Panther Advocacy Group

[Jimmy Lemke]

Talking to key people around the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee program last night before, during and after the game, one thing I found is that everyone was very receptive to the #Jimmy4AD patented idea of building the biggest and best practice facility in the country, converting the UWM Alumni House into a dormitory for men's basketball, pursuing ownership in the Cell, and reviving pursuit of the MLB's RBI program for our baseball stadium.

Everyone likes the plan. It's ambitious, its rewards are great, it's realistic and it casts out all the garbage that I've been pursuing for too long. I'm calling it "channeling my crazy," and it's all about taking care of what we have in a way that builds our athletics program into national prominence through facilities. No more pursuit of football; hockey and lacrosse are interesting but they're on the back-burner. What this is about is Milwaukee Basketball (and to a lesser extent baseball, and a bit soccer) and what we can do to join the ranks of the Butlers, Xaviers and Gonzagas in the haves of the mid-major world.

Simply put, we're lacking in facilities, and instead of reaching for the middle with a giant wad of cash, my plan is to spend a smaller wad of cash to reach the stars. This isn't crazy-talk - conservative estimates say that renovation of the Klotsche Center would cost $50 million - and my plan is significantly cheaper than that.

The first thing you need to do is read part of my plan that I came out with the other day: Vaulting Milwaukee Basketball to New Heights (http://www.brewcityball.com/forums/content.php?551-Vaulting-Milwaukee-Basketball-to-New-Heights).

Once you're done reading that, post ideas here - I have to jump off for a little bit but I'll be back to expand.

[Jimmy Lemke]

These are great ideas - they are a sure-fire way of building this program into national prominence, regardless of where we play our games. What I mean by that is we can own the Cell or go back to leasing it, it won't matter (as much). If we were practicing in the best practice facility in the NCAA, the coaching staff - no matter who is on it - would be able to recruit Top 50 high school players annually.

The big knock on our program right now is that the Klotsche Center is evidence that the University is not committed to excellence in basketball. And who can argue that point? The Klotsche Center was only a marginally good building by D-I standards in 1974, and the building is rapidly approaching its fortieth year.

Sharing the space with Rec Sports is a killer for our program (http://pantheru.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/excelling-in-ordinary-space/), and playing games in there only adds to it. I can only guess that Andy Geiger's plan was to foster enough outrage from the fan base that they ponied up the money for a new arena. That's not the case, because fans don't WANT their basketball games on campus. We have seen the highly negative reaction of the Panther fan base in the form of angry message board rants, ranting on sports talk shows, and the worst: not buying season tickets.

Look, we can mire in our collective disdain about the Klotsche Center or we can do something about it. This is what I am proposing: organize.

Some people have good ideas. Some people put money into this program. Some people buy season tickets, and some go on road trips. We are businessmen, students, lawyers, carpenters. We work retail, landscaping, plumbing, we sell cars. But there's one thing we all have in common.

We are Milwaukee Panthers.

Individually, we all bring something to the table. But without organization, without leadership and without a vision, we are always going to be looking to others. And at this university, all that's going to lead to is reaching for the middle.

With that in mind, I am establishing the Black and Gold Club. I originally considered the idea of calling it the Alumni Black and Gold Club, but this shouldn't be limited to alumni. Students and fans who have no degree from UWM should also be involved. This is our program, and it's about time we took ownership of it.

[OregonWiAlum]

I'd be interested. What would you envision the club do? Fundraise? Social? Outreach?

[Jimmy Lemke]

I think there are many ways the Black and Gold Club can be a serious boon to the program. Talking to several people at the UIC game, including UIC fan and PantherU pollster Lee Kolodziej, I realized that we can't sit on the sidelines anymore. We talk about the myriad of problems facing the program we love - branding, merchandising, facilities, spirit, support, visibility, conference, any number of things - but rarely do we look to ourselves to fix these problems. We often expect some face in athletics, or the administration, to come along and save us. We said, "If George can build a facility in three years and leave, we'll be happy." We said, "Costello sees a bright future just like us!" Neither of those came to fruition. Donors and fans alike were angry when Andy Geiger moved men's basketball games back to the on-campus Klotsche Center.

So what are we waiting for? I know I'm the loudest, but I sure am not the only one who cares about Milwaukee Athletics enough to get off the sidelines and do something about it. This Black and Gold Club is the way we take ownership of our program and accomplish all the things we know this sleeping giant can be.

Who are we looking at for the BGC? Everyone:

- Donors
- Students
- Alumni
- Fans

Everyone has their part. Students have been doing part of what I'd ask of them by bringing friends to games, promoting the games on campus, and being loud as hell at the games. Fans are buying season tickets, and some of them are bringing friends to games and talking them up at the office. Donors are putting their money into the program, and that's great - what I'm talking about is orchestrated funding of select projects that will get the most bang for the buck of the university.

Here's some of the ideas that I'm kicking around:

The Vision for Basketball - Practice facility, Alumni House

These are projects that would be a far better use of money than simply renovating the Klotsche and building a small practice facility. The current university plans reach for the middle; it's the same move countless other schools have done, from Green Bay to Loyola to Wright State and many mid-majors and high-majors alike.

My plan - the best practice facility in the country, ownership of the Arena and conversion of the Alumni House - is a sure-fire path to spending less money and getting more out of it. Programs get better and sustain that by bringing in more fans and more money. You do that by winning, and winning consistently and more than the other guys. To win at the highest level, you need to have the best players. To have the best players, you need to have the best recruiting. To have the best recruiting, you need the best tools. The best tools are facilities.

Junior college players largely choose bigger city schools because they just spent one or two years in podunk Illinois or Iowa and they want nothing to do with that life. Seventeen-year old kids who are choosing school for the first time, the kinds that exist in Top 50 recruiting classes and have NBA aspirations, want to see facilities. They want to see where they're going to spend four years of their life. You know what my two construction projects entail? Seventeen-year old kids seeing that they'll spend most of their practice and study time in the best practice facility in the country and they'll live in a FREAKING CASTLE. Put those two together, and Milwaukee is recruiting against Kentucky and Louisville, Wisconsin and Marquette. They won't be recruiting against UNI and Green Bay, Bradley and Loyola.

The great thing about being late to the party in the facilities game is we know exactly what it takes to have the best facilities at the cheapest cost. We know that Kentucky's Joe Craft Center is unlikely to be topped - Indiana has chosen to only equal it, and everyone else is set - but none of those programs needs to go above and beyond to remain nationally prominent. We aren't at that level, but building the $35 million practice facility would vault us to the top of the mid-major heap - the Gonzaga's, Butler's and Xavier's of the world - at the very least. The other part is that most universities wouldn't spend $8 million like Kentucky to build a men's basketball dorm. But the existence of the Alumni House, and it's almost total lack of use, make it the perfect candidate to become a dormitory once more.

We know the Bucks have long wanted to leave the Cousins Center behind. It doesn't befit a modern NBA franchise, much like the Bradley Center. If we built this practice facility, we could recoup a significant portion of the expenses by renting out the facility to the Bucks. This wouldn't be the first time that has happened - the Dallas Mavericks practiced in the American Airlines Center until they moved into SMU's practice facility a couple years ago. If we were planning ahead of time and got them to sign a letter of intent, we could even design and construct the practice facility with the Milwaukee Bucks in mind. If they ever leave town or the practice facility, that extra gym could be a "Legacy Gym" like the one at Duke, where alumni players come back and practice their game away from prying eyes of media and fans.

We haven't raised $35 million for athletics from private funds before. In fact, I'm hard pressed to remember what the biggest single project. But that's just it. We're not offering donors the kind of project that makes us the best Horizon League program. We're offering donors the kind of project that makes us one of the best programs in the country. With all our alumni in high places, and the university making a real commitment to athletics, donors who can afford multi-million dollar donations will have no reason not to half-ass the checks they write - after all, the university won't be half-assing the plan to change the program for good.

[Jimmy Lemke]

Pump up the Brand

But it's not just money. It's the word, the message of the program. Every AD candidate who has come through in the last five years has talked about spreading the message about Milwaukee Athletics. That means merchandising, talking up the program, bringing friends and family and co-workers around to games.

We need to ensure that stores are stocking the latest and greatest Milwaukee apparel. Paul Plinske talked about establishing a pro shop and an online merch shop, but it also has to go where he said - the K-Marts and Wal-Marts of the world. That takes more than calling up stores and pitching merchandise - it also takes buying those items so stores have reasons to keep themselves stocked. And the more people wearing your brand, the more popular it becomes. It's Nike's marketing from the 1980's all over again. Putting that swoosh everywhere was a stroke of genius; the Milwaukee logo needs to be very prominent around the city. So what does that mean for the BGC? It means we buy the clothes. We buy the polos for ourselves and the t-shirts for our kids. We buy the cooking utensils with the Panther logo and we give the gift of a camping chair with the Panther head on it to our parents. Spread the word of the Milwaukee brand by giving it to your friends, family, co-workers. Dad's birthday coming up? "Panther Dad" t-shirts are available. Sister had a baby? "Future Panther" one-sies exist. Taking co-workers to the basketball game next week? Get their sizes and buy them each a t-shirt.

If there's one thing I learned over my time in college around the Panthers, it's that students on campus may not care about the program, but they sure do like wearing the Black and Gold. If the members of the Black and Gold Club start putting Panther gear in with gifts they give, you spread the brand and you give stores a reason to keep stocking the shelves.

It also goes beyond buying stuff and wearing the Black and Gold. We have to talk up the team. At the water cooler, at family picnics, at the bar with your buddies. Call-in shows on 540, 1250, 620 and 1130. When people are talking sports, start talking Panthers. The 1250 Sound-off Line is perfect. It should always have 3-5 people talking about the basketball program. EVEN IF IT'S COMPLAINING, you still get people thinking about the program, talking about the program. If talk jockeys think that more of their listeners are interested in the Panthers, then they'll start getting more knowledgeable about the Panthers. Then the discussion on 1250 isn't "When is UWM going to get back to the tournament" and wide-brush topics like that, it becomes "Should Kyle Kelm regain his starting job" or "Is recruiting taking a hit from the move to the Klotsche Center." It becomes specific, more entertaining, and the level of discussion about Panther hoops increases.

[Jimmy Lemke]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEIvrsseT68

[lutzow10]

This is getting me excited about the future. If this club actually becomes a reality and we get the numbers who want the same thing: a panther program that is going to excel. And this group puts in the work, then things will get accomplished. Its the organized outcry that gets things changed. Doesn't matter if you approve of unions, that is why they are effective. One large group all workimg together for the same goal. Campaigns of any kind excel when people come together with a vision and they fight for that vision together. Lets make the BGC a reality.

I joined the panthers bandwagon less than a year ago and have seen and heard countless fans who all want the same thing. Whether it be on the radio, the message boards, at games, at the bar, the office. Some of us are pessimists, some eternal optimists, some of us think of ourselves as realists. But one thing is for certain we are all panthers. The numbers are there. The people who care about this program are there. Lets get behind this and make this happen. I beleive in UWM. But jimmy is right. We can't just sit back and hope for the best. We need to make things happen ourselves.

[lutzow10]

Gahhhhh!!! This gets me so amped up!! If you ever need me to do anything jimmy, you have free labor right here. Lol

[JGPanthers]

Jimmy,

This Panther Advocacy Group needs to happen... Endless positives could come from a group like this...

[Jimmy Lemke]

I've made this thread public.

[illwauk]

I can definitely get on board with this. As much as I want hockey, I know it's not feasible without University ownership of the cell, which is rightfully a major priority here. I would just hope that going forward, the department can learn from having all of its eggs in the same basket that happens to be the #3 option of its kind in our city... especially if we're going to give the #1 option a reason to stay in town with a shiny new practice facility.

[Jimmy Lemke]

Illwauk, send an e-mail to jimmy@pantheru.com - I've got a request.