Las Vegas for March Madness!

I have always wanted to go to Vegas and it is finally about to happen. As a sports fans who knows enough about sports not to gamble on it, the time has come to gamble a little. My main focus will be college basketball. Some friends of mine and I will be betting on and watching many games of Rounds 1 and 2 of March Madness (Tuesday-Friday March 15-18) while we are there.

Do you have any Vegas stories and/or advise to share? This is the place to do it!

Collective Bargaining: Is it Just for Professional Sports?

I realize that this is a sports blog but the topic I am about to address touches on everything from sports, to law, to politics, to religion. In Wisconsin, sometimes it's very difficult to separate any of those four things from each other.

The term "collective bargaining" is normally reserved for professional athletes. It's almost impossible to turn on ESPN without hearing the latest update on the NFL's collective bargaining agreement (or lack thereof). Lately, however; in the state of Wisconsin, the term "collective bargaining" has taken on an entirely new meaning.

This past week, newly elected Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has launched an assault on collective bargaining by calling for legislation designed to strip the teacher's union of its power. At the same time, teachers throughout the state of Wisconsin have called in "sick" to protest the new legislation in Madison, essentially sacrificing the children they are responsible to educate in order to make a political point. I am very interested to see how many of these teachers will sacrifice their personal time and continue to protest in Madison over the weekend.

I actually think that both sides are wrong; however, one side is clearly more wrong than the other. First, I will address the lesser of the two evils. Each and every teacher who called in "sick" to protest the newly proposed legislation should first of all be ashamed and secondly should examine why they decided to become a teacher. If they decided to teach for the money or for the summer vacations, they should have given up the occupation long ago because teachers work way too hard for their salaries and the good teachers don't get a summer vacation because they are too busy improving their classrooms for the next school year.

More disturbing than the behavior of the teachers is the behavior of our Governor. For those of you who have supported him blindly because he ran as a Republican, Scott Walker is no conservative. Instead, he is one of many pseudo-conservatives masquerading a malignant political agenda around and calling it "fiscal conservatism." Politicians like Walker are the reason a smooth talker without any real substance, like Obama, can find a way to get elected to public office.

The barometer for every true conservative on any issue should always be "what would Reagan do?" The answer, in this case, is certainly not this. Although Reagan refused to compromise on his principles, always sought ways to unite the country by compromising on how his principles were implemented. Instead of chasing Democrats south of the border he reached across the aisle to develop diverse solutions that required a bi-partisan perspective.

Instead, Walker's tactics resemble the far left approach that Saul Alinsky advocates for in his book Rules for Radicals. Walker is attempting to use Wisconsin's economic crisis to force citizens to surrender their individual rights for the good of society as determined by Walker's ideology. More importantly, Walker has failed to account for the devastating effect his decisions will have on Wisconsin's children for years to come. Taking away rights from Wisconsin's teachers in an attempt to balance the state's budget will further divide the "haves" from the "have nots" in terms of education.

The most basic law of Economics holds that when any econimically motivated system is forced out of equilibrium it will always regain equilibrium when substitutes exist. In this instance, what that means is that the best teachers in the state of Wisconsin will find a way to regain appropriate compensation for their abilities and either leave the public school system or leave the state. Either scenario would devastate a public educational system that is already strapped for resources.

Similarly, the best and the brightest students entering college in Wisconsin will no longer consider an Education Degree as a viable option since it typically takes between one semester and one year longer to complete than other degrees due to Wisconsin's stringent student teaching requirements.

No matter how one dissects this issue, the conclusion is the same. Wisconsin is headed for disaster in terms of its public education system if Walker's legislation passes. I, for one, hope that it does not.

World Series or Bust!

As a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers for 31 years now, I go into every spring training with an excitement of maybe this is the year that the Brewers will surprise and contend for a world title. But every year, they some how find a way to let me down. As the years wore on, I began to lose faith and started to wonder if I would ever see my favorite baseball team play in October. Major League Baseball is set-up like no other sport. Only the teams with money can contend because there is no salary cap. It's an unfair system and I can't believe they haven't fixed it yet! Bud Selig has been given so much credit for creating the wild-card berth but I think his legacy will be remembered for the steroid era and not getting a salary cap for baseball.
With that being said, I'm putting all my chips into the middle on the Milwaukee Brewers playing in the fall classic and winning it! In my opinion, they have a one year window to make a run in the postseason because they added some critical pieces through trades. They added a 2009 Cy Young award winner in Zach Grienke and Toronto's ace Shawn Marcum, who was thier opening day starter last year. They strengthened thier bull-pen with the signing of Takashi Saito, who had a great year with the Braves last year after posting a 2.83 ERA! The Brewers took a lot of heat from the media because they thought adding Yuniesky Betancourt was a down grade from Escobar. But, if you compare thier numbers, Betancourt exceeded Escobar in almost every category. And lets not forget, Escobar was shaky at times on defense last year! The last piece to the puzzle that the Brewers added was Manager Ron Roenicke. It's hard to say wheather or not this guy will be a good Manager because there is no history to go by.
ESPN experts Buster Olney and Tim Kirchen have picked the Brewers to finish second and third in thier division and I think thats an outrage! I'm not sure what else the Brewers have to do to get some national respect because I give the Crew an A+, in terms of offseason additions. I truely believe that if the Brewers don't win it all this year, I will die an old man without ever seeing the Milwaukee Brewers win a World Series!

PACKERS WIN 13TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

We did it Packer fans, we really did it. Our Green Bay Packers just won the Superbowl without playing their best game. After the veterans Donald Driver and Charles Woodson went out in the second quarter this team did what they did all year and fought through it, fought through mistakes like all the dropped passes and some misfires by Aaron Rodgers. It was a 31-25 victory over the Steelers to win Superbowl XLV, that is all that really matters. Also Aaron Rodgers has now tied Brett Favre with ONE SUPERBOWL TITLE and just won SUPERBOWL MVP, something #4 never did. Aaron Rodgers is already the better quarterback in my book!

This is really just the beginning. This team is mostly young and will have many more opportunities in this decade to win championships. It is never easy to repeat but it looks like this team is still improving. They will continue to grow together and with the injured players back will have more great players on the roster than they can keep.

I think the 2011 Packers might just blow out a lot of teams when they learn how to stop making these mistakes. The first goal will be to win the NFC North division title that we failed to earn this year. Earn the home field throughout the playoffs and take an easier route to the next World Championship, this one in Indianapolis. I need to earn some money and go to Superbowl XLVI. I feel very confident that the Packers will be there and be a much better team than they are right now!

Finally, the day is here, Superbowl XLV (Packers/Steelers)

After 13 years the chance to bring the Lombardi trophy back home where it belongs is finally here. All Packer fans remember January 25, 1998 when a heavily favored Packer team lost it in San Deigo to the Denver Broncos is an entertaining but heartbreaking Superbowl. Most of us thought at the time that our Packers would be back many more times. As it turned out, over the next couple of years players and coaches went to other teams and some retired. Green Bay suddenly had less talent and lost the team concept.

The 2003 Packers had a great chance with a great Offensive Line and my favorite Packer of the 20th Century, running back, Ahman Green. From coaching mistakes to 4th and 26th to our Quarterback throwing that playoff game in Philadelphia away with an overtime INT, our chance was gone. The 2007 Packers made it to the NFC Championship but were upset by the Giants when the Quarterback again, threw away the season with an overtime INT.

Finally, the Packers were able to start fresh with a young Quarterback in 2008. A lot of roster turnover made the Green bay team the youngest in the league for 3 years and with that came a lot of mistakes. The 6-10 season was rough but the two years that followed were better and now these 2010 Packers were able to fight through many injuries and get hot at the right time. A five game winning streak has landed them in Dallas to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Superbowl XLV. That young quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is about to become a legend.

The Steelers consistently have a great team but I do think our Packers are up to this task and will prevail. With seemingly about 90% of the so called "experts" agreeing with me, I can't help but be a little worried now, 17 hours before kickoff. It reminds me of Superbowl XXXII when it seemed so obvious that the Packers would win but they disappointed us all so much.

Still, as I go off to sleep now, I feel really good about this team. I think it is going to be a great game and a Packer victory. No matter what the outcome however, it looks to me like GM Ted Thompson has put together such a great young roster in Green Bay that the Packers will contend every year for this entire decade. It is very possible that we will have more Packer Superbowls coming up. Fact is though that you never know when it will happen again so this team need to seize the moment and I predict that they will.

Here are my Superbowl predictions: (guesses really because in the NFL anything can happen)

FINAL SCORE: Packers 34 Steelers 24

MVP: Aaron Rodgers throws for 350 yards and 3 TD's.

EXCITING PLAY: Fake field goal first down pass by Matt Flynn

BIGGEST PLAY: With so much attention being paid to Greg Jennings, the Steelers give up a 92 yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Jordy Nelson

KEY MOMENT: Down 14-13 in the 3rd quarter Aaron Rodgers escapes the furious Steeler pass rush that has been knocking him around all game long and finds Donald Driver to convert on a huge 3rd and 14th. The drive finishes later on the first play of the 4th quarter with a TD catch by James Jones. Green Bay winds up outscoring Pittsburgh 21-10 in a wild final quarter.

DAGGER: Clay Matthews nearly gets his third sack late in the game but BigBen Rothlesburger is able to get the pass off only to have it turn into a pick 6 by Charles Woodson.

Okay, that was a little crazy. Just predicting a score is hard enough but the part I really think we will see is a fake field goal by the Packers so be watching for that. Above all, enjoy the game. The Packers can win the Superbowl for the first time in 14 years. ENJOY IT!!!

Packer Fans: Part of Wisconsin's Social Fabric, or an Embarrassment?

As those of you who follow this blog probably know, I am not a Packer fan even though I have lived in Wisconsin my entire life. Last night, one of my friends asked me "Why don't you like the Packers?" My immediate response was "Honestly, it's because of their fans." After reading his expression I felt the need to clarify that my comment was not directed at him. I articulated that I just get sick of how obsessed people in Wisconsin get about the Packers. Watching some of these fans represent the state of Wisconsin on the national news is embarrassing because they provide the rest of the nation with a glimpse of what people from Wisconsin are like. I do not want to be connected to the stereotypes that Packer fans create for the rest of us.

Point in case; this week, the city of Milwaukee experienced the worst blizzard it has seen in over 25 years. Of course, the storm was backpage news in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which featured a photo shopped picture of Aaron Rodgers next to the Lombardi trophy on the cover. After flipping through four different Milwaukee television newscasts which all featured reporters broadcasting live from Dallas, I had to resort to the internet to find weather updates. Only after watching the weather forecast for the Superbowl was I able to find an update on the snow forecast for Milwaukee. This is the dark side of the culture that is Packer nation. Fans get so obsessed with their team that they forget or ignore everything else happening in the world around them.

On the flip side, these loyal fans are the reason there are NFL games played in Green Bay, WI when other cities of similar size and stature have lost NFL franchises. Even much larger cities such as Los Angeles, CA, which boasts a population roughly 13.5 times larger than that of Green Bay, has lost several NFL franchises.

The Packers franchise reciprocates the love the Green Bay community shows it by drafting and signing players who are also quality people and who embrace the community and get involved in it. Although other professional sports franchises encourage their players to get involved in a similar fashion in their respective communities, volunteer efforts and community involvement reaches a deeper level in Green Bay.

Many of these athletes are excellent role models for citizenship and hard work and Packer fans take advantage of pointing out these players to their children. I do not believe that this is a bad thing as long as it is kept in perspective. Positive role models that provide great examples of behavior for our children are tremendous assets for any community.

Teaching children the value of hard work and dedication to a team and a cause at an early age is a wonderful thing. Teaching them that there is more to life than Packer football, even when Packer football involves the Superbowl, is where I feel far too many Packer fans fall short.