The Brewers could have gone a number of different ways when hiring a new manager.
General Manager Doug Melvin could have picked the flashy, well-known name (Bobby Valentine), the hot prospect (Joey Cora) or the known-commodity (Bob Melvin).
Instead, Melvin went in another direction and chose a relative unknown, handing the keys to Ron Roenicke, formerly the Los Angeles Angels' bench coach.
Melvin made the right choice.
That the last two managers to come from Mike Scioscia's coaching stable – Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon and San Diego's Bud Black – have been successful isn't relevant here. It's reassuring, but hardly the point.
Ned Yost – who wasn't one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as he is portrayed around here – came from one heck of a winner in Bobby Cox. Ken Macha, though quite miscast as the Brewers' manager, never had a losing season prior to his two-year stint in Milwaukee.
Neither of those men, for various reasons, was able to translate their individual backgrounds into success in Milwaukee.
Roenicke, though, might be different.
When discussing successful baseball franchises, Exhibit A is always the New York Yankees. Of course, it's easy to win pennants (or is it...) when your payroll rivals the GNP of a small nation. Exhibit B is often the Minnesota Twins, who have emerged from the depths of small-market also-rans to perennial contenders in the AL Central thanks in large part to the stability created by having just two managers over the last 25 years.
Quietly, though, the Angels have become a dominant force in the American League. From their 2002 World Championship on, the Angels have been at or near the top of the AL West every year with the exception of 2003, when they went 77-85.
Quite simply, it's a winning organization from the very top –- owner Arte Moreno –- to the lowest-tenured player. The Angers are full of professionalism and class.
Roenicke has already shown his more charismatic and engaging than Macha, he's expressing a desire to be an aggressive team that will run for the extra base, go for the extra run and basically, do the things that fans clamored for during Macha's tenure.
It's going to be a tough task but, more than any other candidate, Roenicke seems to be ready for the challenge.
Welcome back, Wes: With a five-year, $34 million contract tucked neatly into his locker, former Marquette star Wesley Matthews is doing pretty good these days as a member of the Portland Trailblazers.
He returned to the Bradley Center this week, dropping a game-high 18 points to lead Portland to a 90-76 victory – a sign that the second-year forward is starting to get more comfortable with the professional game.
"Having a year under your belt with anything comes more confidence, more understanding," Matthews told Madison.com's Rob Schultz. "But it's still a whole new situation, a new team and a new system to get used to."
Golden Eagles team up with Time Warner: Marquette University and Time Warner Sports 32 have teamed up to become the exclusive home for Golden Eagles basketball.
The all-sports station will produce six regular-season broadcasts at the Bradley Center, as well as the Nov. 27 game against UWM at the Arena. Big East Network games will also air on Sports 32, beginning with a Jan. 5 game at Rutgers.
Sports 32 will produce and broadcast coaches' shows with men's coach Buzz Williams and women's coach Terri Mitchell and will broadcast four women's games.
Bring your own crowbar Philadelphia sports fans aren't known for being the most tame and subdued folks around, which is why this promotion, featured earlier this week at Deadspin, is a bit of a head-scratcher.
For just $25, fans can get three hours alone inside the Wachovia Spectrum, which was home to the 76ers, Flyers and a host of other teams and events until the Wachovia Center opened up just down the road, and can take anything they can carry.
Yeah, you read that right: anything they can. The promotion is actually called "If You Can Carry It, You Can Keep It."
Considering some of the "artifacts" I purchased after County Stadium closed (a urinal, among them), I probably shouldn't judge.
So if you're bored in Philly tomorrow... this probably beats licking the Liberty Bell (NOTE: This "How I Met Your Mother" reference would have worked a lot better had I been able to find a clip of Barney attemptig to lick the liberty bell).
Larry King Lounge: Journal Sentinel sports editor Garry Howard is leaving the paper to become Editor-in-Chief of The Sporting News. He'll stay in Milwaukee through the end of the year ... Also in the "Comings and Goings" department, Peter Wilt –- he of "Schlabst" fame –- has left the Milwaukee Wave to start a new franchise, the Chicago Riot. That team, also, will play in the NASL ... Celtics forward Kevin Garnett gets away with a lot under the basket, but calling former Bucks player Charlie Villanueva a "cancer patient" (Villanueva suffers from alopecia, which caused him to lose all his hair) is beyond a low blow and I'm not buying Garnett's explanation ... Remember when Cowboys-Packers was a big, big deal? ... Parking for weeknight Bucks games around the Bradley Center is $25 this year; during the early portion of last season, you could get in a lot for $10-$15 ... Time Warner Cable customers can now access ESPN3.com, the online broadcast network of ESPN. Marquette's March 3 game at Cincinnati will air on ESPN3.
