Welcome to Milwaukee Magazine’s new World Wide Web venture into the wide world of sports. And as the name and photo imply, we’re not exactly taking the Frank Deford or David Halberstam approach. We’re here to have fun, and hope you are, too.
Here’s betting the Brewers aren’t in the smiling mood, though. They’ve got one week left to keep what was once a dream season from ending in a nightmare. Or at least a really bad case of the night sweats.
It’s been a strange six months filled with more ups and downs than David Hasselhoff’s career. But right now, the best thing in the Brewers’ favor is that the team they’re chasing is the Cubs. Even 99 years of bad Cubbie karma, however, might not be enough.
Most folks believe Milwaukee’s fate is already decided, chiseled in stone when Atlanta saddled the Brew Crew with two more come-from-ahead losses over the weekend. Paired with Chicago’s impressive sweep of the Pirates, Milwaukee’s latest flat tire on the road left the Brewers 3 ½ games behind the Cubs.
The meltdown even spread to the press box. Brewers’ television analyst Bill Schroeder sounded serious when he suggested the umpires in Atlanta were influenced to call Sunday’s game in the Braves’ favor because they feared facing an argument with manager Bobby Cox. Look, they may have blown some calls, but it sure wasn’t to avoid the wrath of a 66-year-old with bad knees.
Of course, this season hasn’t turned because Milwaukee lost one game to bad umpiring. It’s turned because a good club has too often failed to finish what it started, and there’s plenty of blame to go around.
And while it hurts a little more that – barring a final-week miracle – Milwaukee’s former team put the sword to its current one, there is some solace. The Crew has the best collection of young talent in baseball, and they’ll run several more pennant races.
But it’ll be a shame if they squander this one.
Paging Oliver Stone
With all the conspiracy talk that former Brewer Cecil Cooper was trying to help the current Brewers, http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/09/19/no-whining-in-baseball.aspx you’d have thought Coop brought a billy goat to Minute Maid Park.
He didn’t.
But maaa- aaaa – aaad props to JS columnist Jim Stingl for taking one to Wrigley. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=665932
Best of the Week
Admit it, when the Packers were up 17-7 on San Diego Sunday, it was the first time this season those genuine Super Bowl thoughts tiptoed through your mind. Maybe, you mused, just maybe this really is the year. Kinda like when you were single and that cute waitress gave you just enough of a smile to make you think, “Hey, maybe she really does like me.”
Then the Chargers scored a quick 14 points and S.D.’s defense rolled the Pack up tighter than a taquito. Suddenly, you remembered why most waitresses are smiling: They want a bigger tip.
But Favre and Jennings had your back, Pack fans, and their late touchdown pass gave you reason to believe again. Green Bay is now 3-0, and each of those victories came against a 2006 playoff team. It’s a perfect start, and in a super-weak NFC, a Super Bowl isn’t all that far-fetched.
After all, sometimes waitresses don’t mind delivering their phone number along with the check.
Who’s No. 2?
Not that everyone’s convinced about the Packers. On Sunday Night Football, as Al Michaels and John Madden were putting the bow on Dallas’ demolition of Chicago, they anointed the Cowboys as the NFC’s best team. Madden said he wasn’t even sure who the second-best team was, and Michaels followed up on the point.
“Green Bay’s 3-0, but…”
He never finished the sentence. Maybe, when Michaels is in Green Bay for a Week 5 clash with Chicago, the Packers can finish the sentence for him.
Leggo My Eckô
I’m betting that a month ago, most baseball fans didn’t know designer Marc Eckô from the Geico Gecko. Not any more, thanks to this. http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/ Eckô bought Barry Bonds homer ball No. 756, sparking the envy of some and the disdain of others. He’s been lambasted by some national sports talk radio hosts – and even by Bonds himself http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3026654 – for spending $750,000 on something, only to immediately give it away.
But this is pure genius. He’s already made the money back in free publicity alone. Yesterday, I couldn’t pick Eckô out of a police lineup, even one that included the Gecko. Today, I know Mark wears the hat and the Gecko wears the tail. Chances are I’m not the only one. Some 10 million votes had been cast as of Monday, and voting doesn’t close until Wednesday.
College Credit
Congrats to the Badgers, one of two remaining stalwarts in a conference that’s suddenly got the relevance of Dennis Kucinich. Penn State’s loss to Michigan leaves Wisconsin and Ohio State as the only Big Ten teams with any stake in the National Championship race. But the conference’s perceived weakness may keep even an undefeated Big Ten squad ranked below a one-loss team from the other power conferences. Sorry Bucky, but it’s just a bad time to have a good year.
On a related note, remember how bad Michigan smelled after its loss to Appalachian State? Well, despite the Penn St. win, the odor got a tad worse. Back then, at least Appy State was the two-time defending champs from Division I-AA. But today, Appy State is the team that spent Saturday losing to Wofford, which has a great reputation for arboretums, http://www.wofford.edu/arboretum/ but not so much for football.
And now that Notre Dame is 0-4 for the first time in its storied 119 seasons, is it too late to bring back Rudy?
And finally
Long before I ever arrived in Wisconsin, I knew two things about the state’s sports scene: Vince Lombardi and Cheeseheads.
I never met the man behind the Lombardi Trophy, but I’m proud to have met the man behind the cheese.
Twenty years ago, Ralph Bruno cut up a couch cushion and painted it. Then he took it to a Brewers-White Sox game and, while a group of friends bore witness, he put it on his head.
“They kind of scattered away from me,” Bruno recalls.
But you can’t run away from history. Strangers near Bruno started asking him if they could wear it. Then his friends wanted to do the same thing, leaving Bruno with a groundbreaking idea.
“I guess it worked,” he smiles.
Uh, yeah.
Suddenly, Bruno was in the Cheesehead business, and he hasn’t stopped. Foamation still makes the Original Cheesehead at their St. Francis shop, and has a product line that goes far beyond the wedge. At www.cheesehead.com you’ll find neckties and bowties, top hats and even toilet seats.
So much thanks to Bruno for giving birth to an icon, and for helping me look like The Sports Nut.
And for the inside scoop on the area’s best watering holes, check out our Bar Time column.
