{image1} The Brewers travel to venerable Wrigley Field for a weekend series with the Interstate 94 rival Cubs, then return to Miller Park for the home opener on Monday.
Any time the Brewers and Cubs get together, it's fun. The Cubs' Kerry Wood, hampered by shoulder problems most of the spring, makes his regular season debut Friday against the Brewers.
Ben Sheets, who won the season opener on Monday in Pittsburgh, starts Saturday for the Brewers. Sheets had a solid seven-inning outing and received run support in the 9-2 opener win like he seldom enjoyed last season.
Jeff Cirillo indicated he might end up seeing a lot of time at third base with a RBI double, home run and a leaping catch to get Sheets out of an inning. Brady Clark got on base three times and scored each time. Rookie J.J. Hardy had a key RBI single for his first major league hit.
The Cubs believe they can challenge for the NL Central championship this season. They took apart the D-Backs in the season opener with 23 hits in a 16-6 win. The Brewers would love to creep up on the Cubs, Cardinals and Astros in the division. Each game at Wrigley starts at 1:20 p.m.
After Sunday's game, the Brewers will make the short trip north to open the Miller Park portion of their season. The Pirates will again provide the competition.
Doug Davis will start the home opener for Milwaukee. New owner Mark Attanasio is expected to be in the house.
You still have time to bid on a luxury suite for Opening Day, but you better hurry. Bidding ends at 5 p.m. Thursday. You get 20 tickets, two parking passes, a buffet dinner and the chance to buy up to four more suite tickets in the package. Go to milwaukeebrewers.com for details on how to bid.
Of course, Opening Day has always been big in Wisconsin. Fans come from all over the state. The game was not sold out as of this writing, but that very likely will change by Monday.
The Brewers did surpass the one million mark in tickets sold for the season Tuesday. That marks the fifth time in franchise history the team has hit one million before the home opener.
Game time on Monday is 1:05 p.m. You can take the bus to the game, and take advantage of various park-and-ride locations around the metro area.
Player of the Week
Leftfielder Carlos Lee hit eight homers during spring training despite missing a week to return home to Panama for the birth of a son. He also got his first regular season hit with a double in the opener at Pittsburgh.
UWM Search
UWM should be ready to announce a new basketball coach very soon. UW assistant Rob Jeter is considered the frontrunner with Metro State coach Mike Dunlap still in the running.
Of course, the new coach will replace Bruce Pearl, who left UWM shortly after the Panthers were eliminated in the NCAA to take the job at Tennessee. When an announcement is made, look for a Sports Buzz Update.
Community Racecar
The idea to create a community-supported racecar is rapidly becoming a reality for Wauwatosa resident Dan Matre, the owner and driver of a turbo-charged 911 type Porsche. He will campaign the car in local and regional driving events, with the help of local businesses.
Matre said, "Our initial research indicated that local businesses are interested in promoting their brands on the teamtosa race car. Shorewest Realtors purchased the windshield banner even before our distribution of the prospectus! The fact
that the car will be very active on and off the track combined with teamtosa contributing a portion of its racing budget to a local charity seems to be a winning combination."
Teamtosa will donate 15 percent of its advertising cash receipts form sponsors and 100 percent of donations from individual sponsors. Individuals will be able to sign their name on a designated portion of the Porsche for $10.
The car will be at community events for Tosa residents to sign the car. "Our goal in 2005 is to raise $2,500 for charity with the combination of corporate and individual contributions," said Matre in a recent press release.
Hot Tix
Once the Brewers come home, they play eight games here. First is a three-game series with the Pirates. The Cardinals then come to town, April 15-17 and the Dodgers April 18-19.
After going 6-12 in 18 straight road games, the UWM baseball team comes home to start Horizon League action with a three-game weekend series against Butler at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers have been picked to finish second in the conference.
On April 13, the Panthers will play Valparaiso at Miller Park following the 12:05 p.m. game between the Brewers and Pirates.
The Bucks continue to play out their disappointing season. They host Charlotte at the Bradley Center in a 7:30 p.m. game Friday.
Hockey could be going for a while, as the Admirals drive toward the American Hockey League playoffs. They travel to Hamilton Friday night and host the Chicago Wolves at the B.C. in a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday. The Ads have only two home games left before the post-season.
The Wave will try to win the MISL regular season championship with back-to-back, home-and-away games against the Philadelphia Kixx. The first game is at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Wave has already clinched a playoff spot for the 12th consecutive season.
Mark your calendars for July 23-24, when the Nissan Xterra Midwest Championship off-road triathlon comes to town. Milwaukee has been chosen to host the Midwest event of the competition, which includes 90 races in 14 countries.
The competition includes a 1.5K swim (at McKinley Beach), a 30K mountain bike race (on Oak Leaf Trail) and a 10K run (in Veterans Park). The Milwaukee competition is expected to include participants from 30 states and more than a dozen countries.
