WW 193: Roadtrip can still be salvaged in Miami for Brewers

First off, I know I've been gone for a while. I've been writing some freelance high school baseball stuff for another Web site and doing it in the time I would have normally posted on here. So, I have a free night and figured I'd get back to updating things on "The Way."


After losing two of three games in Cincinnati this week, all the talk surrounding the Brewers is that the team can't win on the road. Well, they can't win in Great American Ballpark to save themselves, going just 2-12 in the last two years. Those are just awful numbers and may be playing mind tricks on the team. It was something the guys on 540 ESPN's D-List talked about with Tom Haudricourt a week or so ago and kind of makes sense in that the guys end up trying too hard. In baseball, you can't do that much if at all because it shows and works against you.
Looking at what is coming up in Florida against the Marlins, all is not lost and they could put some things together to get home with a .500 road trip when it is all said and done. Randy Wolf goes Friday and we should expect Wil Nieves to get the nod behind the plate. With him back catching Wolf, the lefty has allowed just seven hits in the two games. Ricky Nolasco is a guy the Brewers usually hit pretty well, so I'm not worried about how things shake out there.
On Saturday, Yovani Gallardo looks to follow up another gem last Sunday when he pushed his record to 7-2 on the years and watched his ERA drop to 3.89 on the season. Yo was the pitcher of the month for May and seems to have put the hiccups (that's what I'll call them) behind him in the last two weeks of April. Ricky Volstad didn't walk a bunch of guys in his last outing, but got rocked by the Diamondbacks and lasted just 3 1/3 innings. The Brewers offense should be able to deliver something similar. He's just 2-4 with a 5.91 ERA, too, so I see the bats having a chance to come around.
Sunday's game is the one with the biggest chance for a Brewers loss, in my eyes, with Chris Narveson going against Anibal Sanchez. Narvey has been bitten by one bad inning again this season, especially lately. Sanchez has been dominant of late, including his last outing where he went eight inning and gave up six hits and K'd eight.
Finally, on Monday Zack Greinke gets the nod and we are all still waiting for the dominant Zack to show his form. As it's noted in the MLB story I got the probables from, the Brewers are 5-1 in games he starts, so it seems even if he's just slightly above average, they play well behind the guy.
I know I focused a lot on the pitching, but it wasn't that bad in the two losses early in the week. If the offense can find a way to tack on the runs late in the game Wednesday, they win the game and the late rally means nothing. It's what they did Tuesday in earning the win and snuff out any chance of a comeback the Reds seem to have in close games there against the Crew.
Corey Hart continues to be hot at the plate despite his bout with dehydration and some are even hinting of a move for him to the No. 5 spot behind Ryan and Prince as opposed to in front of them. I'm not sure if that means going with Gomez and Morgan in front of them full-time. If so, I'm not sure I'm behind that. Gomez has done some good things and I'm not sure a platoon in the No. 2 hole is a good idea.


Just a short bit on the NBA Finals as it's on in the background behind me. I picked the Heat to win in six, but was hoping for some fight from the Mavericks. Through the first half, they are shooting much better and should be in this in the end. Hope they can steal this one and head to Dallas.
I'm loving the word that Cavs fans are printing up shirts and getting behind the Mavs. I say I love it because it's so comical, but I'm not sure I would be proud of the fact you are rooting against one man. I know he burned you, but get over it.

Now it's time for the Nussie Hunter. I good friend of mine got married over the weekend and when I saw the news Tony Romo did, as well, I couldn't resist to have more fun with Candace Crawford. Burlington's favorite native son has surely done himself well. She's amazing. I'm not behind the fact people are ripping him for having a bridal registry that included $10 and $20 items. Not everyone he knows is rich. Give him a break there. Makes complete sense. Anyway, here's Candace. Enjoy!

We are baaaaack! We are so back in action!

Hey all. Sorry I've been away so long. I got a second job beyond that one Web site that pays me and my time has been a bit torn. I guess I chose to hang out with this girl I met over writing for this blog in the little free time I have left.  But I've squeezed in some time today for a short post. So here goes!


The Bears preseason has not been one that is exactly encouraging for me. I expected some speed bumps in with Jay Cutler and Co. getting the Mike Martz offense, but the way things have unfolded in three preseason games, I'm not as optimistic as I once was. If it's not one thing, it's the other with the offensive line struggling or Jay Cutler being erratic, things somehow have found ways to gone badly for this unit from the start.
The defense has not been much better. Just when they show flashes, there is a step back. The unit has not been the suffocating unit it has been and every time they are questioned about it, the guys that were part of the 2006 team that went to the Super Bowl comes out and says they are confident the unit "can be great." Well, at this point, it feels like we're all getting fed lines by the players and the coaching staff. It's a huge problem with this regime and Lovie is the biggest guy that does it. It's all coach speak and as a writer, it's a bit ridiculous. Just give it to me straight and I'll figure it out on my own. I can get not throwing guys under the bus, but don't say one thing, when we can all see the contrary on the field.

Here are 5 things I think I think heading into the final preseason games this week:
1. Aaron Rodgers is amazing and if the Packers are going to live up to everyone's Super Bowl expectations, he's going to win the MVP award, too. I know it's preseason, but I've really liked what I've seen from him.
2. The Jets are not going to the playoffs and will not win the division. Everyone seems to forget the Jets were one half of Peyton Manning playing away from not making the playoffs. So this team is not as "on the brink" as everyone is expecting. Mark Sanchez has not done much of anything well and LT is not the back he once was.
3. The Saints could be even better this year. Does that mean, they'll go back to the Super Bowl, well, it's not a guarantee, but they should be right there. That offense looks on and you have to start including Drew Brees in the class of the "Super Elite" QBs with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
4. The Vikings will fall short of expectations this year. I'm not a fan of mentioning a certain QB who wears No. 4, but I think everyone is sick of his act and I'm including Vikings players on this. Favre classifying this comeback as a "favor" bugs the crap out of me. That coupled with injuries are going to make it tough on the team in purple to do it again this year.
5. The Cowboys will not be the first team to play a Super Bowl on its home field, either. Yeah, I'm shooting a ton of people down, but let's look at this. Everyone oversells that entire roster and their coach is a bit lost and in over his head. I'm not buying any Cowboys and Tony Romo stock and don't see them doing much of anything outside of winning the NFC East this season. Be real here, they laid and egg in the playoffs last year.

Alright, now it's NUSSIE time! I'm so excited! It's been over a month and to keep this NFL theme going we got some NFL cheerleaders. Namely the ones that were in the new Maxim that showed up at my door last week.
Meet Tracey below and the other cheerleaders, here.


And to be clear, I do plan on writing more in football season. I'm trying to figure out a plan to get that going. Might go for shorter posts. We'll see. Stay tuned to my Facebook and Twitter pages (Linked above) for updates and links.

There's a playoff atmosphere in the air!

Teams spend millions of dollars to get here, but only 12 earn the right every year to go to the NFL Playoffs. And tomorrow afternoon, it all starts.
There are a couple great storylines to keep an eye on and I'll get into those and then make my picks.
First, probably the most interesting game to watch will be the Ravens at the Patriots. Will Tom Brady be able to survive the Ravens? Will Randy Moss be able to step up with Wes Welker out? Those should be answered in this one. To be honest, I'm not so sure the Patriots will come out on top of either of those questions. I like the Ravens in this game A LOT and they will make Tom Brady anxious in the backfield and without his favorite target to throw to in the flat, it might be curtains the for the NFL's prettiest quarterback.
The rest of the these games are repeats from last week and I'm pretty sure in at least two of those games I like the same team to win.
The only one I see a possibility of a turn in fortunes in is the NY Jets at Cincinnati game. The Bengals basically mailed it in in Week 17 and if Chad Ochocinco is on the field, they have a good shot to do some damage. I really like their defense against rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.
In the game many of my friend care about, the Green Bay at Arizona game, will most certainly not be a blowout like it was last week. But I'm not sold on the Cardinals making another special run back to the Super Bowl. The Packers have too many weapons on both sides of the ball. They've shown they can keep Aaron Rodgers upright since the midway point of the season and that has led to their success. Plus that defense just flies and Kurt Warner won't know what hit him. Well, he will, and it will be in Green and Gold.
That picture at the top could be what Tony Romo is doing at the end of this game if things don't go his way again. It would be the Cowboys' seventh straight playoff loss which would set an NFL Record. Yeah, that would suck for Romo! But I'm not sold on that happening either. The Cowboys showed a lot last week. But the stigma of beating a team for the third time in a season looms large and they will have to overcome that. I really like what they did last week for their confidence and don't see them falling to a struggling Eagles team.
Adam Shefter, one of my favorite Twitter peeps, has more storylines, here.

My picks: Wild Card Weekend
Jets @ Bengals
Ravens @ Patriots
Eagles @ Cowboys
Packers @ Cardinals


 
Another big event going on this weekend is the WEC fight night at the Arco Arena in Sacramento when my man, Urijah Faber (He was one of my mancrushes), makes his return to the cage in his hometown of Sacramento.
Yeah, I'm pretty jacked for this fight. The man is back in shape (STORY) and ready to roll. There's that story and more over at WEC.tv. He fights Raphael Asunaco which should make for a great fight.
There is more to this night than just that fight as Mike Brown, the man who's head took Urijah's blows and broke two bones in his right hand and dislocated his thumb on the other.
Then in the main event, Jamie Varner takes on Ben Henderson. I'm pretty sure the whole building will be against Varner as the last time we saw him fight, he won after a knee to his head stopped the fight against Miguel Torres. Yeah, he's a punk.
But Urijah is the hometown kid and the headliner. Just tune in to Versus (if you have it) and get ready for a show. The California Kid will not disappoint. I PROMISE!


Now for a quick hit. It might be the quote of the century here, as the Bobcats' Stephen Jackson reveals his secret for his success at the FT line. Take a look. AWESOME!



Kansas big man Cole Aldrich usually reminds me of an oversize oaf, but when I saw this video he totally changed my take. Check this as the Jayhawks hit four straight half-court shots. Leads me to my next question, could this be fake? Hmm...

Now to everyone's favorite portion of the show, yep, the Nussie Hunter. I recently found Adrianne Curry on Twitter and must say she posts a ton of pics of her and Peter Brady-- I mean her husband. Well, I couldn't pass up the chance to promote her Twitter and then show a pic that she posted. I guess she wore this to the 2008 Midsummer Night's Dream party at the Playboy Mansion. Whoa!