Welcome to Saturday Scorecard. With so much shopping to do and time running short, we'll keep the briefs brief this week and wish everyone a safe, happy and festive holiday.

Election fraud: If the Packers have a good season next year, maybe they'll get as many players elected to the Pro Bowl as the Vikings

That's right: Vikings 7, Packers 4.

The Pro Bowl voting was beyond ridiculous. Middle linebacker Nick Barnett, featured this week in USA Today, is one of the top defensive players in the entire league, not just the NFC. He deserved to go, even if opponents think he's annoying.

As is the case with many honors, Pro Bowl recognition often gets delayed a year (or more, if you are Al Harris).

The Pro Bowl is like the Grammy Awards. The selection process is a joke and nobody really wants to go the event. Yet it retains a degree of relevance. Players like the recognition from their peers and the free trip (though Hawaii is a loooong flight).

One idea we like: play the Pro Bowl game during the week between the championship games and the Super Bowl. Nobody in the Super Bowl wants to play in it, anyway.

An even simpler idea: keep the voting open until after the final regular-season game. If you want to make the award important, why vote after 13 games?

38 questions: There is nothing wrong with Boston pitcher Curt Schilling expressing his thoughts on the Mitchell investigation. If Schilling thinks that Roger Clemens needs to clear his name or return his last four Cy Young trophies, that's fine. Our only question for Mr. Schilling: Did you take amphetamines before a game or a workout? Although "greenies" were part of the baseball culture and weren't technically banned until recently, they were against the law in this country, just like non-prescription steroids and HGH.

Purple reign: It didn't get enough coverage, but UW-Whitewater's victory over favored Mount Union in the NCAA Division III championship game was one of the better sports stories of the year.

The Warhawks had lost to Mount Union in the final the previous two years, but Justin Beaver and his 22 senior teammates would not be denied.

First-year coach Lance Leipold deserves a ton of credit, but so do his predecessors, Bob Berezowitz (22 seasons) and Forrest Perkins (29 seasons).

During the past 50 years, Whitewater has collected 20 conference titles and five losing seasons. That's an amazing record.

Welcome back, Kapler: Some Brewers fans referred to rookie Ryan Braun as the "Hebrew Hammer" because Braun is half-Jewish. Gabe Kapler, the outfielder who signed a non-guaranteed one-year deal for $800,000 on Thursday, also is Jewish and has carried the nickname through parts of his nine big-league seasons.

Kapler didn't speak with Wisconsin media this week, but the Boston Herald got hold of him during a family vacation in Turks and Caicos.

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