Brat Predictions and Reviews for week past of Nov 7-9 and week ahead Nov 14-16.

Well I had a pretty good week with my Brat predictions as I picked Northwestern to upset Iowa, Stanford to upset Oregon and on Sunday night the Dallas Cowboys shocked the Philadelphia Eagles as I said in my last blog 20-16 in Philadelphia. On Monday night, my favorite team the Pittsburgh Steelers kicked the Denver Broncos around like a can winning 28-10 in Denver.

Next weekend in college football I’m picking #4 ranked TCU at home to beat #14 Utah in a big matchup of non BCS conference contenders. In the Big Ten I think #10 Ohio State will beat #15 Iowa in a matchup that could determine the Big Ten title although I’m not really impressed with the Big Ten nationally this year. I also think #21 Wisconsin needs to beat Michigan in Madison, beat Northwestern on the road next week and then go to Hawaii in a few weeks and win there. That would give them 10 wins a shot at a New Years Day bowl and an outside shot at a BCS game although they would need Ohio State and Iowa the only teams that beat them this year to lose.

In pro football I am picking three games. My Pittsburgh Steelers are playing well and have a big game at home against the Cincinatti Bengals who beat them earlier this season for first place in the AFC North division. Go Steelers. Also the first place Dallas Cowboys in their division the NFC East  travel to Green Bay to play the Packers who are struggling at 4-4. Sorry Packer fans I like the Cowboys in this game. Finally on Sunday night in a battle of the two best two AFC powers besides the Steelers it will be the New England Patriots and  Tom Brady against  the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning who are two if not the best quarterbacks in the league with four Super Bowls wins between them.  In this hard fought game as usual I like the Colts to stay undefeated winning on a last second field goal 30-27 over the Patriots. We’ll see what happens and talk soon. Best wishes and take care. badgerbratmanintexas

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings come to Green Bay and beat the Packers 38-26. BOO!!

It was a spooky Halloween weekend in Green Bay as former Packers quarterback Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings came to Green Bay and beat the Packers 38-26. In the pregame and for much of the game Brett Favre got loudly booed. And to think Favre played in Green Bay, won them a Super Bowl, played in another, had 15 of 16 winning seasons and numerous passing records. How quickly fans disregard that when Favre plays for the rival and hated Minnesota Vikings. Shame on these fans somewhat. I understand their bitterness as I have seen favorite players go to play for rival teams before, but shouldn’t they have concentrated on the Packers failures on special teams & defense and lack of a red zone offense for most of the game when it counted before they got some late points to make the score more respectable. That is what I would have booed most Packers fans before booing Favre. No matter what you think of Favre’s decisions on where and when to play remember that he is playing remarkably at age 40 when he should be retired. The Vikings are 7-1 and Favre threw 7 touchdowns and no intereceptions against his former team the Packers which did let him go last summer. I understand and appreciate the Packers tradition and so does Favre for that matter. But I would like to see him win another Super Bowl if they don’t play the Steelers who are my favorite team. Minnesota has never won a Super Bowl. The Packers have won three Super Bowls and twelve World Championships overall. That is why it would be sweet to see Favre help the Vikings win a Lombardi Trophy another reference to former Packers coach Vince Lombardi that Packers fans would not like to see Favre and the Vikings get. But congratulations to Favre for beating the Packers twice. Love or hate Favre I think you have to admire and respect Favre as an athlete and cheer him for that. Best wishes and thanks for reading. badgerbratintexas

Texas High School Football: Tyler, Texas Rose City Rivalry-John Tyler vs Tyler Robert E. Lee.

About a year ago I wrote a blog about my high school Homestead High in Mequon, Wisconsin winning another state title. At the same time I’ve been starting to follow high school football in Texas. No disrespect to Wisconsin or some other states, but Texas is among the best high school football states in the country so I’ve been checking it out the last few years. Players and teams are nationally ranked and many players go on to major colleges or the pros.

In Tyler the best player ever was running back Earl Campbell, nicknamed the Tyler Rose. He won a state championship at John Tyler in 1973, won the Heisman Trophy at Texas in 1977 and had a great career with the Houston Oilers mostly and the New Orleans Saints before retiring due to injuries.

Now the stadium in Tyler is called Rose Stadium and Earl Campbell Field. This year I made it to the Rose City Rivalry game between John Tyler and cross town rival Tyler Robert E. Lee. This year John Tyler came into the game 8-0 and Tyler Lee was 3-5 after a tough non district schedule. But on this night Tyler Lee had John Tyler’s number. They ran back the opening kickoff, led 21-0 and went on to a 28-17 victory over a nationally ranked John Tyler team. It proves you never no what will happen when rivals meet, Tyler Lee’s record was underrated because of their tough competition and it shows the passion and talent in Texas’s high school football system. The next time you watch a game see if a player comes from a powerful high school state like Texas, California, Florida, Pennslyvania or Ohio. There is good football in other states like Wisconsin and other places but when you hear about more great players coming out of a state like Texas you know the action is good. Check it out. I’ll keep you informed and keep in touch. Best wishes. badgerbratwurstintexas

Brett Favre and Vikings return to Lambeau Field this weekend, Bucks begin NBA season and Badgers vs Purdue in college football at Camp Randall Stadium.

It will be a busy weekend in Wisconsin sports this weekend as well as elsewhere as Brett Favre finally returns to Lambaeu Field in Green Bay with the Packers division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings. That should be interesting from the mixed reception for Favre, the Vikings division leading 6-1 against the 4-2 Packers and the comparisons between Favre and the quarter back who followed him in green Bay Aaron Rodgers. Favre and the Vikings won the first matchup between the teams 30-23 on October 5 in Minnesota

Meanwhile the Wisconsin Badgers at 5-2 try to get back on the winning track after two consecutive losses against the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue upset Ohio State 26-18 a couple weeks ago after the Badgers lost to the Buckeyes 31-13  the week before. And then Purdue beat Illinois 24-14 last week when the Badgers were off and they are a suddenly hot team at 3-5 while the Badgers try to get back on track. So we’ll see what happens.

Finally the Milwaukee Bucks begin their 41st NBA season and the NBA schedulemakers don’t think too much of the Bucks who while improved last year finished last in the NBA Central Dvision with a 34-48 record even though they contended for a playoff spot in the weaker Eastern Conference for much of the season. And to show some disinterest in the Bucks the NBA has scheduled them as the last NBA team to start their season on Friday night at Philadelphia on the fourth night of the season. All the other teams have a game or two the first three nights of the season. The Bucks open at home on Halloween night, Saturday against Detroit.

So that’s this weekend’s Wisconsin sports update as we change the clocks one hour back and head into November on Sunday. Best wishes and thanks for reading. badgerbratintexas

Should the Wisconsin Badgers Head Coach Bret Bielema be concerned about getting fired as Badgers head coach?

No I don’t know any information and this is just my curiousity and disappointment in recent Badgers games the last few years but I am beginning to wonder if Brett Bielema is the best long term choice head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers football team since he was appointed as the succesor to fomer Badgers coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez in 2006.

Bielema’s first couple years were great. He finished 12-1 in 2006 and beat Arkansas in the New Years Day in the Capital One Bowl. In 2007 he had another good season playing in the slightly lower tier Outback Bowl New Years Day game and losing in the last minute to Tennessee. Then in 2008 the Badgers struggled more and finished 7-6 with a blowout loss to a mediocre Florida State team 42-13 in a lower non New Years Day bowl the Champs Bowl.

The first few years Bielema benefited from Alvarez’s recruits and had very good records. But as time has gone on Bielema’s record has become more medocre around .500. The Badgers can beat mediocre and bad teams but they are struggling against the Big Ten’s better teams like Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State and even lost to a 3-9 Michigan team last year.  They also rarely play strong non conference opponents in season such as USC, Notre Dame, Big 12 or SEC opponents among other national power teams.

I think this all hurts the Badgers as they try to become one of the nation’s elite teams again which they became in the 1990’s under then coach Barry Alvarez winning three Rose Bowls, and running back Ron Dayne became the all time NCAA rushing leader and Heisman Trophy winner in 1999.

I wish the Badgers luck as they try to find their way back and coach Bielema is a good coach and good guy. And while it isn’t all the head coaches fault I wonder if he is the right guy to coach the Badgers team long term. Please let me know what you think. Take care and best wishes. badgerbratwurst in Texas and a frustrated Badgers fan!

Brat Predictions for October 17-19 College and Pro Games.

Hi football Fans,

In this weeks Brat Predictions I’m picking three college and three pro games. In college football I’m picking Iowa over Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, USC over Notre Dame at South Bend and Texas over Oklahoma in the Red River Shhotout in Dallas.

In pro football I’m picking the undefeated Giants over the undefeated Saints, the Vikings over the Ravens in a good matchup and in a close pick em game I’ll take the Falcons over the Bears by a field goal in Atlanta.

As always we’ll see what happens and I’m often wrong so don’t likely go and bet the house. As always we’ll keep in touch and thanks for reading. best wishes. badgerbratwurst

Minnesota Twins win an exciting AL Central play-in game 6-5 over the Detroit Tigers in 12 innings but I’m still not as excited about the baseball playoffs as I used to be. I’ll explain.

Tonight the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 in twelve innings to win the AL Central in a play-in to the playoffs game. It was an exciting game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis and I’m happy for the Twins who trailed the Tigers by seven games a month ago. But I’m not happy with baseball because there is no salary cap and uneven competition between the richer have money teams like the Yankees and Red Sox and teams like the Pirates and Royals among others who were competitive 20 years ago, but are priced out now in competition due to the ridiculous salary increases in baseball since the strike that canceled the World Series in 1994. 

Yes I’ve heard of the luxury tax which creates some revenue sharing and the smarter small market teams have found a way to compete on a shorter term basis like the Twins, the Brewers last year and the Rays who went all the way to the World Series. These teams can compete on a short term basis, but it is very hard to compete salary wise with the major have money teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. I am a Red Sox fan as well, but I don’t like to see unfair competition and somewhat watered down championships against weaker competition. I wish commisioner Bud Selig, the owners and the stubborn players union would get this but it is a business and they are looking out for money before the fans and that’s sad. Football could head down the same road without a salary cap if they don’t get a new collective barganing agreement. Hockey lost a year of it’s schedule to a lockout in 2004-2005 but came back with a new salary cap. Basketball had a lockout about 10 years ago as well and hasn’t been the same game to me since as well.

So in conclusion, while we love our sports and can’t do much to control the business side of it, we can tune it out somehat when we can. I’m not going to watch as much of the postseason this year. I know it won’t do that much in the big picture but if enough fans stopped watching baseball and other sports would have to take notice. It still might not change much but we have to try to stand up as fans and try to get the games back that we once and still love. Otherwise we fans are just as much have nots as the smaller market teams who have trouble competing and we’re being taken advantage of as well. All I can do is write and ask these miilionare players and owners to share their money. Good luck with that and maybe I’ve given you a little perspective why I’ll have trouble enjoying ther playoffs until they change the salary system in baseball. I still enjoy going to and watching the games between April and September when every team plays. It’s just the closing act and overall product that needs fixing. Please let me know what you think. Best wishes. badgerbratwurst

Badgers win 34-31 over Fresno State in 2 OT and Packers beat Bears 21-15 in Wisconsin Sports Action.

The Badgers won another exciting game against Fresno State 34-31 in 2 OT while the Packers got off to an impressive start in the 2009 NFL season with a 21-15 win over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field Sunday night.

The Badger victory showed some flaws defensively falling behind by 14 points in the first half, but for the second week in a row they found a way to pull it out and get a win. Even though Fresno State is a mid major non BCS team they have played the Badgers tough over the years including a victory against the Badgers back in 2001. So while it might not get the style points of beating USC, it’s still a very nice victory and the Badgers are 2-0 with one more non conference game against Wofford next week before beginning the Big Ten conference schedule against Michigan State.

The Packers were impressive in beating the Bears as quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a solid game and new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler did not after throwing 4 interceptions in the 21-15 loss at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. We’ll see how things go in the exciting NFC North race as new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and the Vikings beat the Cleveland Browns 34-20 in Cleveland. Stay tuned and talk soon. Best wishes badgerbratwurstintexas

Badgers beat Northern Illinois 28-20 and Prince Fielder has a walkoff 12th inning home run to beat Giants Sunday.

It was a pretty exciting weekend in Wisconsin sports as the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday night opened their 2009 college football season with a 28-20 win over Northern Illinois. On Sunday afternoon Prince Fielder hit a 12th inning walkoff homer to lead the Brewers who are out of the playoff race over the San Fransisco Giants who are in the NL Wildcard race and fell two games behind the Colorado Rockies with the loss.

The Badgers won their game but that isn’t always enough in college football. First the Badgers had a 28-6 lead in the third quarter, but had to hang on to win 28-20 against a  mediocre opponent Northern Illinois. However, College football and the BCS system is about who you play strength of schedule wise and how well you play against them and unfortunately sometimes a win isn’t enough. However I am one who is happy with just winning and improvement in the team so the Badgers season opening victory was good with Fresno State coming to Madison next week.

As for the Brewers game the victory doesn’t mean much with the team out of the playoff race. But it is nice to see them play hard and play spoiler against the Giants who are in playoff contention. It was also nice to see Prince Fielder hit a game winning walkoff homer. Three weeks ago I was in Milwaukee at the game vs the Astros and Fielder flied out to deep right to end the game while trying to tie it with a home run.  Oh well. However I did see former Brewer Bill Hall hit a walkoff home run against the Padres in 2006 so I did have that experience.

Anyway have a great Labor Day holiday, take care, stay safe and talk soon. Best wishes. badgerbratwurst

Baseball Fans:Watch out for the NL Wildcard race as well.

Last week in a blog I wrote I mentioned that the AL Wildcard race between the Red Sox, Rangers and Rays was one of the most exciting races in baseball. But then a friend mentioned that I should mention the NL Wildcard race which is now currently tied between the Colorado Rockies and San Fransico Giants who are also both fighting with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West division title as well. Also the Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs entered September within 6 games of the wildcard lead. These leads can get close, change and go down to the last few games of the season so stay tuned. Best wishes and take care. badgerbratwurst