{image1}It's late April in Wisconsin, but there's plenty happening on the sports front. With apologies to fellow columnist Gregg Hoffman, let's take a quick look around the local sports landscape.

NFL Draft Time

Mel Kiper's Annual Spring Fling is this weekend, though it feels like that failed 4th-and-26 was only yesterday. Personnel-wise, not much has happened for the Packers since then: Josh Bidwell left, Mark Roman arrived, Tim Couch thought about coming and Mike McKenzie is threatening to leave. But the Pack's needs are generally the same as they were in mid-January.

With or without McKenzie, most people predict the Packers will go corner or receiver with the first pick. New safety Roman replaces Antuan Edwards (now a Dolphin), but the Packers still need another reliable cover guy to help in the dime and nickel packages.

Elsewhere, the defensive line looks like a trouble spot, though Grady Jackson helped out immensely over the season's final weeks. Like every other team on the planet, the Packers will be looking for some speed off the edge, especially after a mildly disappointing year from Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila.

Of course, the Packers are also in the market for a successor to Brett Favre. God save us all if it turns out to be Couch, but Mike Sherman could find a mid- or late-round guy to develop over the next year or two. And part of me thinks Favre will play until he's 40.

As per usual, Green Bay will consider a receiver early, even though the Packers seem well-stocked there. But if UW's Lee Evans is on the board at No. 25, it'll make for an interesting dilemma (remember the Pack passing on Chris Chambers a few years back?)

Some national projections: Kiper (espn.com) -- Matt Ware, UCLA, CB/S (he's big and can play either spot, which is attractive); Pete Prisco (sportsline.com) -- Mike Williams, USC, WR (others project him to go in the Top 10, so don't bet on it); Pat Kirwan (nfl.com) -- Michael Clayton, WR, LSU (more likely than Williams or Evans); Dennis Dodd (sportsline.com) -- Derrick Strait, CB, Oklahoma (a shutdown-cover type); B. Duane Cross (cnnsi.com) -- Philip Rivers, QB, NC State (very unlikely to be on the board, however); Dan Pompei (sportingnews.com) -- Right, I'm going to pay to see your mock draft. That's funny, Dan.

Other guys that could be available/of interest: Defensive tackles/ends* (Antwan Odom*, Alabama; Darnell Dockett, Florida State; Igor Olshansky, Oregon, Jason Babin*, Western Michigan; Donnell Washington, Clemson; Travis Laboy*, Hawaii; Marquise Hill*, LSU). If the Packers are going to reach, it could be for one of these ends. Few suspected Nick Barnett would go at No. 29 last year, but the Packers went for a need.

Wide receivers (Rashaun Woods, Oklahoma State; Michael Jenkins, Ohio State; Reggie Williams, Washington). There are a lot of guys named "Williams" at WR this year, so don't get too excited until you're sure who it is that's getting called.

Cornerbacks (Ahmad Carroll, Arkansas; Will Poole, Southern Cal; Shawntae Spencer, Pitt; Jeremy Leseuer; Michigan) Opinions really vary on these guys -- Kiper has Strait, who Dodd has going to the Packers at 25, lasting until the 29th pick of Round 2.

Brewers Homecoming

The Brewers were this close to having a successful opening two weeks. But after winning the first game of four in Houston on Thursday, the Astros made the Crew look very bad over the final three games. Saturday night's 14-5 humiliation was the first meltdown of the year, featuring 4 errors, a base-running double play that erased a man on third, no-out rally, and 10 walks allowed by Brewer hurlers. Sunday, Roger Clemens shut the Crew down on six hits while a cast of five surrendered 16 to Houston. (Sidenote: Does anyone pummel Brewers pitching like Houston? I mean, other than St. Louis and the Cubs. And Pittsburgh.)

All things considered, 6-8 isn't too bad since 11 of those games were on the road. Somehow, though, Ned Yost needs to find a reliable starting pitcher beyond Ben Sheets. Doug Davis has shown signs, but he's been bitten by last year's staff tendency to surrender gopher balls (4 in 16.2 innings). Wes Obermueller looked great in San Fran, then he gave up 9 hits in 2 relief innings Sunday. It's too early to tell on Chris Capuano. And Matt Kinney is starting to look like Wayne Franklin Lite -- everything you never wanted in a starter, and less.

Coming to a domed stadium near you this week: Richie Returns to Milwaukee. That's right, Sexson (5 HR, 13 RBI, .229 BA) and the D-Backs (4-8) hit town for three starting Tuesday night.

The Bucks Stop Here

Even though the Bucks are in the playoffs, I find them to be the least noteworthy. I don't want to kick a franchise when it's down, but the three games to close the regular season almost erased all the good from the previous 79. The Bucks have simply not been the same team since T.J. Ford went down, limping home to a 12-14 mark after his injury (which is deceiving, considering they won the first four without him).

It's easy to explain Sunday's 108-82 rear-end kicking by citing Detroit's great defense, which forced 25 turnovers. But these Bucks are starting to look exactly like the "same old" Bucks of yore (or the last two years): little defense, even less defensive rebounding and an offense that often devolves into standing around and watching somebody go 1-on-1.

Is it possible the feel-good story of the Bucks' unexpected November-March success duped us? After all, isn't this team -- outside of Michael Redd and Ford -- basically a collection of mid-career veterans who over-achieved to earn a six-seed in a crappy conference?

Of course, I could be wrong/bitter (realistically, it's been a good year). But we'll know more in approximately six weeks, when the first four games of the NBA's opening round series will be completed.