> Two and a half cents

Just as most people cannot recall who won last year’s World Series, you may not remember who won the 2006 Nextel Cup – Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. Johnson is on the fast track to winning his second Cup in two seasons.

The last driver to win back-to-back Cups was Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon in the 1997-1998 season, but it looks inevitable that Johnson will earn his second crown with only two major threats at his backdoor, Gordon, in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, and Tony Stewart, cruising in the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet.

Have you ever listened to Bob Uecker broadcast the Brewers game and wondered what in the heck he was talking about when he mentioned the southpaw pitcher or a batter hitting a Texas Leaguer? Well, here are the definitions and the history behind those commonly used baseball terms.

Southpaw: A southpaw is known as a left-handed pitcher. The early baseball fields (ones without lights) had to build fields according to the location of the sun so that they could take advantage of the light. The fields faced the east and therefore the pitcher’s left arm would be facing the south, and in reference to a dog’s “hands” the term was coined south paw. That would make all you right-handers northpaws!

Miller Park is empty, Lambeau Field is too far away and impossible to get tickets to and the college basketball season doesn’t kick off Midnight Madness, the official start of basketball season, for another week. Being a sports fan in Milwaukee is at its all-time low during this scrap of the year, which I call the sports season halftime.

Let’s start with the Brewers. I know it has been drilled into your skull, but the Brewers had a successful year despite not making it to the playoffs. If you take a look at the Brew Crew members that are returning, you should be ecstatic because those same Brewers who contributed for 231 home runs will be back, and back stronger than ever.

Every year, one Horizon League team gets a bid into the NCAA Tournament via the Horizon League Tournament, but last year set a new mark for the future of the league. Last season the Butler Bulldogs and the Wright State Raiders were both entered into the tournament, and both did very well. Butler advanced to the Sweet 16, copying the route of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee a year before by losing to the eventual champion Florida Gators.

Each season the Horizon League gains more and more attention from the sports world, of course starting with the UWM, and Bruce Pearl, Sweet 16 run in 2005. But the league is still getting better, and this year will be stronger than ever.

Though the season is only two games underway, and both of those being exhibition games, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s basketball team looks prepared to take the Horizon League title back.

The Panthers have outscored their opponents by an average of 53 points. With junior leaders Traci Edwards, Turquoise McCain and Jody Crumble, they have dominated their exhibition opponents on offense and defense, and look to carry that into the regular season.

It was going to be a season to remember. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee had two teams sitting with number one seeds and the third with a number two seed going into the Horizon League Tournaments, but none of them came out on top.

The women’s soccer team finished with an undefeated Horizon League record of 7-0-1 and an overall record of 13-4-4 before losing in the Horizon League Championship after two overtimes and a six-round shootout to Loyola-Chicago.

Some may say the cross-town match up between the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette men’s basketball teams is a rivalry, while others will argue that to be a rivalry games would have to consist of equal competition.

Neither happens to be the case between the Golden Eagles and the Panthers, two completely opposite schools and athletic programs. UWM is just dabbling in a pond of mid-majors while Marquette is starting to show life in the newly rebuilt Big East while also holding a position in the national top 25.

Sure, they lost to Loyola, Marquette, Northern Iowa, Sam Houston State and Drake, but that’s not the point. The fact is that the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s basketball team has its biggest home game of the season coming up.

For the first time since this young columnist can remember, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Badgers are coming to Milwaukee to face the Panthers in a hardwood matchup that will have Panther fans flocking to the U.S. Cellular Arena, at least some of them.

Once official NCAA brackets hit websites and newspapers around the country everyone tries to predict who will be the national champion for men’s college basketball, but here are the only eight teams who have a legitimate chance at surviving March Madness. The catch? The brackets come out in 33 days, yet this will still be right come April 7.

8) Connecticut Huskies

With the McDonald’s All-American game in Milwaukee Wednesday, the incoming freshmen talent for the 2008-09 season in the NCAA don’t look like they will have to worry about leaving college after one year for the National Basketball Association draft, something this year’s freshmen certainly will have to do.

Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon are just a few of the 2007-08 freshmen who are expected to leave college basketball and enter the NBA draft after stellar freshmen seasons. After the 2008 All-American game, very few of the entering freshmen look as if they could do the same a year from now.

So what if the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team’s record is 5-17; there is more than a record that shows how good a team is before entering the bulk of its conference season.

One major disadvantage that teams like the Panthers have in the world of college baseball is their geographical location. In Milwaukee, as many of you know, there is snow, cold, ice, more snow and more cold.