Like sunflower seeds in a dugout, here are some things to chew on.

Local Brookfield and Tosa high school teams

• Brookfield Central, by far the best of the local teams, is not going to win the rugged Greater Metro Conference. If pitching is the name of the game, then it will be interesting to see what the Lancers do in the postseason.  Mike Bogard, Ricky Leachy, Mike Mierow and Cale Ross are four decent pitchers and Lee Severson is a good closer. But the key to the Lancers' success will come at the plate. Coach Jeff Bigler will need more offense than Bogard, Severson and Pete Ostergaard can provide by themselves. Someone else has to step up or the fourth-seeded Lancers, who play fifth-seeded Pewaukee July 22, can call it a day.
• Losing has affected the three other teams I cover. Going into Tuesday, Brookfield East was 3-18, Wauwatosa East was 7-22 and Wauwatosa West was 3-19. They would need a postseason miracle to advance too far.
• The stress has affected Tosa West coach Chad Mateske, who was upset over the Lancers' Lee Severson playing all nine positions against the Trojans last week. Right or wrong? Check out my column in the WauwatosaNOW online and paper on Thursday.
• Defense, which I haven't see a lot of this summer, is important to Alex Dati and Zach Stewart of Brookfield East. Check out my story in the BrookfieldNOW online and Thursday's paper for the feature.

Brewers

• With the addition of CC Sabathia, the Brewers should suddenly make the summer a lot more fun. I was part of the 1982 Brewers front office and the excitement of a pennant race is simply amazing. Many highs when you win and many lows when you lose. But enjoy the moment.
• Friend of mine told me the other day that he used to count the days until Packer training camp, but now he doesn't because of the Brewers.
• Jayson Stark of ESPN had an interesting stat. Sabathia and Prince Fielder are the only two players over 270 on the same roster since the White Sox Bobby Jenks and Andrew Sisco (who?). That's based on listed weight, since some teams lie about their larger players. 

Bucks

• As a former PR guy, I felt sorry for the Milwaukee Bucks bringing Richard Jefferson into town for a meeting with the media the same day as the CC trade was announced. That sucks. Jefferson seemed as classy as CC.
• Check out my Mo Williams story in this week's WauwatosaNOW paper and online addition on Thursday. He is coaching a local AAU basketball team and loving it.

Packers

• He's retired, he's not retired, he's retired, he's not retired. I can't even get myself to say his name anymore. I know one thing, he has changed my entire opinion of him from this day forward. I'm happy I'm not blinded like some people are towards their "hero." What a joke he's turned into.
• Unlike a lot of people who ripped Ted Thompson when he was hired, working in a front office of a professional team, I know what goes on behind the scenes and I always felt just give the man time before judging him. He has done a wonderful job hiring a coach and a great job rebuilding a team that Mike Sherman ruined. Now the Thompson haters are trying to make him the bad guy in this whole "I'm retired-I'm not retired" thing. Sad.

Agree or disagree, always remember...

Be a hit and have a ball.