Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Corbin Burnes was named as the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner Tuesday evening.

Burnes edged Philadelphia Phillies starter Zach Wheeler in the closest Cy Young vote since 2010, with Burnes and Wheeler each getting 12 first-place votes, but Burnes won with 151 points to Wheeler’s 141.

Burnes became the first Brew City hurler since Pete Vuckovich in 1982 to win the Cy Young.

Burnes this season also became the first pitcher in modern MLB history (Since 1900) to finish third or higher in all of MLB in: strikeouts per nine innings (12.9) 1st; fewest walks per nine innings (1.83) 3rd; and fewest home runs per nine innings (0.38) 1st. Burnes, like fellow all-star starters Brandon Woodruff (who finished fifth in 2021 Cy Young voting) and Freddy Peralta, and all-star fireballer and 2018, 2019 and 2021 NL Reliever of the Year Josh Hader and 2020 NL Rookie of the Year/Reliever of the Year Devin Williams, are all products of the Brewers farm system. A farm system that a certain someone, who will remain nameless but is a former JV boys basketball coach at Norway, said was “non-existent” because ESPN doesn’t talk about them.

Well that same former Norway JV coach also said that it was smart for former Packers GM, the late Ted Thompson, to let recent Pro Bowl players Casey Hayward and Micah Hyde leave GB in free agency. That same person also said that Ron Wolf and Bill Polian don’t belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because being a NFL general manager is an easy job. The Brewers farm system obviously isn’t “non-existent” and the other two examples are ludicrous statements as well.

Sorry, Jon, three strikes and you’re out. …

The 13-member College Football Playoff selection committee has once again left many people throughout the country, especially Midwesterners, scratching their heads after Tuesday’s rankings were released.

In regards to the No. 4 ranking of one-loss Oregon, one spot ahead of one-loss Ohio State, well that would make sense to most anyone outside of Columbus, Ohio. The Ducks defeated OSU in “The Horseshoe” on Sept. 11, with the Ducks’ lone loss this far this season being on the road to Pac 12 foe Stanford on Oct. 2. Head-to-head outcome was clearly taken into consideration with that decision.

But not in the matter of Michigan (No. 6) and head coach “Captain Khakis” being ranked one spot ahead of in state rival Michigan State (No. 7), even though the Spartans came from down 17 points late in the game to pull out a 37-33 win on Oct. 30 at Spartan Stadium.

And, yes, as many of you who will read this know, I am a Michigan State fan, one that would root for whoever plays Michigan (including Ohio State).

But for the CFP committee to find it logical to use the head-to-head result in one instance, and not in another, makes about as much sense as a hardware store in Honolulu selling snowblowers. …

On Oct. 19, I covered the Florence girls volleyball game versus Elcho, an exciting four-set match that was won by the host Ladycats, 3-1. Prior to the start of the match, Florence juniors Tylie Fyvie, Leah Young and Morgan Tomczak sang the National Anthem, which to this writer is of utmost importance being a U.S. Navy veteran. Those three young ladies sang as a trio and did a masterful job, putting tears in my eyes.

Much like Kim Harder-Webb’s renditions of the Star Spangled Banner, prior to Iron Mountain High School sporting events, simply wonderful to say the least. …

Kingsford graduate Daunte Fortner is a freshman on the Marian University hockey roster. Marian is an NCAA Division III university located in Fond du Lac, Wis. Fortner comes to Marian from the NCDC-National Collegiate Hockey Development Conference’s Philadelphia Hockey Club, where he recorded 26 points in 35 games with five goals and 21 assists last season. Prior to that, Fortner played for the MJHL-Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Swan Valley Stampeders, where in 35 games in 2019-20, he scored seven goals with 18 assists for 25 total points.

Fortner, who is the son of Derek and Kristin Fortner, is majoring in secondary education at Marian. Fortner looks dapper in his bio picture on Marian’s website. He’s wearing a black sport coat, a white collared shirt and a blue tie, to go along with a missing tooth, which in hockey lore, is a sign of longevity and toughness. Best of luck to him. …

There are some new developments on the horizon in The Daily News sports department, some of the changes have been let out of the bag already, while some have not officially. Stay tuned, I’ll have another column publishing soon all about it. Until then, stay safe, happy and healthy. …