The wife and I have a temporary agreement. Or maybe it is just a one day agreement. Since traffic is so bad driving from the Northwest suburbs to Wrigley Field on a Friday night, I can now drive to Milwaukee for sporting events at the Bradley Center on most Friday nights. We’ll see how often this actually occurs. For example, even tonight I felt lazy to drive all the way to Milwaukee for a pre-season Milwaukee Bucks game. After seeing how long it would take to drive home, I made the drive anyway.

Evening parking is free on city streets in Milwaukee. I parked on Jackson St. in between Kilbourn Ave. and Wells St. next to Cathedral Square. After parking, I walked towards the Bradley Center along State St. There are a lot of bars and restaurants on Old World 3rd St. in between State St. and Highland Ave.

Pre Game Dining
I walked by Hofbrauhaus (aka Old German Beer Hall) and they had a sign stating that it was free beer Friday starting at 6 pm. It was 6:03 pm so there was no way I was going to pass this up. I walked in and grabbed a beer from the bar. Then I started asking what the rules were. One guy said they give away a keg of beer at 6 pm on Fridays. The person who drinks the last cup gets to drink the rest of the night for free. Not a bad deal! The free beer was gone around 6:30 pm so I left to find a place to eat.

I walked to Mader’s Restaurant located at 1037 N. Old World 3rd St. They had a great German meal with two sausages and cheese and crackers on the same plate. Yet, this place was dead compared to Old German Beer Hall so I made the wrong decision by leaving. However, the guy I sat next to at the bar at Mader’s had an extra ticket in the lower level for the game. He gave it to me for free. Face value on the ticket was $64.35.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Milwaukee Bucks
NBA pre-season games are generally not that exciting but a great seat for free is always entertaining. That was my thought until the referees got involved. They called 63 personal fouls and 6 technical fouls and the game lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes – a long NBA game even if it was a playoff game. For example, the Bucks playoff game I attended on April 30 only lasted 2:30 but the game did not go to overtime as it did tonight.

The Timberwolves hit seven free throws to end the game in OT and defeat the Bucks 119-118.