These never get old... I just watched the HLT Championship for the.. 12th? time last night (no commercials too!).
Milwaukee @ Wright State (HLT Championship):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfBAa4RnhGQMilwaukee @ Green Bay (HLT Semifinal):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFPfnioBDCMI have come to understand over the years that fans of even the perennial winner/cash-laden teams come out with the lanterns and pitchforks when the going gets rough. And I've also learned that everything is relative to the current moment. Because of that- history and prospects for the future (whether games, seasons, player recruitment/development, ect.) often are thrown out the window when the 'going gets rough'.
The Brewers were in 1st place in the NL Central for what 150 days? Now I am hoping like heck they can finish strong, go 9/12 and get one of the WC's. The Badgers didn't start out too hot, but they should manage to make a bowl game. My adopted college team (Northwestern) was spoiled in recent years/decade by making several bowl appearances. Many of NU's well-heeled donors (Steven Cobert, Julia Luis Dreyfus, and Seth Myers are all alum) are up in arms and tearing out their hair, calling for the Coach Fitzgerald's head (of course) and threatening to withdraw substantial donation support until things are changed (changed like... what? The Dark Ages where NU would go multiple seasons without winning a meaningful game?).
How could NU start a season 0-2 against questionable non-con competition (NIU is good... for an FCS team)? Because you don't win them all.... Appalachian State happened. George Mason happened. Butler happened (2x+). Duke has been stunned multiple times in the Dance recently- it happens. I would not be surprised if NU winds up still winning 6 games but missing a bowl.. That's not an awful season. And sometimes, you just have an awful season due to unforeseen player turnover/injuries, etc.
How could the Brewers (picked for 3rd? 4th? in the NL Central) be wayyy out ahead in 1st place for 150 days... and then lose everything but their paycheck in a matter of two weeks?
How could the Packers get almost Denver-like embarrassed by the reigning NFL Champions)? How do the Bears score 3 TDs in the 4th quarter to down SF last night?
How- in the Wide World of Sports.... did the Milwaukee Panthers go from being the rejected cornerstone picked for last.... to struggling through a regular season which reached it's apex on the road in Green Bay, and it's nadir during the whole Jay-O suspension for
beating his girlfriend, kids driving a loaded missile (DUI), "smoking that evil reefer"... or whatever it was- to putting together the most epic end to a season I have ever seen. That was something magical. I will probably watch the two videos above 2 more times before the season starts! (and the NCAA Vault has the 2005 game vs. Illinois.... reeeeeeeeally wish I could find a copy/YouTube of the Boston College win... That was what cemented me as a lifelong Panther fanatic. I was at Axel's that day with some classmates from my hometown and just.... wow. Something changed for Milwaukee Athletics after that game (besides Pearl bolting- which nobody should blame him for... it's a business). I don't ever want to see this program (the basketball program esp. but really all programs) fall off the map for any extended period of time. We gotta let people know that the Milwaukee Panthers are a force to be reckoned with and not simply some SEIU-Edwardsville upstart D-I team...
Shout out to our hyphenated brethren(?). Lol. Speaking of the -uhm "complex" our brand has had over the years and to this day to a lesser extent (thanks "UWMilwaukee Panther" Arena! I'm only sort of kidding on that one)).... I am confident that sports article references of "the UW-Milwaukee Panthers" and "the UWM Panthers" should one day be a thing of the past... Just as "UW-Madison Badgers" and "UW Badgers" (other than their website name uwbadgers.com and the use of just one or the other "UW" or "Badgers") don't exist for simple and obvious marketing reasons.
It doesn't start and end with branding but- ESPN.com, Bleacher Report, AP, Horizon League, NCAA and most importantly, our own SID* are now all in agreement and being consistent with our team name references.... just our good old 'friend' JS-Online to go! But as others have noted, I care exponentially more about us winning and building this program into the perennial Mid-Major++ it could and should be than of being referenced as the "UMW-Wisconsin Panthers" or something in the Bismarck Tribune... lol.
I have to say though, I know for a fact that many posters on this board (ie. Derrick Kelly? a board member who works at UWM Bookstore and has done tons to get MILWAUKEE PANTHER gear abundant and font & center) were instrumental in getting the Uni to recognize and work to correct it's Athletic Branding problem as well as the media outlets and other teams, etc. who have since come around and finally accepted the fact that the name on our team's jerseys is indeed [gasp! astonishing!] the name of our team-
MILWAUKEE.
I know Jimmy has annoyed a few people to get this point across scores of times on social media and article comments, etc. Over the past 5-7 years, I have emailed the university (Santiago and Lovell) all of the aforementioned media outlets (and actually got responses from nearly all of my inquiries- some indicating they simply have to keep within their policy of "follow the school's SID").. in addition to several others (WTMJ, some radio stations... hey- it's better than sittin' around doing nothing!) that I can't even recall.
'Pretty sure the J-S does not like me at all.... But I have to call a spade a spade and IMO their excuse that "Milwaukee [SportTeam]" is reserved for the Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee Wave, etc. and they follow the sports organization's (Marketing/AD) policy- is frustrating and lame-sounding, especially when the Wave are in dire financial straights, the Bucks have their own set of issues (I think and hope they will say... but big-moneyed Coaster owners... they could very well bolt for a city that wants an NBA team more)
and our SID has finally addressed the "Milwaukee Panthers" issue. I know I wasn't the only Milwaukee Panther fan/associate asking that our athletic teams stop getting their name butchered in every new article- and I thank people so much for those efforts. Branding is low on the totem pole for many people. It isn't paramount but it is vitally important. If your team has an identity crisis (real, perceived or manufactured), it's hard to cement real, palpable tradition and be a recognizable element in the world of college sports, and a team that players take deep pride in wearing a jersey for.
See, things take time to take root. I suspect that in about 10 years, very few national C-hoops fans will be calling us "UW-Milwaukee" (and Milwaukee will probably be in the MVC or Conference USA). The oft-floated university name change to simply "The University of Milwaukee" would do this in a matter of a day. But that's unlikely in the UW System... not sure why (as if people will forget UW if UWM became "UM". I guess we'll wait and see...
From the new floor we got installed 6-7? years ago that super creative and ambitious posters of this board essentially designed, critiqued and inspired (long before the Uni even decided to build it!), to the seismic branding changes I've noticed from when I was an undergrad 2001-2005 to now in 2014, to the road warrior Milwaukee Panther fans who have
literally taken over entire arenas** (sometime when it's just 25 or 50 Panthers fans vs. 2000+ opponent fans!)- we, the fans, can make a difference. And if we really care about this team- it can't be a "take, take, take" relationship. We gotta get off our hands (at games and figuratively) and give back to this team that has provided so many special moments and times of enjoyment for us. Just a thought... Without sports (and improbable turnarounds and collapses)- life would be pretty emotionless and there would be a lot less to look forward to each day..
GO PANTHERS!!!! 2014-2015 Regular Season Championship Contender - Let's go get another Banner!- shall we?
PS: If you look up the definition of "ramble" in the Oxford English Dictionary- you will see a photo inset of this post. LMAO. Sorry. It's been a while. Anyone ready for basketball season?
PPS: I predict the Brewers will make the playoffs by a whisker in the final 3 or so games of the season- fittingly against the Cubs... beyond that, who knows? But I firmly believe if they can win 2 of 3 from STL, the wheels will be full speed in motion- one cannot deny the Crew is playing a LOT better after forgetting they were an MLB team for 2+ weeks.....
*( noticed, just as of the last couple months, the SID or his assistant finally turned on the branding light bulb and is FINALLY referring to the sports teams as "MILWAUKEE" and the "Milwaukee Panthers" and avoiding the alternating 6-10 forms of our nebulous name.
**See- Wright State video link above... "MIL-WAUK-EE" chants are about all you can hear for 35 minutes of that game. Classic -ish.
