Packers, Badgers & Brewers: Seasons kick off and wind down

Thanks for staying up with us. We're laboring late on a holiday weekend, but why not an awful lot to talk about? You see Brandon Cruz, Tim Van Boren, Lily Zhao materializes from Lambeau Field. So a lot coming up tonight on the Fox 6 Sports Blitz. As in this, our starting lineup, the Badger football season lifts off at Lambeau with a maybe better than average performance, but still a loss for the Badgers. The Packers hope that their protection plan will be in place when they kick off the NFL campaign. The Brewers may be getting run down and need to recharge with another series against the Cubs, staring them in the face, but there is power in the offing for the crew. It's just a matter of when. All right, we'll get to all that. We're leading it off with the Badgers. Lily Zhao joins us from Green Bay. Usually we're talking football in Green Bay, but a little different deal tonight. Before we get into the specifics of the game and what it means for the Badgers, Lily, what were the vibes like tonight? Good evening, guys. The vibes were high here at Lambeau Field. It was an electric atmosphere, and we talk about what this historic stadium is like when you have Packers football playing here, but when the Wisconsin Badgers are here, when Notre Dame is here with their fans, it was quite electric. There was a lot of let's go Irish chants. The jump around went around after the third quarter, so it was a lot of fun seeing all the fans here that you normally wouldn't see here, right? On a Packers Sunday, occupy Lambeau Field. It was electric, guys, and I think the start of this game for Wisconsin really echoed the electricity of what it was like playing in this field, in this stadium, and unfortunately for the Badgers, they had a great time playing here, but the outcome would have been better, of course, had they gotten the win. A lot of fans in Northeast Wisconsin for both of those teams, not just at the game, but kind of hanging around all weekend, making a time of it with good weather to match. Brandon, a new face on the scene this year for Wisconsin is the quarterback, Colton Joseph, and this was his first game. Yeah, and we saw a little bit of what he can bring. He runs really well, doesn't have the strongest arm, but he did have some nice plays. He also made a big mistake. So, you know, the biggest thing that comes out of this for Colton Joseph is he walks away healthy from this game and should be able to play. We have seen that bite the Badgers the last few seasons, but Colton Joseph seems to be a leader out there. He seems to have the guys behind him, and I think it's a role that he has to kind of jump into a little more as they move forward, but it did start off promising for him, so you did see a glimpse of what could be for him leading this Packers offense. Lily, you talked to him afterwards. How was he, up, down? He was kind of even-keeled, guys. I think they know at the end of the day they want to come out here, they want to shock the world like this Badgers team did a decade ago, taking down LSU at Lambeau Field, and they could not do that, could not follow that same script, and it really was they hung around with the fourth best team in the country, and after that in the second half, they had no answer for the fighting Irish, and they could not fight back, so again, he was very even-keeled, but he mentioned this is just one game. Again, we're playing one of the best teams in the country with the entire rest of the season to figure out, again, what the identity of this team is and what they are gonna look like, again, when they do play competition in the Big Ten, so, again, a learning experience from these guys, but I think, once again, it's echoing just how far that talent gap is between Wisconsin and top-tier programs in the country. Lily, we're looking at some video of Luke Fickle. Brandon, I'd say perplexed is one of the expressions on his face. I think we've seen that for a number of years. It's just a different spin after this game, and I don't want to knock him too much because he is trying to keep building this program, but he has just struggled to really show anything in his term so far as a head coach, and now he steps into year four and he loses in a big way to a big-time program again, so, Lily, when you listen to him afterward, how did he put this game into perspective from his point of view? Obviously, many people are looking at him to be in the hot seat. Yeah, he really said the season begins now, which I thought was really interesting because the season's begun, right? But he didn't come out with a win. You're facing the top-four team in the country, but he said the season begins now, and I think that's really what resonated with these guys was, all right, again, it was a learning experience, and now let's go, right? He said, when adversity hits, that's kind of when we figure out what this team is made of, what we're going to be like. Fortunately for Wisconsin, when they go back and play at home, they have two non-conference foes. If they should really learn a lot about themselves, they should have the upper hand in those two games, I should say, before conference play does begin for them, so, again, this is a coach that understands it was a tall task coming in here and trying to take down Notre Dame, but at the same time, that's where they want to be, right? So that is the example of what they want this Badgers team to be in the future. The question is if they can get there this year. All right, let's talk about the team that usually plays at Lambeau Field. That would be the Green Bay Packers. They will open on the road with two games, but obviously we know what team we're talking about and where they hope to be come January with games that matter. It's going to be Jordan Love. You talk about Luke Fickle in the hot seat, Brandon. Jordan Love's in the hot seat, and the Packers hope not real hot with that pressuring Viking defense. Yeah, and that's what you have to worry about. You know, we talked about Colton Joseph coming out of there healthy. That's something the Packers are very concerned about with Jordan Love, especially against the Vikings defense. And so for him, you're talking about being in the hot seat. He needs to take that next step, and that next step means winning a lot of games and winning in the playoffs, but he has to get to the playoffs. He has to remain healthy. And what we've seen from him this training camp is that he seems to really be a lot more comfortable as the leader. It's hard to say that, you know, he wasn't comfortable before, but there's a noticeable difference with the way he is leading this team, at least through training camp. He didn't play much of the preseason. So to me, how does that leadership translate to wins? We will have to find out, but it is definitely on his shoulders to make that happen. He's been very comfortable to be around. I will say that. In the locker room, on the field, on the road, it just really seems like he's in a good spot. We'll see what that means on the field. We talked about that Viking defense in Lilly. He won't have Josh Jacobs by all appearances. We'll see if there's any change this week on Josh Jacobs' status, but that Packer offense is going to be challenged against a Brian Flores coordinated defense in Minnesota that will undoubtedly be trying to get the season off to a big high point. Yeah, especially playing at home, right? We all know how loud US Bank Stadium gets in Minnesota. So you know that defense is going to be ready to play. It's a very talented group. And you can talk about last year for them. I mean, they would have been a better team, again, had that offense gotten on track, but that defense really kept them in games. And then now they welcome back Harrison Smith. They're now very veteran Pro Bowl safety. So he, again, joins a really talented defense. We know that Brian Flores likes to blitz. He likes to get after the quarterback. He has a lot of talented pieces. And I think it's going to be a really big test for this Packers offensive line to protect Jordan Love. You don't want anything to happen to him the first week of the season. Can they control the noise? Can they protect him? Can they get the ground game going against this defense? We shall see on Sunday a really good test for this young Packers team. I think that ground game is a major question in this matchup for sure. I think it's going to be Jordan Love having to do it through the air. Harrison Smith's not going to be up to speed in week one. Brandon, will Kyler Murray, in other words, are you catching the Vikings at a good time? I think you are because we've heard a lot about Kyler Murray in his past with the Cardinals not doing a whole lot of playbook studying. There's a rumor that that's been a problem now that he's the number one quarterback in Minnesota. It's a whole new scheme for him and a new system. So if those reports are true, then the Packers are catching him at the right time because that means he's behind where the Vikings would like him to be. But you can't trust that. You have to believe he is going to be as ready as possible and he's a very elusive guy. We've seen that in his history with the Cardinals. So I think what you're trying to do if you're the Packers is kind of do what Brian Flores does, confuse him and pressure him and put him in a situation to make mistakes. And I think Jonathan Gannon knows that all too well, and especially he knows this quarterback very well. Lily, the Vikings right out of the chute. What do you expect in the NFC North this year? I expect a really good battle for the Packers to be the division winner. Again, they need that to happen under Jordan Love, right? But I think there's going to be a lot of progression with the Lions. I think the Bears talk about being that biggest regression candidate. We'll see if that happens. They still have a very talented roster. I think there's a big question mark with Minnesota of how is Kyler Murray going to respond as their quarterback? I think a lot of people around the NFC North were hoping it was going to be JJ McCarthy for a various amount of reasons, but Kyler Murray does add a lethal threat there with his legs and of course his arms. So I think it's going to be a healthy battle in the NFC North like it is every single year. A lot of talented teams. The Packers have to know, listen, the roster they have assembled this year, when they get Micah Parsons back, Tucker Kraft, get him back to full speed. This is a team that can compete to win the division title and a lot more, but they got to do it first on the field. Our seats will warm in Green Bay too. That's kind of a theme we've got going here tonight. All right, let's cool it off then. For the first time in 20 years, college hockey will be playing at the Frozen Tundra. The Badgers men's and women's hockey team is going to be playing at Lambeau Field in February of next year. Outdoor doubleheader, the women against Ohio State, the men against Michigan. So this Wisconsin back to Lambeau Field thing is going to continue on the ice. And we're going to continue with the Fox six sports splits because we've talked some football. How about some September baseball? That's right around the corner. Well, in Labor Day, that means September baseball really matters because the guys, meaning the Brewers, play again on Labor Day. And I don't know if there's anything better than September baseball, other than October baseball. And right now, when you look at this Brewers team and they come back home after kind of a rough road trip, what does this week, and especially these opponents mean, Tim, when they face the Cubs and then the Reds? You know, you can say you get geared up for the Cubs and take it easy against the Reds. And this weekend, that didn't go well at all because the Reds got them because the Brewers gave up way too many runs. The formula that has worked for the Brewers to this point of the season is get that pitching, stay in every game, get that defense, and score just enough runs. The offense has actually been pretty good of late. The pitching and defense have faltered. So this week, regroup a little bit. You have an off day on Thursday. You've been out and playing and all over the place. You have an off day again a week from Monday. Use those days off for sure. And these are opponents you know well. So try to make these games, these six games at home count. Yeah, and Lily, they know these opponents well. As Tim said, they just finished four with the Cubs where they split. They won the two middle games. What was important about what we saw in those two wins from this team to help them as they start this new three-game series on Monday? Yeah, it's the fact that the offense can get them back in games. I think, you know, previously it was always, all right, the starting pitching's gonna keep a minute, the bullpen's gonna keep a minute, and then the offense can figure it out late. But in those games against Chicago, their offense came to life. And like Tim mentioned, the pitching, kind of the defense, the bullpen a little bit there hadn't really been there for Milwaukee. So kind of flipping the script on what makes this team usually go. But I think it's gonna be a massive challenge in Milwaukee against Chicago. Again, those Cubs can really slug and they really hit well. PCA, again, we've talked about the MVP. So they're gonna have their hands full, especially coming off of a pitching performance. Kyle Harrison did not have some good stuff. James Rowan kind of struggled a little bit as well. And so the Brewers are hoping they kind of get back to their bread and butter, which is pitching and keeping them in it. But you have to like what you see from the offense. You just want every other facet of the game to improve for Milwaukee this week. Yeah, by getting into the Cubs' bullpen, they had a lot of success, 18 runs, 27 hits in their two wins. Lily mentioned Kyle Harrison. He's had a rough go of it since coming back from the injured list. Are we going to see him in the starting rotation and does he deserve to be there? Well, he's in a bad way right now. If it's injury, if it's fatigue, if it's loss of confidence, whatever it is, you really can't go with him right now. Particularly on the road, he's really scuffling. Looks to me like he would scuffle anyway, the way teams are teeing off on him right now. He's searching for answers. The Brewers are searching for answers. I don't feel confident about him on the mound right now. I'm not sure who is a better option though. The Brewers have a goal with that six-man rotation. They may cut it to five and have to do some trimming there. Pat Murphy saying that the role for Harrison will be under consideration. Well, he did go to the bullpen when he was with the Giants, got traded to the Red Sox, also saw time in the bullpen there. So he is used to that role, but what I'm seeing, his breaking ball is just breaking flat and guys are crushing it. Lily, another pitcher who struggled a little bit of late is the Miz. Jacob Mizorowski got kind of beat up by the Cubs, yet the team rallied and won for him. What are you seeing with him as he gets a start on Tuesday against the Cubs again? I think we're just happy he's pitching at American Family Field, right? Again, the footing, the slipping on the mound, it'll all be good for him when he's in the friendly confines of American Family Field. So again, that's gonna be good to see. But again, you talk about the moisture in the air, how it affects the mound, the slippage there a little bit, the velocity is down. So he kind of had to get through Chicago and they really were able to hit kind of everything he had going. But fortunately, like you said, the Brewers were able to pick him up offensively and that's something we haven't really seen. So Jacob Mizorowski coming off a tough outing for him. It was a very un-Miz-tastic-like outing. But the fortunate thing is he gets a chance to really redo that this week in the series. And so that's what you look forward to from Miz. Again, the season series win up for the taking for Milwaukee, that tiebreaker as well. So getting at least one more win, super important this week. And Brandon, the defense has gotten a little sloppier. The base running has gotten a little sloppier. The judgment of game situations is not quite as sharp. Now, some of that might be fatigue, but you watch a lot of baseball. The Brewers usually win in those areas. Right, and I do think fatigue is a factor. They played 17 straight and then another break and then 16 straight, they played a lot of baseball. Williams poured in there. Yes, and that weird travel. Yeah, I do think that's an issue. Now let's look at the central standings right now. They lead the Cubs by seven games. And you'd think that after this last week, they split in Chicago, didn't look good in Cincinnati, it would be much closer, but the Cubs in one week only gained one game. And I think that's a win for the Brewers. Yeah, both teams, I think five and five over their last 10. The Braves are kind of doing the same thing, the Dodgers. So these teams at the top are kind of sitting there. The Phillies have pushed back on the Cubs' tail. The Brewers would seem like that's enough of a cushion right there to win this division, but you want to have that first round by and be confident. Even if you hold off the Cubs here, you don't want to lose these three games or something and let them think that in the post-season it would be a different story. Right, and that is where it is. And Lily, looking at the magic numbers, to get to the playoffs, the Brewers only need a combination of five wins, however it gets to five, by their winning or the Diamondbacks losing 12 for the Central, 18 for the overall number one seed. That could happen this week at home, at least getting into the playoffs. Yeah, absolutely. We'll be there, right, for every single game. So we're kind of hoping it happens during the Cubs series. Again, we'll see if that happens. But again, that magic number five to clinch a post-season berth, it will happen just a matter of when. And then we talk about checking off every other box, the number one seed, winning the division, all that good stuff follows once you get that post-season berth. Now we talk numbers. Let's talk minor league numbers. Andrew Fisher of the Brewers has been unbelievable. We don't talk minor league baseball very often, but he's been amazing. He has. Nobody's hit more homers in a minor league season since the 19th, since Ron Kittle is now the next guy. It's 1982. I mean, this guy's at 46 home runs, right? Just bombing them away. The Brewers are a light home run inning team. You know, he probably thinks maybe I'd get a call-up as a, you know, a total wildcard bat in the playoffs. Who knows? You never know with the way Matt Arnold and the Brewers do things, but he has been impressive. When we come back, we do want to show you somebody who's very impressive, our high school hotshots. Stay with us. Inspired by Broadway musicals and her parents' musical talents, this young woman has released her own album. And she's also played on the coolest stage. Let's revisit one exciting Fox 6 High School hotshot. I'm Aubrey Marie. I'm a freshman at Key Weston High School, and I'm a singer-songwriter. I play piano as my main, guitar, ukulele. I noodle on drums and bass. My dad played guitar ever since he was little. My mom was an opera singer. If I didn't have music in me, I think we would have had a problem. So my first memory was my parents used to DJ, and as I'm watching them, I'm like, that is so cool. I want to do something like that someday. Writing became a thing three years ago. My album is called Where's My Wizard of Oz. I wanted a boy with a heart, courage, and brains. I came home from school, and my dad had this really cool riff on guitar. And I was like, this thing is so cool. I took the guitar, and then I wrote the song on it. There are songs that are happy, sad, break-up songs, get-together songs. I think that Aubrey on stage has more attitude. The girl on stage just kind of turns into such a random person, and I'm like, where did you come from? We played the Briggs and Stratton Bay Backyard stage at Summerfest. A couple days later, one of my favorite artists played the biggest stage there, and I was like, I would play Summerfest as well. We're both playing the same festival together. That's so cool. My bass player, her name is Erica. My guitar player, his name is Brendan. And then my drummer's name is Tyler. I loved volleyball. It was very fun at the time. And then I picked up a pencil and a guitar, and I was like, wait, this is more fun. I'm Aubrey Marie. I'm a freshman at Kewoskum High School. I'm a singer-songwriter, and my band just played Summerfest. And I'm this week's Fox 6 High School Hotshot. So fun to see her again. Well, we want to tell you about our High School Blitz Game of the Week this week. Catholic Memorial, going to Muskego. Lily Zhao will be there. Friday night kickoff at seven o'clock. We'll be right back, right after this. So the Brew Crew Tuesday this week, and the Brewer's Cubs, pretty juicy right here on Fox 6. And the Miz. And the Miz, that's right. Okay, Lily Zhao comes back from Lambeau Field. Brandon Cruz is here. The Badgers play again this week. The Packers play this week. The Brewers play a lot of games this week. Lily, optimism scale for you in relation to the expectations for those three teams. Which one has you most excited? I'm going to say Packers, just because they're coming up. It's new, it's exciting. The Brewers are also right there. We know they're the best team in baseball. Badgers a little bit more null on, but I really am excited to see what the Packers put out on Sunday against those Minnesota Vikings. Yeah, I'm optimistic about the Brewers. I think they come home, they have these games, and they can do a whole lot in the next 10 days. They're still the best team in baseball. There's only one team that can say that, and they've been able to say it for a long time. So we shall see. We will be back again next Sunday night. We'll have a whole lot of new things to talk about. That's the great thing about this time of year. And we appreciate you sticking with us late up into your holiday weekend. We'll see you again soon.