The Admirals have extended the hockey season into June. The Champ cars are coming to the Milwaukee Mile, and the Brewers host the Twins during mid-month in June.
These, and other events, should keep sports fans in Milwaukee buzzing during the month. The Admirals started the American Hockey League championship series with a 2-1 win in overtime against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Tuesday night. They played again Wednesday night at the Bradley Center. See a Sports Buzz Update on Thursday with the results of that game.
This is the Admirals' first trip to a championship series since 1983, when they won the Turner Cup. As reported in the Weekend Sports Buzz last week, the team also might be getting new owners soon.
Practice runs for the Toyota Atlantic Championship and the Time Warner Cable Road Runner 250, featuring the Champ cars, start Thursday afternoon and continue Friday at the Milwaukee Mile. The actual races are scheduled for Saturday.
This weekend isn't the only one in June that will be buzzin' at the Mile. NASCAR trucks and the Busch Series come to town on June 24-26. The feature race will be the Alan Kulwicki 250 on Saturday, June 26.
The Brewers have a 12-game homestand in June, starting with a series against the Astros on June 11. The highlight will be an inter-league series June 18-20 against the Minnesota Twins.
A lot of Twinkies' fans always come down for this series. The Twins are battling for the American League Central lead again this season, so expect another invasion from the northwest. Brewers' fans can't let Miller Park turn into the Metrodome South for the weekend.
The homestand also includes series against Seattle and Colorado. Former Brewer Paul Molitor, now the hitting coach for the Mariners, will be honored on June 16. Molitor will go into the Hall of Fame later this summer as a Brewer.
Wave United has a busy month, starting with soccer games against Vancouver Friday and Syracuse Sunday. The Bombers host Nashville Saturday and Chicago on June 26 in Aussie Rules Football. Another highlight of their month is the East-West All Star Game in Atlanta.
The Lombardi Classic, one of the longest running two-day fund raisers for the fight against cancer, will be held June 11-12 at North Hills. A par-3 event is held Friday and a celebrity five-man scramble on Saturday. Bart Starr and other former Packers, plus many other sports figures, will play in the event.
Check out starting times and more info about this coming weekend events in the Hot Tix section of this column.
The Brew Crew Review
Here are the BCR awards for May:
Players of the Month -- Lyle Overbay hit over .400 for much of the month, and Ben Sheets was outstanding, striking out 18 batters in one game. They earned National League Player of the Week honors in successive weeks. Give closer Dan Kolb an honorable mention for posting a perfect save record and dropping his ERA under 1.00. You can read more about Kolb in next Thursday's Weekend Sports Buzz.
Plays of the Month -- Pick any of the leaping or diving catches made by leftfielder Geoff Jenkins. He hasn't started to hit yet, but is having a great year in the field and has a long errorless streak.
Goat of the Month -- Nobody jumps out to don the horns in May, but give Scott Podsednik a small set. Scotty Po slumped in May and seems to be trying to pull too many pitches. He also has been misplaying some balls in center. If the Brewers are going to stay at or above .500 all season, they really need him setting the table at the leadoff spot and playing a steady center field like he did as a rookie.
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UWM's Ben Stanczyk became the first baseball player in the 24-year history of the Horizon League to be named both Pitcher and Player of the Year. Stanczyk set a school record with 95 strikeouts while posting a 7-3 record with a 3.43 ERA. He also played third base and hit .378 with nine homers and 40 RBI ... Marquette junior Charles Mashozhera won the triple jump in the Conference USA Track and Field Championships ... JoJo Hoffman and Natalie Mills of Divine Savior Holy Angels were picked co-winners of the outstanding player award in the National Invitational Girls Rugby Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
Beyond Milwaukee Sports
Andrew Rock won the 400 for the second straight season and Derek Toshner took the 400 hurdles for the third straight season in a school record 50.09, as UW-La Crosse won its fourth straight NCAA Division III men's outdoor track championship. Rock and Toshner have earned invitations to the Olympic qualifying meets this summer ... UW-Oshkosh won the women's NCAA Division III outdoor track title ... Teams in the Northwoods League opened play this week. The league features some of the best college players in the region and from around the country. Several franchises are in Wisconsin. A group is Waukesha reportedly is interested in joining the league in 2005 ... The USA Softball team will play the Midwest Collegiate All Stars in Stevens Point on July 15.
Hot Tix
Here are some times for this weekend's hot events. After Wednesday's game, the Admirals will travel to Wilkes-Barre for the AHL series. Games will start on Friday at 6:05 p.m. Central time and 4:05 p.m. Sunday. If necessary, Game 5 will be held Monday night in Wilkes-Barre and Games 6 and 7 will return to the Bradley Center on June 11-12.
At the Milwaukee Mile, the Toyota Championship will start at 5:15 p.m. Saturday and the 250 at 8 p.m.
The Wave United game against Vancouver Friday starts at 7:05 p.m. and the contest against Syracuse on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. Both games are at Uihlein Soccer Park.
The Brewers are in San Diego to take on the Padres this weekend in games that start at 9:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3:05 p.m. Sunday.
Back home in Milwaukee, the Brewers hope to add to an already talented farm system in the June free agent draft on Monday and Tuesday. Experts project the Brewers will pick a college pitcher as the fifth selection.
