{image1}It still feels like summer. Geoff Jenkins and the Brewers are in the midst of their season. Yet, the Packers start it all this week.

The Packers host the San Diego Chargers at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lambeau Field. It's the first pre-season game in the NFL.

Don't expect to see quarterback Brett Favre and the rest of the regulars for more than one quarter. But, coach Mike Sherman will be watching how the possible replacements for Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle perform as guards and how some of the new defensive people play.

The Packers will go into the game with some real question marks on defense, especially after they found out that linebacker Na'il Diggs will miss two to six weeks with a knee injury.

Early impressions can be lasting. So, those potential regulars, and a lot of backups who will see most of the action in the game, will be trying to impress their coaches.

Aaron Rodgers, the Packers' top pick, will see "significant action" at quarterback, according to the Packers Dope Sheet. Rodgers would like to play well enough to show he could back up Favre during the regular season.

The Packers overall were not impressive in a scrimmage against the Bills that drew 62,000 fans at Lambeau last weekend. But, hey, it was only a scrimmage.

For information on how you can watch the game, go to the Hot Tix section of this column.

Brewers Player of the Week

Geoff Jenkins has proven many of his critics wrong with a red-hot second half of the Brewers' season so far. Patience has paid in the case of Jenkins, who again earns the Sports Buzz Brewers' Player of the Week.

In mid-June, Jenkins was barely hitting over .230 and providing air conditioning in Miller Park by fanning the air with regularity. He suffered through an 0-for-29 slump at one point.

Critics were calling Jenkins overpaid, and saying the Brewers should trade him, move Lyle Overbay to the outfield and call up Prince Fielder.

"Jenks has gone though these kinds of things before," said manager Ned Yost. "He will work his way out of it. You just have to be patient."

Jenkins looked to be over-swinging, trying to pull too many pitches and getting caught with his weight on his front foot too often. He just continued to work with hitting coach Butch Wynegar and take the heat quietly from fans, on sports talk shows and in media, including at times in this column.

But, since late June, there has been no hotter hitter in baseball than Jenkins. The Brewers right fielder has improved his batting average to near .300, hit with power and produced runs. As of the start of this week, he ranked first in the NL in batting average and very high in several other hitting categories for the period since he broke out of the slump.

"We've seen Geoff Jenkins do this before," Yost said, sounding almost like he did during Jenkins' slump. "He can carry a team when he gets hot like this."

Jenkins never fired back at his critics when he was struggling. He also has handled his success in recent weeks with class.

"You get into streaks where you just see the ball better," Jenkins said. "A key for me is staying back and using the whole ballpark."

Jenkins patiently worked his way out of the slump with extra work on mechanics. "That's the main thing -- everything you work on in the cage, in BP -- hit the ball hard to the middle of the field," Jenkins said. "That squares you up. If you're hitting balls to center field, you're squared up."

There are those who still believe GM Doug Melvin should have taken advantage of Jenkins' hot streak and shopped him around before the July 31 waiver deadline. But, Melvin and Yost consider Jenkins a key in the Brewers' quest to finish at .500 or better.

You do have to wonder what Jenkins could do if he could put two good halves of a season together. Right now, the Brewers will take a continuation of what has been a good second half. Maybe next year will be when Jenkins puts it all together for a full season.

Hot Tix

The Packers game will be shown to a national audience on ESPN and in state on the Packers' TV network. That means you can watch it in Milwaukee on Channel 12. Of course, if you prefer to listen to it, TMJ 620 again is handling radio.

The Brewers play the Reds at Miller Park this weekend. Game times are 7:05 p.m. Friday, 6:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

The Marauders, fresh off an upset of their archrivals, the Racine Raiders, host the Michigan Admirals in a NAFL game at Hart Park at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Raiders will try to bounce back from that upset loss against the McHenry County (Ill.) Gladiators at 7 p.m. Saturday at Racine Horlick Field.

In Aussie Rules football, the Bombers play at Atlanta Saturday. Wave United hosts the Chicago Storm in soccer at 7 p.m. Saturday at Uihlein Soccer Park.

Looking long range, the Bucks open their NBA season Nov. 1 at Philadelphia and play their home opener Nov. 5 against the Miami Heat.

The Admirals start their AHL season Oct. 8 at Grand Rapids and open at home Oct. 14 against the Manitoba Moose.