Sports Nut

So much to complain about, right? Multimillion-dollar contracts. Greedy owners. Entitled athletes. It can be hard being a sports fan. And sometimes, the frustration levels just go off the charts. Poor-effort players. Underperforming teams. Overpriced beers. There’s the wrong kind of drama. Heartbreaking losses. Devastating injuries. Unfulfilled dreams. And the sacred level playing field? Too often, too tilted. Bad calls. Performance-enhancing drugs. Cheaters. So why do you put up with it? Why do you keep watching? Because along comes Nathan Mitcham, and #NathanGotBuckets. You’ve never heard of Nathan, because until recently, he was just another high school basketball manager in…

Photo courtesy of Green Bay Packers It’s one brief story in a career of stories, one little play in a lifetime of plays. But it tells so much about the man who, with today’s retirement ceremony at Lambeau Field, celebrates his storied career as a playmaker. Donald Driver scored 61 touchdowns in his 14 years with the Green Bay Packers. It might have been 62, but on an early-November afternoon last year, he gave one away. Down in the Green Bay Packers locker room, players were celebrating a 31-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and the man of the hour…

It’s been so, so long since that kick. This is what introduced most of us to Anthony “Showtime” Pettis back in December 2010, what made us sit up and take notice of the budding talent within our Milwaukee midst. He was a sudden flash of lightning in a town whose penchant for producing fine fighters has been dimmed by history. Sure, you can find the stories of men like Al Jenkins and Duke Roufus, but you have to go looking for them. This moment came looking for you. This was the stuff of action movies. Nobody runs up a fence,…

The two former baseball players are having a lively chat with the TV host. The topic of the moment: how their game has changed. I won’t name the show yet, but nobody’s shouting at anybody, so you can rule out ESPN. It is, however, one of the nation’s most popular programs, and a panel of celebrities shares the stage with the ballplayers. They’re old men now, and age has quieted their voices, so the celebs lean in to hear their words of wisdom. They are words that will sound familiar to any modern baseball fan. One man played for Boston,…

Jim Boylan was fresh off day No. 1 – and win No. 1 – as new head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. He’d met the media, kissed his wife and was strolling through the Bradley Center’s corridors toward the team’s locker room. Just outside of it, Bucks General Manager John Hammond was waiting for him, smiling wide and extending his hand. Boylan accepted the enthusiastic handshake, and then Hammond put his right arm around Boylan’s shoulder. The new coach reciprocated with his left arm. So entwined, they took their next few congratulatory steps down the corridor. Tuesday night had been…

Hard to blame Greg Jennings for blocking out some of the details. Because it’s not the kind of football season that forges fond memories. I don’t mean his current Packers campaign, which has been marred by injuries but appears to be coming around. This forgettable football season happened back in 2004, well before Jennings ever donned a Green Bay uniform. He was still playing at Western Michigan University, displaying all the talents that would turn him into a second-round draft pick and an eventual All-Pro. Problem was, Western Michigan didn’t have enough talent around him. The Broncos won their first…

Strange how such disparate things can end up so desperately connected. Because way back in April, Bobby Petrino went on an Arkansas motorcycle ride with his mistress, and yada yada yada, the Wisconsin Badgers need a new football coach. That’s the Seinfeldian version, anyway. For the fuller version, just work backwards through the yadas. Bret Bielema left the Badgers for the SEC Country Club because Arkansas offered him a whole lot of money, reportedly some $20 million. Arkansas offered all that cash because it needed a good head coach. And it needed one because interim coach John L. Smith was…

It’s like a stampede through a minefield in the midst of a moonless night, this conference realignment stuff. Run fast, or you’ll get trampled. Watch where you’re going, if you can see anything at all. Step wrong, and here comes the boom. But if you’re fast enough, or big enough, or nimble enough, or just plain lucky enough, you’ll make it to the promised land. Where the streets are paved with TV money and stability is more than just a quaint, nostalgic notion. Frankly, I don’t know how college athletic directors do their jobs these days, at least those outside…

You are a Miami Marlins fan. Maybe even one of the rare ones who actually attends games. And right now, you’re wondering if you’ll ever attend one of those games again. Sure, you’ve got a shiny new stadium, even if it sampled a tad much from the Technicolor dreamcoat aisle at Old Navy. You weren’t crazy about building it with so much public money, but you swallowed hard and accepted it. Maybe you liked the prospects of its economic impact. Maybe you simply believe baseball teams are part of a community’s fabric, and losing yours would’ve been too much to…