I was scrolling through Twitter yesterday like I do every day (check it for 10 minutes every hour, maybe more often, I don't have a problem) and I came across one of my favorite types of tweets on my timeline. That type is, of course, local radio station putting out a question to force engagement and drive up those clicks. I respect the hustle and for the most part, the questions are fun to answer and see how other normal, blue-collar, fans think. Too much of the time on Twitter I see actual well thought out, logical, arguments from people who know what they are talking about. Sometimes you want to see a 47-year-old semi-truck driver from Menomonie make the case that the Packers should be trying to trade Rodgers for Josh Rosen. This is the beauty of Twitter, smart people and idiots, united and opposed, both thinking the other could not be farther from the truth. It's like a Joe-Shmo from the street walking into a college classroom and starting to lecture the professor in whatever field they have a Masters Degree in. Anyway, Twitter tangent aside, here is the Tweet in question.
Me, being the amazing employee I am, thought instead of replying and giving them engagement, I could write a blog about this and give us engagement (No, I'm not the one working on a Marketing Degree, but I understand the confusion). So, without any more further tangents, here are my rankings of who I want to win a title and why.
Number 3 - The Green Bay Packers
This was the hardest slot to fill. Basically, it came down to Badgers Football, Badgers Basketball, and the Packers all vying to fill the last open slot. Now, my love-hate relationship with Badger sports is well-documented in the short month this blog has existed, as is my deep love for the Packers, with all three teams receiving blogs dedicated to them that were over 10 minute long reads. The only reason I chose the Packers is that they have won one in my lifetime. This may seem like dumb logic, but hear me out. Over my 21 years rooting for the Badgers, there has been a central truth that slowly unveiled itself through the years, "The Badgers will, and always will be, good, but not great". For Badger Basketball I realized this after 2015. I have said multiple times we will never have a team that good again and that was our only shot. As for Badger Football, I don't even think there is a specific year, but they will never win the "Meaningful" Big Game, only the Meaningless Big Games that turn into a fun history fact like "Hey, remember when we beat LSU at Lambeau?" I have accepted the fact a while ago that the Badgers will never win any title, and to choose them for this would only be giving me false hope where there is none. Now, as for the Packers, we have come close so many times in my lifetime, and unlike the Badgers, they have climbed that mountaintop. Looking back on 1992-2020, the fact that we have had TWO HOF QBs with only one Super Bowl a piece is criminal. The Packers need this, and even if they get it, they still will have wasted most of the Most Skilled QB ever's career.
Number 2 - The Milwaukee Brewers
This was another tough decision, tougher than Badgers vs Packers. I moved to West Allis 5 months ago. It was early September and the Brewers were a daunting number of games back from the Cardinals for the NL Central, but we had done it last year in almost the same circumstances. I found maybe two days into living in my new place that we were on the same street as Miller Park, a mere 10 minutes from the hallowed land of Uecker. The fact that I was (am) broke and classes had started meant that I thought I would not be able to use this fact until the summer of 2020. This is when my undying love for the game of baseball and infatuation with the Milwaukee Brewers shone through and on a beautiful 70 degree fall day, I skipped classes and sat in some beautiful seats third base side. One of the best days of 2019 by far. A year earlier I skipped class and walked to a bar at 2 p.m. to watch Game 163 vs the Cubs. I would die of joy if the Brewers won the World Series. That Game 7 against the Dodgers killed me. That Game 7 against the Cardinals killed me. Now, as a newly 21-year-old living in the same city, the same street, I can't imagine the pure, unadulterated joy of seeing the Brewers hoist that trophy while they parade the streets of Milwaukee. I know when this happens, if I'm still a student or if it is long down the road and I actually have a big boy job, I'll be at that parade, because for me, playing hooky just goes hand-in-hand with baseball.
Number 1 - The Milwaukee Bucks
I have been a baseball fan my entire life, I grew up with a baseball field in my backyard, played little league against Craig Coshun's kid, and won Regionals my senior year on a game-saving catch. As for basketball, I was a bad mix of fat and semi-tall as a kid which meant I only learned post moves. As I stopped growing at 6'2" and was not that strong my skill set was not great. I quit my senior year. I followed only college hoops until I was 14. Then, I started to pay a little attention to the Bucks, who had been losers for my entire life as far as I could remember (Sorry 2001 Ray Allen, but I was 2). I didn't get extremely into basketball until 4 years ago when the Bucks lost to the Raptors in 7. From then I could not get enough. I have read every article, I have followed every NBA personality on Twitter, I read "The Book of Basketball", I saw Pat Connaughton at a gas station. From being a team I could only name one player on for most of my life, to one where I could tell you Giannis' trend in three-point shooting and how Chrisitan Wood would never have fit on this team even though he was a high potential player. Giannis has become my favorite Wisconsin athlete, and with that, the Bucks have become my favorite team. They need this title. They need this to shut up every single ESPN personality who brings the Bucks up just to talk about Free Agency this summer. Or those who wrote us off because we would not go into the tax to get Brogdon, ignoring that we had built an even deeper team than last year. Or those who doubt James 'Khris' Middleton who is shooting a 50/40/90 while scoring 20 ppg and being the perfect Robin to Giannis' Batman. Or everyone who says not to fear the Bucks because we just choke in the playoffs, or we play too hard in the regular season (while barely anyone is playing over 30 minutes per game). Or how the Lakers are the league-wide favorite because they play in the West while the Bucks are 18-4 vs teams in the West, including wins over the Clippers, Lakers, and Clippers again. They need to win so they can shut up every Rockets fan who insists Harden is better and that Giannis is a baby who makes fun of Harden because he is jealous (this is an actual thing that is happening). I have had my fill of rooting for a perennial almost-winner with the Packers, and this Bucks team is the closest we have to a dynasty right now in Wisconsin. When they win this year, it is not the conclusion of a great journey starting with a rejection of the Mavericks trying to trade down to swoop up Giannis, but the start of hopefully the greatest years of Milwaukee basketball ever.
This is an opinion, and with any opinion on the internet, feel free to comment to tell me how I am so wrong and what your rankings are.
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