By Adam Roberts – 10/14/2020

It can be difficult to plan for anything these days; until there’s a general handle on this pandemic, thinking about attending a large scale event can seem like a distant dream. Still, UW-La Crosse is planning for a couple of large-scale events to come to the community in a few years that would be a big boost to the area economy.

It was announced earlier this afternoon that the university had been given the opportunity to host the 2024 Division Three wrestling and outdoor track and field championships. UWL has hosted the wrestling championships three times, with this bid and the planned 2021 championships making it five, and as one of the preeminent T&F programs in the country has hosted that championship now five times as well (the last of which was in 2018).

UWL was selected for the honors from a field of around 3,000 bid submissions, and has become a favorite for the track event; the facilities at Roger Harring Stadium are well suited to hosting the three-day event, which is the largest single site championship event in Division 3.

The 2021 wrestling championships are scheduled for March 12th and 13th at the La Crosse Center, but that assumes of course that winter sports are held at all. The WIAC hasn’t held an athletic competition since early March.

By Adam Roberts – 10/13/2020

It appears as though the 1-4 Vikings, who last week were without wide receiver Adam Thielen, will be minus another one of their offensive stars for their next game.

Running Back Dalvin Cook has an adductor strain, according to ESPN. He suffered the injury on the opening play of the third quarter in the team’s loss to Seattle Sunday night, and despite positive feedback on his MRI, it appears Cook could be out this week. Despite the Vikings playing a woefully disappointing 0-5 Atlanta this week, Cook’s absence would be a big one for Minnesota; the 25 year old leads the NFL in rushing yards through five weeks.

If Cook misses action this weekend, he could theoretically be back for Week Eight against the Packers; Minnesota has a bye Week Seven. The Summit Medical Group says an adductor strain, if mild, can be healed within a few weeks, but a more severe injury may take six weeks-plus. Alexander Mattison would handle the majority of snaps if Cook can’t play; last Sunday Mattison made the most of his time on the field, rushing for 112 yards on 20 carries.

Again, the mood seemed fairly positive from head coach Mike Zimmer at his press conference Monday, but the injury will be one to monitor for both Vikings’ fans and fantasy footballers alike due to the very week-to-week nature this injury appears to be.

By Adam Roberts – 10/13/2020

After a month on the injured reserve list, two Packer names that could help with some team depth concerns are back at practice.

Both rookie linebacker Kamal Martin and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown are back on the field working out with the team this week after being put on IR back in September. The two young bucks suffered knee injuries that month, just two of many injury losses across the NFL in a year without a preseason. Martin and St. Brown could both be seen on the practice field yesterday in Green Bay, and in order for them to be ready to take the field again, they’ll be expected to be back up to full speed fairly quickly.

“I think we practice at a fairly high speed” fellow rookie linebacker Krys Barnes said yesterday when asked about what he would say to to Martin about his return. “We practice…going all out every chance that we get.”

Barnes himself has worked his way up the leadership ladder pretty quickly; he was calling defensive plays along with Ty Summers in the win two weeks ago against Atlanta.

The Packers are in Tampa this week to face Tom Brady and the 3-2 Buccaneers.

By Adam Roberts – 10/12/2020

With Badger football due to return in two weeks against Illinois, it can be tough to remember that Wisconsin basketball will return as well, assuming COVID-19 doesn’t alter the plans. For the interim at least, though, one of head coach Greg Gard’s newest pieces will be away from the team.

Freshman guard Lorne Bowman has gone back to his home in Detroit, Michigan to attend to a family matter with the blessing of coach Gard and the Badger program. School officials confirmed the move late Friday, clarifying that Bowman is still a member of the men’s basketball team and will be taking classes virtually at UW.

Bowman was a first-team All State selection last year at St. Mary’s High School, averaging 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. He was a four-star recruit for the Wisconsin program and was ranked 94th in the ESPN Top 100 for the class of 2020.

By Adam Roberts – 10/9/2020

No fans at MLB games this season figured to have a big effect on the books of pro baseball teams this season, and according to a recent report, the Brewers suffered hard this year when it comes to revenue.

The Milwaukee Business Journal reported the Brewers took a huge financial hit with no attendance for games in 2020. The losses are reported to be just more than 178-million dollars. It reports game-day revenue accounts for about 40 percent of total revenue.

Across the league, losses so far are reported to be north of five billion dollars. The Crew’s losses put them slightly above average for the league; the Yankees were at the top of the list with 437 million in losses.

There are, of course, ways a team can make money without fans in attendance, such as from television and radio broadcasting rights and revenue from advertisement partnerships. However, missing out on more and one and a quarter million in the smallest market in baseball certainly can’t be good news. Earlier this year, GM David Stearns said the team budget for 2021 would likely be quite tight.

Fans will be permitted into the NLCS starting next Monday when the Braves and Dodgers meet at Globe Life Park in Arlington Texas; 11,500 socially distanced fans will be permitted at the new stadium.