Nothing but love as Bill Hall signs with Yankees

His bobble ranks as one of the favorites in my vast collection. He is the man that made magic with that pink bat on Mother's Day a few years back. Bill Hall (He's still Billy Hero in the 223) signed with the Yankees today and after I got through making jokes about Mr. Hall to my favorite Yankees fan (Vaughan is also a fan of the champion G-Men), I am really happy for him.

Now don't get me wrong, I would not have wanted him on the Brewers and before you jump on me for that, hear me out. Since he hit 35 home runs and drove in 83 and had a .271 batting average in 2006, a year after he hit .291, the man hasn't done much of anything at the plate. Now maybe the Brewers are to blame after moving him all over the diamond defensively, but for the money they paid him it didn't work out. He is a .248 lifetime hitter, but hit .211 last season in 199 plate appearances in 61 games before the Giants sent him packing.

Playing in 120 games in 2010 with Boston he hit .247, so maybe there's hope for a guy to come in making $600,000 and make a difference. Baseball history is littered with guys that have struggled and reinvented themselves and had a second wind in their career. It certainly makes it hard for teams to cut a guy when he can play eight of nine positions on the field. For Hall, that counts the pitcher and not the catcher. But when he was called on to be a starter and play one spot in Houston he couldn't hack it any more.

With the Yankees he'll be an invite to spring training and will have no pressure to make the team. I have followed Bill's career and he has a good shot to make the team. If he's called upon to do more than be a bench guy, he will likely struggle. It will be interesting to see how long he lasts with the Yankees. All the fans on Twitter saying he will bring them closer to a title are crazy off a Super Bowl win. He is a great guy, but will not be the piece that puts them over the top. Get real now.

Yes, Bill Hall, I paid $40 and traded a regular bobble for you pink bat bobble and even have your jersey T, but I'm glad you are not a Brewer. Have fun spending time in the Bronx and getting the farewell gift bag set up for Derek Jeter's one-nigh stands. I'll enjoy watching you play ball this season (outside of Milwaukee).

Can we now put a fork in the Brewers?

With another demoralizing loss Tuesday night at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, baseball's only Quadruple-A Franchise, the Brewers showed they don't belong or deserve a run at the playoffs.
Yep, 10 games back of division leading St. Louis and fading fast from San Fran and Colorado in the Wild Card race, is enough for me to call the time of death on this team. Tom Haudricourt did pretty much that in his game story and I'm going to follow suit.
The pitching has shown little sign of turning around and seems to be giving up more and more long balls each night. Sorry Chris Bosio can't solve that conundrum as this one falls in Doug Melvin's lap. He's got to get more guns on the front end of the starting rotation. It was my fear at the beginning of the season when everyone was predicting this team to get 90 wins this season.
For awhile that looked possible, as the fastest in team history to 30 wins. But just like that 24-10 start a few years back, that is a distant memory.
The offense had it's funk, but like the coaches I talk to time and time again at the high school level say "Offense comes and goes, so you have to build around defense and pitching."
And me putting a fork in my favorite team doesn't make me less of a fan, it shows I'm a realist to see that 10 games back in a race with 39 games to play is next to impossible to come back from. I'm going to cheer them on be in their corner, but it's time to realize that it's not going to happen this year. I have tickets to four games in the final month I will be enjoying and hoping for a "W." Just be real (like Cypress Hill) and know it's not going to happen this year. Get the ducks in a row and line up the pieces for 2010.
I'll surely have a blog in the future about what the offseason should look like for the team. Be sure to watch for that.
The dumping of Bill Hall today, is a good start!
What do you think? Am I being a bad fan and not holding out hope until the math says it is impossible? Comment here and let me know.


Got a couple of items for you. I'm a fan of the Stern Show and Artie Lange threw out the first pitch at a Minor League Baseball game last night. He did a lot better than Gary Dell'Abate did earlier this year at a Mets game. Take a look!



OK, this one was talked about on today's Hot Clicks on SI.com. Not a Jimmy Traina show today, but good stuff. Britney Spears read the Top 10 on Letterman last night. Watch this and tell me if you think Britney is trying to cover up her midsection in each shot of her in this.



OK, now to the Nussie Hunter for the day. It's out now that Terrell Owens will not be playing in the preseason game this weekend against the Packers. Wonder if he's going to follow the lead of Chris Cooley and get together with one of the Bills' cheerleaders, who call themselves the Buffalo Jills. If they all look like Katy, it's worth a shot. Damn.

The dust finally settled on Black Wednesday at Miller Park

Wow, for about 90 minutes today, I didn't do much of anything at the office today. It was a day of combing the web looking up high school football information when a little message popped up on Facebook, then another and then I couldn't ignore it any longer.
Yep, today turned into Black Wednesday at Miller Park as coaches and players were put on notice (Hopefully your favorite beer man is still around!) .
General Manager Doug Melvin's ousting of pitching coach Bill Castro and demotion of J.J. Hardy came first. The Castro move, I saw coming. I mean, this staff is bad and someone has to go.
The Hardy move was a bit surprising, but a welcome one. The related roster move brings touted prospect Alcedes Escobar to the majors and gives him a chance to shine.
I'm all about this, as it's becoming clear nothing is going to get this team into the playoffs at this point with the Cardinals rolling atop the NL Central and the Giants cruising in the NL Wild Card race.
Not 15 minutes after I read that note by Tom Haudricourt, I refresh the J-S Brewers page and see a new post "Now Hall is Out" Whoa! Melvin really rolling today.
Bill really only spent three days in the minors the first time he was down after Corey Hart's appendix burst and he needed emergency surgery.
All of these moves are ones at this point in the season are meant to shake up the team. When Tom talked to Melvin around 1 today, he made it clear this was not the white flag of surrender. And heck, now the owner is chiming in. Trying to deliver a bit of damage control, it seems.
J.J. says he's burnt out and won't join the Sounds while they are in Salt Lake City. He'll wait for them to return to Nashville.
Castro is said to be one of the nicest guys in the game and I was waiting to see what he had to say about things. Tom H. got a hold of him and he's going to see if there's anything he can do within the organization.
Well, everyone on the team is saying the team is still in it and they believe, but I need a little life in this team again before I start thinking that way. The way the losses keep piling up and the Cardinals keep winning, it's not getting any better.

OK, that was enough negative and news for today. Time for some funny/lighter content.
Got a bit of a debate going on with this next item. Is it real or is it fake. It was a heated topic on Covino and Rich the other day. See for yourself. Pretty cool either way!



And because it was such a rough day, the Nussie Hunter decided to let me pick who we should feature today. Told him I needed a pick me up and he knew right who I was talking about. So Mila Kunis graces the pages today. Hope you enjoy. Now to get to this new-look Brewers game.

The Jay Cutler era has officially begun!

Oh yes, my friends, as I mentioned way back on Thursday, the Bears opened training camp this weekend in Bourbonnais. Paying attention to Chicago Tribune beat writer David Haugh's Twitter page showed the little city similar in size to Platteville, ballooned and Bears fans showed up in record numbers.
And hey, with the team boasting a Pro Bowl quarterback for the first time since some guy named Erik Kramer was under center, gives us fans a reason to have high expectations.
Practices Friday, Saturday and Sunday (the 11,000 in attendance got to see the Bears unveil their Wildcat formation) were great, but Monday may have been the best practice, yet.
One of the Chicagobears.com stories with Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer talked how Jay and tight end Greg Olson (who reminds me a lot of He-man) have developed a chemistry. Well, it took all of four practices for the aforementioned University of Miami alum to supplant Desmond Clark as the starting tight end, accorind to David Haugh's newest story from camp.
I'm all for this. It could be good for the team and could finally turn Olson into something resembling Jeremy Shockey and Bubba Franks. (I said something resembling, not the second coming.) And if it means finding Jay a go-to receiver, this could be just the start of something.

Time for my quick take on Bill Hall's return of Triple-A Nashville. It's plain and simple really. Corey Hart leaves a void in right field and I don't feel comfortable with the likes of Frank Catalanatto or Jody Gerut. So why not give Billy a shot here. I mean, what do we have to lose tat his point?
Like I told my boy R.J. on Facebook during or usual in-game convos, if things go sour, I'd rather boo Bill than anyone else. Haha. I mean, we seem to have this relationship where he understands where it's coming from. Frank and Jody haven't been around enough to quite get the idea of the booing.



All right, now to some fun stuff. Found this photo essay on the evolution of Hulk Hogan today on SI.com's Hot Clicks and because I'm a huge fan of WWE and especially the Hulkster. It needed to get posted here. Plus, I'll be honest, that picture is just hilarious if you look at it right. I'm sick and twisted, sorry. But yes, funny. You know it!

Also, big sports talk was this little thing about Tiger Woods passing gas. I did not catch any of the Buick Open on TV, but when it gets mentioned during my weekly meeting at work, it must be huge. So, here you go. Did he or didn't he just pass gas. You decide!


EMBED-Tiger Woods Farts - Watch more free videos

Alrighty then. Now that it football season is upon us, today's Nussie Hunter has to get some football feel to it. So why not mention former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader and one of my personal favorites, Stacy Kiebler. I mean, with legs like those, I must say, it's become one of my "things." Hope you enjoy!



A heads up: Be sure to catch the T.O. Show tonight. As usual, I'm getting ready for much laughter. Terrell brings it. So excited. Plus, Jeremy Piven is hosting WWE Raw this week. Could be a disaster, but we'll see.

Brock makes a great bad guy if you ask me!

As I said Friday, this was going to be a great weekend to be a dude with all the great events to watch and it did not disappoint.
Let's start with the big event of the weekend, UFC 100. Brock Lesnar's resounding victory over Frank Mir to unify the UFC Heavyweight title and ensuing celebration made him the most hated man in all of mixed martial arts from this writer's vantage point.
The reaction I got from friends was that they didn't like his reaction (flipping the bird to the fans) and small tirade he went on in the post fight interview. Check what he said in this Sherdog.com story I found where I found he earned a talking to from UFC President Dana White.
If you ask me, just like in WWE, UFC needs "good guys" and "bad guys" and if Brock wants to play the role of bad guy, then let him. The way he went off saying he'd rather drink Coors (Anheiser Busch is the No. 1 sponsor of UFC) and how he was going to get on his wife (Heck, she is a three-time Playboy cover model) you'd think he enjoys it. Foxsports.com's Alex Marvez and I share the belief that Brock seems to relish in the role and it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for him to take the torch and run with it.
And OK, maybe Brock went about it in a bit of an odd way that did not sit well with the sponsors and whatnot, but just like when WWE pits the best "face" against the best "heel" he could be the biggest thing in UFC and very few will like him. You know what, that's fine with me.
With former WWE star Bobby Lashley making a name for himself in the lower ranking MMA leagues, rest assured White, in his ongoing attempt to pattern himself after Vince McMahon, will not pass up a chance to put both of these guys against each other in the cage. It would only make sense, right?
OK, enough on that. Now to tonight's featured event. I made the drive to La Crosse in time to get the Super 8 hotel and caught the season premiere of one of my favorite shows, Entourage, tonight.
I must say, I was very impressed. The boys are back on their game and while the season is moving in a new direction with how the boys interact, I'd say it's a good move.
We didn't get too much on things, but it's going to be clear that each of the boys is going to be doing their own thing this season. The night did end with Vinny sitting by himself in an empty house while Turtle is with Jamie Lynn, E is with Sloan and Drama is on the set of his TV show.
Speaking of Johnny Drama, Kevin Dillon, the actor that plays my favorite character on my fave show, is going to be at Bootleggers in Milwaukee on Friday. I must say I might just have to get some people together and make a trip down to the city to meet the guy. Could be a blast and the hangout in the club, would be worthwhile afterward, too.
If you don't know the show, I must give you the line I use at random times. VICTORY! I looked for a best-of, but only using seasons 1-2 didn't cut it for me.





Before I went to see the fight Saturday night at Bootleggers, I went to the Brewers game. And while I brought my "Mann-Roid" sign. That, however, was outdone, by this sign, that was in my section. Too good!!! Oh, this one was also a goody and was brought by the same guys.
While I'm on the subject of Brewers, got to get a little rib in on Bill Hall, who, for some reason had a story written about him for Brewers.com this weekend.
The quote that stands out to me the most is that he still thinks he is the "best third baseman in the league" right now. I mean really? Here, read the full story for yourself.

Oh, I haven't gotten you any eye-candy yet. So, here it is. I've been watching Hayden Panettiere since she was the littel girl in Remember the Titans. Now she's in Heroes and is the start of the new "I wanna stick it in your butt, Beth Cooper." No that's not it. I mean it "I want to give you the Roman War Helmet, Beth Cooper." No sorry, that's not it, either. Haha. The real name is "I Love You Beth Cooper." I must say she is quite divine. You now get a pic (with my boys Covino and Rich, check the link to their site) and this to the interview on Maxim.com.



OK, you get a blog now because I will not have time to get one up Monday at a reasonable time and won't have the chance to comb the Interweb for juicy goodness.
I will be back Tuesday with a special MLB All-Star edition of Wilber's Way. If you have any ideas, be sure to E-mail me at wilbersway@gmail.com.