Thousands of fans toured Miller Park and loved it when there wasn't even a game there last weekend. It will be even better when the Brewers take the field this coming Friday and Saturday in the exhibition games that will open the new ballpark.

Let's take a look position-by-position at the team that will call Miller Park home. I've even added some pre-season grades:

Pitching -- The Brewers dodged a couple bullets last week and should have Jeff D'Amico and Paul Rigdon available for the start of the season. D'Amico had been nursing a bicep problem, and Rigdon was hit near the knee by a hot shot last week. They will join Jamey Wright, Jimmy Haynes and Gold Medal winner Ben Sheets in a starting rotation that could end up very solid. Milwaukee's bullpen ranked second in the National League in ERA last season. Will Cunnane will join the corps of righthanders Juan Acevedo, David Weathers and Curtis Leskanic and lefties Valerio De Los Santos and Ray King in what should be a good pen again. Grade: B.

Catching -- Henry Blanco was still nursing a tender shoulder, but seemed very close to 100%. Raul Casanova will back him up and provide a little more offense than Blanco. Tyler Houston will serve as the emergency third string catcher. Grade: C+.

First base -- Richie Sexson has started to heat up in spring training and could put up some big numbers in a park that will likely be friendly to gap hitters. Grade: A-.

Second base -- Ron Belliard has trimmed down and hopes to regain some of the form of his rookie season. He will bat second or leadoff depending on who plays third base. Grade: C+.

Shortstop -- With Mark Loretta out for the first several weeks with a thumb injury, Jose Hernandez moves to shortstop, his natural position. Hernandez hopes to rebound from an off-season at the plate and in the field. Grade: C.

Third base -- Veteran Tony Fernandez looks like he has at least another season of baseball left and will share third with Houston. When Fernandez plays, he likely will bat leadoff. When Houston plays, Belliard could move to the top spot in the order. Grade: C+.

Left field -- Geoff Jenkins is a budding star and could be a MVP candidate some day. Grade: A.

Center field -- Jeffrey Hammonds is a big improvement over Marquis Grissom, even if he doesn't hit as much as he did in Coors Field. Grade: B+.

Right field -- Jeromy Burnitz now is the highest-paid Brewer in history and has to show he deserves it by becoming more consistent. Grade: B.

Bench -- With Fernandez or Houston, Lou Collier, Angel Echevarria and veteran Devon White available on any given day, the Brewers have experience on the bench. Grade: C+.

Managing and coaching -- Davey Lopes showed he can manage a team with some talent after Sexson was obtained last season and the Brewers played two games over .500. Rod Carew remains the hitting coach and Bob Apodaca the pitching coach. Grade: B.

With good health, this is a team that should play at least .500 and could win 83-84 games this season.

-- You saw the crowds last weekend for the open houses. Expect some more this weekend when the Brewers take on the White Sox and Red Sox in the exhibition games. Check out The Brew Crew Review at brewers.rivals.com for tips on getting to and from the games, as well as coverage and features about the exciting new era in Milwaukee baseball.

The Bucks pulled out a win against the Atlanta Hawks Sunday after getting booed for their lack of defensive effort earlier in the game. They gave up 88 points in the first three quarters and only 10 in the final quarter.

"There is no reason we can't play good defense all the time, except for a lack of focus," Ray Allen said after Sunday's game. "Nobody here has slow feet. We're all good athletes. We just need to focus and concentrate."

The Bucks will need good defense and offense because they play at Philadelphia Monday night, host Miami Thursday night and then travel to San Antonio and Phoenix over next weekend.

"We want to win the division and keep our playoff position," Allen said. "We've got some big games coming up."

-- The game Sunday was the fourth consecutive sellout at the Bradley Center. That's the first time that has happened since the Bucks moved to the BC from the old Milwaukee Arena, where they sold out almost every game.

The Bucks also announced over the weekend that playoff ticket packages are now available. Call 227-0500 for more information. The playoffs begin the weekend of April 21-22.

Basketball has March Madness. Well, the Milwaukee Admirals' hockey team has what it calls March Mayhem. The Admirals started this week with a lead over the Utah Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the IHL Eastern Conference. The Admirals had 11 regular season games left at the start of this week.

Kudos to the Wave for wrapping up their division title in the NPSL this past weekend, after a 1-7 start. Now, it's into the playoffs to see if they can repeat as overall champs.

One of the most frequently asked questions on The Brew Crew Review message boards is whether Matt Vasgersian will still do Brewers' games on TV this season. I saw Matt in Arizona last week and can confirm he is indeed still doing the Brewers.

In fact, it sounded like the Brewers would be a welcome relief compared to his up-and-down tenure as a XFL play-by-play guy. All he would say is "it's been an experience" and that XFL founder Vince McMahon is "something else."

If you read between Matt's words that translates into "it's been a nightmare" and Vince McMahon "is a lunatic."