Summer is a good time for stepping away and recharging. Time to clear the desk of some thoughts that have been bubbling on the back burner for awhile.
Take those amazin' Milwaukee Brewers, for example. Fresh off a 7-3 homestand and in the midst of a five-game winning streak after sweeping Cleveland, despite losing two of three to St. Louis to start the road trip, Milwaukee stands at 74-54 -- that's just a couple of games game back of Los Angeles for the BEST record in the National League. And an 10-game lead over St. Louis and Chicago.
Was at last the recent game with the LA Dodgers that wrapped up the four-game series.. That 8th inning rally for the win was amazing in something of a playoff atmosphere and a crowd of 40,447 -- for a Thursday day game, no less!
Those young Brewers just continue to amaze. Jackson Chourio has been on a tear since the All-Star break and is on the cusp of being a member of the 20-20 club (home runs and stolen bases). He's only 20 years old, and could be the great-grandson of venerable announcer Bob Uecker (92).
Milwaukee averaging 31,428 per game (1,948,593), about middle of the pack in MLB. The could add another 600,00 or so before the regular season is done. Getting to 2.5+ million fans is a great accomplishment for a small market team like the Brewers.
Speaking of clubs, baseball's unicorn, Shohei Otani, joined the 40-40 club on Friday -- getting both his 40th homer and 40th stolen base in the same game. Guy is an amazing talent.
Hats off to the Oregon High School girls soccer team, state champs again. And recently, the coach of the highly successful boys program at Oregon was named the girls coach as well. How well will that work out for both programs? We'll wait and see.
The proposal to add a shot clock to high school basketball was voted down by the WIAA powers that be, 6-4. I think about the cost to small schools around the state and wonder if, say, the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks (and maybe the Packers and Brewers) could get together and pick up the slack.
Good news out of Oshkosh this week, as it seems the Oshkosh Arena's financial woes are being addressed AND there's a handshake deal with the Bucks to keep the Wisconsin Herd in the facility.
