Chucker's Questions

My brother, Chucker, had a couple questions for me. Allow me to present and address them.


"Gimme your take why the Brewers pitching sucks?"

The Brewers pitching sucks because of who they have on the roster. Let's start with the starters. Bush, Davis, Gallardo, Wolf and now Narveson. So far Bush is the highlight of the starters. He has only had one bad outing, April 25th against the Cubs, 7 earned runs. In the other 5 starts he has an Earned Run Average of 2.64. Gallardo is solid. Davis has been abysmal. He has only made it to the 6th inning once in 6 starts. And Wolf has been OK. Coffey, Stetter and Villanueva have been pitching great, but every one else in the bull pen stinks. Suppan got over paid. But when you look Major League Baseball contracts, the player often gets paid for that they have done, not what they are going to do. Suppan was the National League Champion Series MVP. In that series he pitched 15 inning and gave up only 5 hits and 1 run. As for what many considered the strength of the Brewers pitching staff, the set up man, Hawkins, and closer, Hoffman. They are old. Hawkins, 38 years old, 15 years of playing and 1209 innings pitched. That is a lot of wear and tear on an arm. Hoffman, 43 years old, 17 years in the league and 1052 inning pitched. Let me know how you feel when you are 43 years old. I am 36 and feel like crap, especially while biking.

"How about the Bucks future?"

The Bucks future. Well I think they are headed in the right direction and have the right coach. It would have been an interesting first round if Bogut was in the line up. I would like to think that he could have spelled that 8 minute scoreless streak in game 6. I think the biggest problem the Bucks have is dealing with Michael Redd. After the 2004-2005 season he signed a 6 year $91 million contact. So there is one more year on his contract. If he is healthy for next year, will there be a spot for him on the team? Over the last 4 years he was averaging 22 attempts per game. Who is he going to be taking shots away from? I like Bogut, Delfino, Ilyasova, Jennings and Salmons. Stackhouse and Thomas and terrific role players. Thomas reminds me some of Scott Williams from the teams in the early 2000s that made deep playoff runs. You could see the team fall off, when they got rid of Williams and signed Anthony Mason. I think next year they will get into the second round of the playoffs.

"The NFL Draft?"

I think that rookies make way too much money, and when the new collective bargaining agreement is finalized after a strike, that will happen, their will be a cap on how much money a rookie can garner. I think Jimmy Clausen will be the best of the quarterbacks taken. Tim Tebow will be a bust and if he makes in the NFL, it won't be as a quarterback. I will call him a slower Cordell Stewart. Tebow was a great college player but there is a huge gap between college football and professional football. I liked what the Packers did. I wanted to see them address the offensive line and the defensive backs. And they picked up two linemen and one safety.

"NHL Playoffs?"

Playoff hockey is great. I watch some of it nearly every night. Although I did want to see Washington faceoff against Pittsburgh. HDTV was made for hockey. That was the big knock with hockey before, that the puck was hard to follow, but not anymore. I just really love picking out one player, usually a defensemen, and watching them skate. They change from skating forward to backwards so fluidly, and they can stop and change directions on a dime. As far as which team am I rooting for, well I would like to see one of the original six win. So that means the Bruins, Red Wings, Blackhawks or Canadiens. I was watching the Canadiens the other night playing at home. They were up one goal with 3 minutes to play, that arena was going crazy. Another thing I really like about playoff hockey is the announcers. The game moves so fast that the announcer can't keep up with the puck and his call of the game builds to a crescendo as the puck goes in.

"Minute to Win It."

I have seen the show. I made the decision a couple years ago that the relay games are over with. Getting the kids organized and describing each game to them wasn't too bad. But when the adults get out they would rather take verbal shots at me (which I deserve just not all at once) than listen to what I am saying. Then they whine because they didn't follow or know the rules. I have already ordered and received this years trophies so the games are already set in stone. But I am thinking about adding a 41 yard dash.

Lyric of The Day:
Now I never mean to do you wrong.
That's what I came here to say.
But if I was wrong then I am sorry.
But don't let it stand in our way.
Cause my head just aches when I think of.
The things I shouldn't have done.
But life is for living we all know.
And I don't want to live it alone.