By Adam Roberts – 3/17/2021

During his previous stint with the Brewers, Travis Shaw became very well-liked by fans. This made his split with the team after a difficult 2019 season harder to swallow after Shaw and the Brewers couldn’t settle on a salary for the 2020 season.

At least now, he’ll have an opportunity to rejuvenate his great relationship with fans and teammates alike. Yesterday Shaw was added to the team’s official 40-man roster; the 30-year-old third baseman signed a minor-league contract with Milwaukee last month. Shaw could have requested his release otherwise. He spent last year with Toronto after the previous three seasons with the Crew.

Shaw reportedly stayed close with his Brewer teammates after joining the Blue Jays, and also regularly talked with manager Craig Counsell. Some had wondered if he would make the cut for the team this spring, or if his invitation to spring training was more fan service than actual strategy. But since spring ball has started, Shaw has played in 11 of 15 games, recording four hits including a double and home run with 4 RBIs in 29 at-bats. While is spot at the position is hardly a guaranteed thing, it could provide a little more flexibility for the team to focus on other areas that need improving.

By Adam Roberts – 3/16/2021

Anyone hoping to check out UW-La Crosse spring sports in person this year will want to double check with the school’s spectator guidelines released today.

There are some specifics for each individual sport, but in general facial coverings and space between spectators and student athletes will be required at all events. Certain sports like baseball, lacrosse, and softball will have guidelines for who can view games, and a 100 spectator max will be in place for track and field events at Roger Harring Stadium.

For a full list of sport-specific guidelines, click here.

By Adam Roberts – 3/15/2021

It was an expected consequence of injury trouble over his time in Titletown, but today the Packers made official that safety Raven Greene would not be tendered.

This decision allows for Greene to become an unrestricted free agent and pursue other opportunities, while allowing the Packers to focus on developing Vernon Scott and Henry Black at the safety position.

This past season, Greene appeared in 10 games, recording 42 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a pick, a forced fumble, and also defending five passes thrown his way. He had agreed to a three-year, 1.71 million dollar contract back in May. However, the injury bug has bitten Greene since he joined Green Bay; he played in just eight games in 2018 and two in ’19.

By Adam Roberts – 3/15/2021

At 17-12, this Wisconsin Badger men’s basketball team may not have the teeth of team’s in the last 10-15 years or so. However, if anything is certain in this COVID-19 world, it’s that nothing’s certain, and even with a less-than-stellar seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, this is the month where magic happens.

After another close loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, the Badgers were slated with a nine seed yesterday in the South Region, and their opponent for Round One will be the Roy Williams-coached North Carolina Tar Heels. Comparatively, the two teams match up well on paper: two blue-chip basketball programs playing very difficult schedules with fairly expected final records given their difficult roads (Wisconsin played the fifth most difficult schedule of Division One programs this year while North Carolina was 19th).

As for big wins, the Tar Heels had two late in their season, once against at the time 11th-ranked Florida State at home and then in the ACC Tournament against #22 Virginia Tech, who will face Florida Friday as a 10 seed. As for Wisconsin, their best wins according to ranking were over then-#23 Louisville and then-#12 Michigan State in the first half of the season, but their overall record against ranked teams is 3-9 including the Big Ten Tournament.

The key player Wisconsin will have to contend with on Friday is sophomore Armando Bacot. The Richmond, Virginia product is a 6’10” rim-rattler who shoots 62.1 percent from the field and averaged just over 12 and a half points per game. Wisconsin of course has history dealing with big men in the paint, think Luka Garza, but last Friday he was a thorn in the Badgers side all game finishing 10/15 for 24 points.

The winner faces either Baylor or 16-seed Hartford on March 21st.

By Adam Roberts – 3/12/2021

We already knew going into this week that Mill…erm, excuse me, American Family Field will be opening at 25% capacity to start the 2021 Brewers season, translating to around 11,000 to 12,000 people). Up until today, it was uncertain how Target Field in the Twin Cities would work with having fans in the stands this year, but now we have a better idea.

Today, Governor Tim Walz pulled back on certain COVID restrictions, namely in public and religious buildings. Along with that, public venues can operate at 50% capacity, with outdoor venues limited to 10,000 patrons. This will be the number the Twins work with to start their season on April 8th.

Along with this news today, Major League Baseball is announcing its very low COVID positivity rate. In a release today with the MLB Players Association, the league announced there were just two positive tests last week from the near 15-thousand tests conducted. Both positives were from players. Since intake testing began at the start of Spring Training, there have been 27 total positives — 21 players and six staff members — comprising 17 clubs, out of more than 49-thousand tests.