I ran into Bret Bielema at the soda machine in the Wrigley Field press box this summer. I briefly mentioned to him that I still think about the 2012 Big Ten title game often. "You a Badger?" he responded. "Nothing wrong with that." Bret is 0-1 against Wisconsin since this legendary meeting.

Sixteen plays? 9 minutes?? In this economy???

Holy crap. In the Division 1 state football championship game, Arrowhead gave up a long go-ahead TD drive just to run back the kickoff to take the lead back with 35 seconds left.

The Brewers have tendered contracts to all arbitration-eligible players on the roster: Nick Mears, Trevor Megill, William Contreras, Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang and Andrew Vaughn

BYU and Wisconsin playing at 2 pm on the Jazz NBA Cup court is diabolical behavior and I am here for every ounce of it

The Brewers have signed Jake Bauers to a one year contract, avoiding arbitration.

A Drew Avans story: At some point late in the season when a manager session went off the rails, we were trying to stump Murphy on guys in camp/on the roster this year he forgot about. I threw out Drew Avans’ name. “Avans? That scrappy f—er? I couldn’t ever forget him.”

Brandon Woodruff's last foray into free agency was largely about sentimentality. This time, business mattered. The road still led him back to Milwaukee. "22 (million) to a pitcher in the Brewers organization. That has never happened. I don’t take that lightly." www.jsonline.com/story/sports...

Brandon Woodruff's last foray into free agency was largely about sentimentality. This time, business mattered. The road still led him back to Milwaukee. "22 (million) to a pitcher in the Brewers organization. That has never happened. I don’t take that lightly." www.jsonline.com/story/sports...

Brandon Woodruff, willing to break from some off-season fishing time to talk about rejoining the Brewers, is expecting a normal off-season and called taking the QO a no-brainer. "That’s a large number and it’s a place where I’m comfortable and love. It’s an easy decision."

This isn’t exactly breaking news because it had already been reported but the Brewers announced they’re playing in the Little League Classic in Williamsport on August 23 against the Braves.

Now that the Brandon Woodruff qualifying offer is out of the way, we can move onto the biggest waiting game of the offseason: When Are The Brewers Signing JB Bukauskas To A Minor League Deal?

Brandon Woodruff's reworked arsenal was *incredible* last year. Not a single barrel on the changeup or new cutter. Whiff rate of 25% on both; changeup at 33%. Only one batted ball at 100+ mph on 150 thrown. He's always gonna be fastball-first, and if those return he's still a great pitcher.

Also, I absolutely would not rule out a multi-year extension being worked out here. There will be interest from both sides and financial incentive for the Brewers to get a lower AAV now that they're on the hook for $22 million this year.

One thing Brandon Woodruff was adamant about all in conversations all year is 2025 was about being healthy and 2026 would be about getting back to his old self in terms of velocity and stuff. If so, he's a top-of-rotation guy. But you can see why the risk may have hampered his FA market.

At $22.05 million, Brandon Woodruff in 2026 will be the highest-paid Brewers pitcher for a single season in franchise history.

Brandon Woodruff has accepted the Brewers qualifying offer, per Jon Heyman.

Qualifying offer and Rule 5 protection day is today. @jrradcliffe.bsky.social

This makes me so happy. Eric Lauer, who takes the mound to Rick Ross ‘Green Gucci Suit’ (or at least did with the Brewers), posted a pic of himself in….a green Gucci suit.

What is the single-game record for drops between a defense and offense? Because, well, it probably is getting broken.

So the Packers are just bad?

HANG IT

There were a lot of great moments from tonight but the best by far was Miz hanging out well after the allotted time for the event was over and ripping cards with a kid wearing his jersey. They even pulled a Miz!

Happening now: Jacob Misiorowski hosts A Night With The Miz in partnership with the Wisconsin Parkinson Foundation. It’s a cause personal to the Miz family, as his dad Tom has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

Matt Arnold has been named 2025 MLB executive of the year for the second straight year, as voted on by his peers. Arnold was promoted to President of Baseball Operations last month. The Brewers would be wise to make sure they keep him around for a very long time.

also, sneaky funny part of today was Ohtani winning MVP unanimously after the players voted for Schwarber as Most Outstanding Player over him.

This was my first time voting for NL MVP. I voted for Shohei Ohtani, as did everyone else who had a vote. Picking Ohtani was pretty straightforward. Spots 2-10? Not so much. It was a fun process, and I wanted to outline my thinking on every spot. www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/13/d...

Christian Yelich getting a 4th place MVP vote was not on my bingo card from precisely one month ago. Or one day ago. Or one hour ago.

Freddy Peralta took fifth in NL Cy Young voting, finishing behing Paul Skenes, Cristopher Sanchez, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Logan Webb. Coincidentally that was also the exact order of my ballot.

The Brewers have singed infielder Eddys Leonard to a minor-league contract. Adjust your prognostication machines accordingly.

Meanwhile, here's what Pat Murphy, who made the jump from college to the big leagues, said about Vitello:

In an era where it can be harder than ever to discern a manager's value with so many in-game decisions being streamlined, you could see Pat Murphy's fingerprints all over the Brewers this year. That's why he's a two-time Manager of the Year. www.jsonline.com/story/sports...

Pat Murphy on Stephen Vogt: "He's going to be a Hall of Fame manager."

Sure. He was worth fewer fWAR and bWAR than both guys I had ahead of him. Hope that helps!

Your 2025 National League Manager of the Year, ladies and gentlemen.

The 2025 NL Manager of the Year, as depicted in the Globe Life Field visiting manager’s office

Pat Murphy received 27 of 30 first-place votes and was listed on 29 of 30 ballots. For the second year in a row, he blew the competition away.

For the second time in his first two seasons as the Brewers manager, Pat Murphy wins NL Manager of the Year. He's only the third back-to-back winner of the award since the BBWAA began awarding it in 1983, joining Bobby Cox and Kevin Cash.

Four Brewers received ROY votes, but it was Caleb Durbin who got the biggest spotlight. In March, it looked like he couldn't handle third base at all. In May, it looked like he couldn't handle big-league pitching at all. And yet, he became a strong everyday player. www.jsonline.com/story/sports...

National League Manager of the Year is awarded tomorrow, and it probably goes to the man coaching the team from Wisconsin.

The Packers have 11 drives into plus territory in their last 2 games. They have 13 points.

Just one more early down run should really open things up for the Packers offense.

Wait, you *can* call a false start on a QB sneak? Who knew!

Four different Brewers received NL Rookie of the Year votes. Caleb Durbin took third, was on 25 of 30 ballot. Isaac Collins was fourth. Chad Patrick was seventh. Jacob Misiorowski got one fourth-place vote as well.

Uhhh Green Bay, you okay?

Did Giannis just say "Wake me up" to the camera after bulldozing through Sengun for that and-one?

The Wisconsin Badgers won the football game!

Wisconsin's two biggest highlights of the year are both plays made by the punter.