Being a sports fan in Wisconsin is a wonderful thing since we are blessed with professional games all year long with football, basketball and baseball.
No matter what your poison you can get your fill whether you get tickets and go, watch on television or listen on radio. Wisconsin is kind of like a nirvana for sports fans. We talk about it, argue about it we share in pride and disappointment and we celebrate success and forgive failure.
But there are times when it’s not all seashells and balloons. Sometimes we fans get slapped across the face with a dilemma that strains the strongest among us. The kind of thing that makes you almost wish you didn’t care about sports if it’s going to be this painful.
What are you doing Sept. 4?
It is a Thursday. Hopefully we’ll still be hanging on to real summer, not Indian summer. It’s a work day but there’s just one more day to the weekend.
And it’s a huge, huge sports day. Did I say huge? It could be gigantic.
The Milwaukee Brewers, who are likely to be in the final stages of a crazy and tense division race, open a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Cardinals, the odds-on favorite to be locked in mortal battle with the Brewers as the season wanes.
The game is almost sure to be a sellout and with the first pitch set for just after 7 p.m., you can go to, watch or listen to the entire game and not wake up Friday with a fog in your brain. You’ll get done early.
But that critical contest is not the only big deal Thursday night.
That is also the night the Green Bay Packers open their season against the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. It’s a big deal. It opens the 2014 NFL season on NBC. It’s a replay of the "Fail Mary" game of two years ago when the Seahawks were on the cusp of greatness. Now they are the champs.
After last season when the football gods bedeviled the Packers, we are all hoping for a little good juju this season and a return to our rightful place atop the NFC. So far things look pretty good.
So, what do you do? How do you decide what to watch?
You can argue that this is just the first game for the Packers. That’s kind of like saying it was only Cameron Diaz who called you for a date. The team plays only 16 games and every one is dear.
On the other hand (there is always an other hand) the Brewers will just have 22 games left and every one of them is likely to be a must win situation, especially against the Cardinals.
One more thing to throw into the equation is which team you love the most. Sure, the Packers are part of the DNA of sports fans in Wisconsin. But how often to the Brewers contend for a berth in the World Series? This team, picked for fourth in its division, has won the hearts of the sporting public.
I am going to penalize anyone who says they will DVR one or the other. DVR is great for "Homeland" or "Bachelorette" but it doesn’t capture the immediacy of a game in real time.
I’m also disallowing any thought of going to a sports bar where big screen TVs will be tuned to both games, battling beer guzzling, hot wing lip smacking and a parade of people going to the bathroom while you try to pay attention to two games.
There is only one answer to this dilemma.
It’s going to be time to put on your big boy pants and make a decision.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
