Milwaukee: Roll Out The Red Barrel

Who among us slept at all on the night of December 31, 1999? I did not. I partied like it was going to be 2000 soon with 75 of my closest friends in a house on a bluff in Los Angeles thanks to my friends and organizers Greg and Eric. The last day of the last century was a great one. The first day of the new century was not.

January 1, 2000 was cold, wet, and heartless. With no sleep all 75 of us struggled to find our way to Pasadena and all the roses fit to glue on a golf cart. The Tournament of Roses Parade started at an ongodly hour in order to accommodate the east coast fans on TV. Soon after, a football game would follow and those among us in the group of outnumbered fans of the west coast team had to find our way to the Rose Bowl and fight off multiple demons before kickoff.

Among the demons that day included giant puddles in the parking lot, insufficient attire for inclement weather, and the lack of a proper tailgating gear with which to refresh. Then there were the fans of the Wisconsin Badgers. Having turned the Rose Bowl into a mini-Madison for a second year in a row, these fans (and their team) put on a display that was difficult for us on the other side to understand: the bright red gain gear, the portable grills, and about 60,000 pairs of lungs that ritually screamed RON! DAYNE! every time the running back took the ball to chew up clock in the second half.

Fast forward to July 28, 2009. After infiltrating the enemy’s front line at Miller Park for a baseball game in Milwaukee we saw it all in action again. It was a glimpse to a way of life that make this group of people easily the heartiest and warmest fans we met to date.

We’ll Have a Barrel of Fun

The drive from St. Louis to Milwaukee was trouble-free and gave us two-and-a-half hours to kill on the property before first pitch. Since the park is not in the city setting that made St. Louis so convenient there was a fear that we would be stuck with not much to do.

As we filed in toward our parking space with hundreds of other cars, the moving forms became much clearer. The scene that unfolded brought me back to visions of that Rose Bowl. But it was a Tuesday in July. Not a Saturday in October, or a Sunday in November, or the first day of a century. The big cars opened and their inhabitants filed out with military precision unfolding tents, lighting grills, and setting up bean bag toss courts. A tailgaiting M*A*S*H unit was being erected and we were woefully unprepared to contribute to the new city’s fare.

We’ve Got The Blues on the Run

Great care goes in to the preparation and set up of the Wisconsin tailgate. Once parked, we were pinned in our car because regiments were already on the move on both our left and right flanks. The general, who we would later learn to be Tina, was making sure her vehicle’s passenger door did not damage my driver’s side door. I told her it was a rental. With a huge smile, she said here five boys, “didn’t give a rip” about my car. I thought if these folks did not talk to me, then it was going to be all my fault.

We needed tickets and since we left the Weber back in California, that was our first piece of business. Time of day and opponent made the walk-up situation for tickets on this night very easy. With a way into the stadium procured, we then walked round Miller Park to soak in the atmosphere take some pictures and then headed back to The Swamp.

When we got back to the car all the tables were set, the beer was flowing, and dinner would soon be served. It is a wonder they serve any food concessions inside Miller park, but contrary to what seemed to be out before us not everyone tailgates. Here’s a short list of those who do:

The Gang’s All Here

Tina’s Family

From a town straight up the shores of Lake Michigan the highly-coincidental California license plate of our Ford Escape was the conversation starter. My explanantion for the trip got me talking about Brewer baseball with Tina’s husband Jeff who brings the family of four boys, (plus one of their friends on this day) down a couple of times a year. They always do it this way. Full parking lot meal, toss the football around, and cheer on the Brew Crew before the long drive back. While the trip was enough of an icebreaker, the slingshot momentum for the continued conversation was the revelation that my traveling companion works at Apple. And if you remember the scene from ‘Return of the Jedi’ when the Ewoks anointed C3PO as their god – you get what happened with my friend Jesse, just without the wicker-back chair, when we discussed all things iPod.

We learned about Tina’s growing interest in photography, Jeff’s love of the Brewers, and their oldest son Taylor’s upcoming piano recital. Good luck, Taylor! We are rooting for you!

Dave, Sarah, and Tricia

To our right was Dave whose propane powered grill provided his group with all kinds of protein: shrimp, chicken, burgers, and dogs. Dave was not ready to head on inside when we did about 25 minutes before first pitch, but that did not stop him from offering us anything and everything in his buffet line and in his cooler. We obliged.

Dave does not come to Brewers games often. When he does he is usually able to get a handful of tickets from work – a job that requires him to spend a great deal of time on the road. He could not have been more happy to provide us weary travelers with sustenance. In fact, he and his group were still finishing up the leftovers after the game when we got back to the car. That’s where Sarah and Tricia were. Sarah is a sign language interpreter and Tricia is a trade show/conference coordinator. All of them were incredibly nice and showed great interest in the trip and what we were trying to do. Sarah, a total blog-a-holic (please comment if you read this!), understood completely abut the impact that real-time blogging is having on the media because she has friends down at the Journal-Sentinel (Milwaukee’s newspaper) who are fearful that the newspaper problems and closings that happened in Seattle and Denver may happen here too.

Jesse grabbed a beer and I, responsible for getting us to Chicago, grabbed a caffeinated beverage. This group was different from the group on our other side because they were friends and not family. But the scene and set up were still the same. They were also very interested in wanting to know about the other places we had scene and where we were going. You could tell there is a certain pride everyone feels whether they are wearing Brewer Blue, Badger Red, or Packer Green. I did not ask about the Bucks, but I probably did not have to.

As we drove away we really felt like we left family. I love the M*A*S*H analogy because in that final episode Honeycutt left Hawkeye a goodbye note spelled out in rocks as Pierce flew away in the chopper. We did not get a goodbye note in Denver, Kansas City, or St. Louis.

But we got one in Milwaukee.

In other news – Nyjer Morgan hit the second pitch of the game for a home run and the Washington Nationals never looked back in an 8-3 win over the Brewers. Adam Dunn hit is 24th home run of the year – a shot measured at 445 feet. However, that can’t be right. He tattooed the freaking the baseball. That was the longest home run this reporter has ever seen in a baseball game. Period.

The Note

Quote credit: Beer Barrel Polka