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January 2, 2009 - Friday 9:35 AM
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Current mood:  hopeful Category: Sports
Happy New Year, Bubblerites.
Before I begin with my random thoughts, a thank you to Luke LeNoble, assistant sports information director at Marquette. Luke hooked me up with a nice ticket upgrade for today's Marquette/Villanova game. Anytime I can move from the upper level down to the lower level, things are good. I also was amused that I got the upgrade, even after the last Sportsblog in which I talked significantly about Marquette, wherein I proceeded to somewhat jump on a few areas of game operations. This signals one of two things to me:
1. What I do for Marquette Soccer must be halfway decent
2. No one at Marquette reads the blog, which might be a good thing
Anyhow, the good luck of getting that sort of upgrade on the first day of the year is the kind of thing you hope translates throughout 2009. There's nothing like getting the year off to the right start. Thanks, Luke.
Anyhow, to the topic of the game.
 Before I start, I want to reiterate the point I made in the title of the blog: ALL Big East wins are good wins. When the majority of the conference is in the Top 25, any games you win are important. I'm going to start nitpicking a little about the win after this, but I don't want anyone to lose sight of the fact that Marquette beat the 13th-ranked team in the country today on national television. Anytime you do that, it's a good thing.
Alright, now to the nitpicking.
Marquette played very solidly in the second half, particularly in the last five minutes. The quality of play in the game took a significant step up in the second half for both sides.
But, in all honesty, it looked like nobody deserved to win the game in the first half, particularly Marquette.
'Sloppy' isn't the right word for it, because I think a lot of people equate 'sloppy' with turnovers. I think that it was more a matter of not playing sharp basketball.
It looked like Marquette might not make a three all day for a while at the start of the contest. Then they couldn't make a layup to save their lives. Their free throw shooting was poorer than it's been all year long this afternoon. Dominic James was a very unremarkable 1-for-4 from the free throw line. Wes Matthews really didn't show up until the second half of the contest. Lazar Hayward seemed absent from the offense for a lot of the game, despite the fact he finished up with 15 points. It wasn't that Marquette wasn't running their offense; they were. But it almost seemed as if MU did better when taking shots outside the offense than they did hitting the open ones they got as a result of running set plays. Everyone who takes the time to watch Marquette Basketball with a little bit of a serious eye knows Marquette is at their best when they're running the break often, but you have to -- and should be able to -- hit open shots when your half-court sets present them.
The schemes set up for Villanova seemed good today, and Marquette was saved by the fact the Wildcats didn't look any sharper than MU did. I do give Marquette credit for playing fairly strong defense. Villanova wasn't hitting shots today, either, and though they did expose a Marquette weakness for popping over to the help side by swinging the ball fairly well today, they seemed like the kind of team Marquette can definitely beat, namely one that doesn't have a lot of size beyond Dante Cunningham. I don't care how good your guards are, they're probably not as good as Matthews, James and Jerel McNeal.
I'm fairly sure Buzz gave his kids a curfew last night and, as young men tend to do, I'm guessing they still found a way to ring in the new year. But a less-than-sharp performance in a game that is played on New Year's afternoon seems a little too coincidental.
 What bugs me about the first half Marquette played is that a good team that hits more of their shots could have put a game away in the first half against MU today. Villanova did get the first six points of the basketball game, but then things cooled off for them after that. I thought the first half was all-around kind of poorly played and not very indicative of two teams in the top 25. Villanova also wasn't playing great defense today, either, committing way too many fouls at the start of both halves, effecting their rotations. That's part of Marquette's modus operandi, using their athleticism to get to the basket and get guys in foul trouble. The problem, though, is when you don't hit your free throws. Then it doesn't really matter how much you get to the line. Marquette was a dismal 7-for-13 from the charity stripe in the first half. Ouch.
There's also something that I'm getting a little ticked about: OK, I know the strength of the Golden Eagles is never going to be their post play. But that doesn't and shouldn't mean that your post players shouldn't still be fighting for position. The mere threat of that ball going down low can effect the way a team guards you, can tire out their big men and can open up more options in the offense. Maybe it was because Dwight Burke hit the first bucket of the game for Marquette today, but I spent a lot of time focusing on the post play for MU this afternoon and I noticed that both Burke and Lazar Hayward spend a lot of time just ... kinda ... standing there.
Hayward's best touch comes when he gets the ball in the high post and is able to use some Hakeem Olajuwon moves. I get that. And Dwight Burke's best touch is when his patoot is touching the comfy old chairs of the Bradley Center's bench. A lot of people agree on that.
But when both are in the low post, there's nothing that says they both can't get low, try and establish position, back down their defenders, use their strength, throw up a hand and at least be seen as an option. I understand that penetrate-and-kick is a big part of Marquette's game, but why can't the hi-lo be there, too? Like I said, present it at the very least. You're out there on the floor -- do something. At the very least, making yourself big down low does a lot to keep defenders from popping out around you and puts you in a good position to quickly turn around and be in a good rebounding pose.
I hate to use the Badgers as an example, but I can tell you for absolute certain that anytime anybody is on the low block for a Bo Ryan team, he's putting himself in a position to get the ball. As a matter of fact, anytime anyone's on the floor for a Bo Ryan team, they're putting themselves in a position to get the ball. It's the whole premise of the swing -- the idea that skip passes, fade screens, big men that can hit jumpers and guards in the post can create mismatches that frustrate teams out of your building. There's a lot that can be learned from that.
Always be working. The great teams do that because the great teams are relentless. Think about John Wooden's UCLA teams that just beat everyone and anyone on their schedule. They never let up. That's the way you have to be.
Yes, it's a Big East win, which makes it a good win. But Villanova could have easily gotten blown out of the building today if Marquette had put up a complete effort. Instead, they got a good win instead of a statement victory. We'll take it, but we can always ask for more.
So we find out today that Thomas Jones wasn't a big Brett Favre fan. Really.
Much like with the Marquette talk above, I want to preface this by saying that Jones probably shouldn't be running his mouth to the media, particularly this long after the season is over. This is the kind of thing that should best be handled internally.
That said, let's take what was said, both by Jones and by another "unnamed Jets player" at face value. No, Favre was not his best at the end of the 2008 NFL season. Sure, he was probably better than any other option for the Jets to win games, but no, Favre wasn't very good. Us Packers fans saw a Favre that wasn't very good on a lot of different occasions during this decade. Think about the playoff game in St. Louis. Think about the Atlanta or Minnesota playoff games we lost. Think about his last pass as a Packer. Think about the 4-12 year we had in 2005 and, to an extent, 2004.
Yes, Brett can pull off miracles. The price for that, though, has always been the risk of a miraculously large failure. That risk rose more and more as the years wore on with Brett.
 Furthermore, there is an undeniable generational gap between Favre and his teammates. Favre is pushing 40 and isn't far away from worrying about his daughters being able to date his teammates. Even when he was here, he wasn't exactly known as being the most social guy with his teammates after Mark Chmura was pushed out of the league for being a dirty old man and a creep (I don't think anyone should forgive him for that) and Frank Winters ate a few too many bags of doughnuts.
But a lot of it is just Favre's personality, too. Somewhere along the line, Favre seems to have decided that he just doesn't fit in with the younger generation. I don't know why, I don't know how. Maybe it was the years when he wasn't practicing because he was hurt. Maybe it's his backlash to Ted Thompson recognizing that the average NFL player doesn't last longer than three or four years in the league. Maybe Favre was just diappointed about how many players he's seen come and go through the years. Whatever it is, Favre has always kind of had this "special treatment" since the end of the Mike Holmgren era in Green Bay. His own press conferences, every other week, when he felt like having them? Of course. Even being in the locker room when the other guys are being interviewed by the media? Unthinkable.
In a league that traditionally has prided itself on parity and no person or team being no more special than any other, Favre has gotten used to his perch on the pedestal. He doesn't see himself or act like "just one of the guys," despite the fact that fans relate to that image. It's one thing to be that way with the public. It's another thing altogether to be that way with your teammates, particularly when you're with a new team.
Granted, some of this is because Favre was just that good for three years in the 90's. But the NFL is also very much a "what have you done for me lately" league and, like a lot of other things in life, how much you did or won before has no bearing on how much you win now.
Brett Favre now is an injured, old quarterback who is creative when healthy but takes too many risks and acts aloof with his teammates. He doesn't seem worth it.
Now consider this: I said at the beginning of this rant that Jones' comments are better made internally than they are to the media. Let's say, just for the sake of example, that maybe the Packers do a better job of putting up a front for the media and talking things over with themselves before putting anyone in front of a microphone. After all, Green Bay is two hours from any major media outlets, it's not tremendously easy for reporters to get to Green Bay and because the Packers are kind of the only game in town for everyone north of Madison, they know they can put a stranglehold on what gets in and out of the organization, lest they give a news organization from Oshkosh or Appleton an absolute death sentence by taking away their credentials (can you imagine not being able to cover the Packers in this state?).
In short, let's just theorize that maybe -- maybe -- these sorts of things were also being said in Lambeau-land but, unlike in New York, they weren't said to the media (because it would have been certain PR death in the land where Lord Favre reigned) and they were kept internal.
Notice the reaction everyone's having to the Jets' comments? "Do you think the Jets might not want Brett Favre back?"
Remember what everyone was asking last year here in Wisconsin? "Why wouldn't the Packers want Brett Favre back?"
I think about how Aaron Rodgers appeared on the Packers' post-game radio show after the last game of the season. Lord Brett would have never considered doing that. I also think about Rodgers' numbers, of course, and the fact that he's the same age as most of his fellow teammates and does probably relate to them better than Favre. He deserved a chance. He got it and made the most of it.
What were the two knocks against Rodgers this year? Fourth-quarter play and not having Favre's "quiet leadership." Yup, it looks like the folks in New York really respected that "quiet leadership." I'll acknowledge the fourth-quarter part, but for most guys, that comes with time.
I know what a lot of you Wisconsinites are still doing -- putting on your green '4' jersey, sticking your fingers in your ears and screaming, "LA-LA-LA, THREE-STRAIGHT MVP'S, SUPER BOWL XXXI, LA-LA-LA!"
But I think it's time for even the most die-hard of Favre fans to start understanding that there were legit reasons why the Packers would consider moving on.
How much more proof do we need?
Alright, it's late and I do have to work tomorrow, so it's time to call it a night.
 I ran into Tom Haudricourt after the Marquette game today. Known as a bitter man during the baseball season, Tom seemed happy to see me and in a good mood in general. I think the few sentences I exchanged with him were actually more conversation than I had with him my whole time covering the Brewers. It goes to show you that as fun as you think covering sports can be, it gets to be a grind. It's just something in people's blood, though.
Thanks to those of you who are coming back to the Sportsblog after I took a lot of time off last year. Here's to a 2009 full of intelligent sports opinion and criticism as we watch the last games of the decade.
More soon.
Photo: Jerel McNeal, guarded by Corey Stokes (left) and Shane Clark (Mark Hoffman/JSOnline)
Photo: Frank Winters (left) with Brett Favre (Mike Roemer/AP/USA Today)
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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 27
City: Brookfield
State: Wisconsin
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