It's an uphill battle Ganzer...

[MUBasketball]

Was listening to 1250 this morning (Chuck & Wickett Show).

Of course they brought up TJ Taylor leaving. Wickett (who I met once at a bar and claims to be a huge college hoops fan) asked who is the go-to guy for MU next year. Which is a good question. Would make for a good debate. But he basically was suggesting nobody is. Being highly critical. Then mentioned they have to rely heavily on "The third best player last year at Arizona State". What???

Then, someone called in and mentioned who has looked good at the Pro-Am. Wickett and Chuck then blast the Pro-Am. Wickett even said "They asked me to play in the Pro-Am!".

It's so frustrating that these guys choose to use their forum to criticize local sporting events, rather than encourage people to go out and attend them. The only guy from 1250 I ever remember seeing at the Pro-Am was Doug Russell a year or two ago on a night he did PA work. Otherwise, I guarantee Chuck nor Wickett have ever been there. How can they blast something they've never seen/been to?

Extremely frustrating.

[Goose85]

Great to blast something you haven't attended and know nothing about. Well Wickett must be pretty good if he is at the level of a college schollarship basketball player or some of the guys that are actually making a living playing basketball in other countries. What a bunch of hacks.

[GOMU1104]

Simple solution...dont listen to the clowns at 1250.

Its talk radio...its their job to rile people like you up.

[IWB]

So Wickett ripped on the Scion Dental Milwaukee Summer Pro-Am on-air this morning, even claiming that he was asked to play in the Pro-Am?

First off, the league is for college & pro basketball players, people he knows nothing about, so he should stick to what he knows. Second, not only was he never asked to be in the Pro-Am, he has never shown up in the three years of the Pro-Am. Being an on-air sports radio personality in Milwaukee, and I use the term 'on-air sports radio personality' loosely, you would think he might want to learn a little bit about it. Fox 6 has given us coverage, TWS 32 has given us coverage, ESPN radio, the Milwaukee Journal and even a Madison TV station, yet he has never even stuck his head in the door.

This is a high quality league for college and pro-basketball players. It is sports. But of course he would know that, he is an expert.

[Gato78]

And Wickett's intern is a ProAM devotee.

[MUfan12]

I've had conversations with Wickett, and he's not a MU hater. Like GOMU said, they do that to get reaction, and we as MU fans oblige them.

I stopped listening to their station when Michaels decided to drag DJO's name through the mud in March.

[MUBasketball]

I'm not saying Wickett is an MU hater. Like I said, I met him at Fitzgibbon's a little less than a year ago. The timing was perfect. MU had just released their full non-conference schedule, and I thought it was a typical schedule. Not at all "weak". Yet on the air shortly before I bumped into him, he was blasting it. So we had a long discussion about it over some brews. I couldn't convince him he was wrong, so that was annoying. I found him to be extremely arrogant. Get over yourself.

Hey, if you're educated, go ahead and rip on MU if it's deserved. But he's not educated. A while back, he was blasting the Big East for adding Boise State and San Diego State and Navy and how that will not help basketball...obviously having no clue these are football-only members. Then today, he calls Lockett Arizona State's "3rd best player" last year. I don't get pissed at his views...I get pissed at his inaccuracies. Just laziness.

Ripping on the Pro Am really pissed me off. First of all, if he's a diehard college hoops fan like he claims, why wouldn't he be supporting it? Even getting one more person to show up that wouldn't have come otherwise by mentioning it on the air is a great thing. Ripping on it does no favors. People who didn't know about it hear his comments and assume they are truly reflective of the league and will likely never make an attempt to show up. Why can't he take a few hours out of his precious "celebrity" time and show up at the Pro Am and formulate an opinion based on his own observations, rather than assumptions?

[Goose85]

I was talking to the father of one of the college guys playing in the pro-am and he went on about how great the pro-am is for these college guys. He said how beneficial it was for his son and others to get the chance to play against this level of competion (MU players - foreign pros - NBA level guys). Far better than trying to play pickup games while back home for the summer with guys you know.

While MU players have the benefit at times of having pros come to the Al to play with them, other college players don't have that chance so this is really valuable for them. People that bash the pro-am just have no clue, and it is getting better every year too and will continue to do so.

[IWB]

In this business I know I am always supposed to "take the high road", and I do. There are other sites that rip me constantly and I just let it go. Sure, I would love to fire back at some of these people, but I don't.

But ripping on the Pro-Am is a different deal. The Pro-Am is huge. Just last week Friday we had about 1,000 people in attendance. We have had players from the Big East, Big 10, Euro Pros, NBA, Ivy League, Pac 12 etc. When people like this rip on the Pro-Am, they aren't just ripping me, which is what their intention usually is, they are ripping all of these players - all of their coaches and athletic departments who investigate the league and then sign off to the NCAA allowing them to play. They are ripping on the fans that go - the sponsors that support it....the list goes on and on.

Rip on me - fine, go ahead, I'm a big boy and I can take it.

Rip on the Scion Dental Milwaukee Summer Pro-Am - and its game on.

[Gato78]

Let's talk historically. There have always been summer basketball forums in Milwaukee--though they wax and wane. When I was a kid, the go to spot was Hart Park. As Doddsy has said many times, that was where we met. His dad, Mal Dodds, basketball coach at Tosa East, along with Warren Cartier who was the coach at Tosa West, ran the Hart Park games. I went to Hart Park to try to get into games with the younger guys when the high school guys had not yet arrived. The marque matchups were the high school guys. The great players there were Allie McGuire, Ace Vollmer, Willie Rimmer and Greg "Pope" Johnson. It was a big deal when Jim Chones would show up. When Chones and McGuire played, there were fans in attendance. I remember Hank would come and in the recesses of my mind, I think Al may have been there from time to time. Majerus for sure. So how is that any different than the ProAm? There is nothing wrong with playground basketball in the summer. In fact, it is pretty entertaining--what is wrong with that? Can you imagine how big the ProAm would be right now if DWade had played in it when he was at MU? The haters can go eff themelves--they have no appreciation for basketball.

[TheSultan]

When did Mal Dodds coach at Tosa East?

[The Reptile]

Today, it's far easier to be a critic than to create something. Anyone with a brain should applaud IWB for taking the risks and following his passion to create the Pro-Am. The results benefit the players and fans, whereas the results of the critics' snarky comments give the haters and uninformed a few fleeting moments of joy.

[Gato78]

Mal Dodds coached Tosa East late '60's through mid '70's.

[ziggysfryboy]

Let's talk historically. There have always been summer basketball forums in Milwaukee--though they wax and wane. When I was a kid, the go to spot was Hart Park. As Doddsy has said many times, that was where we met. His dad, Mal Dodds, basketball coach at Tosa East, along with Warren Cartier who was the coach at Tosa West, ran the Hart Park games. I went to Hart Park to try to get into games with the younger guys when the high school guys had not yet arrived. The marque matchups were the high school guys. The great players there were Allie McGuire, Ace Vollmer, Willie Rimmer and Greg "Pope" Johnson. It was a big deal when Jim Chones would show up. When Chones and McGuire played, there were fans in attendance. I remember Hank would come and in the recesses of my mind, I think Al may have been there from time to time. Majerus for sure. So how is that any different than the ProAm? There is nothing wrong with playground basketball in the summer. In fact, it is pretty entertaining--what is wrong with that? Can you imagine how big the ProAm would be right now if DWade had played in it when he was at MU? The haters can go eff themelves--they have no appreciation for basketball.


it would be a whole different discussion if Bo actually let his players play in the pro-am.