The Detroit Free Press has an article on how the Big Ten Network is failing by limiting exposure to games. This explains how teams such as Indiana and Purdue have evaded national rankings despite only losing one game each.

It’s primarily because voters don’t have as much access to those games as previously under the conference’s old cable arrangement with ESPN. The Big Ten had the exclusive national window noon-3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN or ESPN2. … That’s valuable exposure that the Big Ten willingly — and foolishly — sacrificed for the sake of exerting more control over product distribution.

I’ve been opposed to the Big ten network from the beginning, as it limits the number of available to those without cable. Many Big Ten games were available on network television before the advent of the network. This will be even more obvious when the college basketball season starts. During the season last year, it was easy to find about five games during the Big 10 regular season. Most of these will now only be aired on cable. Anything that reduces my choice and limits my options, I strongly appose.

The Big 10 made its choice, and now it needs to live with the consequences.

Read the Article via Detroit Free Press

It’s less then a half hour before the NBA Draft is about to start. I’ve made my way to the living room with my laptop to watch Sportscenter, and I am chatting online with my friend Angie online.

Angie: So I didn’t know you were that excited about the NBA draft

Me: Oh yea! It’s the last time I get to see my favorite college players before they fizzle off into the obscurity that is the NBA.

Angie: So it’s more like a funeral; or a ‘celebration of life?’

Me: Remembering the good times we had…

In my mind, the NBA is second tier basketball. There are 80+ games in the regular season that decide which 14 teams out of 30 will not make the playoffs. Once a majority of the teams in the league make the playoffs, they face immediate elimination after losing four games in a series. A player can “take a night off” and not have to worry much about the consequences.

Give me a one-and-out playoff, at least in the early rounds and I might be interested.

That being said, I am a college hoops fanatic and love determining what teams need. It has been nice to see most of the players that are being talked about in the draft play in college thanks to the new rules.
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I really liked how this turned out, so it gets posted here as well…

What happens when you combine Madison’s favorite local baseball team with one of the greatest television shows of all time?

If you said the UW Badgers performing a musical about the off-camera antics of the cast from Diff’rent Strokes, sit down.

But, if you said The Madison Mallards Simpson’s Night, featuring the Mallards in Springfield Isotopes jerseys, you are one of life’s winners.

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It’s been a while since a pitching debut for the Brewers has generated excitement among the faithful. Usually excitement about a pitcher revolves around them being drafted by the Brewers, and after that they are never heard from again. I will digress from my frustration with the brewers and their usual inability to draft pitching.

Enter Yovani Gallardo.

Gallardo has dominated this year in the minors. He is 8-3, with a 2.48 era, 110 strikeouts and only 28 walked batters. Gallardo is only 21 years old, and was selected by the Brewers in the second round of the 2004 draft. He has a great fastball, curveball, and changeup, and great command on all his pitches. No pitcher has generated as much excitement in the Brewers organization since Ben Sheets made the jump to the majors.

Not only is it Gallardo’s major league debut, but the Brewers are also facing the San Francisco Giants. The swirl of attention surrounding Barry Bonds and his pursuit of the homerun record held by former Brewer Hank Aaron is a big story in Milwaukee. FSN is planning to do a couple of stories on Aaron during this series.

It looks like it is time to Play Ball!

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This was originally written for Dane101.com.

The sun and clouds vied for position over the parking lot at Warner Park.  The occasional break from the intense rays of the sun provided momentary relief to the group that spent the afternoon tailgating.

The group started small; two people started the celebration around 1:30 p.m.  By 2 p.m. the group had doubled in size, and continued to grow.  Shortly after three, the smell of burgers and bratwursts poured from their gill.  At its apex there were over a dozen baseball fans, most clad in Mallards colors or apparel.

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Let the conspiracy theories about the NBA draft continue.

NBA draft lottery has been the source of speculation and conspiracy theories among sports fans since the 1985 draft, where the New York Knicks won the right to draft Patrick Ewing. The envelope that gave the Knicks the first pick had a sinister bend in the corner, starting the speculation. Most years since, it has been easier to prognosticate which teams would end up with the top three picks in the draft then who would succeed in the NBA playoffs.

So is the conspiracy in effect this year as well? Some would say yes.

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As we start the month of May, September feels like a distant entity we do not want to discuss. The weather in Wisconsin is just starting to improve, and school is about to finish. No one wants to think about the doldrums of fall, apparently including the General Manager of the Packers Ted Thompson.

This column is not designed (exclusively) to bash Thompson for his handling of the NFL draft. After the last two seasons, I’ve acquired enough faith in Thompson that I give him the benefit of the doubt; at least to see how his choices perform throughout next season. The question is, when the Packers starts play in September, will anyone be watching.

As May begins, the Milwaukee Brewers have the best record in baseball. Let me repeat that, as I thought I would never have an opportunity to say it; the Brewers = best overall record in baseball! The Brewers have always excelled in April, but this year there is a sense it may be their year. They might finally get back to the playoffs, and even have a chance to contend for a pennant.

So assuming both teams continue along their current trajectory, what happens when they vie for our attention in the moth of September?
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“April is the cruelest month.”

Just ask a Milwaukee Brewers fan.

It has been 25 years since the Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. I was a very young fan, and my memories are minimal. My Don Sutton commemorative placemat from McDonald’s reminds me that the Brewers were once a playoff team.
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In mid March, the NCAA Selection Committee picks the 65 teams that will compete for a national championship. They seed the teams one to sixteen based on the record the teams compiled over the year. If all goes according to plan, the one seed will play the two to get to the Final Four.

This year, for the first time in a long time almost everything went according to plan, with the one seeds playing the two in three of the four regions. The final region had the one seed paired against a three seed. The NCAA did its job to perfection; one of the teams that has been on top most of the year will win the championship.

So why is it so damn boring?

I am a huge college basketball fan as any of my friends can attest. I am the guy at your work that takes off the first Thursday and Friday of the tournament and spends the day watching basketball. I live for March, and the excitement the tournament brings. So to say my friends, along with myself were a little shocked when I told them I had no interest in watching the Great Eight or the Final Four would be an understatement.

The truth we all love upsets. Every March, college basketball fans fill out brackets in hopes of establishing dominance and respect among their friends and coworkers. After creating their brackets, most usually go out and cheer for the team that is not expected to win, even at their expense of their bracket. We as a country have a soft spot for David when he is paired against Goliath.

The lack of a David in the tournament this year after the second Friday of basketball has made the whole thing a bit stale. No one except people that have gone to these schools want to cheer for a team that has been on top all year.

Last year no one seeds and only one two seed advanced to the Final Four. If you talked to a college hoops fan, he would have told you two things – 1) his brackets were a mess, and 2) this was great!

So congratulations to the NCAA for having the insight to pair teams up so well this year that the best of the best play each other for the national championship. Hopefully for us basketball fans, you are not as successful next year.