Getting To Know Your Chuckie Hacks Blogger

We did this once before, it’s time for Round 2. This might be the longest post in CH history.


Favorite Bucks player of all-time?

GOLDY: Moncrief. Reminds me of the times when the Bucks were good. Plus I have an awesome old Sports Illustrated poster of him. Yah, the one with the white border.

BRAD: Terry Cummings - beast. I think he was one of the first NBA guys to start lifting weights. Had some guns back in the day when most guys his size – James Worthy, for example – were string beans.

MATT: Sadly, it is probably Big Dog. I wish I felt otherwise. I was also a big Terry Cummings fan.


Most memorable game you attended?

GOLDY This would have to be a tie between the 1999 Rose Bowl and the 1997 Wisconsin-Minnesota basketball game at the Fieldhouse. The ’99 Rose Bowl was great because it was my first time in the Rose Bowl and the setting and the game were awesome. Wisconsin won a tight one thanks to Ron Dayne coming up just yards short of the Rose Bowl rushing record and scoring three TDs (I think), a Fletcher pick-six off McNown, UCLA running a fake punt that ended up about 2 yards short of a first down, and Bryant with a sack to seal the deal. Remember, this was the team that Craig James called the worst team to ever play in a Rose Bowl. UCLA was also on their way to the national title game until they lost a late November game to the Edge James led Miami Hurricanes in a game played in late November thanks to being postponed by a hurricane earlier in the season. The game was close all they way through and it was awesome to see how many Wisconsin fans made the trip and how in to it everyone was. UCLA had to call a time-out at the goal line because the crowd noise was too loud and they couldn’t hear McNown. How many times have you seen that in a bowl game, and in UCLA’s home stadium? Just a great game and a great trip out to LA in a mini-van with 4 great buddies.
The 1997 Wisconsin-Minnesota basketball game is another one I will never forget. This was the year Minnesota went to the Final Four (now vacated) and was ranked #2 in the country at the time. It was the last game of the Big Ten season (No Big Ten Tourney at the time) and the Badgers needed a win to most likely make the NCAAs. It was a huge deal at the time. Remember, at that point the Badgers had only made the NCAAs once since the ‘40’s, and that was in 1994. The Fieldhouse was rocking. Definitely the loudest sporting event I have ever been at. I remember Ty Calderwood coming up huge in that game. The Badgers won by one, but Minnesota had a shot to win at the end. I remember thinking to myself, “Sam Jacobson is going to kill us here.” Thankfully he didn’t. If memory serves my right, Jacobson did take the last shot for the Gophers, but it didn’t fall. The students stormed the court. I had to make it down from my seat on the second level. Still, the only time I have ever run on to the court/field following a victory. As an added bonus, you can see the back of my head in the famous Calderwood photo that ran on the front of the JS sports page that Sunday. Great game, great times!

BRAD: The Antonio Freeman Catch on His Ass. It was a cold and rainy MNF game. The Packers on the sideline blocked my view of the catch. I saw the ball in the air, and then heard everyone groan. A split-second later, Freeman started running back into my view. Everyone sort of stopped? Nobody really knew what happened until moments later…Lambeau went crazy.

MATT: Because memorable doesn't mean good, I would say the most memorable game I attended was a 3-3 tie between Wisconsin and Illinois at Camp Randall my freshman year of college. Just an awful, awful game, but we stayed because I brought one of my buddies up for the game and he'd never been to a Badgers game. Darrell Bevell nearly got killed by Simeon Rice and Kevin Hardy, and we got our first glimpse of a shell-shocked Mike Samuel. Oh yeah, and it was cold. The Brewers playoff win was pretty cool last year too.


County Stadium was…..

GOLDY:…like home. I loved County Stadium. It had nothing going for it, but it was the place I grew up watching Major League Baseball. Yes, by the end of its life it was a dump, but you have to remember that up until Camden Yards was built, stadiums were nothing special and County was no worse or better than most MLB stadiums. I loved the fact that I knew where every section in the ballpark was located. I loved the fact that I knew where to go for whatever food item I wanted. I loved the Speed Pitch. I loved that my Dad would sign up for the Designated Driver program to get me two free sodas and then go buy himself a beer. I loved running to our car after the game to beat the rush out of the lot. I loved seeing two NFL benches on the same side of the field. I loved hearing my Grandpa chant “Dilweg Sucks!” at a Packer game. I loved watching Molitor’s hit streak, Ryan’s 300th win and Robin’s 3000th hit in person. And I loved the ceremony after the last game at County. Back when the Brewers could do nothing right, this was done right. All the old Braves coming out on the field and Hank wearing his old Braves jersey. Robin the last one to come out and doing a lap on a motorcycle and the current players passing the flag from the old stadium to the new. I have only seen my Dad shed a tear three times in his life. The first time was when I came home from college right before my Grandpa died. The last time was when my Dad had to tell me he had cancer and only had about three months to live (support pancreatic cancer research!) and the other time was the last game at County. Great memories and I will always thing fondly of that place.

BRAD…awesome. No frills, just a ball yard. You could pretty much sit where you want. I don’t think I ever had my ticket checked to see if I was in the right seat. And Bernie sliding into the beer barrel was phenomenal.

MATT: …fine, until I got to Miller Park. I did enjoy watching games in the bleachers at County - that was good times.


Favorite Wisconsin Sports Announcer?

GOLDY The color commentator for Marquette Women’s Basketball. No, my answer is Matt LePay for Wisconsin basketball. Does a great job. Very descriptive, gets into the game at the right moments and is willing to question Bo’s strategy from time to time and can admit when a bad call goes in Wisconsin’s favor. Some games I almost prefer to listen to on radio. LePay paints a great picture of what is going on. He also gets bonus points for his call of the Schabert to Evan TD pass against Ohio State in 2003

BRAD. Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren. Larrivee is one of the best in the business, and McCarren isn’t afraid to say when the Packers are playing like crap. I like when he describes the line play – usually don’t get too much of that on the radio.

MATT: I agree that Lepay is a very good announcer, and so is Wayne Larrivee. So is Ted Davis - that guy makes a Bucks game entertaining, which is a feat. However, if I were going to listen to a game just for the announcer it would have to be Uecker, even though his stories are tired. He is entertaining to me, still. And he's a legend.


Least favorite Wisconsin sports announcer?

GOLDY Homer and McIlvaine. Had to listen to these guys for the first half of Marquette’s first round NCAA game this year. Just brutal. They cried so much it was like listening to a Bears game on the radio. However, I must admit my sample size on this is small since that was the only half of Marquette basketball I have ever listened to on the radio.

BRAD: As a Marquette fan, it pains me to agree with Goldy. Homer has a good radio show, but his play by play is piss poor. It sounds like what I would imagine the UW-Superior announcer to sound like. Jimmy Mac brings nothing to the table.

MATT: We are blessed in Wisconsin with a lot of good sports announcers. I might say Larry McCarren. He is generally very good and knowledgeable, but he is kind of a joke when he cheers in the booth in the background as Larivee calls a play, a la Ron Santo. (Noooooooo! AAaaaaarhgggghghh! Yes! Yes! Yes!) He's not terrible, but it's a personal taste of mine that I don't like cheering in the booth. I could see why some people would like him, especially Packers fans....... Hold the phone! I totally forgot about the Bucks TV announcers. Let me retract the McCarren answer and just say that Jon McGlocklin is awful, and I hate watching a game that he announces. Just terrible. I must have erased him from my memory momentarily. Paschke would be my #2 least favorite Wisconsin sports announcer.


Underrated fast food?

GOLDY Chick-Fil-A – I don’t know if this is underrated or just unknown in these parts. These places are huge down south, hence the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. The only Chick-Fil-A in Wisconsin is in Racine. I love that place. It’s the only reason I have gone in to the Regency Mall in Racine over the past 10 years. As a side note, the Regency Mall has to hold the record for most dollar stores in one mall. The chicken sandwich is great there, but it is the nuggets that take the cake for me. I think they are made of real chicken, so that is a plus. You also get waffle fries. A nice departure from the standard fry. The only drawback is they serve Coke products (another southern thing). If this place served Pepsi, it might surpass Culver’s in my book. When I lived in Kansas City, the only Chick-Fil-A in the city was located in the cafeteria at Johnson County Community College. I went there once and it was awkward.

BRAD: Wendy’s. Long live the square hamburger. And the 99 cent menu is pretty solid…for 99 cents.

MATT: Goldy stole my answer with the Chick Fil A. I will say Cousins subs. I am rarely disappointed at Cousins.


Favorite sports venue in Wisconsin?

GOLDY Tough one. I would have to go with Miller Park. As much as I loved County, I actually saw a Brewers play-off victory that I can remember in Miller Park. Plus, it’s a cool place.

BRAD: Gotta go with Lambeau. A fantastic mix of history and new age. Friggin Vince Lombardi coached there! And who else has a Hall of Fame open year round?

MATT: Miller Park. Or the Straits Course at Whistling Straits, if you count the fact that it has hosted the PGA Championship.


What was “your number” growing up? (What number did you usually have on your sports jerseys?)

GOLDY For baseball: 19/17/16 – Yount/Grace/Random number I stuck with in Legion and HS. Basketball – 21/10 – Wilkins/Random that I equated to “normal” Dennis Rodman.

BRAD: 21. I really don’t know how I got this one. Wanted 33 (Larry Legend), but always went to a beefier player.

MATT: #13, but that was because of Dan Marino, not Big Dog.


If you have a son and he only plays one sport, what sport do you hope he plays?

GOLDY Baseball

BRAD: Basketball. I’m thinking high school level here….playing in a packed gym just has a different atmosphere that baseball and football can’t match.

MATT: I have a son, and that boy better golf. I could play with him until I'm 80, if things go right. He doesn't have to play competitively, just be able to get it around the course with me.


Do you drink Red Bull with out vodka?

GOLDY Heck yah.

BRAD: No chance.

MATT: No. I don't drink Red Bull with, or without, vodka. Las Vegas. Bachelor party. We drank the Venetian sports book out of Red Bull. I might have suffered a minor heart attack. Probably could have died. Enough said.


Big Dog or Ray Allen, and why?


GOLDY: Big Dog. Why? Uh, because. Seriously, I can’t come up with a great answer as to why. It’s strange because both guys actually wanted to be in Milwaukee. I think if Big Dog hits that 10-foot baseline jumper against Philly, his whole Bucks career is painted in a different light. The guy was terrible on D, we all knew that, so you didn’t expect much out of him at that end. I also found it funny the few times a year that he would slash to the basket and throw down a hellacious dunk. You would wonder where that had been all career. In the end, I guess I’ll go with Big Dog because I owned a Bucks #13 jersey and never a Bucks #34 jersey.

BRAD: Dogg. I agree with Matt. Couldn’t defend a lick, but he gave you 22 a night – no matter what. Dogg always got his.

MATT: For whatever reason, I've always had a special place for Big Dog in my heart. I hated Grant Hill coming out of college seeing as he was on Duke, so I wanted Big Dog to succeed so badly. I compared his stats to Hill's during their first few years, and managed to convince myself that Dog was the better pick because Hill couldn't shoot from the outside, never mind the defense, assists, etc. all favored Hill. So I made Dog into a player that he wasn't and that carried over to him being my favorite Buck when he was on the team. I could look past his lack of defense, or his seeming laziness because the guy could score the basketball. So I say Dog, and it has nothing to do with me not liking Ray Allen.

WOZ: Ray Allen. Simply for the fact that he absolutely killed the role of “Jesus Shuttlesworth” in “He Got Game.” The scenes with him and Rick Fox during the college campus visit were outstanding film drama. I particularly enjoy the scene of them eating outside right after Fox tells the white chicks “we’ll catch up with ya’ll later aight…” and Ray responds as they walk away by pounding on the table and asking in a low voice, “You hit those?” To which Fox replies, “About 50% from the field.”


Will you be going to Summerfest this year? If so, why? If not, why not?

GOLDY: There is potential. Honestly, I don’t have a ton of fun there. I guess it’s all about going with the right group of people and at this stage in my life, most of those people have kids, so it’s kind of hard to get everyone together at once. And honestly, I don’t find the scenery to be that great there. If you are all about single moms fro Stallis who smoke and have leathery skin from hitting the tanning beds too often, then this is the place for you. I guess if I come across free or severely discounted tickets and find some people to go with, I may attend. Leading bands to see of those who have been announced include: Rancid, Meat Puppets, Dropkick Murphys, The Gufs, Matisyahu, and Flogging Molly. Nobody I would go see just because they are there, but if I happened to be at Summerfest that day, I would see those bands.

BRAD: No. Last time I was there in about 1996, a bunch of thugs tried to run onto our shuttle bus (flashing gang signs the entire time) and whack my friend just because he is Asian. It was pretty surreal, actually.

MATT: If I go, it will be because my mother-in-law somehow got free tickets and I get dragged along with the family. I will spend my time marveling at the number of massive sunburns, and counting the number of chaches I see with no shirts on while wearing jeans. As you can see, I am not a fan of Summerfest. I will, however, be going to Fish Day.

WOZ: I’m a Summerfest junkie. People say it’s expensive, but if you are a music fan, you can’t deny the atmosphere. For a reasonable cost you have nothing but live music, beer, and the potential for deflowerment.


The last time I tailgated at Miller Park, I grilled ____ and drank _____.

GOLDY: Jim Beam burger from Sendiks (burger with bacon, cheese and Jim Beam in the patty) and drank High Life, Bell’s Oberon and some Red Bull and Vodkas.

BRAD: Johnsonville brats, High Life Light.

MATT: I grilled cheese/bacon burgers from Sendik's and drank Miller Hi Life Light.

WOZ: Meat and Miller Light. Then I went to the Spotlight Lounge after the game. Don’t tell me I don’t know how to enjoy myself.


If I could play only one more golf course in my life, it would be ________.

GOLDY: I really want to say Ives Grove in Racine since the fairways are wide open and that suits my game, but I need to pick something better than that. Since I can’t hit the ball straight, I don’t want to pick too difficult of a course, so famous ones are out. I’ll go with U Ridge in Madison. Much like Matt, I worked there in college and like playing the track and know how to play it. It has an open front and woodsy back, so you are getting some variation. Plus, I have the memory of washing Sal Bando’s clubs and getting a whole dollar as a tip. What a douche canoe.

MATT: This is very difficult to me. It would come down to one of four golf courses. Hawthorne Hills in Ozaukee County, University Ridge in Madison, Augusta or Pebble Beach. Obviously, these are very different plays. I grew up playing golf at Hawthorne Hills, and have played that course more than all other courses combined, I would venture to guess. So there are memories there, and I might want one last crack at it if I knew it would be the last course I play. Ditto for University Ridge. I worked there while in school, so I have played it a ton too, and again there are lots of memories. The other two are, in my mind, the best two courses that I haven't played. I've played the Old Course at St. Andrews, and I've played in Ireland, but to get to play Pebble or Augusta would be a thrill. I'm going to go sentimental here. Hawthorne Hills is my answer.

BRAD: Pirates Cove Mini Golf in the Dells. It’s the perfect combination of scenery, different colored balls, pirate ships and waterfalls.

WOZ: Assuming I’m picking a WI course, then I would go with the Fairways of Woodside in Sussex. Incredibly challenging relatively new course (maybe only 6-7 years old). The back 9 nine has one of the toughest 3 hole stretches in WI, with the last one being a DOUBLE dog leg par 5 with water to your left in play off the tee, and trees lining the fairway through the dog legs. If you don’t hit a perfect drive you are in jail the whole hole. I par it every time because I’m a natural athlete, but that’s beside the point .


Is NASCAR a sport?
GOLDY: Sure. Much more so than poker. The thing that kills me about NASCAR is listening to people at work talk about it. The highlights involve pit stops apparently. I think I am going to continue to stay away from this sport. I must say, I don’t mind “Days of Thunder” however.

BRAD: Yes. I watch the entire Daytona 500, and then about 10 laps combine the rest of the season. The pit crews, coordination with the crew chief, talent needed not to die…of course it’s a sport.

MATT: I will say yes, even though I don't follow NASCAR. It requires skill, people go to watch it. While it might not be athletically challenging like, say, basketball, I think it counts as a sport.

WOZ: There are people that claim bowling, darts, poker, backgammon, & cheerleading are sports. It’s all relative. Driving 200 miles an hour? Sure…why not. However, I don’t find it exciting like some people I know when discussing whether or not a guy should “pit” right now. So if racing is your bag, good for you. I’ll make fun of you behind your back.

Email Fun with Chuckie Hacks' Bloggers

After I saw Brad the Dinosaur's post yesterday making fun of VORP...I felt an email was in order to him explaining a few things. After writing a long email...I realized that I write for a blog...so I might as well throw it up as well for the masses to see.

I never have proclaimed to be a stat wiz, but I do understand the basics of all this new age stuff. And yes, from what I've read, VORP is already outdated to some other crap that I haven't learned yet. But it still doesn't diminish what the number represents, or the basic conclusions that you can draw from said numbers. Enjoy the exchange...Brad did.

Woz to Brad (Matt & Goldy CC'd)
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/team_audit.php?team=MIL
Brad,

Here, read up on VORP...this is last year’s team all ranked based on their VORP. Obviously Braun and Prince were 1 and 2 for hitters, while CC & Sheets were 1 & 2 for pitchers. Looking at stats like this is another reason why I’m a fan of Mike Cameron. He’s a big part of this team this year and was a huge part last year. We’ll need him to match last year’s production. His value cannot be overlooked.

The reason this stat is useful is that it tracks overall offensive value of any player across the whole league. That’s why you can compare Pujol’s VORP to Braun’s, or Hanley Ramirez’s to Lance Berkman. The point is not to factor who a potential “replacement player” would be on each team. Obviously some teams have a better guy they can bring up at 3b or RF in case one of their guys goes down. But that doesn’t mean that since that “replacement player” is better, the current guy in the position should have his VORP calculated based on that or whatever. Again, the replacement player they are referring to is a guy who has a VORP of 0…he brings nothing to the team. It’s an imaginary guy with stats that overall don’t contribute to a single run…which is the unit that VORP is measured in…runs.

And Yes, Bill Hall had a negative VORP. He literally cost the team runs this past year. If you would bring in some chump from Triple AAA or whatever (the “replacement player” , some guy that got the same number of plate appearances as Hall and would have had a VORP of 0, they are saying the Brewers are better off with that chump getting the at-bats instead of Bill Hall. Again, forget the replacement player. The stat is there to intuitively prove that Bill Hall is absolutely terrible.

Here’s the final ranking of NL VORPS from last year. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=309868

Note how ridiculous Albert Pujols is. That’s why I scoffed at people saying he wasn’t the MVP. Dude was the best. Period. Without him, the Cardinals would have been a joke.

A final thing to point out is that sabremetrics states that roughly every 10 runs that a player contributes (based on VORP) is worth 1 win. I think there may be a stat for that called WARP or something…but I’m not sure about that so let’s just ignore it.

So basically you can say from looking at these year end stats that both Braun and Prince single-handedly accounted for about 4 wins each for the team. If you read Keith Law or Rob Neyer or other stat guys that say stuff like, “He’ll probably be worth 2-3 wins for the team this year” this is what they are talking about.

Finally, add up all the VORPS of all the Brewers from their offensive stats. Unless my math is wrong, I came up with 198. So using the whole “roughly 10 runs equals a win thing here” we can project the Brewers should have been around 19.8 games over .500 last year based on these stats. Lets say 20 games to round up. Well…they went 90-72. 18 games over. Again, this is ridiculously crude, because I’m sure the stat nerds convert VORP into something else and go from there to calculate winning percentages and what not. But to start, they always try to project VORP, because it’s the basic value of what a player is worth, and it’s used in comparison to every other player in the league.

So while I enjoyed your other acronyms on your last post (quite funny indeed), hopefully this will help you understand VORP a little better. I can send you a couple of books if you’d like it to be explained in more detail or better than what I just did.

Goldy to Woz, Brad, & Matt
I like the fact that Woz has a library of VORP
books.

Brad to Woz, Goldy, & Matt
Hmmm, interesting. Is it possible for someone to have like a great OPS, but a bad VORP? Or vice versa?

Woz to Brad, Matt, Goldy
I can’t comment on any direct correlation, but on the surface a guy with a high OPS would have a “higher” VORP…but again, VORP is also the measure of runs provided based on PA’s, so a lot of it depends on how much the guy plays. Two great examples for the Brewers last year were Gabe Kapler and Russell Branyan.

Russell actually had the highest OPS (920), but his VORP wasn’t as high because he didn’t play enough. Kapler’s figures are similar.

But our top 4 guys in terms of VORP (Braun, Prince, JJ, Cameron) all had OPSs over .800. As far as I’m concerned, by any quantifiable measure, these 4 guys were our 4 best offensive guys last year.

On the flip side, check out Counsel and Kendall’s OPS…and compare then to the VORPs. Both guys VORP’s were around 0, and their OPS were around 650 (which is incredibly weak).

But Counsell and Kendall’s value goes beyond their offensive contributions (obviously)…anyway I don’t think anybody is saying these guys are on the team for their offensive contributions.

I like the Counsell signing BTW.

Matt to Brad, Goldy, Woz
But Mike Cameron strikes out too much!!!!!! I hate him!!!!!

And...that's where the thread ended. I actually had to work at that point.

Point? VORP ain't bad. It helps you understand what you should already know. Just another stat for the arsenal.

Goldy's Random Takes

A random picture of Danzig. Why not?

• Nice knowing you Ryan Grant. Grant managed to turn large holes into 4 yard gains the entire first half. A decent RB would have had 100 yards in the first half with the kind of blocking Grant was getting.
• Season on the line and John Kuhn is the man who needs to make a play for us.
• Outside of Mason Crosby, special teams was a joke the entire day. The only times Carolina didn't have a big return on kickoffs was when Crosby nailed it into the end zone. Plus, the Packers special teams coach is a complete jackass.
• Derrick Frost = Fail. What a JAG.
• Was in Vegas a few weeks back. Here are my random celebrity sightings. Pete Rose, Kenny Stabler, Wanda Sykes, and Steve Levy from ESPN who sat at the blackjack table next to us and instantly had them move the table minimum from $25 to $100. OK, big shooter.
• I know I have seen Wanda Sykes in plenty of things, but outside of a couple episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" I couldn't tell you what. I do know she currently has a monopoly on the "angry black woman in a comedy role" market.
  
• Won most of my money in Vegas betting on the NBA. Some of those lines were just stupid. I swear they put those out there just to get some action on the games.
• Not sold on the Badgers basketball team yet. I think they will have as many losses this year as the last two years combined. That would still only be like 9 losses. However, the Big Ten could be truly awful this year, so I reserve the right to amend that statement.
• As Tony has pointed out, the D just isn't there this year. Too much reaching. The guys just don't look quick enough to hang with their guy.
  
• As with any Bo Ryan team, the Badgers will get better as the season goes on. I am thinking 3rd in the Big Ten and a 7 or 8 seed.
• They could be good in two years. Lot of young guys getting PT right now.
  
• Marquette lost to Dayton. Good for them.
  
• I stopped at Costco yesterday to see if it would be worth it to get a membership. The 18 cans of Guinness for $20 sold me. The 8 packs of toothbrushes also sold me. What 2-person family doesn't need to purchase 8 toothbrushes at a time?
• The Kansas-Missouri football game was awesome. The 4th Quarter was something. Mizzou's D rivals the Badgers for sheer craptitude. Great back and forth game with guys making huge plays in the clutch.
• Speaking of plays in the clutch, based on the way the season has gone, was there any doubt the Panthers would score a TD?
• I am thinking of starting a new series on Chuckie Hacks. "Random free BMG CD selected during my college years". It has nothing to do with sports, but has potential to entertain.
• Went out in Racine Wednesday night. Good Times. Especially when you hang out at a bar called the "Brass Monkey". They played some requested Eazy-E for us.
• Feel bad for the Bucks this season. The Redd and Bogut injuries have been killers. The one think I like about this team is that unlike previous years, the battle all the way til the end. The get in the games in the 4th, they just can't get over the top.
• Sessions could be the real deal. Like Mo, he can score, but unlike Mo, he can get others involved.
  
• Ha-ha Texas.
• Gallardo will win more games in 2009 than the highest victory total Sheets ever reached, which I believe is 13.
  
• The Brewers need to make sure Shouse is on the roster in 2009.
• I kind of miss Crank Yankers. Yah, I wanna go to Hawaii!
• Ha-ha Charlie Weiss. You are truly a turd. This reminds me of one of my all-time favorite shirts I do not own.
• Seriously, season on the line. John Kuhn.
  

Friday afternoon enjoyment!

If this doesn't get you to tilt your head and go WTF? then I don't know what will.

Here was one of the little money saving provisions that was added to the MASSIVE corporate bailout signed into law this afternoon:

Exempting wooden practice arrows used by children from an excise tax of 39 cents per arrow. Oregon's two senators and two Wisconsin representatives previously introduced legislation calling for the action, saying the tax was meant for more expensive archery arrows and is untenable for makers of toy arrows that may cost only about 30 cents apiece. The bill would affect about a half-dozen manufacturers nationwide, including one in Oregon; the Oregon senators said they didn't seek its addition to the bailout, however. Cost: $2 million.

In related news, Goldy will be stopping at Toys R Us on the ride home from work demanding back $3.90 from the 10 arrows he bought last week. Ship him the $3.90

Looking at Box

Check out last night's box.

Dick and JJ were on base a combined 5 times but only scored twice.

Braun, Fielder, Hart, Hall...a combined 1 for 16 with 11 LOB. Christ. You're not going to win many Dave Bush starts with games like that.

In other news, JJ Hardy is slowly crawling back to having a respectable year at the plate. .266/.337/.402??? Ehhh...I suppose that's not terrible. He's not going to hit 26 bombs...but if he regains a little of his power stroke in the 2nd half I'd say he's performing fairly well this year.

Goldy probably still hates him...

Getting To Know Your Chuckie Hacks Bloggers

Our first installment of "Getting to know your Chuckie Hacks Bloggers" is complete with these hard-hitting questions. Enjoy.

Worst sports stadium you've ever been to:
MATT: The Metrodome for a Twins game.
BRAD: Ditto. Plus, it was when like Marty Cordova was their best player. Ouch.
WOZ: Wrigley Field (it’s a dump). The La Crosse Loggers have a better stadium.
GOLDY: While the Dome does suck tremendous balls, especially for baseball, I would have to go with Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

Least favorite professional athlete of all time:
MATT: Karl Malone and John Stockton (tied)
GOLDY: Michael Irvin
WOZ: Scott Hoch
BRAD: Bill Laimbeer

Growing up, my favorite baseball glove was fake-signed by:
WOZ: Darren Daulton
MATT: Ozzie Smith
GOLDY: Andre Dawson
BRAD: Tony Gwynn

Did you ever dress as a Packer/Brewer for Halloween?
GOLDY: Yes, both.
BRAD: No, but once I was Tony Dorsett
WOZ: No, my parents didn’t believe in Halloween
MATT: No, neither

Most random sporting event ever attended:
GOLDY: Tie, 49ers at Seahawks, 2004 during my honeymoon; Saskatchewan RoughRiders at Toronto Argonauts – 1997
BRAD: Sioux Falls Canaries game in about 1992
MATT: Tie, World Basketball Championships held in Toronto in maybe 1994 (Rick Fox played for Canada - the fans loved him), and a Cubs-Marlins playoff game at Joe Robbie Stadium (or whatever it was called) in Miami.
WOZ: ASU v U of New England (or something like that) at the ASU field house

Were you a member of the Brewers/Pepsi Fan Club?
GOLDY: Yes
BRAD: No
WOZ: No
MATT: Yes

Most lame piece of sports apparel you’ve ever owned:
GOLDY: A T-shirt I got at Old Comiskey the last year it was open that said “Bart Man Sox Fan” and had Bart Simpson on it.
BRAD: Chuck “The Rifleman” Person cartoon T-Shirt
MATT A Miami Hurricanes Starter jacket
WOZ Penny Hardaway Magic Jersey…I think I wore it twice

Least favorite current Brewer:
GOLDY: JJ Hardy
BRAD: Craig Counsell.
MATT: Dave Bush, I guess (this was hard - they've jettisoned all of my least favorite Brewers in the past year or so - where is Jose Capellan when you actually need him?)
WOZ: Julian Tavarez, someone needs to buy him a new face.

Favorite non-Wisconsin sports team…
GOLDY: Historic: Houston Oilers; Current: Los Angeles Angles
BRAD: New York Jets. Al Toon, baby!
MATT: Miami Dolphins
WOZ: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim! (Arizona Cardinals are a close second)

Least Favorite Brewer of all-time excluding Jeffrey Hammonds:
WOZ: (TIE) Ron Belliard & Marquis Grissom (I have berated them both on subsequent occasions)
BRAD: Curtis Leskanic
MATT: Sal Bando as GM (or were you just talking about Brewers players?)
GOLDY: Without a doubt it would be Jose Hernandez

Age I determined the necessity of wearing a cup for fear of losing testicles:
MATT: Lord - who knows. 8? I actually only dabbled with a cup, because I usually played in the OF where I deemed it unnecessary.
WOZ: 9
GOLDY: I would say 8. I rotated between pitcher, catcher and SS and I think I had that thing in being the plate even as an 8 year old. As an aside, with all the great technology out there these days and Under Armor and all that crap, how have they never invented a more comfortable cup?
BRAD: None, only played hoops as a kid.

Favorite random Bucks player of all time:
BRAD: Steve Henson
MATT: Blue Edwards
GOLDY: Greg “Cadillac” Anderson. I had a poster that said “New Bucks on the Block” and it had Cadillac and Alvin Robertson on it. Good Times!
WOZ: Armon "Hammer" Gilliam

Maybe now you know us a little better...or not.

Rough Day for Hoosier Fans

The Big League Stew

Have a new baseball blog for everyone to check out. The Big League Stew over at Yahoo Sports. A friend of mine is now Yahoo Sports MLB blog editor/main baseball blogger. He's a good guy even though he is a Cubs fan. The fact he is a Badger alum balances that out.

Anyhow he is a great writer and hopefully we can get some Chuckie Hacks love over there, so check it out.

Hey, the Badgers are not that bad this year.

In what many thought would be a down year for the Wisconsin Badgers' hoops team, the Badgers are sitting at 19-4 and ranked 14/15th with eight regular season games remaining. Coming in to this year, many thought this would be the year that the Badgers didn't make the NCAA's for the first time since 1997-98 season. After the Duke game, many were jumping ship, but anyone who has followed the Badgers over the past several years knows this team gets better as the season goes on.

Will that be the case this year? Obviously, this is a much better team than the one that lost to Duke and Marquette in November and December. They are playing much better as a team and everyone knows their roll at this point in the season. Hughes is coming around at point, Krabby plays tough, just needs to hit some J's, Landry can be a force at times. Flowers has developed a nice outside shot and Bohannon has learned to shoot a nice floater as his 3's are not dropping this year. The team has looked solid in Big Ten play up until Saturday night. I was getting sick of people saying they were not the 8th beast team in the country. Thats fine, but the teams below them are not any better. Once you get outside the top 4 (Duke, Memphis, NC, Kansas) and then the next tier (Tenn, UCLA) the rest is pretty much a jumble. I have no problem with the Badgers ranked 8th and I have no problem with 15th.

However, they are still not a complete team at this time. Pressure D and a driving guards (also offenses that shoot 43% from 3 point land) still seem to bother the Badgers. Butch has looked awful over the past couple of games, Hughes still sometimes shows this is his first year running the show (still like him better than Kam as a PG), and the bench is getting pretty thin. I also have been critical of Bo's post-season record. Making the NCAAs every year is great considering where we came from (Iwas juiced to go to an NIT game in '89), but I would like to see more than 2 second weekend appearances. Spoiled? Probably, but at this point, I think the program is at a level that it should make the Sweet 16 75% of the time. (For my take on Marquette's post season record under Crean, see my post later this week.)

Anyway, enough rambling. As I asked before, will the Badgers finish strong this year? The schedule gets a little tougher as we enter the last quarter of the season (Insert Big Ten haters talking about how bad the conference is this year here):

• 2/13 @ Indiana - If Indiana does not pass the ball to D.J. White in the post every time Butch is guarding him they obviously did not watch the game film from the previous meeting. Steimsma will have to play tough D and do his best not to foul out in the 7 minutes he will play in this game against White. In regards to Indiana, I don't think they are very good. However, Assembly Hall is about the same as Mackey Arena to the Badgers. I am seeig a loss here. I think the Badgers basketball team has won a grand total of 3 games in the state of Indiana during my lifetime. Indiana wins 68-60


• 2/16 vs. Minnesota - The Badgers are pissed about their two game losing streak and come out trying too hard against the Gophers. After a back and forth first half, the Badgers will pull away in the second half. Minnesota is improving but the little I have seen of them, they just don't have the intensity or structure on offense at this point to win in Madison. Badgers 64-52.


• 2/20 @ Illinois - Lets hope this goes better than the football game. I think Illinois might have made their last stand in the Eric Gordon Game. However, they are laying an impressive whooping on Minnesota at Williams right now. McCamey looked great against Indiana, but he is a Freshman so he will have his ups and downs. Just have to make sure Meacham doesn't go crazy from 3. At least Lucas Johnson won't be playing in this game and lets hope Illinois doesn't wear orange. Badgers win 58-54.


• 2/23 @ OSU - Going to be honest here. I know squat about OSU this year. This is a toss up in my book. I am leaning towards OSU, but I think Butch will have a great game against Kostas Grastoppi (Koufus). I flipped a quarter and it came up OSU, So I'll go with them.


• 2/28 vs. MSU - Hey, that's Drew Nietzel's mom. Thankfully this game isn't at the Breslin or we would see her 27 times. Instead we will get the Andy North shot after the under 8 time out in the first half. I still cant get the Spartans' 36 point performance at Carver-Hawkeye out of my head. Bo continues his winning ways against Izzo. Badgers 68-66.


• 3/5 vs PSU - Well, Claxton went down in the last game, maybe Cornley will go down in this one. As the Badgers honnor Tanner Bronson's career total of 21 points during a stirring senior day celebration, they win this one going away and Tanner finally hits a FT this season. Badgers 78-62


• 3/8 @ Northwestern - Ugh, every game we play at that high school gym is brutal. The Case High Fieldhouse gives that thing a run for its money, except Welsh-Ryan probably doesn't need metal detectors. The one think I can say for sure, this game will be terrible to watch. Wisconsin wins as the Cats don't have Tim Doyle to hit a barrage of bank shots for them this season. Badgers 52-42.

That gives the Badgers a 14-4 Big Ten record and 24-6 overall record. As a life long Badger fan, I'm good with that. Now that I have rambled incohearently for several paragraphs, what do others think?