Thursday 10

The T10 is back Beatrice, what up.

In honor of Barack Hussein Obama taking over for George W. Bush, this weeks T10 will look at the 10 best take overs in Wisconsin sports history.

So, without any further adieu...

10. Yost'd
Dale Sveum replaces Ned Yost and leads the Brewers to the Playoffs

Nobody saw this one coming. We all hoped Ned Yost would be relieved of his duties, but accepted the belief that it wouldn't happen. Then, shockingly, with just 12 games to go Yost was fired and Sveum was in.

Sveum will forever be remembered as the guy who took over for Nervous Ned and led the Crew to their first post-season birth in 26 years, regardless of how much of it was due to him.

Yost had run his course in Milwaukee, he'd taken the team as far as he could.


9. Making His Mark
Mark Attanasio pumps new life into Milwaukee baseball

Milwauke had grown tired of the Selig regime. Wendy was in over her head, and before her Bud had lost most of the fan equity he built up when he brought baseball back to Milwaukee, due to years of losign and ineptness.

Attanasio came in and pumped new life into the franchise. He changed the way things were done on gamedays, did a better job of marketing and community relations, offered more entertainment to families, and upped the payroll.

You'd be hard-pressed to point out one thing Attanasio has done that you haven't liked. If only we could get another Mark Attansio type to take over the Bucks...


8. Rodgers Replaces A Legend
Aaron Rodgers takes over for Brett Favre

Aaron Rodgers entered the 2008 NFL season with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He more than handled the burden. Rodgers proved Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy made the right choice in deciding the team was better off going forward with him as their QB than Brett Favre.

Rodgers outplayed Favre in nearly every statistical category and matched or bettered Favre's 2007 stats with the Packers. The only knock on Aaron was the win total. The Packers won only 6 games, but Rodgers wasn't solely to blame for that. Rodgers proved he can handle the pressure of replacing a legend and playing under the microscope and took everything that came to him in stride. Come-from-behind wins or not, Rodgers is without question one of the best young QBs in football.


7. By George, The Bucks Have A Coach
George Karl takes over for Chris Ford

The Bucks had been practially dead to Milwaukee for years. Year after year of awful teams led by turds like Mike Dunleavy and Chris Ford, and success despite having guys like Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson, Sober Vin Baker and Ray Allen, fans were fed up.

The NBA players lock out didn't help things much either. Needing to make a big move to get fans back on their side, the Bucks did just that, naming recently fired Sonics coach George Karl their new coach.

Karl immediately brought with him a name this city and team was lacking. Karl rejuvinated the franchise and got the city interested in the NBA again. In Georgie's five seasons in Milwaukee, the Bucks reached the playoffs four times - including the 2001 trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bucks were back on the map.


6. Bruce-clapclapclap-Pearl-clapclapclap...
Bruce Pearl turns Milwaukee into a Mid-Major Force

The Panthers were on a bit of an upswing when Bruce Pearl took over, as Bo Ryan started to build the program up before leaving for Madison. While they were slowly coming along, few could have predicted the meteoric rise they'd experience under Pearl.

The Panthers went from being a complete after-thought in Milwaukee, to two NCAA tournament apperances, including a Sweet Sixteen birth, and would eventually gain enough of a following to move their home games to much larger US Cellular Arena.

Bruce Pearl pumped life into a dormant program, it was no wonder a major program like Tennessee came calling after just four seasons in Milwaukee. Pearl left with teh single season record for wins (26) and as the school's, and Horizon League's all time leader in winning percentage.


5. No Brains, All Braun
The Brewers finally call up Ryan Braun

The Brewers entered the 2007 season completely fine with Tony Graffanino and Craig Counsell handling the third base situation. While it wasn't an ideal platoon combination, they just didn't think Ryan Braun was ready - at least not defensively - to play in the Major leagues yet.

But, with the offense in the funk and team sputtering, plans changed and Ryan Braun got the call up on May 25, 2007. Braun burst onto the scene and never looked back. While his defense was shaky, his offense was so off the charts it made you question why he had to wait in AAA for two months. Braun would go on to win the NL ROY award, putting up one of the greatest rookie seasons ever.

Although he's not a third baseman anymore, Ryan Braun taking over the third base job is still one of the greatest takeovers in WI sports history, even if it only lasted a year.


4. Majik Man Disappears
Brett Favre replaces Don Majikowski

We all loved the Majik man. What wasn't to love, he put up a few good games, gave us some fluky wins and had a really hard to spell, yet fun to say last name. Wisconsin loves that type of stuff. Yeah, we were satisfied with Majik, thinking he was a good QB, but that all changed when Brett Favre took over.

Most Packer fans were upset we gave up a draft pick to land this guy that Ron Wolf thought so highly of. After all, if he was so good, why couldn't he beat out guys like Billy Joe Tolliver in Atlanta?

We all know what came next, Favre entered against the Bengals for an injured Majikowski and never looked back. A legend was born, as was the state's love affair with all things Favre.


3. Holmgren Way
Mike Holmgren replaces Lindy Infante

Lindy Infante sucked. Plain and simple, he sucked. He was quite a surly turd too. When looking for Infante's replacement, Ron Wolf wanted his own type of guy to help build this franchise into a winner again. He hit it out of the park when he hired Mike Holmgren.

Highly touted, coming from the Bill Walsh coaching tree, Mike Holmgren brought with him the knowledge he gained from Walsh and the reputation of being able to work with quarterbacks (sure came in handy), but more importantly also brought in this new thing called...the west coast offense.

Holmgren's success was immediate, having never coached the Packers to a losing record, three NFC title appearances (should have been four, JERRY RICE FUMBLED THE FREAKING BALL!), two Super Bowls and one Lombardi trophy.

Holmgren is most responsible for Favre's meteoric rise, and built an impeccable coaching tree. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that he never, read that again, never fired any coach on his staff during his tenure in Green Bay.


2. The Mustache Speaks for Itself
Doug Melvin replaces the ineffective Dean Taylor

Much like the guy who clocks in at #1 on this list, Melvin is heavily responsible for a large portion of his teams success. Dean Taylor was brought in from Atlanta, having spent eight years with the club as Assistant General Manager.

We all thought, finally we have a guy with a winning pedigree. Turns out, Taylor was a turd and didn't deliver the Atlanta Braves model we thought we'd be getting (although, in fairness he did select Ben Sheets, but he's also most well know for selecting the likes of: Dave Krynzel, JM Gold, Mike Jones, and throwing relatively big (at least for the Brewers) money at guys like Jeffery Hammonds and Sean Berry.

Taylor just wasn't the guy they thought they were getting. Melvin turned out to be that guy, and more.


1. Wolf's Pack
Green Bay hires Jets Director of Player Personnel Ron Wolf to replace Tom Braatz

Without Ron Wolf, there is no Mike Holmgren, Reggie White, Brett Favre, Shawn Jones, Santana Dotson, Keith Jackson, Eugene Robinson...the list goes on. Mainly though, there is no Holmgren, White or Favre, meaning there is no third Lombardi trophy.

Many Packer fans, especially these days, pine for Wolf to return and try to relive the glory days. He is arguably the most revered man in recent Packers history. You can't argue with his success.

So there it is, your weekly T10. Hope you enjoyed it. Disagree with anything being on the list or omitted from the list? Well, you're probably wrong (I kid), but by all means leave a comment.

If you're in Milwaukee tonight, look for Todd and myself at Fanatics. We'll be the two coolest guys in the bar...or the only ones talking about the O.C. in a sports bar. After all, it is a Thursday night, remember when the O.C. was on on Thursdays?