thought in honor of his latest retirement that I would reprint my list of favorite Packers moments during the Brett Favre era:

#10 December 1994. The Packers host their first playoff game since 1982 and defeat the Detroit Lions to advance to the NFC Divisional Round. The Packer defense holds Barry Sanders to –1 yard rushing. The Packer win was their fourth home victory in a row over Detroit. Thirteen years later, that streak now stands at 16 straight home wins over the kitties.

#9 January 2008. The Packers spot the Seattle Seahawks 14 points after two Ryan Grant fumbles in the snow at Lambeau Field in the NFC Divisional Round. But as the snow starts to pound down, so does the Packer offense. They dominate the rest of the game with Ryan Grant running for 200 yards and Brett Favre making one of his most famous passes by tossing an underhand pass on 3rd down to tight end Donald Lee which goes for a first down and leads to a touchdown.

#8 January 2004. A playoff game with all sorts of story lines. Former Packer coach Mike Holmgren and former backup quarterback Mike Hasselbeck now members of the Seattle Seahawks return to Lambeau Field for a showdown with former Seahawk Ahman Green and the Packers in an NFC Wildcard Game. The game goes to overtime, and the Seahawks win the toss. Hasselback proclaims, “We’ll take the ball and we’re going to score.” Shortly into their first possession, Hasselbeck slings the ball outside and Packer cornerback Al Harris makes the interception and runs down the sideline for the game-winning touchdown. It was the last Packer playoff victory.

#7 December 2003. OK, this is not a Packer moment, but it was the game that led to the #8 memory. The Packers entered the final weekend of the season needing a win and a Viking loss to win the division and make the playoffs. As Green Bay was putting the finishing touches on a demolition of the Denver Broncos, the Vikings appeared to have their game against the hapless Arizona Cardinals in hand. But a crazy series of events got the Cards back to within a few points and the ball with the clock winding down. On fourth down and an eternity, Nathan Poole came down with a miraculous touchdown catch that ended the Vikings season and put the Packers in the playoffs. The play-by-play call of Paul Allen’s will live in infamy: “No! No! No!”

#6 December 2003. Yet another moment from that 2003 season. A day after Brett Favre’s father passed away, Brett had one of the best games of his career and the Packers blasted the Oakland Raiders. Even the Raider nation was pulling for Brett and had tears in their eyes. It seemed like a season of destiny for Green Bay. They picked up momentum with each week until the disastrous 4th and 26 against Philadelphia in the NFC divisional playoffs.

#5 December 1993. For the first time in eleven years, the Green Bay Packers play in a playoff game. It is an NFC wildcard game at Detroit. It is a well-played game that finds Detroit leading late, but Brett Favre throws a bomb to Sterling Sharpe who halls it in to give the Packers a victory...the first for Brett Favre.

#4 January 1996. For the third year in a row the Packers advance to the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs, but for the first time it is not against the Dallas Cowboys. The Packers travel to San Francisco for this one. On the first play from scrimmage for the 49ers, Craig Newsome intercepts Steve Young’s pass and runs it back for a touchdown. The Packers never look back as they advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1967. What makes the game more fun for me is that I get to watch it at Disney World with my dad and then get to spend the night at the Magic Kingdom wearing my Packer garb and celebrating.

#3 October 1996. The Packers are establishing themselves as the best team in the NFL entering a Monday night game with the San Francisco 49ers. Early in the game though, star receiver Robert Brooks is knocked out of the game. With Antonio Freeman also out, backup receiver Don Beebe steps in and catches over 200 yards of passes. The game goes into overtime and Chris Jacke ends up winning it on a field goal. I don’t get to watch the game because I have a knock-down-drag-out Jazz One rehearsal at UW-Eau Claire, but starting in the 4th quarter, our director, Mr. Baca, allows our guitarist who is sitting out on the two tunes we were rehearsing at that time to keep an update on the board of who has the ball, what down it is, how many yards to go and what yard line they’re at until the end of the game.

#2 November 2001. Widely considered one of the best catches in NFL history, Antonio Freeman dives for a pass from Brett Favre in overtime of a classic Packer-Viking clash. The ball appears to fall incomplete but actually bounces of Freeman’s body a couple times as he is falling to the ground. Freeman somehow is able to keep track of where the ball is while staying in bounds and end up with the ball in his hands. Viking cornerback Chris Dishman thinking the play is over stops and gets ready to leave the field since it was third down. But he must have been awestruck when he saw Freeman leap to his feet and start running to the end zone. Freeman scored giving the Packers a huge win. The win is made even more improbable given the fact that the Vikings had a chip shot field goal to win the game in regulation but botched the snap on a 3rd down. The holder instead of falling on the ball to give the kicker another shot on 4th down tried to convert a pass and time ran out. It’s important to note that if the Packers had lost that game, it would have put them in a huge hole in the standings and would have most likely resulted in a third straight season with no playoff appearance. Instead the Packers made the playoffs and beat the 49ers in an NFC wildcard game for their first playoff win since the 1998 NFC Championship game over the 49ers.

#1 January 1997. Of course the Packer Super Bowl win was the greatest moment of the Favre era. The images of Favre running off the field after his first Super Bowl touchdown pass to Andre Rison, Favre running into the end zone for another score, Desmond Howard’s kickoff return for a touchdown and Reggie White’s three sacks will live on forever for this Packer fan. And the celebration on Water Street in Eau Claire was amazing

Sports Nation

Love ESPN's new show Sports Nation. Very interactive and technology based not to mention Colin Cowherd's radio show is my favorite on ESPN Radio. I'm glad to get more of him.