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Sports Musings for week of Jan. 24

By: 
Andrew Hanlon
  • As I said last week: Aaron Rodgers isn’t going anywhere this offseason. “I’ll say this, there’s no way in heck that Aaron is not going to be on the Packers. I mean, he is going to be the MVP of the league. He might have had his best year ever. He’s our unquestioned leader, and, you know, we’re not idiots,” Packers’ President Mark Murphy said, via ESPN. “Now, obviously, after the season that I had, potentially winning MVP and we obviously made another good run, I don’t think that there’s any reason why I wouldn’t be back, but, look, there aren’t many absolutes in this business,” Rodgers himself said on The Pat McAfee Show. So there you go. Coming off an MVP season and a second straight NFC Championship game, and two in Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s first two seasons, why would it make any sense to move on from Rodgers right now?
  • Once again, trade rumors are swirling around Brewers’ pitcher Josh Hader. As probably the premier left-handed reliever in baseball, Hader’s name will always pop up as a trade possibility. And for the second consecutive offseason, Milwaukee is attempting to lower payroll. It would take a godfather offer to pry Hader from the Brewers, but maybe GM David Stearns should lower that asking price. Milwaukee is drifting back into that rebuild-ish territory and has had one of the worst minor league systems in baseball for the past handful of years. Sending off Hader for 3-4 highly-ranked prospects isn’t the worst idea.
  • The Milwaukee Bucks lost back-to-back games this weekend against the New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets. Monday they got a shot at a win at home against Portland. My big takeaway from the past week, though, was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s stat line, and overall game, in the Bucks’ win at Toronto last Wednesday. (The Raptors actually play their home games this season in Tampa. But whatever). Giannis had “only” 24 points — but he added 18 rebounds and 9 assists. The key to that stat line was the 9 assists, but even that doesn’t do Giannis’ game justice. He’s had to adjust to a new offensive scheme this season and is still learning; but against the Raptors, his unselfishness and willingness to pass was a thing of beauty. This is when the Bucks’ offense is at its best; when their best player draws double and triple teams and is willing to move the ball and find open teammates. It was refreshing to watch him pass the ball instead of bull rushing straight into four defenders.
  • The Packers let go of Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine after three seasons. Pettine was hired by Mike McCarthy in his final year and remained on LaFleur’s staff for his first two seasons at the helm. Now begins the search for Pettine’s replacement. There are plenty of qualified candidates with lots of NFL coaching experience. I wouldn’t mind gauging Wade Phillips’ interest in the job, even though he’s 74 years old. Someone else who should get a look, though, is Wisconsin Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard. Leonhard has experience as a player in the NFL and has led one of the nation’s best defenses since he took over the position with the Badgers. Leonhard also comes from the Pettine coaching tree, so there’s already a familiarity with the scheme the past three years. It’s probably a long shot as Leonhard has only been a coordinator at the college level for a few years, and he might be better suited to stay in the college game and wait for his shot at a head coach at that level, but he at least deserves a look with Green Bay.
  • The Brewers hired Sara Goodrum as the organization’s minor league hitting coordinator last week, the first woman to hold that position in professional baseball. Her official title will be Coordinator — Hitting Development Initiatives. Goodrum has been in the Brewers’ organization for four years and will now oversee the organization’s hitting program, manage the hitting coaches at the team’s minor league affiliates and travel around the minors to assist in player instruction. She joins women already on the coaching staffs of the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. Earlier this offseason, the Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng as the first female GM; Ng is also now the highest-ranking female executive in baseball and the first woman to serve as general manager of a team in America’s four major sports. Now if we could only get the NFL to hire more than three black head coaches.