With my mom in town to watch Dylan, I chose to drive to Milwaukee for the Lakers and Bucks game since it is easier to drive to Milwaukee after work than back to Chicago.
Parking in Milwaukee
Parking is free on city streets in Milwaukee for night games but the walk is pretty far and not necessarily worth while even though I continue to do it. This time I parked on the corner of Kilbourn Ave. and Broadway St.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
One thing about Milwaukee is that it is much cheaper to …

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 …

Amazingly there was very little traffic leaving Chicago on a Friday afternoon and I arrived in downtown Milwaukee a few minutes before 6:00 pm – meaning I need to find parking, walk to the Bradley Center and buy a ticket quickly.
I parked for free on the same corner (Juneau Ave. and Jackson St.) I did on Sunday of the NCAA Tournament. The walk is far from the Bradley Center but saved me time searching for parking closer to the stadium.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
As I approached the Bradley Center, there weren’t …

Two weeks ago when I attended the NCAA Tournament with two guys I met at an Indiana Pacers game in January, one of the guys invited me to the Chicago White Sox game on Wednesday, April 7. I guess his weekend’s only season ticket plan comes with one weeknight game during the season – just another way for the White Sox to sell tickets to a crappy night game in April.
Before this invite, I was already planning to attend the Milwaukee Brewers afternoon game scheduled the same day. One of …

I understand why the NCAA Tournament charges so much for their tickets – fans will pay. But in the next breath, fans will complain about the cost of tickets. The NCAA charged $71 for each ticket in Milwaukee. The fans overbought. The winners in this scenario are the NCAA, the ticket brokers and any fans who waited to buy tickets. The losers are the fans who bought tickets in advance – the exact people who make the NCAA so much money.
Think of it this way, …

For the third straight session, I left the Bradley Center in between games.  This time I planned to grab lunch rather than go to a bar.  I was looking for a subway, but stumbled upon Cousin’s Subs at State St. and Old World 3rd St.

#6 Xavier vs. #3 Pittsburgh
Xavier and Pittsburgh played the most entertaining game in Milwaukee all weekend long as Xavier narrowly defeated Pittsburgh 71-68 to advance to the Sweet 16.  Xavier lost to Pittsburgh in the regional semi-finals last season.

As was the case on Friday, I arrived close to the first tip of the first game. However, since today was a Sunday I knew I could park for free on city streets. I drove directly to Juneau Ave. where I used to park for free when I attended five Milwaukee Bucks playoff games back during their playoff run of 2002. I parked 6 to 7 blocks away from the Bradley Center on the corner of Juneau Ave. and Jackson St. – a walk that was probably too far even …

Once again, I left the stadium between games of the session with my “smoking” stamp. I wandered down Old World 3rd St. and ducked into Durango BBQ & Grill. I stopped in there because they had the best special of the bars on Old World 3rd St. – $3 20 oz. beers. Not only was every other bar overcrowded, but they were also charging at least $5 per beer. That also means that Durango is not nearly as popular as the bars on the street which I tend to agree. …

When planning to attend all four games of the NCAA Tournament’s first round, you need to determine where to go in between the two sessions. Milwaukee is especially convenient because there are so many bars and restaurants within a block or two of the arena.
As I wrote on Friday, I was planning to meet up with two guys I met two months ago at an Indiana Pacers game. I emailed them Thursday afternoon and wrote back stating they were planning a Fish Fry at Slim McGinn’s between the two sessions …

At halftime of the Xavier and Minnesota game, I realized that fans were leaving the stadium by getting a stamp on their ticket. Technically, you were only supposed to go outside to smoke in the immediate vicinity of the arena. However, security was not monitoring the “smoking area” outside so it was very easy to leave and wander around downtown Milwaukee in between the two games of each session (and halftime if you were really desperate). This is a key perk with attending games in Milwaukee as bars are located …