The Surplus, CC and The Bloody Bengal Tigers

I had a funny thought yesterday. Someone called into the local sports talk radio and asked if Ted Thompson gets to keep what the Packers don't spend from their salary cap. That in and of itself is sort of hilarious, but what was funny was that on "The Office" this week, the same thing happened. There was a budget surplus, and Michael got to keep a percentage as a bonus if it wasn't spent. I wonder what Thompson's cut of the $20mil or so is? I'm definitely not a Thompson basher, and would probably lean more towards apologist land. However, clearly a smartly selected veteran or two from the free agent pool couldn't have hurt. Sitting on the money is stupid, but equally stupid would be to blow it like it grows on trees, like most would have him do. I think the Packers as an organization are kind of similar to the Brewers in that they can't afford to make tragic and expensive mistakes on high priced free agents, and need to be someone selective. That being said, I can't imagine there wasn't one or two guys out there that wouldn't have broken the bank, and would've been more helpful than most of the draft picks this year were.

Speaking of the Brewers, I guess CC isn't coming after all. I'm not going to believe he actually signed until I see him in pinstripes, because there have been incorrect stories all off season about when he was signing and with who. Yesterday there was a story blowing around that CC outright told the Yankees to get bent and the Brewers were the front runners. The whole hot stove rumor thing is rather ridiculous. But at least we got Mike Lamb and Todd Coffee!

Bucky BARELY held on last night in a snooze-fest against Idaho St. I say snooze-fest because I kept dozing off to the dulcet tones of Craig Coshoun, and bricks being laid by the Badgers. Any time a Big Sky team comes into Madison and has a last second shot to win, that doesn't bode well for your tourney chances. But historically, Bucky plays down to its competition, and will probably rattle off 10 or 11 Big Ten wins, which will put them in the hunt for a 6 seed or so. If UWGB (who has been borderline great since getting blown out by a D-II team) knocks them off Saturday, we may have a problem. Marcus Landry would be only about the 4th best player on alot of other Big Ten teams, and he is relied on to be our main man, which might not be good. Also, he is probably the only non-gangster/Mormon to have two kids in college.

Big game tonight in the Big O. I'll leave most of the good analysis to the great Kyle Whelliston at Mid-Majority.com. I think Dayton is probably a better team at this point. But both CU loses came on the road, both big Dayton wins were at home, Dana has kicked his team in the ass, and CU rarely loses at the Qwest. I can only hope that finals don't lower the crowd number. CU 65, Dayton 63