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!

Baseball in January? It happens with Brewers On Deck!

You know what it's like to see a kid in a candy store and you tell him or her to just go crazy and they can have whatever they want? Well, send a big kid (i.e. Me!) into my equivalent (i.e. something to do with sports) and you're bound to see a similar look on my face.
That's what to expect Sunday when I get a chance to hit up Brewers On Deck, the Brewers annual fan fest. Mapping out which players I go see, what events to take part in and how much money I'll spend (likely too much). Yes it is January, but I've become a baseball nerd and I'm thinking Sunday will be one of those days where I'm in hog heaven, rolling around in my proverbial mud.
Everything looks to be finalized as far as festivities and I'm thinking I NEED to get two things while I'm there. First is an autograph and a photo with Casey McGehee. If you've followed this blog during its first almost seven months of existence, he has become my favorite player on the team not named Ryan or Prince. So that is a must. And, of course, on the other side of the spectrum is Jody (Fucking) Gerut. Yeah, get ready to get fucked with asshole (sorry kids). But I didn't think it was possible to hate one of your team's players. That was until this worthless tool came to town. I can't really say many good things about him. So I'm going to take my mother's advice and not say anything at all.
Of course the Ryan Brauns, Prince Fielders and Robin Younts are on my "hopefuls" for autograph signings, they are the faces of the franchise. And I'm a smart enough fan to also have Mitch Stetter and John Axford on the list. Heck, I need party plans for Sunday night. The last time I saw Axford sign his name, it was in about 14 inch letters on some girls back. Hahahahaha. Highlight of the night. Oh, and I can't forget a shoutout to the Co-President of the Casey McGehee fan club, yes El Rog will be in attendance, as well! Can't wait!


Sunday's other big sporting event is the NFL Pro Bowl and to be honest I couldn't care less. The Bears had one player voted in to start the game in Lance Briggs, but he pulled out. I think every other player that matters pulled out, too. That's probably why Johnny Knox made it into the game.
The cool thing about the game is that the Super Bowl teams will be making their appearance at the game in some capacity. That should be cool to have that aspect of the game and the buildup to the big game.
I'd make a prediction, but I really don't care. I guess I'm a Bears fan so I'll root for the NFC. Do what you like with that. Just don't gamble with it...


Word came out today that Dustin Diamond, yes Screech from Saved by the Bell, put out his book "Behind the Bell" and has some pretty start accusations. I'll let you read the 11 biggest o them, here. But I'm still more excited at the possibility of the Saved by the Bell reunion. Does anyone know if this is still happening? It would be so funny and good with everyone but Screech there. MAKE IT HAPPEN!


I'm not a real big American Idol fan, but when one of my favorites that I've made sure to publicize here on "The Way" is on as a guest judge and is actually A) Hot and B) Awesome, it's worth a watch. Katy Perry herself was on and almost kick started a cat fight. Yeah, it would have been good. Check the short video.

Keeping on the awesome ways tangent, Chelsea Handler is the focus of today's Nussie Hunter. Is there another female comedian more funny? Maybe Sarah Silverman, but even she's fallen off lately. I think Chelsea is super hot and very funny. If you haven't seen her show, you need to! There is more than what's below, here. Enjoy!

Are you a 'Bo'-Liever now? You should be!

All the doubters of Bo Ryan are now sitting quietly in their chairs, alone and grasping for straws. Yep, that's what happens when Ryan and his Wisconsin Badgers finally get a marquee opponent to come into the Kohl Center in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Wednesday night's 73-69 victory over No. 5 ranked Duke showed that Bo is among the elite coaches in the game and was a coming out party for senior point guard Trevon Hughes. I saw the kid play in high school at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield and yes, he can ball.
But for Ryan, and yes I may be a little partial growing up 10 minutes from Platteville where he led the winningest college basketball program in the 90s to four NCAA Division 3 National Championships, this was as much his night, too. Going against a Hall of Fame coach in Coach K (I'm not going to try to spell that name) this was Ryan's chance to show he indeed belonged in the same sentence with one of the best coaches in the game.
All this time with Bob Knight doing color commentary with Brent Musberger for ESPN, it only seemed right Bo got his guys up for this game and in the Kohl Center where, let's face it, Bucky is nearly unbeatable, Ryan kept his "Defend the home court" mantra alive just as he did when he was playing at what is now Bo Ryan Court at Williams Fieldhouse on the UW-Platteville campus.
On top of it all, amidst this whole Vander Blue and recruiting fiasco where people are doubting if he can recruit and if he can win the big game.
Well the first question is up in the air (There are a couple big names staying in-state to play for him next year led by Port Washington's Josh Gasser and Eau Claire North's Tyler Brown), but he just showed you he can win the big game.
Every time the Blue Devils punched the Badgers were able to counter and led the entire game, not folding when Duke made the run every one of the 17,500 in the Kohl Center knew they would and the millions watching on TV expected.
No it's not flashy, but I ran that swing offense in high school and it works and it was the fundamental defense that was drilled into my head every Saturday morning since I was in third grade that helped Bucky tear slay the Giant. So doubters, you're going to have to be quiet for a while, Bo just showed you what he's made of and got the most out of his players like a great coach. He just bought himself a year free of doubt and now has already started to accumulate the type of resume that will get this team back into the "Big Dance" in March.

OK folks, we got NFL football tonight so I got my NFL picks for you now.
Winning team is in bold.
Jets @ Bills
Eagles @ Falcons
Rams @ Bears
Lions @ Bengals
Titans @ Colts
Broncos @ Chiefs
Saints @ Redskins
Bucs @ Panthers
Texans @ Jaguars
Raiders @ Steelers
Patriots @ Dolphins
Chargers @ Browns
49ers @ Seahawks
Cowboys @ Giants
Vikings @ Cardinals
Ravens (14) @ Packers (20)

And I'm almost done with beating this Tiger Woods thing, but this found this Chris Cooley video today and can't resist. Check it!



And this next thing isn't a sports thing at all. Just kind of cool. Found it on today's SI.com's Hot Clicks. It might be the coolest car wash I've seen! Ha!

Ok, now it's time for the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. I usually don't like copying Jimmy Traina on the Hot Clicks, but today I just couldn't find a better option. I mean, I love me some Katy Perry. And I'm not even considering the "Kissed a Girl" trash she put out because I thought that was complete trash. But an interview on Howard Stern where she was just herself endeared her to me. Well, she hosted the Grammy Nominations Concert last night and looked amazing. Check for youself. WHOA!!!

Kid Sister Kelly takes over Wilber's Way

First off, I'd like to apologize for no blog yesterday. Got a little busy with going to the Brewers v. Cubs game (which was a disaster for the Crew, but whatever).
Today's blog though is in the hands of my now 14-year-old sister who I took to her first Brewers game Sunday afternoon.
It took a bit of work to get her to Milwaukee as I had to go pick her up Saturday night. An even bigger challenge was making sure she didn't know she was going to the game. It was her first trip to the Cathedral and I wanted it to be a surprise, so everyone came through with the secret keeping (hat tip!).
We made it into the ballpark quite a bit before the game started and got our Doug Melvin bobble and headed down to the Associated Bank Kid Zone. She was not too high on running agains the sausages or going down Bernie's slide, but we still saw the sights of the are and got some pictures with the racing sausages.



After hanging out in the Kid Zone, I unleashed my first surprise at the Stadium, which was a stop at Field Level Guest relations where she got a tote bag that had a Bernie Brewers bobblehead doll (so jealous!) and a "Happy Birthday!" Brewers baseball.
Then we took a lap around the stadium and got to see the Cathedral from all angles. She was loving it and was looking everywhere and asking all kinds of questions, just soaking it all in. This is what it's all about.



After completing a full trip around the stadium, we headed upstairs and started heading to our seats. Of course, we had to fill our food bag. She went with jumbo pretzel with cheese and I hit up old reliable brats.
This may have been the only time all day she wasn't smiling as she was working on scarfing down that pretzel. She went through almost all of it and just in time for the game to get started.
As the game got started (Roof Status: Open, BTW!) the Brewers welcomed her with two first-inning home runs, including one by Corey Hart and another by Prince Fielder. In her first inning the Brewers were up 3-0. Yep, it was a good start!



Things stayed that way through the third inning, which came after my final surprise of the day. As part of the package that included the bobble, bag and ball, her name was put in the birthday list on the scoreboard. Again, smiles all around.
The game settle down the rest of the way as the Crew won 6-0. As a baseball guy, I was happy to see her enjoy her day. It dragged on a bit at times, but she hung with it and for at 14 year old, that is a good sign. Plus, it's all about the kids anyhow. It was the truest form of happiness if you ask me. That childhood exuberance showed and she left the Cathedral happy.

For more photos of the day, be sure to check these out!!!



As I went home, I shifted my attention to the Bears and was able to catch almost all of the second half. The good half for Bears fans as Jay Cutler was on his game at Soldier Field. We're a little after the fact since I missed yesterday, so you probably have already read and seen everything you need to on the game.
My take is this though, that was the Jay the Bears and us Bears fans expected to see from him. He was poised in the pocket and on his game when needed in the fourth quarter in leading that drive down the field that won the game. He made it happen with his feet and managed the clock to perfection. Next up is Seattle and the Bears are eying 2-1 which doesn't seem as far fetched as it did after the Packers game.

Kelly is still running the blog and I asked her which girl she would most like to see in this Nussie Hunter portion of today's post. As she dug through her iPod, she landed on Katy Perry and it was academic after that. I must say, she has good taste in pretty girls and she's only 14. So here it is. This one's for you Kelly :D