The Brookfield Central-Waterford football game last Friday was the most exciting 7-6 victory I have ever seen. I thought I was in a bakery with all the turnovers flying about. Central coach Doug Lange figured it would take a while for his offense - no one returned from last year's starting lineup - to jell and he was right. He also said he hoped his defense would be up to the task - and he was right again. Matt Upson, Jack Moro and Dan Bowar led a veteran defense and came up with a big stop when the Wolverines went for a two-point conversion in the final minutes of play.

To say Wauwatosa East struggled against Milwaukee Riverside would be polite. The Red Raiders were outmanned on both sides of the ball. Coach Tom Swittel said he had some good skill players in Ethan Harris and Barret Powell and he was right about that. Harris might not survive the season, though, if he keeps taking hits like he did in the opener. If there is a better wide receiver in the area than Powell, I would like to see him.

Two coaches made their debuts in losing causes - Sal Logue of Brookfield East and Matt Good of Tosa West - but at least they each put 19 points on the board. QB Skylar Holden and WR C.J. Gregg scored twice through the air and Holden ran in a score for the Spartans. While TE QB Kevin Gorman rushed for 197 yards and three TDs, including one of 85 yards behind a good performance on his O-line.

Brookfield Central coach Brian Scrobel looks like his girls golf team will run away with the Greater Metro Title again after taking the first two mini-meets. The fourth-state-ranked Lady Lancers have talent to spare again this year led by Kelly Coakley, Chelsey McCoy and Tricia Mark.

Brookfield Central coach Bill Twitchell and Brookfield East coach Mike Rose should see their respective teams battling for the GMC girls swimming title again this year. BC coach Dave Steinbach's Lady Lancer netters are second in the state behind Homestead but the Highlanders have beaten them twice already, 7-0, and 5-2.

Led by Katie Peterson and Hannah Trasser, the Lady Lancer cross country team will use an outstanding spring which saw Central win the state track title, to make them a GMC favorite again.

Look for coach Mike Parulski's Tosa West soccer team to overcome some early suspensions and academic problems to make a run at the state meet again this season, while both Tosa boys volleyball teams should be force in their respective conferences once again this year.

As usual, Brookfield and Tosa fans will have their share of winners to cheer for in the Fall as well as some excellent individual peformances from teams which might not contend.

Be a hit and have a ball.

The high school football season officially kicks off Thursday night and in the Brookfield-Wauwatosa area that means Wauwatosa East does the honors, hosting Milwaukee Riverside.

As usual, the Red Raiders have to stay healthy to be effective as coach Tom Swittel has some outstanding skill players to rely on. Quarterback Ethan Harris and wide receiver Barret Powell, one of the best athletes in the area, should make an exciting combination this year. And Tyler Love and Mike Cupertino give Harris someone to hand off to.

The other three local high schools get into action Friday night, with Wauwatosa West hosting Cudahy as new head coach Matt Good makes his debut, playing a Woodland Conference game in the redone Woodland football conference. With Shorewood/Messmer dropping out, there is no longer a North and South Division, just once combined conference.

Which means teams won't play a balanced schedule. For example for the next two seasons, the Trojans won't play Brown Deer or Whitnall.  Sounds like the Big 10, doesn't it.  West's Good summed up the situation the best when he said "It is what it is."

The other new coach in town is Sal Logue, who moves from Brookfield Central to crosstown rival East. Logue, who is a teacher at both schools, will try and rebuilt the Spartans, who were 9-2 four years ago. Logue makes his debut at Waukesha South on Friday. Skylar Holden will start at QB for East (can't go wrong with a name like Sky) and Joey Woppert, the master of intensity, will get a whole lot of touches at running back this season.

Brookfield Central, one of the top contenders in the Greater Metro Conference, opens with Waterford at Central Friday night. Hall of Fame coach Doug Lange has lost all 11 starters on offense last year, but only one on defense. So Central will look for the defense to take control as the offense, behind quarterback Jack Korslin and a solid running back committee, gets its feet wet.

Are you ready for some football?  I am.

Be a hit and have a ball.

Like sunflower seeds in a dugout, here are some things to chew on.

Local Brookfield and Tosa high school teams

• Brookfield Central, by far the best of the local teams, is not going to win the rugged Greater Metro Conference. If pitching is the name of the game, then it will be interesting to see what the Lancers do in the postseason.  Mike Bogard, Ricky Leachy, Mike Mierow and Cale Ross are four decent pitchers and Lee Severson is a good closer. But the key to the Lancers' success will come at the plate. Coach Jeff Bigler will need more offense than Bogard, Severson and Pete Ostergaard can provide by themselves. Someone else has to step up or the fourth-seeded Lancers, who play fifth-seeded Pewaukee July 22, can call it a day.
• Losing has affected the three other teams I cover. Going into Tuesday, Brookfield East was 3-18, Wauwatosa East was 7-22 and Wauwatosa West was 3-19. They would need a postseason miracle to advance too far.
• The stress has affected Tosa West coach Chad Mateske, who was upset over the Lancers' Lee Severson playing all nine positions against the Trojans last week. Right or wrong? Check out my column in the WauwatosaNOW online and paper on Thursday.
• Defense, which I haven't see a lot of this summer, is important to Alex Dati and Zach Stewart of Brookfield East. Check out my story in the BrookfieldNOW online and Thursday's paper for the feature.

Brewers

• With the addition of CC Sabathia, the Brewers should suddenly make the summer a lot more fun. I was part of the 1982 Brewers front office and the excitement of a pennant race is simply amazing. Many highs when you win and many lows when you lose. But enjoy the moment.
• Friend of mine told me the other day that he used to count the days until Packer training camp, but now he doesn't because of the Brewers.
• Jayson Stark of ESPN had an interesting stat. Sabathia and Prince Fielder are the only two players over 270 on the same roster since the White Sox Bobby Jenks and Andrew Sisco (who?). That's based on listed weight, since some teams lie about their larger players. 

Bucks

• As a former PR guy, I felt sorry for the Milwaukee Bucks bringing Richard Jefferson into town for a meeting with the media the same day as the CC trade was announced. That sucks. Jefferson seemed as classy as CC.
• Check out my Mo Williams story in this week's WauwatosaNOW paper and online addition on Thursday. He is coaching a local AAU basketball team and loving it.

Packers

• He's retired, he's not retired, he's retired, he's not retired. I can't even get myself to say his name anymore. I know one thing, he has changed my entire opinion of him from this day forward. I'm happy I'm not blinded like some people are towards their "hero." What a joke he's turned into.
• Unlike a lot of people who ripped Ted Thompson when he was hired, working in a front office of a professional team, I know what goes on behind the scenes and I always felt just give the man time before judging him. He has done a wonderful job hiring a coach and a great job rebuilding a team that Mike Sherman ruined. Now the Thompson haters are trying to make him the bad guy in this whole "I'm retired-I'm not retired" thing. Sad.

Agree or disagree, always remember...

Be a hit and have a ball.

On back-to-back nights last week, I saw something that really disappointed me. And it had nothing to do with what happened on the basketball court.

Before I say anything, I want to say on the record that I think the Brookfield Central and Wauwatosa East basketball fans are among the best fans that I have had the chance to watch the past six years. Their outfits are creative and their enthusiasm is contagious. Maybe that's why I was disappointed, because the Lancer and Red Raider fans have set high standards in my eyes.

First of all, last Wednesday, the Tosa East boys team hosted Menomonee Falls in a game which was moved from Tuesday because of the cold weather. I couldn't believe what I saw. Not only was it one of the smallest crowds that I have ever been a apart of at a Tosa East boys basketball game, but one of the quietest. I actually counted 61 students in the student section.

It couldn't have been the competition, because Menomonee Falls has the ability to beat anyone in the Greater Metro Conference. In fact, the Indians led the Red Raiders at half-time the first time they played. It took a curious foul call in the final seconds to give Tosa East a chance to win the game in regulation this time around.

I know it wasn't just me, because a high-profile Tosa East official made the comment to me afterwards, "Maybe we're not the place to be any more." 

The next night, I attended the Brookfield East-Brookfield Central girls-boys doubleheader at Central. The stands were not even half full for the girls game, an important GMC battle between the unbeaten Lady Lancers and the desperate Lady Spartans, who needed and got, a huge 39-35 victory.

With two minutes - TWO minutes - left in the game, like clockwork, the color-coded blue and white Central students paraded into the gym as a group. Hello?  Where were you people for the first game? A game which was much more entertaining and more meaningful in the GMC race than the nightcap would be.

With all the cold weather and the re-scheduling of games last week, I'm going to give the students the benefit of the doubt based on their past history.

Or maybe, just maybe, they were home studying.

Agree or disagree with me, but feel free to leave a comment.

And always remember to be a hit and have a ball.

If you have seen the Brookfield East girls' offense lying around somewhere, please give basketball coach Tara Schmitt a call.

The Lady Spartans, who were sitting pretty in the Greater Metro Conference race just a week ago with a 4-1 record, have dropped two straight games to West Allis schools, scoring 28 and 35 points in losses to Central and Hale. Tuesday night they have a huge game with first-place Brookfield Central.

What makes East's loss to Hale particularly galling, it snapped a 21-game GMC losing streak for the Huskies, going back to Feb. 10, 2006. Trailing, 36-33, with seconds remaining, Schmitt called time-out, hoping to get a game-tying 3-point attempt from Ashley Yttre. Schmitt also had a back-up plan if Yttre was covered, tossing the ball inside instead and then hoping for a kickback out for another 3-point try.

Yttre was covered, the ball went inside, and instead of kicking the ball back out, the player tossed in a two-point bucket as time expired.

Please keep all sharp instruments away from Schmitt.

***

Brookfield Central's Cory Degner, who scored 53 points in wins over Marquette (23) and Menomonee Falls (30), has impressed Tosa East coach Tim Arndorfer.

"If I had to vote for the conference's player of the year - and not take one of my players - I would think it would have to be Cory Degner right now. He does everything for that team."

Forced to play point guard to start the year, Degner runs the offense, hits 3-pointers, drives to the basket, hits free throws and comes through whenever the Lancers need a big bucket. He even finds time to play defense.

***

Speaking of the Red Raiders, Tosa East has beaten the last three opponents by 32, 24 and 29 points, using a good defense to get easy offensive points.

But coach Tim Arndorfer and his staff - looking down the road against Brookfield Central and West Allis Hale, as well as to the post-season because the Red Raiders play in the sectional from hell - keep focusing on the half-court offense. Against good teams, Tosa East is going to have to be disciplined enough to score half-court points as well.

***

If you know Tosa West girls basketball coach Mike Pietrowiak, he could win a game 50-0 and still find something wrong. But I thought I saw a hint of a smile the other day after the Trojans won their third straight game and fourth in six tries.

Pietrowiak plays only two seniors - Ellen Coleman and Anastasia Williams - a lot of minutes and relies on three sophomores and two juniors most of the time. If the Trojans continue to improve, Pietrowiak will have to work on that smiley face more often.

***

Agree or disagree, don't be afraid to let me know.

Until later in the week, remember to always be a hit and have a ball. 

With most athletes off until later this week because of exam week, let's take a look at some highlights from the past week in Brookfield and Wauwatosa prep sports.

Wauwatosa East's 160-pounder Nick Morin became the all-time winningest wrestler in Tosa history by winning four matches last week (103-34). He surpassed Jake Benedict's 102 victories from 2001-05.

DSHA basketball coach Scott Witt felt as if his team lost the Greater Metro Conference title last Friday when the young Brookfield Central Lady Lancers beat the pre-season favorite Dashers, 45-38. "They (BC) have to lose two games and I don't think that's going to happen," Witt said. "I think it's between us and Brookfield East for second place."

The young Lancers only have two seniors in the top seven of their rotation and junior Joana Bielefeld (11.5 PPG) and sophomore Erin Lueder (12.5) are two of the GMC's top players. But that won't stop Dan Wandrey from worrying, because Central's head coach is the GMC's version of Lou Holtz.

Tosa West's Jesse Zeisse was inserted into the starting lineup for Andrea Kwak last week, when Kwak missed a practice. The results worked out great for both girls. Zeisse scored nine points in a win over Greenfield and then Kwak scored 10 in a double overtime win over Whitnall including four in the second overtime.

Brookfield Central handed Wauwatosa East a 53-51 loss on Jan. 15 and pulled into a first-place tie with the state-ranked Red Raiders. A couple things came out of this game. The key to the game was Central's discipline in their half-court offense, as the Lancers didn't fall apart after East rallied from a 10-point deficit. Central ran time off the clock in the final minutes, looking for a lay-up. Unsung hero Mitch Aprahamian was at the top of the key when he whipped a pass to Luke Duckett driving to the basket for a lay-up and the win.

The Central scoreboard had a short circuit (or something), because it went out a few minutes before the start of the second half, in the third quarter and then with two minutes left to play. When East's Tony Walls grabbed a loose ball and called time-out while flying out of bounds there was then a few seconds of controversy over whether the clock expired.

Tosa East's Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey has averaged 11.3 PPG, scoring 16, 8 and 10 points since breaking the middle finger on her shooting hand. She improved her scoring over three points per game. There is no truth to the rumor coach Rob Hamill is thinking of having the rest of his squad wear similiar splints.

After starting the season with 13 straight losses the co-op team of Wauwatosa East/West/New Berlin Eisenhower/West/Whitnall (now that's a mouthful) won their first hockey game, 6-2, over Oconomowc on Saturday.

Based on a couple things that happened over the weekend, the Greater Metro Conference race may include more than just preseason favorites Menomonee Falls and Divine Savior Holy Angels.

It looks like the talented Indians (3-1, 6-1) may be without the best player in the league (Janelle Gabrielsen) the rest of the way. The word going around the league this weekend is that Gabrielsen, who was suffering from what was believed to be shin splits, actually has fractures in her ankles, and will have surgery now so she will be able to honor her volleyball scholarship in the fall. The talented Indians will still be a force, but anyone missing a talent like Janelle is losing a lot.

DSHA (3-1, 6-3), the only team to beat the Indians, was stunned in overtime last Friday by a deep Brookfield East team (2-1, 4-4), that has balance, an excellent point guard (Vanessa Brown) and an improving 6-5 sophomore center by the name of Marley Blood. The Lady Spartans need to be more consistent to prove they are a threat, but by beating the deep and talented Dashers, show what they are capable of doing.

Meanwhile on the other side of Brookfield, Central played with seven players and beat West Allis Hale, and took over first place (3-0, 4-3) in the conference. There is no doubt that in Cara Lauritzen, Joana Bielefeld and Erin Lueder, that coach Dan Wandrey can call on three scorers who are averaging double figures. Plus Anna Butzlaff is a solid point guard and Jesse Thomas and Kate Sandstrom add some height to a good front line. The Lady Lancers are athletic, talented but in experienced, so a lot will depend on how fast they learn as the season goes on.

If anyone takes West Allis Central and Iesha Barkley (17.3) and Lauren Hibbard lightly, they will find themselves in for a long night.

And although Hamilton, West Allis Hale and Wauwatosa East has one conference win among them, the Chargers have four players scoring 7.0 or more points a game; the Huskies have sharp-shooting Emily Grayson and the Red Raiders have a solid 1-2 punch in Margaret Panter and Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey, both averaging over 8.0 ppg.

The GMC race may indeed turn into a race with more than two horses.

If you agree or not, don't be afraid to leave a comment.

And always, remember, be a hit and have a ball!

It's Christmas Eve, a magical time of the year. I'm sitting by my computer with a hot chocolate to my right, all decked out in my flannel pajamas. Everyone is all snug in their beds, with visions of ... you know how it goes.

I usually wait until the last minute to do my shopping, so I know Santa will understand when I email him my Prep Christmas Wish List for the local teams I cover in Brookfield and Wauwatosa.

Here goes.

Brookfield Central Boys Basketball Team - I wish for point guard Lee Severson to get healthy (Plantar Fasciitis) and resume his normal way of life first - and maybe get back on the basketball court and help out the Lancers down the stretch drive.

Brookfield Central Girls Basketball Team - I wish for talented sophomore forward Jesse Thomas to step out of the shadow of her big brother, Joe, and help spark the Lady Lancers this season.

Brookfield Central Wrestling - I wish for Jake Taylor to win this third Greater Metro Conference title and go deep into the brackets at the state tournament.

Brookfield East Boys Basketball - I wish for talented 6-7 senior Ryan Kursel to step up his play and give coach Andy Farley a solid No. 2 threat behind Brian Condon.

Brookfield East Girls Basketball - I wish for 6-5 sophomore Marley Blood to develop into a consistent scorer and rebounder and help this balanced Lady Spartans team get over the hump.

Brookfield East Wrestling - I wish for Zach Sines to win his first state championship and for Joey Woppert to bottle that passion he has and sell it to others in life who could use it.

Brookfield Gymnastics - I wish for a state tournament berth for senior Annie Seidcheck, who sometimes gets left out of the spotlight because some talented juniors and sophomores.

Brookfield Stars - I wish for a winning season for these hard-working skaters, especially senior captains Bill Hemp, John Jenkins and Kevin Vrany.

Brookfield Barracudas - I wish for a successful season for seniors Clare Chen, Jacob Gramling, Matt Heumann, KC Knutson, Eric Kuenstner, John Pringle and Bill Stenavich.

Wauwatosa East Boys Basketball - I wish for Tony Walls to do what's best for his future and don't rush back to a Red Raider basketball team which is one of the best in the state. A healthy - key word there - Walls would be frosting on the cake.

Wauwatosa East Girls Basketball - I wish for talented Margaret Panter to take more shots, Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey to dominate inside and for the team to understand that turnovers belong in bakeries and not on the court.

Wauwatosa West Boys Basketball - I wish for someone to step up and help Andrew Krenzien and Andy Minkley as a solid third scoring option and for the Trojans to continue to focus on defense, especially when there's a lid on the basket.

Wauwatosa West Girls Basketball - I wish for point guard Jackie Glaser to continue playing her great floor game, but not at the expense of passing up a good shot.

Wauwatosa Hockey United - I wish for the team to get their first victory and get it soon.

Wauwatosa Hurricanes - And a child should lead them - OK, he's not a child, but I wish for newcomer Jake Shackleford to continue the excellent season he is having for the improving co-op team.

Wauwatosa Wrestling - I wish for a Woodland title for coach Kent Morin and a successful trip to state for Nick Morin, Pat English and the improving Glen Kendl.

This is my Christmas wish list. If you have your list, feel free to share it the comments section.

I hope everyone has a healthy, happy, holiday season.

And remember, always be a hit and have a ball.