Category Archives: Sports

Today is a glorious day. Pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training. The dark, depressing days in the calendar between football and baseball seasons are almost over.

This blog’s favorite team, the Milwaukee Brewers, don’t hold their first official workout until tomorrow. But many players have already shown up, whether out of a veteran’s offseason boredom or a prospect’s desire to make a good impression on the higher-ups. Either way, the boys of summer are getting ready, and opening day can’t get here soon enough.

Tomorrow, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears will face off for the 187th time — the most any two teams have played each other in NFL history. It is the NFL’s marquee rivalry. The Packers have won 13 NFL championships, the most of any team. The Bears are second in NFL annals with 9.

The Packers have fared better in the Super Bowl era, winning 4 Lombardi trophies to Chicago’s lone victory in 1985. Then again, the Bears hold the edge in head-to-head play, with a 92-87-6 record, including playoffs.

The players are very much aware of their rivalry’s intensity, and seem to revel in it. Chicago’s best receiver, Brandon Marshall, said this week at a press conference:

“I don’t like the Green Bay Packers. I’m not going to use the word ‘hate,’ but I really dislike the Packers and their players,” Marshall said. “But you know what? The talk has to back it up. We’ll go out there and do everything we have to do to get a win.”

Marshall leads the NFL with 103 catches through 13 games. The Packers somehow kept him in check when they met earlier in the season, allowing only 2 catches for 24 yards. He has clearly taken it personally, calling tomorrow’s game the “biggest game of my career.”

Packer defenders have given Marshall plenty of reason to take umbrage, particularly Charles Woodson. After their last game Woodson, who will not play tomorrow due to injury, said of Jay Cutler, Chicago’s talented but interception-prone quarterback:

“Heard some talk out of the Bears: Packers secondary not working coverage, bigger receivers … we heard about it,” Woodson told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols after the game. “We understand that Jay is excited about his new weapons, but it’s the same-old Jay. We don’t need luck; Jay will throw us the ball.”

Cutler threw four interceptions that day, all but ensuring a Bears loss. No doubt he has been putting in extra time this week studying film and making sure his receivers know their routes, and his linemen know their protection schemes; tomorrow’s game should be a fun one. Cutler hasn’t historically played well against Green Bay, but when he’s having a good day, he drives his team up and down the field almost at will.

But enough about tomorrow. It turns out that 80 years ago, in 1932, this rivalry once had championship-level implications due to a quirk in the rules.

Recall that the Packers and Bears are the NFL’s two most decorated franchises, with 13 and 9 championships, respectively. Every week, Green Bay’s PR staff puts out a Dope Sheet packed with information about the Packers, that week’s opponent, their history together, roster information, and endless statistics. On page 5 of this week’s Dope Sheet I found a tidbit that there is an argument that maybe Green Bay should really have 14 championships to Chicago’s 8:

On the heels of its three straight NFL championships [1929-31]… the Bears stole from Green Bay a fourth straight title (which at the time was determined by league standings). Chicago barely finished atop the league standings, which unlike today did not count ties. Had the league counted ties in standings, the Packers would have won. The next year, 1933, the  NFL began determining its champion with postseason games.

This was also the last time the Packers have led the all-time series. The Bears have held the advantage ever since — 80 years and counting.

This was an eventful weekend for Brewers fans. First, the good news. They collected their 81st win, guaranteeing a non-losing season. With 4 games left, they are very likely to finish what earlier looked like a dismal season with a winning record. Could happen tonight, even.

The bad news is that they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs when they lost 7-0 to the Houston Astros, who are indisputably baseball’s worst team.

Good and bad, as with everything else. Besides, as Cubs fans have been saying for well over a century — there’s always next year. I’ll savor the end of this one, but already next season can’t come soon enough.

The Brewers’ playoff chances are down to 0.1 percent, according to CoolStandings.com. But that’s ok, because the team is on the cusp of a milestone victory. One more win guarantees a non-losing season. Two more would make for a winning season. Not bad for a team that was 12 games below .500 at one point earlier in the year.

There are five games left in the season. All are against weak opposition, so this feat of mediocrity appears eminently doable. As a fan, if playoffs aren’t in the picture, a non-losing season is a decent consolation prize.

Rookie Wily Peralta pitched 8 shutout innings in his third career start, and Ryan Braun hit two home runs to lift the Brewers over the Mets, 3-0.

Meanwhile, the Cubs beat Pittsburgh 13-9. Promising rookie Anthony Rizzo had two home runs of his own, including his first career grand slam.

That means that if the Cubs win all their remaining games and the Brewers lose all of theirs, they will finish with identical 74-88 records. The Brewers can now officially do no worse than their rivals.

To ensure a better finish, the magic number is now 1. The next Brewer win or Cub loss ensures Milwaukee’s bragging rights over their southern neighbors.

Milwaukee’s magic number to finish higher than the Cubs is down to 2 games. If the Brewers beat the Mets today and the Cubs lose to Pittsburgh, it’s clinched.

CoolStandings.com puts Milwaukee’s playoff chances at 7.3 percent, so I’m not getting my hopes up for that. But they can finish with a winning record. They’re 73-72 entering today’s game, so if the Brewers finish the season with 9-8 run, they can do it. An 8-9 finish puts them at .500.

Considering how the season began, this fan is more than pleased to be realistically hoping for a winning record. If they aren’t playoff-bound, that’s not a bad consolation prize.

The Brewers have been on an extended hot streak. To the surprise of everyone but themselves, they have played their way back to .500. Their record is 71-71 entering tonight’s game against Atlanta.

The Brewers are even back in the fringes of the playoff race, thanks to the second wild card spot that MLB added this year. They’re fighting a lot of teams for it — Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philly, LA, Atlanta — but at least they’re fighting. Considering how badly the earlier parts of the season went, 2012 actually turned out to be a good year. I doubt they’ll make the playoffs, but at least they’re playing meaningful baseball this time of year.

The 55-87 Cubs haven’t been so fortunate. By my calculations, Milwaukee’s magic number to beat the Cubs is down to 5. Both teams have 20 games left to play. I might have to set a higher goal for my Brewers.

It wasn’t a historic drubbing like Monday’s 15-4 victory, where the Brewers homered back-to-back-to-back for the first time since 2007. Even without extra innings in that game, the Cubs blew through their entire bullpen and had to use a position player as a pitcher for the first time since 1999.

There was none of that, but a regular old 4-1 victory counts just as much in the standings. More importantly, it brings the Brewers’ Cub-beating magic number down to 23, with 34 games left to play.

The Brewers have now beaten the Cubs 6 times in a row, and won 7 of their last 8 overall. They’re still not going anywhere near the playoffs, but it is good to see them playing well.