SI Cover

Wisconsin running back John Clay made the front cover of Sports Illusrated's annual "Pictures of the Year" edition. Clay was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year this season, as he rushed for a league high 111.3 yards per game and 13 touchdowns. Clay is currently not heading for the NFL draft; he plans to return to Wisconsin next year.

Brewer Roster Moves

The Brewers have finalized some off-season acquisitions. Starting pitcher Randy Wolf passed a physical today to complete his contract with the Crew. Because Wolf was rated a Type A free agent, in order to sign him the Brewers would have had to give up a draft pick. Since the Dodgers declined to extend him arbitration, the Brewers will not have to surrender a compensatory draft pick (it would have been a second-rounder) to sign Wolf. Wolf is 101-85 with a 4.13 ERA over his 11 seasons in the Majors. His new contract with the Brewers is valued at a guaranteed $29.75 million, one of the richest contracts in Brewer history. Wolf should help to steady the rocky starting pitching from last year's team.

The Brewers also locked down infielder Craig Counsell for another year. The 39 year-old handyman played in 130 games last year for the Crew. It will be nice to have Counsell to add expereince to an extremely young infield consisting of players such as Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel, Casey McGehee, and Rickie Weeks.

The Brewers have also signed experienced reliever LaTroy Hawkins, pending a physical.

Big Ten Tops ACC

The Big Ten won the Big Ten - ACC Challenge for the first time since its induction 11 years ago. The tournament was full of upsets and excellent match-ups, including a surprise Illinois victory over 19th ranked Clemson and an Ohio State victory over Florida State. The most exciting game in the tournament, in my opinion, took place at the Kohl Center in Madison.

#5 Duke came to Madison and was expected to easily handle the unranked Wisconsin Badgers. However, the Badgers came out strong and never trailed the entire game. Trevon Hughes led the way for the Badgers with a career high 26 points. John Leuer added 17 more, with Jason Bohannon scoring 10. The Badgers struggled to guard Duke star Kyle Singler, who scored his own career high of 28 points, but the overall effort of the Badgers was too much for Duke to overcome. "Their offense just beat our defense," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Wisconsin also only turned the ball over five times the entire game, compared to Duke's eleven turnovers, which head coach Bo Ryan said was a huge key to the win. "That's five opportunities you didn't get a shot at the basket," Ryan said. "They had eleven opportunities that they didn't have to score. That might have been the difference in the game."

This game marks the first time Duke has lost in the Big Ten - ACC Challenge, and also ended the twelve game winning streak Duke had against unranked opponents. This was Wisconsin's fourth straight win against an ACC opponent.

Braun Wins Consecutive Silver Slugger Awards

Ryan Braun became the first Brewer since Paul Molitor to win consecutive Silver Slugger awards. The Silver Slugger is given to the best offensive player at each position in each division, as voted by the managers and coaches. Braun batted .320 this year with 32 home runs and 114 RBI's. He led the league with 203 hits, the third Brewer in history to acomplish this feat. Braun also became the eighth player in Major League history with at least 100 runs, 100 RBIs, 200 hits, 30 homers, 20 stolen bases and a .300 average in the same season.

Green Sets Pack's All-Time Rushing Record

The lone bright spot in this weekend's upest loss to Tampa Bay was Ahman Green's record setting day. Green became the all-time leading Packer rusher, passing Jim Taylor's career total of 8,207 yards. Green carried the ball 6 times for 45 yards on Sunday, providing a small spark in the second half, however, it wasn't enough, as numerous other problems for the Packers led to a loss. Said Green, "This is kind of a bittersweet thing, you know. It would have been better if we had won, but it happened the way it happened."

The Packers have a lot of work to do in practice this week if they want to avoid their 3rd loss in a row. The Cowboys will most likely be a tougher opponent than the Bucs, and will look to exploit many of the same weaknesses that were shown this past weekend.

Brewers Deal Hardy for Gomez

The Brewers traded away shortstop J.J. Hardy for the Minnesota Twins' centerfielder Carlos Gomez. This comes after Hardy's season-long struggle at the plate and in the field. Hardy's lack of production last season led the Brewers to call up Alcides Escobar, one of the team's top prospects. Escobar played well through the second half of the season, and gave the Brewers a spark in the middle of a slump. With Gomez now on the team, the Brewers will likely not resign centerfielder Mike Cameron. Gomez is a leadoff batter, so Felipe Lopez may also not be resigned, as Rickie Weeks will hopefully be able to resume his spot at 2nd base. Weeks, who had previously batted leadoff will likely be moved to 2nd or 5th in the order. He showed an increase in power early in the season, and if that continues the Brewers could have a scary 1-2-3 punch with Braun, Fielder, and Weeks. The Brewers already locked in Trevor Hoffman for next season. If they can find more consistency in starting pitching they may be in for a big season.

                                        

Packers Rout Browns

The Packers powered past the Browns today earning an easy 31-3 victory. After going down 3-0 in the first quarter, the Packers scored 31 unanswered points to cap off the win. Aaron Rodgers went 15 of 20 for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns, one each to Donald Driver, Spencer Havner, and James Jones. Ryan Grant carried the ball 27 times, and averaged over 5 yards per carry on his way to 148 total rushing yards. He added a rushing touchdown as well. The offensive line showed up today and didn't allow a sack. On defense the Packers shut down everyone. The defense gave up 81 pass yards and only 48 rushing yards. Charles Woodson had his fourth interception of the season and also forced a fumble. The defense also took Josh Cribbs completely out of the game; he fumbled the ball after his only reception.

Jermicheal Finley went down with an injury in the first half and did not return to the game. Ahman Green did not suit up, neither did Mark Tauscher. The Packers take on Minnesota at home next week.