Matt Garza

According to multiple reports, including Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network and FOXSports.com, the Milwaukee Brewers have come to terms with 30-year old right handed pitcher Matt Garza. The deal is reportedly worth $52 million over four seasons, but the club has yet to confirm the deal.

After staying almost silent (signing Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay aren't really loud) throughout the off-season, the signing of Garza certainly is a noise-maker for the Brewers.

With Masahiro Tanaka off the market, the next series of moves were certainly to come quickly, and Milwaukee wasted no time in scooping up one of the best free agents still available. The move doesn't automatically vault the club directly into contention in the NL Central, but it's a reminder to fans that the team certainly isn't throwing in the towel either.

So, $13 million per year, for four years, for a pitcher that just hit 30 years old. What does it mean for the Brewers?

It means that the Brewers add a proven arm to their rotation, rather than having to rely on the likes of Tyler Thornburg, Johnny Hellweg and Hiram Burgos, at least not to start.

It also means that if Milwaukee scuffles again this season, Yovani Gallardo could certainly become a enticing trade chip to flip for prospects. But if Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Marco Estrada and now Garza can put together a consistent season, 2014 could certainly be an uptick for the Brewers.

While the signing comes as a bit of a welcome surprise for Brewers fans, it also brings to mind one name that many fans in Milwaukee don't like to hear: Jeff Suppan.

Suppan, whose $42 million salary was the previous high for a Brewers free agent, had two mediocre and two bad seasons for Milwaukee from 2007 to 2010. He finished his stint with the club at 29-36 with an ERA of 5.08.

The Garza signing will hopefully more fruitful for the Brewers, especially if he can maintain his career 3.84 ERA. Garza does come with a bit of a history of injury, having missed time in 2013 due to a rib injury, and time in both 2012 and 2011 with elbow issues.

St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh all finished with 90 or more wins in 2013, so this one signing doesn't necessarily mean a playoff run for Milwaukee. However, if Ryan Braun comes back at an MVP level, if Jean Segura, Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy continue to be strong up the middle, and if the rest of the pitching staff stay healthy? If all those prove true, the Brewers will certainly improve on their 74-88 record from 2013 at at least make things interesting in the NL Central.

Double Toilet Trouble...fixed!

I know the Olympics are about bringing nations together, but I don't think they need to be that close.

A picture that went viral last week depicted a stall at the Olympic Biathlon Centre in Sochi that had two toilets.

via @BBCSteveR

I know the Olympics are about bringing nations together, but I don't think they need to be that close.

Apparently enough of a stink was raised (get it? bahaha) that the toilets were removed and the bathroom has been converted into a "utility closet" according to Reuters. Here's what the stall looks like now.

Kinda disappointing, right? I have a feeling we would have heard some great stories about that stall. Oh well.

Billion Dollar Bracket

I love March Madness. Those first two days of games are some of my favorite days of the year. I watch college basketball all season long and when those brackets are finally released on Selection Sunday, I take great joy in filling in the bracket. I typically do one on gut instinct and then one with a bit of analysis. Typically I do OK, but the tournament is just so freaking unpredictable. One year I got all four teams in the Final Four correct, and picked the national championship correct too, but the rounds before that were nothing short of a disaster.

With 68 teams in the tournament, the odds of making a perfect bracket are astronomical.  According to Mashable and the USA Today, your odds of randomly picking a perfect bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion. I don't even know how many zeroes that is.

This year, Quicken Loans is creating a contest, insured by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, in which a $1 billion prize will be offered to anyone who completes a perfect bracket. That means picking all 67 games correctly, and the prize is $1,000,000,000. You can take it in 40 annual installments of $25 million, or one lump $500 million sum.

My take on Richard Sherman

We live in a world where it's outside the norm to be something other than politically correct.

At times, that's very disappointing.

Then there are moments like yesterday's NFC title game, in which Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman was very...candid...in his postgame interview with Fox reporter Erin Andrews.

I didn't have a problem with the way it went down. Sherman had, just minutes ago, one of the biggest moments of his professional life. An incredibly athletic play helped his team clinch a spot in the Super Bowl for the first time in his career. Can you say adrenaline rush?



At that level, football is a raw emotional game that is unlike you or I have ever experienced. And Sherman is very confident in his abilities to play said game at a very high level. In fact, he's one of the few players in sports today capable of both talking the talk AND backing it up by walking the walk.

The only person that should possibly be offended by what he said was Michael Crabtree. (Colin Kaepernick too, to an extent, as Sherman probably shouldn't have given him the "choke" sign, but Kaep did throw the pick there.) There was a bit of gloating (with a hint of sarcastic sportsmanship?) when he went to go "shake" Crabtree's hand, which unsurprisingly, Crabtree refused. The wide receiver isn't blameless here, as he had apparently run his mouth a bit too, but I don't think what Sherman did was malicious. Crabtree gave Sherman an inch of motivation and Sherman stretched it into a mile.

As someone who does cover sports, having someone give an un-Belichickian interview was good to see. Some actual material to use in a story? Amazing! And the two weeks between yesterday and the Super Bowl can be a loooooong time. Having something to spice it up? Fine by me.

NFL players pour their heart and soul into their work, with the goal being to get to (and ultimately win) the Super Bowl. So a guy is a little excited to get there and lets his emotions show? And DOESN'T CURSE on live TV? It's refreshing.

And those throwing around terms like "classless" and "thug" should really do their homework.

Storming the Court

I've been a part of a few court stormings in my life. The first one (technically on a field, but whatever) was in 2010, when the Wisconsin football team upset top-ranked Ohio State, at night, at Camp Randall. That whole game was incredible. The Badgers, ranked #18 at the time, got a jump start on the game thanks to a kickoff return TD by David Gilreath (a highlight that still gives me chills).



That was the only time I've stormed a playing surface as a fan. The other time I was part of a storming was in 2006, when my high school basketball team snapped a 19-game losing streak with a miraculous win and our fans stormed the court. Also pretty legit.

Something about the way Indiana stormed the court after beating Wisconsin last night bugged me. Sure, the Badgers were 16-0 and the #3 team in the country but...they were only 16-0 and the #3 ranking was a byproduct. The Hoosiers were the better team last night and deserved to win, and proved that they're probably better than their 12-5 record.

IndyStar.com

So what warranted the court storm? I'm not sure. If Indiana wants to measure themselves against the top programs in the country like Duke, UCLA, UNC, etc. (which historically, they probably should), shouldn't they be above storming the court? I know Wisconsin has had the Hoosiers' number as of recent, but should there be the expectation that they're supposed to win still?

When Indiana upset #1 ranked Kentucky on a last second 3 in December of 2011? Absolutely. It was in the moment, on a buzzer beater, against THE top ranked team in the country? The Hoosiers were in control during the late stages of the game, meaning there wasn't nearly the same amount of drama.

I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill here, but it bugged me. And I'm not making excuses about why the Badgers lost and I'm trying not to sound bitter. It was a well-fought, much deserved win for Indiana, but I'm not sure it warranted a court storm. I think those should be reserved for very rare occasion. A mid-January home win against a conference opponent is not that occasion.

iPhone stun gun

I saw the article for this, and my first impression is that I was surprised that something like this didn't already exist. But alas, there is a company called Yellow Jacket that has developed a stun gun attachment for the iPhone that can "can shoot 650,000 volts of electricity into a would-be predator (or unfortunate butt-dialer?) for just $149."



A few thoughts:

A) $149 seems like a reasonable price. A quick google search tells me you can get stun guns for a whole hell of a lot cheaper, but if you're more likely to have this in your hand and ready to use when needed, can you put a price on that?

B) 650,000 volts seems like a lot, but in comparison, maybe not. Some of the mid-range stun guns can put out over 10 million volts on a full charge. But still, 650,000 volts is better than none?

C) It has a safety switch. Good call.

What do you say? Is this something you'd invest in?

Don't mess up my pizza order

People have certain expectations and when they aren't met, it's understandable why they get upset.

I'm not sure this is one of those situations.

According to the AP:
A Central Texas man has been accused of stabbing his girlfriend after she brought home pizza instead of a chicken sandwich he wanted for lunch.
McLennan County jail records show Michael Corsey of Waco was being held Saturday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Online jail records do not list bond or an attorney for Corsey, who was arrested Friday.

Waco police say Corsey allegedly grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the woman because he had asked for a chicken sandwich, but she brought home pizza. Police say the victim was also choked and struck in the face.
Investigators say the woman, whose name wasn't immediately released, was treated for minor injuries.

I really shouldn't laugh, and I seriously hope the girlfriend is OK, but can you read this and not chuckle?

Sometimes a man wants a pizza so bad that he's willing to go to jail for it, I suppose.