Last week, the 2008 National Football League schedule was released on what is the busiest day of the year for the Fox Valley hotel industry. There’s a lot going on in these parts between now and week one, including a season known as “summer.” Nonetheless, here’s an early quick-peak at the 2008 season. Sunday and Monday Night games are in bold.

Sept. 8, Minnesota: Aaron Rodgers will be put under the national microscope against the rival Vikings in the first Packers game that Brett Favre isn’t starting since Sept. 13, 1992.

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In the Motor City, the Detroit Red Wings are a team on a mission. After recording an NHL best 54-21-7 record and winning the Western Conference, the Wings pursue their first Stanley Cup since 2001-02. Although Detroit has touted highly talented teams over the past few years, none parallel the squad of 2007-08.

The Red Wings have a perfect mix of gritty veterans, young scorers and goaltending. The team is led by captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who boasted 70 points this season from the blue line.

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As you may know, in the National League there is no designated hitter. So, that means no Frank Thomas, no Jim Thome and no Jason Giambi, who all bat as the DH in the American League, which of course means no steroids in the four spot of the batting order.

Each manager in the NL has his own strategy on how to incorporate the pitcher into the batting order without creating an automatic out. Some managers don’t have to worry about anything. Take for example Tony La Russa with Adam Wainwright on the mound, he doesn’t have to worry because Wainwright bombed one to left field against the Brewers last Wednesday night.

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Just a couple of months.

That’s the amount of time that passes from the beginning of the college baseball season to the end of the college baseball season. Schools usually begin play in late February and finish their regular seasons during exam week. This season, the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee opened their season at the Jacksonville Invitational in Florida on Feb. 22nd, and they will close their regular season just short of a month from now.

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To keep in the spirit of spring I will unveil my 2007-08 NBA regular season awards by conference just like they do in baseball. The NBA had many surprises and disappointments so let’s get down to it.

Eastern Conference:

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Taking charge against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s tennis team on Wednesday afternoon was the University of Illinois at Chicago, which posted a 7-0 victory over the Panthers at the Paley Tennis Center.

After claiming the last 11 league titles, UIC (11-5, 5-0 Horizon) dominated over the Panthers (9-10, 3-3), winning three doubles matches and six singles matches.

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I am going to attempt to say this as nicely and as euphemistically as possible: David Thomas Bush sucks.

It sounds very harsh, but believe me, sucks remains a much more politically correct choice than the alternative; every other choice would be a four letter word that can easily be replaced with shift+5, 3, 7, 2.

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It’s April in Wisconsin, which can only mean one thing: NFL draft fever is here! As the song goes—NFL draft, NFL draft, keep turning up the heat!—or something like that.

Indeed, the draft is just days away, so in order to get you prepped for a nice, long weekend indoors, I’ve put together the Official 2008 UWM Post Wink and a Nod Guesses as to “Which College Players Will Be Picked By Teams That Can Legally Pay Them Money and Where Exactly These Players Will Be Picked.” In layman terms, it’s a mock draft.

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Both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s and women’s track teams had strong showing this past weekend at the Dave Rankin Invite.

Senior Darren Cole qualified for NCAA Regionals for the second straight year with a jump of 49-10 ½, well over the qualifying standard of 49-2 ½. Cole also took part in winning the 4x100m relay with a time of 40.81 which checks in as the second fastest time in school history.

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When the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team took on conference foe Cleveland St. just over one week ago, the two teams combined for a whopping 66 runs in the three game series. Saturday’s doubleheader did not prove to be the same type of slugfest, but it still had its share of excitement.

In game one of the afternoon, the Panthers ran into Horizon League strikeout leader Josh Hungerman. The Viking’s ace had an outing to remember, allowing just four runs on seven hits while striking out eight. UWM batters were only able to muster one run and four hits before finally wearing Hungerman down and chasing him from the game.

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