SPORTS LINE
Green Bay Packers.
That first game is going to be a killer to get to and back from. Sal Paulo in Brazil will be the location of the first regular season game for the Packers. The team plays Philadelphia. Sal Paulo takes about 12 to 14 hours to fly, depending upon connections, and the cost is about a thousand dollars. Tickets to get in are a minimum of five hundred dollars and there are few left, as there are only 48,000 seats whereas Lambeau has 85,000. Accommodations are cheap down there, however, and so are restaurants, compared to restaurants in larger cities in the USA. Sal Paulo has a population that is about the size of New York City and Los Angeles thrown together (12 million) and is just under six thousand miles from Green Bay. What are they doing going down there to play their first game? Who in hell, in their right mind, has any idea at all.
The start of the new season begins with a seemingly idiotic bang. Finally, the language of Sal Paulo is Portuguese. English is spoken only by about three percent of the population. Getting around can be a bit problematic here and there for most Americans. There are fewer Spanish speakers there than English speakers. The time in Sao Paulo is two hours ahead of central daylight time. The game will be played at 7:15 p.m. but will only be available to be seen streaming on Peacock, which costs 7.99 a month to get a subscription. The Packers paid the highest amount of money ever for an untested quarterback and what, with this opening game, drugs Packer management is ingesting is anybody’s guess, but it’s gotta be some pretty strong stuff. The game is on September 6th and the temperature in the daytime will be about ninety degrees, or just about as unpleasant as the whole rest of the package.
The Milwaukee Brewers. The team is continuing to impress fans and baseball fanatics alike. The club managed to split their most recent series against the NL West juggernaut Dodgers and entered this weekend’s showdown with the Guardians 7-3 over their last 10 games. During Thursday’s game against the Dodgers, the Brewers broadcasters pointed out that their recent three-game skid almost led to them losing a very specific (but great) distinction. Another consecutive loss would’ve put their losing streak at four games for the first time all year. These Brewers are the only team in the major leagues without a losing streak of four or more games. This points to them being the very picture of consistency and working together as a team. This has felt like a special team since the very beginning of the season, and it’s been a group effort to get to this point. The team ranks ninth in the NL in home runs, but they’ve managed to piece together victories without hitting those home runs. They’re sitting fourth in the league in runs scored while also second in both stolen bases and walk rate.
William Contreras and Willy Adames have been solid as rocks as the club’s primary backstop and shortstop, respectively. Each player is sporting an SLG above .445 and are both on pace to hit over 20 home runs (Adames is already there). Speaking of consistency, Adames is also looking to be the first Brewer to play all 162 games since Prince Fielder did it back in 2011. From top to bottom, this Brewers team feels special. It’s been a while since both the offense and the pitching staff have clicked all at once like they are this year. The fact that they’re baseball’s only team without a four-game losing streak truly does speak volumes to the consistency we’re dealing with here.
