Dan Patrick just said a source told him the appeal is ongoing in the Ryan Braun case. It got me to thinking about a nice streak that the Brewers slugger has going. Every full season of major league baseball that the left fielder has played, he's started the All-Star Game.
Let's say he is suspended for the first 50 games. Will that streak continue?
We all know that the majority of fans don't care about PED use in baseball, and I believe that will be proven in the voting for the mid-summer classic. Matt Kemp is in, so there are two spots open in the National League outfield. If Braun doesn't fill one of those, who will? Carlos Beltran or Matt Holiday from St. Louis? Probably not teammates. Jay Bruce, Justin Upton, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gonzalez? All of them are very good players, but only Gonzalez can match Braun's trophy case and postseason success.
Once traded for Chris Webber, the former North Carolina State standout was at the Wolfpack game against Florida State with fellow NC State alum Chris Corchiani. The video shows both men being removed from their seats after getting under the skin of referee Karl Hess. Did I mention it was a home game for NC State?!?!
I'm not interested with what Corchiani said to Hess. You don't kick out a star alum. NC State ended up losing.
If the Brewers are without Ryan Braun for the first 50 games of the season, many people believe it will spell doom for the chances of another division crown. Although I do like what the Reds have done, don't count the Crew out yet.
Braun will return on May 31st against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He will miss the following games.
Three games at home against St. Louis, Los Angeles, Colorado, San Francisco, Houston, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Chicago (NL). On the road, he'll miss four games at the Cubs, two in Houston and three games in Atlanta, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco, New York (NL), Arizona and Los Angeles.
That amounts to 26 games away from Miller Park, 24 at home. 24 games against teams that finished above .500 last season, 26 teams that did not.
The biggest concern is whether or not the Brewers have enough offense to make up for the loss of Braun. Of the first 50 games, only 17 games will be against a team that finished in the top half in runs scored in 2011. If the pitching can improve only slightly from last season, the Crew should be able to keep afloat during Braun's absence.
From our conversation about replacing Ryan Braun, here's the list of most irreplaceable athletes in modern history. Those players who were out of this world unique, and aren't likely to come around again any time soon.
Muhammad Ali - Walked the walk and talked the talk. Although there has been many great boxers, not one of them could spar verbally with the G.O.A.T.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - We may never see a shot as deadly or automatic as the skyhook.
Rickey Henderson - Averaged 74 stolen bases a season...over a 25-year career.
Shaquille O'Neal - I can't imagine seeing anyone come along that big, that powerful, that athletic and last for that long without a debilitating injury.
Johnny Bench - Ten straight gold gloves and more than 30 home runs a season, as a catcher. A rock behind the plate, at the plate and controlling the base paths.
Deion Sanders - He single-handedly shut down half of a football field.
Tiger Woods - Another exciting, young golfer could captivate the sports world, but to be excellent for a decade will be next to impossible.
Barry Sanders - It seems like I see the next Barry Sanders every time I visit YouTube, but those kids never quite make it in the NFL.
Randy Johnson - He is 6"10, 225 pounds. He is throwing the ball 99 miles per hour. He is left-handed and looks crazy. Batter up.
Mike Schmidt - Like Bench, he was the best player at his position offensively and defensively for a decade. Like Henderson, he is one of the ten greatest players in baseball history.
With the realization that the NFL season is over, the sports world is once again going crazy. After the culmination of another season, like in most sports, the fans and media will walk the fine line of sanity over the next few days.
Mario Manningham's catch late in the fourth quarter won't be described as clutch or very good, but rather one of the greatest or unbelievable. Eli Manning is apparently on the short list of top QBs. The same short list that Ben Roethlisberger was named to, then surprisingly removed from in the span of five years. New England's Tom Brady went from the modern day Joe Montana to a guy who can't win the big game when expected to.
Things will get so out of whack over the next 48 hours. As always, I recommend to utilize the eye test. Believe what you see and don't buy the hype.
With Prince Fielder in Detroit and Ryan Braun likely to miss the first 50 games, many believe the Brewers will become more of a speedy ballclub. Sparky and I got into it yesterday, and I'd like to point you to the numbers below.
2012 Projected Opening Day Lineup w/ career season average HRs & SBs
If any of the lifetime average numbers are going to change this season, it's more likely it will be a players home runs rather than stolen bases. Mat Gamel, Rickie Weeks and Jonathan Lucroy are candidates to hit more over the wall, while Corey Hart is the only Brewer who should see his stolen bases increase.
Bucks G/F Stephen Jackson - "You can tell when people not use to winning, because they get excited over two wins. I've been winning my whole career, so two wins doesn't matter."
Stephen Jackson's career in the NBA
'00-'01 - 26-56 - PHI
'01-'02 - played in 1 game
'02-'03 - 60-22 - SA
'03-'04 - 28-54 - ATL
'04-'05 - 44-38 - IND
'05-'06 - 41-41 - IND
'06-'07 - played for two teams
'07-'08 - 48-34 - GS
'08-'09 - 29-53 - GS
'09-'10 - played for two teams
'10-'11 - 34-48 - CHA
That's a career record of 310-346. He finished the season above .500 in three of eight seasons.
For those who would have offered Prince Fielder a nine-year contract, take a look at the largest deals in MLB history. Sorry Tigers fans.
1. Ken Griffey Jr. - 9 years with CIN - I loved Junior growing up. I've blocked those years out of my memory.
2. Wayne Garland - 10 years with CLE - Yep, in 1977. The puzzled look on your face explains how the right-hander's career winded up.
3. Dave Winfield - 10 years with NYY - He lived up to the hype.
4. Ryan Braun & Troy Tulowitzki - 10 years with MIL & COL - It's too soon to make a decision, but Braun's recent dust-up could change that.
5. Derek Jeter - 10 years with NYY - The Yankees hands were tied. His play wasn't at the level of his salary the final few years, but his presence may have been.
6. Alex Rodriguez - 10 years with TEX - They finished in last place and didn't return to prominence until his contract left.
7. Alex Rodriguez - 10 years with NYY - What do you think his production will look like in 2017?
8. Todd Helton - 11 years with COL - Yes...really. One heck of a hitter, but what did that accomplish for the Rockies.
While looking around the rather empty Bradley Center last night, I tried to determine why the NBA had fallen so far in the minds of Wisconsin sports fans. The first thing that jumped out to me was the amount of complaining and the overly-dramatic ways of most players. Every member of the Bucks and Hawks acted as if a murder had occurred when they were fouled, and if one was wasn't called, their faces expressed the shock of Elin Nordegren.
Such blatant petulance didn't appear as prevalent back in the days of West, Baylor and Chamberlain. The ability to openly show up a referee didn't become a prerequisite to play in the NBA until later in the game. The reason many Wisconsinites and Americans are disinterested in the association is because of four men.
Shaquille O'Neal. Magic Johnson. Larry Bird. Michael Jordan.
These four men have made it impossible to do anything new. We're not interested in the NBA because we've seen everything before. Any big man in the league that posses a back-to-the-basket game is emulating Shaq. With a nod to Wilt, Shaq was the idol to every true big man in the NBA. Even if David Robinson, Patrick Ewing or Alonzo Mourning was the first player that peaked a kid's interest, Shaq took it to a different level. Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum are nice, but they aren't in the same hemisphere as The Diesel. Why should sports fans get excited about a lesser than player.
You may be thinking about the recent power forward shift with guys like Kevin Garnett, Amar'e Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki. All three grew up in the time of Magic and Larry, and undoubtedly emulated them. In years past, kids with the size of KG would have been glued to the low block at the age of seven and punished if a jumper from outside the paint was taken. That all changed when Magic was leading a fast-break at 6'9". Charles Barkley deserves some credit here too, but Magic and Larry were along Barkley when the 1992 Dream Team changed the rest of the world. Nowitzki, Ginobili and Parker took notice. Instead of appreciating the ability of Dirk, The Big Ticket and other, many fans can't get over the fact they aren't Larry Bird.
We also have to mention the proliferation of televised games around the time of Magic, Bird and MJ. The games began to serve as a 48 minute endorsement for your sneaker brand, your individual brand, your manhood. I noticed as a kid. I also noticed how working the refs seemed to be an advantage. Other kids in the neighborhood mimicked the intimidating attitudes of many players, which also became an advantage when the opponent felt mentally beaten. Those actions we all mirrored are on display nightly at an arena near you.
Michael Jordan completes the fab four of imitation. For as great as Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Derrick Rose are, they will never escape the shadow of Air Jordan. We should be able to marvel at what each one does, but many of us get bogged down with what they don't do. I should give Julius Erving a nod here. He was the first with the game and swag that Jordan seemed to invent. Think about this. When was the last time you saw an individual play or performance in the NBA for the first time?
So, what's your opinion? Is the NBA just a re-run of what we saw 20 years ago?
We all know what happened yesterday. I hope today is just as surprising.
I'm hoping not to hear the obvious calls and opinions. It's easy to blame the defense for the Packer 37-20 loss to New York at Lambeau. There was horrendous tackling, no semblance of pressure on Manning, rushing only three and dropping eight, but still be unable to stop the catch. Let face it though, we knew all of that was possible going into Sunday's contest. It shouldn't have been a surprise. The defense was ranked 32nd for a reason. Ryan Pickett told me after the game it was nothing new, it had nothing to do with personnel, the squad just never came together on that side of the ball.
The surprise was the golden boy. The discount double check guy. The MVP. I knew he was human, but I wish he didn't remind everyone else during the four quarters in the biggest game of the season. He wasn't helped by drops and fumbles from Kuhn and Grant, but let's stop trying to make excuses for #12. We wouldn't for Favre.
For as much grief as we give Brett, Peyton Manning, Big Ben and the rest, we have to hold our QB to the same standards. The drops hurt, but he was as much apart of them as the receivers. At least three of the eight drops were Rodgers' fault for either over-throwing or not having that MVP-touch that we saw all season. He missed a wide-open Greg Jennings for a sure touchdown. He had receivers open on a number of different play, but was unable to pull the trigger.
His offensive line was miserable, but again, it has been all season. If you were one that responded with "Aaron Rodgers bro," to every legitimate question regarding the porous defense and shoddy offensive line, you have no one to blame but yourself for this morning's nightmare-like reality.
Reality by Josh Vernier, posted Jan 5 2012 10:42PM
-I'm watching the Bucks - Kings game and can already hear fans tomorrow putting way too much stock into the offensive showing. The kings trot Evans, Cousins, Salmons, Thornton on the floor at once. If it wasn't for J.J. Hickson, no one would be attempting to play defense. It needs to start somewhere, but let's not act as if it will be in the capital city.
-Why does Brandon Jennings always act as if he was murdered after driving the lane? I know it hurts, but c'mon dude.
-Speaking of Sacramento, did only one bus of fans survive the drive? It has the energy of a WNBA game, and the attendance. Boy, that lockout sure was needed.
Dear Mr. Stern,
Contract four teams.
Signed,
The bottom line.
-A common theme throughout this blog has been my child-like love for baseball. It should be no surprise that Monday's announcement of the 2012 Hall of Fame cast is circled on the calendar. Unlike all other sports, the Baseball Hall of Fame doesn't open it's doors for the very good. You're constantly being compared to those who came before, and the future of the fraternity is just as important. I've admitted the steroid users (or suspected users) I would put in. (Bonds, Clemens)
Barry Larkin, Jack Morris and Dale Murphy would be on my never-coming-in-the-mail ballot. Numbers in baseball can be skewed to make a dozen guys look like they belong, but the eye test is legit. Alan Trammell was my first favorite baseball player, but he never made me think I saw the unbelievable. Jeff Bagwell seems to be the name most highly debated. There's no proof to believe that he juiced, but even saying he didn't, I never thought he was a legend. Is he even the greatest Astro? I'd put Craig Biggio in before Bagwell.
