Badgers Fall to Tennessee in Outback Bowl

The 18th-ranked Badgers had one last chance to put a successful spin on a season of great expectations, but all they were left with Tuesday was a bitterly disappointing 21-17 loss to No. 16 Tennessee in the Outback Bowl before a crowd of 60,121 at Raymond James Stadium.

Not only did the Badgers, once ranked as high as fifth, end the season 9-4, they had snapped their streak of two consecutive bowl victories over Southeastern Conference opponents.

"You never want to end a season on a note like this," junior linebacker DeAndre Levy said. "It's going to be an extra-long offseason when you have a bad taste in your mouth."

That taste was especially bitter, given how much pride the Badgers take in bowl preparations, believing they have it down to a science. In fact, that's what they want to be a big part of the identity of the program.

The shocking thing was not the Badgers losing to Tennessee (10-4), but how poorly they played and how many mental mistakes they committed after all that preparation.

"We had how many procedure penalties?" right tackle Kraig Urbik said. "Missed assignments, all that stuff. I was very surprised we weren't focused (Tuesday)."

UW coach Bret Bielema aimed his frustration at the officials afterward, but it seemed misplaced. His team was not sharp and the buttons Bielema pressed didn't work, either.

The Badgers burned four timeouts, which proved costly at the end, because of poor communication and problems with the personnel on the field.

"It was just a miscommunication with personnel, nobody related the message," tight end Travis Beckum said.

After quarterback Tyler Donovan was temporarily knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a left knee injury after trying to slide and catching a cleat, the offense was late getting on the field because nobody knew if backup Allan Evridge or Donovan was going in the game.

"Tyler said he was good," left tackle Gabe Carimi said. "Allan wasn't sure if he was still going to go in, there was a lot of mix-up."

It was that kind of game for the Badgers, who also suffered a momentum-sapping fumble from receiver Paul Hubbard on their first possession at the Tennessee 30-yard line, following a 27-yard completion.

While some of that could be explained away from rust due to the layoff, there was no excuse for a defense that allowed two easy touchdown drives of 57 seconds and 1:40 on back-to-back possessions as the Volunteers took a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.

Most of the damage in the game was done by Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge, who was named the MVP after throwing for 365 yards and two scores.

"We came out here and basically laid an egg on defense in the first half," UW junior linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. "We're just lucky they didn't blow us out."

Donovan came back to lead a 70-yard drive late in the first half, resulting in a 4-yard touchdown pass on a bootleg to the right and throw back to the left corner of the end zone to senior tight end Andy Crooks.

While the defense buckled down and held the Volunteers scoreless in the second half, all the Badgers could manage was a 27-yard field goal by Taylor Mehlhaff, despite good field position.

"That's kind of what happened in this game, little things we didn't capitalize on," Donovan said.
The Badgers' two best chances came late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 21-17, Bielema elected not to attempt a field goal from the Tennessee 10 on fourth-and-2 with about 6 minutes left. The play prior was a 9-yard completion to Beckum and Bielema made the decision beforehand to go for it if it was fourth-and-2 or less.

Donovan rolled to his right and after his first two options were shut down, came all the way back across the field. He still could find nobody open and threw the ball out of the end zone as he was hit.

"It was a flood route with Travis and 'Hub,' " Donovan said. "They did a good job outflanking it and shutting it down. I tried to make something happen. Give Tennessee credit for shutting it down."

Donovan got another crack after a defensive stop, but it came from his 12, with 1:26 left and no timeouts.

"You'd like to have the timeouts," Donovan said. "It makes things a little easier on ourselves. That's the situation we were in and we had to deal with it."

Donovan completed four passes and had a first down at the Tennessee 36 with 38 seconds remaining. He had Hubbard isolated on Antonio Wardlow, a backup safety playing in passing situations due to Tennessee's academic suspensions. Wardlow made the interception.

"I knew they were going to try me sooner or later so when the ball was thrown, I made a move to the ball," Wardlow said. "With the ball hanging up that long I just knew I had to make a good catch."

Bielema didn 't blame Donovan for making the throw. "You can't fault a kid for thinking we had a shot in the end zone," he said.

Courtesy of Tom Mulhern of the Wisconsin State Journal http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/badgersFB/264994

Punting problems lead to 35-7 loss to Bears

From Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback courtesy of Si.com:

Goat of the Week

"Green Bay P Jon Ryan. I know the wind was awful in the Windy City, but come on. Two punts blocked, in part because of his glacially slow mechanics, and one fumbled snap from center. That's intolerable on a team that needed this game to stay in the home-field race with Dallas."

Isn't he from Canada eh??? To punt like that in those conditions is pretty tough, but the Bears punter didn't seem to have any problems. Ryan needs to get the ball out a lot quicker. The Packers have had strong Special Teams play and surely needed it last Sunday vs the Bears. The Pack lost 35-7 in sub zero temperatures and 50+ mph wind. Playing at Dallas might not be too bad of an idea for the NFC Championship.

Vols may lose players for Outback Bowl against Wisconsin

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee coaches are concerned about the academic eligibility of a few players for the Outback Bowl, including two starters on defense.

A university official said linebacker Rico McCoy and defensive tackle Demonte Bolden are among those who could be ruled out for the game after the school releases fall semester grades Friday afternoon.

The person did not want to be identified because the academic report had not been released.
Coach Phillip Fulmer said Thursday during practice that he was concerned about the eligibility of "three or four guys, and maybe a couple more than that."

McCoy, a sophomore, has started all 13 games this season and is second on the team with 106 tackles.

Bolden started each of the 12 games he played in this season, but was suspended against Louisiana-Lafayette for an unspecified violation of team rules.

No. 16 Tennessee (9-4) faces No. 18 Wisconsin (9-3) on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.

Story from Associated Press courtesy of Foxsports.com http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/7592448?MSNHPHMA

Congrads to UW Whitewater on the NCAA DIV III Football Championship

The third trip to Salem proved to be the best for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as the Warhawks defeated #1 ranked Mount Union College, 31-21, to claim the 2007 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl title. The win marks the first NCAA Division III football championship for UW-W, also snapping the Purple Raiders 37-game winning streak.

While defense may have been the prevailing factor in the opening half of play, Justin Beaver and the UW-W offense went toe-to-toe with the vaunted Mount Union attack in the second 30 minutes of action.

Beaver took home his second award of the weekend, earning the game’s Most Outstanding Player award after running for 249 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries.”I’ve said along that we have a great group of seniors and that they played their hearts out,” explained UW-W head coach Lance Leipold. “Our staff did an outstanding job in making sure we believe. I can’t say how proud I am of our guys and the rest of our program.”

Coming out of the half with a 10-0 lead, the Warhawks increased their advantage to 17-0 when lineman Michael Sherman made a Beaver fumble obsolete as he came away from the pile in the endzone for a touchdown.

Mount Union’s offense, which had averaged better than 54 points coming into the Stagg Bowl, sprang into action with a pair of Nate Kmic touchdown runs. Kmic scored his first on an 11-yard carry. Linebacker Tony DeRiggi forced the ball from Beaver’s grasp for a second time on the ensuing drive, leading to Kmic’s second score via a one-yard plunge.

Beaver made up for his rough third quarter with an excellent fourth frame. He toted the ball 10 times for 115 yards including a 13-yard touchdown run to make the score 24-14 with 6:11 to play. He also darted 66-yards on the Warhawks’ next possession to set-up quarterback Danny Jones’ second touchdown sneak of the day and put the game out of reach.

“You can’t get anything better than winning a nation title in your last game,” said Beaver.
UW-Whitewater defense had an outstanding first half, keeping the Raiders off the scoreboard in the first half for the first time since prior to the 1990 season.

The Warhawks forced three lost fumbles and held standout receiver Pierre Garcon to only four catches for 30 yards. Linebacker Jace Rindahl led the unit with 16 tackles (10 solo). Ben Farley had 13 stops and two forced fumbles, and Anthony White collected 1.5 of UW-W’s three quarterback sacks.

“We played very well in spots, but made a few too many mistakes,” said Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres. “A couple of the bounces of the football got away from us, and that’s what cost us the victory.”

Beaver’s running performance helped UW-W to 274 yards rushing. Jones added 27 yards rushing and a pair of scores. He also threw for 136 yards, although completing only 9-of-24 passes. Neil Mrkvicka collected five receptions for 52 yards. Aaron Rusch had three catches for 61 yards.

Kmic led the Mount Union offense with 121 yards on the ground and a game-high three scoring runs. Quarterback Greg Micheli added 90 yards rushing to go with 235 yards. Bryson Davis proved to be his big play receiver, hauling in four passes for 98 yards. Justin Wray had five receptions for 52 yards.

Pat McCullough led the MUC defense with 10 tackles. Nick Parr picked up both Mount Union sacks, and Matt Kostelnik and DeRiggi forced UW-W lost fumbles.

Story courtesy of http://odac.bridgewater.edu/staggbowl/

Is this what we can expect @ Lambeau in the Playoffs

BRING ON HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE!!!!!!! GO PACK GO!!!!

Packers Clinch 1st Round Bye with a Win in St. Louis

So it's been awhile since my last post, but the Packers, NFC North Division Champions have been rolling. They improve to 12-2 with a win in St. Louis, beating the Rams 33-14. The Packers are now tied for 2nd in the NFL at 12-2. With the win they also clinched a 1st round bye after Carolina beat Seattle. Dallas also lost dropping them to 12-2, tied with the Packers. Their remaining games are against Carolina and division rival Washington, who both are hot right now.

Favre set yet another milestone, passing Dan Marino on Sunday as the NFL Career leader in Passing Yards. Favre went 19 of 30 for 227 yards, 2 TDS and 2 INTs. The Packers Special Teams came through again putting the Green & Gold in Rams territory for almost the entire game. Koren Robinson had a big day, setting up 2 TDs with his returns and rookie kicker Mason Crosby went 4-4 on FGs. Did you know Crosby leads the entire NFL in scoring!!!! Dave Rayner, who's that????

Packers take on the Bears Sunday at Chicago. The Packers are looking for a little redemption. GO PACK GO!!!

Braun named NL Rookie of the Year

In the end, the astounding things Ryan Braun did at the plate trumped whatever things he didn't do in the field.

The Brewers' third baseman won the 2007 Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Braun edged Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki to become Milwaukee's first rookie of the year since shortstop Pat Listash won the American League honor in 1992.

Braun was listed first on 17 of 32 ballots, second on 14 and third on one for 128 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system. Tulowitzki was first on 15 ballots and second on the other 17 for 126 points. The two-point differential was the closest in the NL since the current system was adopted in 1980.

Braun's offensive numbers made a compelling case. He batted .324 and led NL rookies with 34 home runs and a .634 slugging percentage, breaking the Major League rookie record set by Mark McGwire, who slugged .618 for Oakland in 1987. Braun drove in 97 runs and stole 15 bases.

He ranked in the top four among NL rookies in average, slugging percentage, extra-base hits, RBIs, runs, total bases, triples, multi-hit games, hits, batting average, stolen bases and on-base percentage.

Imagine if he had played all season.

Courtesy of Adam McCalvy from MLB.com.

DOMINATION. Pack improve to 8-1

The Packers improved to 8-1 after blowing out the Minnesota Vikings 34-0 on Sunday. The Vikings were coming off a victory against the San Diego Chargers, where rookie RB Adrian Peterson rushed for an NFL record 296 yards. The Packers Defense held him in check to 45 yards on 11 carries. Peterson injured his knee in the 3rd quarter when he was tackled by Al Harris after a short pass.


As for the Packers, they dominated the entire game. Ryan Grant rushed for 119 yards, 1 week after becoming the 1st Packer this year to rush for 100 yards. Favre threw for over 300 yards (351) again and 3 TDs with 0 INTs. And the defense held the Vikes to 0 points, 0-11 on 3rd down, and forced an interception on the goal line.


All and all the Pack put together a complete game and silenced the na-sayers joining Dallas for the 2nd best record in the NFL at 8-1. Detroit also lost on Sunday and dropped to 6-3 on the season giving the Packers a 2 game lead in the North.


Next up, the Carolina Panthers who are 4-4 this year with an even older QB than Favre in Vinny Testaverde.

Photo: STEVE APPS -- WI State Journal

Unbelievable!!!!!!!! Packers improve to 6-1

With all the rumbling after the Redskins game that Favre had lost zip on his deep ball, he put all his critics to rest on Monday night. Favre bombed what he said was two of the best passes he's every thrown for a 79 yard TD to James Jones, and the game winning 82 yard TD to Greg Jennings on the first play in Overtime.

The Pack also found a diamond in the ruff, in Ryan Grant who rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries. Grant filled in for Wynn who was injured again after one carry for 1 yard. McCarthy announced that Grant will start against Kansas City next week.

The Broncos came into Monday night as the worst rush defense in the league and the Packers as the worst rushing team in the league, so something had to give. "I gave those guys the opportunity to run the football tonight," McCarthy said. "We didn't do anything scheme-wise that we haven't done from Day 1. Ryan put his foot down and was one cut north and south, the way you're supposed to."

Read more here from Bob McGinn's article in this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=680093

Photo/Mark Hoffman

Late drive seals the deal for Warhawks

In 39 years as coach of the Germantown football team, Phil Datka has seen his share of crazy games.

On Tuesday, he witnessed another one.

Germantown defeated third-seeded Sussex Hamilton, 14-10, in the first round of the Division 2 playoffs, after the Warhawks got the ball with less than 3 minutes left and drove 66 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

"This one's right up there at the top," Datka said. "It never gets old. The kids make it what it is."
Germantown (6-4), which has just one loss in 14 first-round playoff games under Datka, will play Brookfield Central on Saturday.

Sussex Hamilton (6-4), 3-6 last season, was hoping to get fourth-year coach John Damato his first playoff victory.

It looked like a strong possibility, especially after the Chargers blocked two tying field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.

But Germantown had one last chance. The Warhawks got the ball at their 34-yard line with 2 minutes 56 seconds left.

Quarterback Nick Doedens completed two passes to Ben Starke for a total of 19 yards and then threw an incomplete pass with 1:57 left.

Doedens then lofted a deep pass over the middle that was hauled in for a 44-yard reception by senior Tony Sanicola.

"Nick threw that ball; it was the best pass he threw all year," Sanicola said. "I just ran underneath it as fast as I could. I barely got there. I prayed to God when I was running it came to me. I dove and caught it. I can't believe it."

After senior Austin Stadler rushed for 1 yard, he scored on a 2-yard run for a 14-10 lead with 1:14 left.

Hamilton drove to the 50-yard line but the game ended with senior Andy Neumann sacked Chargers quarterback Justin Rupnow.

"I can't look back at that last (pass) play," Damato said. "There were so many things that went on between the end zones here."

The most glaring happened after Hamilton's Coty Schmidt intercepted a pass with 56 seconds left in the second quarter.

Hamilton had a 7-0 lead at the time and was deep in its own territory, content to run out the clock.

But instead of taking a knee, Hamilton ran two running plays. The second was costly.

"If you're going to pick anything out of this conversation, that hurt our momentum," Damato said. "We were up, 7-0, with 30 seconds left on the clock, and our center slips with the ball. So whether we take a knee or run with the ball doesn't matter, our center never got the ball to the quarterback."

Germantown recovered and got the ball at the 6-yard line with 14 seconds left. After a 3-yard running play, Doedens hit Starke for a 3-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 7-7 with 2 seconds left.

Courtesy of Dave Boehler from today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=678246

Had to post this from my old high school football team......Go Warhawks!!!!

Robinson Reinstated

One year to the day that Green Bay Packers wide receiver Koren Robinson was suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse program, commissioner Roger Goodell informed him that he was back in the league.

Goodell met with Robinson Sunday in a face-to-face meeting - in all places University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix - to discuss the receiver's possible reinstatement. On Wednesday, Robinson received a letter from Goodell informing him that his one-year suspension was over and he was free to resume his career.

In order to be reinstated, Robinson had to comply with a strict program that included testing for alcohol use up to 10 times per month. Any violation of the testing would have put Robinson's reinstatement in serious jeopardy, but he apparently kept clean for the year he was out of football.

The impromptu meeting came when Goodell came to Phoenix, where Robinson has spent the past two months training, and called him on his cell phone. Goodell told Robinson he was at the Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers game and wanted to meet with him.

"I told him I'm at the game, too," Robinson said.

Stadium officials arranged for Goodell and Robinson to meet in a room in the bowels of the stadium where they met to discuss Robinson's reinstatement. Goodell was stern and told him that this was his last chance. One more violation of the substance abuse program and Robinson will be suspended for life.

Robinson was suspended for a year after multiple arrests for alcohol-related crimes, the most recent stemming from a high-speed chase on his way back to Minnesota Vikings training camp in Mankato, Minn., in 2006. Robinson was released by the Vikings a short time later, and signed by general manager Ted Thompson, who had a previous relationship with Robinson in Seattle.
Robinson played in four games for the Packers and was just getting acclimated when the suspension came down.

Since then he has not been allowed to have contact with the Packers. He has served two different jail terms over the past year as a result of the alcohol-related charges.
Robinson filed for reinstatement to the league in August and had been waiting to hear from the commissioner.

"I felt like I did everything I needed to do in order to cope with or get through this situation I put myself in that led me on this crazy path," Robinson said. "I'm able to cope with things differently. I know how to avoid those situations that aren't positive. If they're not positive, I'm not going to be around that and if you're not positive I don't need you to be around me."

Robinson's agent, Alvin Keels, said Robinson was prohibited from drinking alcohol and was subject to as many as 10 drug tests a month. He said if Robinson had taken a drink of alcohol the NFL would have known about it.

"He wasn't supposed to drink, that goes without saying," Keels said. "The same testing procedures he was under when he was in the league remained. In order to be reinstated he had to comply and follow the program. There is little room for error. Koren's done an outstanding job of doing what they asked him to do."

Robinson attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, met with therapists and received support from family and friends. He said he took his recovery seriously and plans to continue receiving treatment when the re-joins the Packers.

During the months he wasn't serving time or working out in Phoenix with quarterback Brett Favre's personal trainer, Ken Croner, Robinson was in Green Bay, working on setting up a support system for his return. He said he doesn't fear returning to football and the culture of professional athletics.

"I'm definitely trying to start fresh," Robinson said. "I'm not trying to go back, but I'm not going to forget either."

Robinson is scheduled to arrive in Green Bay this week to begin getting acclimated with the Packers' offense. Because it's the bye week, he won't be able to take part in a practice until the team returns on Monday.

Read More from Tom Silverstein's article on JSOnline here:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=675956

Pack improve to 5-1 heading into the bye

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Cornerback Charles Woodson scooped up the ball - and lifted the spirits of the Green Bay Packers' suddenly sagging offense.

Woodson's 57-yard fumble return in the third quarter gave the Packers the go-ahead touchdown in a 17-14 victory over the Washington Redskins at soggy Lambeau Field on Sunday.

"It was a big play today," Woodson said. "Hopefully, I have many more to come."

With Green Bay's previously top-ranked passing offense sputtering and the Packers trailing 14-10 late in the third quarter, defensive lineman Corey Williams stripped Redskins receiver Santana Moss on an end-around. Woodson picked up the ball and ran to the end zone.

The Packers (5-1) won despite an off day from Brett Favre, who became the NFL's career interception king with an errant pass picked off by Redskins safety Sean Taylor in the third quarter.


"I could care less," Favre said. "We won the game. I'm glad it's over, just like the other records. We're 5-1, so it feels a lot better than having no picks and being 1-5."

Despite Favre's off day - he was 19-of-37 for 188 yards and threw a second interception to Taylor in the fourth quarter - the Packers recovered from their first loss of the season against Chicago last Sunday, regaining momentum as they head into their bye.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the Redskins were the best team the Packers have played so far, but he still hasn't seen his young team play a complete game.

"We feel good about being 5-1, but we're a team that needs to clean our house," McCarthy said.
The Redskins (3-2) baffled a pass-happy NFC North offense for the second week in a row after beating Detroit, but offensive mistakes cost them on Sunday. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said his team's fumbles and dropped passes weren't acceptable, even in wet conditions.

"Certainly that's no excuse for us," Gibbs said. "We're out in it, and we've got to make the catches."

Between the fumble and a subsequent leg cramp, Moss apparently was so upset that he took himself out of the game.

"I took myself out," Moss said. "Something wasn't feeling right with me, and why go out there and keep another guy from helping us win? There was (stuff) going on and I wasn't making the plays that I should have been making."

Gibbs didn't blame Moss for the loss.

"You've got to look at that and say, 'That's something that just happened to us today,"' Gibbs said. "Certainly, we've got great confidence in him and he means a lot to us."

On the Packers' first possession after halftime, Favre spotted rookie wide receiver James Jones wide open for a sure touchdown. But the ball hung in the air, and Taylor recovered to make a leaping catch near the sideline.

Favre's record-setting interception came two weeks after Favre surpassed Dan Marino's career record for touchdown passes and a month after Favre broke John Elway's record for most career victories for a starting quarterback.

The Packers then had a touchdown pass erased by a holding penalty on tackle Mark Tauscher and Mason Crosby kicked a 37-yard field goal, cutting the Redskins' lead to 14-10.

Then came Moss' momentum-changing fumble. Woodson got a block from Al Harris on Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell to get to the end zone.


"I didn't think anybody would catch me," Woodson said. "I turned around, and I'd seen Campbell running pretty fast, (to) catch up to me. I got a late block by Al to kind of help me out a little bit."

But Crosby missed a 38-yarder in the fourth quarter, the second miss of the day for a rookie who had missed only one field goal coming in. The Redskins then drove to the Packers 32, where Green Bay linebacker Nick Barnett stopped Ladell Betts on fourth-and-1.

Favre threw his second interception of the day to Taylor, giving the Redskins another chance with 4:14 left. The Packers forced a punt and held on for the victory.

Campbell got the Redskins off to a good start, finding tight end Chris Cooley seven times for 97 yards before halftime. Cooley's 14-yard reception gave Washington a 14-7 first half lead.

"All the things that happened today, we've got to take it and learn from it," Campbell said. "We can't do (any) finger-pointing, we're all in this together. I could've done some things better, everybody else could've done some things better."


Favre, meanwhile, was limping noticeably as he walked to the interview podium and said somebody rolled up on his ankle on an early scramble.

Sounds like a good time for a week off.

"It really doesn't feel very good right now, but the bye week will help a little bit," Favre said. "I'm sure it will hurt two weeks from now; it hurt before the game."


Curtesoy of Fox Sports and the AP http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7323882

Where does Favre rank among greats?

An interesting article on Foxsports.com asks the question: Where does Favre rank among greats? Michael David Smith from footballoutsiders.com has the story.

If he throws a touchdown pass Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, Brett Favre will surpass Dan Marino and take over sole possession of first place on the all-time touchdown list. Of course, if he throws three interceptions, he'll also surpass George Blanda and take over sole possession of first place on the all-time interception list.

That's one of the things that makes Favre's place among the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game so hard to judge. His daring style means he may have made more great plays — and more bad plays — than any other quarterback in history. So where does Favre rank? Below I'll compare him, head-to-head, against my own subjective list of the 16 best quarterbacks ever. First, here's that list, in alphabetical order:

Troy Aikman, Ken Anderson, Sammy Baugh, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Dan Fouts, Otto Graham, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Joe Namath, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton, Johnny Unitas, Steve Young

Before we get started, two things about that list: There may be arguments to put Peyton Manning or Tom Brady on it, but I'm leaving active players off because I think it's too hard to make historical judgments when dealing with players who are still in their primes. Favre is far enough along in his career to judge him adequately; we'll have to wait a few more years before we know for sure where we put Manning and Brady.

Secondly, I skewed it a little bit in favor of players whose careers were closer to Favre's. I wanted to include some of the all-time great old-school quarterbacks, like Baugh and Graham, but I left off some others who began their careers before the AFL-NFL merger, like Len Dawson, Sonny Jurgensen, Bobby Layne and Sid Luckman, because the quarterback position was less important in the early days of football, before the passing game was opened up.

Now, let's get to the matchups:

Troy Aikman
The argument many Cowboys fans would make for Aikman is quite simple: Three Super Bowl rings, to one for Favre. But that argument is bogus. Aikman had at least three offensive teammates who either already are or some day will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Larry Allen. Favre didn't get anywhere near the help from his teammates that Aikman got, and when you consider how far ahead Favre is statistically (25,000 more yards, 250 more touchdowns, a higher passer rating), it's an easy choice.

Verdict: Favre

Ken Anderson
Anderson, who spent his entire 16-year career with the Bengals, is probably the best quarterback who's not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a more accurate passer than Favre, and something like the anti-Favre in the sense that he did everything the textbook-perfect way, while Favre likes to freelance. Anderson led the league in passer rating four times, but statistical analysis overrates Anderson because the Bengals' offense (designed by Bill Walsh) had a passing attack that was so far ahead of the rest of the league. Favre could have succeeded in any offense, and that's why he gets the nod over Anderson.

Verdict: Favre

Sammy Baugh
It's nearly impossible to compare a player like Baugh, who played for the Redskins from 1937 to 1952, with a modern quarterback. But let's try anyway. During Baugh's career, he was widely regarded as the best quarterback in football (he was also a very good defensive back and punter, but we won't hold playing only one way against Favre). Favre's longevity is a point in his favor against most quarterbacks, but it really isn't against Baugh, who at the time he retired had played more games than any other player in history. To the extent that we can compare them at all, Baugh was a greater player in his decade and a half in the NFL than Favre has been for the last decade and a half.

Verdict: Baugh

Terry Bradshaw
Similar to Aikman, Bradshaw has more Super Bowl rings than Favre and more Hall of Fame teammates than Favre. Bradshaw was a great player on a great team, but Favre was a great player who made his team great. The distinction is huge, and it's why Favre is a better quarterback than Bradshaw.

Verdict: Favre

John Elway
In terms of their total career résumés, Elway is probably the most similar quarterback to Favre, as they both spent many years with the same team and compiled gaudy career numbers. Favre has, for the most part, surpassed Elway's numbers, including passing Elway two weeks ago for the record for most games won by a starting quarterback. Still, I take Elway over Favre because Elway is one of the few quarterbacks who can rival Favre's arm strength, and Elway's overall talent for the position made him a tougher player for opposing defenses to stop, especially early in his career when he had to carry the Broncos all by himself.

Verdict: Elway

Dan Fouts
Few offenses ever assembled had the firepower of the San Diego Chargers when Fouts was at the helm. Fouts led the league in passing yards for four straight years, something no other quarterback has accomplished. But Fouts was placed into the perfect system to get the most of his talents, with Don Coryell as his coach and Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, John Jefferson and Wes Chandler as his receivers. Favre has succeeded under several coaches and with a revolving door of wide receivers.

Verdict: Favre

Otto Graham
The Cleveland Browns of the 1940s and 1950s towered over the rest of pro football, winning seven championships in Graham's 10 seasons. That was in large part because coach Paul Brown designed an offense that was far ahead of the rest of football, and Graham was the perfect player to run Brown's offense. He dominated his era in a way that Favre didn't.

Verdict: Graham

Dan Marino
It's a shame that there are still people who think the fact that Marino retired without a Super Bowl ring taints his career. That is really the only argument that makes sense for putting Favre ahead of Marino, and it says more about Marino's teammates than it does about him. Even if Favre breaks all of Marino's records, Marino was the best pure passer ever to play the game.

Verdict: Marino

Joe Montana
The four Super Bowls are great, but they're not the reason Montana is the greatest quarterback in modern NFL history. What set Montana apart was always having complete command of the offense and an incredible ability to make big plays while avoiding turnovers. Favre already has almost twice as many interceptions as Montana had in his career.

Verdict: Montana

Warren Moon
Moon is a tough comparison because it's impossible to know what kind of player he might have been had he not been relegated to Canada until he was 27. But the reason Favre comes out ahead is that Moon was never considered the best player in the league, while Favre has three MVPs to his credit.

Verdict: Favre

Joe Namath
Namath had incredible physical talent and the whole Broadway Joe persona, but he wasn't as great a player as Favre. The good statistics Namath produced early in his career were in large part the result of playing in the old American Football League, a league designed to have high scores and inflated passing statistics. And as much as Favre has been criticized for throwing too many interceptions, in Namath's entire career, he had just two seasons in which he threw more touchdowns than interceptions.

Verdict: Favre

Bart Starr
It's not hard to name the best two quarterbacks in Packers history, but it is hard to say which one was better. Starr led Vince Lombardi's Packers to victory in the first two Super Bowls and three other NFL titles in the pre-Super Bowl era, and he's one of the best big-game players in football history. But the Lombardi Packers were so much better than the rest of the league that Starr's job was relatively easy. Favre gets the edge over Starr because he had to carry the Packers on his back in a way that Starr didn't.

Verdict: Favre

Roger Staubach
Staubach is somewhat like Moon in that he got a late start to his career. For Moon it was because NFL general managers couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that a black man can play quarterback; for Staubach it was because he spent five years in the Navy. On top of the time he missed to military service, in three of his 11 seasons Staubach was just a bit player. Staubach achieved a tremendous amount in a career that lasted just eight seasons, but his lack of career longevity means his total accomplishments don't rank with Favre's.

Verdict: Favre

Fran Tarkenton
Before Marino broke them, Tarkenton owned the records for completions, touchdowns and yards. Those are records that Favre broke last year (completions), will break this year (touchdowns) and is likely to break next year (yards). But Tarkenton did it during an NFL career that spanned from 1961 to 1978, a period during which it was significantly harder to rack up big passing numbers. Although Favre led his team to a championship and Tarkenton didn't, Tarkenton's total career is more impressive.

Verdict: Tarkenton

Johnny Unitas
Unitas is, by general acclaim, the greatest quarterback in the history of football. His stats, overall, aren't gaudy by today's standards, although he still owns a DiMaggio-like record of 47 straight games with a touchdown pass (Favre has the second-longest streak, with 36).
Even fans who were born after he retired have seen Unitas line up under center, drop back to pass and deliver a strike downfield hundreds of times, thanks to NFL Films. Unitas' production on the field really did live up to his legend. He's the best ever.

Verdict: Unitas

Steve Young
A tough choice. Young had some absolutely incredible passing seasons, including six different seasons in which he led the league in passer rating. In those seasons, he had stats that Favre couldn't touch. If I could take Young's best half-dozen seasons vs. Favre's best half-dozen seasons, that would be an easy choice: Young in a laugher. But then again, Favre has out-gained Young by more than 25,000 passing yards. (Favre has 58,361 career passing yards; Young retired with 33,124.) Young had six seasons of 3,000 or more passing yards; Favre has had 15. And Young played with better receivers and a more quarterback-friendly offense. Looking at the totalities of their careers, Young falls short.

Verdict: Favre

So there you have it. Favre is the eighth-best quarterback in NFL history, behind Baugh, Elway, Graham, Marino, Montana, Tarkenton and Unitas. Let the arguments begin.

Prince of Power - Fielder Blast 2 HRs to give him 50

Fielder became the youngest player in major league history to reach 50 home runs Tuesday night, socking two out of the park to propel the Brewers to a 9-1 victory over St. Louis at Miller Park.

The Brewers' second consecutive romp over the Cardinals made their seemingly impossible task of catching the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central a bit more possible.

Thanks to Chicago's 4-2 loss in Florida, the gap was narrowed to two games, with five to play for both teams.

"Just keep playing, control what you can control," said manager Ned Yost, who has tried to keep his players focused on a day-by-day approach.

No one is having much luck controlling Fielder these days. With a two-run homer off Braden Looper in the first inning and another two-run shot in the seventh off Kip Wells, the big first baseman reached 50 in a season at 23 years 139 days of age.

The great Willie Mays had been the youngest to hit 50 at 24 years 137 days in 1955.
"Actually, Billy (Hall) told me," Fielder said. "That's an awesome feat. Now my kids can know that one time their dad was pretty good."

Speaking of dads, Fielder normally shies away from talk about the well-documented estrangement with his father, former big-league slugger Cecil Fielder. But he made it clear that one of his primary goals is to escape from the shadow of his father for good.

Fielder said he had no intention of keeping the 50th home run ball, but was hoping for No. 52.
"My dad had 51 (as a season high)," Fielder said. "Then, he can't say anything."

Fielder was not happy about comments his father made in a magazine article earlier in the year, claiming his son never would have been a first-round draft pick if he hadn't paved the way. The two haven't spoken for years and that rift apparently has widened.

That subject resurfaced when Fielder was asked about the "MVP!" chants at Miller Park and if he thought much about winning that award.

"It would be a cool award to get but that's not something I think about," he said, "besides the fact my dad never did it. If I do get it, that shuts him up again."

Fielder said he was "serious" about trumping his father, adding, "A lot of people said that's the only reason I got drafted. That's what drives me. People said I was too big and all this, and the only reason I got drafted was because of the name.

"That's why I'm so passionate about playing. I don't mind people comparing me to him but I'm a completely different player. One day I want people to mention my name and not have to mention his."

As for the recent comments from his father, Fielder said, "You've got to look at who's saying it. Let's be honest. He's not really the brightest guy."

Read More here from Tom Haudricourt's article in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=667470

FAVRE & THE PACK ON A ROLL

Ok so it's been awhile since my last post. The Packers beat the Chargers 31-24 last Sunday in an exciting game that had fans on the edge of their seats. Favre led the Packers to a come from behind win with a late 4th quarter TD pass to Greg Jennings with a little more than 2 minutes to go in the game. The Packers Defense stepped up and intercepted Phillip Rivers pass to seal the game. Nick Barnett ran back the interception to the 2 yard line and Brandon Jackson ran it in for the insurance score.

Favre had a magical game and tied Dan Marino with 420 career TD passes. Favre was 28-of-35 for 369 yards and three touchdowns. McCarthy put the ball in his hands and let Favre win the game himself. The Pack ran the ball about 19 times and frequently had an empty backfield and 4 receivers spread wide. Favre picked apart the Chargers weak secondary and helped them improve to 3-0 and on top the NFC North Division. Writers from Fox Sports have the Packers ranked 5th in the Power Rankings and fans are excited with the quick start.

Nobody expected the Packers to come out on fire and almost nobody expected them to be 3-0 going into this Sunday's match up against the Vikings.

Despite Win, Badgers fall to #7 in AP & Coaches Poll

While Donovan had started and won a game on the road before, he registered his first fourth-quarter comeback Saturday in the 20-13 victory at UNLV.

Donovan has now won four straight games as a starter, going back to last season, but there is something defining for a quarterback, to huddle the offense in the fourth quarter, needing a touchdown to win the game.

"We knew we needed to put points on the board and take care of what we needed to do," Donovan said Sunday of taking over at the UW 39-yard line, trailing 13-12, with 7 minutes, 33 seconds to play. "There was no doubt in my mind we were going to do it. There was definitely passion in the guys' eyes and a little extra fire you could just feel."

Donovan coolly completed an 8-yard pass to tight end Travis Beckum to start the drive, then connected on a 6-yard pass to Luke Swan on third-and-2 for the initial first down.

Tailback P.J. Hill did a lot of the dirty work, carrying six times for 23 yards and picking up a fourth-and-1 at the Rebels' 38 with a 3-yard run. But it was at the UNLV 29, on first-and-15, following a delay-of-game penalty, that Donovan made what could turn out to be one of the most important plays of the season.

With just about everybody on the defense keying on Hill, UW offensive coordinator Paul Chryst called for naked bootleg by Donovan to the left.

"If you 're a coach up in the box, you tell (the defensive players), 'Hey, here comes 39, here comes 39,' " UW coach Bret Bielema said of Hill's number. "A great call by Paul and ultimately great execution by T.D."

Even though he had told Chryst earlier in the game to give him the ball, Hill was delighted when the bootleg call came. "I loved that play," Hill said. "I was like, It's definitely going to work.' ' '

First, Donovan faked a handoff to Hill, who was going right, along with everybody else on offense except for Swan, who was wide to the left and dragged his defender downfield on a pass route.

When Hill was asked how many defenders were sucked in by the play fake, he smiled and laughed.

"We were watching the film (Sunday) and like the whole defense, line, linebackers," Hill said. "(Donovan) had that one guy to beat and he beat him."

That one guy was linebacker Star Fuimaono, who Donovan initially thought was lined up in the perfect spot to foil the play.

"They had a defense set up that probably could have reacted pretty good to it, with a guy coming off the edge," Donovan said. "That goes back to P.J. doing a good job all day. A lot of their eyes were on P.J."

With Donovan's speed, he had no trouble getting outside of Fuimaono, who made a futile dive. Swan, meanwhile, was downfield at the 15, putting a block on cornerback Geoffery Howard.
That's a hard block to make, since it's out in the open, where holding calls are often made, and lasts for a couple of seconds.

After Donovan got past the block, he was in a race with cornerback Mil'Von James for the end zone. Donovan made an incredible leap from the 3, reaching out the ball with his right hand to swat the pylon for a touchdown with 1:53 left.

Courtesy of Tom Mulhern from today's Wisconsin State Journal:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/badgersFB/231667

Packers pull out a win

While Sunday's season opener might not have been pretty, it's still a W in the win column. The Packers got a lot of help from the football gods at Lambeau, recovering 2 fumbled punts, 1 for a TD and the other to setup the winning 42 yard field goal from rookie kicker Mason Crosby. Crosby was 3-3 on field goals, hitting from 53, 37, and the game winner of 42.

The offense looked terrible in the 16-13 win over the Eagles, never reaching the end zone. The obvious hole showed up at RB, with rookie Brandon Jackson only gaining 40 yards on 15 carries. With all the cap money the Packers have, there is some question to what Ted Thompson is thinking sticking with the current RB situation.

If this trend continues, it should be a long season for the Packer offense. While the win was great, future HOF QB Brett Favre isn't getting too excited. "The competitive side of me is not letting me enjoy it as much as I should."

The Packers defense looked great. They held the Eagles to 13 points all day, created turnovers, and made the Eagles offense go 3 and out on many occasions. The D looks to be the strength of this year's Packers.

The Packers travel to NY to take on the Giants next Sunday. The Giants could be without QB Eli Manning who left yesterday's game with a bruised shoulder.

No. 6 pick Yi finally signs with Bucks

After all the talk, the media circus, and the frustration by Bucks fans, Yi Jianlian finally signed Wednesday night in Hong Kong to a multi year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Yi played five games this summer with Team China Basketball in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He averaged 12.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots. He had a team-high 23 points against Memphis, and 20, including the game-winner against Cleveland.

"We are happy that Yi will be playing with the Bucks to further develop his skill and his contribution to both the Chinese National Team and the NBA," NBA commissioner David Stern said.

"There has been a genuine excitement throughout our city and state, as well as internationally, following our selection of Yi in the NBA Draft," Bucks owner and team president Herb Kohl said. "We all anticipate Yi's arrival and welcome him and his family to Milwaukee. We look forward to a successful relationship for many years to come."

Curtesoy of Associated Press

Awful Brewers lose to 1st place Cubs

It's been so painful to follow the Brewers of lately. They dropped the 1st game against the Cubs yesterday and have now dropped to 3rd place in the division after a Cardinal win. Maybe next year is the year!!!!

Vikings sign Ferguson

Robert Ferguson ended up in a place with multiple ex-Green Bay Packers. It just wasn't Houston, like most folks expected.

Instead, the veteran wide receiver signed Tuesday with the Minnesota Vikings, joining former teammates Ryan Longwell and Darren Sharper in getting a chance to play against his former employer twice a year in the NFC North.

"That's definitely icing on the cake," Ferguson said. The actual cake is the role Ferguson could play for the Vikings, whose wide receiver corps are, to put it politely, inexperienced.

A less polite description? Bad.

The Houston Texans, with ex-Packers coach Mike Sherman as their offensive coordinator and a host of Sherman-picked ex-Packers on the roster, were thought to be the frontrunners for Ferguson, who is a Houston native and makes his offseason home there.

"Obviously once I found out I was released from Green Bay, that was the number one team that came into mind," Ferguson said. "But things changed dramatically once I visited here and got to talk with the coaches and talk with the teammates here."

A disappointment in Green Bay as a 2001 second-round pick, Ferguson joins Minnesota's 12-receiver group as the wideout with the most NFL experience (six years), most games played (60), most starts (26), most receptions (116), most yards (1,577) and most touchdowns (12). Bobby Wade currently is the Vikings' No. 1 receiver, while drop-prone Troy Williamson is No. 2 and rookie second-round pick Sidney Rice is the No. 3 receiver.

By the Vikings' Sept. 9 opener against Atlanta, Ferguson, who according to an NFL source signed a one-year, $700,000 deal that includes incentives that could boost the contract's value to $1.3 million, could work his way into the starting lineup.

But don't discount the revenge factor. "He has the same feeling I did when you leave Green Bay," Sharper said. "You want to play those guys twice a year."

Courtesy of Jason Wilde from today's Wisconsin State Journal:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/index.php?ntid=206534&ntpid=4