Schmeltzer's 5th Post : Place your bets!

Greetings, I hope everyone had a safe and fun St. Patrick’s Day. There really is nothing like a big plate of corned beef and cabbage followed by an ice cold pint of green drink. If I had it my way, we would have St. Patty’s Day once a week. It also didn’t hurt the weather was terrific and Spring is right around the corner! I don’t want to jump the gun too early but I would say it’s time to start packing away the jeans and boots with fur and break out the shorts and flip-flops. Summer is going to be here before you know it! My blog is going to be dedicated to the bunnies we have in our backyard. I’m going to hop around from topic to topic with no real set motive or purpose. Let’s begin…

NCAA TOURNAMENT
OK, so for those of you who have been living in a hole, today is the start of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I have always been one for picking the upsets but this year I had a hard time trying to go out on a limb. I believe this year is extraordinary in that, there really is no clear cut favorite. Is this the year that a 16 seed takes out a one seed? I doubt it. The biggest upset I have in the tournament is Maryland over Memphis in the second round. It might be a stretch to even see Maryland beat Cal but to take out a red hot Memphis, I think that’s a stretch. As far as the home team, well, I have the Badgers one and done. They’ve let me down too often this year to give me any confidence in this team. My winner… I’ll take the Louisville Cardinals, although they have the overall top seed, they will be the underdogs in the final against UNC. I told you the creativity juices just weren’t flowing this year. I think everyone else and their mom probably has these two teams in their final four, but I just feel like they both have the easiest road to Detroit. No matter what, it’s just entertaining watching this tournament unravel.

SPRING TRAINING
Spring Training is officially in full-swing (no pun intended). I went down to Arizona last March and was able to catch my first ever Spring Training game. I thought the atmosphere was very dull compared to what you see at a Mallards game. The promotional giveaway was a plain white bandana. The margaritas were $10+ and the concessions were very limited. I’m telling you, there is nothing like the experience at a Mallards game. Although, I can say the weather was great and it was fun to see the A’s beat up on the Cubs. I love going to different sporting events. Not only because I enjoy just about every sport, but also because it’s a great opportunity to learn about what works and what doesn’t and then try to incorporate those things into what we do here. That’s just another great part of the sports business; it’s always evolving. One of our mottos around the office is, “we’ll try anything once”. Finally, the Atlanta Braves are 14-3 and in first place in the Grapefruit League. Too bad that doesn’t get you anything.

MLB/MALLARDS ALUMNI GAME
If you didn’t read Jerrad’s press release back on March 9th, you probably have no clue that former Milwaukee Brewer great Paul Molitor has agreed to headline and participate in the Fourth-Annual Mallards/MLB 2009 Alumni Game to be held on August 21 at the “Duck Pond.” For me, this is pretty exciting stuff. Even though I am not a die-hard Brewer fan, I would be crazy to say that I grew up in Madison and DIDN'T enjoy watching him play. I would have to say his number one fan is probably my mom. I still don’t get what the attraction is with Paul, but it seems that all the ladies love him. Anyway, get your tickets for this game people! They go on sale, along with single game tickets on Saturday, May 2nd.

That’s all I have for this blog. We now have less than 75 days until Opening Day here at the Duck Pond! Make sure to get Saturday, May 2nd on your calendar as single game tickets will go on sale. Mr. Staehler and Mr. Caloia are going to fight over who blogs next, so enjoy the good read. Until next time, keep your passion bucket full and red marks off the brackets.