Wisconsin News and Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks will open the home portion of their 50th Anniversary Season against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Friday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m.
The game will be nationally televised on ESPN as part of the 2017-18 NBA Opening Week schedule. The complete 2017-18 Bucks schedule will be released at a later date.
Julius Peppers & Clay Matthews
According to an ESPN report, Green Bay Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, along with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, have agreed to meet with NFL investigators. The league threatened suspension if the players didn’t agree to discuss steroid allegations related to an Al-Jazeera report in January.
Former Packers linebacker Mike Neal, a current free agent, has yet to agree to meet with the league.
According ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Harrison will meet Aug. 29 at the team facility. The date(s) for Matthews and Peppers has not been revealed.
Earlier, the NFLPA had issued statements to the league on behalf of the players. But the NFL says the players have an obligation to submit to an interview but also the duty to provide meaningful responses to the questions posed.
Aaron Rodgers
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Aaron Rodgers will some day be the highest paid player in the NFL. That day could be coming soon.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Packers and Rodgers are closing in on the contract extension. In his story, Schefter throws out the numbers of 4-years and near $25 million a year.
In 2008, Rodgers signed a 6-year $60-million deal which has put the MVP signal caller in the middle of the QB pay scale despite his success. Although, at the time, that was the standard deal for a QB of his caliber. That contract expires in 2014.
Earlier this off-season, Ravens QB Joe Flacco became the highest paid player in the league by signing a 6-year, $120.6 million deal with $52 million guaranteed. This deal for Rodgers would blow that out of the water.
Along with Rodgers, the Packers will have big decisions to make with Clay Matthews and B.J Raji who are entering the final years of their rookie deals.
***UPDATE: Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel added to the topic this morning say the Packers are close on a Matthews extension as well.***
ESPN has reached a 12-year extension with the Pasadena Tournament of
The Rose Bowl
Roses, the Big Ten Conference and the Pac-12 Conference to continue the company’s long-standing relationship with the Rose Bowl Game, one of college football’s most popular events. The agreement begins in January 2015 and includes rights to the annual Rose Bowl Game across ESPNs platforms through 2026. Each year, the game will be played January 1 (or on January 2 in years when January 1 is a Sunday) and will feature the champions from the Big Ten and Pac-12.
ESPN (or ABC) has televised the Rose Bowl Game since 1989. Whatever is determined to be the exact post-season bowl rotation as part of the future format, ESPN will have the rights to the Rose Bowl Game each year. The previous eight-year Rose Bowl deal has two more seasons remaining.