1. Watch the Brewers Somewhere Besides Your Couch
CHRIS DROSNER | EXECUTIVE EDITOR
We are social creatures, and there is no better expression of that than sports fandom. And here’s the thing for folks who derisively call it sportsball: It’s easy to get swept up in a team’s success or a single game when you’re just an interloper in the right environment. It is fun. And just about any public space with a TV in Milwaukee is that right environment right now. There’s cheering, nail-biting, groaning – but, lately, mostly cheering – and it’s all amplified when you’re with Brewers fans. This team’s particular brand of baseball has amplified the usual tension, drama and unexpectedness of postseason baseball, and you just gotta experience it with friends, whether you’ve met them yet or not. (I watched Friday’s game at Third Space Brewing with a few friends; their $2 beers helped make it an even happier place!) Games 3-4 Monday-Tuesday, Game 5 if necessary Wednesday from St. Petersburg; Games 6-7 (if necessary; they won’t be) Friday-Saturday at American Family Field. All first pitches around 7:15 p.m.
2. Try Rice Grown in Mequon
ANN CHRISTENSON | DINING EDITOR
In August, I wrote one of my favorite stories of the year – about Red Stone Rice, grown at the Mequon Nature Preserve. It’s the pioneering project of a MU biology professor who has extensively studied cold tolerance in rice varietals. The prof, Michael Schläppi, found one (from Russia) that is resilient to Wisconsin’s climactic conditions. The initiative is small but mighty. Red Stone is committed to organic growing practices, which is challenging but important, Schläppi says. This brown rice is wonderfully nutty and hearty, I’ve discovered. (I recommend toasting it first in a skillet.) To buy this rice, you can reach out to Schläppi directly to arrange an amount, pickup date and location: michael.schlappi@marquette.edu
Celebrate this year’s winners of the Betty Awards!
3. Catch a Watch Party at Ope
ARCHER PARQUETTE | MANAGING EDITOR
There are approximately 9 million watch parties for the Brewers this week, of course, and many are awesome, but I think the one that most catches my eye is Ope Brewing in West Allis: lots of space, a little out of the way and good beers on tap. They’re offering half-price draft beers for 10 minutes after every Brewers score. Doors open at 7 p.m. Monday and 8 p.m. Tuesday.
4. Spot Some Brewers Art Around Milwaukee
EVAN MUSIL | ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
Folks, I’ve caught a bad case of Brewers fever. I was already at high risk, as a longtime baseball follower and fan of the similarly plucky (and historically unlucky) Kansas City Royals, who miraculously won the World Series in 2015. And you know what? The symptoms I’m feeling – the small-ball excitement, the citywide fervor – are a whole lot like the ones I felt when the Royals won it all.
My favorite way that I’ve seen the Brew Crew boom is in the art that’s cropped up around the city. Check out this chalk drawing of Jackson Chourio on the Riverwalk. Or the new mural of Brewers legends in the making at Major Goolsby’s. Or the immediate classic Uecker tribute. Or any of the many murals that local artists have created in partnership with the team over the last few years. The amount of paint in Milwaukee dedicated to the Brew Crew is more than enough proof that this city is absolutely obsessed with its hometown team. If you haven’t caught the fever yet, this art is certainly contagious.
5. Cheer on Sal Frelick (And the Rest of the Crew)
ARCHER PARQUETTE | MANAGING EDITOR
Last year, I had the unbeatable opportunity to sit in the Brewers dugout and interview Sal Frelick before a game. That interview eventually became a feature profile I wrote for Boston College Magazine about the upstart Brewer, who is an alumni of the university. If one thing was obvious from that experience, it’s that Sal Frelick plays baseball hard. His infectious enthusiasm for the game is hard not to catch, and it’s been awesome to see him shining in the World Series right now. It reminded me of something his college coach, Mike Gambino, said to me: “This sounds cliché, this sounds fake, but the best way to describe Sal is this—he’s the guy that you want your son to idolize, the guy that you want your daughter to marry, the guy you want up at the plate with the season on the line. And not for nothing, if you’re gonna fight, he’s the guy you want fighting with you.”
