The final episode as I get ready for the PBA Summer Swing. The fun starts with a practice session today at AMF Waukesha from 2-4pm, qualifying Monday ad hopefully some Match Play on Tuesday. Get the entire schedule and your tickets to watch and Pro-Am information...click here.
Here is a break down of what is going on the next few weeks...
Your first chance to throw with the "Greatest Bowlers In The World" is this Sunday, May 19th at AMF Waukesha for the PBA Badger Pro Am.
Time: 6:30pm
Cost to Bowl: $25 Kids / Seniors $50 Adults
Cost to Watch: $10 For PBA Badger Pro Am information...click here.
Sunday, May 26th AMF Bowlero hosts Essential Bowling Concepts, 2013 Youth Challenge Series SUPER CLASSIC and PBA Bear Pro Am!
2013 Youth Challenge Series Super Classic
Time: 10:45am
Cost to Bowl:
Handicap: $44.00
Scratch - $64.00 Includes $20 Scholarship Prize Fund Fee Add $6 Late Fee if paid after 5/23
TV finals will be taped for June Telecast on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.
The top finisher in each division will advance to the television taping, where they will be paired up with a PBA Tour Brunswick Pro Staff Bowler to bowl for BONUS merchandise awards!
Youth Challenge Series Director Phil Brylow said, "This tournament is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have youth bowlers pair up on TV with some of the best bowlers in the world! How many people dream of having a Sean Rash, or a Walter Ray Williams, Jr., or a Tom Hess or Tom Smallwood pair up with them for a doubles tournament? Well, now here is the chance for six bowlers who make the Time Warner Cable Sports 32 finals."
Then you got the, "Greatest Bowlers in the World", competing and qualifying to see who will advance to the TV taping of all 3 respective tournaments.
PBA Badger Open - AMF Waukesha
Monday, May 20th - Qualifying - 10am-9pm
Tuesday, May 21st - Match Play 10am-3pm (Top 5 Advance to TV Taping June 2 @ AMF Bowlero)
PBA Wolf Open - AMF West Lanes
Thursday, May 23rd - Qualifying - 10am-9pm
Friday, May 24th - Match Play - 10am-3pm
PBA Bear Open - AMF Bowlero
Monday, May 27th - Qualifying 10am-9pm
Tuesday, May 28th - Match Play - 10am-3pm
Here we are on May 13, and the crew has just 1 win this month. YES, ONE win in the entire month. The 15-20 mark matches last year's disappointing start. Is the season "snake bitten"? You tell me, I'll spell out the facts, and you make up your own mind. The following bullet points are displayed for inventory purposes, but who's keeping a list? Well...ME!
SNAKEBITTEN: ??
-I was hit in the head with a foul ball during spring training. Thanks to all who sent little stuffed animals, flowers, thoughts, and concerns.
-GM Doug Melvin was stung by a scorpion during spring training.
-Ron Roenicke fought a pretty bad cold during spring training.
-Ryan Braun's name popped up once again with the Bio Genesis PED story.
-Yovani Gallardo lost his mother during the off-season.
-Corey Hart has knee surgery, and will be out for at least 2 months.
-Mat Gamel is lost for the season with another ACL injury.
-Taylor Green starts the year on the DL, and is later lost for the year.
-Mark Rogers loses all sorts of velocity and command, and here in Mid-May, they are still trying to figure out what is wrong.
-Aramis Ramirez hurts knee during spring training, thus costing him playing time in which he wanted to play more during spring camp to limit his slow start history.
-A legitimate offer to free agent pitcher Ryan Dempster was turned down. Later he signs with Boston for similar offer.
-Roughly 12-13 players missed time during spring training to play in the WBC, including both catchers.
-Jeff Bianchi starts year on DL with hip injury.
-Ramirez is lost to the DL for knee injury, misses roughly a month.
-John Axford struggles, including a blown save on the opening day of the season.
-Ryan Braun misses the second series of the year with a neck strain, and the crew gets swept by Arizona.
-Chris Narveson hits the DL.
-Mike Fiers is sent to Nashville for struggling early.
-Brewers offense sets franchise record for 32 consecutive scoreless innings.
-Manager Ron Roenicke goes to hospital for a back issue.
-Tom Gorzelanny placed on DL with shoulder issues.
-A game 3 rain out in Chicago has the crew bussed back to Milwaukee because they could not line up a plane to get them to St. Louis.
-Alex Gonzalez misses time, twice, for injuries to hamstring, and being hit in the hand.
-Yovani gets arrested for suspected DUI.
-Kyle Loshe dislocated finger while running to first base.
-Jean Segura splits a fingernail during warm-ups, misses a game.
-Yovani loses velocity.
-Ricky Weeks gets off to a horrible start.
-Lucroy struggles offensively to start the year.
-The crew, as of this writing May 13, have won ONLY ONE GAME THIS MONTH!!!
-Starting pitchers, as a whole, is struggling as well in the month of May.
-Attendance has seen a marketable drop in 2013.
***The above list is in no particular order. Please feel free to notify me, on or off the air, if I have missed anything. Bad luck season? Snake bitten? Make up your own mind on this one. I, personally, am hanging in there. There is way too much talent on this team. It's time to overcome all the challenges. As always, Smile Milwaukee, the World Will Smile Back!!
First round draft pick Dantone Jones worked at right defensive tackle in the base 3-4 defense. BJ Raji played that spot last year so did Johnny Jolly before his drug suspension. This kid is very athletic - the truth is he can play anywhere on the line, very powerful at the point of attack.
Second round pick Eddie Lacy looked extremely explosive. From what I saw he is the best RB right now on this roster! Needs to work on his receiving skills but I think they drafted him to run the football. It seems like he had a little limp on his right leg, not when running only when walking around.
Fourth round picks David Bahktiari and JC Tretter both look good. Tough to tell about offensive lineman in shorts. Bahktiari played left tackle while Tretter played right tackle. I'm sure these are not set positions for these guys yet. Tretter seems to be the most versatile of the two. He can play all three line positions. RB Jonathan Franklin, the last fourth round pick, reminded me a lot of Brian Calhoun. He can do everything. Good change of pace RB.
The Packers had two fifth round picks in DB Micah Hyde and DE Josh Boyd. Hyde looks the part at 6' 200lbs. He is a big corner that the Packers need and can move inside to Safety if need be. I'm sure they will have him play several positions, but he started this camp on the right side. Boyd looks like Raji and Ryan Picket - we will see how it works out for him.
OLB Nate Palmer, sixth round pick, looks fast and quick. With a little coaching up by Kevin Greene, I think he can be a player and can help on special teams for sure.
The Packers had three seventh round draft picks - WR Charles Johnson, WR Kevin Dorsey and LB Sam Barrington. Johnson stood out right away. Yes he's fast but he can catch the the ball. Also runs great routes. He did not look good at returning punts or kicks. Dorsey is no slouch - dropped some passes but made some very difficult catches in individual drills. This WR receiver position battle will be intense all summer long for those last 2 or 3 spots. Barrington is a project, but once again, good special teams guy.
Free agent RB Angelo Pease out of Kansas looked really good. But once again it was in shorts. We will see what he has when the pads are on. He's from Cario, Georgia which is about 30 minutes from my home town of Albany. So he must be good right? Qb Matt Brown, anther FA out of Illinois State, struggled all day long. I'm sure trying to learn a new system is very tough on a small school QB. His arm strength is adequate at this point.
The Packers, The Brewers, The Bucks and the Grocery Store.
The Green Bay Packers hired Mike McCarthy as their head coach. Mac's a guy who's system is to throw it around. A LOT. So what does the GM do? He gets his young QB a bunch of weapons. He shopped for wide receivers like Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. Also drafted tight ends like JerMichael Finley, Andrew Quarles and DJ Williams. General Ted Thompson knew what to shop for. (Not exactly the power running game from Lombardi's Packers, eh?) McCarthy's team won the 2011 Superbowl, went 15-1 in 2011 and won the NFC North in 2012 (including a playoff game).
The Milwaukee Brewers hired a manager who loves to run (unlike the Packers head coach). Get em up. Get em on. Get em over. Get em in. Speed is key for Ron Roenicke. So what's the Brewers roster look like? Hitters with SPEED. Nori Aoki, Jean Segura, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and of course, Carlos Gomez. No, not every one of those players was brought in FOR Roenicke. Some were, while others were kept around. They lead the league in infield hits. Do they hit home runs? Sure do. But the Brewers manager loves to have speed on the base paths, and General Manger Doug Melvin (who has been often criticized for depending on the long ball too much) knows that. Roenicke's team went to the 2011 NLDS.
The Milwaukee Bucks hired a defensive minded coach in Scott Skiles. So what does General Manager John Hammond do? He drafts a run & gun point guard in Brandon Jennings, who doesn't play a lick of defense. Also paired a head coach who has ZERO track record of developing a big man with a budding star at Center in big man Andrew Bogut. And in the middle of last season, Bogut was sent to Golden State for Ekpe Udoh and Monta Ellis-another uptempo guard who's "anti" defense. And OH BY THE WAY, paired a hard headed/old school coach with Stephen Jackson and Cory Maggette...nuff said. Under Skiles, young guys didn't see the floor, except Jennings. Skiles was let go earlier this season and Jim Boylan took over. A trade for JJ Redick, sent one of the recent 1st round picks out of town (Tobias Harris has flourished early in his Orlando career) and didn't help the Bucks get better. The Bucks are currently looking for their 5th head coach in 7 years.
Can you compare football to baseball to basektball? I don't know. But I do know that like a chef, who needs the right groceries to make a great meal, the coach needs the right pieces to run their system. Look at the Golden State Warriors. Oakland, CA is no more of a free agent draw than Milwaukee, WI. But what did they do? Looked at the pieces on the roster and hired a head coach in Mark Jackson to make them work. Imagine Scott Skiles getting hired to slow down Steph Curry. NOPE. Jackson loves to get guards out and running. And they added an NBA ready rookie in North Carolina's Harrison Barnes. After a few growing pains, Curry, Barnes, Klay Thompson and the rest are one of the most exciting, fun to watch, WINNING basketball teams in the NBA. The Bucks should mimic this Golden State model. Get a coach players to fit, or fit a coach to the players you have.
One more thing- it's always nice to have a head coach who can relate to his team. Skiles & this roster? umm...no. Kinda reminds you of one Ken Macha & the Brewers he managed for 2 seasons, doesn't it?
Why? Why Derrick Rose? Why did you have to get hurt last year? Why did you have to get cleared in March by doctors? Why did we have to know you got cleared? Why did your brother have to tweet about it wasn't worth it for you to come back after the trade deadline? Why did your brother have to say you were about 90% percent mentally recovered? Why Derrick Rose did you make me so upset? Why when I hate the Bulls was I rooting for them to beat the Heat? Why Derrick Rose am I hoping they win the series to prove to you they can do it without you? Why do you bother me so much? Why?
Ok...i know it's just 1 month...but here's my WAY TOO EARLY/optomistic All Star Game predictions for the Milwaukee Brewers...prepare to read the phrase "keep it up" a LOT.
(NOTE - these numbers/statistics are accurate as I type this on 4/30/13)
1- Jean Segura - .371BA & .423OBP and playing a GREAT SS. Seriously...he's looking like a star in the making.
2- Ryan Braun - no, he's not hitting for a high BA, but his 7HR are 6th in the NL & 21 RBI rank him 5th. Plus, he's been there the last 5 years. ASG reputation helps.
3- Carlo Gomez - GO GO is making a believer out of everyone. .360Ba (3rd in the NL) .409OBP (9th in the NL) and i hear he can play pretty good D. "Team Go Go" is becoming a full roster.
4- Jim Henderson - Ever since Ron Roenicke pull the plug on John Axford, Jim Henderson has been the MAN in the closers role. He's got 6 saves in 6 tries. He's allowed 1ER in 11GP. Keep it up and he could be on his way to the ASG.
5- Kyle Lohse - i know...this one's a stretch. But if his 2.53ERA keeps up......could the Brewers just get him some runs?? a few wins maybe??
6- Yuniesky Betencourt - Now I may REALLY be reaching here...but you gotta admit it- he's raising eyebrows out there. He's got 6 home runs in limited playing time (7th in the NL) and...oh, and his 21 RBI ties him for 4th in the NL with, um....Ryan Braun.
This will all most likely change, and Milwaukee won't send 6 guys to the All Star game. But it's fun to think that despite the 2-8 start, the Brewers have a LOT of nice pieces and a lot of candidates for the mid summer classic. VOTE BREWERS!
Realistic prediction: Segura, Braun represent the Brewers...but i hope there's more!
The journey has been filled with LOTS of up's and down's but either way I'm working harder than ever before thanks to USBC Coaches Dwight Albrecht and Phil Brylow. I even have a personal trainer in my corner. Former PBA Champ and fitness guru Johnny DiSantis has been training me with bowling specific workouts and let me tell you... IT'S WORKING!
Do me a favor and head over to Johny's Facebook Page - How To Train Like An Athlete For Bowling. If your serious about bowling and want to become better, it's gonna help!
Now that the Brewers first month of the season is over, the "Digging Is Done"! After the 2-8 start, the Crew has dug themselves out of a hole and into a competitive situation. Certainly rattling off 9 victories in a row has helped, but the season has settled in, and the Brewers can move on from here. Starting pitching and the bullpen has stabilized, and now it's time to work on the offense. Injuries to both Corey Hart and Aramis Ramirez have hurt, but couple that with slow starts by Weeks, Lucroy and Braun and you find yourself in an unfavorable position.
Think about the line-up when healthy:
RF Aoki
SS Segura
LF Braun
3B Ramirez
1B Hart
C Lucroy
2B Weeks
CF Gomez
THIS line-up is scary for opposing pitchers. The crew needs to tread water until then, but the offense as is, CAN be better. Looks like a fun and competitive season is about to heat up. Smile Milwaukee, the World Will Smile Back!
The 
