Brewers No Longer Feel Need to Violate 'Baseball Etiquette' to Get Under Cardinals' Skin

Greetings ... you'll notice fewer updates in the coming weeks as I work on football preview research and play lots of NCAA and -- eventually -- Madden on the XBox.

Priorities ...

Anyway, the Brewers continue to play pretty darn good baseball as of late, and are now 12-1 in their last 13 games after a ten-inning win in St. Louis Tuesday.

You might remember a couple years ago, when the Brewers seemed to irk the Cardinals every time the teams played, largely because of their goofy walk-off celebrations and the Mike Cameron-initiated jersey-untucking after wins.

This time, the Brewers are irritating the Cardinals without the antics. They're doing it by going 7-3 so far in the season series.

Led off the field by Ron Roenicke and on it by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, the Brewers are not behaving like the Brewers of old.

Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post Dispatch had a great column on the rivalry, and what appears to be a maturing Milwaukee team that has transformed itself from the fun-loving, brash bunch that got in the playoffs three years ago.

After years of playing the role of the nettlesome, shirt-tail flipping kids in their competitive relationship with the grumpy but proper Cardinals, the Brewers have evolved into a far more disturbing role for the Redbirds: a mature and confident title contender.

They don't need to yank out their shirt tails anymore to get on the nerves of the cantankerous old-school Cards. Instead, they seem to do it by playing solid, smart - and yes, unflinching - baseball in front of their barking elders.

... Maybe in the past, the Brewers might have shrunk a bit when the Cardinals blustered about any real or perceived affront to baseball's unwritten rules. But now they will stand their ground - and even act like adults - like last week during the great dust-up about Cards manager Tony La Russa's contention that the Brewers were pitching Albert Pujols dangerously high and tight. Last week's strategy sparked a beanball battle and a potential scuffle (neutralized by of all people Fielder, the guy who once stormed to the doors of an opponent's clubhouse to demand retribution).

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you go from Ned "Mortal Kombat" Yost to Ken "Zzzzz" Macha to Roenicke, an even-keel guy who clearly has the respect of his players.

If last week's scoreboard/sign-stealing/throw at Braun/"idiots in the stands" fiasco happens with Yost running the team, half of the team's remaining meetings would include either a bench-clearing incident or the very real threat of one.

This isn't to rip Yost or blame him for the team's past shortcomings. He did some good things in Milwaukee, helping lead the franchise from the depths of despair to where they are now. He played a positive role in that, even though it appeared at times his demeanor was helping hold the team back.

Roenicke, though, has gotten to these guys. His attitude last week was basically to blow off what happened and focus on the next game. His players followed suit, just like every GM dreams when he hires a coach or manager and something like that happens during the season.

We have a lot of baseball to play before October hits, but the Brewers appear to be in just as good a position as they have ever been in. Win another game in this series -- or two! -- and things will only look rosier.

Ken Macha Told to Sleep in Someone Else's Dugout From Now On

The Milwaukee Brewers wasted no time doing the obvious after Sunday's season finale, which was -- naturally -- a loss.

They told manager Ken Macha they would not exercise the club's option on his contract for 2011. Macha was only ten games under .500 in two years, but it seemed evident there was friction between him and the players, especially stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.

Macha didn't do many of the little things former manager Ned Yost did right.

When an opposing player threw at Braun or Fielder, Yost made sure there was retaliation. Of course, it was sometimes ill-timed, but it was executed, for crying out loud.

Macha? He didn't believe in that, apparently. Instead, he let guys get hit time after time, and continued to let opposing pitchers off the hook until well after the Brewers were out of it. Incensed, the players didn't bother using it as a rallying point.

Yost used Braun's speed. He used Mike Cameron's speed. He would have used Carlos Gomez' speed.

Macha? Doesn't like making outs on the bases. Apparently, he'd prefer we just made them at the plate and eliminated the middle man.

Yost didn't let his guys get jobbed by an umpire. If it happened, he was in the umpire's grill in a matter of seconds. If he got thrown out of the game, dammit, he got thrown out of the game. It was fine, because he was sticking up for his guys. His players felt good when that happened, because they knew he had their backs. It made them want to play for him.

(The best image of this came in June, when the Brewers played a series at Target Field against the Twins. In the first game, Dave Bush was getting barked at by a crappy home-plate umpire who wouldn't give him anything, including the strikes he was throwing. Macha sat on his hands and only left the dugout when it was time to pull Bush from the game.)

Brewers fans liked to joke that Macha was always sleeping in the dugout. At least I think they were joking. I never saw it actually happen, after all ... even though his mannerisms suggested he was slipping away from consciousness once in a while during games.

Anyway, on his way out the door, Macha woke up long enough to talk about his dismissal, or whatever you want to call what the Brewers have done here.

Macha also acknowledged his trying relationships with stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder while noting that several other players he had good relationships with thanked him after yesterday’s season finale, including Corey Hart, Casey McGehee and Wolf among plenty of others.

Still, it was those other two players that he never could develop great rapports with despite his efforts.

“If the effort wasn’t reciprocated, then there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. You can’t force guys to do that,” Macha said. “Some guys were open to discussion and some guys weren’t, I guess, but that’s the same with every club.

“I talked a lot to Ryan, almost every day, but he does his own thing. He’s going to do what he wants to do.

“With Prince, I think he had some issues this year to deal with, the contract probably being the main thing, and at times he was hard to talk to. I don’t know if there were any guys on the staff that talked a whole lot to him this year.

“Those are the two guys, but the rest of the guys it was all positive. I opened up to (Braun and Fielder) but you have to have a back and forth. The faces of the franchise, that’s what they are.”

The bottom line is that he didn't get the job done. Making a connection with Braun and Fielder would have been fine, but it would have involved Macha being different than the way he was. His personality just wasn't going to mesh with these two guys.

Yes, Braun and Fielder should have made more of an effort to get along with their on-field boss. But we live in a society now where the coach has to give some, too. It's not 1966 anymore, when "my way or the highway" coaches won games by scaring the hell out of their players.

Macha managed like it was 1966, and while there are some veteran teams that he could be effective with, this is simply not one of them. It's a younger team that needs a high-energy manager who understands matchups and tactics, and he understands how to relate to his star players.

Without that, no coach or manager can last ... not in 2010. Or 2011.

NED YOST vs BRETT FAVRE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DEPARTURES

One man took the high road, wished his old team well, and appeared to mean every word of it.

The other publicly took the high road, talked about wanting them to do well, and proceeded to knife them in the back.

Kevin Hench of FOXSports.com makes the seemingly inconceivable comparison between Ned Yost and Brett Favre.

If Favre needs a road map from Wisconsin to that elusive high road he should take a look at the way Ned Yost handled his firing from the Brewers with 12 games to play despite being tied for the wild card.

"If anybody thinks that I've got sour grapes or I don't want this club to succeed, they're crazy," said Yost. "I'll be rooting them on every inch of the way and I hope they can win that wild card and go deep, deep into the playoffs and win the World Series."

Gee, you mean Yost didn't call up Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and give him the Brewers' signals?

Yost took his separation from the Brewers like a man. Favre has taken his separation from the Packers like a spiteful, petulant child.

Bingo.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Ever since FOX's Jay Glazer reported that Favre spilled the beans to the Detroit Lions in a lame attempt at sabotage, I've wrestled with a few feelings on the topic.

For starters, I'm fully cognizant of the fact that this doesn't breach any NFL rules. I'm not sure that alone means anything, but anyone suggesting a Brett Favre fine or suspension are off the mark.

In many ways, this is much more meaningful than a fine or suspension.

This is about image. Legacy. Perception among the classiest, most loyal fans in sports.

When Favre was traded, CBS stations in Wisconsin were inundated with calls from fans who wanted to see the Jets play. Most of them are carrying upwards of eight Jets games this season. Even though he left the Packers, the circumstances of his departure were less than ideal, and the Packers had their own season to play, fans still wanted to watch Brett Favre play for the Jets.

Perhaps Favre has miscalculated the fans' loyalty towards him.

They're not jumping ship in droves. They're still filling Lambeau Field. They're buying Aaron Rodgers jerseys. They're making signs about Aaron Rodgers. They're cheering for Aaron Rodgers. They're smacking his helmet when he does a Lambeau Leap.

Meanwhile, Favre is inexplicably trying to sabotage his former team.

And he's failing.

I mean, if you're going to give the dirt to the Lions, you'd think the Lions could at least stay within three touchdowns, right?

(There has been speculation that he may have also given tips to Seattle, coached by former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren, and Minnesota (duh). So I'll just mention here that the Packers won those games, too. Maybe Favre kinda sucks at this "giving out secrets" thing. Or maybe Mike McCarthy smelled out the plot and changed the questions that Favre was answering.)

Meanwhile, the Brewers lost to the Phillies in the National League Division Series, but it wasn't because of espionage or dirty tactics by Yost. Instead, it was because they weren't good enough.

In reality, that's the reason Yost was fired, even though he didn't help himself by being uptight with the players and media, and not understanding that the media is a vehicle to communicate with the people who actually buy tickets to watch your team play.

Maybe it's killing Favre that we're almost halfway through the season, and Rodgers has better numbers.

Or maybe he's just an immature jerk who can't stand that fact that Ted Thompson is running the show in Green Bay.

TOLL THE BELL

After nearly six years of inept managing in the face of improving - and sometimes elite - talent, the Milwaukee Brewers have seen the light.

Ned Yost got canned today.

This is not to celebrate a human being losing his or her job. Ned's got a family, like many of us, and no one wants to get fired from their job, no matter what the job is.

When the Brewers traded for CC Sabathia, the described mentality of the club was "all-in". It seemed as if everyone in the front office was united in going for a championship this year, using their contract-year star pitchers to carry them there.

No, Ben Sheets hasn't had a good second half. Yes, Manny Parra has hit the wall. Yes, Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan are typical bottom-of-the-rotation starters, capable of looking alternately good and terrible.

But this team isn't this bad. They're not 3-11 over 14 key games bad. They're not incapable of scoring runs or hitting, as they've looked.

Whether this is Ned's fault or not doesn't matter. He pays for it, because it's happened too often, and he can't stop it.

It's possible that Ned wound this team too tight. It's possible he did everything he could to unwind them and had no success. Either way, it was time for him to go.

Actually, it was time for him to go a long time ago. But better late than never, I say.

In honor of Yost's departure and the team's glorious meltdown, let's take a look back in time for some of our favorite Yostings.

I was on this a year ago. "Yost refuses to do the necessary homework on his opponents, he seems clueless as to how to put his own players in positions to succeed, and it's the same old story. Same old song and dance, my friend. The Brewers are a .500 team, at least until they start playing the Cubs this week, and much of it falls on Ned's shoulders. This marks the third time in the last four years (Ned gets a mulligan on the first year because it was a disaster trying to follow up on Davey Lopes and Jerry Royster) that the Brewers have fallen flat after the All-Star break. Is it always the players' fault? If so, at what point do these collapses fall on the manager?"

Ned started up early this year. "Had 'using a closer with a history of arm problems for a fourth straight day' been Yost's only crime, we wouldn't be here today.

Instead, Yost didn't stop screwing up Sunday's game in Cincinnati.

After deciding to lift Gagne, he went to Salomon Torres. This would be fine, except that the Reds had a gaggle of left-handers due up, and left-handed (and rubber-armed) reliever Brian Shouse was sitting in the bullpen.

Torres is right-handed, Ned, you idiot!

Reds win.

Yosted."

It was as if he didn't even understand the roster. "The Brewers' leadoff hitter is batting .188, with an OBP below .330. He's led off all but one game, even though his batting average hasn't topped .204 since April 13."

The guy's just an idiot. "After blowing a game by making four hideous errors, including two to key a two-run seventh inning, Brewers manager Ned Yost got snippy with the media. After all, how DARE you question the ability of this team to learn from the mistakes they're making practically every day."

He isn't much of a leader. "I almost felt like this series, we didn't expect to win," Braun said after the 11-7 defeat that dropped the Brewers into sole possession of last place in the NL Central with five consecutive losses. "We were competing; I know everybody tried hard. But it's not about trying hard. You've got to expect to win. I almost feel like we never really expected to win any of these games. I just kind of had that feeling.

"It's just a feeling. Every time we were winning, I just didn't feel we expected to win. It was like we were just content to be there and compete. I don't think we necessarily expected to win.

"Obviously, they're a great team. It's a good gauge of where we're at when we can go out and compete with those guys. For us, as a team, our goal can't be to compete. Our goal has to be to win.

"Obviously, to come in here and win the series would have been extremely difficult but it's a real disappointment to come in here and get swept.

"A team like (Boston), they come out every day and expect to win. You can just sense it. I feel like we're there at times but we need to come with that approach every . No matter who we're playing against, no matter who's throwing against us, and expect to win. Part of that comes with success, comes with beating good teams and good pitchers. We're too talented to approach the game any other way.

"We've got to figure it out and figure it out in a hurry. We're better than that. We're certainly talented enough to win games. But a lot of it, our approach mentally, sometimes has to improve.

"We've got to go to Pittsburgh and try to find a way to win the series and go to Washington and find a way to win that series. We can't play like this for very long, as deep and talented as our division is. We're six weeks into it now.

"By no means is it time to panic. We just have to find a way to start playing better consistently in all facets of the game."

Did I mention that he's just an idiot? Dmitri Young was up with a runner on after Mota walked a .100 or so hitter. Young's OPS against lefties has dwindled considerably in recent years, to the point where the Nationals don't let him do much against them.

Left-hander Brian Shouse was sitting in the bullpen.

With runners on first and third, Yost let Mota pitch to Felipe Lopez, even though he could have set up a force at each base with an intentional walk.

(Also worth noting: Lopez is pretty fast, and the odds of an inning-ending double play were low with him batting.)

Did I mention Mota was pitching his fourth inning over two days, and was pitching multiple innings in a day game after a night game?

That bullpen thing again. Carlos Villanueva pitched the seventh inning, striking out two hitters in a 1-2-3 inning. He threw a grand total of ten pitches, as his renaissance continues in the bullpen. With the score still 4-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, it seemed like a no-brainer to keep Villanueva in the game.

Leave it to the manager with no brains to not figure that out. Instead of leaving the hot, fresh pitcher in the game, he brought Guillermo Mota out. The result? Disaster. A five-run inning that propelled Colorado to a 6-4 win.

I mean, the writing was placed firmly on the wall. This move was a long time coming, and I can only hope it happened at a point where this team still has a shot at the playoffs.

Good luck, boys.

BREWERS LOOKING AT SABATHIA

A couple weeks ago, ESPN's Buster Olney told the Baseball Tonight audience that the Milwaukee Brewers would be a contender to trade for Cleveland left-hander and reigning AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia.

I laughed. My wife looked at me, and I said "No way we trade for a guy who we can't sign".

In my heart of hearts, I thought I was right. However, this is where I can sometimes get burned for spending no time whatsoever following the Brewers' minor-league system.

See, the Brewers' Double-A team in Huntsville is very good. So good that they had eight guys picked for the Southern League All-Star Game. And with that information as a backdrop, you can understand why Milwaukee appears to be taking their best shot at Sabathia.

Tom Haudricourt lays out the rest of the case, beyond the superb minor-league system.

The Brewers lost young right-hander Yovani Gallardo for the season with a knee injury on May 1, a devastating blow to their starting rotation. With right-hander Ben Sheets headed for free agency after the season and the future of first baseman Prince Fielder uncertain, the Brewers aren't guaranteed of being in this position a year from now. That situation heightened the urgency to find an established starting pitcher who might put them over the top, and they immediately targeted Sabathia.

Meanwhile, Buster Olney of ESPN.com explains why you make this deal, citing the Brewers' outstanding scouting and player development system.

The Brewers are a mid-market team that must rely on its player development to compete, so trading a star prospect like LaPorta would be a major sacrifice. However, rival officials note that the Brewers have an excellent track record in scouting and drafting and got a boatload of picks in the recent June draft. And if Milwaukee were to deal for Sabathia and then see him walk away as a free agent at year's end, along with Sheets, the Brewers likely would receive four compensation draft picks. "You might see them have five picks among the first 35 in the draft," said an NL official.

Wait. You mean we can take a shot at the World Series with two dominant starters, then give universally respected scouting director Jack Zduriencik five of the first 35 picks in next June's draft?

I'm sold. Let's go for it.

It's been 26 years for the Brewers. With Ben Sheets likely set to walk after the season, there's no harm in adding another pitcher who will also walk. Let Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan, and (gulp) Dave Bush or Seth McClung finish off the rotation. Besides Parra, the only pitcher in need of developmental time at the big-league level is Yovani Gallardo, and he looked very good before he was injured and lost for the season a month in. So you're not costing yourself any time that could be spent developing other players. Let Sheets and Sabathia anchor the starting rotation, and carry us as far as we can go.

Maybe, if we get this pitching staff to a certain level, it will be impossible for Ned Yost to screw it up.

THERE'S MADNESS TO HIS METHOD

There he is, looking as dumbfounded as he usually does.

Brewers manager Ned Yost had his club in auto-pilot over the course of a nine-game homestand. It's hard to screw things up when your team goes 8-1 and outscores three good opponents by a total of 27 runs.

However, when a six-game road trip began in Denver Friday night, Yost was back to his old tricks. In a close game, he infuriated Brewer fans by again botching the management of his bullpen. In doing so, he again screwed his ace, Ben Sheets, out of a win.

Carlos Villanueva pitched the seventh inning, striking out two hitters in a 1-2-3 inning. He threw a grand total of ten pitches, as his renaissance continues in the bullpen. With the score still 4-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, it seemed like a no-brainer to keep Villanueva in the game.

Leave it to the manager with no brains to not figure that out. Instead of leaving the hot, fresh pitcher in the game, he brought Guillermo Mota out. The result? Disaster. A five-run inning that propelled Colorado to a 6-4 win.

"Mota's been our eighth-inning pitcher the majority of the year," said Yost. "We went to our eighth-inning pitcher."

So, instead of extending their winning streak to seven games and building on the momentum of an 8-1 home stand, the Brewers begin their six-game road trip with one of the most brutal losses of the year. And one that probably wouldn't have happened had Yost stuck with Villanueva, who has pitched seven consecutive scoreless innings since being shifted from the starting rotation to the bullpen.

As it turned out, not scoring a runner from third base with no outs in the seventh inning made all the difference. After J.J. Hardy drew a walk off Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Kendall greeted reliever Matt Herges with a triple into the right-field corner that gave the Brewers a 4-1 lead.

... Had the Brewers gotten Kendall home, Yost said he would have stuck with Villanueva another inning. Why?

"It's not a save situation," Yost explained.

Again, the formula. Villanueva would have been entrusted to protect a four-run lead but Mota got the call with a three-run margin.

"I just sat there, expecting to go back out," said Villanueva. "When the inning was over, they told me to shut it down."

Just remember, the formula only matters to Ned when he says it matters. Otherwise, he plays a strange mishmash of hunches and biases.

Honestly, there probably isn't a more dangerous managerial combination in baseball than an idiot paired with "the book". After all, only an idiot would mess up the use of "the book", managing to make even the simplest situation into a horrific adventure.

Perhaps Brewer fans should just consider themselves lucky that they didn't manage to blow either of the nine-run leads they had on the homestand.

Remember, I told you two years ago this guy was an idiot. You can't blame it on me.

(Actually, my first rip of Yost on this blog dates back three years. So it's really not my fault!)

MORE NED YOST IDIOCY

It never ends.

Despite pitching in his fourth inning over two days, (Guillermo) Mota said he was not fatigued.

"I'll pitch anytime they need me," Mota said. "I was out there trying to do my job. I feel strong. That's what I'm here for."

Yost added that the team was low on options, because the batting matchups prevented him from bringing in a left-handed specialist.

"We were looking at [Carlos] Villanueva in the next inning if we were still tied -- seeing if he could pitch a couple innings," Yost said.

Dmitri Young was up with a runner on after Mota walked a .100 or so hitter. Young's OPS against lefties has dwindled considerably in recent years, to the point where the Nationals don't let him do much against them.

Left-hander Brian Shouse was sitting in the bullpen.

With runners on first and third, Yost let Mota pitch to Felipe Lopez, even though he could have set up a force at each base with an intentional walk.

(Also worth noting: Lopez is pretty fast, and the odds of an inning-ending double play were low with him batting.)

Did I mention Mota was pitching his fourth inning over two days, and was pitching multiple innings in a day game after a night game?

Yost? Clueless. Again.

Brewers? Losers. Again.

NED YOST SPEAKS ON NOT GETTING FIRED

Because Ned Yost hasn't been ripped enough lately.

The fun continues.

A non-sports blog reported that Yost would be fired on the off day after the team was swept in Boston, and this blog picked it up and later posted comments from general manager Doug Melvin, saying he would not respond to erroneous Internet reports about his manager losing his job.

Well, Yost did respond. And he was not happy, as evidence by his tone and choice of un-publishable words.

"It's not right," he said after settling down a bit.

"Blogs and the talk radio show guys, it's fun, but they don't have all the information. To sit back and criticize and talk about certain situations and they don't have all the information, now that's where it gets hard to listen or give it much credability."

Yost also said the Journal Sentinel should shoulder some blame for picking up the blog report.

"It's a joke," he continued. "There's no legitimacy there at all, and we put it on the Internet for everybody to see and raise havoc. It's a joke. It's not fair and it's not right."

Wow. We finally figured out a way to get Ned Yost to swear. Tom Haudricourt also got Ned to contradict himself. In the same meeting, he asked Ned about Ryan Braun's comments (the ones where basically said the manager is an idiot without saying it).

"I had no problems with what Ryan said," Yost said. "Everybody's got the right to say what they want."

Apparently, people who want Ned fired don't have this right. Just players who want to indirectly call him out in the media.

Don't you love double-standards?

YOST IS STAYING; IS MELVIN THE PROBLEM?

A stupid blog rumor that Brewers manager Ned Yost would get fired Monday was nothing more than a stupid blog rumor.

We're stuck with him, I guess.

Along the way, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a very good baseball writer, made a questionable decision. He gave "Badger Blogger" a voice, and gave the stupid rumor legs that it didn't really have.

Haudricourt didn't really cause any damage by doing this, but he did (at least temporarily) make people think there was a chance Yost would get what he has coming to him for sucking at his job. No reason to do anything but yell sternly at Haudricourt for the tease.

I'll give him credit. He backed off in a hurry.

(GM Doug) Melvin was aware that a blogger had posted a supposed news scoop late Sunday night claiming he had a source that told him the Brewers were going to fire Yost today. And Melvin said any radio station or TV station or newspaper that responded to a blog site as a news source -- and that includes me because I did so today -- should seriously question themselves.

"I have too much respect for newspapers and news stations for them to respond to a blog for their news," said Melvin. "When they do so, they lose their credibility. I refuse to respond to blogs because anybody can put anything out there."

I agree with Melvin whole-heartedly, and it's one of the main problems I have with blogs and responding to blogs. Badger Blogger put it out there that Yost would be fired today and there was no validity to it. Melvin is in Nashville. Yost is in Pittsburgh. (Owner Mark) Attanasio is back home in LA. You don't fire your manager when all of the decision-makers are scattered across the country. You circle the wagons at times like that.

Shame on Badger Blogger -- and you can bet I'll never cite anything from that "source" again -- and shame on me for giving them their 15 minutes of fame.

Credit to Tom for calling himself out. It's something more reporters should be willing to do in such a frank fashion.

Yes, Badger Blogger is ultimately responsible for the stupid rumor. But Haudricourt is the one who really gave it legs.

In issuing a mea culpa of sorts, he may also have revealed a bigger part of the Brewers' current problem.

When told that some have construed (Ryan) Braun's comments as an indictment of manager Ned Yost and the preparedness of the team, Melvin said he didn't see it that way.

"He did say that the team is playing hard and trying hard," said Melvin. "Ryan's not saying (the team in unprepared).

"(Owner) Mark Attanasio and I sat six feet from Ned (at Fenway Park) and we saw him cheering and rooting on his palyers. He was on the top step, trying to get the guys going. When players don['t perform well, they will hang their heads at times. Ned was there to make sure that didn't happen.

"He doesn't sit back on the bench. He's a cheerleader, on the top step, showing them he's behind them."

Well, gollygeewillikers. Thanks, Ned. You're a helluva cheerleader.

Now, could you try managing the team?

BRAUN STEPS UP AS LEADER; FIELDER DOESN'T DO ANYTHING; YOST DOES THE USUAL

Ryan Braun is not happy.

"I almost felt like this series, we didn't expect to win," Braun said after the 11-7 defeat that dropped the Brewers into sole possession of last place in the NL Central with five consecutive losses. "We were competing; I know everybody tried hard. But it's not about trying hard. You've got to expect to win. I almost feel like we never really expected to win any of these games. I just kind of had that feeling.

"It's just a feeling. Every time we were winning, I just didn't feel we expected to win. It was like we were just content to be there and compete. I don't think we necessarily expected to win.

"Obviously, they're a great team. It's a good gauge of where we're at when we can go out and compete with those guys. For us, as a team, our goal can't be to compete. Our goal has to be to win.

"Obviously, to come in here and win the series would have been extremely difficult but it's a real disappointment to come in here and get swept.

"A team like (Boston), they come out every day and expect to win. You can just sense it. I feel like we're there at times but we need to come with that approach every . No matter who we're playing against, no matter who's throwing against us, and expect to win. Part of that comes with success, comes with beating good teams and good pitchers. We're too talented to approach the game any other way.

"We've got to figure it out and figure it out in a hurry. We're better than that. We're certainly talented enough to win games. But a lot of it, our approach mentally, sometimes has to improve.

"We've got to go to Pittsburgh and try to find a way to win the series and go to Washington and find a way to win that series. We can't play like this for very long, as deep and talented as our division is. We're six weeks into it now.

"By no means is it time to panic. We just have to find a way to start playing better consistently in all facets of the game."

I'm not sure Prince Fielder agrees.

"We've still got to go out there and do our job," Fielder said. "Just because we lose doesn't mean that everything isn't going on all cylinders. I don't look at it that deep.

"It's not fun to lose but it's our job. We've got to do it whether it's hard or not. Every day, just try to go out there and each one of us try to do our part to help our team win."

I must say that I'm not totally sure what the hell he's talking about. Similarly, I haven't been sure what the hell he's swinging at most of the time this season.

Meanwhile, Ned Yost was seen after the game doing what he usually does.


This might explain a few things.

You want good news? The Brewers won't lose Monday.

Bad news? They're going to Pittsburgh, where they win about as often as the Lions do in Green Bay.

NED YOST: WORST MANAGER IN MLB (NON-DUSTY EDITION)

I'd stop beating this dead horse if someone would come clean up the body.

After blowing a game by making four hideous errors, including two to key a two-run seventh inning, Brewers manager Ned Yost got snippy with the media. After all, how DARE you question the ability of this team to learn from the mistakes they're making practically every day.

"The Red Sox made a bunch of errors, too, and they 're World Champions," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "Think they're learning anything tonight? It happens. You make errors."

I'd call Ned a dope, but that would be an insult to dopes.

I've had it. This team is thoroughly unwatchable, and all I get from the manager are mindless, meaningless quotes that show no basic understanding of what is going on with this LAST-PLACE team. At this point, I don't give a crap who gets fired. The house needs to be cleaned, and I'd like it done while there is still a chance.

(There aren't a ton of examples of managerial changes leading to anything good, but it did work for - among others - the 1982 Brewers and, more recently, the 2005 Astros.)

Nine straight road losses. Bad pitching. Bad hitting. Bad defense. A complete moron for a manager.

Anything going right?

Well, at least he isn't asking Ryan Braun to drop mindless sacrifice bunts.

DEAD MAN WALKING

We can only hope, right?

It's getting out of hand in Milwaukee. The issues with current manager Ned Yost are too many to document.

Among the major ones:

• The Brewers' leadoff hitter is batting .188, with an OBP below .330. He's led off all but one game, even though his batting average hasn't topped .204 since April 13.
• Outside of Ben Sheets, the Brewers don't have a starting pitcher capable of consistently going past the fifth inning. This particular fact isn't Yost's fault, but Yost is responsible for the fact that he continues to insist on trying to get his starters past the fifth inning, no matter how much trouble they're in.
• The handling of the bullpen is somewhat questionable. Again. You want an example? How about the time right-handed Salomon Torres was left in the game to face a gaggle of left-handed hitters, even though left-hander Brian Shouse was standing in the bullpen, waiting for the call.
• The hallmark of Ned's regime has been his ability to get his guys to play. It's the one area I've consistently praised him for, because not every coach is able to get his players going. Ned's had that ability. Until now. The Brewers were completely lifeless in the three games at Florida. They needed to get something going, and all they got were four runs in three games. Yes, Florida's pretty good, but the Brewers looked like a team trying to get their manager fired they'd rather be somewhere else.

This is a big three-game series in Milwaukee this weekend. The Cardinals are in first place, but the Brewers need a couple wins. At this point, there aren't many Yost supporters left in the fanbase. While you don't let the fans fire the coaches, it's a telling sign of a problem, considering that Yost's approval rating was probably in the 70s early last year.

For the good of the future in Milwaukee, Yost has to go. I have said it almost as long as anyone, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that the organization eventually recognizes what has to be done, and they make the move before it's too late. I'm not sure that Ted Simmons is the guy to lead this team to the playoffs. I just know Yost isn't.

RANDOMIZATION: 04/21/08

Is he the answer? I wish I knew. I've had trouble making up my mind about the potential of the Vikings acquiring defensive end Jared Allen from Kansas City.

On one hand, there are the statistics, including 15.5 sacks last year. Oh, and Allen missed two games last season because of a suspension. You can't deny this talent. Allen is a world-class pass-rusher, and the Vikings are in desperate need of people who are actually capable of getting to the opposing quarterback.

On the other hand, Allen's past is checkered. He was suspended last year after getting arrested for drunk driving. Drinking is a big enough issue for the Chiefs that they don't appear in re-signing a legitimate star player for anything close to market value. They'd rather take whatever draft picks they can get for him and move on with their rebuilding.

For Minnesota to get Allen, they have to either sign him to an offer sheet and give up two first-round picks as compensation (Allen is Kansas City's designated franchise player), or they have to agree to a trade with Kansas City. Allen visited Minnesota over the weekend, and wasn't horrified with the state of the organization appeared impressed enough to sign there.

Now, there's the matter of working out a deal, should this be what the Vikings want to do.

Should this be what the Vikings want to do?

I'd have no problem whatsoever with the concept of making a deal for Allen, but this is costly in two areas for Minnesota.

First, they have to give up some sort of draft-pick compensation. A franchise player who signs elsewhere without a trade being worked out is worth two first-round picks. Kansas City won't get that from Minnesota (or anyone else) in a trade, but they are getting at least a first-rounder, and you can probably throw in a second first-day pick with that. So the Vikings are looking at giving up two first-day picks in a solid draft just to get the right to sign Allen.

And then there's the matter of signing Allen. He won't come cheap. Last summer, Dwight Freeney of Indianapolis got a six-year, $72 million deal, including $30 million in guarantees. I'm not saying Allen will ask for as much or more money, but you can bet something close to it is in store.

Kevin Seifert of the Star Tribune has an interesting point on another issue in the Allen story, which is whether the Vikings should try to get this done this week, or wait until after the NFL Draft.

By most accounts, the Vikings could have Allen today if they send Kansas City their first- and second-round picks in this weekend’s draft. That’s a premium price, one they might be able to lower into a first-and-third package by the end of this week. (As we’ve previously reported, the Vikings are close to an agreement with Allen’s agent on a multi-year contract extension.)

As the suggestion goes, the Vikings would sign Allen after the draft to a formal offer sheet for franchise players. The Chiefs would have the option to match, but they almost certainly would pass and accept the mandatory compensation according to NFL rules: The Vikings’ next two first-round draft picks, in 2009 and 2010.

True, the Vikings would enter the 2008 season with Allen plus a full draft class, including the No. 17 overall pick. But unless we’re missing something, this strategy seems to be a classic mortgage of the future in order to win now.

I tend to agree. Pay the price now and get it over with. If Allen isn't the answer by himself, the Vikings are going to need those 2009 and 2010 first-rounders to help stock the roster and build a winner around him.

Work out a trade. This can't be hard, considering how desperate the Chiefs are to rebuild. That said, I'm just not sold that this is the best move for the Vikings. This is a solid draft, and while the Vikings undoubtedly have the money, it's not necessarily the best idea to build a team through free agency and high-priced, high-profile moves.

NBA playoffs uncovering a new, bright star. I was pretty confident that the NBA season passed without me missing anything significant until I started flipping channels during Saturday's Boston-Montreal hockey game.

Basketball fans are probably going to be mad at me for this, but I have to be honest. I probably watched two hours of various NBA games this season, and it was mainly to see how badly the Timberwolves were getting slaughtered (usually pretty badly). The most I watched of any single game was Minnesota's win over Phoenix January 23. Al Jefferson was a monster that night, putting up a 39-15. Wow.

Anyway, I flipped to ESPNHD Saturday during the second intermission of the hockey game. I was mesmerized. Chris Paul is amazing. He simply took over the third quarter of the New Orleans-Dallas game, lifting his team from a double-digit halftime hole into a lead and eventually a double-digit victory. He's not a me-first player at all, and you can tell the Hornets players are killing themselves to help him out.

Paul had 35 points and ten assists for the night, and I have to think the Hornets made believers out of a lot of people, if only for one night. People make too much out of experience in the playoffs. Paul's talent is enough to overcome a general lack of experience. Granted, there are going to be pressure situations in this series, and there will be spots that Paul doesn't come up big in. When that happens, he'll be asked about his lack of playoff experience.

Brush it off.

At some point, New Orleans will be eliminated (it's highly unlikely that they are good enough to win a title this year). When they go out, people will blame their youth. The reality, as FanHouse's Matt Watson points out (sort of), is that "experience" is a media creation. When it's convenient to point it out, it's a big deal. But no one wants to point out that a guy like Tracy McGrady has a wealth of playoff experience, and that he's usually stepped up in the playoffs.

Don't sweat it. The "new NHL" is a myth, too. Sometimes, the media is misled and doesn't bother to do their research. Sometimes, they just make stuff up because they think we're stupid.

End of Wild. This is going to be a tough offseason for Minnesota. They have 13 total free agents (restricted and unrestricted), and it's likely that there will be impressive roster turnover, something that's not been common for the Wild.

Pavol Demitra (pictured) and Brian Rolston are among the unrestricted free agents, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard highlights the list of restricted free agents (read more here).

Michael Russo did a fantastic job covering the Wild this season, and he has another fine blog post up today talking about the offseason conundrum.

I will tell you Jacques (Lemaire) said this decision to or not to return is no different than any season. He’s up there in age (62) and wants to make sure he still has the fire and has certain questions answered by (GM) Doug Risebrough.

He did say he’s never had a harder time getting a team to play like a team in the regular season. He felt the team played exactly the way he finally wanted it to in the playoffs, and that’s why it’s a shame they’re out.

– Rolston reiterated he wants to be back, as did Pavol Demitra, Todd Fedoruk, Aaron Voros and Radivojevic. Matt Foy doubts he’ll be back. I did not see Keith Carney, and I’m not sure if Kent got him, but he’ll almost certainly play elsewhere (and will be missed by his teammates).

– PM Bouchard wants a long-term deal. Marian Gaborik did say an extension would be good this summer because a Marian Hossa-like distraction could ruin the team.

I've said already that I think Gaborik should be traded, but I'm starting to flip-flop on that a bit. And it's only been two days.

I do think Demitra should be allowed to move on unless the price is right (barely a raise off the $4.5 million he made). Rolston needs to be brought back unless someone makes him a stupid offer. If that's the case, let him go, because he's not worth tying up any large amount of the cap over.

But the Gaborik saga is interesting. I hope his future isn't tied to Demitra's, because I'm certain Demitra is on his way out. He was a passenger for most of the playoff series, and I wasn't happy with how he performed in a contract year.

Yost Tracker: 1. I'm not so mad about Brewers manager Ned Yost using closer Eric Gagne a fourth straight day. Frankly, he threw good pitches that were hit out of the ballpark. I can deal with that, because it's going to happen. Similarly, guys will get away with bad pitches that become outs. Oh, well.

Had "using a closer with a history of arm problems for a fourth straight day" been Yost's only crime, we wouldn't be here today.

Instead, Yost didn't stop screwing up Sunday's game in Cincinnati.

After deciding to lift Gagne, he went to Salomon Torres. This would be fine, except that the Reds had a gaggle of left-handers due up, and left-handed (and rubber-armed) reliever Brian Shouse was sitting in the bullpen.

Torres is right-handed, Ned, you idiot!

Reds win.

Yosted.

The first time is always special. Enjoy it, because we'll have forgotten about it by the time he does this for the fifteenth time.

RANDOMIZATION: 04/03/08

So, yeah. I'm here. I'm alive. Every month, I think I'm going to update this thing more. Then I slack. I suck. Right now, I'm on my couch, enjoying the Lightning-Capitals game in sparkling high definition. Not even Joe Beninati could screw this night up.

Random thoughts on things that have already happened or are about to happen. Feel free to follow along...

• Michigan is the best college hockey team I've seen as we head into the Frozen Four. North Dakota didn't play terribly well in the Midwest Regional, and I'm not confident in their chances. Boston College is fast, and their goalie doesn't appear easily rattled. Frankly, I'm not a huge Notre Dame fan, meaning they'll probably wax Michigan in the semifinals.
• Despite all the controversy, the NCAA Selection Committee did a good job. The actual selections were made for them, as they are obligated to follow the stringent criteria. The committee didn't pick Wisconsin. The system did. The only decision the committee made that could be fairly criticized was their call to protect the top two national seeds by not making them play in regionals featuring host schools. The Colorado Springs and Madison regionals had to take their host teams (CC and Wisconsin), and the committee was right to send Michigan and Miami out east to neutral regionals. Here's hoping future selection committees follow that precedent.
  
• Please, Washington, make the NHL playoffs. And knock out someone not named "Carolina". If Boston or Philadelphia end up golfing next week, we're all winners. For that matter, Ottawa is practically useless with how they've been playing.
• I was hoping that fun, young, exuberant Edmonton team would make it out West. It's a longshot, but it would be cool as hell to see Chicago make it. I'm not anti-Nashville, but they've yet to show me much in the postseason, despite having home-ice advantage a couple times.
• The NCAA Basketball Tournament can't afford to be boring. Basketball is just not a terribly exciting sport, and the tournament - no matter the tradition - needs some compelling storylines in order to keep the viewers around. This tournament now lacks that. No one is going to care about an all-favorite Final Four, especially when it includes traditional powers like UCLA, North Carolina, and Kansas. Memphis is the only one of the bunch that can claim to be an underdog, and it's only by default because they're from a smaller conference.
• Wisconsin's shooting woes might have blown the best chance they'll have at the Final Four under Bo Ryan. Great coach, but the style he coaches leaves the team really prone to long shooting slumps that can cost them big games. Strangely enough, when those shooting slumps happen, it seems to have a real impact on the team's normally strong free-throw shooting.
• I couldn't agree more with Michael David Smith's take on the NFL's attempt to stop the trend of players letting their hair hang out of their helmets. This is petty, stupid, and could be seen by the oversensitive crowd as being racist. I have no problem with the NFL going so far as to regulate the length of a player's socks, or the color of their shoes. That's part of a uniform. Hair is not part of a uniform. This isn't a restaurant, where problems can be had by someone letting their hair hang out and fly around everywhere. People who care about the length of players' hair have entirely too much time on their hands.
• Chris Henry is in trouble again. Shocking. This time, it cost him his job in Cincinnati, and it's worth noting it's likely to cost him his NFL career. Words cannot describe how sad it is to see someone waste their gifts because they're too stupid to stay out of trouble.
  
• The Phoenix Suns were widely criticized for making the trade for Shaquille O'Neal. Well, now that Shawn Marion has shut it down for the year in Miami, and O'Neal is more and more of a fit in Phoenix's wide-open attack, the trade doesn't look so stupid. The race for eighth in the West is intriguing, with Dallas suddenly fighting for a spot against Denver and Golden State. Denver is probably the least likely of the three to make it when you consider how often they get blown out (something like 15 losses by double-digits). However, they have great talent, and Dallas is reeling with Dirk Nowitzki out. Golden State is simply the most exciting team in the sport, and one has to hope they make it. In the East, nobody cares. Just like pretty much every year.
• Baseball is underway. No major stories yet, though it's nice to see teams like Tampa Bay and Washington off to good starts. However, it's just too early to tell if those teams can sustain anything positive. I think it'll be interesting to see how the National League races develop. The Mets are hardly a slam-dunk to win the East, with Philadelphia and Atlanta both potential contenders. The Nationals would like to think they can win, but I don't see them hitting enough. In the Central, everyone is picking the Cubs, but it's as if they forgot how long Milwaukee held the lead in the division last year. It's not like the Brewers are going to disappear, even if their manager is a bit of an idiot.

NON-SPORTS WARNING...Is this really a surprise? Seriously. How could anyone think this is a big deal? At this point, the Clintons are going to have to steal the nomination from Obama. I wouldn't put it past them, but that's what it will take. At this stage, he's winning the delegate battle, the fundraising battle, and he has all the momentum. Hillary should play it smart, take a potential spot as the vice president on the ticket (because that would be a sure victory, no matter who McCain chooses as a running mate), and stop acting as if she has a good chance to win the nomination (unless Camp Clinton already has a plan in place to steal it).

RANDOMIZATION: 09/24/07

So when is it okay to talk about the playoffs? It's been a while, so I need help with this. I know the stat - 76% of 3-0 teams go on to make the playoffs. But that's not good enough for me. I need a better answer. Is 4-0 the right time? 3-0? 5-0? 8-2? Should I wait until they actually qualify for the playoffs? I need help from a Patriots or Colts fan on this.

No matter the answer, the Green Bay Packers are indeed 3-0. It's a beautiful thing, really. The Packers didn't give a virtuoso performance in Week One, but won anyway. They were much sharper in Week Two, but beat up on a Giants team that hadn't looked very good so far. The true test would be this third game, the third straight against a 2006 playoff team. The San Diego Chargers have some great personnel along their defensive front seven. They have one of the league's best players in RB LaDainian Tomlinson. They have an emerging star in QB Philip Rivers, who gets to throw to one of football's top tight ends, Antonio Gates.

The Chargers, surely, would show that the Packers' 2-0 start was no fluke, or that it was.

Well, it's no fluke. This Packers team has the chance to be very good. Frankly, it doesn't look like the rest of the NFC North is equipped to stop them.

The Bears have a quarterback problem.

(I'd call it a "controversy", but for that to happen, there would need to be a viable NFL starter waiting for a shot. I'm not convinced Brian Griese qualifies here. Not only that, but the Bears continue to insist that Rex is their guy. You'll have to ask them why.)

The Lions have, well, a secondary problem. Just ask Kevin Curtis and Donovan McNabb.

And the Vikings, well...

Brad Childress: Idiot. I tried to defend him to some of my friends who bleed purple after last year's offensive debacle. Even though Childress clearly had a bad year, I insisted that they give the guy another year to build up the personnel and install his system.

How does he repay me? He hands the QB job to a clearly not-ready Tarvaris Jackson, ignores needs at wide receiver, does nothing to build up a shoddy secondary, and then shows that he is incapable of using Adrian Peterson properly.

The Vikings led 10-0 at Kansas City before the Chiefs rattled off 13 straight points over a short span of like 40 minutes between the second and fourth quarters. Childress then proceeded to make two interesting decisions. First, he elected to punt with 2:18 left, even though the Vikings had the ball at their own 40 and only needed seven yards on fourth down.

Then, after the Vikings made a quick defensive stop and got the "offense" the ball back at the 20, with 1:39 left, Childress left his best freaking player on the sideline for the entire final possession. Yes, Adrian Peterson, who had 150 of the Vikings' 252 total yards on this day, touched the football as much as I did when the game was on the line.

Why?

Because Childress didn't want to expose the rookie in pass protection.

Seriously.

Stop laughing. That was the reason he gave.

An NFL head coach just admitted that he isn't creative enough to devise a way to use a potential star while masking a potential deficiency in his game. Thank goodness Childress was never Brett Favre's head coach. Probably would have benched him after one of those runs of interceptions that Favre has been prone to over the years, figuring that the guy was too mistake-prone and he couldn't afford to risk all those turnovers for the shot at a big play or two.

I couldn't be happier that the Vikings hired him. He would have gotten Favre killed in Green Bay last year, because he never would have thought to keep fullbacks and tight ends in to block on obvious passing plays against blitzing teams. Luckily, Mike McCarthy can think outside of the box a little bit.

More stupidity from baseball. This note is not related to bad or overzealous umpires, though we appear to have had two strikes from them in games Sunday. Padre Milton Bradley got into it with an umpire, and Brewer manager Ned Yost was so steamed after another tough loss in Atlanta that he called the umpiring a "joke". Both will be sanctioned, but neither were totally in the wrong. I'm not about to justify childish behavior, but it appears that Bradley was likely provoked by the umpire, while Yost was right to argue two heinously bad calls that went against his team during a late-inning Braves comeback. Not only were the calls so bad that they appeared to be intentional (you don't want to believe that a highly-paid baseball official could possibly be that incompetent), but one of the umpires could be seen smirking at Yost as he came out to argue.

You may remember a urination contest baseball had with ESPN around the All-Star break over ESPN's decision to air All-Star Game selections before TBS' selection special was off the air, thus breaking something called an "embargo". Baseball kept ESPN from having any in-stadium broadcast access for the game, outside of their work with the Home Run Derby. No special "Baseball Tonight" set, and no special access for their people.

Well, it appears that the two are feuding again. This time, it's over ESPN's decision not to run promotional announcements for playoff broadcasts on TBS and FOX. As FanHouse notes, ESPN isn't airing baseball playoff games this year, and they appear unwilling to promote competitors. Sports Business Journal notes that ESPN has a policy against running such promos for the competition unless they have a contract stating they must.

The punishment could be similar to the All-Star deal. It looks like baseball is going to limit ESPN's access to the playoffs. Frankly, this is getting ridiculous.

If there is no contract in place requiring them to do so, isn't this baseball's problem and not ESPN's? Why should the network feel compelled to promote the competition out of the goodness of their hearts?

("I know that we have this great MAC football game on tonight, but we really want you to watch the baseball playoffs on FOX and TBS. Enjoy! Just ignore us!")

I can't imagine that this is a good thing for the long-term business relationship between ESPN and Major League Baseball. The embargo issue in July was one thing, because it could be fairly argued that ESPN was in the wrong. In this case, ESPN is absolutely not wrong, and baseball should be ashamed at themselves for bullying a good broadcast partner and promoter of the sport. After all, ESPN stuck with baseball through some pretty lean years.

I hate to say things like this, because I'm not a fan of ESPN's baseball coverage these days, but go ESPN. I hope you win this battle.

RANDOMIZATION: 08/29/07

Football madness. I really am sorry to all of you who aren't into college and pro football. If you're a baseball fan, you can read the latest about that idiot managing the Brewers here. While you're there, stop and leave a comment - preferably a message of support to those who put that thing together. They deserve it, because they saw the writing on the wall before a lot of people did. And, yes, we did get Yosted again on Tuesday night. If you're a basketball fan, well go to True Hoop, because I just can't get into this FIBA thing, and nothing else is really happening in the NBA.

Hockey fans, hang tight. We're still about a month away. It's going to be fun.

College football gets started tomorrow night. Instead of being lame and trying to give you reasons why college football is better than NFL football, I've instead decided to try something different. You'll never see more than 16 NFL games in one weekend, even if you have the Sunday Ticket package. The following is a list of games I will be able to watch this Saturday alone, and it is without the benefit of a pay-per-view purchase.

East Carolina at Virginia Tech
UAB at Michigan State
Colorado State vs Colorado
Marshall at Miami (FL)
Appalachian State at Michigan
Northeastern at Northwestern
Youngstown State at Ohio State
Florida International at Penn State
Virginia at Wyoming
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Mississippi Valley State
Southern vs. Florida A&M
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
Wake Forest at Boston College
Washington State at Wisconsin
Missouri vs. Illinois
UCLA at Stanford
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois
Western Michigan at West Virginia
Arizona at BYU
Baylor at TCU
Oklahoma State at Georgia
North Texas at Oklahoma
Purdue at Toledo
Army vs Akron
Kansas State at Auburn
Tennessee at California
Indiana State at Indiana
Bowling Green at Minnesota
New Mexico at UTEP
Idaho at USC

30 games. No extra charge to me. This doesn't count any games I can find online. I know what I'll be doing Saturday.

Stupid NCAA rules. Brian Cook had this on FanHouse earlier today. The gist: An Oklahoma recruit was shot and killed a few days back. In order to help his family pay the $9,000 for the funeral, some OU fans started up a fund to raise money. The NCAA intervened and informed the fans that such a fund is a violation of NCAA rules, unless a waiver is requested by OU - and subsequently granted.

The stupidity of this knows no bounds. The sports world in general is wrought with image problems. Even fans occasionally do things that tarnish the overall image of sports fans. For once, someone is trying to make something good come out of a horrible story, and the NCAA intervenes to end the goodness.

I understand that they have rules. But why is a waiver required in order to raise money to help a family fund a funeral for a freaking murder victim?

UMD football opener. Last year, the Bulldogs may have actually had a better team, but they took a step back in terms of record and conference standing, going 6-4 overall and 4-4 in the North Central Conference. This season, UMD opens with a ridiculously tough three-game home slate, hosting three postseason teams from a year ago (Bemidji State, Missouri Western, and South Dakota). Leading the offense for a third year is starting quarterback Ted Schlafke. The junior didn't miss a start last year, but played hurt for much of the year.

The team ended the year on a high note, beating St. Cloud State to clinch a winning season, and in the process, UMD showed off the potential to run the ball more effectively than they had all season to that point. The Bulldogs, under head coach Bubba Schweigert and offensive coordinator Phil Longo, finally get to run the same system for a second straight year. The offense should look more fluid with all their returning experience. Even though star Greg Aker is gone, the passing game will click with Schlafke at the helm.

One key will be flashing a competent running game. The Bulldogs were often bad running the ball, which put more pressure on Schlafke to make plays with his arm, and it allowed defenses to key on the passing game. There's no doubt that today's brand of football doesn't require actual offensive balance, but a team that doesn't show it can run the ball is going to have a long day, much like how a team that doesn't show it can throw the ball is often going to struggle. It's not about 50/50 balance. It's about showing you're capable of 50/50 balance.

Defensively, UMD is loaded. Senior LBs Jon Rufledt, Nate Fears, and Cody Ahmann lead the way, but junior safeties Jim Johnson and Tyler Yelk also return. It's as experienced a defense as you're going to find anywhere in the NCC, and it might be the best defense UMD has fielded under Schweigert.

As I mentioned, the schedule is tough. The three postseason opponents to kick off the season are followed by a road trip to Central Washington, who is coming off a pretty successful NCC debut. The Bulldogs also travel to Nebraska-Omaha and have a home date with North Dakota in October.

This is the final year of North Central Conference football, and it looks like UMD will be right in the thick of the title picture when November comes.

RANDOMIZATION: 08/28/07

Is Charlie Weis arrogant or smart? It's not shocking to hear non-Notre Dame fans call head coach Charlie Weis arrogant. If you hate Notre Dame enough, you'd find something wrong with anyone they hired to coach that program. When media people start to turn on Weis, you can dismiss it as more anti-Notre Dame venom if you'd like, but it's at least worth noting.

Personally, I think Stewart Mandel makes a good point in his latest blog on SI.com. Mandel notes that Weis continues to refuse to name his starting quarterback for Saturday's opener against Georgia Tech, citing the fact that not naming his starter gives him a bit of an edge on the Yellow Jackets.

For those who haven't followed this battle, overhyped freshman Jimmy Clausen is battling redshirt freshman Demetrius Jones and junior Evan Sharpley for the starting job. No one thinks that Jones and Sharpley will be able to hold off Clausen for long, but since Clausen is coming off shoulder surgery and is still learning the offense, it's not expected that he'll start the opener. Sharpley appears to be the top candidate, as Jones is more of an athlete than a passer. Weis says he's had his mind made up for a long while, but he won't tell anyone. Mandel takes him to task, and justifiably so.

We live in an era where there are no secrets. Weis' offense is well-known to most opposing defensive coordinators. I highly doubt that Georgia Tech's coaches are trembling in fear over what they'll see on Saturday. They know what Weis will try to do to them, and unless Jones unexpectedly starts, they know they'll be facing a pocket-style quarterback. This isn't rocket science.

"Give the coach credit for one thing, however: he’s managed to create far more intrigue and attention surrounding his decision than should really be merited for an unranked, rebuilding team. That said, it’s fairly obvious at this point that Sharpley, the most experienced of the bunch, will start on Saturday. Perhaps Jones and Clausen will see action as well, but no one really believes Weis, a pro-style guy to the core, is suddenly going to start running the shotgun-spread so Jones can burn people on the QB draw, and clearly Clausen (whose throwing velocity, practice observers have noted, has not been the same as the other two) is not yet healthy enough to go full-time."

Ouch. Must sting a Notre Dame fan to read "unranked, rebuilding" in a description of the Irish. But it's true.

Georgia Tech might not beat the Irish on Saturday, but I think they've already won a portion of the battle. They've somehow convinced Weis that he has to withhold the identity of his starting quarterback to gain a competitive advantage.

As for Weis' purported "arrogance", I don't have any issues with that. Every coach at that level has a certain amount of arrogance. You can get away with it when your team wins. If Notre Dame goes 5-7 at some point, and Weis is still seen as "arrogant", criticism will be much increased.

There's no doubt the guy's smart. But that doesn't mean he's perfect. I would question until I'm blue in the face the need to do what he's doing now. I think it's just to play games with the fans and media, and to keep his unranked team in the headlines for a few days leading up to their opener against an underrated ACC team.

Maybe if we keep whining, they'll do something. Every year, every NFL team lines up to play two home preseason games, ripping off their season-ticket base by charging them full admission to see a bunch of guys who will be selling insurance in two weeks (no offense to those who sell insurance for a living!). And every year, everyone complains about this. Yet nothing has ever been done.

Peter King is wonderful, and he's smart enough after all these years to know that he can get a column out of this issue almost every year. So he does.

This year, he took a couple different ideas for "fixing" the obviously broken preseason format, and he asked those around the NFL in positions of influence to offer their thoughts.

King focused on three ideas.

1. Eliminate the preseason and play 18 games in the regular season.
2. Eliminate one preseason game and play 17 games in the regular season.
3. Eliminate two preseason games and play 18 games in the regular season.

Personally, I think a fourth idea should be in play. Owners should be ordered by the league to charge no more than 25% of the regular season admission price for preseason games. Those $54 seats in, say, New York for Week One can be no more than $13.50 for a preseason game.

Frankly, I see the preseason as important, even if guys like LaDainian Tomlinson and Steven Jackson aren't playing. It's important for coaches to let position battles play out in game situations, as well as every day in practice. There are things that happen in games that can't be easily duplicated in practice. For small-college and lightly-regarded prospects, preseason games are how jobs are earned.

Make the move, Doug. I've tried to behave myself and be patient with Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost. Someone started the obligatory firenedyost.com, and it wasn't me.

But enough is enough. Yost refuses to do the necessary homework on his opponents, he seems clueless as to how to put his own players in positions to succeed, and it's the same old story. Same old song and dance, my friend. The Brewers are a .500 team, at least until they start playing the Cubs this week, and much of it falls on Ned's shoulders. This marks the third time in the last four years (Ned gets a mulligan on the first year because it was a disaster trying to follow up on Davey Lopes and Jerry Royster) that the Brewers have fallen flat after the All-Star break. Is it always the players' fault? If so, at what point do these collapses fall on the manager?

In one game, he refuses to put in a warmed-up left-handed relief pitcher, even though the batter is appreciably worse against lefties, to the point where his team doesn't usually let him hit against lefties. In another, he pinch-hits right-handed Bill Hall for a left-hander against a left-handed pitcher who is appreciably worse against left-handed hitters. He's too stubborn in trusting his veteran players, and he takes too long to react to a string of bad play by making a lineup change. Well, he is some of the time. Other times, he overreacts to a bad game or two by benching a starter and saying that he "can't find any consistency".

He walked out on his media responsibility Sunday without saying much of anything, and he's been increasingly terse with reporters throughout the season. Now, I'm not about to say that a manager should be fired because he's a jerk to reporters. But when it appears to be a change in attitude, it might be a sign of impending doom.

Yost needs to go, and I'm afraid my suspicions last year - that this team wouldn't win with him as a manager - are being proven true this year, thanks to his lack of development as a strategist. Now, added on to that, it's starting to look like the players are turning against him.

OMG FOOTBALL!! College football conference picks are going up as they are done. I hope to have them all done by today or tomorrow. We only have the Sun Belt, WAC, and Indies left. If nothing else, I'll post my picks on the leagues and not get too much into storylines if time is limited. NFL previews will come next week.

I'll also talk some about UMD football this week, as the Bulldogs get started on Saturday night in Duluth.

Meanwhile, enjoy the newfangled old blog. Leave comments, send me thoughts, whatever. Just don't forget to interact.