Pro sports have no off-seasons, just times when they suspend the games to get to the really important stuff—deciding who’ll get paid how much by whom. Just as fans are getting focused on baseball, the NFL power-sweeps into the picture this weekend with the two-day extravaganza of its annual player draft. The...

Big-time sports isn’t recession-proof. Major League Baseball enters its season fearful that attendance will drop. The NBA recently took out a $200 million line of credit to help financially ailing teams. NASCAR sponsorships have disappeared and teams are shrinking. Milwaukee’s PGA tournament won’t have...

Six hours of Super Bowl pregame coverage. SIX HOURS! And that was just on NBC; four hours on ESPN put the TV gasbagging into double digits. The Observers pride themselves on never watching one second of such “maybe this, maybe that” silliness. As kickoff approached, the only blather they listened to was...

The Packers cleaned house today, firing six coaches. It's no surprise that Defensive Coordinator Bob Sanders was out the door - his firing was assumed weeks ago. The most ridiculous firing was that of strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson.Gullickson was voted by his peers to be one of the best in the business last year, but apparently his failure to buff-up our team is what led to our do...

Stop me if you've heard this one before...The Packers dominate a game, both in points and possession, fail to score all the points they should, have a fourth quarter lead and fail to bring home a victory. I believe yesterday was the sixth loss of four points or less on the season. Had the Packers won just half those games - or really, even just a third - the NFC North playoff picture would look co...

I haven't been blogging on the Packers much lately because I've been struggling to find something - anything - to say about the disappointment this team has levied on their fans, but thus far I've come up empty. Tallying 16 more minutes of possession than your opponent and not coming up with the win? There's no explanation for that. Not that there's been any forthcoming from Ted Thompson and Mike ...

At first glance it was a bleak weekend for Wisconsin’s top football teams. The Badgers blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost at Michigan State, 25-24. Then the Packers lost at Tennessee, falling to 4-4. But Green Bay battled the Titans, the NFL’s only undefeated team, to a stalemate. The coin flip for overtime...

Justin Harrell was activated from the physically unable to perform list and longtime Packer Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila.KGB is the highest paid Packer in terms of cap salary and his ability to play has gone progressively downhill. He's started just one game this season and has just 1/2 a sack.Story hereFurther analysis here...

  Having learned nothing from jumping the gun on Ryan Grant, the Packers have extended Aaron Rodgers' contract for 6 years. Look - he's been pretty damn good so far, and I'm totally grateful for that. But he still hasn't proved he isn't the Packers equivalent of Ben Sheets "The Man of Glass." It's great that Rodgers has been playing through the pain - but still. It's been 7 games. I'd love to se...

Packers win, tied for first in division with Bears and VikingsAaron Rodgers is gritty:  "Aaron Rodgers turned his sprained shoulder into a lesson for any Packers who may still be missing his predecessor. The first-year starter is showing grit and leadership that would make Brett Favre proud."Badger men's hockey opened the season Friday just barely being edged out by defending national champions a...