Badgers Take Down "The U"

Color me impressed, not just with Wisconsin's Champs Sports Bowl win over Miami, but with the entire season Bucky put together. After last year, I didn't believe UW was going to be markedly better in 2009; I figured they'd be lucky to win six games and sneak into a fringe bowl. I guess I was wrong. The strong win over the #15 team in the country seems to indicated that Bret Bielema has the program headed in the right direction.

With a signature win under their belt and a nifty 10-3 record secured, a much more tricky task awaits. With most of the team back next season, expectations for the 2010 are going to be sky high. How Bielema deals with this season's success will go a long way in determining if the program continues its upward arc. As hard as it was beating The U in Orlando and putting 10 pelts on the wall, figuring a way to keep the team and his staff focused but also loose enough to perform at a high level is going to be a delicate but critical task for the head coach.

A Christmas Eve Meditation

I've never met Ada Calhoun, but based on her recent article in Salon.com, I suspect she is a kindred spirit. I can attest that the notion of a being a "closeted Christian" is just as felt working on a major university campus in Madison as it seems to be for her in Manhattan. Her reflections and insights in this piece (Religion - Salon.com)are illuminating. For instance:

A lot of my best friends are atheists, and there's no reason they wouldn't be. They find what I get from religion elsewhere, like from music and art. Not long ago, I told a priest at my church that my friends equated religion with horrible things. I expected her to tell me I had some obligation to stop hiding my faith, but she said, pulling a scarf around her neck to hide her priest's collar, 'Those preachers on the subways make me cringe.' She said she prefers Saint Francis: 'Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.'

...and this:

And now, too, I wonder: When I go to church, am I liable for every monstrous thing every denomination has ever done in the name of Jesus? Am I allowed to get spiritual fulfillment from something that has been, and continues to be, so disastrously invoked by other people? Am I allowed to just go to church sometimes and read the Bible sometimes without wearing a huge cross necklace and checking an official box on forms?

But also, increasingly, I wonder: When I'm getting a ride from some friends and they start talking about how stupid religious people are and quoting lines from "Religulous," do I have an obligation to point out how reductive and bigoted they're being, the way I would if they were talking about a particular race? Increasingly I wonder if I should pipe up from the back seat and say, "Excuse me, but these fools you're talking about? I'm one of them."

A must read for left-leaning Christians (and anyone else who appreciates thoughtful prose).

Picks for TVs top shows of 2009

I think Tim Cuprisin of OnMilwaukee.com is spot on about Mad Men, tabbing it the second best show on TV:



OnMilwaukee.com Holiday Guide: OnMedia: My picks for TVs top shows of 2009:

2. AMC's 'Mad Men.' While it's ostensibly about a 1960s ad agency, this drama is about the lies that people live. The last season took us through 1963, climaxing in the penultimate episode with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. And it was one of the rare television treatments of how that event left a nation reeling -- and relying for the first time on television to get them through a terrible weekend.

It's the closest thing we have on TV these days to the novel-like structure of 'The Sopranos,' TV's best drama ever.

And it's on its way to surpassing Tony and his Jersey boys.

An Industrial Accident of Some Sort?

I was listening to Boers & Bernstein on Chicago sports radio station "The Score" yesterday afternoon and heard the following exchange (approximated from memory):

Host Dan Bernstein: Caller, you're on the air...

Caller: (fumbles for a second or two) Am I on?

Bernstein: Are you on what?

Caller: Oh, I'm sorry. I don't hear too well.

Bernstein: Why? Were you in some sort of industrial accident?

Needless to say, the caller was totally flummoxed. Heck, I was totally flummoxed.

Look, I am no fan of Chicago sports teams. But I like tuning into The Score, particularly to catch the post-game show after the Bears lose. It is appointment listening -- there was less angst expressed after the World Trade Center was attacked. Ah, nothing like the pathetic, distressed yelps of Bears Fans singing in perfect harmony with hosts Doug Buffone and Ed O'Bradovich. Hilarious!

But the weekday afternoon drive tandem of Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein are seriously funny guys. I'd even say they are funnier than the teams they talk about, and that is saying a lot.

The Real War on Christmas

The Real War on Christmas - Idol Chatter:



"

Christmas, like the humbled American economy, is focused on shopping. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend $437.6 billion on Christmas this year alone--one half of the estimated toll of health-care reform over the next decade.

Now that's a war on the true spirit of Christmas. If Americans want to stop it, they need not insist that department stores put Christ in Christmas. All they have to do is take Christmas out of the department store."

Brewers stepping up to plate

I think Michael Bauman has the Brewers predicament pretty well described.


Bauman: Brewers stepping up to plate | MLB.com: News:

The Brewers ended up with Wolf, for three years at a reported cost of just under $30 million. He is not a perfect choice, because if he were perfect, the Brewers couldn't have afforded him. Given the available options and the demands of the current market, he is about as good as it gets for a team operating with notable budgetary restraints.

I am not wild about the acquisitions of Wolf and Hawkins, but given their constraints, the options for the team were limited. At the end of the day, the Brewers probably improved themselves, both in the rotation and the bullpen.

Pearl Harbor Day: What Are the Lessons?

Sobering stuff as we look into the future...



Pearl Harbor Day: What Are the Lessons? | The Atlantic Wire: "Part of remembering Pearl Harbor today will be nostalgia for a time when we could identify our enemies and confront them head on, instead of becoming lost in the thickets of counterinsurgency and finding ways to 'narrow the mission.' If we ever reach V-Day in this war, will we know it when we see it?"

Bart Starr on Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers

Bart Starr always was a hero of mine. Now, with typical class and dignity, he addresses the Brett Favre situation and offers some props for Aaron Rodgers.


Bart Starr on Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers | Total Packers | Green Bay Packers news, analysis, commentary, and video