This could be one of the greatest days in Milwaukee sports history.

On the other hand, it could be one of the worst.

It's three hours before the first pitch of the biggest game the Brewers have ever played at Miller Park. The facility is empty, except for a few ushers, grounds crew and concessions workers, media members and, of course, players and coaches.

You can feel the tension in the greetings between the early arrivals. "Good morning ..." one usher said to me on the way in. "Let's hope it stays that way."

The anticipation is thick, because the Brewers are in a do-or-die situation. If they beat the Cubs this afternoon, the worst that can happen is a one-game playoff tomorrow in New York to determine the wild-card winner in the National League.

If the Brewers win and the Mets lose? It's champagne time.

If the Brewers lose and the Mets win? Heartbreak.

If both teams lose? There will be a playoff tomorrow at Shea.

"It's obviously been a roller-coaster ride, but the fact of the matter is if somebody said in spring training, "You're tied after 161 (games)" there are 30 teams that would take that," Brewers manager Dale Sveum said.

"When we were kids, you play in the back yard -- ‘final game of the season, ninth inning, two outs...' We all go through these scenarios when we're 10 years old. That's what it's come down to (today). It doesn't happen to too many people and -- win or lose -- it's one of those special moments in people's careers that they'll never forget."

A few notes going in:

* Brewers players arrived for duty with their bags packed for a four-day trip. They had no choice. If this ends in a tie, they have to head to New York for a playoff game and then on to Philadelphia for the division series. If they clinch a berth today, they'll stay home and work out tomorrow, attend a pep rally at the Summerfest grounds (tentative time is 5 p.m.) and head to Philadelphia after that.

* The Brewers send lefty CC Sabathia to the mound against the Cubs, which creates a natural parallel with their run to the 1982 World Series. On the final day of the regular season that year, the Brewers needed to beat Baltimore and sent right-hander Don Sutton -- a mid-season acquisition -- to the mound against Orioles ace Jim Palmer.

Sabathia faces Angel Guzman and a string of relievers who are trying to tune up for the playoffs, since the Cubs clinched more than a week ago.

*Miller Park has been the site of two playoff-clinching celebrations, both in the visitor's clubhouse. In 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Brewers in a quick night game, and then waited for hours to see a result on the West Coast. The party didn't start until midnight.

In 2004, the Cardinals celebrated at Miller Park and several players went down Bernie Brewer's slide to mark the occasion.

Last year, the Padres almost got to celebrate at Miller Park during the final weekend. The plastic was up over the lockers, the champagne was chilling, but the Brewers beat them in the final two games -- sending San Diego to a one-game playoff in Colorado, where they lost to the eventual league champion Rockies.

* The song piped over the public address system right now is a muted version of the Violent Femmes' classic "Gone Daddy Gone."

*Brewers fans can only hope that isn't a symbol of what's to come.

* Sveum seemed his usual, calm self Sunday morning, but he knew his players would be feeling the pressure and pumping adrenaline when they played for the first Milwaukee playoff appearance in 26 years.

"There will be a lot of adrenaline when they take the field today," Sveum said to a horde of reporters in the Miller Park dugout. "Their tanks will be flowing over. Their tanks might so full of adrenaline that some of these guys have never experienced it before.

"You never how somebody will perform under these circumstances. They've been under press all week though and have handled it fine."

Sveum expected Sabathia to still be cool under the pressure. "He's very professional and a hard working guy. He knows his job. He was going to come into the office (to say he could start the game) before we talked with him.

"There are not limits on him today. This game is everything. To put limits on anything today would be premature, and rather stupid for me to do."

Sveum also didn't give his players any rah-rah pep talks. "No speeches today," he said. "They know what's on the line. There's no reason for me to tell them."

* The Mets-Marlins game has been delayed by rain. It is slated to begin at 2 p.m., which means the games will be played simultaneously. 

* If the Brewers and Mets go to a one-game playoff, it will begin at 6:37 p.m. Monday at Shea Stadium. 

* The roof is closed for the second straight day. On Saturday, players requested that the roof be closed to eliminate shadows and aid in visibility. On Sunday, the temperatures were deemed to cool to have the roof open.