What will be the price tag this season?

For those of us that endured many horrible April games at the old County Stadium grounds, news that temperatures will be in the 30′s today in Milwaukee stir up fond memories of Opening Days past.  If you were one of the frigid faithful that piled into school buses year after year in the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s to see your beloved Screwers get crushed time and time again, you know what I’m talking about.

You were there despite the rain, snow, sleet and ice, crappy baseball and games that finally started at 4pm, the stadium nearly empty, as Bud seig made the rounds adding up the concession tape receipts.  It really didn’t matter if the Blew-Ha’s won or lost, it was a day off of work, or if you were unemployed, a heavier day of drinking than the day before.

It was bus trips, and tailgate tents, the party was on the asphalt and concrete outside the ugly confines of County Stadium, because after all, who wanted to pay the outrageous prices for $2 beers inside the ball park?  You got your buzz on before the game, then hung on until the driver tossed you out into the Park ‘n Ride once you were back in Madison, or maybe it was back at he bar you started from. Any way you look at it, Opening Day translated into one big party.

And that is why, now in the age of climate-controlled stadiums like Miller Park, that the real zest for Opening Day has all but vanished.  It doesn’t matter now if its 35 degrees or 65 degrees, (as it happens every ten years or so), you are guaranteed a warm and dry seat for a game that will start on time and have you back home rested and ready for work the next day.  Where’s the fun in that?

What has changed is the price tag once you get inside the ball park. I’ll refer to it a s $8.50 Miller Park until I hear otherwise from the faithful attending today – since that was the price I paid the last time I visited there, that being the price for a big, screw-top plastic bottle of Lite beer.  Beer in a plastic bottle, it doesn’t get much better than that, huh?

The photo above ($6.75) is dated, probably two years old.  The point being, now, more than ever, you better get your game on in the parking lot because, unless you are making six figures plus, it is simply way too expensive to consume large quantities of suds inside $8.50 Miller Park. THe days of catching a round for the boys with a $20 bill and still tipping the vendor vanished the last time Pedro Garcia strode to the plate. Now, hombre, you better pack at least a couple of C-Notes in the old George Castanza wallet, or make sure your debit card has been re-charged before you step up to the all-you-can-drink plate at $8.50 Miller Park.

So, if anyone attends the game today, please report back to me here or on Twitter the going rate for a nice, flat, warm draft of the beer that used to taste great and was less filling.  These days your wallet is filled less and nothing tastes like actual beer.

Opening daze indeed.

And For What

Hoops fans received the ultimate gift, their brackets, last night.

As if the three inches of snow falling outside is somehow necessary for the effect, Christmas in March occurred last night for hoops fans here in Wisconsin as the pairings for the 2013 NCAA basketball tournament were announced. Today, copiers and printers in offices all across the country are humming with multiple printouts of the soon-to-be-filled-in bracket sheets. Office pools are materializing, text messages an e-mails are going back and forth among friends and relatives as the proper payoffs for the ultimate basketball one-on-one wager are determined.

The Madness of March is upon us, and with more zeal and enthusiasm in year’s past, and rightly so. This edition of the 2013 NCAAA Tourney boasts a wide-open field that is littered with double-digit loss teams, number 1 seeds that could be 3′s or 4′s and 10-16 seeds that could easily wreak havoc on anyone’s bracket sheet.

Of the four number one seeds, Louisville appears to me to be the strongest, with Miami a close second and then Indiana and Gonzaga falling in line after that. If you believe the BIG10 conference is overrated, then its seven team field may wind up on the wayside earlier than most of the so-called experts would lead you to believe. Certainly that will hold true for Wisconsin, placed in the unenviable position of the 5 seed against SEC Tourney champ Mississippi. Should the Badgers continue their penchant for delivering 5-10 minute scoring droughts in nearly every game they play, Ole Miss will be an easy pick for those that like to take the underdogs early.

Other 5-12 upset specials include Oklahoma State versus PAC 10 Tournament Champ Oregon, another possible ‘dog in Ducks feathers that could deliver a surprise. One would think VCU can handle Akron in the South 5-12 pairing, but in the East region it’s a tough task for UNLV versus Cal, especially considering the venue the Runnin‘ Rebels will have to play in.

By my count there could be 26 teams with double digit losses in this years 68 team field, roughly 38%, a staggering number when more than nine losses would usually mean your team was looking at the NIT or worse in past year’s tournament selections. That’s not the case this year, and that just makes all the office pools and friendly wagers that much more interesting. So get out your dartboards, consult the cleaning people, ask your teenage daughter what she thinks or seek advice from the little old lady in front of you at the supermarket, they’ll all be worth the effort this year.

Anyway you slice it, Christmas has arrived for hoop fans everywhere, the brackets are here. For the record I’ll take the Cardinals of Louisville all the way, they play defense, have two great guards, and a very respectable cheerleading crew.

And For What

Are the Badgers just two games away from the end of their season?

As the Madness Of March descends upon the basketball world, the Wisconsin
Badgers take to the UC floor today in the Big Ten Tourney as three point
underdogs to the Michigan Wolverines. They will need more than a buzzer beater
from Ben Brust this time around, and the neutral floor won't be the deciding
factor in this one. With all due respect to Big Ten Coach Of The Year Bo Ryan,
it looks like the proverbial "one and done" for Wisky.

Which means they would take a 21-11 record into the NCAA tournament, most
likely as a 5-7 seed. This is just the territory where a team like Wisconsin,
prone to poor shooting days that lead to insufferable scoring droughts, and a
poor free throw shooting team on top of that, is the perfect set up as the upset
victim for a 12, 11 or 10 seeded opponent.

So there you have it Badger fans, not to burst your bracket bubble, but it
looks like the 2012-13 season for Wisconsin basketball has about seven or eight
calendar days left on it. Might as well head to the beaches of sunny Florida
sooner than you normally do, after this extended winter, why not?

And For What

As forecasted on this blog page after the Minnesota debacle last Thursday, Bo Ryan's Badgers rebounded with a convincing 71-49 win over Ohio State Saturday at the Kohl Center. In perhaps what was their best overall performance of the season, the Badgers shot the ball nicely, played great defense, limited their turnovers, and even made a few free throws. With outings like that one, Wisconsin is deserved of its top 20 ranking, and probably as high as a fifth seed when the NCAA tournament selection committee sits down on St. Patrick's Day to set the field for March Madness.

What all this certainly must mean then is that when the Badgers tip off with the Mighty Wildcats of Northwestern tonight at the infamous Welsh Ryan Arena in Evanston, they will probably exit the aged building with their fifth Big Ten conference defeat of the season.

As mere eight points favorites tonight, it appears that even Vegas is hedging it's bets on this one. Stranger things have happened to better teams from Wisconsin on this very floor. There's something about the high school atmosphere that makes opponents of the Mildcats play exactly like a high school team. Maybe it's the crazy confines, the Princeton style offense or the trapping defensive schemes currrently in play at Northwestern, but whatever it is, it is most likely going to rear its ugly head tonight, just when you thought that Wisky had gotten their proverbial act together.

It's also Social Media night tonight for the well-educated fans in Evanston, so as the Mildcat student population ticks down the final seconds of thier team's 63-60 upset of previously 19th ranked Wisconsin, all the Twitter, Youtube and Facebook patrons can follow right along on their smartphones.

That's how promotions are structured in Evanston these days, especially when your team is 13-13 overall and playing with half of its roster that started the season. It shouldn't make any difference though, because in this very strange and weird season currently underway for Wisconsin, losing to Northwestern on Social Media Night would make all the sense in the world.

And For What