The music has stopped. Neither Marquette or the Wisconsin Badgers are dancing anymore. Both teams saw their seasons come to an end in Boise, at the hands of Missouri and Xavier respectively.
Most of us have been consumed by March Madness. So much so that we might have taken our eyes off the Bucks, Brewers, and Packers. So, as a public service, I'm here to help catch you up on what you might have missed while watching all that college basketball these last couple of weeks.
Bucks: March hasn't been kind to Scott Skiles and company. The team, which as of a few weeks ago, looked like a pretty good bet to make the playoffs for the first time in three years, has won just twice (beating Washington and the Celtics) while losing seven. As a result, the team is now looking up at Chicago and Charlotte (yes you're reading correctly) in the Eastern Conference standings.
The upcoming schedule isn't going to help, either. The Bucks have eleven games left in the regular season, and this week features a road trip to Toronto on Wednesday, Orlando and Dwight Howard on Friday, and Miami with Dwayne Wade on Saturday. Playoff hopes that looked so bright just a few weeks ago are getting dimmer by the day.
As disappointing as that is, there is still hope (slim as it might be). The Bucks will have to beat some pretty good teams along the way while hoping other teams do them a favor. But, when was the last time this team played games in late March that mattered?
The bottom line is that this season has represented progress. The Bucks are 31-40, and those 31 wins are the most this team has had in the last three seasons. The fact that they are still in contention with Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut wearing suits instead of uniforms should be looked at as a positive. If Senator Herb Kohl and GM John Hammond can somehow come up with a way to keep the young players (Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villanueva) in the city beyond this season without breaking the dreaded luxury tax threshold then there's a chance the Bucks could use the lessons learned this season as a building block for better things to come.
Brewers: The last time I wrote about The Brew Crew, I offended some of the faithful with my seemingly negative attitude. Unfortunately, my mindset about this team hasn't changed all that much since then.
Adding to my already lengthy list of questions is now the state of the bullpen. It's looking more and more like Trevor Hoffman, the big off-season free agent signing, is going to start the season on the DL. If that's the case, then Ken Macha will likely have to choose between hard throwing Seth McClung and Carlos Villanueva as the interim closer.
McClung has the stuff to be a closer. He throws hard. But, he has always been inconsistent. Would you be comfortable with him as the go to guy? Do you think he could put his inconsistency behind him and close games day after day after day? I'll admit that I'm nervous.
As for Villanueva, well, he hasn't had the best of months. Inconsistency would be a great way to describe his spring so far. And because of it, Macha has been growing frustrated with the youngster.
The bottom line is that we've all seen how an inconsistent closer (Eric Gagne) can adversely impact a team. If Hoffman can't answer the bell Opening Day then an inconsistent closer is exactly what the Brewers could have on their hands. And we haven't even mentioned David Riske's problems so far. We haven't mentioned Jorge Julio's ups and downs either.
The bullpen was supposed to be something this team could count on. It isn't working out that way up to this point.
Packers: This has been a typical Ted Thompson off-season. Not much free agent activity (hey, he did sign one player). But then again, you didn't expect that did you (if you did, then where have you been for the last few years)?
Thompson has done what he always does. Sit back and watch while everyone else spends crazy amounts of money on players that (for the most part) don't deserve it). He does take care of his own (for the most part), re-signing Michael Montgomery to a two-year deal while matching Tennessee's offer to defensive back Jarrett Bush (three years, $4.5M).
Thompson also has managed to tick off one of his own players. Nick Collins had a Pro Bowl season in 2008 and was hoping that would lead Thompson to reward him with a new contract. When the Packers didn't make a move towards that end, Collins decided to skip the first week of the off-season program. Normally I wouldn't worry, but Dom Capers is installing a new defense, and Collins would be wise to come in, learn it, and let his agent deal with his contractual issues.
So, there you go. You're all caught up. Glad I could be of service.
Most of us have been consumed by March Madness. So much so that we might have taken our eyes off the Bucks, Brewers, and Packers. So, as a public service, I'm here to help catch you up on what you might have missed while watching all that college basketball these last couple of weeks.
Bucks: March hasn't been kind to Scott Skiles and company. The team, which as of a few weeks ago, looked like a pretty good bet to make the playoffs for the first time in three years, has won just twice (beating Washington and the Celtics) while losing seven. As a result, the team is now looking up at Chicago and Charlotte (yes you're reading correctly) in the Eastern Conference standings.
The upcoming schedule isn't going to help, either. The Bucks have eleven games left in the regular season, and this week features a road trip to Toronto on Wednesday, Orlando and Dwight Howard on Friday, and Miami with Dwayne Wade on Saturday. Playoff hopes that looked so bright just a few weeks ago are getting dimmer by the day.
As disappointing as that is, there is still hope (slim as it might be). The Bucks will have to beat some pretty good teams along the way while hoping other teams do them a favor. But, when was the last time this team played games in late March that mattered?
The bottom line is that this season has represented progress. The Bucks are 31-40, and those 31 wins are the most this team has had in the last three seasons. The fact that they are still in contention with Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut wearing suits instead of uniforms should be looked at as a positive. If Senator Herb Kohl and GM John Hammond can somehow come up with a way to keep the young players (Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villanueva) in the city beyond this season without breaking the dreaded luxury tax threshold then there's a chance the Bucks could use the lessons learned this season as a building block for better things to come.
Brewers: The last time I wrote about The Brew Crew, I offended some of the faithful with my seemingly negative attitude. Unfortunately, my mindset about this team hasn't changed all that much since then.
Adding to my already lengthy list of questions is now the state of the bullpen. It's looking more and more like Trevor Hoffman, the big off-season free agent signing, is going to start the season on the DL. If that's the case, then Ken Macha will likely have to choose between hard throwing Seth McClung and Carlos Villanueva as the interim closer.
McClung has the stuff to be a closer. He throws hard. But, he has always been inconsistent. Would you be comfortable with him as the go to guy? Do you think he could put his inconsistency behind him and close games day after day after day? I'll admit that I'm nervous.
As for Villanueva, well, he hasn't had the best of months. Inconsistency would be a great way to describe his spring so far. And because of it, Macha has been growing frustrated with the youngster.
The bottom line is that we've all seen how an inconsistent closer (Eric Gagne) can adversely impact a team. If Hoffman can't answer the bell Opening Day then an inconsistent closer is exactly what the Brewers could have on their hands. And we haven't even mentioned David Riske's problems so far. We haven't mentioned Jorge Julio's ups and downs either.
The bullpen was supposed to be something this team could count on. It isn't working out that way up to this point.
Packers: This has been a typical Ted Thompson off-season. Not much free agent activity (hey, he did sign one player). But then again, you didn't expect that did you (if you did, then where have you been for the last few years)?
Thompson has done what he always does. Sit back and watch while everyone else spends crazy amounts of money on players that (for the most part) don't deserve it). He does take care of his own (for the most part), re-signing Michael Montgomery to a two-year deal while matching Tennessee's offer to defensive back Jarrett Bush (three years, $4.5M).
Thompson also has managed to tick off one of his own players. Nick Collins had a Pro Bowl season in 2008 and was hoping that would lead Thompson to reward him with a new contract. When the Packers didn't make a move towards that end, Collins decided to skip the first week of the off-season program. Normally I wouldn't worry, but Dom Capers is installing a new defense, and Collins would be wise to come in, learn it, and let his agent deal with his contractual issues.
So, there you go. You're all caught up. Glad I could be of service.
Check out my podcast today and find out why I think Curt Schilling's Hall of Fame status shouldn't questioned.
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