Badgers' Opener Prep, Bucks schedule release and Brewers' Weekend Highlights – Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trag

Discover how the Wisconsin Badgers are gearing up for their highly anticipated season opener against Western Michigan on August 30th! We'll break down Coach Luke Fickle's strategic push for mental toughness, ensuring the team avoids injuries and stays focused. Get an insider's look at the Badgers' depth chart with standout players like quarterbacks Tyler Van Dyke and Braden Locke, as well as running backs Chesma Lucy and Tyree Walker. Despite the absence of star running back Braylon Allen, we explore the promising talent ready to step up and make an impact.

Feel the excitement as we recap a thrilling weekend in Wisconsin sports, from the Milwaukee Brewers' outstanding performance to the Green Bay Packers' preseason progress. Plus, gear up for an in-depth analysis of the Badgers' offensive and defensive lineups, featuring key players across various positions who are set to take on powerhouse teams like Alabama, USC, Penn State, Iowa, and Oregon this season. Don't miss our teaser on the Milwaukee Bucks' newly released schedule and what to expect from the Packers as they wrap up their preseason. This episode is packed with insights and predictions that no Wisconsin sports fan would want to miss!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

Thank you how we doing everybody and welcome in to wisconsin on the go with Trage. I'm your host, trage, it is Monday, august 19th, a fantastic Monday here in the great state of Wisconsin, or wherever you are tuning in today. I hope it's a fantastic day there too. Right, I hope it's a fantastic day. It's never great to be Monday, right? Mondays aren't great, mondays aren't great. But hey, when you have as good of a weekend as Wisconsin sports did well, outside I'm watching the Packer game as it's going on right now, so I don't know how that's going to fare, but it's preseason, it doesn't really matter. But if you have as good of a weekend as what Wisconsin sports did with the Brewers, then you got to be excited heading into the next week. Right, you got to be excited and that is where we're at right now. We are excited.

Speaker 1: 1:30

I want to talk about that Brewers series today. I want to talk about the Dodgers series. I want to talk about the Guardian series. I want to wrap up that homestand that the Brewers just had a fantastic homestand. I want to look at that. I want to look around the league today. I want to look at the Bucs schedule release. Get into that, because they did release the 2024-25 schedule for the Bucs. I want to get into that today.

Speaker 1: 1:53

And then also the Badgers football team Football is close, right. We got one more week, one more Saturday, right, this was the Saturday right, this was the technically this last weekend. Saturday was the last Saturday until, or it was the last Saturday without college football. Now we have to wait another weekend for the Badgers to play, because you know they don't play until the following week. But we got lots to get into Badger-wise and Packers. I'm going to get into them more tomorrow there, recap the second preseason game there. But with that, let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Let's get into it right away here with let's start with the badgers, let's start with the badger football. Let's start with my first question of the day that I've been seeing a lot of people talking about out there, and that is with the loss of braylon allen in in madison. With the loss of Braylon Allen in Madison, with the loss of Braylon Allen, how does that affect or not affect Wisconsin? So, you know, is it the worst thing that he's gone? Is it, you know, detrimental to the team? How does that really stand there? So my initial thought was well, how do you lose a back like Braylon Allen, and you can just sit there and say, well, we didn't lose that much, we're fine, right, we're fine. How can you sit there and say that, well, I got to thinking about it, thinking to myself I'm like, okay, this guy last year, 984 yards, I mean 12 touchdowns, he had an outstanding year, just under a thousand yard rushing on the season, outstanding back.

Speaker 1: 3:32

But if you're an opposing defense taking on the Green Bay Packers I'm watching the Packers, I'm talking taking on the Badgers, there we go Taking on the Badgers. If you're an opposing defense taking on the Badgers, where's your initial thought? The ball is going to go, right, braylon Allen, it's going to go to Braylon Allen. That becomes a problem with a lot of these teams out there who have that one sole star. There's one star on the entire roster. We can key in on that star If we eliminate that star. Now they got to find other places to go with football and at times Wisconsin was stagnant, because when Braylon Allen couldn't get it going and we saw that in many games where Braylon Allen couldn't get it going and Wisconsin was stagnant, right, they were stagnant. So my thought is okay, yes, you do, you lose an outstanding back, right, but Badgers have some good backs right, they still have. I mean, they have some solid backs back there yet. So I'm not too.

Speaker 1: 4:35

I mean, you look at the running back room. You're going to have we know the man, ches Malusi right, malusi's going to be back in there. But then you have some pretty promising young playmakers coming in. Right, dupree's in there. We're going to see Dillian Jones. I believe we're going to see Jones in there.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Tyree Walker I believe he transferred in. He was the transfer from. Was he from USC Oklahoma, oklahoma? Sorry about that, oklahoma. But Tyree Walker in there, he's a fantastic back. Last season you look at his stats from last season there and he rushed for just under 500 yards, had over 500 yards in total with that and receiving there. But I mean a solid back all the way around. So you add Tyree Walker in the room. You also have Chez Malusi, you have Dupree, you have Dillian Jones.

Speaker 1: 5:23

You have a cast of characters now in the backfield, not just one sole guy. Now, is it okay to have one sole guy in Braylon Allen? Yes, sir, it is, because it's pretty easy when you can just say give it to Braylon and let him work right. But, as I was saying, with defenses keying in on that. Well, they know where you're going. High percentage chance they're going to do what they can to shut that guy down. And if your offensive line isn't up to snuff to be able to I don't know kick some guys out.

Speaker 1: 5:54

Whatever you got to do to open up holes for Braylon Allen, well, like we saw, wisconsin's offense goes stagnant. So to me it is a loss. It is a loss. You don't lose the dynamic back like braille and allen and say it's just, you know it's a-okay, it's not this, you know a loss or anything like that. But but end of the day, I think wisconsin may benefit from not having that standout guy quite yet.

Speaker 1: 6:19

Right, I think dupree, I think dillian jones, I think ty Tyree Walker could be very good in the backfield too, along with Nate White. I mean a lot of people. He's another back that's coming in a freshman there. That is another back where guys got to watch out for him too. They got to watch out for him too. They have a loaded up backfield of a lot of guys with a lot of potential, right? Not a loaded up backfield to the sense of we already have stars in the room. You know you're not talking about the years of Jonathan Taylor, monte Ball, melvin Gordon. You don't have those guys in the room right now. You might have guys who are going to develop into that, but you don't have those guys sitting there at this moment. Right, it's going to be a little bit of developing with those guys in that backfield, but having a guy like Chesma Lucy in there, along with a guy even look at Jackson Aker right, he's still coming back. Right, the big fella, the big fella there coming back in the backfield, you have some experience, right. Tyree Walker, also a senior. You have experience in that backfield. You have youth in that backfield, though you did lose Braylon Allen, which isn't great, right, I don't know if the Badgers take a huge step backwards. I don't think they do, because now it opens up the field for guys like Vinny Anthony and Will Pauling. You also are going to be. Quincy Burroughs is a guy that a lot of people aren't talking about, but Quincy Burroughs could be. He has a lot of potential to be a very good pass catcher for Wisconsin and then also, like Trek Kikowana, he's also a dynamic guy in the slot. And then Bryson Green, cj Williams there is a lot of talent. I believe there is a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball for the Badgers.

Speaker 1: 8:00

Now it's just about how does Phil Longo's offense look in year two? Right, we saw it in year one. A lot of people weren't impressed. Now was that partially because of Tanner Mordecai. A lot of people didn't like the way that Tanner Mordecai ran the offense. He was more of a run first guy when, when the pressure was on, he was bailing, which I mean. Yes, at times you got to right, you got to get out and scramble, that's okay. But you sometimes got to stand in there, step up, take a hit, make a throw right, and I thought there was lots of times last year where Tanner Mordecai could have done something like that and he bailed on the play too soon. And then you look two seconds later and it's like he could have stood in there and he had Will Pauling or he could have stood in there and he had Bryson Green.

Speaker 1: 8:42

Hopefully Phil Longo's offense, like I was saying there in year two that all starts to flow. You have these guys working together in the wide receiver room. The line, the running back rooms were working together all all summer, all fall long now right, and also Tyler Van Dyke coming in right, tyler Van Dyke coming from Miami. They run a sort of an air raid offense down in Miami. Having him come into the now dairy raid offense right, can't forget it's called the dairy raid up here Into that dairy raid offense Hopefully it's a little bit of an easier transition for him jumping in now. I think it's going to be big. I think it's going to be big time.

Speaker 1: 9:24

I think Wisconsin's offense has a lot of potential, a lot of potential going into this season here. And I want to get to the depth chart a little bit. I've seen a lot of people talking about the depth chart who they believe is going to be in each spot there. Evan Flood has released his depth chart that he believes Wisconsin will be sitting at. I want to go over some of those depth charts and just kind of see where they have some of these guys sitting. We know the quarterback room is settled with Tyler Van Dyke. I want to see where everybody else is kind of ranking right now to a lot of the experts out there.

Speaker 1: 9:55

But right now Badgers, they're kind of winding down with the fall camp. Like I said, I mean we're getting closer and closer to we're getting closer and closer to opening kickoff. Right, I believe august 30th is the first game there for wisconsin. It's friday night. I always forget it's a friday night. I was thinking I was thinking the 31st there, but august 30th will be the opening kickoff there with Western and Michigan 8 o'clock there.

Speaker 1: 10:24

So getting closer and closer to that opening kickoff for Wisconsin and they're kind of winding down with the physical live action approach. At practice, from what I've heard now, it looks like Luke Fickle is going to be leaning more towards a mental approach with these guys getting their minds right, getting them healthy, getting them ready to go this week into next week. They're going to do little bits and pieces here and there with the live action and everything like that. Don't think that they're going to completely bail on touching each other, for you know, two weeks here, right, that'd be crazy. That'd be crazy. You couldn't get. I mean you couldn't prepare for Western Michigan doing something like that. But they're trying to lean more towards this to keep guys healthy, avoid injuries in practice. You know sometimes there's non-contact injuries. You can't avoid those. But get guys healthy, get them right, get their bodies fueled back up. It's been a strenuous summer camp, fall camp. It's been strenuous getting them in there. Now you just want to relax a little bit here, get prepared, get ready, get ready to rock and roll for Western Michigan.

Speaker 1: 11:29

It's not a huge game, right, it's not a huge game versus Western Michigan, but it could be a statement game. You want to make a statement early on, right? Last season I do recall that Buffalo game was a close one. I was at that game against Buffalo and that was a very close game 38-17 was the final. It did not feel like that. It did not feel like that when we went down there, me and the wife went down there we were watching the game. It was, I mean, back and forth early on. Offense couldn't get going and then the defense kind of picked up the pieces, got you know, a couple turnovers here and there.

Speaker 1: 12:09

If, if buffalo, I believe, if I'm thinking right if buffalo's quarterback in that game would not have thrown so many interceptions against wisconsin, I truthfully believe that might have been a different game. We were talking about that might have been a different game. Because if talking about that might have been a different game, because, if I'm not mistaken, he had like four picks in that game. I was just pulling that up here. He did not have any interceptions. I swear to Pete I thought he had some interceptions in that game there. It must have been just ill-advised throws that I was thinking of. It must have been just ill-advised throws, because I was it really something with their quarterback in that game where I was sitting there? I recall I was sitting there. I was like if he could make that throw, this wouldn't be good right now. So I mean I'm getting a little bit off there.

Speaker 1: 12:53

But you have those early season matchups where some of these lesser teams come in and they surprise you, right. They surprise you, you aren't ready for them. They gut punch you and then they punch you again, right, and you aren't ready for it. It happens a lot and the good teams end up finding a way to win those games. I think Western Michigan, if I'm not Western Michigan upset Michigan at one point when they were highly ranked. So there's lots of those over the years.

Speaker 1: 13:22

So the Badgers have to avoid early on here. Get the ones that you're supposed to get, because you have, I mean, daunting matchups there. Number five Alabama. Number 23, usc on the schedule. Number eight Penn State. Number 25, iowa. Number three Oregon. The Big Ten slate's a gauntlet for you, and you still got Alabama on the outside of that too. So you got to get these ones that you're supposed to get because you don't want to have one of them hanging over your head when you got to go face Oregon or you got to go on the road to Iowa. You don't want to be thinking about, hey, you know, we have two losses on the year only, but one of them was to South Dakota because they just came into Camp Randall and just showed us where the bear shits in the woods. Right, we don't want that, you don't want none of that. So Badger's got to take care of business early and Luke Fickle is trying to get them ready to go, in that sense, there. But let's look over at the depth charts. Let's look at this depth chart that I believe it was Evan Flood who came out with his depth chart here. Yes, it was Evan Flood who came out with his depth chart here. Yes, it was Evan Flood there.

Speaker 1: 14:26

And quarterback room. Like I said, we have that one kind of figured out. Tyler Van Dyke, braden Locke, those are your two, one, two and they're in order. And then Mabry Matatour, the freshman, will be in that third line, right now In the running back spot we see Chesma Lucy. That third line. Right now In the running back spot we see Chesma Lucy, in the 1A, 1b, tyree Walker. So you think about that. You have two older dynamic backs who will be sitting there, 1 and 2, 1a, 1b in that rotation there of running backs. And then in that third spot we look, we see Jackson Aker, the junior there, the big fella.

Speaker 1: 15:03

I expect to see a lot out of Jackson Aker in short yardage sets. That would be where I expect to see Jackson Aker. You get to them situations where it's third and two or third and one. You need that one yard. That's where I expect to see Jackson Aker doing his business. I think that is where we're going to see him. Maybe on passing plays we might see him in there. But I would say Tyree Walker is going to be in there on passing plays, maybe a little bit of Chesma Lucy too. It's something you can spread out.

Speaker 1: 15:37

But I mean for me, jackson Aker's my big back. He's in there. Third and two, third and one. They know where it's coming. We're going right up the pipe, we're trying to get that first down. That's my big back, that's the guy I want in there. So I mean that's a dangerous one-two punch. That is a dangerous one-two punch with Tyree Walker and Malusi and then having that big back there almost like a fullback Jackson Aker's almost like a fullback. Jackson Akers is like a fullback back hybrid. He's a little bit of both. He's got a little bit of speed, but he's got the power, he's got the ability to bull his way forward. So got to love that, got to love that.

Speaker 1: 16:14

I love the running back room for Wisconsin and that's not to mention the guys that I was mentioning before there in Jones and Dupree and White. I think all those guys could play significant roles for the Badgers at some point in this season here, depending on how everything shakes out. You never know with injuries, you know barring, you know you hope not right, but you never know how it's going to shake out. I think having that deep of a running back room is huge. And I'm about to mention another room that has a lot of depth and you got to love it In the wide receiver room right now. That has a lot of depth and you've got to love it In the wide receiver room right now.

Speaker 1: 16:51

So looking at your main three guys right now for the Badgers. We're going to see Bryson Green, will Pauling in the slot position there, and then we're going to see Vinny Anthony. So Vinny Anthony, that dude's got some wheels. I don't know if anybody else has watched him a little bit here and there, but Vinny Anthony has got some wheels to him. This guy has got some definite burner speed. So Bryson Green's the same way. He's got some burner speed too. So you've got two guys on the outside who can take the top off of a defense. Cj Williams, big-bodied receiver, can get up and get them there. So CJ Williams is going to be that number two behind Bryson Green there, joseph Gritham behind them, and then we see on the other side Vinny Anthony in that one, chris Brooks Jr and then Tyrell Henry sitting in there also, and then we look in that slot position we see Trek Kakahuna and then we see Conberry Johnson also in there for the Badgers.

Speaker 1: 17:48

And you listen to what Will Pauling had to say and he was talking about the depth of talent that the Badgers have at the wide receiver position. So they asked him and he said we got a lot of guys in our receiver room that are going to make a lot of plays for us this year, guys like Bryson Green, big body guys that can go up and make a jump ball plays, and obviously you got guys on the side like myself and a kid named Trek Kakahuna, who I think is going to turn a lot of heads this year. So he said, from top to bottom, I just think we have so much depth in the room. And then he said, like I said, it all goes back to confidence.

Speaker 1: 18:25

We got a lot of guys that were here last year that are going to only grow from what they did last year and do some big things for us this year. He also said it all goes. I mean, yeah, he went on a little bit here, but hearing something like that from Will Pauling there, and then also we didn't even mention in there, but you got, like I said earlier, quincy Burrows is also returning there. So, guys that they expect to take big steps forward this season and if you have this much depth, if the talent comes along with it, man oh man, watch out, watch out, because there's a lot of good defenses that the Badgers are going to face this year. I believe Alabama is going to have a good defense this season. Iowa always does, penn State has a solid defense, oregon's got a good defense. Nebraska, I believe, is going to have a solid defense. Northwestern always finds ways right and Rutgers has got some good pieces in there. They're going to face some good secondaries in this next season. You're going to need talent, you're going to need receivers that can blow the top off and I think the Badgers do have that. I really do. I think the Badgers do have that.

Speaker 1: 19:31

In that room, in the tight end department, we got Tucker Ashcraft, sophomore, coming back right now, believed to be in front, the leading candidate to get the number one spot. Riley Nokakowski, the senior, will be in that number two and then Jackson McGowan, his sophomore, will also be in there. Jack Nelson, joel Brunner, jake Renfro, joel Huber and Riley Mailman will be sitting in there on the first team offensive line. Second team Kevin Haywood, jp Ben Swaggle, kerry Caranco, colin Cooberley and Emerson Mandel will be in there too, Three freshmen on the secondary line there, with a senior and a junior in there Also. A lot of depth at the offensive line too, a lot of depth. I mean you're looking at Badgers a lot of true freshmen in the two deep. They also have Barrett Nelson, who may take that step to the second team Right tackle position there to take over for Emerson Mandel there, but I mean outside of that it's kind of they're not set in stone, but this is pretty darn close.

Speaker 1: 20:39

This is pretty darn close from what we've seen in training camp so far For the defense defensive line. This is pretty darn close. This is pretty darn close from what we've seen in training camp so far For the defense defensive line. I believe this is where it's going to shake out right now. James Thompson Jr is going to take in the defensive line position. Kurt Neal, the sophomore, will be in there and Ben Barton will also be in there Two seniors and a sophomore in there, big old Ben Barton handling down the middle of that defense.

Speaker 1: 21:04

Looking at the inside linebacker position, I believe you're going to see Jake Chaney in there and you're going to see Thomas in there, yaheem Thomas also in there for Wisconsin, and then in the other spots Christian Largo and Tackett Curtis are backing those two up there. Outside linebacker you're going to have the transfer there in John Puce and Leon Lowry filling in there. Those two are splitting in that one spot there. And then also Daryl Peterson, who has stood out tremendously in training camp right now Speed athleticism, ability to get off a block and get in the backfield and be a run and pass threat there for Wisconsin. So Darrell Peterson will be a guy to keep your eye on there in that linebacker room. Looking at the secondary right now, ricardo Hallman we all know Don't sleep on. Ricardo Hallman, potentially being one of the better or best cornerbacks in the Big Ten, took a huge step forward last season. I expect more from him this season here. Max Laffey will be in there in the nickel and then Kneezer for queen will also be in there in the nickel set for Wisconsin. Xavier Lucas, jonas Dekuna. I mean there's a lot of depth all the way around for Wisconsin. Xavier Lucas, jonas Dakuna. I mean there's a lot of depth all the way around for Wisconsin. I guess end of the day you look at this, hunter Wohler will be in there. Kamau Latu will also be out there. Preston Zachman will be out there. I mean, end of the day, vinny Anthony returning kicks. That's going to be dynamic. That's going to be dynamic right there End of the day. Just to wrap it up with the Badgers depth chart there end of the day, there is going to be a lot of depth for Wisconsin and a lot of crucial positions right Offensive line, wide receiver room, running back room and secondary. A lot of talented second team guys, a lot of talent backing up these starters. So either way, whatever way it shakes out from, what evan flood reported is the projected depth chart leading up to this week one matchup with western michigan and to what it might actually boil down to. No matter which way they go, there is talent depth in everything all the way down this badgers roster.

Speaker 1: 23:19

You gotta love. You gotta love what you're seeing in Wisconsin right now because it's building towards something. I don't know what, I don't know what, but I'm kind of finally seeing the Badgers building towards something great and I can't wait to see the product. I can't wait to see the end product here because I got a feeling. I got a feeling End of the product. I can't wait to see the end product here Because I got a feeling. I got a feeling End of the day, in the near future we're going to be talking about some highly ranked Badger teams.

Speaker 1: 23:55

If it keeps trending in this direction, put it on paper. Put it on paper right now. The next three years that's a wide window, but this Badger team will be up near the top of the Big Ten. I think they will be staying right at the top of the Big Ten. I think they will be able to compete with a lot of these big dogs that are coming in now. This is an impressive group that they have now, and I think, with the recruiting classes they keep bringing in transfer portal, everything like that I think they are building towards something fantastic right now. So with that, I want to get to the Bucs a little bit here, and then I want to get to the Brewers. So before we get there, though, I want to mention the great sponsors of the show that make this whole thing happen.

Speaker 1: 24:35

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Speaker 1: 25:01

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Speaker 1: 25:45

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Speaker 1: 26:21

So with that, let's get to the Bucs schedule. Let's get to the Bucs schedule Came out last week. There Didn't get to it. Lots of good stuff happened last week so I didn't get to it. But this was good stuff. This was good stuff right, outside of one part that I didn't understand quite, and apparently Giannis didn't either. But lots of good stuff happening last week so I didn't get to it. But we see the schedule release right.

Speaker 1: 26:45

Open up October 23rd against the Philadelphia 76ers Not a bad opening game. Right, start in the East. I mean, start the domination right. Start the domination early on there in the East. Then you got Chicago and Brooklyn, followed by Boston. Take on Boston early on. There's your measuring stick. Right, see where the Bucs are at. That's going to be in Boston too. Right, this is a little bit of a road heavy start to the year for the Bucs. So they're going to play on the road in Philly, come back home from Chicago, then go back on the road for Brooklyn, boston and Memphis before coming back home for Cleveland and then traveling to Cleveland for a game there and then I believe the play-in tournament starts there in that area. But then they got Utah, new York and then the Boston Celtics one more time there back at home and then it gets a little bit of home heavy. Right, they get a little home cooking going on. After that Knicks game, they go three in a row at home with Boston, toronto and the Pistons, followed by Charlotte. Then you got Houston, chicago, indiana, charlotte, and then you go back on the road to Miami and come back home for Washington, and then you get a little road heavy again there.

Speaker 1: 27:54

I was just looking through the schedule to see if there was a point down here where I was like, ooh, that's a tough stretch. I found it. This is my Ooh, this is a tough stretch moment right here March. It's going to be late in the season. I'm looking around the rest of the schedule here and I some of these could be rough stretches, but I I just don't think they're going to be. I think they're going to get to this rough stretch late in the year here. So I'm going to look late in the year. March 11th is going to be the start of it. I think I actually could start March 8th. We're going to go all the way back to March 5th. I'm going to go back to March 5th with this one.

Speaker 1: 28:29

So after playing Dallas on the road, they're going to play the Hawks on the road.

Speaker 1: 28:32

Then they come back home for Dallas on the 5th, then the 8th they play the Orlando Magic. The 9th they're going to play Cleveland. The 11th they go to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Then they come back home for the Lakers, then they stay home for the Indiana Pacers, then they play Oklahoma City at home, followed by going on the road, and this is their little West Coast road trip here, a long West Coast road trip. Let me change that up. They're going to have, after Oklahoma City, they're going to play the Lakers again, followed by Golden State, followed by Sacramento, then the Suns, then Denver, before coming back home and taking on the Knicks.

Speaker 1: 29:09

Now you can always speculate off of last season, right, but I don't think Steph and the Warriors will be bad again. I think they're going to put together a decent season. So you put the Warriors into perspective there. That's still going to be a tough matchup. And then you have sandwiched in there. You're going to have to take on the Lakers. Who knows, right, lebron is just some people's goat. Other people don't care. If you could see me, if I was live right now, you could see all the Michael Jordan stuff behind me and you'd realize that I don't think LeBron is that good, but anyways, right. Anyways, the Pacers almost back to back. That's going to be tough, right, you got that tough little stretch who knows, with the Suns, but I still think they're a good team. And then Denver at Denver, that's a tough, that's a tough West coast road trip. In total, there, when you go to LA to take on the Lakers, then Golden State, then Sacramento, then the Suns, then Denver, and then you come back home for the Knicks. That is rough, that is a rough stretch. That is a rough stretch.

Speaker 1: 30:08

You know what the Bucs need to make this rough stretch a little bit better Chris Middleton, to stay healthy. They just need a healthy Chris Middleton and everything works itself out. Then Everything would work itself out. That is going to be the big, I think the hinge on this season is, truthfully, how healthy do the Bucs stay? Can we keep Giannis out there? Can we keep Dame out there? What is Brooke going to give us? And then, at the end of the day, really, it's Middleton all season long. Can we keep Middleton for a full season If Middleton's out there for a full season. Working with Damon Giannis. I think this team is up near the top of the East. If we lose Middleton a quarter of the way through and then it's like we don't know if he's going to be back this week, we don't know if he's going to be back next week, I don't know when we're going to see Middleton again, okay, then we get into some troubling times, then it gets a little more troubling.

Speaker 1: 31:01

So the schedule release, I mean you guys can go I'm not going to read through every single game, but I just went to my tough stretch there but I mean the schedule for the Bucs early on a lot of road games, I mean they get they evens itself out as they go along here. But the Eastern Conference is starting to put together some good teams. You look at Cleveland, you look at Cleveland, you look at Orlando. The Pacers, the Bucs, the 76ers, the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks, all these teams slowly building up the Bucs are going to have to stay healthy and then they're going to have to hope that some of these youth, some of the young guys Andre Jackson Jr, some of these young guys like Green, maybe even the draft picks find their way onto the roster doing good things for this Bucs team because they're going to need it. They're going to need it because this is a tough schedule. This is a tough schedule. The more you look at it, the more you see bits and pieces where you're like this is going to be a tough stretch for the Milwaukee Bucs.

Speaker 1: 31:59

So, hopefully, hopefully we're getting closer to October, we're going to be talking about the Bucks in some good talks, some good talks here. When it comes into fall, here we get into the winter and we're talking about Badger basketball. Hopefully they're rolling. The Bucks are rolling. It makes everything better. It makes everything better. Right, but we got to talk about a team now. We got to talk about a team now that is definitely rolling. We got to talk about a team that is definitely rolling and that is the Milwaukee Brewers. Oh man, the Milwaukee Brewers. I got to give it. I got to give it. Hold on, hold on. I got to.

Speaker 2: 32:38

Wow, just wow.

Speaker 1: 32:50

Wow, just wow. Wow, I did not. I'm going to be completely truthfully honest with you right now and I'll tell you this right now I am a diehard Brewer fan and I will. I am usually the most optimistic person in the world. When I saw this stretch of games for the Brewers and I saw the month that they had before it, and I saw this stretch of games the Braves, the Reds, the Dodgers and the Guardians all in a row, I said to myself crap, after that Washington Nationals series, after after that National Series, I got nervous. I was like, oh baby, right, at that point we were probably eight games up or six games up. I believe it was probably six games up on the Cardinals, on the Cubs. Whoever was in second place at that point there, I don't completely recall, I think it was Cardinals, right and I was like, oh boy, here we go. I said it right. Then I was like this stretch of games could define the entire season for the Milwaukee Brewers, just because of the magnitude of those games. This was the toughest stretch they were going to have. I believe this was going to be the toughest stretch that they were going to have and it made me nervous. It made me nervous. Right, they go and they sweep the Braves. They go to Atlanta, to Atlanta and they sweep the Braves. After the Braves took two of three from them at home, they go to Atlanta and they sweep it. And they don't just sweep it, they completely destroy the pitching staff that the Braves have Chris Sale, everybody. They just lit them up, lit them up for everything. Then they got the Reds right, took game one, took game two. I was like great, series win, that's all I'm asking for. All I'm asking for is a series win. Drop game three okay.

Speaker 1: 34:29

Then they went on a little bit of a three-game skid right. They lost to that Reds game on Sunday. Then they had the loss to the Dodgers in the first two and I was sitting there like, mm. Crap, dodgers have the Brewers number, brewers don't seem to have an answer on the offensive side of the ball or on the offensive side, and it just wasn't looking good. And then and then, game three, brewers pulled it out right and it was like, oh, okay, okay, let's set up the rubber match. Game four, game four of the series, let's set up the rubber match. 6-4 finish, 6-4 finish in that one. And that was like yes, it was like okay, we got two in a row now versus the Dodgers. Here come the Guardians right. Here come the Guardians for the weekend. Set Friday night's game, set the tone for the series, I thought, set the tone for the series.

Speaker 1: 35:24

The Brewers jumped out early. Willie Adamas big three-run home run early. Out of that one. I believe he's got 10 three-run home runs on the year. Willie's I mean, I don't know, I'm going to leave this question up to you guys.

Speaker 1: 35:37

I think I'm going to ask it out there tomorrow on the Facebook page and everything like that, to hear you guys' opinions. Is Willie Adamas playing himself to a payday? Is he paying himself to a payday right now or to a payday? That's what I'm wondering. Because the more and more we see Willie Adamas and we see this guy consistently producing for the Brewers right 85 RBIs on the season, 85 RBIs Over the last seven games he's hitting 280. Over the last 30 games he's hitting 301, right Over the last 30 games he's hitting 301. Eight home runs, 23 RBIs, 11 walks. The 42 strikeouts aren't great, but when I got a guy who's giving me 23 RBIs and 8 home runs and 34 hits and a 3-0-1 average in that stretch, you live with it. You live with it. Is he playing himself to a payday? I don't know if he's paying himself to a payday with the Brewers, but he's working his way up to somebody. Right, he's working his way up to somebody. I think somebody is going to pay him. I really do. I don't know how I feel about him going somewhere else than Milwaukee.

Speaker 1: 36:50

I've said it all along I believe the Brewers have shortstops in-house that you don't need to sit here and hang on to Willie. Right, you got Joey Ortiz. You got Bryce Terang. Right, you got shortstops. You got Biotini down there. You have shortstops that you can. You know for the future.

Speaker 1: 37:12

But do you get rid of Willie? Do you let him walk? If he's willing to negotiate a contract with you, are you willing to just say we're good and let him walk out the door? It's going to be something to watch. It's going to be something to pay attention to. If you, I mean I don't know. I truthfully don't know what I would do right now. Right now, I don't think the Brewers could. I think they desperately need Willie Adamas to be Willie Adamas right now. I really do think they do. I don't think they would win games without Willie at this moment. If you would have say traded him at trade deadline and then Yelich goes out, I don't think they'd be winning games like they are.

Speaker 1: 37:48

I think he is, everybody they are, I think he is. You know, everybody says clubhouse RBIs. I look at the RBIs department. Does he have the greatest average in the world with? I don't know what he ended the weekend with there. I'll double check on that one. There I was going to say 252, but I don't know what he ended the weekend there with 253. I mean, a 253 average, is it a great average? No, but the 85 RBIs, that's a difference maker.

Speaker 1: 38:16

That's a difference maker in your order there now is it worth dansby swanson money or somebody like that? Maybe not. Maybe not that uh token for the brewers, but definitely worth something and do the brewers bring them back? I guess it depends on how much you trust these other guys in the clubhouse to be able to produce in his spot and also if you find an RBI replacement for him. If you can find somebody out there to replace him in that department there. I think that's going to be the big thing there. But like I was saying, willie Thomas goes deep, big three-run shot.

Speaker 1: 38:47

Savali pitches a great game. I didn't think I was going to say that I was a big advocate of of let's get rid of Savali. I'm done with this guy already. He's almost like. I saw Dallas Keuchel pitching in Japan already. I did not know he went over to Japan, right, but he was pitching pretty dominant in Japan. So good for him. Good for him to find some, find some success over there in Japan. But Savali looks good.

Speaker 1: 39:09

Six innings, four hits, four strikeouts, one walk Pitch. A solid game for the Brewers there. Paguero an inning there, one walk, two strikeouts. Bryce Wilson three runs given up, two home runs given up. That's Bryce Wilson's Achilles heel is the home run ball. It hurts him. I can't look past the Brewers pitching and say that this isn't the Achilles heel of the Brewers pitching staff in total there and say that this isn't the Achilles heel of the Brewers pitching staff In total. There is the home run ball but Bryce Wilson gives up three runs. Outside of that, mears looks good, comes in for that two-thirds of an inning, gets him out of trouble. Two strikeouts, pye-ombs.

Speaker 1: 39:47

I'll be honest with you, this is what I wanted to see. I've been wanting to see this for a while now. Yoel Pajamps is slowly starting to figure it out. Look at his last three games Two against Cleveland, one against the Dodgers. No hits, no runs, a strikeout in each one of his appearances there against Cleveland. But Yoel Pajamps is starting to put this thing together, from where he was early on to what we're seeing now, night and day, night and day. You look at his last. I mean I could go back. What am I looking here? I could go back almost until july 28th is the last time he gave up a run and he's had eight appearances since then and before that run that he gave up on July 28th, which was a one hit Before that, you go all the way back to June 29th that he gave up a run. June was a rougher month for him there, but your pie ups is starting to find it Now. Is he going to be that high leverage guy for you? Probably not. Probably not yet. You got Brian Hudson. You got Koenig right. You got, hopefully, mcgill coming back soon. Paredes has been good when he's been out there. Hopefully he's going to be on the mend and coming back soon here and then now Devin Williams. So you got your big innings guys. Yoel Pajams eater there in the sixth right. I think that's huge. So I love that. I love seeing you all pie up slowly starting to figure it out there.

Speaker 1: 41:18

So that was game one, game two of the series Brewers two to one finishing that one, not a lot of offense. They had a run in the first there and then they had a solo shot there from William Contreras there in that fourth inning and that was the deciding factor in this one Cleveland tied it in the top of the fourth, contreras put him ahead in the bottom half of the fourth and the Brewers went on to win that one 2-2-1 in that game. There it was on Fox. That game was on Fox. There Brewers line up. Sanchez had that RBI double, and then Contreras with the home run, adamas with a hit, Mitchell with a hit, nobody else really squeaking much in that game. There. Only two guys left on base. That tells you how much traffic there was.

Speaker 1: 41:54

Freddy Peralta talking about Achilles heel, one run given up on this game. It was a home run, that was it. That was a solo shot, that was it. In this one, four hits. Otherwise, in three strikeouts Freddy looked good in this one. Pajams comes in, looks good again. One inning, one strikeout. Jared Koenig does what Jared Koenig does. One inning, three strikeouts. And then we see Devin Williams come in there for an inning there and zeros across the board. Devin Williams takes care of business in the ninth gets his fourth save of the year on that night. That was great to see. Gotta love it, gotta love it.

Speaker 1: 42:31

And that set up the chance for the sweep on Sunday yesterday. There, brewers get the win two to nothing there. One in the first, one in the second. All they needed in that one, as the pitching staff for the Brewers was the storyline for them over the weekend. We see Colin Ray. Just a masterpiece. Just a masterpiece from Colin Ray. Seven innings, two hits, five strikeouts. For Ray there took a no hitter late into this one. I believe I was just trying to double check that one, but he took a no hitter late in this game. Here then we see Brian Hudson for an inning and a strikeout and Jared Koenig racks up his first save of his season here with one inning and zeros across the board. There. That was masterful. Three pitchers get through a game nice and easy. Got to love it there.

Speaker 1: 43:21

Brewers in this one, one for six with runners in scoring position, four guys left on base. Not a lot of offense in this series, a lot of pitching. A lot of pitching in this one. And the Brewers won the pitcher's duel here. So that leads us to an off day. Today, before they travel, they're going to be taking on the Cardinals, then they have the Oakland A's and then they'll have another off day before they take on the San Francisco Giants.

Speaker 1: 43:47

So a little bit of an off day here. Catch your breath. Great homestand for the Brewers there. 7-3 on the homestand were the Brewers. If you really want to look back further than that, they are 13-3 over the 10-3. 10-3. Sorry about that, my math is off. My math is off. 10-3 over their last 16, 13 games. See, now I'm confused, now I'm confusing myself Over the last 13 games. They are 10 and three. Great stuff, great stuff there Out of the Brewers. A little bit of a standings update after that one, seven and three in their last 10 games.

Speaker 1: 44:27

You look at them over this stretch here they have pushed that lead out in the NL Central to 11 games. Cubs at 11.5 back, reds they're sitting 12. 13.5 are the Pirates and the Cardinals are 11 games back. That's what you wanted to see. Everybody was talking about when the Brewers were struggling, at least the rest of the NL Central was struggling. I want to see the Brewers build the lead up. This is the lead, this is what I'm talking about Now. You just keep building on it, right? You have a series coming up with the Cardinals. You continue to extend that lead. Gotta love it. Gotta love it here. Brewer fans, brewers, like I said, off day to day before they will set up that series there with the Cardinals coming up tomorrow, tomorrow, from Bush Stadium. So with that, like I said, we'll get to the Packers tomorrow here on the show. I want to talk about more of that preseason game with the Broncos there what we saw, what we liked, what we didn't like, everything like that. We'll get into that tomorrow here on the show.

Speaker 1: 45:22

But, like I always say, if you have a chance, go down like the show, leave a review, subscribe to the show, let your friends know about the show, everything like that. So, let your friends know about the show, everything like that. That would be awesome if you could do that. And down in the bio it says send us a text message. If you heard anything that I said today you didn't like or you want to leave a review or send us a direct message, that's the place to do it. You click send us a text message, you can send it directly to me and I'll be able to look at it. Feel bad, read it off on the show, whatever it is. I can definitely do that there. Get your voice heard, get your opinion out there.

Speaker 1: 45:56

So, with that. This has been Wisconsin Sports on the Go With your Age. Thank you guys for listening. I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Monday, but until I talk to you guys again tomorrow, deuces.

Speaker 2: 46:22

Let's do this, hoping for the light of day. Down to the river, I have held the devil's hand, felt the weight of my own sin, buried by the heart of man Down to the river. Down to the river, oh, oh, bury me, carry me, oh, oh.