GERY WOELFEL: Jennings’ act getting old fast

Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size

Even though he has yet to play an NBA game, Brandon Jennings has a bull's-eye on his back.

Jennings, the Milwaukee Bucks' first-round pick and the 10th overall selection in the June 25 draft, seemingly can't keep his mouth shut.

Prior to the draft, the brash 19-year-old dissed fellow draft prospect, Ricky Rubio of Spain, who is clearly a better player than Jennings.

Then, on a YouTube clip in which he converses with rapper Budden, Jennings disses the New York Knicks for not taking him with the eighth pick, tells how the Bucks were going to retain free-agent forward Charlie Villanueva (which they didn't), how Bucks starting point guard Ramon Sessions, also a free agent, was leaving the team (yet to be determined) and how he, instead of veteran Luke Ridnour, would be the Bucks' starting point guard in the upcoming season.

And all this was done in a profanity-laced "chat."

Jennings' act, as you can imagine, hasn't gone over well with some NBA execs and players' agents. Some of them have told me they already have had more than enough of Jennings' immature ways.

You can safely assume that once the NBA season starts, there'll be some NBA players who will let Jennings know their feelings about his attitude as well.

Jennings already is playing a little defense. After a Bucks' pre-summer league practice Monday, Jennings apologized for the furor caused by the YouTube clip, saying he'd learned from the experience.

European adventure

When it comes to tennis, there isn't a better venue than Wimbledon.

Nearly a dozen members of Park High School's boys' and girls' teams learned that first hand last week.

The players and coach Stefanie Biesiada-Webers, spent three days at tennis' "mecca."

Among the matches they witnessed was one involving the doubles team of Serena and Venus Williams.

"It was really cool," Biesiada-Webers said. "We had some great seats and we saw some great matches.

"Everything turned out so well. It was a great time."

An epic performance

When I watched Bjorn Borg beat John McEnroe 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16), 8-6 in an epic Wimbledon battle in 1980, I thought I'd never see a greater or more riveting match for a Grand Slam championship.

I was delightfully proven wrong.

Roger Federer's incredible five-set victory over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon Sunday was truly one for the ages.

After splitting four highly-intense sets - 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) and 3-6 - Federer and Roddick played a mind-boggling 30-game fifth set with Federer finally emerging with a 16-14 triumph.

A side note to this unforgettable match: Federer won his historic 15th major title not only in front of 37-year-old Pete Sampras, who had shared the Grand slam record with Federer, but also 70-year-old Rod Laver, 53-year-old Borg and 50-year-old McEnroe.

Collectively, Federer (15), Sampras (14) Borg (11), Laver (11) and McEnroe (7) have won 58 Grand Slam singles championships.

Ex-Packer takes big hit

In these troubling economic times, countless people have suffered untold financial losses.

Count Willie Davis among them.

Davis, the former Green Bay Packer defensive end and one of the classiest guys to ever don the green and gold, was the second-largest shareholder in Alliance Bank of Culver City, Calif.

But federal and state regulators shut down the bank and Davis told USA Today he paid the price, losing a whopping $9 million.

Fortunately for the 73-old Davis, he had diversified his investments and remains fiscally solid.

Miller Park just average?

Having been to several of the new, state-of-the-art stadiums like Camden Yards in Baltimore, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Progressive Field in Cleveland and having attended games in storied Wrigley Field in Chicago, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Fenway Park in Boston, I contend Miller Park is every bit their equal.

Sporting News magazine begs to differ.

The publication recently ranked major league baseball's 30 stadiums and put Miller Park right smack dab in the middle at 15.

Fenway Park took top honors, followed by PNC Park and Wrigley Field. Rounding out the top 10 were Camden Yards, AT&T Park in San Francisco, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Safeco Field in Seattle, Coors Field in Denver, Dodger Stadium and Yankees Stadium in New York.

Around the horn

According to bodog.com, before trading Richard Jefferson to San Antonio, the Bucks were 100/1 odds to win the 2010 NBA Championship. After unloading Jefferson, they dropped to 125/1. … You've got to feel for Prince Fielder. While the Brewers first baseman is enjoying an all-star type season and figures to have many more of them in his career, he'll likely have the misfortune of playing second fiddle to St. Louis' Albert Pujols in NL All-Star voting as long as Pujols is around. … We should know any day whether the Bucks will be able to entice Ersan Ilyasova into returning to the team. Ilyasova, the Bucks' 2005 second-round draft pick, played last season in Spain but is longing to play in the NBA again. Ilyasova could go a long way toward plugging a gaping hole at the power forward position for the Bucks. … We all know the Brewers hardly have a collection of speed demons on their roster, but did you know they have just 26 stolen bases this season - fewest in the majors.

Gery Woelfel is a sports reporter for The Journal Times. Gery can be reached by calling (262) 634-3322, Ext. 322, or by e-mail at gery.woelfel@lee.net Gery's "Woelfel World of Sports" blogs can be read at www.journaltimes.com

Print Email

Sponsored Links

 
Sponsored by: