Your kid doesn't make the team, so sue the team?

I'm going to be honest, I had originally planned to blog about how I was depressed with the the Brewers and how losing two of three to the Astros is two steps in the wrong direction.
I'll get to that in a minute, but first, I have to vent for a minute about another "Pussification of America" as Covino and Rich all it every Tuesday on Sirius 108/XM 139.
Heard it on Howard 101's Scott Ferrall show tonight that parents in Toronto are suing a youth hockey league for cutting their sons from the team.
So I did some research on the Interwebs and came up with this story on the matter.
First off, I can't believe this would even get to a judge. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It's sports, it's life. Cut's happen and with 70 kids competing to make the 17-kid roster a lot of kids were going to go home a little unhappy that day.
If you read that link to the Yahoo! story, the dad says the kid gave his best. Well, I'm sure he did. He should be proud at least if he gave his best and it wasn't enough. I covered the state baseball and softball tournaments a couple weeks ago for that Web site that pays me and of the teams that lost, the coaches were OK with the loss if their team lossed if they played their best and the other team was just a little better.
But this whole thing is showing the kid what is wrong with the world today. What is going to happen when he gets older and he doesn't get the job he applied for? What about when he makes a run at the girl he likes and she says no?
I always look to Michael Jordan about getting cut from a team. It's the famous story that he got cut from his high school team as a freshman and used it as motivation to get better. He did, made the team the next year and the rest, as they say, is history.
I will say, at least the hockey team had cuts. As that site I work for wrote last year, Kewaskum, Wisconsin does not cut kids in any high school sports. Here's the link to the story. Can't say I agree with it. Letting kids cut themselves seems a little like they don't want to be the bad guy. But then, no one wins.
Kids need to be pushed. They need to know what it's like to fail. I didn't say they need to be losers. I said they need to experience a little bit of failure and learn how to come back from it. Why do you think so many people today sue over everything, including being cut from a team? They don't know how to persevere. If everything was easy, what fun would it be to actually succeed. It's all that hard work that makes all the success that much more enjoyable.
Hell, life isn't easy. Kids need to learn that and this story just shows some over zealous parents are trying to sugarcoat everything for their son.


On to the Brewers loss today. A 6-3 homestand isn't much different than a 7-2 homestand, but let's be real, the Crew needed the win Wednesday over the Astros. Dropping two of three to one of the bottom feeders while in pursuit of getting back to .500 does not help.
Sure Villy gave up three runs in the seventh was the back breaker, but let's face it, the Brewers are all over the map with consistency. As much as they showed us with that sweep of the Twins and two of three over the Mariners, the bullpen came up short in two of the three losses to the Astros and the offense was no where to be found in teh third game of the series Wednesday.
It's getting to be desperate times. I'd be OK with a split of the four-game set in St. Louis, but in the next seven-game homestand, they have to make hay and win at least six. Yes it's at that point. And I'm not worried about how far back of the division race they are just yet. They need to get back to .500 before I even consider looking at those numbers.

Enough of the doom and gloom that has been today's blog. The fine folks at Maxim have opened up the 100 semifinalists for the Hometown Hotties Search and it's pretty heated. No Wisconsin entrant reached the semis, but a few from Chicago did. One of the best ones is Elizabeth. Be sure to check her out and vote for her.
Now take a look at her!

Maybe Doug Melvin does have a clue!

We were hoping this day would come (some of us were just hoping it would be about three months ago). Mark it on the calendar as it may be a turning point in the Brewers season, June 7 is the day Doug Melvin finally came to his senses and cut ties with Jeff Suppan. To be real, you knew they had to keep him on the roster through spring training. His $12+million salary dictated they at least give him a chance to fail. And boy did he ever once he was given the chance.
The numbers are pretty staggering this year for Soupy Doup who this season was taken out of the starting rotation after two starts, which he went 0-2 in. In all, he had 15 appearances this season with a 7.84 ERA over 31 innings. He allowed 50, 12 walks and 27 earned runs, with 18 strikeouts.
During his career with the Brewers he went made 110 appearances (87 starts) and went 29-36 with a 5.08 ERA.
The Brewers owe him $8 million over the rest of this year, plus a $2 million buyout for next year. So he'll make $44 million in his four years he's on the Brewers payroll. That, my friend works out to $1.517 million per victory with the Brewers. That's pretty gruesome to just think about. 
I waited to post something today because I wanted to see what specifically Doug Melvin and Mark Attanasio had to say about the move. Here's Tom's full story from today's J-S.
The quote that sticks out for me is that Doug and Mark feel comfortable about the bullpen and pitching depth enough now to be able to part with Jeff. I'll say I agree with them. I'm encouraged by what I've seen out of the guys that have been called up in recent weeks.
But back on Suppan, there are two points many forget when talking about what he meant to the Brewers in his time here. First, the month of August 2008. Remember that month? Suppan went 5-0 that month and while some guy named CC Sabathia was dealing Suppan was also on his game and helped the team surge for the Wild Card berth.
It was his best month on the team and at the end of that season was the last guy to start a game and watched at the Phillies burried the team for the final time that season at Miller Park.
Maybe Suppan's lasting mark on the Brewers was the fact that he was the first free agent Mark A. brought in here and helped show guys like Mike Cameron, Trevor Hoffman, Mike Cameron and Randy Wolf that Milwaukee isn't a place you go to end your career. He was Mark's first big free-agent signing and helped keep things building toward that playoff berth. It was something I hadn't really thought about until I read something on a new fave blog of mine, The Brewers Bar, and he made it pretty clear. Have to say we do owe Suppan that.
Suppan, who Tom H. reminded us didn't take many interviews talking about his decline, did leave with class and thanked everyone in the organization and wished the fans and the team well the rest of the season. I'll say this, that was one thing that made it harder to watch. You can't help but root for good guys. But at the end of the day, you need production and that was what led to the decision to let Suppan go and call up Chris Smith from Nashville.
Here's to hoping things begin to pick up for the team from here and the dead weight is left behind.


On a side note, the Brewers did win Sunday night with a Corey Hart sac fly in the top of the 10th. In that game Albert Pujols hit another home run and nailed a fan in the outfield. Check this, it's pretty dope!

I need to take a sigh after that rant and get on to some fun stuff for the day and touch on some of the other sports going on. Found some things on SI.com's Hot Clicks today that were pretty good that I felt the need to share here. First, the Lakers and Celtics are locked in what could be a great NBA Finals. Here's a great Kobe Nike commercial with Magic Johnson. Gotta love Magic. Oh, and did I mention Scottie Pippen! Yee!


The World Cup is also on the horizon (Starts Friday) so this caught my eye, too, on Hot Clicks. It's got Snoop Dogg, David Bechham, Daft Punk and most importantly Star Wars. Damn Sweet!


Actually got a second Snoop Dogg video for you today. He was on the MTV Movie Awards last night with one of my fave girls, Katy Perry. We'll get to her in a minute. But check out this vid of them performing what might be the big summer jam of the summer. Oh, and yeah, she's got the guns a blazin! CHECK IT HERE!

Now for more of Katy, she's the subject of today's Nussie Hunter. She is like the league leader behind Megan Fox for this honor and well, there's good reason for that. Do you know many women that can dye their hair blue and still look absolutely incredible? Yeah, didn't think so. Heard she never got to watch the smurfs as a kid, either. Wouldn't know that by how well she pulls off the smurf hair on the red carpet. Check it below!