So it begins...

Jerel McNeal doesn't sleep...he waits.

Chuck Norris cliche phrases aside, this game worried me from the get-go. It had the makings of a trap game:

-A underperforming team, more talented than their records show...fighting for survival
-A winnable game on the cover, and an easy excuse to look ahead to next week's matchup with UCONN.
-It's a road game in the Big East.

Marquette played like it has all year, they stayed consistent and waited. They took their lumps from the highlight reel dunks, big threes and hysterical crowd, and then relied on some clutch shooting and great defense to pull out the 78-72 win. As always, here are my quick hits:

-I've touched on this before, but Dajuan summers is the type of threat that will always have some success against MU, big size down low, smooth jump shot.
-A good idea in theory, the 1-2-1 zone in the first half – did not work out the way they wanted – GU shot extremely well in the 1st half
-If jimmy butler wasn’t on this team, MU would not be 23-4.
-I'm hard pressed to find players I really dislike on GU. I think Monroe is going to be a star in the BE and Summers is fun to watch...but that Mescheriakov? He has set the foundation of my loathing.
-Great composure by Buzz at the end of the 1st half in what was a terrible call on a blatant flop by a GU player was “hit” in the nose by mcneals shoulder…he voiced displeasure and when the ref came to egg it on and try to get Buzz to blow up…he simply shook his head, said “don’t worry about it” and let it go.
-Len Elmore…is terrible. He must have said the words “this is their game” about both teams 235 times. Eventually he’ll be saying "Basketball…this is their game. They’re playing basketball. Ball go in hoop. 2 points. Maybe 3?"

My closest friends and enemies know that I cannot stand the "We Are Marquette." I feel that it's just another unoriginal "tradition" that is used just about everywhere. And whenever I see another team doing the "We are..." it just makes me even more mad. Not that I have a better solution, other than just saying "Let's go Marquette" (although that has a better ring, in my opinion), it's just something that bothers me.

Here are just a couple other schools that use the "We are"

-Penn State
-Notre Dame
-Georgetown
-Marshall

Marquette takes on UCONN this Wednesday. I'll see you there! Ring out Ahoya!

MU makes it 2 straight

Losses that is. Villanova looked scary good in the final 20 minutes, shooting 72% (!) in the second half. Marquette put in a...well let's just say they put in an effort. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad...but it couldn't compete with a team that is playing like Marquette was a couple weeks ago. Marquette looked a lot like the teams its beaten the past couple weeks: hanging in throughout the opening minutes, then getting beaten into submission by a better shooting, better caliber team.

So that's two straight losses, and the schedule doesn't get much easier. Am I worried? Not terribly. Going into the Pavilion against one of the hottest teams in the country with a win would have been close to miraculous. Do I think MU is going to have problems that could lead to a breakdown? Absolutely. These players have been through downward spirals...and they need to be able to notice that and improve on their past seasons.

We'll see where the next couple weeks take us. But MU should definitely be thinking about what is ahead of them. Because it could get ugly.

Gascan bobble head day

Jeff Suppan will have a bobble head day at Miller Park in 2009. August 30 to be exact. Yes, you are reading that correctly. The Gascan will be prominently featured with his own collectible doll at the Sunday matinee vs. Pittsburgh. I think this is a nostalgic move by the team's front office, paying homage to the Ruthian moonshot Jason Bay (then of the Pirates) blasted off the M&I Bank sign on the scoreboard vs. Soup a season ago.

I first stumbled upon this curious Suppan bobble head day after reading some of the comments posted in the "Job Hunting In Chicago" post over at our friends from Chuckie Hacks. The thing is, I figured they were joking. Their site is great with the sports satire and sarcasm. The Crew couldn't possibly have a Soup Pitched Great bobble could they?

But the JS then confirmed this and all of the other promotional giveaways, leaving Brewers fans everywhere puzzled this morning. Even more puzzling? Doug Melvin bobble head day on Sept. 30. Other, more understandable bobble's in '09 include:

• Ryan Braun - May 3


• Trevor Hoffman - May 31


• Jason Kendall - June 28


• Racing Bratwurst - July 26

If you're a "Sunday Plus 20 Pack" season ticket holder, you're sitting pretty in the bobblehead world.

The question at large at this point is obvious: What will Soup's bobble feature? Turnbow's had "real" hair, Dick Weeks was stealing a base, Corey Hart was preparing to swing through a first pitch ball in the dirt. Will Soup's gascan be resting beside him on the hill? Will Pat Burrell be trotting around the bases? Maybe he'll be serving a grilled cheese at Soup's Grill. Or perchance Bill Castro will be beside him, offering advice on how to not serve batting practice during a game.

Or maybe he'll look like this:

When single game tix go on sale in a few days, August 30 is sure to be the second hottest game in demand after Opening Day.

An endorsement for Brooklyn Decker

The SI swimsuit cover model is being revealed on the Late Show with David Letterman this evening. Since Letterman is on CBS and not HBO, I'm assuming the revealing of this year's cover model simply means informing the viewing audience of who is gracing the cover, not you know, revealing the cover model.

Despite being engaged to Andy Roddick, here's a late endorsement for Brooklyn Decker's cover model hopes. She's obviously talented and deserving.

Marquette Unveils Throwbacks For Tonight's Game

Not really, but it'd be pretty cool if they came out like this, instead of those awkward prom dress sized "shorts"

I'll provide a South Florida preview later on, but just wanted you to go into your Friday with this image in mind.

Brewers, Yankees Finally Complete Deal

Okay, so it's not the Melky Cabrera/Key Igawa/Mike Cameron deal, but the Brewers and Yankees did finally complete a transaction today. The Brewers acquired left-hander Chase Wright in exchange for Eric Fryer. Wright was placed on the 40 man.

Tom Haudricourt has the recaps here and a scouting report here.

Rams becoming Packers South(west)

New St. Louis Rams head coach, Steve Spagnuolo, must be a closet Packers fan. He is in the process of assembling his first coaching staff. He's fulsomely reeling in ex-Packers coaches and football administration guys. Spagnuolo has already hired:

Rock Gullickson - Strength & Conditioning Coach
Gullickson served in the same position for the Pack from 2006-2008.

Bruce Warwick - Assistant to head coach/football operations
Warwick served in a similar capacity in GB, as the Assistant to the GM (Mike Sherman) & director of football administration from 2000-2005.

Slyvester Croom - Runnings backs coach
Sly was GBs RB's coach from 2001-2003, prior to accepting the Mississippi State head coaching job. Sly oversaw one of the most dynamic running game's the Packers have ever built. 2003 Ahman Green was the best player in football. You couldn't stop him that season, you just had to hope he put the ball on the turf while churning for extra yardage.

Charlie Baggett - Wide Receivers coach
Baggett briefly held the same position in GB during the forgettable 1999 campaign.

It's an interesting smattering of ex-GB coaches as none of them are truly tied to each other like a Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis from New England. Baggett served under Ray Rhodes. Warwick and Croom were under Sherman. Warwick was one of Sherman's right hand men. Gullickson came aboard with McCarthy. That's just an unusual number of ex-Packers coaches all landing with the same team. Didn't take Gullickson long to get up off the schneid did it?

Dick Weeks Has A Great Agent

Imagine what this guy could get Ben Sheets...

Dick Weeks is back, avoiding arbitration and striking a one year $2.45M (speculated) deal. Yay! OK, sarcastic I know, but we'll see if the 3rd time is the charm for Dick when it comes to "break out year", as pegged by members of the national media.

When glancing at some JS blog comments (torturous, I know) I saw many commenters speculate that Willy Randolph could help Weeks a lot this year.

I had completely forgotten Willy Randolph was hired as the bench coach until reading that.

***UPDATE***
Everyone's favorite reporter Tom Haudricourt confirms it is indeed for $2.45M

***2ND UPDATE***
Tom Haudricourt says Weeks has value. Well, if he can put aside his "unatural hatred" for Dick Weeks for the time being, then I guess we can too.

Live SuperBlog

It's cliche, I know, but we give you the BTB's annual Live SuperBlog.