Author Archives: SOB Editor

About SOB Editor

Save Our Bucks.

Some Trial Balloons Go Up

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

– Ferris Bueller

There was some pretty big news on the new arena front yesterday, but perhaps many of us were too caught up in New Year’s Eve preparations and Packer celebrations to take notice. NBA writer David Aldridge posted an interview with Senator Kohl, where Kohl talked extensively regarding the arena situation.

Since Kohl does not give detailed public interviews very often, it is likely that he initiated contact with Aldridge, in order to float some trial balloons relating to the issue of a new facility in Milwaukee. For the first time, he hinted at the percentage of the cost of a new arena that might be privately contributed toward the project. Continue reading

What Is The Strategic Plan?

SaveOurBucks.com has been online now for just over a month. In that time we’ve been fortunate to have coverage from Kelly Dwyer (Yahoo), Bill Simmons (ESPN/Grantland), Matt Moore (CBS), USA Today, Deadspin, The Sporting News, Darren Rovell, The Dan Patrick Show, Fox 6, WTMJ 4, WISN 12 and CBS 58 among others. However, it wasn’t until  the other day that we received coverage from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS), the local newspaper of record here in Milwaukee.

You can read the article by Don Walker here. We think the article was well-written and conveys our “tough love” approach as it relates to the organization. There is one point to clarify though. In the article, Walker refers to “a mystery man funding the operation…” There really isn’t a “funder” here for operations, as the costs of creating a website are minimal, and are graciously being donated by our talented webmaster. Continue reading

Save Our Bucks Billboard

What are the goals of SaveOurBucks.com?

We were recently asked on Twitter by Bucks play-by-play man, Ted Davis (@Nbated), “What are the goals of SaveOurBucks.com?”

Long-term, we’d hope this site can be an information source and rallying point for fans, as the Milwaukee community debates the merits of a new arena. In the short-term however, our goals are to spark discussion and accountability regarding the franchise’s efforts in producing a compelling product for the fans to rally around. If the Bucks are able to present to the public an exciting team, we believe the fans will return. However, to get to that point Senator Kohl needs to rethink how he has structured his front office and the culture therein.

As we’ve documented here, the front office culture the past twenty years may be contributing to the challenges the team faces. The front office has a number of Executive Vice Presidents who have been with the team for decades. All of these people provide input on basketball related decisions, even though many are not basketball people, but rather attorneys and accountants.  Here are some examples of their dysfunctional involvement in basketball decisions, as documented by BrewHoop. Continue reading