Drunken Brewers/Twinkie Preview

In about 2 1/2 hours, I'm embarking on my most ambitious tailgating venture ever as I take off to Milwaukee to watch the Brewers take their second straight from the Twinks. It is my most ambitious ever because we are bringing a table. Otherwise it is the same as any other. Regardless, myself, Mrs. Juice, Sports Bottle, the soon to be Mrs. Sports Bottle, Richard and friends are going to get fucked up and enjoy the ridiculous weather. I put the over/under on number of innings I remember at 6.5. I put the over/under on inning Richard passes out at 7.5. Fun will be had by all.

One quick side note: U.S. is playing Mexico in some fake soccer tournament tonight. While I am aware of it, I would never make plans around watching it, or probably even think to watch it when it was on. I guess I'm in the minority though because according to ESPN.com, of like 129,000 voters, 39% are the most excited about this match vs. 4 other sporting events (MLB, NASCAR, CWS, Wimbledon). While that isn't exactly a murderers row, I'm SHOCKED that a relatively meaningless soccer match won.

Holiday Tailgate

So I guess I have a Holiday Tailgating party tonight. My wife's employer is having their holiday party, but due to the tough economic times, they are having a strange one. We are gathering at a local sports bar for a buffet with tailgating fare to watch the Jets v. Bills tonight. I'm going to do my best to get them to put on the "Civil War" game between Oregon and Oregon St since it will probably be better. Either way, it is going to be a tad awkward. Especially since I can pretty much guarantee that there will be a total of zero people giving a shit who wins the game, and a total of one person (me) who will even pay the slightest attention. The biggest downfall of this party is that I won't be allowed to get drunk, which will suck. I am going to eat as much as I possibly can, I can tell you that much. All told, as awkward as tonight might be, it will be a marked improvement over the party every other year. Except last year, when they had casino night. That was pretty cool.

NFL PICKS

Last Week: 6-10
Season: 74-76-1
All-Time: 208-202-3

NYJ (-3), Cin (-13), Den (-5), Hou (Pk), Pit (-14.5), Car (-6.5), Ind (-7), NO (-9.5), NE (-5.5), St.L (+9), Phi (-5.5), SD (-13), Sea (Pk), NYG (+2.5), Ari (+5.5), GB (-3)

BUCKY

Well, color me shocked. Bucky looked GREAT last night. Not perfect, but really, really good. And that wasn't a lucky win (despite starting out on fire). They generally were on par with Duke. Duke is not that much better despite being the fifth most popular team in the nation. It was pretty much Singler against UW last night. Trevon Hughes is winning me over, even though he is old enough to be my dad. He forces too much sometimes, but he is clutch when it matters (unlike Bohanan who missed approximately 40 wide open threes last night). And the Big Ten won the "challenge"! Holy. Shit.

As an aside, storming the court was an embarrassment. Was it big win? You bet. But c'mon now. You've been to the tournament like every year for a decade. You probably beat a top 10 team every year. There is no excuse for storming the court. I've expounded on this before, please refer to "Storming the Court Etiquette". Please, stop. You are pretty much proving to Duke that you think they are that much better than you.

Short Week = Very Little Work

It is November 23rd. I live in Northeast Wisconsin. It is like 50 degrees out. The weather this weekend, and especially yesterday when I was outside most of the day was unfair. I'm positive I've been to Packer games in late November when it was 10 degrees out. Yesterday I had on a sweatshirt and jeans and could not have been more comfortable. It was awesome. The first half performance of the Pack was equally awesome. The 49ers had NEGATIVE 6 yards passing in the first half. Take away that random 50+ yard run by Gore and we are talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 total yards allowed. The Pack did whatever they wanted on offense, including RUNNING THE BALL. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that when your running back, even one as mediocre (at best) as Grant is getting six yards a carry, you should probably give him more than 21 carries. If you can run at six yards a clip, you are impossible to beat. Just another 344yd 2TD, 0INT performance by Rodgers, which is quickly becoming an average game. Sports Bottle is correct about the second half. McCarthy either made no adjustments, or adjusted conservatively and got overmatched by Singletary in the second half. The Niners made it interesting. I hope Harris isn't out for any length of time, but initial reports aren't good. At one point in the second half, the right side of our defensive backfield contained the names: "Bush", "Underwood" and "Bigby". That has 40 points written all over it. Tramon Williams is serviceable, but we are going to struggle in passing downs. Right now, things are looking up at 6-4. I think every game we have left is at least winnable (and losable I suppose).

One awkward thing about yesterday was the pre-game. I posted up at Buffalo Wild Wings at 9:30 a.m. Typically, this is just early enough to get one of the last remaining tables. But for some reason, it never got ridiculously packed in there. I thought, well, maybe the weather is just that good that everyone is outside. But even outside there weren't that many people. It wasn't until we actually got to the line to get into the stadium that it didn't feel strangely quiet. The crowd was normal, so that part wasn't affected. Was it deer hunting? Perhaps. Just was a little odd.

I couldn't convince my old man to come get me before the game, so I ended up getting mildly intoxicated, but having to turn down that last beer. Also, my old man somehow managed to eat a breakfast of pancakes before leaving for the game, then ordered 8 boneless wings (which was all I was able to eat) AND 3 pulled pork sliders with fries. He also had three 23 oz Sam Adams Winter Lagers, which are also filling. It is incredible how much he is able to eat. I felt like I was going to puke when we left BWW and I didn't have the pork sliders.

-The Badgers shit the bed, and as you'll see later, now must win to have any chance at the Get Together.

-I went to the UWGB-Long Beach St. game on Saturday. It was another excuse to drink before noon. The arena was about 1/3 full. Not a terrible game. UWGB lost by 12. The tickets were free. It continues to amaze me that UWGB can get only about 3 to 5k for a game, while Creighton can get 17,000.

-UW plays Arizona at 11 p.m. tonight in Maui. Chances I stay awake to see any of it? 0%

-My OJSFA team, The White Broncos, have fallen to 5-6 after my third straight ass beating. I pretty much need to win out to make the playoffs. I am beyond annoyed by my team.

-I plan to do as little work as possible for the next three days. I used my last vacation day on Friday, even though I shouldn't have to. That day should be an automatic holiday. It is fucking retarded that I have to waste a vacation day.

-It is my birthday tomorrow. Pour out some liquor for planet earth.