Roenicke makes Brewers starting rotation official

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke made the least shocking of official news today, naming Yovani Gallardo as the Opening Day starter on March 31 against the Reds. It was a move that made the most sense after Zack Greinke went down with cracked ribs and will miss 2-4 more weeks of the spring and also what would have been his first three starts of the regular season.
As Adam McCalvy quoted Roenicke on Brewers.com, the team didn't lose ITS ace, it lost one of its aces and Gallardo is worthy and willing to step in. Things could also work out where Gallardo also starts Opening Day at Miller Park on April 4. But, at the moment that is looking like that start will go to Chris Narveson, who was tabbed to be the No. 5 starter before the injury.
As I wrote back in January on Examiner.com, splitting up the lefties would help keep the opposition off balance and would also split up Greinke and Gallardo. The move to have Gallardo start Opening Day at Miller Park would set that up down the road when Greinke returns and also break up Randy Wolf and Narveson.
As Roenicke told Tom Haudricourt this morning, the Brewers are not too concerned about splitting Wolf and Narveson up as many would think because "they are not the same prototype pitcher." That makes sense. Either way, the team will have to decide on who fills in as the No. 5 starter then on April 5 or 6 against the Braves with a rotation of Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Wolf, Narveson.
There is a chance Gallardo will start April 4 at Miller Park on regular rest, but judging by what Roenicke told reporters he thinks Narveson is up for the home opener, it would seem unlikely he would budge from that stance unless something changes and Narveson isn't ready. The guy won 12 games last year and this would be a be shot of confidence for him to pitch on a big stage.
Right now that is looking like it is a battle between Mark Rogers, Willy Peralta and Amaury Rivas. All have question marks, but would just be spot starters.
There are some already hoping Rogers pitches well and then forces the Brewers hand to keep him in the rotation. The truth on that matter is, as was noted this morning by fellow Brewers blogger Big Rygg at Brewers Nation, Rogers has Minor League options and would no doubt be sent down in favor of releasing Manny Parra or Narveson regardless of how well he pitches.
SHADOW OF DOUBT
Of course, with all of this shuffling going on and things not setting up exactly how Brewers fans and everyone around MLB pictured the start of the season, comparisons are already being drawn to the 2010 Seattle Mariners, who traded for Cliff Lee before last season began.
Lee suffered an injury in March and missed time at the start of the regular season, too. That makes Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal put some of the pieces together and say the Brewers could be set up for a failure. Rosenthal touches all the bases in his story though and says there is a big difference in the Brewers in that they kept their offense in tact while making big pitching acquisitions. The Mariners certainly did not and could not hit at all last year. Obviously the Brewers are not perfect, but I'm feeling pretty good about the starting rotation once Greinke returns, and the offense. If the bottom of the order can pull their weight and the bullpen can hold up their end of the donkey, that would just leave the defense as an are that needs to perform. All three are concerns from Rosenthal and rightly so. It's one of those things we'll have to watch develop over the course of the season.

Moving on to some viral goodness today. Not sure if you've seen Blake Griffin in a video as Mars Blackmon. Yes, this Mars. (Yes, I love these and just wanted a reason to post it.)

This video for Griffin is him toting USC tight end Jordan Cameron who is in the NFL Draft. It's actually pretty funny and was put together by the people at SI.com. It must not make anyone worried like a non hoops player playing ball like it does for us Brewers fans as Cameron dunks ball after ball. I guess he's not playing against anyone, so it's OK.



Ash Wednesday was yesterday. It is the start of Lent and a very big religious time of year. That in itself isn't very funny. But when my man Pee Wee Herman comes by the Conan Show, hilarity ensues. His entrance is great on its own. Haha.


Now to the Nussie Hunter portion of today's broadcast. I was looking for another newcomer and came across Australian Siobhan Perekh on Gunaxin. She was a 2005 FHM model search and even became a playable character in a video game. Let it be known, though, she wasn't wearing this in the game. Check out more photos here.

Championship Sunday is just around the corner!

First off, I'd like to say my apologies for all of the photos turning into "Bandwidth Exceeded" graphics the last couple of days. I got an E-mail yesterday that said I had exceeded my 10 GB bandwidth at Photobucket. I think that means the site is doing pretty good and I had to upgrade my photo hosting to allow for an unlimited bandwidth.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets' get into making my Super Bowl picks. Now that both of my preseason picks (the Chargers and the Bears. Yes I know. Thought we had a shot to get one right), it's back to the drawing board. I like both matchups Sunday and should be two great games.
Let's start with the 2 p.m. game that has the Jets going to Indy to play the Colts. A lot is being made of the history of these franchises, but to be honest, that means nothing to the guys on the field. It's great history, but will have no effect on what happens Sunday.
Was looking over this week's Sports Illustrated, I am a subscriber, and they break things down. Looking at how the Colts did what they had to do to the Ravens, I'm saying we get more of that this week. Peyton is too smart and will find the holes in this defense to get the Colts out front. On the other side of the ball, the Colts D has been playing great and if they can get to Mark Sanchez and knock him out of his game, they'll make it easy. This will be about stopping the run for them and if they can keep Thomas Jones quiet for the day. The Colts are pretty one-dimensional relying on the pass almost exclusively and that should allow the Jets to put Reggie Wayne out on Revis Island for the day and let them keep a the extra safety deep to keep an eye on Dallas Clark.
I must say though, I really like the Colts to earn this win. Remember, the only reason the Jets are here is because the Chargers lost that game. They beat themselves. The Jets just lucked out. Yes I just said that.
On the NFC side, its the Vikings and Saints. I think everyone is expecting this game to be a shootout. I'd say if it becomes that, the Saints will be right at home. Putting pressure on Brett Favre to have to score points usually leads to turnovers. The fact that the Vikings have lost their last three home games plays a part in this, too. I don't really like anyone going into the Superdome and getting a win. Now if the game were in the Humpty Dump, I'd probably be saying the Vikes have the upper hand, but we're in Nawleans and for that it's time for the Saints to March on. Drew Brees is just cool in the big games and if he can get production out of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush like he got last week, the Saints will give that vaunted Minnesota D fits.
For the Vikings, finding a way to get Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor off and running is going to be a key for them. Take pressure off Favre until he has to make the play. He seems to play within himself more in those situations. Not to mention the Saints defense isn't that good and getting them to bring that extra guy into the box will allow "Brent" to play the 1-on-1 matchups that could lead to big plays.
Like I said, I like this being a close game. I'm not so sure it will be as high scoring as people think, but I like the Saints.

Here we go, the official picks...
AFC Title Game: Colts over Jets, 20-17. Jets D will make some plays to keep it close, but not enough of them.
NFC Title Game: Saints over Vikings, 24-20. Another close one with the Saints making the big plays let and Favre making at least one of his patented "dumb" plays that costs the Purple Dumpster Divers the ballgame.

Keeping it on the Vikings, did you hear this awful Prince fight song he was inspired to write after going to the game last week? Eesh! Stick to Purple Rain!



This next item is something from last night's Conan. Tonight is his last Tonight Show and if he brings guys like Pee Wee, then it's going to be good. If you know me, you know I love PW and he was awesome on this. Check it!



Alright boys and girls, time for today's Nussie Hunter. Was checking something on Asylum today, who counted down the most exposed women of the last decade. Remarkably one of them hasn't graced our pages. Yep, Jessica Alba. She is part of the Jessica trifecta and somehow the Nussie Hunter has gone over 100 posts without her. Well, not anymore. Guess I'm helping in the over exposure, but hell. She looked good in that cat suit in Fantastic 4! ... And here.