Marquette Recruiting Class 2009 Review

With Tom Crean skipping town for Indiana, much speculation was left as to how Buzz Williams - the recently promoted head coach - would fare on the recruiting class for 2009. Needless to say he did not disappoint. With the three amigos and Dwight Burke graduating in the class of '08 along with a left over scholarship from '07, Buzz had a chance to remake the face of the team with five scholarships available for the 2009 class.

One of Buzz' first acts as head coach was to resolidify the Erik Williams commitment that he recieved last fall.

Erik Williams 6'7'' 190lbs Shooting Guard / Small Forward Four Star
Erik is a four prospect that is found on ranking sites' top 100 including Scout.com, Rivals.com, and ESPN.com. Before an injury sidelined him for most of his junior season, Erik shot up the ranks in both the state of Texas and in the nation. Erik's strengths include slashing towards the basket and pushing the ball in transition. His height should create matchup problems for the defense and will either be a starter at the two or contribute significantly from the bench.

Buzz' next big grab came from instate when he signed Mr. Wisconsin winner Jeromme Maymon.

Jeronne Maymon 6'6'' 235lbs Small Forward / Power Forward Four Star
Earlier this year, Jeronne Maymon destroyed the competition on way to leading his Spartans to the championship of the WIAA state tournament. Although he scored 33 points and 17 rebounds his team fell short to Tosa East in overtime. Jeronne shows an enormous amount of energy around the basket and rebounds well for his size. Jeronne will start at the fourth and will be a great combo with Lazar Hayward in 2009.

More to come in the near future

Fantasy Football Anyone?

As the football season looms in the distance and the blog becomes more populated my question for readers is if anyone is up for a fantasy football league? We really can do whatever we want: keeper or regular, free or prize, its all up to you guys so just reply if you interested

Second Half Expectations

The first half of the season for the Brewers had its up and its definite downs. The season started bleak as the much hyped bats failed to perform to expectations while talks of failed contract extentions with the world's biggest veggie led the headlines in the press. After the loss of YoGa in early May, many fans wrote this team off as destined to another year of disappointment. Then the Brew Crew finally heated up. After starting the year slowly out of the gates the Brewers finished the first half going 29-15 over their finally 44 games.

Enter CC. Having had countless years of playing seller at the midway point, the Brewers surprised everyone when they dealt Laporta, one of the team's top prospects, for the reigning AL Cy Young winner CC Sabathia. Although he is the definition of a midseason rental with his contract expiring at the end of the year, Doug Melvin showed Brewer fans the club's desire to win now. CC's arrival sparked a new surge for the Brewers and the city of Milwaukee, igniting fans and players alike. In his two starts for the Brewers before the All Star game, CC tossed a complete game and gave up 3 earned runs in seventeen innings of work while also contributing with the bat, hitting a monster home run in his second start. As the Brewers entered the All Star break, the city of Milwaukee carried the feeling a playoff like atmosphere for the first time in years.

Looking towards the second half of baseball things look promising. The Brewers have what many deem to be the easiest schedule in the National League with only 23 of the team's final 63 games comming against teams with a record of .500 or better. This coupled with idea of a rotation starting with CC, Sheets, and Parra at the front gives Brewer fans hope for baseball in October. Here are a few things to look for in the upcomming half of baseball.

• Ned Yost's ability to manage the bullpen. The two or three games given up or saved by the bullpen could be difference between playing in October or an early exit for the team. PS Ned, keep Mota away from the mound.
• Rickie's success at the plate. Late last season Rickie showed an approach at the plate that many hoped would transition over to this season. Rickie has failed to show the talent worthly of the number one selection and needs to step up by swinging for average. A team with a lead off man hitting around .200 will not succeed.
• The power of the Prince. Many have blammed Prince's mediocre showing of power in the first half on his new diet but whatever is to blame Prince needs to fix the problem. If Prince can actually heat up and help Braun this offense will be a feared force in the NL.
• The outcome of the Bush/McClung platoon in the fifth spot. With Bush looking dominant at home and spotchy on the road this change could garner success or the doom of the team this year.
• WILD CARD: Yovani Gallardo. Reports show YoGa rehabing well and could be able to contribute in September. My crazy idea is possibly having him close? Just throwing it out there.

My prediction is for the Brewers to make a run for the NL Central Division but eventually settling in the Wild Card. As for the Playoffs the team in the playoffs, only time will tell.

Here is the link to Brewers.com second half preview

A Tribute

It has come to my attention that nobody has found it compelling enough to write a tribute article to Brett Favre after his retirement. He touched millions of lives, not because he was a great player, but how he played the game. The passion that he put into it, playing through so much adversity made you feel like there was still hope, if not in professional sports, then in the world. To think that somebody cared so much about what he did made you wish you found something you enjoyed as much. He was the reason that many people actually turned on a television on Sundays. Favre will be sorely missed next season. I have spent my whole life watching number 4 take snaps from the center, whether it was Frank Winters, Mike Flannagan Grey Ruegamer or Scotty Wells. He was the one constant. The duribilty that he showed was probably the thing that Green Bay will find the biggest whole in. Sixteen years without missing a game will never happen again.

Morning After

When I was watching the unveiling of the brackets last night I was shocked by some of the teams left out as well as the seedings of a few of the teams. Here are my reactions:

Likes:

• I have no problems with any of the number one seeds, although Tennessee getting the last number two seed may screw North Carolina over. I think that the committee was a little too excited over the prospect of a Duke, UNC match up in the finals.

• Clemson and Drake each getting love with a five seed.

• Marquette vs. Kentucky - Remember the last time this happened?

Dislikes:

• Indian with an eight seed? Seriously, I have no idea what was going through the committee's minds. Must be something in the water, but this team definitely deserved at least a six. At least they are up against an OK Arkansas team at best. But once again, UNC getting hurt by the committee.

• Although it is going to be a great side story and match up to watch, the committee obviously was going for big ratings with the USC, Kansas St. match up (Mayo vs. Beasley).

• Wisconsin with at 3? Big ten prestige isn't what it once was.

• As always the non-BCS teams getting snubbed.

What to Watch for:

• MU seems to be a hit or miss in the tourney. If they get past the first round in Kentucky history shows they are a lock for the final four (a little jest).

• Clemson may have nine losses but five of them were very close games to two of the top five teams in the nation, Duke and UNC. They are my dark horse team. Look for them to upset Kansas and then Wisconsin to make it to the final four.

• Hansborough is the man, but Duke will get it done. I always pick Duke to go to far, and I am doing it again. Duke with the hot hand will three ball everyone to kingdom come.

Greatest NFL Game Ever?

Versus

For the next two weeks we can dream.

Recaping An Amazing Sports Weekend

After not having posting for the weekend I think it would be best to recap it all in one amazing post.

Starting early Saturday afternoon the Warriors took on the Golden Domers in the BC in a game that had the makings of a classic in the heated rivally. What we go was a blow out. While the Domers hung around within ten for the first half MU blew the game wide open in the second half under the lead of Jerel McNeal who had a team high 18 points and Lazar Hayward with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Say what you will but Lazar is the bread and butter of this team. He started the game with nearly a double double in the first ten minutes of the game and with his 3 point shooting around 45% this year you have to think that he has a future in the NBA following college. The game moved MU's record to 12-2 (2-1) and snapped the Domer's ten game winning streak in their first true road game of the season.

Looking foward if MU can manage to win at Louisville or Conneticut or possibly both the schedule looks managable up to the battle for first in the Big East when Georgetown comes to the BC next month. The win also should shift the Warriors up a few spots in the rankings with losses to Michigan State (6th), Texas (12th), and Vanderbilt (13th).

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=280120269

Saturday's NFC Divisional Playoff game couldn't have started worse for the Packers: the first three plays from scrimmage yielded two fumbles from Ryan Grant and fourteen points for the Seahawks in the first five minutes of the game. From their the Packer offense and a refocused Ryan Grant ran their way to a 42-6 run to finish the game and a 42-20 win in Snow globe Lambeau Field. Ryan Grant redeemed himself rushing 27 times for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns (both Packer playoff records).

The Packers proved today to the G-Force that they could in fact play with snowy weather as the snow came down big and thick during the second half of the game. After the first five minutes the Packers dominated every facit of the game and showed the team in Foxburough that they aren't one to be taken likely. This team is going on all levels: Passing, Rushing, Defense, and Special Teams. I can't wait for next week.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=280112009

Possibly the biggest sports news of the week though didn't come from the Wisconsin United Roster though. In the other NFC Divisional Playoff game Eli Manning and the Giants nocked off the number one seeded Cowboys in Dallas giving the NFC championship to the Packers in Lambeau. The win for the Giants gives the Packers the inside edge to Arizona and a Tom Brady-Brett Farve which could be the greatest Super Bowl, no, game ever.

You have to think that an Eli Manning against our deep defense line is a huge plus for us with our secondary being able to lock down a mediocre recieving squard hampered by injuries. Also Brett Farve should be able to destroy the suspect Giants secondary which has been the team's achille's heal all year long and now lost their biggest cb with a shoulder injury in Aaron Ross. And does any one remember week three when the Pack traveled to New York and embarrassed them in the Medowlands?

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=280113006

Way to go Wisconsin United!