Dan’s Playbook of Thoughts – Return of the Crew

Welcome back! It's been a hot minute since I've posted some of my latest thoughts in the sports world. So, let's dive in on what I've been thinking about lately!

• You always have to deal with the highs and the lows of a Major League Baseball season. It's a 162-game season for gosh sakes. But man have the Brewers been acting like an EKG machine. A slow start to the season, a bounce back, then a fall down, and now this stretch of wins they're on, it's been a roller coaster of emotion for Brewers fans. As of right now, they're playing their best ball of the season. The offense is getting the glamour, but don't discredit what the pitching staff has done either. They have had some really solid, under the radar performances. The thing is now with the Brewers, they've showed us, the world, and the themselves what they are capable of. My biggest question for this team is: Can they play at a consistently, high level for the remainder of the season?
• Speaking of playing at a consistent high level, let's give some love to Sal Frelick. Man, I love that guys approach to how he plays the game. 100% effort in everything. He has easily been the most consistent player in this lineup from Opening Day until now. He's not the flashiest offensive player. He won't give you 30-40 homeruns a season. But he's going to get on base, gun guys out from the outfield, make diving catches, and out hustle everyone.
• Is Christian Yelich back to being the Yeli we love? That guy was off to an awful start to the season. Now, he's playing like the Yelich we saw in 2018, 2019, and even last year. Again, my biggest question for him, his consistency.
• I've been thinking about this for a bit now. It's obviously baseball season for the pros, but it's for the kiddos as well. T-ball, little league, and softball seasons are in full swing. Travel ball is getting set too. For many of us who are diehard sports fans, baseball was our first real introduction to sports. For many of us, it was our first experience playing an organized sport. So really, it was kind of like your first crush. It got us involved and loving sports. It may not be our favorite sport now or as we get older, but it was our first "crush" in the sports world.
• And if you are one of those t-ball, little league, softball coaches, you have a unique, and huge responsibility. Not only are you dedicating your time to coach these youngsters in baseball and to help them get better in the game, but for many of those kids, you're their first experience in sports. You have the ability to open the sports door for the rest of their lives. If they have a great experience in little league, they may want to try to play basketball or football or another sport. If they have an awful experience because of the coaching, they may never want to play sports again. You as a coach have that responsibility. So the next time you think about giving that 8-year old a hard time or yelling at them because they missed a play, take a step back and think about it for a second.
• I can't stand this Jordan Love has regressed talk. Smh. I'm sorry, but if you're a believer in that, you just box score scout instead of watching games. I don't know how this narrative started, but it's a joke. Love last year dealt with knee and groin injuries and had one of the worst receiving groups in all of football in terms of dropping the football. The fact they still won 11 games in the best division in football should be recognized in a positive light. Now, is Love entering a critical year 3? Absolutely. I think it's fair that we all want to see him continue to grow and to get better, because there is definitely room for that. But let's not act like he was a bum last year.
• My latest Giannis-O'Meter on whether he returns to Milwaukee or not? For the first time, it's slightly in the direction that I don't think he is. For the longest time, I was trending towards him not coming back. But now, and maybe it's because I'm caught up in all the rumors and rumblings, it's trending towards him being traded. But gosh I hope I'm wrong.

That's enough thoughts for now! Stay tuned for next time for a fresh batch of sports thoughts that I've been pondering about lately!