Wisconsin Sports Blog - The Daily Drink

Weekend Six Pack: All Kinds of Awesome Edition

Dan Walsh — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:48:07 GMT

Mark your calendar kids for Feb 27th - Dropkick Murphy's + Admirals Hockey = All Kinds of Awesome.

Winks needs to read this.

Brandon Jennings = $$$. But still not selling seats at the Bradley Center. (h/t Polish Pickle)

The Onion does a great job with Brandon Jennings.

Jim Gantner got screwed on the new Brewers parking lots.

More stupidity coming from St. Louis about the Cy Young.

Kyle Boller is still actually doing something.

Guess what, lots of people will be traveling next week. Shocking.

This headline makes my head hurt.

Gentlemen, you're welcome.

Monumental Craigslist Failure.

For those who liked the old Daily Drink logo (Don Gato), we bring it back every Friday.

Welcome to The Daily Drink's Weekend Six Pack!

It's a recap of the Top 6 (or so) stories from the past week.

#6a - Fun with Google Search
#6 - An excuse to post about Alison Brie
#5 - Lady Gaga vs. Christopher Walken vs. Cartman. The greatest mashup of all time?
#4 - Badgers and MU play basketball against inferior opponents.
#3 - Things we're NOT thankful for.
#2 - Brandon Jennings is the real deal.
#1 - Packers get their groove back.

Honorable Mention: I know I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but the person at Reebok responsible for this, this and this - deserves a huge raise.

Random Weekend Music Video: In honor of the Hulk's fight down under

Against the Spread: week 12 edition

Brian Carriveau — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:40:56 GMT

Last week was a bummer with three star pick Cincinnati covering the spread with just minutes remaining until giving up a touchdown with less than a minute remaining to lose the bet. With only a few weeks of the college football schedule remaining, there's not much time left to make up ground. We press on...

Three star pick - Bet one Schrute buck - Boise State -23 at Utah State

Be aware that this is a Friday night game. There's still an outside chance that Boise State can get into the BCS Championship game by winning out and praying for Texas to lose. But they only way they're going to sway the voters is to blow out every single opponent by as much as possible. They beat a decent Idaho team with a winning record last weekend by 38 points. Even though they're playing on the road, the Broncos face a much weaker Utah State team. Plus they're playing on national television in front of BCS voters. There's no reason Boise State shouldn't blow the Aggies out of the water. The stats would seem to support the Broncos as well. They're 15-4 against the spread in all games over the last two seasons including going 9-1 following a conference game.

Two star pick - Bet one Stanley nickel - Stanford -7 vs. Cal

There's an outside chance that Stanford can still win the Pac-10 with a loss by Oregon so they should be motivated. Playing at home, the Cardinal is especially motivated. Stanford is 10-0 ATS at home the past two seasons. There's very little reason to think that trend is going to change against a Cal team without their star player, running back Jahvid Best. Besides, among those 10 home win ATS, seven of them were against teams with winning records.

One star pick - Bet one Pam penny? - Temple -12 1/2 vs. Kent State

Kent State has had a better than expected season, but so has Temple. And no offense to Kent, but the type of season that Temple is having dwarfs that of the Golden Flashes. Under wonder coach Al Golden, the Owls have a win over Navy that's looking pretty good right about now. And if they want a guaranteed ticket to a bowl game for the first time since 1979, they need to keep winning. And Temple is 22-10 ATS over the past three seasons including going 13-4 ATS on grass over the same time frame.

Extra pick - Air Force +10 at BYU

Going into Provo isn't going to be easy, but Air Force doesn't have to win the game. They just have to keep things to a single digit difference, which they're more than capable of. Air Force is 22-11 ATS in all games over the last three seasons. Meanwhile, BYU is 1-9 ATS coming off a win against a conference rival the past two years.

Record on the year:

Three star picks 6-4

All starred picks 13-16-1

Extra picks 5-4-1

Overall 18-20-2

Winks Thinks: The Basketball Party Edition

TheBuckyChannel — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:23 GMT

Inspired by the 24 hours of college basketball on ESPN this past week, I've decided to write about college basketball this week. Of all the sports there are to choose from, few of them are as captivating as basketball at the college level. It's some of the most pure basketball that is played, as it's just basketball without the interruption of large contracts, jaded superstars, or arena music blaring during a big play when it clearly shouldn't be. Instead, college hoops is full of players that are playing their hearts out for every ball, players that know this might be their last stop and are going to do everything to go out on top, full of the possibility of an upset on any given day, and stands packed with diehard students who wait outside for hours in line for a ticket. That's right, college basketball is back, and it's going to be a whirlwind season as it always is from now until the first week in April.

I'm not sure how much of it I'll actually watch though, as I'll be watching the NBA.

The college vs. NBA argument is one I've had a thousand times, although it's one I never seem to win. College basketball is awesome for all the reasons I've mentioned above, and there are few better times of the year than March Madness. I mean, there's a reason I've taken off work during the first round of the NCAA tournament every year since I graduated from college (last year was a little easier to take off, what with the unemployment and all). But even though the college hoops season has already started strong - we've almost seen huge upsets of Michigan State and Kansas, and Syracuse went down to a school few have ever heard of - I just can't get in to college basketball until the end of February.

Without a doubt, I'll be following the Badgers intently this season like I usually do, and I'll always keep an eye on Marquette as well, but the rest of the season means very little to me. I know it's got it's positives, but usually I just find it hard to really care about college basketball, and I can boil it down to three major reasons.

1. My Background

This is without a doubt the number reason I don't get into college basketball, and it all has to do with how I was raised. Growing up, I'm sure I watched a Badgers game here and there, but never was I as into it as I might become now. Hell, I didn't even know Marquette was a school in Wisconsin until like 6th grade. These are facts I probably shouldn't reveal as the author of a "sports column", but it's the truth. College basketball just wasn't something I followed growing up.

To make matters worse, I make the awful mistake of going to a Division-III college. I'm not going to sit here and argue the merits of D3 schools vs. D1 schools in this column, they both have their pros and cons, but when it comes to a sports environment, unless you are intended to keep living your high school glory by playing sports in D3, hands down D1 schools are the way to go. I guess I don't really regret my decision of going to the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, but I often find myself wishing how things might be different when I'm watching a Badger game with guys that actually went to Madison for school, and I get a little jealous. To be able to watch a university on television every time they play and then say, "Hey, I went to that school," still blows my mind.

Make no mistake about it, I tried to get into sports at UW-La Crosse, I really did. In the same fashion that people try to relive their high school glory by playing D3 sports, I tried to relive my high school fandom by becoming a SuperFan for Eagles athletics. I distinctly remember me and my friend going to two UW-L sporting events, and then leaving by saying, "We're never coming back". The first occasion was the season-opening football game for La Crosse, and we had every intention of going crazy for every play. After a about a quarter and a half of some of the most dreadful football I've ever seen, we trucked it home to catch the end of the Badgers game. The second occasion was when the UW-L men's basketball team hosted their Midnight Madness event at the gymnasium, and we got ourselves all pumped up for the event. One of their first events was a dunk contest, and after seven straight guys missed their dunks, we realized we might be better off playing Madden for the rest of the evening.

Oh man, bringing that up just recalled a memory I was trying to suppress, but what the hey. I remember during the first week of college, I hung out with the two other guys that came from my high school, and we were looking to try to all branch out and make new friends together. Well, one of the girls we knew was fairly hot, so of course she attracted the attention of the D3 Jock Crowd. Within two weeks, we were at a "basketball party", hanging out with guys that actually played on the UW-La Crosse men's basketball team!

This is how impressionable I was right away in school, because I really thought we were hanging out with minor celebrities. Years later, I would realize that the guys we hung out with were too dumb to get into college without any basketball talent, and were rejected by every D1 and D2 school they applied for. I really wish I could take that moment back, specifically when I got drunk and confessed to the team's shooting guard how much I had a crush on the hot girl we hung out with, and then thought I was cool because one of the basketball players "cared" about me, and listened to my problems. If you know me by now you know exactly how that story ended - the shooting guard hooked up with my hot friend.

2. My Brain Is Full

I've used this reason before when I explained why I wasn't yet into hockey, and that is there is simply only so much space that my brain has reserved for sports knowledge. Between the space I use up for the NFL, NBA, and MLB, there isn't much room left for other information. Plus, my brain holds knowledge about the MLS and international soccer, something few people care about. Also I've been beginning to cram some NHL knowledge in there thanks to my red-hot Buffalo Sabres, and any of the space that was freed up is being dominated by my recent love for wrestling, whether that's a good or bad thing. Throughout this season, I'll watch college games and I'll learn more of the players names, but most of the information will wash right over me. There's just no room left.

I'm about to name every college basketball player I can think of off the top of my head, and this is the dead honest truth. Ready? Keaton Nankivil, Trevon Hughes, Jon Leuer, Jason Bohannon, Lazar Hayward, Kyle Singler. Done. How pathetic is that? I know there's more Badgers and Marquette guys I'd immediately recognize when I saw their names, but right now that's all I can come up with. There's simply no room left for me anymore.

That's where the NBA comes in. You see, I really don't even try to learn people's names in college, because to me it doesn't matter. It's going to do me no good when I do actually watch college basketball, because I don't really watch any games outside of Bucky and MU. I don't think it's relevant to me who the starting five is for Michigan State, UConn, North Carolina, or any other school for that matter because to me it's useless information. Knowing the names on these rosters is going to have no affect on me when I'm filling out the brackets, and these guys don't stay in school that long anyway. If they make it to the NBA, I'll learn about them then, which saves me time from learning the names of guys that end up playing in Europe for six years before moving back home and opening up a sports-themed restaurant decked out in their college memoribilia.

3. The NBA

The reason I lose when I talk about why the NBA is better than college basketball is because I always argue with diehard college guys. Guys that watch ESPN's Big Monday while I'm watching Monday Night RAW or 24. I don't miss too many Badgers games, as I've stated, but if it there were two games on television - one that pitted the top two teams in college basketball in the middle of the season, and the other was some game between the Nuggets and the Rockets on TNT, then I'm probably going to watch the game on TNT. I'll flip to the college game maybe during a commercial, or check out the score later online, because as a general sports fan I'm interested in who wins. But I'd rather sit down and watch some of the best basketball talent in all the world playing it out on the hardwood. Sure, fantasy sports has a little to do with that decision, but I mainly just like watching pro hoops better.

I know a lot of people say that in the NBA nobody plays defense and that it's a me-first league. And while that was true in the early part of the decade when guys like Allen Iverson were playing 1-on-5 ball and guys like Ricky Davis were shooting at their own bucket just for individual stats, the level of play in the NBA right now is about as good as it's ever been. The influx of international players and benefited the hustle and flow of the game, and the teams that are winning championships are doing so because of their team effort, and that every fulfills their role perfectly. Even the hopeless are having a great start to their season this year by running an exciting offense through Brandon Jennings and playing some solid defense under Scottie Skiles. The level of play in the NBA almost couldn't be better right now (except for the New York based teams, of course), and it's something I enjoy watching much more than the level of the college ranks.

So, to review - I don't hate college basketball. But outside of the Badgers, a few Marquette games, and the NCAA tournament, I don't care about it that much either. I'd just rather watch professional athletics over college sports, and that's about it.

Plus, that shooting guard stole my girl eight years ago! How can I not still hold a grudge for this!

**********

Five Random NFL Haiku's For Week 11

Cutler kills the Bears
Throwing picks and looking lost
Wish that would be Favre

Belichick was right
He played the percentages
Still a dumb call though

Saints and Colts stay hot
Both flirting with perfection
Super Bowl brings first loss?

Snelling and Campbell
Starting both in fantasy
Can't wait til next year

Upset the Cowboys
Packers looking to make run
Meet Favre in playoffs?

*********

I suppose as one of the two soccer fans of this site - hat tip to Intern Tim - I should speak about what happened in the World Cup Qualifier between France and Italy the other day. Thierry Henry used his hands not one but twice on an assist that allowed France to get the victory and punch their ticket to South Africa. The entire country of Ireland is furious about what happened, and government officials there are calling for an entire replay of the game. I can understand their frustration, as a World Cup birth was on the line, but there's really nothing they can do. I'm all for fairness in the game of soccer, but if a ref missed a call then a ref misses a call. I've reffed enough games myself to know that there's no way to call a perfect game, and it's unfortunate when the calls you do miss end up being the big ones. But what happens in that 90 minutes can't be changed, France won, that's the result, and both sides need to move on for better or for worse.

If you recall, a similar type of situation occurred to the United States in the 2002 World Cup, when a shot from an American attacker went off the arm of a German defender. Had a penalty been called, the United States could have tied the game and possibly gone to the World Cup semifinals. But the decision that was made on the field was final, and Germany went on to win the game. Soccer is a sport that doesn't use a replay system, and rightfully so. Part of what is so great about soccer is the uninterrupted play of the game, and I think sports lose a little bit when humor error is reduced. It's a terrible situation for Ireland, no doubt about it, but them's the shakes. Sorry Ireland!

**************

WWE Survivor Series Predictions (as usual, feel free to skip over this part)

Team Mickie (Mickie James, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Gail Kim) vs. Team Michelle (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Layla, and Alicia Fox) - Few things are worst in the WWE right now than the Divas division (besides the fact that every show right now has a guy beating up on local jobbers), and this match should prove why. Expect a ton of botched spots, and a win for Team Michelle, if for no other reason than the faces got the upperhand on Raw last week.

Team Morrison (John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay) vs. Team Miz (The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger) - Currently, John Morrison is the Intercontinental Champion on Smackdown while The Miz is the United States Champion on Raw, and the former tag team partners are going to continue their cross-brand rivalry in this match. The interesting thing though is that I actually expect Ziggler to beat Morrison for the Intercontinental title on this Friday's Smackdown, but that might take some luster out of the match. I think the babyfaces will be booked to win one of the Survivor Series matches this weekend, and since I don't think it will be one of the other two, I'm giving to this one to Morrision whether he's got the belt or not.

Team Kingston (Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, Christian, R-Truth) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, William Regal) - There's no question Orton's got the stronger team, and I think he gets the upper hand back in his rivarly with Kofi on Sunday night. I don't think we'll see Orton pin Kofi, but I think for sure Orton will get the decision. They need to make him look as strong as possible without making Kofi look weak if they are going to continue the Kingston push.

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio - Not a lot of people are buying the Batista heel turn, so I think he needs the win here to put him over the edge. I wouldn't mind a decisive Batista victory either, but that's more or less because I don't like Mysterio.

Undertaker vs. Big Show vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship - I'm not really sure how to look at these bookings for the titles, as both the Raw and Smackdown brands are pitting the current champion against a current tag team in triple threat matches. I hate Undertaker with the belt, because he's barely ever even on regular television, so I want him to lose it. I think that one of the champions will retain however, and all signs point to Undertaker winning his match and Cena losing his. But I think they might put the strap on Jericho to cause more dissension between him and Show, and then have Undertaker win it back at the next PPV. If I had to bet though, I'd put money on Taker.

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship - I don't really care what happens in this match as long as Triple H doesn't win the belt again, although I think that's exactly what will happen. I hate Triple H with the belt, and nobody has been fond of the way that DeGeneration-X has been more worried about Hornswoggle lately than they have about this match, but Hunter is the boss's son-in-law so you never know. For the same reason I was a starting goalie in high school soccer, Triple H will win the belt this weekend.

****

Okay, fine. I suppose I should address why this column didn't come to your mailbox at the standard 10am Thursday time it usually does, and I know for one SportsBubbler enthusiast Travis is dying to know what happened. The rumors are true, I did actually have a date on Wednesday night, and even though I'm usually known as being "One and Done Winkler" on dates, this one went pretty well. This current situation is a little weird for me, because we actually seem to like each other as opposed to how my usual relationships with girls work. Normally, I pine for them for months while they have a boyfriend "that doesn't respect her like I would", then I finally tell the girl I like her when I'm drunk, although she could already tell, then I go home and fire up some depressing music from "The O.C." and cry myself to sleep. However, this one actually went like a real date and not like some dramatic situation I'd act out to make my life more like a television show, so this date on Wednesday night was a nice change of pace.

Speaking of depressing music from "The O.C.", here's Jason Derulo taking the most depressing song in that show's history and turning it into a smash hit!

With that, may everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy Blackout Wednesday as well. Winks Thinks will be taking the usual Thanksgiving week off, but I'll be back that week after that. But don't worry, you can always Bucky it up in the meantime.

See you at the Barnyard Sam reunion show...

11.20 Morning Coffee: King Harvest Edition

Dan Walsh — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:43:00 GMT

A Diane Kruger type of day
A delayed Winks Thinks comes your way at 10am and Against the Spread at Noon. I hope to have the weekend 6 pack post by around 2pm.

At the MU media availability yesterday Buzz started off by saying "I bet nobody can tell me who sang 'Dancing in the Moonlight'" and unfortunately he was correct, nobody knew it. Of course he told us the answer, which was...........King Harvest. Not sure why he digs that song.

Intern Tim's teacher at UWM is in a bit of trouble.

Our long national nightmare will be over in 2011.

Mark your calendar for Feb 2nd. The return of Lost.

If HBO was honest with their labels.

Jason Segel joined The Swell Season on stage.

Bongs are not Christmas tree ornaments.

Anybody catch Parks & Recreation last night? They had a Badgers game on in the background.

Packers Prediction Time: I see this as a make or break type of game for Green Bay. If the Packers win, the wild card is still viable option. But if they lose, and with the Ravens & Steelers still on the schedule, the wild card is gone out the window. What do I expect? I expect a Packers win. It'll be slow going in the first half, but McCarthy makes some nice halftime adjustments and the Packers will pull away. Final score Packers 31, 49ers 17. At least that's what I hope happens on Sunday.

4th & 26th: It's time to get down to business: Finally Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy won a game they absolutely had to have. Finally Dom Capers unlocked his chastity belt and clubbed Tony Romo upside the head with all those ballsy blitzes we’ve been hearing so much about. But most importantly, the Packers finally looked like they cared

The Bucks and Andrew Bogut can't catch a break. He'll be out 2-4 weeks. Michael Redd wants to still play for the Milwaukee Bucks. Here's hoping John Hammond has different ideas. HA HA HA, um no he won't. This team played just fine without him. Redd is replaceable. Bogut isn't. Expect the Bucks to struggle without Andrew in the line-up. The Bob Boozer Jinx has your Bucks Weekend Preview. Did passing on Brandon Jennings cost the Knicks LeBron James?

I fully expect the Badgers to dominate Northwestern tomorrow.

Jerel McNeal has opted to play professional ball in Belgium and here is his first interview.

St. Louis is all pissy that Wainwright didn't win the Cy Young.

Weis isn't Notre Dame's only problem.

Rickie Williams is actually still collecting a paycheck.

Fatty Mangino is digging his grave even faster.

Colorado wants to fire their coach, but doesn't have the money for the buyout.

Anaheim Ducks fans are a classy bunch.

Meet the oldest cheerleader in the NFL.

Random Music Video: By request from the Polish Pickle, since his Cowboys song worked so well last week.

And for good measure we give you this 49ers rap video.

Afternoon Delight 11.19

Dan Walsh — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:21:00 GMT

Winks just wrapped up his column, so we'll save it for tomorrow.

ESPN is all over Brandon Jennings.

Joe Alexander wants to be traded.

It's a sad day in Milwaukee sports history, the Bonecrushers have left Milwaukee. I know you are all devastated by the news. I'm not sure what these guys are going to do on whatever-night-the-bonecrushers-played-on.

Don Walker compiles the athlete graduation rates of the states D-1 Schools.

The Brewers announced changes to Miller Park and so did the Timber Rattlers for TWC Field.

Marquette landed a guard out of Chicago.

Top 25 Football broadcasters.

The Vikings are one step closer to leaving Minneapolis.

Minnesota might adopt a dumb Badgers policy.

South Florida basketball is in a bit of trouble.

Hockey goal celebration FAIL.

Did Michael Jackson's death save his reputation?

Fight The Power! On a bus.

Random Music Video: Audioslave