Afternoon State Sports Briefs: Saturday will retire after Pro Bowl

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HONOLULU, Hawaii - Jeff Saturday will call it a career after Sunday. After 14 years in the NFL, the veteran Green Bay Packers’ center said he would retire after this weekend’s Pro Bowl.

Saturday was Peyton Manning’s center for 13 years in Indianapolis before moving to Green Bay as a free agent last year. He wore down late in the season, and was replaced at center by Evan Dietrich-Smith for the final four games – including the Packers’ two post-season contests. Despite that, Saturday was elected to his sixth career Pro Bowl – and he says he plans to enjoy it with his family in Hawaii. He told an Indianapolis radio station it will cap off quote, “a much better career than I would have anticipated.” Saturday is one of just two Packers suiting up for the All-Star game, in which the Packers’ coaching staff will lead the NFC squad. Guard Josh Sitton was a last-minute injury replacement at guard. Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews withdrew.

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Donald Driver is apparently leaning toward retirement. USA Today says Driver is not 100-percent sure that he’ll bow out – but he could make an announcement as early as next week, when he turns 38. Driver has played his entire 14-year career with the Packers – but he was inactive for three of the team’s final five games, playoffs included. He played on special teams in the Packers’ divisional playoff loss at San Francisco two weeks ago. Driver’s agent has not commented on his client’s status. Driver has said he’d like to play until he’s 40 – but in the past, he has soured on the idea of finishing his career someplace else. He’s the Packers’ all-time leader in catches with 743, and receiving yards with 10,137. Driver has scored 61 touchdowns.

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Of course he’s disappointed. That’s what Brandon Jennings said today about being snubbed for an NBA All-Star spot. Both of Milwaukee’s high-scoring guards – Jennings and Monta Ellis – were being promoted as possible candidates for the Eastern Conference team in the February 17th All-Star Game. But Jennings was the most high-profile possibility, after he fell short of being named a year ago. Now, he says he won’t put on a front and claim he wasn’t disappointed – especially because he thought Milwaukee’s .500-plus record would have helped his cause. But he said the two guards who made the Eastern Conference bench – Kyrie Irving and Jrue Holiday – are both great young players. He said he’ll just keep playing, and going for a playoff berth.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will be short-handed up front tonight, when they host the Milwaukee Bucks. Cavs’ back-up center Jon Leuer – a former Wisconsin Badger – was traded to Memphis this week in exchange for three current Grizzlies and a future first-round draft choice. But the Cavs’ newest acquisitions will not be in uniform until at least next Tuesday night. Memphis wanted to get under the luxury tax threshold, so it traded Marreese Speights, Josh Selby, and Wayne Ellington to Cleveland. The trade was finalized yesterday, after the NBA approved it. Cleveland was looking for front-court help, after center Anderson Varejao was lost for the season due to injury. The Bucks are going for their fourth straight overall victory, which would tie a season-high. Milwaukee is 22-18, while Cleveland is 11-32. One of those wins came against the Bucks on December 22nd. The Bucks have won four straight in Cleveland. The last time they were there, the Cavaliers committed 27 turnovers – their most in over five years.

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The UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team will try again tonight to get out of the cellar in the Horizon League, when the Panthers host UW-Green Bay. Milwaukee is 1-5 in conference play, and 5-15 overall. Poor shooting is the Panthers’ biggest problem. They’re shooting 38-percent for the season – the 10th lowest among the 347 schools in the NCAA’s Division I. On Wednesday night, Milwaukee failed to score in the final nine-and-a-half minutes in a 10-point loss at Illinois-Chicago. The Panthers made just 3-of-25 shots in that stanza. Tonight, they’ll try to forget Wednesday’s debacle, and play strong against a Green Bay team that’s tied for third at 4-3 in league play. The Phoenix are 10-10 overall. They broke a four-game winning streak on Wednesday with a 12-point defeat at Valparaiso. Point guard Keifer Sykes leads Green Bay with just over 15 points a game. Big men Alec Brown and Brennan Cougill also average in double figures. Brown is 7-1, and Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter expects Green Bay to try and pound Milwaukee on the inside tonight. The game will be televised on ESPNU It’s scheduled to start at eight o’clock.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team will return to WCHA play, when it hosts Alaska-Anchorage tonight and tomorrow night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers split a pair of contests against sixth-ranked Miami last weekend – and it earned Wisconsin its first national ranking in almost four months at No. 20. The Badgers have either won or tied their last eight conference games, with five victories in that stretch. They start the weekend in eighth place with 17 points, and they’re only three points out of third. Wisconsin is 6-5-5 in the conference, and 9-8-5 overall. They’ll play an Anchorage team that’s 3-14-5 overall, and 1-13-4 in the WCHA. The Seawolves are winless in their last 10 games, with one tie and nine defeats. That includes a pair of losses to the Badgers in Anchorage three weeks ago. Wisconsin will honor its 1973 national championship team tonight. Members of that team from 40 years ago will be recognized after the first period.

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The Wisconsin women’s hockey team will try to stop Minnesota from making history. The Number-eight Badgers will host the top-ranked Gophers this afternoon and Sunday afternoon. And if Minnesota wins today, it will break Wisconsin’s NCAA record for the longest unbeaten streak at 32 games. The Gophers are 24-0 overall, while the Badgers are 15-7-2. Wisconsin is in second place in the WCHA, three points ahead of Ohio State. The Badgers are 10-1-1 in the new LaBahn Arena, and Brianna Decker leads the nation with 158 shots-on-goal. She’s also fourth in goals scored with 21. Madison area native Amanda Kessel leads Minnesota. The junior leads the country in points with 71, goals with 34, and assists with 37. Gopher freshman Hannah Brandt is second in the nation in points and assists.

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The Milwaukee Admirals will try to break a six-game winless streak when it hosts Oklahoma City tonight. The Admirals are in fifth place in the American Hockey League’s Midwest Division. But they’re only three points away from second, and 12 behind division-leading Grand Rapids. Oklahoma City is not doing much better. The Barons only have one victory in their last seven contests – but they’re 3-0 against the Admirals this season, while giving up just five goals in those games. Milwaukee had scored at least one team point in eight straight home games before losing to Houston by one goal on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center. Oklahoma City is 19-16-2-4 overall. The Admirals are 17-17-3-3. They’ll play at Peoria tomorrow night.

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Former Edgewood College basketball standout Ben Wisniewski is keeping his career alive in Vietnam. Wisniewski is working in the front office for the Saigon Heat of the Asean Basketball League. He’s also a practice player for the team – but he’s not expected to dress up for any games. That’s because teams are only allowed to have three foreign players – and they’re normally reserved for post players who are bigger than Wisniewski. But if one of the American players on the roster misses a game, Wisniewski can stand in. He graduated last year from Edgewood, as the school’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,719 career points. He made the All-Northern Athletics Conference teams each year, and he was an All-Midwest selection by D3hoops.com in his senior year.

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Four Concordia schools will square off in men’s-and-women’s basketball tournaments over the next two days in Seward, Nebraska. A women’s contest will kick things off this afternoon between Concordia-Mequon and Concordia of Michigan. Men’s teams from the same two schools will then play each other. Tonight, Concordia of Nebraska will host Concordia-Chicago in a women’s-and-men’s double-header. In each tournament, today’s winners will square off tomorrow – while the losers play for third. Also in Division-Three, Northland College of Ashland will play at North Central of Minnesota in a men’s-and-women’s twin bill. Other Wisconsin teams will resume conference play tomorrow.

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The University of Wisconsin football team has recruited a corner from Massachusetts who could have a chance to start for the Badgers this fall. Jakarrie Washington of Everett started for three years in high school, and made his All-State team as a senior – but he was not ranked by either Scout.com, or Rivals.com. His coach said Washington got a visit from the Badgers’ new secondary coach, Bill Busch – and he made his commitment without visiting the UW campus first. Wisconsin and Texas Tech were the only schools which made scholarship offers. Washington has top-flight speed, running 4.4 in the 40-yard dash. The Badgers need immediately help in the secondary, after losing three senior starters – including both corners – from last season. Meanwhile, the Badgers said two incoming freshmen have enrolled early, and will be available for spring practices. They are corners Sojourn Shelton from Florida and Keelon Brookins of Saint Paul.

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The Milwaukee Brewers have announced their schedule of autograph signings for Sunday’s winter festival, “Brewers on Deck” at the downtown Delta Center. A random selection process will be used to determine who gets the chance to obtain autographs from Ryan Braun, Bob Uecker, Yovani Gallardo, and Rickie Weeks. The sessions are planned at various times between 11 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. on Sunday. Other players and staff members will also sign limited numbers of autographs on a first-come, first-served basis. More information is available at the Brewers’ Web site.

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The Milwaukee Wave has two games this weekend – tonight at Wichita, and Sunday at home against Chicago. Milwaukee is on a team-record 12-game winning streak, after beating Chicago 9-5 at home last Saturday. Coach Keith Tozer says the Wave has won with defense – and his team only has one scorer in the league’s Top-18. That’s Luan Oliveira, who’s Number-18 in the Major Indoor Soccer League with 35 points. Tonight, Milwaukee faces a Wichita team that’s 0-2 against the Wave this season, falling by a combined score of 24-10. Frederico Moojen is Wichita’s top scorer, and he’s ranked 10th in the league with 40 points.

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The Badger State Winter Games will hold its second weekend of competition starting tonight in the Wausau area. The Olympic-style festival features three weekends. Alpine skiing will begin at the Granite Peak ski area on Rib Mountain. Several hundred people are signed up for slalom and grand slalom events. Games’ director Darien Schaefer said the skiing was moved up from its previous third week, with the goal of getting more people involved. Also, it’s the first weekend of youth snowmobiling in the town of Rib Mountain. And archery continues at the Rib Mountain Archery Club. Over 115 people started competing last weekend in the bow-and-arrow events – about double the participation from last year.

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