Every four years the world’s top soccer nations collide to see who reigns champion amongst them all in the simple game of soccer or futbol if you’re not from around these parts. The World Cup gives the opportunity for proud nation’s men to boast about how wonderful their country is, how beautiful their women are and talk shit to any other country that loses to their fateful team. In ’06, the championship game was a grueling match between France vs Italy. The Italians took the victory in Deutschland, but recapturing the cup for them is going to be an uphill battle the entire way. After a disappointing ’06 turn out, the USA, lead once again by captain Landon Donovan, debut against England tomorrow at approx. 1:30pm. Amazingly enough you won’t have to worry about any of your favorite teams making the finals though, i.e. Argentina, Spain or even the USA. Most likely it’s going to be either Deutschland (Germany) or Brazil in the finals seeing has how cup after cup they’ve proven to have the strongest teams. But almost as important as watching which team swells their nation’s pride is which player provides the most entertainment throughout the games.The Top 3 most exciting players to watch are going to be 1: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – midfielder who’s known for great ball handling skills and long distance shooting, 2: Wayne Rooney (England) – 24 year old forward who can deliver the ball from anywhere on the front line, and 3: Lionel Messi (Argentina) – forward with 41 national appearances and 13 goals that make him a problem for any opposing team. The biggest games to watch in the first round are going to start with tomorrow’s match up of USA vs. England, Ivory Coast vs. Portugal (6/15), France vs. Mexico, Brazil vs. Ivory Coast (6/20), France vs. Africa (6/22), Ghana vs. Germany (6/23) and Portugal vs. Brazil (6/25). If you’re going to watch the World Cup in Milwaukee, there are only 3 places to do so: Nomad, The Highbury and Moct. Nomad, kicks off the World Cup with a Block Party tomorrow morning starting at 11am for the USA vs. England match @ 1:30. After the match, there will be live music by De La Buena and Kings Go Forth to carry on the festivities. The Highbury, Bayview’s soccer pub, has the great crowd and soccer club feel that will make watching the World Cup enjoyable throughout. Moct is going to have game after game after game of the World Cup which will be nice since it’s the most spacious and comfortable venue to watch the matches. With a new food menu and drink specials, you’ll be catching MKE Wired on the spot quite frequently throughout the Cup. For a complete list of the games check out The Highburys website - thehighbury.com! And now it’s time for some Futbol!!!!!!! GOAL GOAL GOAL!!!

Recently, MKE Wired got a chance to chop it up with former UFC fighter Razak “Razor” Al-Hassan prior to his upcoming fight tonight @ Unstoppable. Having tasted some of that high intensity UFC action, Razak is looking to work his way back up the ladder for a piece of that big time action.

Razak Al-Hassam

Age: 28
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 220lbs
Reach: 81″
Fighting Style: Striker, All Around fighter and Good ground game
Where From: Anes, Iowa
Currently Live: Milwaukee, since this January
Gym Affiliation: Roufus Sports
Record: 8-2, soon to be 9-2

How long have you been fighting for?
I’ve been fighting since ’07, so a little over 3 years.

How long were you in the UFC for?
I’ve had 2 bouts in the UFC; Dec 08 and Oct 09.

What happened in your last fight?
April 3, I won in the 2nd round with a rear naked choke hold.

What do you do to scout an opponent?
I find out just enough about opponent but not too much like his record, style, who’s he fought. I don’t want to know anything else about him… the more you know, the more it starts to mess with your mind, so I just stick to the game and go forward with the game plan.

How do you prepare for a fight?
I usually start training 6 – 8 weeks for a fight. I’ve just had one of my best training camps. I feel like I’m in tremendous shape for this fight.

Anything you did special to prepare for this upcoming fight on Saturday June 5th?
I did a lot of sparing, positioning and grappling.

What’s the best thing about being in the cage?
Complete freedom. There are no restrictions. You have to do what ever you need to do to see who’s the better man. There’s nothing like that at all.

What’s the best part about the ring girls?
laughs I don’t even see them. Before the fight I’m in the back. During the fight I’m in the corner. I really don’t even notice them while I’m fighting at all. lol, like we buyin’ that…

What do you do for post victory celebrations?
I keep it simple. I thank the the peeps and thank everybody for the being there. I never get too wild and crazy, but after the fight is the time to vent and not worry about the fight anymore.

We wish the best of luck to Razak in tonight’s fight at Olympia Resort (Oconomowoc, WI) for the North American Fighting Championship “Unstoppable.” Tickets are still available for purchase at the door (CASH Only). Check out all the MMA action at NAFC.TV for upcoming Fights!!!

Look for more MMA Profiles and Feature Stories coming soon!!!

On Saturday, May 29, the Brewers organization paid tribute to the Negro Baseball League by hosting a few events at Helfaer Field. Former Negro League players were on hand to sign jersey’s, t-shirts and hats as patrons made it into the park. Jammin’ 98.3′s Shatavia B was on the mic all afternoon hosting giveaways and providing updates on the activities. Even though no ball in the Home Run derby actually made out of Helfaer Field, there was much entertainment as it came down to a mother and son battle in a “Best of 10″ batting exhibition.  The activities were capped off with a Luther Vandross like rendition of all of big Luther’s hits. It was a great afternoon leading up to the Brewers vs. Mets game at Miller Park, where all of that free beer was exercised accordingly, lol.

Wowzers… The Brew Crew are currently 15-23 on the season, an astounding 7 games behind the division leading Cincinnati Reds (really?) and have pulled out only 3 victories in the last 10 games. We at MKE Wired just have one question for General Manager Ken Macha, what’s going on buddy? Huh? The Brewers are a far cry from where they were situated last year, even with some supposedly better additions. In last night’s game against the Cinci, even Coery Hart went yard, but still the Brewers weren’t able to pick up a victory, losing 3-6 on the road. Starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo went 6 innings, only allowing 4 hits and 1 run, but it was Todd Coffey who gave up the game in the 7th. Coffey got smacked for 5 hits, 5 runs, 1hr and a lousy 5.00 era. It’s like the Brewers weren’t connecting with the ball on offense either. The Brewers finished with 12 hits, but only produced 3 runs, 2 of which came in the 9th inning while trying to mount a comeback. The worst about the loss is that the Brewers are still 11-9 on the road… Fackin’ amazing considering at home the Brewers suck. Let me say that again the Brewers SUCK @ home! 4-14 to be exact. Either we as fans aren’t drunk enough at the games, cheering our team on or Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks and Ryan Braun don’t like looking at your drunk muggs anymore, which I’m hoping is not the case since I have tickets to see the Brewers vs. the Mets on the 39th and I’m really hoping for a victory fellas. With exactly 50 games, including today’s once again against the Reds, the Brewers are going to need to do so soul searching for something respectable at least before the All Star break ’cause word on the street is Milwaukeeans are already talking about having Macha’s head served on a platter. Schucks!

After Anthony Jones’ 43 yard touchdown catch from Chris Greisen in overtime, it was on the Iron’s head coach Bob Landsee whether or not the Iron were going for an extra point or the 2 point conversion. An extra point would have tied the game at 55 against the Utah Blaze. According to the old rule of football, go for the tie on the road and for the win at home. Dropping back, Greisen saw a slim chance of connecting with Nate Forse which Greisen made happen for the 56-55 win in a barn burning victory to keep the Iron’s record flawless at home.
Greisen finished the game 21 of 34 with only 1 interception, 308 yards and 6 touchdowns. Greisen with 3 different receivers, all whom caught 6 balls. Anthony Jones was the go to guy for crossing the goal with 4 touchdowns on only 7 receptions, finishing with 119 yards. Forse snagged 8 catches for 114 yards and 1 touchdown. Damien Harrell also had a very memorable night breaking the AFL All Time Career Receiving Yards with 13,398. Harrell’s record setting catch came in the 2nd quarter to take over Barry Wagner’s previous record of 13,363 yards. On the ground, Tyre Young lead all rushers with 8 yards on 4 attempts and 1 touchdown.
The Blaze gave it their all after falling down 13-0 in the middle of the 1st quarter. To close the 1st half, the Blaze scored 14 unanswered points. Then to open up the 3rd quarter, the Blaze added another 7 to the scoreboard to put the game at 34-27, giving the Blaze their first lead of the night. After that score, the Iron and Blaze traded touchdowns all the way to the finish. When it was all said and done the Iron finished with 323 yards of total offense. Greisen averaged 9.1 yards per pass.
On the season the Iron are now at the top of the Division with 5 wins and 1 loss. Up next, the Iron have the Orlando Predators. Orlando is currently struggling at 1-3 so far this year, so the Iron will have to stay mentally tough in order to pull out another victory.

After dropping 3 games straight to the Chicago Cubs and their FIBS the Brewers are 8-10 in the Central Division. Tied with the Houston Astros, 3 games behind the division leading St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers aren’t having the best start to the season. There’s been too many countless games where holding on to a lead somehow has now become an issue. Pitchers LeTroy Hawkins, Jeff Suppan and Doug Davis are having problems. No other way to put it. Opening Day starter Yvonni Gallardo, who Manager Ken Macha said would be ready for big league ball this year, is 1 -2 with a team leading 25 strike outs. Last year, pitcher Trevor Hoffman only allowed 11 runs on 35 hits in 54 innings pitched. Already this year, Hoffman has 7 runs on 10 hits in 7 innings… NOT GANGSTER. The Brewers need to step up their offensive game, like the 20-0 ‘offensive frustration’ victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates last week and continue that on a regular basis. Offensively, the Brewers haven’t been the biggest sluggers at the plate either. Ryan Braun leads the team with 5 HRs, 20 RBIs and .366 batting average. 3rd Baseman Casey McGehee is pulling in decent numbers with 4HRs, 21 hits and a .338 avg. 1st Baseman Prince Fielder is leading the ballclub with 20 strikeouts. Fielder looks as though he is swinging for the fences in order to get his bat up and running for the season. Personally, we’ll take a few 5-4, 3-2 victories only as long as their wins baby! The Brewers take on the Pirates in a 3 game series starting tonight, then follow up with 4 games out in San Diego(11-7). If the Brewers do what they did to the Pirates before, they should head to Cali with some momentum to keep them in the running.

Even though the Bucks are only down 1 game in the first round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, they’re down a lot more than just that. In the entire game there were absolutely zero lead changes, meaning the Hawks dominated from the get go. It’s pretty safe to say that the 22 point lead that the Hawks had over the Bucks wasn’t too hard for them achieve. The Bucks were simply not able to play big enough to match of up against the Hawks in game 1. Point Guard Brandon Jennings however did play bigger than normal posting a game high 34 points, but only 3 assists. John Salmons, leading scorer for the Bucks since his acquisition, dropped only 16 points on the night. It looked as though Salmons was having an off night by hittin’ 6-18 from the field and posting a donut from the 3-point line. The Bucks’ front court (Delfino, Mbah a Moute, Thomas) were offensiely unmatched to the Hawks defense. No big man for the Bucks scored in double digits, compared to the Hawks entire front court scoring double digits as well as the starting guards and Jamal Crawford coming off the bench. In tomorrow’s game, it’s going to come down to the Bucks playing defense and making shots… all of them. The Bucks have beaten the Hawks already this season, with Bogut only droppin’ 9 points. This big men for the Bucks are going to have to step up in big tomorrow’s Game 2 and not let the Bucks go down by 20 if they want a fighting chance.

In their second season as an arena football team the Milwaukee Iron defeated the Iowa Barnstormers 65-40, in this year’s home opener. On the first place of scrimmage, the Iron started with a delay of game penalty pushing them five yards backwards, but from that point the Iron were headed in the right direction. Quarterback Chris Greisen connected with wide receiver Nate Forse on the 3rd play for a 16 yard touchdown. From that point on, the Iron were clickin’ on all cylinders and not lookin’ back. The Iron finished with 19 first downs, 16 of which were passing. Greisen lead the team to 4-7 in 3rd down conversions, 1-1 on 4th down. Greisen finished the game 25-36, 382 yards, 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Wide receivers Anthony Jones and Forse both had big nights. Jones caught 12 balls for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns. Forse caught 10 balls for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns as well. Overall the Iron posted 407 yards of total offense, averaging 10.6 yards per pass. Defensively the Iron held the Barnstormers to 267 total yards of offense, including 2 interceptions. With 10:28 to play in the third Barnstormer quarterback Ryan Vena threw an interception to the Iron’s db Virgil Gray who returned it 49 yards for the score. Currently, the Iron are 2-0 on the season, 2nd in the National Conference behind the Chicago Rush. Next on the menu for the Iron will be the Tampa Bay Storm who are 0-1 on the season. The Storm in their only game put up 350 yards of offense and 58 points, while allowing 69 points and 305 yards.

Damn, it’s Opening Day already!!!! Winter’s done. Spring training’s done. It’s now time for America’s 2nd favorite past time, baseball season with yours truly and the wonderful Milwaukee Brewers headed by team manager Ken Macha. Macha’s looking start off the season like ’09 going into the break as one of the hottest teams in the league. In Macha’s first season, the team finished 80-82, 40-41 at home and on the road. The Brew Crew finished 11 games behind the Central Division leader St. Louis Cardinals, who they finished off the season with a 9-7 victory over. Macha’s going to be looking forward to having some new depth at the mound with the additions of lefties Randy Wolf and Doug Davis. Wolf finished 11-7 as a Dodger last season, with a 3.23 ERA and 160 Strike Outs. Wolf’s expected to the tomorrow’s starter against the Colorado Rockies. Following Wolf, is former Brewers pitcher Doug Davis who returns from the Diamondbacks. Last season Davis finished 9-14 with a 4.12 ERA, which he’s looking to lower with the help of an All Star cast defense. First on the mound for the Brewers this season is going to be Yovani Gallardo. At 24 years old, Gallardo is coming off of his best season last year with 13-12 record, 3.73 ERA and a whopping 204 Strike Outs. Gallardo is going to be Mach’s go to guy all season long, so the young lefty better get ready to play big thru October.

Offensively, the Brewers still have their main sluggers, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.  Last season, Braun caught the All Star ballot with 113 runs, 203 hits, 32 homers, 113 rbi’s and 20 stolen bases.  Braun finished the season with .320 batting average and as arguably the best outfield in the NL last year.  Braun finished the season 2nd in homer and rbi’s to none other the Prince Fielder, who smacked in 46 home runs and 144 rbi’s.  With these two consistently producing All Star numbers, it’s going to be up to 2nd Baseman Rickie Weeks, Short Stop Alcides Escobar and Corey Hart to do some big producing on their own.  In ’09, Weeks was well on his way to having the best season of his career before his injury occurred.  Escobar, one of the youngest on the team, finished with 38 hits in 38 games and also a .304 batting average. In spring ball this season, Escobar smacked 20 hits in 60 at bats, with 9 RBI’s. Escobar seems like he’s ready for some limelight this season at Short. With the season officially underway like right now, most major new sources are putting the Brewers at the middle of the Central Divison, but it’s going to be up the Brew Crew start strong and finish strong in order for them to make it the post season.

Take it either way… WHOA are the Bucks (39-32) for being in 5th position in the East, which even though they haven’t been guaranteed a playoff birth yet, if all goes well they’ll be in the playoffs at the end of the season. Or Whoa are the Bucks for losing to the 76ers and the Heat, last night, after a big win against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. Damn, even in 5th position we’re still looking for some consistency. The Bucks are the clear divide in the Eastern Conference between the good and the bad. At this point all of the good have won 40+ games (Cleveland, Orlando, Boston and Atlanta). The bad, playoff bound as they maybe, have won between 39 and 35 games. The Bucks are in a position that they haven’t been in since 2001.  Even with injuries, the Bucks have to maintain composure by pulling off the necessary games, the games against opponents like Philadelphia with a weaker record.  In the last 11 games, the Bucks play Philadelphia, LA Clippers, New Jersey and Chicago, needing no losses during any of those games.  If the Bucks pull off wins against Boston, Memphis and Atlanta, then they will be going into the playoffs to most likely face the Hawks again with a lot of momentum and excitement. In the last 10 games, the Bucks are 7-3 with 2 of those losses coming Philadelphia who are 26-47 and the Clippers who the Bucks should ever lose to. With all of that said and actually doned, the Bucks could be going into the playoffs a little beastie. Hopefully with Andrew Bogut’s back getting a little rest, the Bucks will be close to full force come playoffs, thanks to Scottie Skiles coaching moves.