Well folks, it has been a few days, but I am back (at least for now) with a few items regarding the past week. It has been a very busy week at work, over my lunch hour, and after work, so the time to write a post has been very limited… hopefully that will change a little so I can get back to some consistency here on My Brewers.

• Johnny Depp is in town filming a movie and the town has gone nuts. The paper decided to print retro looking copies, the downtown area is a mess to get through, and you can hear girls screaming from miles away. It is a pretty cool thing for a small town like Oshkosh and it appears as though everything is going very well. Depp seems like a decent guy and has actually spent a lot of time along the ropes greeting people who have come out to watch the filming. I walked past the set a couple times this week, but have not seen him or any of the filming. It sounds like they are in town through the weekend, so maybe I will still see something over the next couple days.
• I was walking past the set because I was out on a walk as a part of my company’s Biggest Loser competition. I organized the competition to begin on April 1 and end on June 30. It includes 26 total competitors and has been a huge success to this point. In two weeks, the company has lost a little 150 pounds. I personally have gone from a pudgy 213.6 to a svelte 205.0. This helps to explain my being so busy during my lunches and after work because I have spent a large amount of time walking, using the elliptical machine in my basement, and trying to figure out what the heck I can eat nowadays. My goal is to get down to between 175 and 180 pounds and look like Gabe Kapler rather than Prince Fielder. I will occasionally mention my progress in case anyone cares.
• As far as the Brewers there are several things to discuss, with the first being the number of people I have heard in panic mode after only 15 games. I do not think these people realize just how long the season is. First off, the Brewers are now 9-6, which is over .500. Secondly, would these same fans assume the season was down the tubes if the Packers won their first game but were trailing at halftime of their second, because that it pretty much where the Brewers are in their season. Third. the Brewers have gotten off to a 9-6 start with little contribution from their offensive stars (Weeks, Hardy, Fielder, Braun, Hall). Just imagine once one or more of these guys gets going! I will not get too worked up until about 150 games into the season, and neither should you or anyone else.
• I have a feeling Prince is going to be the first to take off. Getting that first home run off of his back yesterday was huge. I think he was pressing to get that done and now that it has happened they will start flying on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, I heard on the radio this morning that it took almost as long for his first home run last season, and we all know how well the rest of the season went.
• How long until everyone gets off of Eric Gagne’s back for blowing two saves? 10 saves? 20 saves? Never? I saw get off his back now. If he blows another save or two, then get on him again, but no one is perfect…. although he has looked pretty close to it during his last couple outings.
• With Bucks season over, fans in the Fox Valley will now see all of the games presented on WMLW in Milwaukee. It was a painful first couple of weeks, but now we can all breathe easier knowing the Crew will not have any competition for airtime.
• Does it make sense to go with Craig Counsell’s hot bat over J.J. and Billy’s slumping bats? I think it may be, and I can not believe I am saying that. Go with Billy and J.J., then Billy and Craig, and then Craig and J.J, for a bit. Maybe not on an every three game rotating basis, but at least every once in awhile until the two regulars can snap out of their respective funks.
• As far as the new blogging format and the fact that it is free… I do not know if I am sold yet. The more the merrier sometimes isn’t the case, especially when the more well written blogs (I’m not claiming that I fall into that category) are lost in the shuffle because any random person can do it. Paying for the right to write meant that mainly serious writers wrote the blogs, and that wasn’t a bad thing quality wise. There are benefits and shortcomings to this new format and policies…. time will tell if the benefits end up outweighing the shortcomings.