My Bucks life
Been a Bucks fan my entire life, so I thought I’d attempt to timeline it a bit. It’s a fandom that was meant to be. So, as we head into the Eastern Conference Finals, let me show you.
Born and raised in Milwaukee.
Kid you not, Brian Winters (#32) and a player Jordan called the best “pure shooter” in history lived on my block in when I was in 2nd grade.
My Dad, even on late school nights, took me to games as a kid at MECCA and Bradley Center
Photo nights ruled!
I wanted so badly to be a Bucks ball boy. I applied every year, but never got accepted.
So, I focused on being a bigger fan and even created a Sidney Moncrief scrapbook that I still have today.
Went to Bucks Camps, and even won the Hustle Award. Full disclosure, my playing career peaked in eighth grade. Thanks, Tony Smith.
Never missed a MACC Fund Game, well maybe a few, but the game’s become a part of our community and I’m proud to attend every season … even as a kid.
My early Bucks fandom, in the 80s was amazing. As it was for all during that era. Lots of wins, but never a title.
So, college rolls around and somehow Marquette accepts me. I get to intern in the Athletics office which leads to a Bucks PR internship. Game days. It was amazing, and I love that many of the stat team is still there today. Bob Wanek, you don’t age!
I graduate with a dream of “working in sports” while believing (I still do) that some day I’ll own the team.
Summers after college are full … often with a weekend of Hoop it Up, the annual Bucks/NBA sponsored street ball tourney. I volunteered for everyone one of them. Hard, fun work.
End up working for Joe Sweeney at the Wisconsin Sports Authority … our office is where? In the old Bucks office at the MECCA.
One day, in the 90s, we need a new computer and a guy named Jay Kaun (currently still a stats guy with the Bucks) donates one … and in exchange, we buy Bucks season tickets that we share.
I continue my time at the WSA working on the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, including the likes of Oscar, Sidney, Jon McGlocklin, former Bucks owner Jim Fitzgerald and many others that you see outside the UWM Panther Arena. Many of those plaques, by the way, I wrote.
In 1994, the Bucks draft The Big Dog, Glenn Robinson. I put the WSA Bucks tickets in my name as I leave the job to go work at an agency and eventually for a lobbying group that’s working on the new convention center, Miller Park and more.
Speaking of tickets .. we still have those seasons tickets. Now shared with a great group of friends — our Bucks ticket cartel. The annual ticket drafts and ongoing texts about the team are truly special and cherished.
In 1998, the Bucks hire George Karl. I’m all in, and a member of his Friends of Hoop foundation. He becomes a big part of Milwaukee and I truly enjoy getting to know him and doing some crazy, fun events in the city while raising money for good causes!
When the team makes the Eastern Conference Finals, OnMilwaukee makes and distributes George Karl masks. The city loved them and they make the front page of USA Today
Karl leaves in 2003, but my ticket group keeps our seats. Civic duty, I say.
I make it through the “dark.. losing years” probably annoying the team with my ideas and feedback but also gaining a new client for OnMilwaukee. We do fun stuff like “Charlie Do My Job,” follow Brandon Jennings to Summerfest and so much more. Thankful for our partnership with the team, for sure.
Even got this photo with Jennings, my son (another life-long fan) and me.
The Bucks need a new arena and thanks to many including JoAnne Anton and Chris Abele, I get appointed to the board of directors at the Wisconsin Center District, which becomes a financial conduit for what is now fisev forum.
A year before the team is sold, when I was still at OnMilwaukee, I’m searching for the right person to lead our growing revenue team and then VP Sales Jim Grayson joins.
Speaking of new ownership, I think of my first lunch with Bucks president Peter Feigin often. Weeks after his hire, he was kind enough to sit down and take in my rambling ideas. Looking at my agenda for that meeting, nearly every idea and concept has come to life in some way, shape or form. That’s #OwningTheFuture
Today, of course, the team is rocking through the NBA playoffs and setting the state on fire! It’s Fear the Deer, 24/7.
Get to the Deer District, hold a Bucks party in your neighborhood, embrace this time.
Finally, tell us your Bucks story. Share it now. No matter what your connection to the team is, we’re all in this together. At all levels, sports bring people together. And when a team like the Bucks win — community builds and takes note since we all become a part of the story.
GO BUCKS!
