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Wanted: Heroes W/$$$
Milwaukee is a Major League city. That is a fact. But it is a city that has lost its way, of late, as it relates to maintaining that moniker.
The Cream City – the one-time Athens of the Midwest – is in danger (grave danger…is there any other kind?) of letting it all slip away.
And that will happen sooner rather than later if a hero or better yet a few heroes with money step up to the plate.
What with the recession and global economic downturn wreaking havoc with all sorts of businesses, area sports teams and events have taken a huge hit.
The Wave, The Milwaukee Mile and the US Bank Championship have all been hit by the economy and, in one case, chicanery to put their futures in peril.
US Bank is pulling its support for its PGA tournament event. The former GMO has been around since 1968 is looking for another backer. Local names Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker, among others, are trying to breathe life back into the event
Let’s start with a little history lesson. The Milwaukee Arena, now known as the US Cellular Arena, was the first, sports specific building erected in the United States after World War II.
The Milwaukee Hawks of the NBA called the edifice home before going to St. Louis and eventually Atlanta. Marquette and the Milwaukee Bucks had many memorable years there.
The City Fathers, make that the County Fathers, basically built County Stadium on spec, that is, with no guarantee that the Boston Braves would become the first tenants. To that point, no team had ever relocated.
That is forward thinking the likes of which we haven’t seen around these parts in quite a while.
It might seem a tad counterintuitive, but this is one time when you want history to repeat itself.
Don’t get me wrong, the area is replete with heroes that have stepped up time and again to make things happen in the realm of sports.
Wes Pavalon, Marv Fishman and Co. brought us the Bucks 42 years ago and then Jim Fitzgerald and later soon-to-be Senator Herb Kohl kept them around and reasonably stable financially.
Allan H. (Bud) Selig put together the group that bought the Seattle Pilots to take over as tenants after the Braves left for greener pastures.
Love him or hate him, if it weren’t for the tenacity and sheer guts displayed by Selig, I wouldn’t be writing this from the comfort of the Miller Park press box.
And when Selig and family could no longer compete in the current financial climate of Major League Baseball, Mark Attanasio came up big to put a product on the field at MP that has fans going through the turnstiles at record paces.
Attanasio, a native New Yorker who loves baseball, wanted to own a team and the planets aligned to make it happen here in Brew City. Since that time, he has more than doubled the annual payroll for players, sunk tons more cash into the facility, ended the playoff drought and been rewarded with consecutive attendance records.
By the way, as long as we’re talking history, the Milwaukee Braves were the first baseball franchise to draw a million fans in a season. That includes the storied Yankees with The Babe, Lou Gehrig and company.
If it were not for the deep pockets and love for sports that Lloyd and Jane Pettit showed this city for nearly 30 years; the Admirals would have perished to bankruptcy in 1976, there would be no Bradley Center, Pettit National Ice Center and the GMO would have already long since been buried.
This is in addition to countless other non-sports related activities in the arts and culture that they bankrolled year after year.
You could make the case that the Pettits’ passing was the first and maybe biggest block taken from the area sports game of Jenga®, making the whole thing unstable from the start long before the global economy tanked.
Harris Turer, Jon Greenberg and their team scooped up the Admirals and they have made great strides showing slow, steady growth even this last very tough year.
The Wave was part of an indoor league that splintered and the faction they put in with went belly up after one season.
In late July, Wave Owner Charles Krause signed a conditional agreement with an investor, saving that team from going under. That stopped the executioner’s axe from falling for now, but season ticket goals have to be met to make it viable.
The Milwaukee Mile just announced tentative plans to stay alive, but it isn’t clear if NASCAR and the IRL will come back to salvage that entity. Those two acronyms are owed a lot of money and will have to get something before that Gibraltar will be moved forward.
Even the healthiest of teams and leagues at all levels would not exist if it weren’t for some angels with fat wallets and a lot of love.
Think about that the next time you attend your favorite pastime!
*Editor's Note: After the article was written, Jim and Nancy Lindenberg purchased the Milwaukee Wave.
Tags: SportsBubbler Chris Peppas Milwaukee Wave Milwaukee Bucks Milwaukee Mile US Bank Championship Milwaukee Brewers Milwaukee Admirals
