With a starting back-court of Channel 12's Stephanie Sutton and yours truly, how can a basketball team lose? Well, it can't. And, that was the case Saturday at the fourth annual Milwaukee Bucks media game held at the Bucks training facility in St. Francis.
It was my third year playing. I missed the first year, although our own Drew Olson made it memorable. Click here for the memory. And while I didn't suffer an injury of Olson-like proportions, I am dealing with a blistered lip (somehow I smacked down on my lower lip and it still frickin' hurts), a bruised pinkie, a tight knee and a sore ankle. It may not be violent like football, but basketball has its contact.
Anyway, it was great morning and a lot of fun.
I don't "cover" the Bucks on a daily basis like many of the other 39 media members who played on Saturday. Nonetheless, the Bucks are gracious enough to offer me (a huge fan, occasional blogger/Twitterer (is that a word?) and media partner of the team) a roster spot. And while my 5-foot-10 frame doesn't bang and jump with the big boys, I can still run, shoot, play defense and distribute the ball a bit.
But, it was hard play and great play from our entire "red team" that helped us take the title on Saturday. And, not to brag, but the teams I've been lucky enough to be on in the past three years have yet to lose a single game. I'm 6-0 in media day games.
I'll be the first to admit that my basketball ability peaked in the eighth grade, but I still love sport and thank the Bucks for holding this annual event. It's special when a pro team donates its time and resources to thank the people who cover them by letting us run around like the pros. It also says a lot about the Bucks organization, its people and its leadership.
Here's are highlights from the games:
The Kendeigh man can: Playing in what may be his final Milwaukee Media League Championship Series, Andy Kendeigh went out with a bang, claiming the league's Lifetime Achievement award as he is now the Media League's all-time leader in points (27) and rebounds (24). He also joined Todd Rosiak (now at 25 points and 22 rebounds) as the only members of the exclusive 20/20 club.
Prime-time performers: In addition to Kendeigh's Lifetime Achievement award, other players recognized for their efforts included the white team's Bob Brainerd, the green team's Jared Brill and the red team's CJ Knee.
Knee-d assistance: Who you gonna call if you need assistance? C.J. Knee, of course. Knee became the Media League's all-time leader in assists (nine) by handing out three dimes on Saturday. His three assists were also the most of any player in the 2010 Media League Championship Series.
Unbeatable: Mitch Nelles and Jeff Sherman teamed up to win the 2010 Media League Championship with the red squad. In doing so, they became the only three-time champions in Media League history and both players are a perfect 6-0 in their career.
Reading red: A few general notes about the red team: they had the fewest turnovers (12) of any team in the Media League Championship Series and boasted the best assist-to-turnover ratio (0.75:1) ... the team had a balanced attack with nine of their ten players scoring points ... Brent Valenti was doing his best Mark Eaton impression with a Championship Series-best three blocked shots ... had the stingiest defense by allowing just 12.5 points on 21.3 percent shooting.
White notes: The white team featured the most rookies, with three (Alex Boeder, Paul Imig and Jeremy Schmidt) ... Jeff Maillet lead the tournament in both points (nine) and rebounds (11) with the top single-game scoring effort in 2010 with eight points in game two ... shot a Championship Series-high 33.3 from the field (17-51).
All about green: The green team may claim the red team got superstar treatment in their Game 3 loss (18-12) as red went to the line 14 times compared with their six attempts ... Jared Brill recorded a Championship Series-best (and single-game high) five steals in game two ... were whistled for the most fouls of the series with 16.
Final Standings: Red Team 2-0, White 1-1, Green 0-2.
Sherman's stats: 20 mins. 2-6 from the field, 1-2 FT, 4 rebounds, 5 points.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
