University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard is living his dream playing in the stadium of his favorite Major League Baseball team.
Gard was an outfielder at UW-Platteville, “for a very short period,” he is quick to point out, but he won’t be on the field for the Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, he will lead the Badgers in the first men’s college basketball game at American Family Field on Nov. 11 against Stanford. That has also been a big goal for the 51-year-old who grew up rooting for Brewers teams in the early 1980s.
“This goes back at least 15 years,” Gard said Monday at a news conference at the stadium. “Maybe more. When I was (Bo Ryan’s) assistant doing the programming.
“This stadium was just being built when we got to Madison. When it was first built, there was no heat inside the stadium.”
American Family Field was built in 2001, but the facility has branched out from baseball in recent years. There have been football matches, a bowling tournament and, recently, a hard rock concert by hair-metal bands.
Plus:An entertainment district could reach the parking lots of American Family Field. That could generate cash to help fund stadium improvements.
“The people of Wisconsin paid for this stadium,” said Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger. “And while it’s designed for baseball, it’s actually a park for people to have all these events.”
But how will the stadium work for a hoops doubleheader, with the UW women’s team facing Kansas State before the men’s game?
‘Perfect conditions for basketball’
Tickets go on sale Tuesday and the unique setup is sure to draw a cheery crowd, with fans in the stands on the field in addition to the usual Brewers seats. With an early November date, it’s also fair to wonder about the actual atmosphere of the game.
“The good news is that we have a really good heating system,” Schlesinger said. “Well maintained. So we won’t have a problem keeping the temperature between 68 and 70 (degrees). Whatever the coaches prefer. Maybe the locker rooms for visiting players have a different temperature, but we can talk about that.” .
“I feel very comfortable and confident that regardless of whether it’s snowing, sleeting, hailing, whatever we do in November in Milwaukee, it’s going to be very balmy and perfect conditions for basketball.”
UW coach Marisa Moseley hopes her players are ready for radically different lines of sight than they’re used to in Madison.
“The Kohl Center is also a great setting,” Moseley said. “Seventeen thousand people and the way people are a little bit behind in the end zones. So it’s not where you go into these other arenas and it’s much more intimate with their feel. I’m not saying this is exactly the same thing, but I think you have a bit of that feeling.
“I also think depending on what our attendance is, the sheer number of people you’re going to play in front of, we have some kids who like to go up (a big stage) and those people, like, it’s time to go. It can there are some who are a little deer in the headlights.”
Gard expects a quick adjustment.
“The tires are still 10 feet tall,” he said. “The court is 94 feet long. We’re just going to play.”
National focus and also some tailgating
the “Game of the Century” college basketball in 1968 between UCLA and Houston at the Astrodome was invoked several times during the press conference. While the doubleheader won’t have the star power of Lew Alcindor vs. Elvin Hayes, the games will generate more hype than typical early-season non-conference matchups.
“I think it’s great,” Gard said. “Not only because of the television coverage that will be national, but I think the experience that the fans will have here will be phenomenal.
“I just look around me today and imagine it. I’ve had this vision for over 15 years, but now I know it’s coming true. It’s going to be an amazing experience.”
For Moseley, who will be in his second season at UW, it’s also important to generate more attention for his show and get more facial recognition as well.
“One of the pillars for me as a coach is making sure I have a connection to the community,” Moseley said. “We’re not necessarily here in Milwaukee, but an hour and 15 minutes away.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of recognition in this state for the Badgers and for people to understand that it’s a new dawn for women’s basketball, that we’re building something special and they’re going to want to be involved.”
And the games also give basketball fans across the state a rare opportunity to participate in a large parking lot.
“Rain or shine, watch closely,” Schlesinger said. “And knowing our fans, the weather is kind of irrelevant to that.
“We’re going to try to create the Badger experience inside and the Brewers experience outside.”