That’s a famous phrase used by Jon McGlocklin, Mr. Milwaukee Buck and long-time TV analyst.  The ‘window of opportunity’ is brought out when there’s a chance for the Bucks to climb back into a ballgame.  But let me apply it to the situation currently facing this year’s team.

Center Andrew Bogut is out indefinitely with a broken ankle.  It’s an injury that takes 6-8 weeks just to heal, and a few months to return to physical activity according to the Aurora Health Care website.  While the Bucks, who are notorious for keeping information quiet (and doing a poor job at diagnosing injuries as is), throw out the term ‘indefinitely,’ he’s done for the year.  The only reason ‘indefinitely’ is being used is to give fans a glimmer of hope that he’ll return.  But he won’t.  Nor should he if he could.

Amidst everything that occurs with the Milwaukee Bucks, dysfunctional or otherwise, there’s an underlying problem.  Ever since their Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2001, the Bucks have averaged 36 wins a season.  In fact, you can take their lowest win total of the last decade (26 in 2007/08) and their highest win total of the last decade (46 in 2009/10) and get the average wins per season for each season in the last decade.  The two outliers in an equation determining an appropriate average is usually a statistical anomaly.  But not with the Bucks.  Why?

The Milwaukee Bucks have never undergone a rebuild under Sen. Herb Kohl’s tenure as owner.  In the 26 years as owner, Sen. Kohl has seen the Bucks make it past the second round of the postseason twice (2001, 1986), yet has seen only three top five draft picks (Bogut, Stephon Marbury – traded to Minnesota for Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson).  In most every league in professional sports, you can find one or two franchises who are stuck in neutral.  The Milwaukee Bucks are the epitome of mediocre.

But here lies a window of opportunity to change that.  Bucks fans are ready, more than ready, to see the reset button hit.  A possibility of a first-round playoff exit isn’t enticing.  It never was enticing, even in 2010 when it was so unexpected.  Fans aren’t sure how much louder they need to shout to management that what they’re doing isn’t working.  Attendance has tanked, TV ratings are brutal, and no one’s willing to pony up tax money for a new building.  There’s a clear format to construct a winner in small-market NBA land, let alone with the least valuable franchise in the NBA (pop the cork!).

Even in this slightly altered financial NBA system, small-market teams MUST build through the draft.  Accumulate young talent to grow and develop, bringing in free agents to support the core.  Oklahoma City could very well win a title doing that this year.  San Antonio won many titles that way.  Everyone else that has won championships recently reside in large markets.  If there’s any hope for the Bucks to compete, it must be through the draft.

So while I’m sure it’s enticing for John Hammond to go get Joel Pryzbilla and cling to the eighth-seed, on behalf of Bucks fans everywhere, don’t.  Fans don’t want to see that.  Fans want the hope of something bigger.  Let this team lose, which they will do without Andrew Bogut (Houston notwithstanding).  Or, open the doors and let the buyers come in.  You have a few decent young players that you should hold on to (Jennings, Leuer, Harris, Mbah A Moute), but everyone else can go.  Grab young players, expiring contracts and draft picks, and hit the reset button once and for all.  You have twelve teams ‘ahead’ of you for draft positioning in a deep draft.  There’s work to be done.  Hell, when you won the lottery in '05, you had a six percent chance to do so.  It won't even take that much work.  But what you CAN'T do is try to salvage a winner out of this group.  It's pointless.

By no means am I happy Bogut is injured.  It’s not fair to him at all that another odd injury sidelines him for a long period of time and will likely lessen his ability as a player.  But it’s also unfortunate that the Bucks can no longer trade their biggest commodity to get the rebuild started in earnest.  But they can start it. 

The window is open.

This blog was going to be a preview of the NFL Wild Card weekend.  In fact, it was requested that I do one by a friend of mine.  So while the bulk of this blog post will be about something else, I will oblige and still give you my take on what’s to come in the NFL.

There’s usually one surprise in Wild Card weekend, last year it was Seattle.  This year I’ll go with Atlanta beating the Giants.  A team that has better weapons on the offensive end than their opposition (quarterback notwithstanding) and a healthier defense.  The other intrigue for me is the first game of the weekend.  I’ve waffled back and forth between the Bengals and Texans, one team too young, the other too injured.  I’m sticking with the Texans, though, because they’ve proven people more wrong than right over the season.  Welcome back the playoffs, Detroit!  You’re going to get rolled by New Orleans.  And despite the injury concerns for the Steelers, they’ll make simple work of Denver.

I had a more in-depth blog planned for Wild Card weekend, but then something occurred last night that grabbed my attention.  And I’m going to go against a theory of mine that I established just one week ago.

The Theory: No one should make any sort of determination as to how good or bad a team is until the first ten games of the NBA season are through.  With very little offseason and a condensed schedule, it was going to take some time to sort things out.  But you can look at tendencies, both individual and overall, and make judgments about those.  See if trends develop into habits, or if teams snap out of ruts from one game to the next.  Which brings me to the Milwaukee Bucks.

In six games this season, the Bucks are 2-4.  Not great, but it’s still early, right?  In four of those games, they’ve blown double-digit second half leads.  I mean, spontaneously combusted after halftime.  Here’s a list of their games so far:

-14 point lead in Charlotte at half on Opening Night, lose by one.

-20 point lead halfway through 3^rd in home opener against Minnesota, win by three.

-24 point lead at half vs. Washington, sliced to 9 in 4^th before pulling away for 102-81 win.

-Took six point lead into 4^th at Denver, score 12 points in final quarter, lose by five.

-Shot 30% from floor in Utah, never had much of a shot in Utah, losing by 12.

-And the coup de grace, 21 point halftime lead in Sacramento, shoot 52% from the floor, lose by three.

A few notes.  Both Denver and Sacramento were playing their third game of a back-to-back-to-back set, and the Kings axed their head coach hours before tipoff. 

We’re beyond this being a trend, especially when you consider this is nothing new for this team over the years.  This is a habit, an event you can rely on to happen on most nights with the Bucks.  It’s been a common trait for this team the last three seasons.  The last three seasons…under Scott Skiles.

I’m more than an advocate of getting rid of John Hammond.  He has shown very little ability to give this team a direction in his now four years as general manager.  And the trade for Stephen Jackson may turn out to be the worst move he’s ever done, averaging 13 points a night and a stellar 33% from the field. 

But now Scott Skiles is starting to frustrate more and more.  His coaching philosophy (thanks, Lovie!) is one note and fading.  His defensive mentality is admirable, admittedly, but also ignorant.  He will forgive offensive breakdowns if you’re playing good enough defense.  It’s why Jackson is playing in crunch time last night in Sacramento, while the brightest surprise of the season, Jon Leuer, plays nine minutes. 

And there’s your cause of a second half breakdown.  It’s not defensively, it’s offensively.  Skiles will accept missing jumper after jumper after jumper, as long as you can play some form of defense.  Because Skiles is so committed to the defensive end of the floor, the offense becomes bland and predictable.  The Bucks settle for jumpers because there isn’t enough emphasis on a more dynamic offense.  Clanking your jumpers (the Bucks are 19^th in the league in FG%) leads to more possessions for your opponents, and over time, wears you down on the other end.  The anatomy of a collapse.

But with the ambivalence towards this team currently, no one is challenging the Bucks to change.  No one is asking Scott Skiles why this keeps happening, why he’s so stubborn.  No one is asking John Hammond why this roster continues to fail under his watch.  No one is asking Sen. Kohl why there’s no progress, both on the court and off.  A dangerous sense of complacency exists with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Because of that, no one is mentioning that a game like last night, no matter how early in this strange season it may be, should cost people their jobs.  A game like last night is a collective failure of all who have a say in this team.  Skiles lasted two-and-a-half seasons in Phoenix before growing bored, three-and-a-half with the Bulls before asking the team to fire him.  This season is the beginning of his fourth in Milwaukee.  We’re at that time, but he can't be the only one.

But it's just the Bucks, so who cares...right?

The inmate is in charge of the asylum.

All seemed so right with the Chicago Bears world on Tuesday, when the team finally bid adieu to general manager Jerry Angelo and offensive coordinator Mike Martz.  But then team president Ted Phillips took the mic, and things took a turn…

The new general manager will have to fit Lovie Smith’s philosophy.

The new general manager will have to keep Lovie as coach.

Lovie will be assisting in the search for the new general manager.

We all go a little mad sometimes (said with wry smile and evil glare).

That’s right, folks.  Lovie Smith, the head coach of the Chicago Bears, is helping find his boss.  A head coach in the final year of his contract will make the choice as to who decides his employment.  How is this how a healthy organization is run?  It’s like the Ricketts family asking Mike Quade to help them hire Theo Epstein.

I suppose it’s like that on the surface.  The difference here is that the men supposedly in charge clearly aren’t.  Lovie Smith has Ted Phillips in his back pocket.  Lovie is an undermining Geppetto.  Ted is Pinocchio, so convinced he’s the real man in charge but too stupid to realize the truth.  Ted has completely ceded control of the Chicago Bears to his coach.  A man who has taken the Bears to just three playoff appearances in seven years.  A man who has seen 28 assistant coaches leave in that span.  A man who made beating the Packers his primary goal as coach.  A man who kept calling Rex Grossman his quarterback despite simple logic deeming otherwise.  A man who has this organization in the palm of his hand.  You might as well cut out the middleman and make Lovie the new GM.

So that leaves George McCaskey, the supposed owner, although he owned up to nothing on Tuesday.  It was Ted’s decision to fire Jerry Angelo, he said.  Meaning it was Lovie’s decision.  Its McCaskey’s job to understand what is happening on his team in all aspects.  He needs to realize that that all aspects of this team are being controlled by someone who should have very little say.  Lovie Smith is the coach.  His job is to make the talent given to him by his general manager work on the field.  That’s it.

But he’s the ringleader, and George McCaskey is the only one that could possibly stand in his way.  It’s up to George to stop Lovie Smith before he drives the Bears off a cliff.  Ted Phillips may as well be drunk in the passenger seat.  Too oblivious to understand what’s happening; too ignorant to care.  George McCaskey is Jiminy Cricket, the only one that can provide wisdom and insight to those who are flawed.  But he needs to be willing to step in front of the situation and, you know, become the actual owner of this team.

The Bears are screwed…

Date: January 23rd

Location: Soldier Field; Chicago, Illinois

Here we are, at the end of our interesting and exciting journey through the year 2011.  I received the expected grief about my choice for number two, and I urged patience.  I could not explain my reasoning without revealing number one.  Most of you probably figured it out, but it’s now official.  So let’s go back to late January.

The Packers and the Bears had met just one other time in the postseason before this past year, back in 1941.  I’m sure you all remember that game vividly, so I won’t dive into the details.  Amazingly, this past postseason marked just the fourth time these two had even been in the playoffs in the same year, and the first time in nine years.  Two of the most storied franchises in the NFL, and it was just the fourth time they had even been in the postseason in the same year.  Unbelievable.

But maybe the build-up was worth it.  The Packers and Bears met in the NFC Championship Game with a ticket to the Super Bowl awaiting the winner.  A rivalry near a century old was ready for its biggest game ever.  And it didn’t disappoint.

The Packers leapt out to a 14-0 lead at halftime thanks to early scores in the first and second quarters.  But the biggest storylines had yet to unfold.  Bears QB Jay Cutler didn’t play after halftime because of a knee injury, and after a miserable series by Todd Collins, Caleb Hanie took over and brought the Bears back into the game.  In fact, one could argue the style and pace of the game suited the “grind ‘em out” Bears rather than the high-powered Packers.  It was 14-7 midway through the fourth, when Hanie’s first big mistake came, throwing a dart right to Packers’ lineman B.J. Raji, who got the fattest pick six anyone has ever seen.  Hanie would find Earl Bennett on the next drive to bring the Bears back within a touchdown, but would throw a pick to Sam Shields on the Bears final drive, and the Green Bay Packers were headed to Super Bowl XLV.

Two big storylines last for weeks following this game.  The Packers improbable run to the Super Bowl and Jay Cutler’s worth as a leader.  These two dominated the sports landscape for close to a month, and moreso the stateline area.  Which brings us to why this story is number one.

Sure, the Packers Super Bowl championship is a bigger sports moment nationally.  But I’ve always said that this region is unique in its sports fandom.  It’s what makes it so fun and interesting to work at this station on a daily basis.  When it comes to football, the stateline is pretty much split down the middle.  Bears fans coexist with Packers fans, regardless of what side of the border you happen to live on.  So when this game happened, we stopped.  All of us stopped and watched.  Nothing else was important on that Sunday afternoon in January.  For this area, from Rockford to Beloit to Janesville and everywhere in between, this game was everything.  There are few sporting events that are capable of that.  The NFC Championship Game was one of them.

Look at the title of this post, and the nine that preceded it.  This top ten list is for the biggest stateline sports moments of the year.  The NFC Championship Game between the Packers and the Bears was not just the biggest moment of the year in the Rock River Valley, it was the biggest sports moment ever.

So there you have it, 2011’s Top Ten Stateline Sports Moments.  It’s been a memorable year, both locally and nationally.  Topping it will be a difficult task for 2012.  But I think I can speak for many of you when I say, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

The Top Ten

10. Mathew Sims kicks NIU to a MAC title

9. Tony Plush sends Brewers to NLCS

8. Hail Mary stuns Wisconsin

7. Derrick Rose wins the NBA MVP

6. Ozzie Guillen leaves the White Sox

5. Ryan Braun tests positive for PEDs

4. Brewers win the NL Central

3. Theo Epstein takes the reigns in Chicago

2. Packers win Super Bowl XLV

1. Packers-Bears meet in the NFC Championship Game

See you in 2012

Date: February 6th

Location: Cowboys Stadium; Arlington, Texas

Quite possibly the most controversial entry into my top ten list.  I envision many of you scratching your heads, your face being filled with red as the anger grows.  How on Earth could this be number two?  What is this guy thinking?  The Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl title HAS to be number one, right?  Wrong.

A great run to end the 2010-2011 regular season sent the Packers to the sixth seed in the NFC postseason despite a cavalcade of injuries throughout the year.  Lead by a high-powered offense and a “right place, right time” defense, the Packers stormed their way through the postseason as well, winning three games in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Chicago en route to their first Super Bowl appearance in thirteen years.  The defensive force of the Pittsburgh Steelers waited in Dallas, but that proved to be no issue.

The Packers never trailed in Super Bowl XLV, and held on for a 31-25 win for their thirteenth league title and fourth Super Bowl championship.  And the way they won that game has become so common to us during the calendar year.  Aaron Rodgers went 24-for-39 with three touchdowns and zero picks, and the defense forced three Steelers’ turnovers.  The Packers would score touchdowns off all three.  It’s like a broken record with this Packers team, isn’t it?

It seemed so unlikely that this season would culminate in a title for this team.  All the injuries, all the close losses, all the chips that were stacked against them to even make the postseason, and all the things they had to do right once they got there.  This team has become a dominant force in the NFL this season.  It’s easy to forget just how large the mountain was for the Green Bay Packers to climb last year.

If you’re savvy enough, you’ve figured out number one.  My reasoning about it taking the top spot comes tomorrow.  Take a deep breath until then, Packer fans.

The Top Ten

10. Mathew Sims kicks NIU to a MAC title

9. Tony Plush sends Brewers to NLCS

8. Hail Mary stuns Wisconsin

7. Derrick Rose wins the NBA MVP

6. Ozzie Guillen leaves the White Sox

5. Ryan Braun tests positive for PEDs

4. Brewers win the NL Central

3. Theo Epstein takes the reigns in Chicago

2. Packers win Super Bowl XLV

1. ????

Date: October 21st

Location: Wrigley Field; Chicago, Illinois

Number three on my list could actually be split into two moments, if you want to get technical.  Number three doesn’t occur without the Chicago Cubs finally saying goodbye to Jim Hendry in mid-August.  It was a day that caught us all by surprise, even though we figured it was coming eventually.  There were no rumors or whispers about a mid-season axing of the heavily-scrutinized GM.  And it didn’t just happen, either.  It happened three weeks before it was announced, but the Ricketts family kept Hendry on board to help sign the team’s 2011 draft picks.  It was such a weird day, but the magnitude of it pales in comparison to the day the Cubs hired his replacement.

After one of the most baffling collapses in baseball history, the Boston Red Sox crumbled.  Terry Francona bolted to television and players were accused of drinking beer and gorging on fried chicken during games.  And the man in charge of assembling that roster, along with two World Series teams, wanted out. 

Theo Epstein is a brilliant baseball mind, capable of finding diamonds in the rough and buying up the jewelry store simultaneously.  Some of what he did in Boston failed, but most of it succeeded.  But above all else, Theo Epstein brought a sense of intelligence to the Red Sox.  You treat Epstein seriously, because if you don’t, he’ll burn you.

So on October 21^st, the Cubs snagged him away, and a new era began.  And now that Epstein’s (and I guess Jed Hoyer’s) first couple of moves are under his belt, there seems to be a better sense of direction that the Chicago Cubs haven’t had in ages.  Epstein seems committed to starting new with this franchise, building the system up to succeed later.  It’s a direction fans have been waiting and waiting and waiting for.  Even Cubs fans, who have been waiting far too long as it is.

There are still a few immediate questions that Epstein will have to deal with before next season begins, whether they should go after Prince Fielder (no) or trade Matt Garza (yes).  But there were few, if any other, candidates for this job that could not only answer those questions correctly, but renew a fan base’s faith in the team they’ve followed for generations. 

Will the results be what Cubs fans are hoping for?  I have no idea.  But at least there’s a belief they can be.

The Top Ten

10. Mathew Sims kicks NIU to a MAC title

9. Tony Plush sends Brewers to NLCS

8. Hail Mary stuns Wisconsin

7. Derrick Rose wins the NBA MVP

6. Ozzie Guillen leaves the White Sox

5. Ryan Braun tests positive for PEDs

4. Brewers win the NL Central

3. Theo Epstein takes the reigns in Chicago

2. ????