When it comes to pop culture, I am as loyal as they come.

I was one of the few people who kept watching The Facts of Life even after Mrs. Garrett left.

And while I appreciate Lost wrapping up its convoluted but fascinating run this season, I would stay tuned for many more years, long beyond the point of cultural relevancy.

Hey, I still watch Survivor, and that’s been culturally irrelevant for as long as John Kerry.

But I still love the show, and its most recent season, Survivor: Samoa, which ended Sunday night, was one of its best.

But again, this season’s finale fell victim to the same fatal flaw that has befallen many other seasons: The jury, suffering from hurt feelings, refuses to give the money to the strategic player (i.e. Russell) who schemed to vote out most of the jurors, and instead gives the $1 million to the nicer player who did little more than ride on the more strategic player’s coattails (i.e. Natalie).

Natalie didn’t deserve to be crowned the winner of Survivor: Samoa.

Earning their prize on the same day as Natalie, the Minnesota Vikings seemed to be no more deserving of being crowned the winner of the NFC North.

It was a horrible day for the NFC North, but especially for the division leader. Whoops, I mean winner. (Hard for me to put “Minnesota Vikings” and “winner” in the same thought.)

Let’s go through what the teams did on Sunday and what we can expect from them moving on:

 

 

1. Minnesota Vikings. I didn’t buy into the hype that Sunday night’s game was that important for the Vikings.

Yes, a victory would have put them one game behind the Saints for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, but the Vikings still would have to count on the Saints losing one of their last two while the Vikings would have to win their remaining two. And (Hello, Tampa Bay!) I don’t think the Saints will lose again.

Also, the Vikings are a dome team. The Saints are a dome team. I don’t feel that, if the teams were to meet in the playoffs, home field advantage would be that important. Both teams, like Chuck E. Cheese’s, are built for indoor fun.

And, for what it’s worth, the Vikings in recent years have owned the Saints. No, the Saints haven’t always been good. But neither have the Vikings.

The Vikings certainly didn’t look good Sunday night. Their vaunted offensive line looked as bad as the Packers O-Line did in October. Brett Favre was hit more often than Edward Norton in Fight Club. Adrian Peterson couldn’t run the ball (again), and their defense allowed the Panthers’ backup quarterback to torch them and their backup running back to slash them.

And if their play on the field wasn’t bad enough, now Chilly Childress and Favre are having a lovers’ spat over whether Favre should have been benched in the third quarter. Tired of watching Favre get sacked by Julius Peppers, Childress supposedly wanted Favre out, saving the old man for more important games down the road. Favre apparently refused and stayed in.

What’s important here is not if Childress was right to bench Favre. (He was. Even Tavaris Jackson couldn’t have played worse than Favre Sunday night.) What’s important is that Childress was overruled by Favre.

When a player can overrule a coach—and do so in such a public manner—you got problems. Right now the Vikings got problems.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: It’s December and Favre is running out of magic. And so are the Minnesota Vikings.

 

 

2. Green Bay Packers. Unlike the Vikings loss, I don’t see any red flags coming out of the Packers’ loss to Pittsburgh.

Yes, the highly-touted Packers defense allowed the Steelers to amass an incredible 537 yards of offense.

Yes, the Packers allowed the Steelers to win the game on an 81-yard drive with only 1:54 left to play.

Yes, Mason Crosby missed another chip shot field goal that proved crucial.

But this game had the stench of a loss long before Mike Wallace (was Morely Safer on the IR?) secured both feet in-bounds with no time left on the clock.

The Steelers came into this game a wounded animal known for playing up or down to their level of competition. Though the loss was heartbreaking, the Packers did many things right: They kept the penalties down (7 for 53 yards). The offensive line continued its strong play as Aaron Rodgers was sacked only once. And Rodgers continued his stellar play.

No doubt any Packers fan watching the performances of Rodgers and Favre on Sunday was happy they had Rodgers in green and gold.

With games against Seattle and Arizona (with the 49ers loss on Sunday, the Cardinals likely will have nothing to play for in week 17) on the horizon, the Packers are in very good shape and look to be the most dangerous team in the division come January.

 

 

3. Chicago Bears. Same old story for the Not-So-Scary Monsters of the Midway: Bad defense (31 points to Baltimore Sunday); awful quarterback play (Jay Cutler was 10-for-27 for 94 yards and three picks for a 7.9 QB rating on Sunday); and continued disappointing production from Matt Forte (69 yards rushing and a lost fumble).

It’s hard to imagine the Bears being good any time soon. Although with how Minnesota has been playing outdoors lately, the Bears beating Minnesota next Monday night suddenly doesn’t seem like such an impossibility.

 

 

4. Detroit Lions. Make all the jokes you want about the Lions, but this team took the Arizona Cardinals—a team who had plenty to play for at game time—deep into the fourth quarter. And that was with their starting QB and starting RB out with injuries (Watching Daunte Culpepper play quarterback is as stomach-churning as finding a toenail in your McChicken).

If Matthew Stafford can stay healthy next year, would it be too surprising to see the Bears owning the NFC North cellar starting in 2010?

That is, if the Vikings can stay out of it. 

I should have written this column earlier.

I was all set to explore the reasons why—despite being beaten and overshadowed by disgruntled former employee Brett Favre and the rival Minnesota Vikings, despite horrid offensive line play, and despite an embarrassing loss just four games ago to the Tampa Bay Crappaneers—the Green Bay Packers remained a solid choice to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 44.

Then I watched the New Orleans Saints completely dismantle the New England Patriots Monday night.

Long before Bill Belichick—who throughout the game had a look of utter confusion and bewilderment that rivaled my two-year-old daughter’s expression when she accidentally puts on her coat upside down—trotted out Brian Hoyer to mercifully run out the game clock, I realized that my argument was in jeopardy.

But like Tiger Woods stubbornly trying to control the maelstrom of gossip that now surrounds him (he should have followed David Letterman’s example: get out in front of the story and admit everything), I will stubbornly try to forge ahead with my vision of the Packers playing at Land Shark/Joe Robbie/Pro Player Stadium in February even as the vision of Drew Brees’s five touchdowns is upsettingly fresh in my mind.

First of all, the Packers are playing for a Wild Card spot.

Yes, the Vikings have tough games ahead of them against Arizona and Cincinnati and the oft-mentioned Monday night game at Chicago that could be Favre’s only game in bad weather. But they also have games against Carolina, the reeling New York Giants, and, no matter what the weather is (the Bears would have to play in it too), Chicago is extraordinarily beatable.

So, no NFC North championship for Green Bay in 2009. But at 7-4, the Packers are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for a Wild Card playoff spot, and that’s a position that they should be able to hold on to.

Or can they?

Well, some mediocre team is going to win the NFC East and there could very well be an equally mediocre Wild Card team representative from that division. But can the East send three teams as they did two seasons ago? Absolutely not.

Save an easy Thanksgiving game against the hapless Raiders, the Cowboys offense has been stagnant of late, and Tony Romo’s struggles late in the season (5-8 career record in December) have been well documented. Now at 8-3, the Cowboys could easily finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs entirely.

But should both the Cowboys and Packers survive to meet again in the postseason, Packer fans only have to look back to their Nov. 15 17-7 victory against Dallas to like that rematch.

Though currently in second place, the Eagles should finish ahead of the Cowboys thanks to the solid play and clutch game experience of Donovan McNabb. But nagging injuries to some of their best playmakers (Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson), and a struggling defense (who gives up 24 points to Washington?) should make the Eagles a fairly easy out in the postseason.

And what of the Giants?

With three divisional games looming, New York controls their destiny, but by losing five of six and by looking awful in the process, they also look like they won’t be a factor in the postseason simply because they won’t be there.

In the NFC South and West divisions, the only real threats to the Packers’ hold on a Wild Card spot are the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) and the San Francisco 49ers (5-6). 

Of the two, the 49ers—especially with a remaining schedule that includes Seattle, Detroit, and St. Louis, and not to mention Atlanta’s injury problems—are the bigger threat, but simple mathematics indicate the Packers have little to worry about here.

Since Green bay beat San Francisco 30-24 just two weeks ago, the 49ers would have to win out while the Packers would have to lose three of their last five games for San Francisco to pass the Packers in the Wild Card standings.

No matter how motivating 49ers head coach Mike Singletary is—and I could listen to that guy talk all day—he’s not going to be able to get that group of players from 3-5 to 10-6.

Moving closer to home, surely every Packer fan remembers the 2004 season. It was a remarkable roller-coaster that saw the Packers start 1-4, only to finish 10-6 including two wins over division rival Minnesota.

The fun ended, though, when the Packers not only had to suffer the indignity of losing to the Vikings at Lambeau Field 31-17 in a Wild Card game, but also had to sit through Randy Moss’s “moonwalk” (which infamously sent FOX announcer Joe Buck into a conniption) in the process.

But perhaps Packers fans could find solace in how that season ended. Could history repeat itself, only this time in a bizarro fashion with the Packers getting the last laugh on the Vikings in the postseason?

Why not?

While the Vikings have won three straight since beating the Packers at Lambeau, the victories have come against bottom-feeders Detroit, Seattle, and Chicago, with all of the games in the friendly confines of the Metrodome. Excuse me, Mall of America Field.

And while the Vikings’ offense hasn’t been slowed lately, the team has shown an increased lack of discipline (probably stemming from overconfidence) with 28 penalties over the last three weeks.

If that doesn’t seem alarming, consider Adrian Peterson’s four fumbles over the past three games: Given that no one expects Favre’s nearly error-free 2009 streak (just three INTs so far to 24 TDs this season) to continue—FOX’s Troy Aikman suggested on Sunday that head coach Brad Childress must be nervous knowing that his 40-year-old quarterback is bound to start throwing some picks—the Vikings could be in danger of imploding against a good team with a chip on their shoulder.

The Packers certainly fit that bill.  

And with the Packers’ offensive line stabilizing a bit lately—granted, that’s like pundits saying the economy is stabilizing while unemployment continues to go up and consumer confidence continues to go down—Rodgers could potentially have more time to pick apart the Vikings secondary (clearly the team’s biggest weakness) in any potential rematch.

So, while Packers fans have to like their team’s chances against many of the opponents they may meet in the postseason, should any doubt be placed on their chances of simply getting there?

Nope.

While they have some potentially tough games on the horizon, it’s clear that neither Baltimore nor Pittsburgh (despite Mike Tomlin’s laughable horror-movie threat to “unleash hell” for the rest of the season) are the powerhouses they once were, and the Packers’ finale against Arizona could be a cakewalk if the Cardinals choose to rest players (particularly Kurt Warner), if they have the NFC East won by then, which is a real possibility.

Which brings us back to the New Orleans Saints.

Even though I hate this phrase almost as much as I hate the use of the phrase “Tonight on The Jay Leno Show …” I’m going to use it: If the playoffs started today, the Packers would face the Saints in a potential divisional round matchup at the Superdome.

Based on what we saw Monday night, that is not a game that would end well for not just Green Bay, but any team.

But given that the Saints have only won two playoffs games in their history, given that the Packers lead the league in allowing an average of just 281.5 yards a game, given that Aaron Rodgers is running neck-and-neck statistically with Drew Brees, you’d have to like the Packers chances in a showdown with the Saints, wouldn’t you?

Like I said, I would have a few days ago.

After watching Monday Night Football this week, not so much.

Who: Michigan Wolverines @ Wisconsin Badgers

Where: Camp Randall Stadium, Big Ten Network.

When: Saturday, Nov. 14, 11:00 AM CST.

 

You have to feel sorry for Michigan.  

This week The Detroit News reported that the state expects to lose a total of one million jobs this decade, largely due to the collapse of the U.S. automobile industry.

The Pew Center reported this week that the most optimistic of projections suggest that the state won’t regain those jobs lost until 2025 or 2030.

Many of the more famous people born in Michigan are going through difficult times, like disgraced former ESPN analyst Steve Phillips (a Michigan alum), Bob Seger (it’s been 23 years since “Like A Rock”), and TV legends Ed McMahon and Soupy Sales (both dead).

And of course, the Detroit Tigers choked away their 2009 season and the Detroit Lions continue to be one of the very worst in a long line of bad NFL teams.

And then of course there is the Michigan Wolverines football team.

Echoing perhaps the story of the 2008 Wisconsin Badgers, most had high hopes for the 2009 Wolverines, and Rich Rodriguez’s team did live up to their promise early in the season with four straight wins, including a high-profile victory over Notre Dame.

Then, like the Badgers last year, the Wolverines went into a quick tailspin upon entering conference play, losing five straight Big Ten games, including last week’s home loss to Purdue, a team that just the previous week had shown all of the collective talent of the Kardashian family in a 37-0 loss to Wisconsin.

But unlike the 2008 Badgers, a late-season rally for Michigan appears extremely doubtful as the Wolverines have to head into Madison on Saturday and then host No. 10 Ohio State the following week to close out the season.

The Badgers, meanwhile, continue to impress after losses to Ohio State and Iowa. With winnable games against Michigan, Northwestern, and Hawaii coming up, Wisconsin is playing for a 10-2 record and an invitation to one of college’s better bowl games.

Here then are the Channel 3000 three storylines for Saturday’s game at Camp Randall, Wisconsin’s final home game of the season.

 

1. Best Served Cold. Much is being made of the revenge factor in this game, as Michigan last year came back from a 19-0 halftime deficit to beat Wisconsin 27-25 in a game that began Wisconsin’s long four-game losing streak.

Though it’s being hyped as a “revenge game,” retribution should not be a major motivation for this game: Michigan can hardly be blamed for all four of those losses in 2008, Wisconsin not only bested Michigan’s record last year but will this year as well, and many of this year’s players on both sides of the ball for both teams—most notably both quarterbacks—didn’t even play in that game.

It’s almost as ludicrous as if the Packers were to play the Colts this season and someone were to suggest that Green Bay was out for revenge for their embarrassing 1997 loss to the then-winless Colts. It’s just irrelevant history at this point.

But despite Michigan’s recent struggles, Wisconsin will certainly take some measure of satisfaction in beating a team that has run up an all-time 49-12-1 advantage (including 19 wins at Camp Randall) in their meetings.

And Bret Bielema’s team should be at the very least annoyed by indications that the Wolverines are looking past Wisconsin to the Nov. 21 game against Ohio State.

Wolverines safety Troy Woolfolk said, “As bad as the season is going, I think it would be redeemed if we beat Ohio State.” As almost an afterthought, he added, “Wisconsin, we want to beat them, too.”

Do comments like that suggest that Michigan disrespects Wisconsin, doesn’t think they can compete with Wisconsin, or simply doesn’t care about Wisconsin?

After the Badgers beat them, it won’t really matter.

 

2. Big Blue’s Big Play Potential. Despite last week’s victory against Indiana, the Badgers should be worried about the number of big plays they allowed in what was without a doubt a too-close 31-28 win.

With 323 of the Hoosiers’ 386 offensive yards gained through the air, the majority of those big plays were in the passing game, most notably an 80-yard touchdown drive that consisted of just three Ben Chappell completions, and a 30-yard Chappell-to-Demarlo Belcher reception on a fourth-and-five that led to one of Indiana’s two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

The Wolverines may be struggling, but their problems can’t be blamed on their offense. Michigan leads the Big Ten in scoring with 32 points per game, but fortunately for Wisconsin, it’s running the ball where they truly excel—the Wolverines lead the conference with 2,083 total yards.

Since Wisconsin is much better at defending the run than the pass, look for Rodriguez to call on his freshman quarterback Tate Forcier to make some plays. While Forcier isn’t the talent that Chappell is (at least not yet), the Badgers will have to do a better job defending the pass than they did last week.

With the home crowd behind them, that seems extremely doable.

 

3. Havin’ A Ball. The flip side of Michigan’s efficiency on offense is their awfulness on defense, particularly late in games: The Wolverines have been outscored 75-12 in the second half over the last three weeks.

So it’s fair to assume that Wisconsin will be able to move the ball, and it’s fair to assume that they will choose to run the ball to control the clock and keep Michigan’s offense off the field.

Although John Clay has been cleared to play after suffering a head injury close to halftime in the Indiana game (Bielema said it wasn’t “officially” a concussion, but that’s like saying The Jay Leno Show isn’t “officially” a failure; some things don’t have to be “official” to be believed), his health has to be a concern.

Therefore, don’t be surprised to see freshman running back Montee Ball, who had a bit of a coming-out party last week with 115 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns, steal some carries away from John Clay on Saturday. Oh, and if you have Zach Brown on your college football fantasy team, cut him.

Ball and the rest of the Badgers should have a ball celebrating a big win on Saturday.

Predicted final: Wisconsin 38, Michigan 20.

Who: Wisconsin @ Indiana

Where: Memorial Stadium, Big Ten Network

When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 AM CST.

It’s been a terrible week for former Wisconsin Badger football stars now playing in the NFL.

First tight end standout Owen Daniels injures his knee on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. He’s out the rest of the season, cutting short a terrific year in which he was ranked second among tight ends in receptions.

On Monday, wide out Chris Chambers was waived by the contending San Diego Chargers. He was then picked up by the truly awful Kansas City Chiefs the next day.

Then on Thursday, former All-American defensive end and current NFL bust Erasmus “The Eraser” James was arrested on a tentative battery charge after he apparently got upset that he couldn’t get a drink past bar time at a popular UW-Madison watering hole.

Methinks James would have calmed down if someone had just said to him, “Hey, Eraser, things could be worse. You could be playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Meanwhile, Travis Beckum continues to be a forgotten man on the slumping New York Giants,  and the owner of Joe Thomas’s team, the Cleveland Browns, has been reduced to taking meetings with fans to apologize for the colossal embarrassment they’ve become.

(Hey, where’s my meeting with Dan Aykroyd? I’d like to talk to him about how he’s let his career go to hell for the majority of the last 25 years…)

Fortunately, things are much better with Bret Bielema’s current Badgers squad: Coming off a dominating 37-0 shutdown of a Purdue team that redefined just what the phrase “bad football” can mean, the Badgers are now back in the national rankings (#24 in AP; #22 USA Today) and look poised to win their last four games (despite three of them being on the road), which would give them a fine regular-season record of 10-2.

The final month of the season starts Saturday at Indiana, a team with only one conference win but a team that just last week took a lead against undefeated Iowa into the fourth quarter before eventually losing 42-24.

Here are the Channel 3000 3 storylines to watch in Saturday’s Wisconsin/Indiana game at Memorial Stadium. 

 

1. Wither Scott Tolzien?

Lost in the celebratory mood surrounding the Badgers’ destruction of the Boilermakers was the fact that quarterback Scott Tolzien struggled for the third consecutive week, completing only six of the thirteen passes that he threw for just 87 yards, all season lows.

Granted, Saturday’s game was about John Clay and the Badgers’ defense, but when Tolzien was called on to throw the ball, he looked as uncomfortable as Jack Black did making out with Cloris Leachman on last year’s post-Super Bowl episode of The Office . And the accuracy of his throws would have made JaMarcus Russell recoil in horror.

The Badgers would presumably like to improve on last week’s win by getting back to the more balanced style of offense they had earlier in the season. Indiana, ranked last in the Big Ten in passing defense, should be the team to help cure whatever is ailing Scott Tolzien. 

In his limited play, Curt Phillips has shown absolutely nothing to make anyone believe that he can realistically compete for Tolzien’s job. Getting Tolzien back on track is imperative for Wisconsin on Saturday.

 

2. Feet Of Clay.

On the other hand, why fix it if it ain’t broke? Indiana’s run defense is better than its pass defense, but nobody would confuse Indiana’s front seven with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ run-stopping group.

John Clay will undoubtedly be able to have success Saturday, so perhaps Bielema will just continue to ride his best offensive weapon.

Feeding the ball to Clay early and often may say less about Bielema’s confidence in Tolzien and more about his desire to keep Indiana’s Ben Chappell—the fourth-ranked QB in the conference despite having only one superb game—off the field.

Chappell and receivers Tandon Doss and Damarlo Belcher are the best things going for Indiana right now, so limiting their playing time would be a solid gameplan.

 

3. One Shutout Is Good, But Two Is Better.

Let’s not mince words. Wisconsin should bury Indiana. The Badgers have won four straight against the Hoosiers, including a 55-20 smackdown in Bloomington last year.

And no one in Wisconsin needs to be reminded that the Badgers simply weren’t that good last year.

Can the Badgers’ defense, which has been stout since allowing 23 second-half points to Michigan State on September 26, pitch two shutouts in a row? Probably not, but they’ll come close enough to make it another long day for Indiana Hoosier fans.

Predicted final: Wisconsin 30, Indiana 7.

 

It was Ted Thompson’s worst nightmare, and fittingly enough, it happened just hours after Halloween ended.

Brett Favre. Celebrating at Lambeau Field. After having just beaten the Packers. As a member of the (shudder) Minnesota Vikings.

But the true nightmare for Mike McCarthy’s team is not that Brett Favre is now ahead of Ted Thompson in the greatest ongoing battle of will and ego since Roger Waters and David Gilmour fought over the use of the name “Pink Floyd.”

The Packers’ true nightmare, or at least it should be, is that by losing 38-26 to Favre’s Vikings on Sunday, they have virtually lost any hope they had of winning the NFC North title this season.

By sweeping the Packers and taking a 7-1 record into their bye week, the Vikings are virtually three games up on Green Bay’s soon-to-be 5-3 record (yes, I’m already putting next week’s game against Tampa Bay in the Packers’ win column; it’s the very definition of “lock of the week”).

That three-game lead will be nearly impossible to erase over the course of eight weeks.

But hold it, you say. Aren’t the Minnesota Vikings the biggest choke artists in the history of professional sports?

Aren’t they the team that a decade ago went 15-1 in the regular season and didn’t even make the Super Bowl? That started the 2003 season 6-0 and didn’t even make the playoffs? And then followed that up the next season by starting 5-1 only to finish at 8-8?

Well, yes.

It’s particularly tempting for Packers fans to look back on that 2003 season for reasons to believe that Green Bay has a shot at the NFC North title in 2009; in 2003, the Vikings held an even greater four-game lead on the Packers just seven weeks into the season. In the eighth game of the season, Green Bay beat Minnesota at the Metrodome, sparking a 7-2 run over the last nine weeks.

The Vikings, meanwhile, went 3-6 over those nine weeks, culminating in a last-second loss to the terrible Arizona Cardinals that sent the purple home for the off-season and the Packers into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the 2009 Vikings are not the 2003 Vikings and the 2009 Packers are not the 2003 Packers.

The 2003 Vikings had the turnover-prone Daunte Culpepper, the malcontent Randy Moss, the two-headed-garbage backfield of Michael Bennett and Moe Williams, a truly awful defense, and a true bonehead (Mike Tice) for a coach.

The 2009 Vikings have, at worst, a very good defense, an infinitely better rushing attack with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, unselfish receivers, and (yes, you knew I had to throw this in) a major upgrade at quarterback. And while Brad Childress isn’t exactly the second coming of Bud Grant, he’s not as big a putz as Tice was.

The 2009 Packers, meanwhile, look great on paper, in meaningless preseason games, and in lining up against the dregs of the NFL, but they carry with them major problems that are apparently irreparable under the current roster and regime.

This year’s Packers take too many penalties. Scratch that. They take too many stupid penalties.

They don’t get pressure on the quarterback.

Due to injury, they have an over-the-hill power running back returning kicks.

And, most glaring of all, they possess one of the worst NFL offensive lines in recent memory, which severely hinders their run game and makes Aaron Rodgers, who has become one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in an astonishingly short period of time, the biggest whipping boy since Saved By The Bell ’s Screech.

If the 2010 Packers can shore up that offensive line, they can play with anyone.

But this 2009 Packer team will be in a dogfight for one of two NFC Wild Card spots, and despite the alarming increase in godawful NFL teams this year, the Packers will face some stiff competition for those spots: Atlanta, Chicago, and any team from the NFC East not based in the nation’s capital are talented teams that will be fighting with the Packers for a postseason berth.

To make matters worse, the Packers have already played the majority of their cupcake games: After Tampa, Green Bay must play Baltimore, a rejuvenated Dallas, plus road games at Pittsburgh, at Arizona, and at Chicago.

The Vikings, meanwhile, get a very winnable three-game home stand after their bye week, and while some may question Favre’s durability as the season progresses, it seems just as likely that having the Packers games behind him has to be such a huge relief that he might even start to play better.

Favre continuing to play better? Now that he’s swept the Packers, that’s the NFC’s nightmare, not Ted Thompson’s.

What: Purdue @ Wisconsin.

Where: Camp Randall Stadium, ESPN2

When: Saturday, October 31, 11 AM CST.

I love the double bye.

I support the double bye.

I miss the double bye.

For anyone too young or for anyone too heavily engaged in the then-dominant stoner grunge scene to remember it clearly, the 1993 NFL season was the season of the double bye.  

For the first and only time, NFL teams (there were only 28 back then) played their 16 games over a period of 18 weeks, ensuring that each team had two bye weeks.

Also ensuring that NFL fans had an extra week to enjoy meaningful games.

But supposedly most teams found the double bye weeks too disruptive and the experiment, like The Golden Girls spin-off, ended after only one year.

But this year, the Wisconsin Badgers are bringing back the double byes, having just come off of one and also having another one over the Thanksgiving break before finishing the regular season at Hawaii the first Saturday in December.

Whatever fans might think of the weeks off, it’s clear that the first bye came at an opportune time for the Badgers, who needed the extra time to regroup after they were dominated for the first time this season two weeks ago against the then—and still—undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes. (I’m still calling that Ohio State loss a result of giving up big plays and not of being dominated.)

On paper, the Badgers should win the reminder of their games, but perhaps no upcoming game is more of a question mark than Saturday’s home game against Purdue.

Here are the Channel 3000 three storylines for Halloween’s Badger/Boilermaker tilt, which is, oddly enough, the team’s first meeting since 2006, which Wisconsin won 24-3.

1. Who are these guys?  At the start of this season, many were confused about the Badgers’ true identity, as the emergence of quarterback Scott Tolzien led to a much more balanced offensive attack than most preseason predictions indicated.

But a glance at Purdue’s 2009 wins and losses reveals the makings of a real schizophrenic squad: A win against Ohio State and a heartbreaking 38-36 loss to No. 10 Oregon suggests a very good team, while losses to Northern Illinois and Minnesota (part of an overall five-game losing streak) suggest a very bad team.

It’s fairly simple: Purdue can win when its defense plays well and when its offense limits mistakes. The Boilermakers had their first turnover-free game of the season last week against Illinois and the week before held Ohio State to just 287 yards of total offense while forcing Terrelle Pryor and company into five turnovers.

If the Boilermakers can force the suddenly error-prone Scott Tolzien (five interceptions in his last two games) into turning the ball over, they’ll have a good chance at pulling the upset.

2. Run Johnny Run.  How do the Badgers best put Scott Tolzien into a position to regain his early season form? Simply by running the football with John Clay. Not coincidentally, Clay has been held in check during the Badgers’ two-game losing streak, totalling just 134 yards on the ground after besting that total in three of the Badgers’ first five wins.  

The good news for Tolzien and Clay (and freshman Montee Ball and Zach Brown, who returns after missing the Iowa game with a concussion) is that Purdue is lousy against the run, surrendering 156 yards a game and a conference-worst 18 rushing touchdowns on the season. If the Badgers can establish the run against Purdue, and all signs indicate that they should be able to, Wisconsin should snap their losing streak.

3. Protect the quarterback, pressure the quarterback.  Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott has quietly been having a great season, ranking second in the conference and 15th in the nation in total offense per game (280 yards). The Badgers need to get pressure on him to try to discombobulate the Boilermakers’ proficient passing attack. Elliott has only been sacked twice during Purdue’s two-game winning streak.

Conversely, over the last two weeks, Scott Tolzien has been dumped more often than Willie Parker from NFL fantasy football rosters: Ten sacks in the last two games. When Tolzien is called on to make plays—and hey, even JaMarcus Russell is called on to make plays—the Badgers’ O-line has to do a better job of keeping him upright.

Despite Purdue being a tougher out than most people—even after the Ohio State upset—probably give them credit for, this looks like a good matchup for Wisconsin, particularly at home, and particularly coming off the first of their two bye weeks.

Predicted final: Wisconsin 35, Purdue 20.

Who: Wisconsin Badgers @ Minnesota Gophers

Where: TCF Bank Stadium, ESPN

When: Saturday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m. CST.

In listening to the new Beatles remasters, I keep having the same thought over and over:

Man, that Paul McCartney can play the bass.

In continuing with my musings, I also consider how McCartney was clearly the best vocalist of the four, clearly the best looking of the four (not completely irrelevant in their embryonic period), and not that far behind Lennon in terms of songwriting.

Yet, Beatle Paul is almost universally underappreciated and disrespected in comparison to Beatle John.

I feel the same way about this weekend’s Wisconsin/Minnesota Border Battles: The Packers/Vikings game is getting all the attention, while the Badgers/Gophers game is getting no respect.

And like I could make several arguments why Paul McCartney was the most talented Beatle, I could make several arguments why the Badgers/ Gophers matchup Saturday will actually be the better game.

So here, with a nod to the Beatles, are the Channel 3000 three storylines to watch as the Badgers travel to Minneapolis to continue the longest rivalry in NCAA Division 1-A football:

1. Why Don’t We Do It (On) The Road? The Badgers—particularly Scott Tolzien—have been fairly impressive so far, but can they repeat their early-season success on the road?

Last year’s Badger team was uninspiring away from Camp Randall, beating only Fresno State and lowly Indiana to finish 2-4 (including that awful showing in the Florida Citrus Bowl) on the road.

With upcoming games against Top 25 teams Ohio State and Iowa (the Hawkeyes coming off that big upset over Penn State), it’s imperative for Wisconsin to play well in Minneapolis Saturday to avoid a slide reminiscent of last year’s 0-4 stretch.

Beyond the obvious aesthetic improvements over the crappy Metrodome and the fact that alcohol is now no longer sold at Gopher home games, the fact that the game is Minnesota’s first Big Ten game in their new on-campus TCF Bank Stadium shouldn’t matter much. They could play this game at the new $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium or at Appleton West High School and it would be a game that both teams have circled on their calendars.

2. Will Scott Tolzien Be Throwing Here, There, and Everywhere?  Wisconsin’s passing game is improving every week, and while fans shouldn’t expect Tolzien to repeat his four-touchdown performance from a week ago, which came against a horrid Michigan State secondary, it’s worth noting that Minnesota has its own issues with its defense.

Just last week, the Gophers gave up a whopping 309 passing yards in a 35-24 victory against Northwestern; then, on Monday, Minnesota coach Tim Brewster suspended two defensive players for violating team rules.

Seems like the Minnesota defense is as good a defense as any for Tolzien to face in his first conference road game.

3. Will Eric Decker Have The Badgers Secondary Yelling “Help!”? Wisconsin’s defense did a fine job last week of shutting down Michigan State’s formidable passing attack, only allowing the Spartans to open it up after building a 38-17 fourth-quarter lead (255 of MSU’s 396 passing yards came in the final quarter).

Now Wisconsin’s backfield has to contend with Minnesota wideout Eric Decker, who is statistically the third-best receiver in the country. In four games this year, Decker has four touchdowns while averaging over 124 yards a game.

Last year, in what was a wild 35-32 Wisconsin win at home, Decker was out; two years ago, Decker torched the Badgers for 125 yards on just six receptions for two touchdowns. Decker is the best opposing skill player the Badgers have faced so far this season and they will have their hands full containing him.

In my preseason preview, I picked the Badgers to suffer their first loss of the season on Saturday. Obviously I’ve been right so far, but given the unexpected strong play of Scott Tolzien (which has been so good people have been forgetting about the run game, which oh, by the way, is second in the Big Ten), I expect to be proven wrong.

Picking the Gophers to take possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe, which has only happened twice since 1995?

I Should Have Known Better.

 

I hate fall.

 

Fall means the end of warm weather (and it wasn’t even warm this year in Southern Wisconsin—once again, global warming has let me down), the end of swimming (the only exercise I enjoy, although I’m not sure if taunting my son with threats of getting dunked counts as exercise), and the end of Big Brother (it is so depressing that Natalie is not only still there but is the current HOH, that it makes me want to tear off my shirt a la Jessie in disgust, only resisting out of fear of pulling my rotator cuff).

Perhaps worst of all, the start of fall brings about my birthday, which grows more and more depressing every year. It’s one thing to get old—after all, it’s sort of inescapable—but it’s another thing to be old and not be able to afford to have a mid-life crisis. I’d like to do the Vegas thing, but on my budget, I’d be lucky to do the Dubuque thing.

How old am I? Old enough that when it came time for the Red Robin staff to sing to me over the weekend—I hate telling anyone it’s my birthday, but it’s the only way to get that free desert—our waitress first announced to the other, highly disinterested patrons, that “Jeff is turning 21 today!” because ha, ha, I’m obviously so decrepit that just suggesting that I’m merely 21 is a laugh riot. I fumed until they brought me my free birthday sundae, which lightened my mood considerably.

 

What saves me from contacting Michael Jackson’s Propofal hookup every Autumn is football.

 

God, how I love football.

Not as much as my dog loves to lick himself in the middle of the night, keeping my wife and I awake in the process, but still quite a bit.

So here are my fearless predictions for 2009. I hope to do better than last year, when I predicted New England and Dallas would meet in the Super Bowl. Last I checked, neither team even made the playoffs.

 

NFC Central:

Remember when Saturday Night Live had that all-star season back in 84-85 with a cast that included Billy Crystal, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest?

Remember that the nearly-talentless Gary Kroeger was also in that cast? Well, Kroeger got no respect.

Similarly, the NFC North has received little respect in the last few years.

Either all of the teams have been bad-to-mediocre or one team has towered over the rest.

This year, I like the Packers, Vikings, and Bears all to finish with very strong records. The Bears and particularly the Packers should have better defenses, and the Bears and Vikings (with some fly-by-night dude whose name eludes me at QB) will have much improved quarterback play.

And hey, the Lions might even find a way to win a game!

In the end, I like the Bears to squeak out a division title. They’ve got the easiest schedule of all NFL teams (closely followed by the Vikings and Packers), Jay Cutler has a chance to be the best Bears QB in memory, and Matt Forte is a stud running back.

 

NFC East:

Last year the NFC East was arguably the best division in football, with no team finishing worse than .500. But every team has nagging questions coming into the 2009 campaign, none more so than Philadelphia: How will Michael Vick fit in? How much will the death of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson hurt? And can Brian Westbrook stay healthy?

Fortunately for the Eagles, they remain the best team in the division, particularly after the Giants’ Plaxico Burress got sent to jail and the Cowboys sent Terrell Owens to the NFL’s equivalent of Siberia, the Buffalo Bills. Say what you want about both men, but their play made their teams better. With the Redskins about as threatening as the cast of iCarly, look for the Eagles to take the division.

 

NFC South:

This is an interesting division. Again, a year ago, no team finished worse than .500, and that team was the loaded-with-talent New Orleans Saints. Defense was the problem in 2008 with the Saints and will continue to be so in 2009.

Although I like Atlanta’s trio of Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, and Roddy White, not to mention their offseason acquisition of Pro Bowl TE Tony Gonzalez, the team has never posted back-to-back winning seasons, and I’m not looking to bet against a 43-year-old streak. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be the biggest mess in the NFC.

That leaves the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers, who looked so horrible in last year’s playoff loss to the Falcons. The Panthers, led by the always-mediocre Jake Delhomme. The Panthers, who went 0-4 in the 2009 preseason. The Panthers, who have DeAngelo Williams and Steve Smith. Yes, the Panthers.

 

NFC West:

Now here’s a bad division. Seattle, if Matt Hasselbeck can stay healthy, should be better. San Francisco could emerge, but just like HD Radio, people have been talking about it for years and it has yet to happen (the 49ers do have the most entertaining head coach in the league in Mike Singletary, so they’ve got that going for them). Look for Arizona to repeat. Easily, if 50-year-old Kurt Warner stays upright.

 

AFC Central:

Back in 1992, I took in my first and only Lollapalooza concert. The main stage featured great acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. The side stage featured acts like The Vulgar Boatmen and Sweaty Nipples.

The AFC Central is like the 1992 Lollapalooza lineup. Baltimore and Pittsburgh represent the main acts, while Cincinnati and Cleveland represent the side stage disasters.

I think Pittsburgh, especially if their offensive line can protect Ben Roethlisberger and if Big Ben can focus on football in the face of off-field distractions, looks like the team to beat in the AFC.

As for Cleveland and Cincinnati? Ohio should be thankful they can lay claim to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, into which I believe Sweaty Nipples are due to be inducted in 2017.

 

AFC East:

Perhaps no division will be more closely watched than the AFC East. Does the return of Tom Brady make the Patriots the best team in the league again? Can Terrell Owens save the Bills from irrelevance? Can the Jets’ Mark Sanchez become this year’s Joe Flacco or Matt Ryan? Can last year’s surprise team, the Miami Dolphins, repeat as AFC East champions?

I said it today when my daughter tried to draw Elmo on the living room wall and I’ll say it in response to those four questions: “No, no, no, no!” But I wouldn’t bet against Tom Brady taking the Patriots on another deep playoff run.

 

AFC South:

The only interest I have in this division is for fantasy purposes: In my fantasy draft, I let elite quarterbacks go (you know you’re in Wisconsin when Aaron Rodgers goes second. Not in the second round or second among quarterbacks, but second overall) and got stuck with Jacksonville’s David Garrard, a scary thought considering he’s throwing to the washed-up Torry Holt and the awful Troy Williamson.

I also took a flyer on Colts rookie running back Donald Brown, whom I like, particularly if Joseph Addai gets injured again, which appears about as likely to happen as Kevin winning Big Brother 11 (by which I mean very likely). And I have the Titans defense, which has been solid, if unspectacular. (I never take a defense until I absolutely have to.)

Oh, in reality? The Titans will repeat as division champs.

 

AFC West:

Last but not least, the AFC West. Oh, wait, I meant “last AND least.” Thanks to Denver’s inevitable collapse, San Diego should finish much stronger than last year’s 8-8 record. Oakland might be an interesting sleeper in much the same way that the CW’s revamped Melrose Place might win a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting. Kansas City could be almost as bad as Denver. Which will be bad.

Wild cards: Minnesota and Indianapolis.

Conference champions: Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Super Bowl XLIV winner: Pittsburgh.

What a difference a year makes.

 

Last August 2, despite having just been swept in a four-game series by the hated Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers were thirteen games over .500 and had the second-best record in the National League.

Behind the newly-acquired CC Sabathia, the splashiest free-agent acquisition in club history, the Brewers would go on to win 20 of 28 games in the month of August.

This year, despite a weaker NL Central, the Brewers are two games under .500. The team hasn’t won a series in a month, despite playing the worst teams in       baseball—Pittsburgh, Washington, and San Diego—during that stretch.

And this year’s big trade?

The Brewers reacquired previously spurned teammate Claudio Vargas, the type of “blah” move typical of small-market, out-of-contention teams and hardly the sort of season-altering move that despairing fans and Ryan Braun had been hoping for.

The reliever showed his thanks to the Brewers by allowing a run in his first inning pitched, increasing his ERA by more than half a point in the process.

Brewers fans, it’s over.

Also last August 2, the Brett Favre saga had officially become the nation’s most talked-about soap opera, as  the newly-reinstated Favre was about to fly to Green Bay, where he would eventually be told by Mike McCarthy that he wasn’t in “the right mind-set” to play for the Packers.

He would be traded to the Jets on August 7.

Fast-forward a year later, and a surgically-repaired Favre has turned down an offer to go the Minnesota Vikings—the same team that the Packers prevented him from playing for a year ago.

Despite many in the media insisting that Favre will still change his mind and play this year—possibly joining a team in need midseason—and despite Favre’s odd decision to continue to practice with a Mississippi high-school team, I believed Favre when he spurned the Vikings by saying that he felt his body just wasn’t up to another NFL season.

Favre (and drama) fans, it’s over.

Favre’s decision to stay retired surprised so many people (including me) simply because it seemed to fly in the face of logic. If he ultimately wasn’t going to play, then why have the surgery to repair the torn biceps tendon? If he ultimately wasn’t going to play, then why say things like “we’re going to have a good offense” in relation to the Vikings?

If he ultimately wasn’t going to play, then why did he make us suffer through that appearance on that godawful Joe Buck HBO show? 

Simply put, Favre wants to play but knows he can’t. His decision to stay retired may have been the only logical, rational, thought-out decision he’s made since his initial retirement in March of 2008.

That’s why I believe it’s over.

I believe it’s over even though the Vikings just signed potential rookie wide receiver sensation Percy Harvin—the type of weapon Favre kept hoping Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson would bring to Green Bay—to a five-year deal.

I believe it’s over even though, in another bizarre twist to this story, presumed Vikings starting QB Tavaris Jackson sprained his left knee during the first day of practice.

When I first heard this, I had to think that the defensive lineman who rolled over on Jackson had been paid to do so simply so Brad Childress would have a good reason to reconnect with No. 4:

Childress: “Brett? You all done with your hunting and fishing?”

Favre: “Who is this?”

Childress: “It’s Brad. Hey (barely able to stifle laughter), T-Jack took a nasty hit today in practice and looks like he’ll be out for a while (or as long as we can keep him bound and gagged). So, what say you get on up here and put on some purple and we go to work?”

Favre:  “If you call me again, I’m going to tell Longwell to shank some kicks. He still owes me for a deal I got him on an ATV.”

With Favre out of the picture, Minnesota, with losers Jackson and Sage Rosenfels now competing for the QB position, is in trouble. (Star Tribunecolumnist Jim Souhan compared Favre’s absence at Vikings training camp to the E Street Band showing up without Bruce Springsteen.)

What spells trouble for Minnesota spells good news for Green Bay.

You remember the Green Bay Packers, right? An NFL team that plays up in northern Wisconsin in the smallest market in the country?

After a wildly eventful offseason last year, the Packers have had by far the quietest offseason of any team in the NFC North. That isn’t to say the Pack don’t have issues, chief among them the offseason switch from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 under new (and fantastically toupeed) defensive coordinator Dom Capers.

But a defensive switch isn’t as sexy a story as the Bears acquiring Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler, or the Lions grooming first pick overall Matthew Stafford to take over their UFL-grade team, or the Vikings getting burned one last time from Brett Favre.

No doubt Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson, after the circus atmosphere of last August, are happy to open training camp under the radar of the national media.

Last year there were endless questions about how Aaron Rodgers was going to perform in his first year as a starting quarterback; it turned out all of that hand-wringing over his ability to play was largely a waste of time.

Now the main question surrounding Rodgers is wondering whether he or Cutler is the best quarterback in the division.

Both Rodgers and Cutler have faced difficult situations. Last year Rodgers handled his team’s flirtation with the possible return of Brett Favre with remarkable maturity.

Crybaby Cutler handled his team’s flirtation with Matt Cassel with remarkable immaturity, resulting in the trade to Chicago, a town not prone to embracing soft football players.

Though both have impressed on the field, give me a player with Rodgers’s thick skin over an ultra-sensitive one like Cutler any day.

With Favre out of the picture, a year of experience behind Rodgers, and a defense that is sure to improve over last year, I like the Packers to contend very strongly with the Bears for the NFC North crown.

The 2009 Packers quietly developing into a contending team? That’s more than I can say for the 2009 Brewers.

What a difference a year makes.

Anybody who knows me knows that during the summer, I spend three glorious hours a week watching CBS’s Big Brother. I make no apologies for it, as I find the program endlessly entertaining.

 

However, this summer—thanks to a “gift” from DirecTV—I’ve been able to watch Showtime 2’s Big Brother After Dark, which is a nightly, three-hour unedited and uncensored live feed of the Big Brother house from 11 PM-2 AM CST.

After watching it for just a few minutes, it’s quite clear that Big Brother After Dark is the dullest program I’ve seen since The New Zoo Revue. I now have newfound respect for the loggers and editors of the CBS version of Big Brother.

Like those Big Brother editors, who every week perform a small miracle in filtering through endless hours of unwatchable material to pull out three hours of pure gold, I’ve sifted through endless games, highlights, and sports-related articles to bring you only the most interesting weekly (OK, give or take a few days) news. 

So here we go: 

1. Brett Favre

A few months ago, I wrote several blogs about Favre’s possible return to the NFL to play for the Vikings. I eventully got complaints from some readers that my blog had too much Favre, similar to my doctor telling me that my diet had too much soda. So I eased up on both.

What happened? Page views for my non-Favre blogs dropped and I turned into a narcoleptic from caffeine withdrawal. So from here on out, it’s all Favre and all soda all the time!

Anyway, there is now some spectulation that Favre, who weeks ago seemed poised to become the best old-fart Vikings quarterback since Randall Cunningham, is having second (or third, fourth, or fifth) thoughts.

ESPN reported that if it wasn’t for potential teammates Steve Hutchison, Adrian Peterson, and Jared Allen encouraging him via text messages to join the team, he might already have decided to stay retired. (I’m impressed that the 39-year-old Favre knows how to text; I’m younger and I have no idea.)

So what’s the hold up? Favre’s surgically-repaired throwing arm apparently feels fine, his throwing motion since the surgery (according to Vikings coach Brad Childress) is good, the Vikings obviously want him, and it’s doubtful that Favre’s competitive fire has completely extinguished over the last couple of weeks.

Methinks that with the physical obstacle cleared (mostly, I’m sure last year’s performance has Favre still wondering whether he can actually withstand another 16 weeks of games), Favre is now finally contemplating the obvious question of “can I really play for the Vikings?”

Nevermind that the Packers front office has given Favre their blessing, nevermind that most Packers fans have moved on to “Mister Rodgers’ Neighborhood”, never mind that the Vikings system seems a perfect fit for Favre, never mind that Favre says that playing for Minnesota is no big deal, that “it’s just football.” 

I believe Favre is seriously contemplating his legacy and is finally realizing that playing for the Vikings is not only a big deal but also a double-edged sword; if he can take the team to the Super Bowl (remember, the Vikings somehow managed a trip to the postseason last year despite being saddled with the two-headed goofball machine of Gus Frerotte and Tavaris Jackson at QB), then he will be the toast of the Twin Cities and Packer Nation will burn his enemy Ted Thompson in effigy for letting Favre go.

If Favre bombs in rival Minnesota, then the return will be a lifelong embarrassment for him and he will go to his grave enduring jokes about it, similar to how people still make fun of Shelley Long for leaving Cheers or deride John Travolta for his series of talking baby movies.

I still say Favre puts on his purple jersey and plays—his decision is expected to come no later than July 30, the day that the Vikings open training camp—but I was wrong about the timing of his original retirement and I was wrong about the Packers taking him back when he changed his mind a year ago. I wouldn’t be surprised to be wrong again.

2. ESPN Conquers World

I read with interest this piece regarding the growth of ESPN’s local Web sites. According to the article, it has taken only three months for ESPN Chicago to become Chicago’s most popular sports Web site, and ESPN will soon add new sites focusing on New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles sports, with more to come.

Now, I love ESPN. I watch games on ESPN, I get much of my sports happenings from ESPNews, and I listen to multiple ESPN podcasts every week (PTI is just as good audio-only, and of course, there’s no commercials). But I also hate ESPN. More precisely, I hate its power. (Put in Big Brother 11 terms, ESPN is the “athletes’ clique” of the house.)

While plans apparently aren’t in the works for an “ESPN Wisconsin” Web site, you’d have to think that if the New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas sites are as successful as the Chicago site has been, then the self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader In Sports” would have Wisconsin high up on its Web expansion list.

Why? Well, living here, we know that the passion that Wisconsinites have for the Badgers, Packers, and Brewers is unparalleled. And we also know how special our relationships to our teams are. Well, ESPN knows it too: Recently ESPN The Magazine released their annual “Ultimate Standings” of sports franchises, in which teams were ranked on how much they “give back to the fans.”

In the standings, both the Brewers (at seventh) and Packers (at 13th) ranked in the top 15; Pittsburgh was the only sports market to have two franchises ranked higher. (Yes, I’m counting “Wisconsin” as a single sports market, and no, these rankings did not rate collegiate teams.)

So Wisconsin seems like an ideal location for ESPN to target with one of its “local” sites. Here’s where I get all indignant and rally for my readers to support their local sports columnists and reporters, which I unwaveringly do. Trouble is, due to recent cuts, there are less local sports columnists and reporters to support.

Do you live in Madison and want to read a local reporter’s take on the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the most fervently-supported franchises in all of baseball? Sorry, since laying off long-time reporter Vic Feuerherd earlier this year, the Wisconsin State Journal can only offer up generic AP stories. (I know several fans that would probably submit more compelling recaps for free.)

As a fan of several Wisconsin sports reporters and columnists, I hope that any inroads ESPN may attempt to make in supplying so-called “local” coverage here will be met with either indifference or outright anger. But what ESPN wants, ESPN usually gets. And Wisconsin media outlets may not be able or willing to offer much resistance.

3. UFL Misunderstood, Still Lame

In my last entry, I mocked the United Football League for being a colossal waste of time and money. Since then I heard a very interesting interview (yes, on an ESPN podcast. Damn it!) with the commissioner of the UFL who crystalized the goals of the league.

Instead of working against the NFL (which he acknowledged was a losing battle), he said the league will be working in tandem with the NFL in terms of developing talent and providing a place for second-tier players (like J.P. Losman, who recently signed up) to acquire more playing time.

Makes sense. I still won’t be watching.

4. Erin Andrews

Speaking of ESPN, this Erin Andrews peephole Internet video blather reminds me of why I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet similiar to my relationship with ESPN. 

Like most people, I can now no more imagine life without the Internet then I can imagine life without the microwave or indoor plumbing. But the power of the Internet to destroy someone’s privacy is scary. But not as scary as Joyce DeWitt’s mug shot, pictured below.

Oh, before I go, Monday (July 27) is my thirteenth wedding anniversary. Thanks for putting up with me for thirteen great years, Keri. Your patience is remarkable. Happy anniversary.