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Keith Kubisiak offers his musings on Wisconsin sports each week in his guest column, "My view, from the couch."
From Buckets to Brewers and Bunkers..and some other stuff
By Keith Kubisiak, for Wausau Pilot & Review
Keith Kubisiak offers his musings on Wisconsin sports each week in his guest column, “My view, from the couch.”
We can now close the door on another college hoops season. North Carolina is your men’s champion and South Carolina is your women’s champion. I hope your brackets were profitable. Suffice it to say, mine were not.
Now on to the start of the Milwaukee Brewers season. Opening day was disappointing on a couple of levels. We were told that one of the strengths for the team would be their middle infield. Well, that proved to be the Achilles heel on Monday afternoon. After being down four runs in the early innings, the Brewers battled back thanks to a huge five-run fifth inning. Two costly errors ended up being the difference in their opening day loss to the Colorado Rockies 5-7. We are just going to have to keep reminding ourselves that “they’re young.”
I am sure that little phrase will be old by the end of April, at best.
This week also features “a tradition unlike any other…The Masters.” A couple of nights ago, I was out for dinner with a couple of buddies. The topic of discussion was the start of the Masters. As you may or may not know, the previous year’s champion hosts the champions’ dinner. As the host, a major responsibility is to determine the menu for the event. Typically, the menu reflects where the champion is from. Last year Danny Willett, from Sheffield, England, was the champion. It is not a surprise that his menu had an English theme: mini cottage pies, prime rib, roasted potatoes and vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding and gravy. For dessert, Willett selected apple crumble with vanilla custard, along with coffee and tea. Well, here are my Wisconsin-centric champion’s menu items: Wisconsin Cheese Curds, Usinger’s Brats, Portessi’s pizza fries, and finish with a State Fair Cream Puff. I am curious. What would your choices be?
The par 3 event was a washout on Wednesday due to weather. Thursday will be a challenge with very windy conditions expected. This event is on my “bucket list.” That said, I will have to watch it on TV again this year. The upside is that this year, my good friends at DirecTv are broadcasting it in 4K. That means the impulse buy of a 4K TV on Black Friday is paying off BIG TIME! As I am writing this, I am watching the beginning of the first round in 4K. To describe the picture quality in one word: MAGICAL! If you don’t have a 4K TV; get a friend, make a friend, or buy a friend that has one. Do whatever you need to do to get invited to their house. You can go with with the bold approach and just invite yourself, if you must. You will not be disappointed.
Here are the TV coverage times for your viewing pleasure:
Thursday: 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) Friday: 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) Saturday: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (CBS) Sunday: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. (CBS)
On another note, the Packers rolled through the area this week with their “Tailgate Tour.” One of the more notable events of the trip happened at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School. Vicki Dombeck asked Jake Ryan to prom at one of the tour stop. Unfortunately, Jake will not be able to attend due to the Packers taking part in OTAs (off-season team activities).
The Packers always do a great job of utilizing this event as a touch point with the fans throughout the state. Kudos to the organization for keeping this tradition.
About the author
Keith Kubisiak is a self-proclaimed sports junkie. He will have an opinion with a heavy dose of snark, and hopefully a bit of humor, on everything from local sports to the pros. Kubisiak is a lifelong Wisconsin resident, with the exception of one year living just outside of Cleveland that he still says is the worst winter of his life.
The author is a huge fan of the Badgers, Packers, and Brewers. Even though he is not a big fan of the NBA, the Bucks are very slowly starting to grow on him (it’s about time.) He played youth hockey for nine years with aspirations to play Division 1 hockey, but lacked two things on his quest: ability and talent, shortcomings which, sadly, are also evident in his golf game. His passion for sports will be very apparent as you read “My View…From the Couch.” Reach Keith at [email protected]. On Twitter as @keithkubi.
COLUMN: My view, from the couch
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From Buckets to Brewers and Bunkers..and some other stuff
By Keith Kubisiak, for Wausau Pilot & Review
We can now close the door on another college hoops season. North Carolina is your men’s champion and South Carolina is your women’s champion. I hope your brackets were profitable. Suffice it to say, mine were not.
Now on to the start of the Milwaukee Brewers season. Opening day was disappointing on a couple of levels. We were told that one of the strengths for the team would be their middle infield. Well, that proved to be the Achilles heel on Monday afternoon. After being down four runs in the early innings, the Brewers battled back thanks to a huge five-run fifth inning. Two costly errors ended up being the difference in their opening day loss to the Colorado Rockies 5-7. We are just going to have to keep reminding ourselves that “they’re young.”
I am sure that little phrase will be old by the end of April, at best.
This week also features “a tradition unlike any other…The Masters.” A couple of nights ago, I was out for dinner with a couple of buddies. The topic of discussion was the start of the Masters. As you may or may not know, the previous year’s champion hosts the champions’ dinner. As the host, a major responsibility is to determine the menu for the event. Typically, the menu reflects where the champion is from. Last year Danny Willett, from Sheffield, England, was the champion. It is not a surprise that his menu had an English theme: mini cottage pies, prime rib, roasted potatoes and vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding and gravy. For dessert, Willett selected apple crumble with vanilla custard, along with coffee and tea. Well, here are my Wisconsin-centric champion’s menu items: Wisconsin Cheese Curds, Usinger’s Brats, Portessi’s pizza fries, and finish with a State Fair Cream Puff. I am curious. What would your choices be?
The par 3 event was a washout on Wednesday due to weather. Thursday will be a challenge with very windy conditions expected. This event is on my “bucket list.” That said, I will have to watch it on TV again this year. The upside is that this year, my good friends at DirecTv are broadcasting it in 4K. That means the impulse buy of a 4K TV on Black Friday is paying off BIG TIME! As I am writing this, I am watching the beginning of the first round in 4K. To describe the picture quality in one word: MAGICAL! If you don’t have a 4K TV; get a friend, make a friend, or buy a friend that has one. Do whatever you need to do to get invited to their house. You can go with with the bold approach and just invite yourself, if you must. You will not be disappointed.
Here are the TV coverage times for your viewing pleasure:
Thursday: 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday: 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. (CBS)
On another note, the Packers rolled through the area this week with their “Tailgate Tour.” One of the more notable events of the trip happened at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School. Vicki Dombeck asked Jake Ryan to prom at one of the tour stop. Unfortunately, Jake will not be able to attend due to the Packers taking part in OTAs (off-season team activities).
The Packers always do a great job of utilizing this event as a touch point with the fans throughout the state. Kudos to the organization for keeping this tradition.
About the author
Keith Kubisiak is a self-proclaimed sports junkie. He will have an opinion with a heavy dose of snark, and hopefully a bit of humor, on everything from local sports to the pros. Kubisiak is a lifelong Wisconsin resident, with the exception of one year living just outside of Cleveland that he still says is the worst winter of his life.
The author is a huge fan of the Badgers, Packers, and Brewers. Even though he is not a big fan of the NBA, the Bucks are very slowly starting to grow on him (it’s about time.) He played youth hockey for nine years with aspirations to play Division 1 hockey, but lacked two things on his quest: ability and talent, shortcomings which, sadly, are also evident in his golf game. His passion for sports will be very apparent as you read “My View…From the Couch.” Reach Keith at [email protected]. On Twitter as @keithkubi.
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