UWL Men’s Basketball Ranked 14th in D3 Poll

By Adam Roberts – 2/10/2021

The newest edition of the D3hoops.com Top 15 poll was released today, and includes the UWL men.

UW La Crosse was ranked 14th today after opening their 2021 season with two wins over UW Eau Claire last week. Next up for the Eagles is a two-game series against River Falls with tonight’s game on the road and Friday’s at Mitchell Hall. Elsewhere in the WIAC, Platteville was ranked 11th and UW-Oshkosh was ranked 12th. The Eagles and Pioneers play each other February 24th and 26th.

The complete Top 15 looks like this:

  1. Randolph-Macon
  2. Mount Union
  3. Illinois Wesleyan
  4. St. John’s
  5. Trine
  6. St. Thomas
  7. Wheaton (Ill.)
  8. Whitworth
  9. Dubuque
  10. Mary Hardin-Baylor
  11. UW-Platteville
  12. UW-Oshkosh
  13. DePauw
  14. UW-La Crosse
  15. N.C. Wesleyan

 

Brewers Pitchers and Catchers To Report February 18th; Twins On The 19th

By Adam Roberts – 2/10/2021

With sub-zero temperatures and a relatively recent fresh coat of snow, many in the Coulee Region might be suffering from the yearly tradition of struggling to see light at the end of the winter tunnel.

That’s when the arrival of spring training comes to turn those frowns upside down.

Today, Major League Baseball announced teams’ dates to have their pitchers and catchers report to their spring training sites, and the Brewers’ specialists will head down to Arizona one week from tomorrow on February 18th. Meanwhile, Twins’ pitchers and catchers report on February 19th.

Milwaukee begins their spring training game schedule on the 27th against Oakland while Minnesota opens in Florida against Tampa Bay.

Brewers Sign Former Tigers RHP Jordan Zimmerman To Minor League Deal

By Adam Roberts – 2/9/2021

The Brewers are taking a chance on a former Tigers pitcher who led the league in wins back in 2013.

Today the team announced the signing of Auburdale, Wisconsin-native Jordan Zimmermann to a minor league deal. The move will give the Brewers’ farm system a veteran presence in what is largely an undeveloped area of the team.

Zimmermann was drafted in 2007 by the Washington Nationals, where he had his most success in his third and second-to-last seasons with the team. In 2013, Zimmermann went 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA, 161 strikeouts, and earned the first of two-straight All Star Game appearances. He finished seventh in Cy Young voting that year and fifth in 2014. After being traded to Detroit in 2016, his production dipped, from allowing a league-high 108 earned runs in 2017 to a dismal 1-13 record in 2019. Zimmermann started just twice in 2020.

Big Ten Tournament To Move To Indianapolis

By Adam Roberts – 2/9/2021

We’re approximately a month away from the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, which up until today was scheduled to take place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

However, change came today from the conference, which is now lining up their tournament with the start of the full men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. The Big Ten Tournament will now start at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy on March 10th and run through the 14th.

According to the conference, this decision was made based on a number of factors, including “the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, officials and conference constituents”. They add: “Hosting both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in the same city allows for cohesive testing and medical protocols for both events, as well as centralized accommodations surrounding the competition venues.”

The tournament will return to Chicago in 2023.

MLB To Adjust Baseballs For 2021 Season

By Adam Roberts – 2/9/2021

Those of you wondering over the last few years why it might have seemed that so many baseballs were flying over ballpark fences must feel some vindication this morning.

Essentially admitting that baseballs have been juiced to drive up dinger totals, Major League Baseball is making changes to its baseballs in an effort to reduce the soaring home run totals. The Athletic obtained a memo sent to front offices last week outlining the changes which are intended to “deaden” the ball. The report also says five more teams will begin using a humidor to store balls at their home parks.

Some major league pitchers, most notably Justin Verlander and David Price, have blamed juiced baseballs for the uptick in home runs recently. Verlander has perhaps been the most vocal on the issue.

Klint Kubiak To Replace Dad Gary as Vikings’ OC

By Adam Roberts – 2/8/2021

The Minnesota Vikings appear to have pretty much all of their coaching openings filled with news today first reported by the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that Klint Kubiak will be the team’s new offensive coordinator.

Klint takes over for his father Gary, who retired from coaching after the past season. Pelissero says that head coach Mike Zimmer wanted from the beginning of the search for Gary’s replacement to keep his offense in place. That should definitely be the case now that the Vikings will keep thins in the family.

Last season, the Vikings scored the second most touchdowns in franchise history with 55, only behind the 1998 NFC Championship Game team who had 58, and were fourth in the league with an average of 393.3 yards per game. Under Gary, they were also Top 10 in red zone scoring percentage (6th with 71.19%).

Former Packer/Raider CB Charles Woodson Will Join HOF in ’21

By Adam Roberts – 2/8/2021

While Leroy Butler’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have to unjustly wait a little longer, one former Packer IS on his way to Canton.

Former Packers and Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson was among the likes of Peyton Manning and Calvin Johnson to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame on Saturday. Woodson was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a member of the Hall of Fame’s All 2000’s Team at defensive back. He won a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2011, and was an integral part of the early 2000’s success of the then-Oakland Raiders.

For his career, Woodson recorded 65 interceptions, forced 33 fumbles, scored 11 touchdowns, and racked up just south of 1,000 yards on picks (966).

Aaron Rodgers Wins 3rd MVP Award

By Adam Roberts – 2/8/2021

Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers.

These are the players in NFL history who have won three Most Valuable Player awards in their careers, with Rodgers joining the list over the weekend. Rodgers was voted MVP by 44 of the 50 voters on the Associated Press panel. This most recent honor joins the MVPs Rodgers earned in 2011 and 2014.

In comments to the media, Rodgers expressed his honor for the inclusion on such an exclusive list, noting that Favre’s three-straight MVP accomplishment from 1995 to 1997 will likely never be repeated.

Rodgers also was named the FedEx Air Player of the Year, and previously was named the MVP by the Pro Football Writers of America. He was also one of four first-team All-Pro Packers this season.

WI Governor Tony Evers Declares February 5th Hank Aaron Day

By Adam Roberts – 2/5/2021

Today would have been the 87th birthday of Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, one of the all-time greats not just in Milwaukee sports history, but the history of major league baseball.

Also today, the state’s governor took time to recognize that fact, as well as Aaron’s recent passing, with an official declaration.

Governor Tony Evers today declared that February 5th would be Hank Aaron Day in Wisconsin.

Hank Aaron passed away January 22nd from natural causes.

Wisconsin Football Unveils Revised Big Ten Games for 2021

By Adam Roberts – 2/5/2021

The Badger football team, and the rest of the Big Ten, unveiled their revised conference game schedule today.

The unveiling changes some of the home/away sites for the 2021 season and updates some of the crossover matchups. Here is a look at who Wisconsin will play and when next season:

 

9/4 vs Penn State

9/11 vs Eastern Michigan

9/25 vs Notre Dame @ Soldier Field, Chicago

10/2 vs Michigan

10/9 @ Illinois

10/16 vs Army

10/23 @ Purdue

10/30 vs Iowa

11/6 @ Rugters

11/13 vs Northwestern

11/20 vs Nebraska

11/27 @ Minnesota