Anyone enjoying themselves?

[sheethead]

I always enjoy watching good baseball. With this year's Brewers its a crapshoot as to when good baseball will be played. The pitching staff, sans Gallardo, has not been fun to watch almost all year. And even when Gallardo pitches the rest of the team seems to take a big dump. I will keep watching, and enjoy it sometimes, but its more reminiscent of the early 2000's at this point than it is of the past 3 years.

[joepepsi]

I will keep watching, and enjoy it sometimes, but its more reminiscent of the early 2000's at this point than it is of the past 3 years.

That's the toughest part. If they were truly a .500 team most games would still be competitive and fun to watch. Except for Yo, Braun, Prince, and Counsell, the rest of team is bumbling and fumbling just like earlier in the decade. This team has way too much talent for such crappy playing.

[jeffy]

Unfortunately I still have tickets for 4 or 5 games...

 

The dismal second half of this season has convinced me that I don't want any kind of season ticket package. Earlier in the season, I had seriously considered the idea of buying a 9 pack next year, but now I am planning to continue to maintain my freedom to just buy tickets whenever I want to go to a game, rather than end up with tickets to a bunch of games that I really don't really want to go to.

[owbc]

I try, but the other night I was watching the Red Sox/Blue Jays game and completely forgot about the Brewers for a few innings. The scary part is that the Brewers really aren't that bad, 10 years ago I would have given anything to be a few games under .500 at the end of August.

[Tbadder]

When I intellectualize anything I'm naturally skeptical, but when I experience things I'm naive and optimistic. Baseball is the most beautiful game ever invented, and I love my Brewers whether they are god or bad. Just about every game is envigorating. Something happens that is interesting or proves a point. Baseball works so well in the microcosm, that even if my Brewers lose, a single excellent play can make up for it. Talking about the game afterwards we have every reason to be disappointed and even harsh or depressed, but while it's going on I enjoy myself almost completely. Being a bad team is part of the process of baseball. It's really something to experience. It's valuable. there's wisdom there, which is true compensation for the ordeal. I love it! I love them!

[RightFieldCoder]

The problem is that we are finishing the easy part of our schedule. Those games in September against the Cards and Cubs that were supposed to be our way back into the race look like death nails to destroy our record.

 

All week I've DVR'd the games so I only had to watch the offense (re: Braun and Prince) in real time.

[monty57]

I still enjoy watching the games, and like others have said, there will be a big hole to fill once the season's over. I look at this as a decent team that had a lot of injury problems, along with a few players underperforming, so I am not as upset as many are about where we are this year. I think every team has a range / variance for how many games they'll win. In other words, a team with ".500

talent" should win somewhere between 76-88 games around 90% of the time. If everything goes right, that ".500 team" could win the division, and if everything goes wrong, they might only win 70 games.

 

I think just about everything has gone wrong for the Brewers this year other than the way Prince and Counsell/McGehee have played (they're about the only ones playing better than expected). Even with that, we still have a shot at a .500 record, which is something that hadn't been done in Milwaukee for the better part of a generation. In other words, this team playing at their worst is still better than most recent Brewers' teams have been while playing at their best.

 

My biggest frustration for the year has been with how Macha uses his players. I can put up with a lot, but it still frustrates me to see players who aren't going to be a part of the future (Kendall, Cattalanatto, Counsell) playing over players who are probably going to be a part of the future (Rivera, Gerut, McGehee). My second biggest frustration was that we didn't sell when it seemed pretty obvious that we should have.

 

I can't really be mad at anyone (players, coaches or Melvin) for injuries, as they're part of the game. We just happened to have a lot of them this year, and it cost us. Look at the Cubs this year. They were "supposed to be" a 90+ win team, they had injuries, and will probably end the season somewhere in the Brewers' neighborhood. I also can't be mad at substitute players like Burns, who shouldn't have been on the roster to begin with if we didn't have such a problem with injuries.

[Baldkin]

There's still no better place, for me, on a beautiful summer day, than to be sitting in the lot, sipping a 'brew, grilling up some food and having good conversation with family and/or friends, knowing we've got the shot that night to see Alcides make a play, or see Prince hit one off the scoreboard.

 

I may be disappointed in the season, but that's no reason to keep me from enjoying Brewers baseball.

[SeriesFinale]

I've got a friend of mine who always makes the hoary old joke, "A bad day at the ballpark always beats a good day at the office." I don't really believe that; for one, the ballpark doesn't pay me. Quite the opposite. I know I haven't invested as much as many here, but I spent a ton to see them all three games here in SF for the opening series, traveled to see them in San Diego, went and saw them at MP, bought the Extra Innings package, paid for the merchandise, yadda yadda, and there's been more exasperation than joy for my dollar this year.

 

Money aside, I will miss watching the Brewers after the end of next month, but mostly I'm really looking forward to "the off-season game." I think the Brewers still have a sizable window the next couple seasons, and I think this off-season will be key. And because of that window, I'm already looking forward to April 2010.

 

I guess bottom line, I'm still enjoying baseball right now (I like watching the Giants, and I hope Tampa Bay or Seattle make a run, too), but not the Brewers right now. If they can make a run in September at .500, I'll enjoy that. Right now it's just kinda depressing.

[jhart05]

I'm neither enjoying the season, nor complaining about it. I didn't expect this team to make the playoffs from the start.

 

So I guess I've been sort of in the middle. I still have the game on the TV or radio, but I'm doing other things this year rather than watching every inning.

 

Like playing PC Replay Baseball. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[pebadger]

Interesting as these comments are, they are on BF.net and as such they represent only a thin slice of what is probably fairly committed portion of the Brewer fan base, and probably a pretty baseball-centric group at that. I think it might be instructive to compare tonight's Brewer TV Wisconsin rating with the rating of the Minnesota Vikings preseason game on the NFL Network in the same markets to get a broader view on this issue. It takes pretty solid sports fans to be watching Brewers/Nats or preseason out-of-market NFL action on a Friday night. If even the committed Wisconsin sports fans tend to prefer a few plays of Brett Favre in purple to regular season Brewers baseball, it's a pretty safe bet the casual fans would fall that way in droves.

[bigredrobbo]

Interesting as these comments are, they are on BF.net and as such they represent only a thin slice of what is probably fairly committed portion of the Brewer fan base, and probably a pretty baseball-centric group at that. I think it might be instructive to compare tonight's Brewer TV Wisconsin rating with the rating of the Minnesota Vikings preseason game on the NFL Network in the same markets to get a broader view on this issue. It takes pretty solid sports fans to be watching Brewers/Nats or preseason out-of-market NFL action on a Friday night. If even the committed Wisconsin sports fans tend to prefer a few plays of Brett Favre in purple to regular season Brewers baseball, it's a pretty safe bet the casual fans would fall that way in droves.

That's an interesting point, but I'd rather watch bad baseball than good football...

[Invader3K]

Packers will always be #1 in this state. The Brewers could win the World Series two years in a row and the Packers would still be more popular. It's not good or bad, it's just the way it is.

 

I will probably enjoy the playoffs despite the fact that the Brewers won't be in it. I can cheer against the Cards and Yankees, and there's usually one or two teams I can get behind (like maybe the Dodgers or White Sox this season if they make it in, or the Rockies have been a nice story again).

[Outlander]

I still enjoy watching the Brewers and as bad as they have been playing they still control their own destiny so I'll continue watching and holding out hope.

[BREWCREW5]

I'm enjoying that football is back.

 

I have to admit, it does suck that the crew is not in it. Last year was really something. I am already looking forward to next year though. I have a feeling that Mark A. and Doug are going to go after some pitching.

[UndraftedFA]

Well the playoffs do not appear all that likely anymore, but a winning record and 2nd in the division is still very possible. I still like keeping up with the team as reading about the Brewers is still one of the first things I do with internet leisure time. I haven't really been able to use my MLB.TV subscription much this year and that kind of stinks. I was looking forward to listening to see how Provus compares to Powell. The little bit I have heard, he is pretty good. All in all a busy life (10+ credits/semester and summer courses of upper level engineering courses along with 40+ hours working this season) keeps me from following as close as I would like, but the misfortunes have probably kept me from putting in the extra effort. My girlfriend keeps asking me if I want to go up to Phoenix for the Brewers series, but I keep telling her to wait and see how that weekend looks when it gets here.

 

If I had the opportunity to blow everything else off for a weekend, I would still go despite the season's results.

[DougJones43]

Blowing a 7-0 lead = NOT enjoyable

 

Brutal...

[Minigoon]

I'd rather watch the Brewers lose than the Packers do anything. Good thing hockey starts in October so there is a sport to watch during the winter.

[JonnyLungs]

I don't enjoy watching Mike Burns pitch, that is for sure.

[cnycerveceros]

Blowing a 7-0 lead = NOT enjoyable

 

Brutal...

This is exactly right. Last night I thought ,well, at least we can still watch them beat up a bad team. Then, almost immediately, it was tied. This year has been anything but enjoyable. They did win, so that was nice.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

At this point I'm just shaking my head at this horrendous pitching staff. I can't get too frustrated with scrubs like Burns since he probably won't be here next year...if he is, we're in trouble. Part of it is I just love watching baseball, the other is it's like the plane crash that you just can't turn away from. I'm not sure, but I'm still watching. I'm looking forward to the offseason to see what DM can do to get some pitching. This should be an interesting off season.

 

It's also fun to watch the Cubs collapse. I can't stand the Cards either, but my disdain for them is no where near the Cubs. With how bad we are, can you believe we're only a game and a half behind them? That's funny. Not sure if I want to pass them or take the higher draft pick. It's like watching the Bucks after a couple months...it's all about racking up the ping pong balls.

[logan82]

This is a great way to circumvent the vent thread rules.

[Invader3K]

the other is it's like the plane crash that you just can't turn away from

 

This is exactly what I've been telling myself lately, when I find myself tuning into the games religiously, yet.

[Mr QL]

Watching Braun and Prince mash is always fun but this season has been a major disappointment and the sooner next season starts the better.

[DougJones43]

This is a great way to circumvent the vent thread rules.

http://rlv.zcache.com/hall_monitor_star_badge_button-p145466952915923681t5sj_400.jpg