There's been a lot of news lately, some of it good, and some of it bad. So nobody feels out of the sports loop, here's a summary.

Bad news: Leading the pack is the huge announcement that the Mixed Martial Arts Ultimate Fighting Championships are coming to the Bradley center in August. God help us all. I've tried. I've gone to matches. I've watched them on TV, over and over again. A nurse at my hospital has posters of these fighters plastered over his office.

I know famed Milwaukee trainer Duke Roufus. I am glad he is enjoying success. I think he's a great guy. I just wish he had devoted his incredible commitment level to curing cancer or learning to ballroom dance. I think MMA is nothing more than minute after minute of one guy laying on top of another guy and then you get a few sections of unbridled violence, driving the crowd of men aged 18-35 into a frenzy.

This is an event for heathens and heretics. And since Wisconsin is about to make it legal to carry a concealed weapon, why don't we fast track that bill so that we can bring all kinds of mayhem to the Bradley Center.

Think about it: 18,000 men, fueled by alcohol and blood lust, armed to the teeth with hidden weapons. Jane Petit is rolling over in her grave.

Good news: The Brewers are healthy. Mostly. The studs are all OK, Grienke, Marcum, Gallardo, Prince and Braun. With visions of Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine swirling in their heads, the Brewers are full of promise. But they got a pass early in the year as they struggled to stay within sight of a .500 record. Everybody is healthy now and the good news is that we will find out if this team is a contender or a pretender. The goal of .500 by the All-Star break is, hopefully, in sight.

Bad news: The Milwaukee Admirals got knocked out of the playoffs. I am not a hockey fan. I don't understand all the rules or the substitution patterns. I remember Lloyd Pettit, who was trying to bring an NHL franchise here, telling me that he didn't really think Milwaukee was a good hockey town. But year after year the Admirals keep on trucking. They put on a good brand of hockey and have lots of entertaining sidelights. Ticket prices are reasonable. They deserve applause for almost unmatched perseverance.

Good News: Bob Uecker will be featured tonight on HBO's Real Sports. I've known Uecker for 30 years and I have never laughed harder than when I was around him. Here's an example from a broadcast last week.

Uecker: "Albert Pujols was around the batting cage the other day and he hugged Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry."

Corey Provus responding like a good straight man: "They hugged?"

Uecker: "Yep. At the batting cage. (Pause for timing) Let's hope it ended there."

See what I mean?

Bad news: Tiger Woods dropped out of The Players Championship after shooting a 42 on his opening nine, including a wonderful triple-bogey where he dumped two of them in the water.

Woods said his leg hurt, his Achilles, his knee and his calf. Some writers saw him bound up steps after he withdrew, taking them two at a time. Woods had one of the all-time hard and fast swings and maybe all that gyration has caught up with him.

But I'll also bet his mental state is not as precise or as driven as it once was. Forget whether or not he can catch Nicklaus' 18 majors. The real question is whether he's ever going to win anything again.

Bad news: The Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics in the playoffs. If there is any prime example of the major flaw in the National Basketball Association it is the Miami Heat.

From the James spectacle of last summer's Decision to Chris Bosch and stockpiling a big three, nobody loves the Heat. Until the NBA decides to put a little parity in the league with a hard salary cap, this is going to be a case of the rich (them) against the poor (all the rest of us).

Good news: One thing that always worried me, up until a couple of years ago, was who could follow the Barry Alvarez show in Madison. The answer is now very clear. Brett Bielema, the personal pick of Alvarez, has not only continued the tradition but enhanced it. The Badgers are going to be on national television on ABC at night four times next season. Four times. That's the kind of thing that happens to USC and Oklahoma and Florida State. That doesn't happen to Big Ten teams, no matter how many teams are actually in the Big Ten. Not until the Badgers and Bielma.

Sad news: Harmon Killebrew has given up. He's been fighting esophageal cancer for years. But his fight is over and he's checking into a hospice, ready to die.

"I look forward to spending my final days in comfort and peace," said the man they called The Killer.

I can't say I'm going to miss him because he's been gone from my sports fan mileau for years. But it's still very sad news.

Good/bad news: The good news is Rick Welts, the president of the Phoenix Suns, revealed he is gay. The bad news is that Rick Welts, the president of the Phoenix Suns, revealed he is gay.

At some point, and maybe not in my lifetime (although I continue to hope) the fact that this 58-year-old man is gay won't have to be "revealed" or "announced." Maybe some day they won't have to line up a secret 18-hour interview with a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times so that they can get the story out.

If Welts feels better about this, great. We should all have the attitude that the Suns' all star guard Steve Nash has.

"I thought everybody knew he was gay," Nash said. "What's the big deal?"

Unfortunately, it is still a big deal. But maybe this is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.