As the bank crisis spreads and George W. Bush continues to push for a bailout it seems fitting that we in the sports world could turn this into a bracket. At this point it looks as though Bush and the Republicans are a lot more like the USC basketball team of last year's tournament than the Trojan football team any year. I'm not trying to blame this on the right either. Charles Rangle and his comrades also have a lot of culpability in this mess by passing legislation that allows anybody who can make and "X" to get a home loan.

Way back in July the Shepherd's own Art Kumbalek and Frank Clines predicted that the Brewers would prevail based on numerology, or as Artie would call it "numberology." In this article "It's a Lock Bye Gosh" they called for the Brew Crew to be where they are right now...poised to take the pennant.

Another Sunday, another day of frenzied channel-changing by the Observers-this time in two cities. Artie manned the home front as the Brewers reached the playoffs for the first time since 1982 and the Packers fell to 2-2. Frank was in New York as the Mets got eliminated by Florida and Brett Favre had a terrific day for the Jets. When they conferred by phone, baseball ruled the conversation.

Thousands of fans gathered at the Summerfest Grounds yesterday to celebrate an event 26 years in the making: a Milwaukee Brewers postseason. Watch our exclusive interviews with teammates Ryan Braun, Bill Hall, Jason Kendall and more from this historic celebration in Milwaukee sports.

A while back I slammed the Brewers for their meltdown against the Cubs and Mets. I referred to them as 'pretenders' and was certain the only playoff games they'd be involved in would require a television. Contrary to what you might think, I'm extremely happy they made the playoffs. Like a guy who discovers he likes opera, I think I've found I'm a bit of a fair-weather fan. Let me try to explain...

So this is what a baseball playoff atmosphere feels like in Milwaukee. I was around for the last one, but at that time I was much thinner, had more hair, less intelligence. Miller Park was an exciting place to be last night. The fans armed with their Brewers towels, waved them vigorously from the early innings. When CC Sabathia was in a jam, they waved the towels again and he magically got out of the inning. When a clutch hit was required, the towels again...

The Brewers, in a must-win situation every day, did local fans a double favor Sunday. They finally won in Cincinnati, and did it so easily that folks could switch channels and enjoy watching the Chicago Bears lose in overtime. Artie: So, Frank, it’s our first official get-together since the Brewers’ managerial regime...

So, I get the "shirts off their backs" part of the promotion that includes a charity clothing drive to gather winter coats for the needy. But, giving fans State of Illinois quarters, that were issued in 2003, to 10,000 fans sounds like trouble to me.

Former Brewers skinflint Bud Selig made yet another faux pas when he sent the Astros to play the Division Champion Cubs in a "neutral" facility, our own Miller Park. Selig was trying to rectify the situation caused by Hurricane Ike, which prevented games from being played at Minute Maid Park in Houston. After his questionable decision to call a tie in the Milwaukee All-Star Game, Selig made more than a few enemies among MLB fans. Since the Cubs won both of those games at Miller Park, there have been...

The Observers prepared for their weekly get-together with intense workouts of their channel-changing fingers. Three hours of bouncing between the Packers’ game in Detroit and the Brewers’ continuing meltdown in Philadelphia made their mission clear: Look on the bright side by avoiding all mention of baseball.

I recently finished a book on Ted Williams, one of the purest hitters in Major League history. The book, Reflections on a Splendid Life, was written by Lawrence Baldassaro, a local professor and baseball wordsmith. Williams ended up with a .344 career batting average and remains the only player to hit more than .400 in a single season. In a scenario Hollywood couldn't plausibly create, Williams was offered the chance to sit out the last home games with Red Sox in 1941 to preserve the average.

There wasn't a whole lot of middle-ground when it came to emotions regarding Brewers former manager Ned Yost. You either liked him, or you really loathed the guy. Regardless of how you felt, you can't deny the man stuck to his guns and never apologized for his work or motives, even as the door was hitting him on the way out.

MELVIN: “I’m offering you a chance to manage in the Bigs!” SVEUM: “Hang on will ya? I got a guy on the other line about some white-walls.”

Before getting together this time, the Observers split their forces. Frank was at Miller Park for the Brewers’ series finale against San Diego while Artie, battling some kind of creeping croup, remained at Central Command to monitor Brett Favre’s regular-season debut with the New York Jets.

If these two ever had a child together, I'd want to be the adoptive father. Brewers' superstar recently shot a commercial for a Remington hair-care product in Brookfield with supermodel Marisa Miller. The set: the baseball field behind Brookfield East High School. The stars: Braun and Miller. What's it like to be approached for a television commercial, especially with all the ribbing that goes on among players? "There's been a little jealousy," Braun joked in the clubhouse recently, "It was a good time."

CC Sabathia threw a wicked breaking pitch at the Observers. Hours after they left their home bench—encouraged by an unappreciative panhandler—the Brewers’ hefty lefty shut out Pittsburgh on one hit. Then the Brewers lobbied Major League Baseball to erase the hit, which involved Sabathia’s barehanded muff of a roller, and change it to an error.

It still felt like summer when the Observers met on their favorite park bench to chat. But the NFL and NCAA say it’s football time, so the Observers got to the main task of pundits: making predictions and hoping no one remembers them when they prove wrong. Frank: The Packers were 1-3 in the preseason, but this is what matters...

I just don't understand the appeal. NASCAR espouses roots in the Southeastern United States, and it's grown to become the second-most popular professional sport in terms of television ratings in the U.S., ranking behind the NFL.

Frank returned at last from his New York visit, and with the fragile psyche of Packer Land restored—at least for a week—by the exhibition victory in Denver, the Observers could focus on the final days of round-the clock Olympic TV coverage.

The Observers' two-time-zone strategy worked so well last week that they stayed with it. Frank continued to observe the baseball and foot ball scene in New York and then phoned Artie, monitoring the pulse of a Brett-less Wisconsin. Frank: My friend, I'm hearing a lot about a National League team that can . . .

It's been estimated 30 foul balls are popped into the stands on an average each Major League game. Behind the screen jobs, hooking blasts to left, slicing balls into the upper deck in right field, lasers above the dugout. Doesn't matter how they get there, it's a souvenir for the crowd. Once a ball is launched into foul territory, it's a balls-out war. Elbows start flying, big belly's move into strategic vantage points, beers are spilled, children are left to fend for themselves. Grown men . . .

Can you name that tune? When your favorite Brewer comes to the plate at Miller Park, he's accompanied by a song for a few seconds before he steps into the batters box. Chances are you didn't realize a particular song was playing at the time. I imagine it helps get the player psyched-up for the at bat, a surge of musical adrenaline to help them approach the pitcher.

If you heard a loud crinkling noise during the Packers intra-squad scrimmage recently, that was probably me crawling out of my skin. I first read about the tracking of Brett Favre's flight from Mississippi to Green Bay on the Journal Sentinel's Web site. Clicking the icon I viewed a radar image with a mini-plane somewhere over Illinois on its way to Wisconsin, a dotted trail following the plane to make sure even . . .

There are deadlines, and then there are Shepherd Express deadlines. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell honored this precept when he told the Packers and Brett Favre to resolve their feud by Monday. The team's "welcome back" declaration and Favre's return to Green Bay took place in time for the Observers to join the punditry.

A few days ago I suggested the halcyon days of the Brewers season had come to a close after a four-game sweep by the Cubs. Some readers groused at the notion the salad days had ended, suggesting . . .