UW-Milwaukee: Baseball needs permanent home

This past College Baseball season was a successful one for the Milwaukee Panthers. While they were unable to secure a NCAA tournament berth, the Panthers won the Horizon League regular season championship, along with four of the five regular season awards, going an impressive 28-19 overall and 14-7 in conference. This was very impressive for the Panthers, who are the only Division I college baseball program in the state of Wisconsin, but if you look at their facilities, you would never realize it.

Henry Aaron Field, home of the Panthers, is a glorified high school baseball diamond that is not suitable for a college baseball program. While it should not matter as long as you have a field to call home, it does make a huge impact on the Panthers’ baseball program. Even though the Panthers have been able to be a competitive program throughout the years, “The Hank” makes it even harder to lure some of the top high school players in the state.

As head coach Scott Doffek said, “Athletes, recruits they buy with their eyes.”

Facilities are usually high on top high school recruits’ priorities, and it is hard to convince players to play for the Panthers when they have a baseball facility that is not typical for a D-I program. This causes the Panthers to lose out on many of the top prospects in the state of Wisconsin, ultimately hurting the overall success of the program. Not only is it hard to sell recruits on playing at Henry Aaron Field, but it also has a poor playing surface.

Wisconsin is not the best place to play baseball in the early spring due to frequent inclement weather, and with Henry Aaron Field being all natural grass and dirt, the Panthers struggle with rainouts. Just this past season good old Mother Nature threw the Panthers a curveball with a whopping 13 games postponed or cancelled due to the weather. Not only do the Panthers play at Henry Aaron Field, but the Milwaukee School of Engineering does as well. Henry Aaron Field also holds numerous tournaments and high school games throughout the summer, causing the field to be overused and in poor condition by the end of the summer. Field turf would be a solution to this problem whether they renovate Henry Aaron Field or build a new baseball facility.

The ability to persuade recruits to play at Henry Aaron Field and the current playing surface are two of the major issues the Panthers face, but another negative is the distance from campus.

“The fact that the field is a 15 minute drive from campus makes it hard for students to come watch games. An on-campus field would be great for building an overall fan bases, especially our student fan base,” said Panther sophomore pitcher Jake Tuttle.

While there is no guarantee that the students would support an on-campus stadium, it would create a better atmosphere for the baseball program. The players would also be able to train on it easier without having to leave campus or do drills on the basketball courts. Although Henry Aaron Field is not that far away, an on-campus stadium would be easily accessible to the players and hopefully allow more students to come and support the team.

Though there are numerous negatives about playing home games at Henry Aaron Field, there is one positive about it – home field advantage.

“There’s a reason we went undefeated at The Hank last year. Teams hate playing here because they know we’re always going to bring our A-game to The Hank and I love that about our field,” said Tuttle.

Even though the Panthers still have to execute the game in order to win, they are use to training on it on a regular basis, helping them to be comfortable with the poor playing conditions. Henry Aaron Field is not “jaw dropping” like many other baseball facilities, causing the other teams to possibly loose a little focus.

As Tuttle said, “You can tell when we play an opposing team at The Hank, they just don’t want to be there. Its hard to put aside everything going on around The Hank and focus solely on the game if you don’t play here regularly and that’s why we are able to play so well here.”

Whether it is the other team losing focus or them just not able to adjust to the poor playing surface, there is one thing no one can deny and that is the Panthers great success at home.

The Panthers have had great success at Henry Aaron Field, but it needs many changes and upgrades done to it to make it a quality D-I baseball facility. While this could still be possible, building a new facility would be a more likely and a better option for the program.

As Coach Doffek said, “We’ve got to be creative on what we do, and it needs to happen really quickly.”

According to Doffek, the Panthers have been looking for years at many different sites and options, and came really close to pulling the trigger, and one of the options that was being discussed was Miller Park.

Even though playing at Miller Park would improve recruiting and instantly give Milwaukee an elite baseball complex, it will never happen. Scheduling around the Brewers schedule would be a major difficulty along with the Brewers wanting to preserve their field for their own use. Playing at Miller Park would be an amazing opportunity for the Panthers, but it is not the best option. The Panthers could not use Miller Park as they please, and it would be a major cost for a facility that they cannot call their own.

Building a state-of-the-art baseball complex relatively close to campus is the ideal solution. If and when the Panthers take the route of building a new baseball facility, they should develop a first rate facility that meets their needs and enhances the Milwaukee Baseball program.

Kapco Park is a beautiful field with a great baseball atmosphere. It has FieldTurf, creating a great surface to play on, with a minor league baseball look to it. Kapco Park has a large seating capacity, approximately 1,500 seats, with various seating areas throughout the facility including reserved seats, fan decks, and general admission seating. It also is a fan friendly stadium with concession stands and permanent restrooms.

Second basemen Michael Porcaro said, “If we’re going to get a new field we need turf. Our weather is terrible up here obviously, so turf would be the smart route.”

Porcaro is exactly right. The Panthers will always have a problem with the weather, but one way to get around it, would be FieldTurf. This would allow the Panthers to play and train on it anytime throughout the year, when snow is not present. Besides the weather, the field turf would create a better overall playing surface with a smooth infield and outfield, no matter how much the field is used. Playing baseball in a northern climate, the Panthers need to play at a facility that has field turf, which would allow the Panthers to play on it 24/7 with the surface remaining the same no matter how much use the field receives.

Along with field turf, the Panthers would need exceptional dugouts, a functional scoreboard, a concession stand, permanent restrooms, a press box, and plenty of room for fans. This would instantly make it one of the top baseball facilities in the Horizon League.

Having a state-of-the-art facility would instantly make a tremendous difference on recruiting. The coaches have been able to recruit quality student athletes with the current lack of facilities, just imagine if they could finally sell recruits on their facilities.

“I think you would see less guys leaving the state of Wisconsin to go D-I. And who knows? Maybe you would start seeing kids from other states besides Illinois come to Milwaukee. But without a doubt it would have a positive impact,” said Porcaro.

Currently you see some top tier recruits go out of state because other big D-I schools have better facilities. With a new facility the Panthers could have a better chance at landing more top players locally and nationally, because they already have been successful, they just need the facilities to take the program to the next level.

Not only would a new facility improve recruiting, but the university could also profit off of the field. A new stadium could provide additional revenues by renting out the field, concession stands during games, along with youth and coaching camps.

The only downside of constructing a new facility is that with little land available near campus, the Panthers would most likely have to build away from campus. The goal is always to get a big student fan base at each game, but it will be difficult if the field is off campus to entice students to come to games. While in a perfect world the Panthers would love to build a facility on-campus, realistically they will have to play away from home.

The Milwaukee Panthers need to get the ball rolling on a new baseball facility. New Director of Athletics, Amanda Braun, is committed to improving the athletic facilities, and she has acknowledged that the baseball program’s facilities need to be improved. While no timetable has been set on when a new facility will be built, it needs to be a priority.

The Milwaukee Panthers have looked at different options in the past and have been close to deciding on one, but the constant change of Director of Athletics over the last five years has hurt the progress of a new baseball facility. With Amanda Braun now in charge, we can be confident that she will be working on improving and building a new facility for the baseball program.

Success has not been the problem for the Panthers baseball team, but the lack of facilities. Being the only Division I baseball program in the state of Wisconsin, the Panthers deserve better facilities than Henry Aaron Field. Once this happens, it will make a tremendous impact on recruiting, along with bringing in additional revenue for the university, and changing the overall image of the Milwaukee Panthers baseball program.

DuJuan Harris Will Not Be the Starter Week 1

Every year in Training Camp there are numerous position battles, and this year the Green Bay Packers starting running back position has been one of the competitive battles in camp.  Veterans running backs Alex Green, James Starks and DuJuan Harris, along with rookies Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin are all vying for roster spots and most importantly, the starting job.  

DuJuan Harris was recently taken of the PUP list, and it already appears that he is the starter, for now.

"I'm excited to see when DuJuan Harris come back, because I view him as our starter," Mike McCathy told USA TODAY Sports last Thursday.  "I want him to get back in there and earn it like he did all of last year.  He made an impact in our offense."

McCarthy is correct in saying that he made an impact last year in the Packers offense, with 157 yards and two touchdowns in the final four games of the regular season.  He also recorded 100 yards rushing and receiving combined with one touchdown, but this season the Packers have a better option on the roster.  

The Packers best option at running back is the Alabama product, Eddie Lacy.  While Lacy is a big, physical back, who excels at running the ball down the defense's throat, he also has excellent breakaway speed and pass blocking ability.  He is exactly what the Packers need, and he can make a significant deference for the Packers offense. 

DuJuan Harris is a solid running back, but the Packers drafted Eddie Lacy in the second round to be the starting running back this season.  Lacy provides the Packers with the best opportunity to win at the running back position, and he will be the starter Week One.  

Packers, Vince Young Agree to a One-Year Deal

Entering Training Camp the Green Bay Packers had uncertainties at multiple positions, but one of their biggest question marks was the backup quarterback position.  Second year quarterback B.J. Coleman and incumbent Graham Harrell were vying for the backup job, until their disappointing performances during the team scrimmage on Saturday night.  This raised even more question marks on whether either of them could truly be a solid backup quarterback in the NFL, causing the Packers to sign free agent quarterback Vince Young.

Vince Young is a mobile quarterback who has had previous success in the NFL as a starter.  Already 30 years old, Young was drafted third overall by the Tennessee Titans in 2006, but he has not played in the NFL since 2011 with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Young's mobility and success as a starter in the NFL is what really intrigued the Packers.  Even though he will only be the backup quarterback and may never see the field as a Packer, he can help them prepare for mobile quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III.

The Green Bay Packers needed to find a solid number two quarterback, just in case Aaron Rodgers would ever have to miss a game, and they found their guy in Vince Young.  Young provides them with experience and mobility to prepare their defense for other mobile quarterback.  This signing was a low risk move for the Packers and it will pay off well in the long run, even if he does not step onto the field.

Heated QB Battle in Madison

Football season is here!  With the Wisconsin Badgers already practicing, there will be some position battles to keep your eyes on.  The most heated and interesting battle for the Wisconsin Badgers at fall camp will the quarterback position, with three men vying for the starting job - Joel Stave, Curt Phillips and Tanner McEvoy.

Joel Stave and Curt Phillips both started for the Badgers last season, but the biggest uncertainty will be Tanner McEvoy.  McEvoy was Gary Anderson's first big recruit as the new head coach of the Badgers, and he is a dual-threat quarterback, unlike the other two.  This gives him the edge over Stave and Phillips because Anderson is known for running the spread offense with the run option.

While Coach Anderson will take his time choosing a starter, it will ultimately be Tanner McEvoy starting under center week one against the University of Massachusetts.  He is exactly who the Badgers need to run their offense, and he gives them the best chance of winning with his dual-threat ability.

Papi Loses His Mind After Ejection

Brewers Beat Marlins 2-0

After four days off for the All-Star Game festivities, the second half of the Major League Baseball season is here.  While it was only four games, both the Brewers and Marlins offenses were sluggish out of the gate. 

It was a pitching dual through the first three innings with both pitchers only surrendering three hits apiece.  The Brewers had an opportunity to score in the bottom of the first inning.  With one out, Jean Segura started the inning with an infield base hit.  Ryan Braun then came to the plate, only to popup to shortstop, Adeiny Hechavarria for the second out of the inning.  Jonathon Lucroy drew a walk, and then the Brewers perfected a double steal, with Segura making it to third and Lucroy taking second.   With two outs in the inning, the Brewers tried to get on top early, but All-Star Carlos Gomez grounded out to third, to end the threat.

The Miami Marlins would come back in the top of the second inning to get two, two out base hits, only to strand the runners on first and second.  Jeff Bianchi of the Brewers did get a base hit to left with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but would remain at first to end the second. 

In the third, the Miami Marlins went a quiet 1-2-3, with Kyle Lohse striking out two batters.  Norichika Aoki did his job for the Brewers by leading off the inning with a base on balls.  The Brewers tried to rally again with two men out, when Lucroy singled to center, but they failed to score after the lead of walk.

For a second consecutive inning, the Marlins went down in order, and it was not until the Brewers came up when we would finally saw some scoring.  Leading off in the bottom of the fourth inning, Juan Francisco broke the zero, zero tie by hitting an opposite field homerun off Justin Turner, his 12^th of the season.  Rickie Weeks then followed with a walk, and would steal second base with one out recorded by Bianchi.  Pitcher, Kyle Lohse then hit a weak foul ball right to the third basemen, Polacido Polanco, for the second out.  Aoki would then walk for a second consecutive at-bat, but Jean Segura grounded out to end the scoring threat. 

Kyle Lohse was cruising threw the first four innings, keeping the Marlins bats relatively quiet.  Lohse would get into some trouble early in the fifth when Hechavarria would single to right, and advance to second on a rare error by Aoki.  After his hit, Lohse would not allow him to score, striking out two and getting pitcher Justin Turner to hit a weak ground ball to shortstop.  The Brewers were finally able to do some damage with two outs in the inning, with Carlos Gomez crushing a ball down the left field line for his 15^th homerun of the season.  This gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead after five.

Logan Morrison hit a two out double in the top of the sixth inning, but the Marlins failed to continue the two out rally.  Rickie Weeks did lead of the bottom of the frame by reaching on a hit by pitch for the Brewers.  The Marlins then made a pithing change by bringing in right-hander Ryan Webb for Justin Turner.  Webb would finish off the inning by pitching a clean sixth, to keep the score at 2-0 Brewers. 

Kyle Lohse’s night was over.  After six strong innings of shut out baseball, John Axford came in out of the bullpen in relief.  It would be a quiet game the rest of the way, with both teams using two more relief pitchers each to get the job done.  Francisco Rodriguez closed it out in the ninth inning to record his 10^th save of the season, giving the Brewers the win, and improving their record to 39-56.  Kyle Lohse would pick up the win with Justin Turner being saddled with the loss.  The final score was the Brewers two and the Marlins zero. 

As Ron Roenicke would say after the game, “We played good baseball tonight, we pitched well, got a couple of base hits, defensively I thought we played a nice job, but whether we get back to .500 or not, we have to really play well there is no doubt about it, we have to play really good baseball…”

The Brewers pitching staff pitched nine strong innings of shut out baseball, and helped the Brewers start off the second half of the season on a positive note.  The usual stars did not lead the offense with Aramis Ramirez on the disabled list and Ryan Braun going zero for three, instead Carlos Gomez and Juan Francisco’s homeruns made the difference in tonight’s game.  Time will tell if the Brewers can get back to .500 ball, but tonight they started off on the right foot, with their excellent pitching and solid offensive performance.   

Brandon Jennings is Not Worth the Hassle

From Compton, California, an athletic six foot one point guard, Brandon Jennings has all of the tools and potential to be great, but he has never lived up to those expectations in the NBA.  Though he experienced success early on in his basketball career, it has not transferred into the pro game, and now he has also been reported to be a cancer in the locker room.  This brings up the question whether or not the Milwaukee Bucks should resign Brandon Jennings?

Brandon Jennings grew up always being the best player on the court.  In high school he transferred to the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy after his sophomore season, and over the course of his two seasons there he become one of the best know high school prospects in the country.
 
In his senior season he averaged 32.7 points and 7.4 assists, while leading his team to a 41-1 record.  His stellar performance earned him some of high school basketball’s most significant awards, including the 2008 Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, 2007-08 Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia, 2008 Parade Magazine Player of the Year and 2008 EA Sports Player of the Year.  His outstanding performance made him the number one ranked high school prospect in the class of 2008 by ESPN.
 
In the summer of 2006 Jennings had chosen to attend the University of Southern California, but within the following year he changed his mind and instead decided to join the University of Arizona.  While this was no surprise since Arizona had great basketball tradition and proven success throughout the years, his next announcement would shock college basketball.

In June 2008, Jennings announced that he was thinking of becoming the first American player to skip college and play basketball professionally overseas.  His dreams became reality on July 16, 2008 when he signed a contract to play with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian Lega A, and later a contract with Under Armor to play in the Euroleague.  He claimed that this was his best route to gain experience and money until he was eligible to enter the NBA Draft.

Brandon Jennings struggled overseas.  He averaged less than 10 points per game, while only adding a couple of rebounds, assists and steals in each contest with both teams he played for.  His time spent overseas, was a disaster.  He was unable to carry his success from the high school game into the pros, ultimately questioning whether or not he could be successful in the NBA.

The 2009 NBA Draft, ended up becoming a success for Jennings.  Although he was not the top overall pick, he was still a lottery pick, being selected tenth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.

In his rookie season, Jennings took Milwaukee by surprise.  During his NBA regular season debut on October 30 Jennings was just shy of a triple-double, scoring 17 points with nine rebounds and assists in 34 minutes.  While his debut was impressive, scoring 55 points against the Golden State Warriors on November 14, had to be his biggest accomplishment of his rookie season.  He went on to lead the Milwaukee Bucks into the playoffs as the sixth seed.  Even though the playoffs did not go the way the Bucks had hoped, the future was bright for the young star.

His sophomore season did not go as planned.  While he did record his first career triple double on October 30, 2010, he was forced to miss 19 games in late December, through the end of January due to a left foot injury.  While his stats remained similar to his rookie season, he did struggle shooting from behind the arc shooting a dismal 32 percent compared to his 37 percent the year before.  The Bucks failed to make the postseason, but the expectations were still high for Jennings.

The lockout shortened season, 2011-12, was the best season of his young career.  He started all 66 games while recording career highs in points (19.1), steals (1.6), field goal percentage (.418) and minutes per game (35.3).  While Jennings had the best season of his pro career, the Bucks missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season, and were still waiting for him to have that break out season; everyone knew he was capable of.

The Milwaukee Bucks made the playoffs in 2012-13, even though they had a record below .500, but it was not because of Brandon Jennings.  He experienced a disappointing season after the 2011-12 season where he experience career highs in almost everything, causing many people to believe that this would finally be Jennings breakout year.  He averaged only 17.5 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game.  Not only was he disappointing on the court, but people close to the team speculated that he was a poor locker room guy.

Brandon Jennings is now a restricted free agent and currently has not received an offer from any team.  The Milwaukee Bucks have made it known that Jennings is not their first choice.  Earlier in the offseason the Bucks made an offer that was later matched by the Atlanta Hawks to point guard, Jeff Teague.  They also drafted point guard Nate Wolters and acquired point guard Luke Ridnour from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Bucks are still waiting for Jennings to have a break out season and if he is truly a cancer in the locker room, it is neither worth the time nor money to bring him back.  This upcoming year will be a rebuilding season for the Bucks, and it is time to let the young guys play and develop.  While Jennings is full of talent, his performance and attitude throughout his short career, show no signs of him ever becoming a franchise point guard.

Although Jennings has all the talent to become an elite point guard, he has been unable to reach his potential.  With Jennings poor attitude and struggles on the court it would benefit both the Bucks and Jennings to let him move onto another team, and try to reach his potential with them.