Brewers Wrap-up vs. Stros'

So after the Brewers got their sweep against the Pirates, I hoped that the Crew could get 2 out of 3 in a big weekend series with the return of Mr. Carlos Lee.

Friday: Are you sure that the Astros didn't have Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughan out there that night, he was absolutely all over the place which the Brewers really should of took advantage of yet they failed to do. J.J. Hardy with another homer which seems to be almost an everyday thing lately but then Greg Aquino once again folds under pressure giving up the Grand Slam to Biggio but the Brewers nearly came back on Brad Lidge who looks like he still hasnt recovered from Pujols shot in the 06 playoffs. Aquino then was optioned to the minors which was kind of interesting because he had only two bad outings although I guess you are going to need him in all sorts of situations, so he needs to learn how to handle pressure.

Saturday: I did not get to watch a single pitch of this game but from what I read it was a pretty good game for Cappy who got another win and from what I read online, he did a solid job pitching out there. Also JJ HARDY once again with a huge night, hitting 2 homers to lead the club into victory.

Sunday: I felt this one would likely be the one the Brewers would lose because they were facing Roy Oswalt. Since they already dropped a game on Friday, they needed this one. Bill Hall generated some offense with a homer and the two insurance runs they got in I believe the 7th were just huge. They got probably their best pitching performance out of Dave Bush since Ben Sheets on Opening Day. I really think that if Bush does not have a rough first two innings, he usually ends up controlling the rest of the game. He was wonderful for 8 innings until..... a disastrous 9th that almost cost the Brewers the game until Coco came in and shut the door.

Good weekend for the Crew and now on to Chicago which isn't looking promising at the moment..

Probably something on the NFL Draft or if something big happens in the NBA playoffs, later on in the week

Later
Charlie.

NBA First Round Predictions

1. Dallas vs. 8. Golden State- Dallas in 6

No matter if Don Nelson is inspired by scotch to write great game plans, they will not be able to beat the Mavs. I think they are on a mission to get back to the Finals and has all of the tools to stop the Warriors.

4. Utah vs. 5. Houston- Houston in 5

The Jazz are struggling and the riff between the owners/players does not seem to be helping things out. I really do not think the Jazz will play inspire and no one can hold Yao. He will get Okur into foul trouble and then there is no one.

3. San Antonio vs. Denver- San Antonio in 6

People really see this one as an upset but I do not, I think the Spurs are playing the best basketball at the end of the season and able to contain AI. Melo needs to figure out Bowen for them to have a chance, if he can do that then maybe they could win it.

2. Phenoix vs. LA Lakers- LA in 7

Here is the big time upset, the Lakers are going to pull of the upset because I think Walton is a good 3rd scoring option and Phil Jackson is the still the best coach in the playoffs. He will be able to develop a game plan to slow the game down, hopefully Raja Bell will not go after Kobe again.

1. Detroit vs. Orlando- Detroit in 4

This will be a sweep because the Magic only have two scoring options in Nelson and Howard plus they just lost Darko for the playoffs which takes away 8-12 points a game so I dont see Orlando having a chance.

4. Miami vs. Chicago- Miami in 7

The series is the true example of a toss-up and it will be an awesome series to watch. Both teams are very talented and the Bulls are now playoff experienced. I think Miami has enough to get by them but just barely.

3. Toronto vs. 6. New Jersey- New Jersey in 6

The Raptors are a great team who have a very bright future but I think their youth will lead to their demise. Also it will be awesome to see Carter return to Toronto and he will end the series with a buzzer-beater, just a feeling.

2. Cleavland vs. 7. Washington- Cleveland in 4

If the NBA is truly rigged then this is Lebron year to get to the NBA finals, but they do not even need help from the league with this team, they will handle them easily.

Enjoy the weekend

Later
Charlie

Brewer Wrap Up-Pirates

Woo hoo another 2 game series.. and I had predict on the great www.wissports.net a spilt but I was pleased with the sweep and wonderful hitting by the Brewers.

Wednesday: Once again Rickie Weeks got it started in the first inning with another extra base hit then Bill Hall with a big homer. Guess what? He's BAAAAACCCKK, scary for the rest of the NL. Despite the Jason Bay homer, Claudio Vargas was fantastic with 11 strikeouts especially in the bases loaded no out situation in the 4th then Vargas comes back to strike out the side. I could not have been more pumped. I did have a problem with the error filled 5th inning when Damian Miller (granted it is his first game at 1B) cant get a pick off throw from Vargas then Weeks cannot get one and no surprise Bill Hall gets another error. I will not call for his removal yet but it is soon coming if he keeps this up.

Thursday: First game that I did not get to watch because of school. But getting updates from the Zebra made up for it a little bit. It was good to see such a strong performance from J.J. Hardy and Suppan pitched well once again. Also the world did not explode when Turnbow gave up two runs, Coco calmly came in and just struck out the side.

Big weekend series with the return of Carlos Lee...

Later
Chuckles

Fishing with Dad > Meeting Mel Kiper, I would agree

So if you have not heard already Joe Thomas has declined an offer from Commissioner Roger Goodell to come to the NFL Draft in New York because it interferes with an annual fishing trip with his father. I applaud you Joe Thomas.

I would love to see Joe Thomas putting on the hat and showing off the jersey of his new team although I think its awesome that Thomas is going on a fishing trip with his Dad. Especially in wake of what has happened lately at Va Tech and Thomas' best friend Luke Homan who died out of the blue, you never know when you can lose somebody you truly care about.

I also think it is a genius move by Thomas because he isn't preaching family values wearing a thousand dollar suit then going to "make it rain" at night. I think it shows to whoever team drafts him that he is probably going to be one of the most humble guys ever to play for their football team. I have never heard a bad story about Thomas and I think he is one of those guys who will always stop to give an autograph. He is spending time doing the thing he loves the most in hunting/fishing and has said he wants to build a cabin in northern Wisconsin so he can go hunting/fishing.

I know one thing I will be buying a Joe Thomas jersey wherever he goes.

More to come on the Brewers, and a complete run down of the NBA Playoffs

If you want to see something on here, either leave it in the recent blog or email me at ctritschler@wi.rr.com

Later
Chuck

Brewers Wrap Up- Reds

So the Brewers started off a week that features 2 two game series, which I find pointless I just think it would be smarter to play 3 game or 4 game series for the sake of less travel. I predicted a sweep and likely would of had one if it was not for the bullpen blow-up last night.

Monday: Another series that Rickie Weeks homered in to start off all of the great Brewer hitting that night. Weeks is on an absolute tear so far and hopefully he can keep this going. Also despite on Monday for the poor jump on the "infield fly" he has been very good in the field. Somebody who has not, Bill Hall. I understand he is adjusting to his new position but it get frustrating to see it happen almost every night. But on the other hand, Bill Hall's offense finally broke out of his slump with a big grand slam. It created a big gap in the scoreboard open and clear the way for a Brewer victory. I was not pleased with how Capuano could not go past the 5th inning, once again he struggles in the 6th, the Crew needs their starters to give them more innings because sooner or later the bullpen can tire out.

Tuesday: I did not watch much of the game because I was supporting my sister and my school team at Pewaukee which they had a great victory 3-1. So Shay, Cubby, and myself went to get food which I got to catch the implosion of the bullpen. Shouse could not get out a lefty like he is supposed to and then comes back strikes out two, why not leave him in? Then they go to Greg Aquino who has been lights out but I think the Brewers are rushing him too much by pitching him almost everyday. I would of went with Wise, or T-Bow I also did not get why they did not just try to get out Hatterberg. I do not understand the concept of loading the bases even for Alex Gonzalez, you just never know what could happen. It was disappointing to see the Brewers piss away that victory.

Now on to Joe Thomas....

Peace
Chaz

Brewers Wrap-Up vs the Cards

Well this will not be a large blog due to the rain delay, non-televise on Saturday, and not being able to watch/listen on Sunday because I was helping someone move. But I will give you what I got.

Saturday: FSN really has to do some reworking of their schedule by April. The Bucks absolutely suck and no way do they need another pointless game on TV. Anderson and Schroeder are already there so it was not a problem in that regards. I followed the game via Gamechannel on Yahoo. Jeff Suppan recovered from his first two games and pitched a solid performance. Also Rickie Weeks continued his hot streak with another homer. I was happy to read that Aquino got out of a 7th inning based loaded jam with Pujols at the plate and also a phenomenal job by Turnbow as well.

Sunday: On my way to unload all of the materials, my dad and I were listening to the beginning of the game which started off great with a 2-0 lead. I was pretty excited then Sheets served up a gopher ball to Pujols and it was all down hill from there. It seemed like the fielders had trouble in the sun which doesn't make sense being at Spring Training for a month. It was a pretty rough lost for the Crew but the good news was Corey Hart was the #1 Web Gem.

Now on to the Reds and Pirates for 2 games each, so a lot of Brewer Warp-up this week....

Peace
Chazz

Va. Tech Shooting

This is not really sports-related but I just want to express my condolences to Virgina Tech University in what is a horrible tragedy. Worst US shooting in history and just to think somebody was crazy enough to kill 33 people which the supposed motive was something with his girlfriend. Now Va. Tech is receiving a ton of heat on the press conference about why they took so long but I think they need to realize how large the university was. Once again my thoughts and prayers are with Virgina Tech.

Later
Charlie

The Mighty Brewer Wrap-up (Cubs & Fish)

Well apologies for not getting to the Cubs wrap-up, I just was enjoying my Spring Break too much to write about it so I will give some insight to the games but mostly this will be on the Marlins series.

As for the Cubs series I was left quite disappointed in the Crew. Dave Bush had an awful first inning which screwed the Brewers for the rest of it. Then I was hoping on Saturday that the Brewers were just gonna rock Zambrano yet that did not happen either. The Cubs just got all the breaks in the game and Zambrano was able to get the victory. Then on Sunday, it brought joy to see the Brewers get a plethora of runs and were able to hold on after the Cappy hiccup in the 6th inning.
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Now on to the Marlins series, I did not realize how bad the Crew had been against the Fish until I saw something on it but with Suppan pitching I figured they would be able to break it. Wrong about that one, another sub-par Soup and the Crew left a ton of men on base which was the theme of the whole series.

Tuesday, it was good to see a mighty strong performance by Claudio Vargas but once again the Brewers were leaving men on base continuously. Then the rain which it had done a couple times suspended the game until the next day which I think is BS because if the game goes into the 20th inning, basically its a doubleheader with two mighty tired teams, hopefully this will not happen a lot this year. Then with some big hitting in the top of the order lead the Crew to victory in the 13th.

Wednesday, once again the top of the order stepped up which I was loving to see Weeks and Hardy really swinging the bat well. Mostly everyone minus Bill Hall is swinging the bat well and it needs to continue when you have runners on base as well don't let the bats go away then. Also the bullpen 1-2 punch of T-Bow and Coco has looked so dominate which makes this team a real threat in the late innings.

More to come about Imus

Later
Charles

Brewers Wrap-up vs. Dodgers

I think this will be an easier way to talk about the Brewers. I will wrap-up the series and talk about all of the games. BIG THANKS TO www.wissports.com and all of the posters who are reading. Here we go....

Opening Day was an awesome event to go to and I recommend it to anyone who has not checked it out yet. It was my first and it was electric as ever in the ballpark. We had standing room only but ended up getting to sit in the left field bleachers which was a big plus and I am still shocked we were not moved. Ben Sheets was the best I have seen him since the 18 strikeout performance against Atlanta a couple years ago, after the hiccup against Kent, he just dominated the whole game. Also the offense looked like it has been playing for a couple of months with all of the great timely hitting. Bill Hall looked comfortable in center after his great catch and a couple nice plays out there.

Tuesday: By sitting out in the freezing cold in February for 7 friggin hours, my buddies and I got rewarded by getting loge diamond box seats for free for four of us. My buddy Shay also is the nephew of Brewer producer Kent Sommerfield so we got to go up into the press box to visit him and the Brewer radio staff which was awesome. Capuano looked rusty for the most part because a bunch of his pitches were staying up in the zone and could not hit the corners. Still to only give up 3 runs with his performance is impressive. Mench also with the big homer against a lefty... hmmm I am willing to bet Jenks and Big Head are not mad about platooning. Also big performance by Turnbow and Cordero, the crowd was hyped when T-Bow came in the game and my heart nearly dropped when Matt Kemp nearly took the ball out of the ball park.

Wednesday: A great pitcher duel is what I expected out of this game with Suppan and Schmidit towing the rubber. Suppan looked alright but he was giving up way too many leadoff hits in the beginning which ran him into a lot of trouble. Suppan ended up settling down and pitching alright the rest of the way. The Brewers offense was god awful last night, they could not hit Schmidit and they stranded 17 runners on base which is inexcusable. Yost made a poor decision with putting in Villenevua (sp) in the game, he is the long reliever of the staff and I realize Yost are trying to give all of his bullpen pitchers some time in the early games although it was not wise in a 2-1 ball game. Bring him in for the first time when either the Crew is getting blown out or they are winning big. Glad to see the Brewers fought back though and did not lay down at the end of the game.

In other news today is Billy Donovan decided to stay at Florida which leaves Kentucky searching again for a new coach, I sure hope they do not go after Tom Crean.

Well I am going to my buddies house of the rest of the weekend so likely I will not have anymore blogs til Sunday/Monday....

By the way the Cubs suck....

Later
Chuck

Tiger Woods, yet another Masters Title?

As you should know this weekend is the mecca of golf tournaments in the Masters. If you win this one, you do not need to win another tournament the rest of your career. Only a few have the great green jacket and it will stay in the green jacket family as Tiger Woods will win another Masters Title.

I think Tiger is playing the best golf in the world right now with multiple wins already and in almost every tournament, he has dominated the competition. He loves playing at Augusta and if this Tiger/Phil Mickelson flip flop keeps happening then its Tiger's year. I also would love to see Tiger and Phil as the final pairing come Sunday and go right down to the wire. It is unlikely to see that happened because Phil when facing Tiger is a CHOKE. I don't care if he has won a couple majors, he still fails to get it done in other key situations.

My sleeper pick is Henrick Stenson of Sweden, he is probably the best international golfer so far this year and has the makings of being a great golfer. I think he will be in it most of the way and maybe if Tiger and Phil struggle to rise to the top resulting in a green jacket.

Tomorrow or later tonight I will have my Brewers wrap-up, thoughts about all the games...

Signing out
Charlie

AL Predictions

Sorry, I know its a couple of days late but thanks to opening day at the ballpark and the National championship (which I will not blog on because its just the same ol shit and nothing else, sorry). On to the predictions

AL EAST: Boston Red Sox: I think the Sox will be able to take it from the Evil Empire this year. With the addition of Dice-K who will be a 15 game winner this season and I think Beckett will regain his form. The big key will be JD Drew staying heathly and playing good baseball in general along with the greats in Papi and Manny.

AL Central: Detriot Tigers: The Tigers despite losing Kenny Rogers til the all-star break have the best pitching in baseball and if their young guns stay heathly, they will be in the World Series again because no team can match the pitching from Detriot. Also they added Sheffield and when Shef plays pissed off, he is at his best. He is angered about leaving NY and will make them pay in the postseason.

AL West: LAA Angels- I think the Angels will run away with the divison title, no one can match what the Angels have and all they need to do is hope Jared Weaver doesnt have a sophomore slump.

Wild Card- New York Yankees- They will finish right behind the Sox, and it is truely a toss-up which makes me pick Boston because I hate the Yankees. They have everything to win a World Series but do they have the chemisty?

NY Yankees vs. Detriot Tigers- Tigers in 5

LAA Angels vs. Boston Red Sox- Sox in 4

Tigers vs Sox- Tigers in 6

LA Dodgers vs. Detriot Tigers- Tigers in 6

Baseball Predictions

Well I remember saying on this blog that I did not care too much about going to Opening Day.... Although now I was a crazy ass and stood outside in the cold without much padding and got opening day ticks which in about 9 hours I will be at the ball park cookin up that first hot dog...


NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers- Yes you heard it right, the Brew Crew will win 92 games and win the division. They have everything and most teams in the NLC do not have. They have a strong pitching staff that might have best one-two punch in the NL with Sheets and Cappy. Also their bullpen is not half bad esp. if T-Bow gets his shit together and starts pitching again like he can. They also have a ton of guys that can hit which most of the NLC has. IF big if all the pitchers stay healthy they will win the division if not then some of the teams who lack pitching will likely win the division based off of more good hitters.

NL East: New York Mets- The Mets are back again with another divison title. They have a loaded team with a pretty solid pitching staff, hopefully they will get Martinez back for the second half of the season as well. Also they got a great closer in Wagner who still has electric stuff for his age. I think their hitters might be able to outweigh some question marks in their staff. They will win 96 games

NL West: LA Dodgers- This is a team who I think will be reppin the NL in the World Series (they will get swept by the Brewers first :) They got a great staff with Penny, Schmidt, and Lowe which makes them very good at the top. Also the additions of Wolf and Pierre will reap major benefits for them, I see 94 wins for them....

NL Wildcard: Phila Philles- I like this squad with Howard and Utley as major contributors to their lineup but I think their pitching is a bit shaky so I could see them also not being as good as people hyping them to be. I think they will win 88 games to take the WC, other teams that could do it STL Cards, Cubbies, Astros, Padres, D-Backs, Braves, and Giants.....

Mets vs. Phila- NY in 4

Brewers vs. Dodgers- LA in 5

Dodgers vs. Mets- LA in 7

I am too tired to do the AL today, hopefully before i leave tomorrow I can get in the AL

Peace out
Chucks

The Ho Hum Final Four

Well that certainly did not live up to my expectations.....

Going into the night, I thought well with being that we have all great teams in the Final Four, could go either way in both games, I thought this gunna be an awesome Final Four. WRONG

Georgetown and Ohio State was alright but both big men got into foul trouble which meant that whenever one was not in, they were able to kick the living shit out of the other inside. The one thing that did impress me was OSU ability to keep somewhat of a lead when Oden was out, their smaller team was able to force a ton of Gtown turnovers that led to their demise. I still believe that the Big East is better than the Big 10 except for 2 teams (OSU and UW).

Florida and UCLA sucked period. I did not even watch most of the game because it was out of reach for most of the game. It was exactly like last year and they were able to dominate inside which almost came as a surprise because of what the Bruins D did to Kansas' inside guys.

Well now we are back to football national championship, wonderful.... I thought the NCAA had parody in both sports? I guess wrong and frankly I could give two shits who wins the ball game. I hate them both, I think it will be a great game but it really doesn't matter to me. I think OSU is going to win sorta like Arkansas attempt to repeat which got shot down by UCLA. Also I think even without Oden, they have proven they can do just as well. OSU 75-71

On to baseball, If it wasnt for Wrestlemaina at Doz's I woulda had this up awhile ago....