1.)    Steroids and supplements are fascinating to me. I strongly believe in the positive effects they have on people and think that much more study and financial backing should go into finding ways they can help regular people in their everyday lives. So when I see an athlete get busted, or linked to them – it’s hard for me to get all upset. What upsets me is I don’t know how to react. I think they can be used for good, they most certainly improve performance in athletic events, and if the usage is so rampant why should we care?? I suppose it comes down to fairness and that level playing field. The field is level in a sense, if everyone is using – or can use without getting caught – why not just use?? I’m not ready to be too skeptical of every athlete though, maybe I’m naive and I believe the watchdogs (media) should continue their witch hunt until we as a nation decide what we want from our athletes. We currently put them up on pedestals and they usually let us down, but after being burned so many times, why do we do that still??

2.)    Second point about roids, or in Ray Lewis’ case…deer antler spray. It sounds weird to the layman…but I think I could totally be a pitchman for something like that. First off, I believe in the value of it, so my passion, energy and drive would be there to sell it. Secondly, my pitch would go something like this: “Look, alcohol is known to do damage to your body. It can rip up your kidney’s, it completely dehydrates you, it can cause long term psychosis and addiction, it can ruin lives from overuse and bad decisions, and yet…you will still drink it, you will still use it, even fully knowing the consequences it can have right? So why, why would you not put something in your body, that will help? The substance I’m giving you helps you feel better. I mean, you put that poison into your body, so why not something natural that enhances your lifestyle, your attitude, when you get out of bed you won’t be sore, you’ll want to work out and then work out harder…why does that seem so crazy, but you’ll go to great lengths to destroy your body with other poisons. Serioulsy?? Take this for 2-weeks and let me know how you feel. It won’t be drunk, you won’t go crazy, you’ll just feel better…and if not, I’ll take it back and no worries. Believe me, this stuff is no worse…it’s actually a million times better for your body than alchohol.” --- So are you buying it???

3.)    Speaking of Alcohol – I’m now a homebrewer. I’ve posted a few pics on Facebook and Twitter and am absolutely loving having a new hobby. It’s not that labor intensive and the sense of accomplishment with it is very cool. I got started with a Mr. Beer – Made a good beer and said…you know what…I can do better than that. So I invested about $200 total into all the supplies I need to make 5-gallons of beer. What has really been interesting is my fascination with beer recently, I started getting into the more crafty side of things based on recommendations and what my friends were doing…AKA no longer downing 30-packs…so it’s been a fun journey through the beer landscape and it seems ever changing, which is what makes it so incredible. Anyway…I’m making a double white IPA right now based on a recipe from the Vintage Brewery. It was a beer there called Reckoning that I fell in love with and sure enough the recipe is available. So we’ll see how it turns out.

4.)    What has not turned  out well is the last three outings for Wisconsin Basketball – Their biggest problem is the miniscule margin for error. Not scoring in the 50’s the last 3-games, offense certainly comes to the fore front on why they are struggling – The easy solution, for me to say, is ok…put Sam Dekker in and really let him roam and get more shots, focus on him as your offense as he probably has the most ability, but there is a problem with that…Sam, being a Freshman, makes mistakes – turnover here, out of position on defense there – and just  a few of those can put this Badger team in a hole, and then they are jammed up because they don’t have the firepower to overcome it. So don’t expect any changes, they will continue to grind through games…and if they hit their shots, they’ll win some--enough for a 4^th or better in the B1G?? Unlikely, but they’ll be a tournament team, and maybe this year will surprise with how far they can go.

5.)    As a basketball junkie I enjoy detailed looks at the NBA game – sometimes living where I do the NBA gets a bad wrap – many ill-informed fans and those who don’t know what they are watching. They seemingly believe it’s poor basketball, when in reality it’s so good that you don’t notice it. This article helps show that – Andre Igodala is one of the best players, and certainly best defenders in the league, but as the article points out – the players in the NBA are so damn good – even the tightest best defense can do nothing, I  mean nothing to stop it…which is where the dummies chime in – “they don’t play any defense…it’s so boring…blah blah blah”…whell, this to me is fascinating and it’s courtesy of Matt Moore of CBS Sports….

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/21622844/behind-the-screen-inside-the-defensive-mind-of-andre-iguodala