Libertarian Librarian

About two weeks ago I wrote the following on this here blog: "Once Bill Hall remembers how to hit, they are going to be a very good team." Two days after I wrote that, Hall hit his first ever grand slam, and since that game he is batting .342 with three home runs and nine RBI. The Brewers are 7-2 over that same span. I'm a genius! I also have to say that there are few sweeter sights to a Brewers fan that has suffered through decades of futility than this:







I am especially a fan of the Brewers' road record-- 6-3! Last year, the Brewers were abysmal on the road, so to show some spark away from Miller Field is a very encouraging sign indeed.

The Brewers' rotation is solid, solid, solid. They may not have that one stand out guy, though Sheets could be that guy if he ever gets consistent, but from 1 through 5, their starting pitchers will rarely lose a game early, and will nearly always go five to seven innings. And with Derrick Turnbow and Francisco Cordero, if the Brewers are ahead after seven, they are going to win nearly all of those games. Sweet. The offense is young, but learning to win, and barring injury, they also will be good all year long.

I think I can honestly say I have never been this jazzed about the Brewers in my life-- even the year they went to the World Series, because I was all of 13 in 1982, and didn't really care about baseball.

In football news, the NFL draft is this weekend, and it is mind boggling to me how big a... spectacle it has become. The Pack needs a running back, tight end, D-lineman, and could use another WR and O-Lineman to replace the aging Chad Clifton. Most "experts" have the Pack taking California running back Marshawn Lynch with their pick at #16 in the first round. I'd be okay with that. I haven't seen Lynch run, but everything I read indicates that he'd be a good fit in Green Bay, and the pairing of him with Morency makes for a pretty good 1-2 punch at RB. A few "pundits" have us taking a WR in the first, which I sincerely hope we don't do-- WRs are a crap shoot, and good ones can be found much later in the draft.

Heard a rumor on the 10 o'clock news that KC is shopping Larry Johnson, and targeted Green Bay as a possible suitor. I have no idea what the Chiefs want in return for LJ, but THAT would be a sweet, sweet guy to have in the backfield with Favre.

Not looking forward to USC wide receiver Steve Smith being drafted. Having two guys with the exact same name, playing the exact same position (Steve Smith is also a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers) is going to be a nightmare in Fantasy Football terms.

It looks like Marquette guard Dominic James is going to enter the NBA draft. That's too bad-- both for Marquette and for James. The kid has talent, but he still needs to learn to shoot under control and to be more of a point guard and less of a shooting guard. One more year at Marquette could do that for him and also get the school into the sweet sixteen or beyond.

Guess that's it for now, except to note that my son's soccer team is 1-0-1 so far this spring. Their first game was an 11-11 tie, while the second was a 16-5 blow out. Honestly, if professional soccer was as exciting as six-year-old soccer, I'd watch a lot more soccer. Jacob scored four goals in the first game (including the first of the year), and three in the second. Go Guppies!

Labels: Sports