Mike Brown? Really? Mike Brown?

I'm back from the Green Mountain State. Didn't get to see the John Butler Trio (sold out), didn't get a University of Vermont hockey puck (wasn't a fan of the circle-jerk logo The bookstore was closed), but apart from that it was cool.

I got back just in time to see Jake Long screw up his ankle and Mike Brown officially go pro, signing a contract with Vancouver. 3-5--8 Mike Brown. My roommate told me that and I just started laughing. Kind of a in a "Oooooookay, I bet Tim Cook and Adam Dunlap went pro too" kind of way. But it was for real. I'm not sure I like the new collective bargaining agreement much right now. Or maybe Steve Tambellini was just getting a little revenge for Red not being happy about Jeff Tambellini going pro. Just joking.

Brown leaving will hurt our penalty kill for sure, but at least it's not going to hurt the offense. I'm just worried about bodies right now. If they have any injuries (or God-forbid a Miami, Ohio 2004-05 situation) we're in big trouble. If I could skate, wasn't 5'4", and was still in school I'd be getting ready to try out. I think Kevin Porter's brother is a freshman at U of M this year, so maybe he'll join his brother.

Spath talked to diesel Matt Hunwick and Huddy didn't fill him with confidence that Brown was the last defection. Or maybe Hunwick is as paranoid as the rest of Michigan fans now. Hunwick and Hensick were also named alternate captains. So if you've been keeping score, we went from Montoya, Tambellini and Ebbett as tri-captains, to Tambellini and Ebbett as captains and Kaleniecki as an alternate, to Ebbett as captain and Kaleniecki, Hunwick, and Hensick as alternates. Hands up if you ever thought that Andrew Ebbett would be the sole captain of the hockey team.

So you can start the "Who's leaving next year" list with Hensick and Johnson, then add Hunwick and Cogliano to the "Sure, why not" list. Good times. And to avert any potential jinxes, that assumes that Johnson and Cogliano make it to campus. I'm putting the Jack Johnson DEFCON back to 4 just because if Mike Brown can go pro then anything can happen.

The Wings signed Andreas Lilja, who adds some much needed sexual assault accusations grit to the team, and they finally got a deal done with Niklas Kronwall. Good moves, good moves. Chris Osgood says "Sweet, I get to play behind the best defense corps in hockey and fool people into thinking I'm a decent goalie again!" Fortunately, the heir apparent is in the fold as Jimmy Howard also signed, passing up his senior season at Maine. Holland called him "the best goalie with the most potential we've ever drafted". Can't wait to see him in a Red Wings jersey. I'd suggest they bench him whenever they play Alex Ovechkin though.

The Packers aren't making this easy on me. The NFL Network was so gracious as to televise (on tape delay) all the preseason games this year, and for the second straight week, the Green and Gold played badly enough that I'm not watching the game when it's on tomorrow. I'm not worried. Yet. The defense is still missing a lot of guys, but holy crap. 10 points total in the last 2 games? Not good. On the plus side, it looks like they went an entire half without a penalty, which is good because in the first half, I thought John L Smith was coaching them.

When your punter has been the bright spot of the preseason, it's not a good thing. But BJ Sander looks like he might actually be worth the 3rd round pick that was spent on him. Kid's had 3 pretty darn good games in a row.

On the bright side, there's the best NASCAR race of the season tomorrow night at Bristol. Love that night race! I was supposed to get down there last year, but it didn't happen. I think this race is next on my list of things I want to do in the sports world. Gordon's starting second, in his effort to make the Chase and allow me to have some interest in the last 10 races beyond rooting against Tony Stewart. Harvick's in the top 20 and Junior is lucky the top 35 are guaranteed spots in the field. Good job Dale.