By Adam Roberts – 1/5/2021

Amidst all of the craziness of the past year, we’re happy that there will still be a Midwest Players Classic this winter for both the excellent matchups it brings as well as our ability to cover the event to the max once again.

There will be a few changes to the event this year, however, in the spirit of staying COVID conscious.

Per the event’s Twitter page, there will be some capacity limits for the January 16th event: “This year we will not have general admission tickets available at the door. Each school will be given 60 tickets to distribute and you will need to be on their submitted list to enter (ID required).”

Of course, if you don’t make the cut for your respective school, or your team isn’t represented at the event this year, fear not! ESPN La Crosse 105.5 will be at the event from the beginning of the day providing live updates on the games. It all leads up to our doubleheader in the afternoon with Holmen-Northwestern at 3pm followed by #6 (D2) Onalaska taking on Menomonie Falls.

This year’s event is limited to strictly Wisconsin school to avoid cross-state COVID travel concerns, but that doesn’t mean the event will lack quality games. In addition to the contests we’ll have live, the Aquinas girls will once again open the Classic against Prairie du Chien, while the 10th-ranked (D4) boys take on Luther, currently #5 (D5) Bangor boys get 9-2 Somerset, #4 (D4) Darlington faces Classic regulars from Lourdes Academy, #4 (D2) River Falls meets #2 (D4) The Prairie School, the Raiders of Hudson take on Verona of the always competitive Big Eight, and #9 (D2) Tomah brings a stacked roster to the La Crosse Center against the FVA’s Kaukauna.

By Adam Roberts – 1/4/2021

Turns out, the Badgers loss to Maryland didn’t end up hurting their standing in the AP poll as much as some thought it would.

The Wisconsin men fell from sixth to eighth in this week’s poll, while interestingly despite their loss to the Badgers, Minnesota moved up five spots from 21st to 16th. There was also upward movement for Iowa (10th to fifth), Michigan (16th to 10th) and Illinois (15th to 12th). Michigan State meanwhile dipped down from 17th to a tie for 23rd following losses to both Wisconsin and Minnesota plus a close win over Northwestern. Rutgers also fell from 10th to 15th after a loss to Iowa, albeit a close one.

The Badgers had a game against 3-4 Penn State postponed yesterday due to COVID, so they next prepare to take on Indiana at the Kohl Center on Thursday evening. ESPN La Crosse 105.5 is your official Badger station and we’ll have coverage beginning at 5pm after The Sports Lead.

By Adam Roberts – 1/4/2021

A few things were seemingly locked up with yesterday’s 35-16 Packer win over the Bears.

For certain, Green Bay will now have a bye week and home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs, which considering only one team gets a bye this season could be paramount to a Packer Super Bowl run.

Also certain, quarterback Aaron Rodgers set a new career-high for touchdown passes with his 48th of the season on a connection to Davante Adams, who himself tied a franchise record for single-season touchdown receptions with Sterling Sharpe in 1994 (18). Keep in mind, that record was set despite Adams missing 2.5 games this year.

What remains to be seen is whether or not a 240 yard, four touchdown performance will net Rodgers the league MVP award, though he is the betting favorite for the honor. For the season, Rodgers finished with the aforementioned 48 touchdowns, 4,299 passing yards, just five interceptions (though there were some close calls yesterday), and a 121.5 QBR (he came close to eclipsing his own NFL record in that category (122.5)). Going into Week 17, Rodgers was the Vegas favorite for MVP, and Patrick Mahomes didn’t play in yesterday’s Chiefs loss to the Chargers.

For now, the answer to that question will have to wait, as will the question of who the Packers will face in the Divisional Round. As the one-seed, it could be the Washington Football Team, Tampa Bay, the LA Rams, or a rematch with Chicago.

By Adam Roberts – 12/31/2020

Aaron Donald, Stephon Gilmore, DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, and now Davante Adams.

These are the only players in the National Football League rated a “99” in the Madden video game franchise.

As trivial as it might seem, many fans and players alike take Madden ratings very seriously as a third-party rating of a player’s ability, with many young players taking umbrage with a low rating. Adams began the 2020 season as a 94, which is certainly nothing to shake your head at, but his secondary skills of catching, release, and short-route running have increased in the newest iteration of the franchise “Madden 21”.

This all comes in a season where Davante, despite missing two games with a hamstring injury, is poised to possibly break a number of franchise records this weekend against Chicago. Adams can set the team record for catches and touchdown receptions, both of which belong to Sterling Sharpe.

For his Madden accomplishment, quarterback Aaron Rodgers gifted Adams with a diamond-studded gold necklace with the number 99 in the center.

By Adam Roberts – 12/30/2020

One night in pre-COVID times when I was out barhopping, a person at one of the places I went to said I looked like a snack. It’s safe to say they didn’t think I looked like a 6’3″ 350 lbs NFL defensive tackle who has recorded 494 total tackles, 11 sacks, and forced five fumbles.

Damon “Snacks” Harrison was claimed by the Green Bay Packers yesterday as the team tries to make sure their run defense can stand the test of playoff-caliber rushers. The 9-year veteran from William Penn had been with the Seahawks this season, but was released on Monday. Harrison had said in a tweet he was not interested in being claimed off waivers, as all players waived at this point in the season are subject to the waiver wire, but he also agreed with a subsequent tweet that since Green Bay is a Super Bowl contender and was one of the teams he planned to meet with before he signed with Seattle, he would report to and play for the Packers.

The Packers rank 14th in rushing yards allowed but 24th in yards per carry, and of course any fan with a pulse won’t let the team forget last year’s NFC Championship Game, where the 49ers rushed for 285 yards.