Sports – Tuesday, August 16th, 2016

The Northwoods League is coming to Fond du Lac thanks to a partnership between the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Marian University that was announced Monday. The new baseball team will begin play in May of 2017 at Herr-Baker Field on the campus of Marian University. President and general manager of the Timber Rattlers, As part of the plan, Herr-Baker Field will be renovated to a 2,000 person capacity, including two picnic decks, additional concession stands, restrooms a team store and other amenities. Initial cost estimates for the renovation are around $1.5 million. The team will be the ninth Northwoods League team located in the state of Wisconsin. Fans can help name the new team by going online to fond du lac baseball dot com.

The Packers practiced mid-day Monday in preparation for preseason game number two on Thursday against Oakland. Head coach Mike McCarthy says that playing time decisions are still yet to come and that padded practices have answered some questions when it comes to who has a shot at making the team. Packers pregame begins at 5pm Thursday with kickoff at 7pm on News/Talk 1450 KFIZ.

The NFL will suspend the four active players at the center of the league’s performance-enhancing drug probe if they don’t provide interviews to the league by August. 25. Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers alon with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and free-agent linebacker Mike Neal will be suspended beginning Aug. 26 if they haven’t cooperated, NFL senior vice president of labor policy and league affairs Adolpho Birch told the NFL Players Association in a letter Monday. Allegations that the four players were linked to performance-enhancing drugs were first raised in the Al Jazeera America documentary The Dark Side. The NFL Players Association has said that affidavits submitted by the four players in July constituted reasonable cooperation, but the league maintained its position

The football Badgers are hard at work, preparing for their opener September 3rd at Lambeau Field against LSU. Defensive Back Sojourn Shelton says the team’s secondary is young this year, but they will be good while Receiver Jazz Peavy says their group of receivers is talented, and should help the quarterback no matter who that is.

After an off day Monday, the Brewers return to action with a day-night doubleheader against the Cubs in Chicago. The Cubs are in first place in the NL Central with a 73-43 record, while the Brewers still sit in fourth place with a 52-64 record. Game one today is a make up from a game that was postponed on April 27th. Matt Garza will start game one for the crew facing off against Trevor Cahill for the Cubs. In game two, Chase Anderson faces off against Jason Hammel. Coverage of game one is at 11:45, with first pitch at 12:20, game two coverage begins at 6:30, with a first pitch at 7:05. Hear both games on News/Talk 1450 KFIZ.