It has been announced that to start the 2015 college football season the Wisconsin Badgers will face SEC and national powerhouse Alabama.  I love this. I think it is great.  The non-conference schedule needs to be padded and this will give UW a national stage. And if you are going to take a loss (not that a loss is guaranteed) it is better to have it early in the season so that people forget about it while other teams suffer losses later in the year and the Badgers move up the polls.  That is of course assuming UW can breeze thru Big 10/12 play.  The non-conference schedule under Lord Barry was paper thin and he hated being questioned about it.  This is a positive move for the program.

New NFL rules are making headlines. Running backs are no longer allowed to lower their head outside the tackles. This is a lame rule in my opinion.  How often do you even see this happen?  This is an attempt by the league to show they give a damn for their players while lawsuits over player safety fill their nightmares.  This would result in a 15 yeard penalty.  I think you will see this flagged a lot in preseason but then become a non-issue during real games.  Much ado about nothing.   The "Tuck rule" or the "Raiders got screwed rule" has been eliminated. Did you notice the Patriots obstained from voting.  Clever of them.  The big thing about this is not that the rule was looked at and deemed stupid, the real question is why the owners approved it in the first place years ago.

Greg Jennings is a Viking.  Big deal.  He got a ton of money to play 10 games for them next year and will get cut in two years based on how the contract was set up. There is a ton of fan backlash because he went to a rival and because Favre talked to him about going there.  Do yourself a favor and stop worrying about Favre and what he says/does. Why is it so easy for him to get under your skin?  Let it go. He is having fun ruffling feathers.  But with Jennings gone the Packers need to keep Finley.  Both guys were supposed to be the heavy hitters on your team last year and while one failed the other was injured.  But you can't rely on the general health of the other receivers to last all year.  Jordy still only has one and a half hamstrings. Finely, while a putz, is still a threat that defenses need to account for.  You still need that on the field.

MLB is now going to heavily go after the players on the list of the Biogenesis Clinic in Miami.  Just typing the words "Biogenesis Clinic" makes me want to wash my hands. Ryan Braun is on the list and baseball wants to take him down hard. Good.  I like this a lot.  Not that I am anti-Braun, but if baseball can prove or disprove he is cheating then I am all good with that. Don't you really want the truth?  I do.  If he is clean then baseball looks bad and maybe Braun can get under the dark cloud of suspicion if never charged.  If they catch him then get him out of the game and I will feel great that they caught a cheater.  It is almost s**t or get off the pot for MLB in regards to getting Braun. I hope they find the truth, regardless of what it is. You should, too.

The NCAA Tournament is ready to go.  I am registering zero heart rate on this right now. I know this is a wide open tournament and people think it has the potential to be the best ever.  But for me, I have zero interest. This second anyway. I know that 3 seconds into games today I will be interested. The one game I want to see is the one I dread the most. Confused?  I want to see Louisville play Indiana.  I want to see them match up.  The problem is they can only meet in the title game and I don't want either team to win. (See my previous column on Hate in sports) The reason I have little interest right now? My team didn't make the tournament and lost in the first round of the NIT.  I speak of coure about Kentucky.  This is a good time to kick me while they are down. It was an embarrassing end to the season but with the class they have coming in UK will be back again.  If you hate UK, and I know many do, do yourself a favor and DON'T look at the recruits coming in next year.  You will be sad when you see it.  Plus, several current freshmen said they would return. Hey, I'm allowed to be an optimist.  Plus, the banner they won last year is still so fresh it still has creases. :)  Enjoy the games.