I can probably sing better than Joe The Plumber too!

The new guy in Milwaukee is the old guy that the players couldn't wait to get rid of in Oakland.

When the Oakland Athletics fired Macha after the 2006 season despite the team claiming an American League West championship, general manager Billy Beane said there was a "disconnect on several levels." Reports surfaced that Macha had poor relationships with some of his players.

None of that mattered much to Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who made Macha the franchise's 17th manager Thursday when he announced a two-year deal for the 58-year-old career baseball man.  As he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel...

"I had received calls from people that said it wasn't that much of an issue," Melvin said. "If you look in the paper, every ballclub will have issues over the course of the year.

"You're going to have that whether you're a winning club or a losing club. Of all the people I interviewed during this whole process, almost every manager felt they were let go for the same reasons and said there was a disconnect of communication with the players."

At his introductory news conference at Miller Park, Macha said those reports made the situation appear worse than it really was.

Based on comments from several Oakland players after his ouster, it appeared that Macha wasn't well liked and didn't back his players. Jason Kendall, Macha's catcher for two seasons in Oakland, was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle as saying, "Maybe Billy saw the same thing the players saw. If Billy gets blasted in the media, it's ridiculous."

On Thursday, Kendall, now the Brewers' catcher, said there was more of a communication gap between Beane and Macha than one with the players.

"That whole thing got blown way out of proportion," Kendall said. "His track record speaks for itself. He's a great baseball man.

"I think it was more miscommunication between him and the general manager."

Kendall also said he enjoyed playing for Macha, and Macha said "Jason Kendall won't be a problem."

"When you get dismissed, there has to be a reason, and whatever reason that might be, it sticks with."

A JS-online.com poll has a slight majority of fans thinking that Macha's selection is a good thing. I just don't.

Now that he's made his managerial choice, Melvin's next job is trying to re-sign CC Sabathia. Macha said on Newsradio 620 WTMJ's "Greenhouse," Melvin is preparing an offer to Sabathia that likely will turn into a four-year, $100,000,000 attempt to keep him in Brewers blue and gold.

"We knew when we acquired him, the chances of keeping him were slim, but he enjoyed it here, and because of that, we feel we have at least that opportunity," said Brewers general manager Doug Melvin.

A week ago, it looked like the Wisconsin Badgers had little chance of making even the Motor City Bowl -- the reward to the Big Ten 7th place team. Now, with a victory over Illinois and a 4-4 record, fans are letting themselves dream of a return trip to Florida, albeit to the Champs Sports Bowl.

Vince Sweeney, UW senior associate athletic director, doesn't think those Florida trips will preclude UW from being considered for the Champs Bowl.

"We think we've got fans that follow us," Sweeney told the Badger Beat. "(Florida Citrus Sports') experience with us has been a positive experience. We haven't had any indications come our way that the folks in Orlando are looking for somebody other than us.''

Still, let's not dismiss that Dec. 26 trip to Detroit. Ken Hoffman, the executive director of the Motor City Bowl, never expected to be talking in late October about the possibility of the Wisconsin Badgers football team playing in his bowl.

Yet, one of the many reasons the Badgers would be so appealing to the Motor City Bowl is because they've never been there.

"When you have a chance to have new teams ... that kind of variety is just good for the game," Hoffman said.

"It's good for the city in which the game is played. I think it's really good for the fans who are coming to the game, to see something a little different."

Hoffman might have one of the toughest jobs among all bowl representatives in convincing a Big Ten team that a trip to Ford Field for a Dec. 26 game is a reward.

"Perception is reality," Hoffman admitted. "Some people will have a perception of coming to Detroit that's not what we believe it is. Detroit is so vastly improved from five or 10 years ago. We had the Super Bowl here two years ago.

"While some people understand it's not 75 degrees here in December, we have an awful lot of great things to offer for the winter fans. And the game itself is going to be in perfect weather conditions.''

Finally, I am NOT Joe The Plumber! Some woman at happy hour last night asked if I was and it threw off my whole night.

Sheesh, let me count the ways.

• I'm not a plumber.
• I'm not a Republican.
• I'm not pretending to buy out my boss' business.
• I'm not hiring a publicist. (Although, you think I should?)
• And I am NOT considering making a country-western recording.

Yes, I shave my head, but that's as far as it goes, lady. I'm having a bad hair life, okay?