The Bucks suddenly look SANE!

Who would have guessed 3 months ago that the Milwaukee Bucks would turn out to be Wisconsin sports model of a well-run franchise? The Brewers are throwing down in the dugout (I didn't mind the first push by Fielder... that was just an attention grabber. But the one that followed and the attempt that followed that looked like they were delivered with bad intentions behind them. Those were disturbing. And did you notice how like 12 guys jumped to restrain Fielder and like zero even thought to restrain Parra?) and losing ground rapidly. Meanwhile the Packers are just making themselves the laughing stock of America by flopping and then flipping and then getting tough and then backing down... just by generally looking clueless. Suddenly, then, the Bucks are looking pretty good by comparison. But give them time. They'll do something odd.

Hammond on Cable 32

I recently saw an interview with Bucks GM John Hammond on the Dennis Krause Show on Time Warner 32. Krause is, by the way, one of the very best sports interviewers anywhere, in my opinion. He asks intelligent questions, he asks things I want answered, he challenges guests without badgering, and he knows how to follow-up with aplomb. I just think he is brilliant, just a shade below Bob Costas (he stunned author David Mariniss with his provocative questioning during Mariniss' recent book tour for "Rome 1960". You could tell Mariniss wasn't expecting much from a local cable host, but he quickly squared himself up when he realized Krause's caliber). He's sort of wasted on Cable 32.

Hammond, on the other hand, isn't really impressing me so far in his tenure, but its early. For one, I thought his drafting left a lot to be desired. I'm still not sure what he was after. Number two, I'm annoyed by the fact that he religiously refuses to criticize any of the current roster for past indiscretions. 1) Redd doesn't play defense? "Oh, I don't know if that's fair" Huh? Have you seen the tape? 2) Villanueva is inconsistent? "I've heard that about Charlie V, but we're approaching everyone with a clean slate." Why? There's nothing wrong with holding players accountable for their body of work. I'd like to see a tougher mindset established.

The one encouraging thing I heard from Hammond was his insinuation that the point guard minutes will be distributed by merit rather than salary. That means the rising young quarterback Ramon Sessions ought to get a fair shot to unseat the defenseless Mo Williams.

As the Favre Turns

As I may have mentioned recently, I've been on the road a lot of late. I don't have satellite radio, I hate listening to music, and I find NPR utterly pompous. So what am I left with? FAVRE TALK... all the frickin' time!

Oh my God! I am about to go Colonel Kurtz. This Favre crap is driving me bonkers. "Do they really want him to compete?" "Is Favre being sincere?"... and on and on. The same points, the same issues, the same answers, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day. Seriously, its driving me insane. And the thing that really gets me is when they go to the phone lines and 23 callers in a row make the exact same point!!! Why the fuck bother??? Here's the basic outline of the most popular point of the last week and a half amongst the Wisconsin beer and football crowd:

"Hello Caller"

"Yah, am I on?"

"Yeah, you're on. What have you got?"

"OK, now. Let me ask you dis... and be truthful!! Is it Ted Thompson's job to win football games? ("Yes.") Ok. Now, do the Packers have a better chance of winning dis year with Brett Favre as our quarterback... Dis year!! Who gives them the better shot at a Super Bowl, Favre or Rodgers??"

Over and over. And each caller asks the same goddamn question in just slightly, minutely, altered form and yet each does it with such conviction as if they all individually believe they are having an original thought. It drives me nuts!!! You just want to scream into the radio "Didn't you hear the last 22 guys make the same exact fucking point???? Why would you waste any time repeating it, you moron??? No one cares what you think."

I guess I could just shut off the radio. But then I'd be alone with my thoughts. Scarier yet.

Someday this war's gonna end.