Race to fill Brewers fifth starter post is clear as mud

Sorry for being away over the last week or so. I don't get too worked up over Spring Training over positive things or negative showings, especially with guys that have been in the league for a bit. I suggest you do the same.
With the word last week that Zack Greinke was going to miss his first three starts of the regular season with that cracked rib, speculation then turned to who will man the No. 5 starter role with everyone else sliding up in the rotation for the first two weeks of the season? Today, that question got answered... Sort of.
We know the first of those three starts will not go to Mark Rogers. The reason? His injury set him behind most of the other pitchers who are starters and he is only able to go one inning while everyone else in the running is up to a full five innings at this point.
So who's left? Glad you asked. There are a couple familiar names and one we'll all have to learn. The man that now seems to be the front runner to be picked by Ron Roenicke is Wily Peralta, as Brewers.com's Adam McCalvy reports. Peralta's Spring stats are nothing to get real excited about, but he's a right-hander and has pitched the most innings and could be the most ready when the season starts in 15 days.
The candidate known by the team and fans is Marco Rivera. Of course, it's hard to forget his "questionable" injury he suffered last season before the Brewers tried sending him back down to Nashville. His stats last year weren't much to desire, but he was serviceable and did deliver some solid innings. In relief, he wasn't that great there.
Fellow rookie Eulogio De La Cruz is the third arm in the mix and he is probably on the outside right now because, as his stats show, he is not Major League material just yet.
These guys will not be asked to go nine innings. The bullpen will be on call after the third inning when the winner of this battle starts a game, so no need to put too much into how good these guys will do going deep into a game. Plus, guys like Manny Parra and Kameron Loe add long-relief options in the pen that could bridge the gap to the back end of the pen to close those games.
That said, to me, it seems it's between Peralta and Rivera at the moment to earn the job. Of course one may get the first one and the other may be the second and will be sent back down to Nashville following their game. That will bring a fresh arm back to the bullpen. I'm not decided on either guy and will have to take another week to let this thing sort itself out.


It's tourney time and while I have only completed one bracket, but have a few more I need to finish. Yes, it's a fun time of year when the girl who knows nothing about sports, but likes the Bullfrogs to beat the Blue Demons because she likes frogs and wins $300 in your pool.
Heard about the Wall Street Journal's blind NCAA tourney pick 'em. It's pretty cool. Be sure to check it out, here.
Got any pools you want me in? Shoot me a link on my FB or Twitter.

Irina Shayk may have landed the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, but it's very clear who the stunner of the publication is this year. The Nussie Hunter showed you to her a week before the issue was released and can't get enough of her. Her name is Kate Upton. And she's a bikini model that has been busy of late. Be sure so check her out on Guyism.com, with a sample below. Going to use a sturdy limb to predict she's got a shot at the cover next year!

Was Polamalu right choice for NFL DPOY?

There was a lot of outcry, at least in these parts, about Troy Polamalu (yes it's spelled right) winning the AP's Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week. To be fair in this discussion there was no clear player that jumped off the page. Sure Packers fans all though Clay Matthews should have won the award running way, but that was not an open-and-shut case like they thought.
Matthews, like Polamalu missed time during the season. Both are however, the glue that hold their respective unit together. I'll admit I was a little shocked Polamalu shot to the top of the list for the DPOY over Matthews. But let's be real here, this award is voted on by 50 members of the AP not the Football Writers Association of America so there could be some discrepancy and issues with this.
To be fair, I actually thought Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher would be high than fourth or fifth, but they were both right there. Maybe it was my fandom that though this was close.
Polamalu is great and does impact games, but I'm not sure he was better than Matthews this season. Maybe in past seasons, but not this one. He did make a couple more plays that directly effected the outcome of games and tipped things in the Steelers favor. Matthews, while great, did not have many plays where you can say turned the game late in the Packers favor. I may be wrong on this, so let me know, but I can't remember any ideas off the top of my head.


So now the question become which of the two; Polamalu and Matthews is more of a factor Sunday? My answer is Matthews and here's why. I see guys like Lamar Woodley and James Harrison being more of a factor with Aaron Rodgers for the Steelers Sunday than Troy. The biggest key for the Steelers is going to be keeping Aaron Rodgers in the pocket or at least containing him where he won't run away from guys on the outside. Harrison says he's going head hunting, which is nothing new for him, but with him I wouldn't be surprised if he gets caught trying to lay a hit and Rodgers runs right past him.
On the Packers side of the defense, I see Matthews having more of an impact on getting to Ben Roethlisberger. Both teams blitz, but I see the linebackers for the Packers being more part of that with Matthews and A.J. Hawk likely being a big force in not only getting to Big Ben, but stopping the Steelers running game.
Does this mean Polamalu doesn't deserve DPOY? No. It just means in this matchup, he is going to be doing other things and won't have as big of a factor than Matthews.

I've hit a couple points the last two days leading up to the Super Bowl, but tomorrow is the big day where I will break down the game closer and make my pick for the game. If you have yours be sure to comment below or shoot us an E-mail.

Next up is some news on this blog. I am proud to announce this site which has seen 170 posts (including this one) will now be in conjunction with WiscoSportsTalk.com. Be sure to check out the site. I will still be covering all sports here, but will share some content and write some original content for them during the Brewers season as their Brewers beat reporter. It's a great opportunity for me to broaden the audience here and get a chance to do what I love covering a team I love. Should be fun.


Now to the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. I'd like to introduce you to Kate Upton, an Australian model who is in a Guess ad campaign you can see here, and is also seen in some bikinis you can see here, and sample below. She is said to be the next big thing. So check her out!