Joe Reiniger and the Milwaukee Wave kept streaks alive at the Bradley Center Sunday afternoon.
Reiniger extended his streak of games in which he has scored at least one point to 101, the second most in Major Indoor Soccer League (formerly NPSL) history. Reiniger, one of six players who will represent the Wave in the MISL All Star Game next weekend, had two goals and two assists.
{INSERT_RELATED}The Wave also extended its record at the Bradley Center this season to 14-0 with the 17-5 win over Harrisburg. Milwaukee is 8-6 on the road, and in fact had an overall eight-game winning streak snapped Saturday night at Cleveland. So, the Wave's home record is a key to their first place status at the All Star break.
This has been a season of transition for the Wave, yet the team has a good chance of winning its third straight league championship. Wisconsin Sports Management, a group headed by Tim Krause, bought the Wave last year. Ron Creten, who has been connected with the Wave for 17 of the last 18 seasons, remains CEO of the franchise while Krause is managing director.
The Wave also became a founding member of the new MISL. In keeping with these changes, the team has a new logo and full line of "Wave Wear."
Perhaps the key to the team's continued success, however, has been the consistency in coaching and in its key players. Keith Tozer is the winningest coach in North American indoor soccer and will again coach in the All Star Game.
Goalie Victor Nogueira is 42 and playing as well as ever. Michael King is 38 and also is still an All Star. Glenn Carbonara, another All Star, is 35.
Reiniger, 30, has only been with the Wave for two seasons, but is in his eighth season overall of professional indoor soccer.
The Wave also weaves younger players into this veteran mix. The team's other two All Stars are Lovelace Ackah and Troy Dusosky, who both are 25.
Perhaps more than any other sports franchise in town, the Wave can truly claim to be family entertainment. The team's ticket prices are still very reasonable. At any game, especially those held during the afternoons, more than half the crowd will be kids.
That has been fuel for some in the community to say there isn't enough corporate and big money support for soccer in Milwaukee. You heard some of those arguments being made when Krause proposed building a 20,000 capacity outdoor soccer stadium last year.
But, you could also argue that the Wave is building a fan base for the future. The team goes out of its way to work with youth soccer in the area.
No matter what happens with the proposed soccer stadium, or future expansion of soccer in Milwaukee, the Wave deserves recognition for building a solid model for success. The team, and Joe Reiniger, is streaking at the BC these days. Their next game there is Feb. 23, against the Baltimore Blast.
Native Son
Derek Parra isn't listed on the official Winter Olympics web site as representing Wisconsin, but he did live in Greenfield and train at the Pettit Center for five years.
So, we can claim the silver medal in the 5,000 meter speedskating competition at Salt Lake as one of ours. Parra, now a Florida resident, set the world record in the competition early on Saturday, only to have Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands edge him out for the record and gold medal later in the day.
Ray at All Star Weekend
Ray Allen's shooting slump continued into the first day of the All Star Weekend, when he failed to successfully defend his 3-point championship. Allen was eliminated in the first round of the event, which was won by the Sacramento Kings' Peja Stojakovic.
Allen has been struggling with his shot for the last couple weeks. During that time, the Bucks also have struggled somewhat.
Ray did play a part in a comeback by the East. He hit two 3-pointers to draw his team within 10 points, at 100-90. But, the West rebuilt the lead and came away with an easy 135-120 win.
Allen, who finished with 15 points, also hit a 3-pointer late in the contest that gave the two teams a combined 22, which set a new All Star record for 3s.
Congrats to former Bucks' coach Don Nelson, who coached the West because his Dallas Mavericks have the best record in that conference. Nellie's wife, Joy, spent some time on the bench with him, after undergoing surgery for breast cancer a few weeks ago. Nelson had prostate cancer himself a couple years ago.
Sam I Am "still underpaid"
Sam Cassell signed a $17 million-plus salary extension with the Bucks last week, but still said, "I'm still underpaid. Print that."
GM Ernie Grunfeld, coach George Karl and even Cassell's agent, Charles Tucker, said the Bucks paid Sam as much as they could under the NBA rules. But, Cassell still didn't seem satisfied.
"I signed it because my family wanted me to," Cassell said. "If I hadn't signed it, I would have been gone. I don't want to talk anymore about it."
If Sam's attitude doesn't change, and the Bucks don't get into the NBA Finals this season, you could see him "gone" after next summer anyway.
UWM hits season high
The UWM Panthers scored a season-high 96 points in a win over Youngstown State to hang with Butler in a battle for first place in the Horizon League over the weekend.
Undoubtedly, some people who know I teach at UWM think it is a conflict for me to tout the team in this column. But, UWM traditionally has always been so under-covered by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other area media, that I feel justified.
Both Marquette and UWM are having great seasons, and deserve coverage. The Panthers still won't have an easy time winning the Horizon title. They play their final home game this Thursday against Wright State, and then finish the regular season with road games at Cleveland State, Detroit and UW-Green Bay. The Horizon League tournament starts March 1 at Cleveland State.
Gregg Hoffmann writes The Milwaukee Sports Buzz on Mondays and The Brew Crew Review on Thursdays for OMC.
