Fear the Deer

Larger than life Bango Buck.
dwm photo

My first sports memories involve a radio and a voice. Eddie Doucette was the play-by-play man on the Milwaukee Bucks games.

Just created as an NBA expansion team in 1968, they won a coin flip and drafted Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbaar) one year later.  They won the NBA title in 1971.

I was six during Jabbaar's first season and I listened to most of their games.  (Back then, we only had over the air television and most games weren't on TV.)

Jabbaar, Oscar Robertson (an all-time great), Bobby Dandridge, Curtis Perry, and Lucius Allen were the starting five most night.  Jon McGlocklin played a lot and was a skillful shooter.  Coach Larry Costello on the sidelines.

One game which stands out for me was when I was in fourth grade.  We had just moved to a new home and my room was getting fixed up by my parents, so I was sleeping upstairs on the third floor.

L.A. Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks tip.
dwm photo

They took a break after working in the evening and went out to grab something to eat.  They returned with a burger, fries, and an Orange drink from McDonald's.  Just writing that sentence flashes me back to sitting up on the foldout couch, listening intently to the radio and enjoying staying up late and enjoying a snack.

Dad took me to several Bucks games in the Milwaukee Arena when I was growing up.  After their new home, the Bradley Center was built, I didn't make many games on that floor.  The last time was with my son, maybe 15 years ago.

This year's edition of the Milwaukee Bucks showed great promise with a number of rising talents on the team.  It seemed like a good time to get back in the arena, now called the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Friday night, the Bucks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers.  The Lakers aren't the team they used to be, but still a national brand for the league.

It wasn't a good night for the home team.  They fell behind by double digits in the first quarter and
trailed by 27 in the third.

Great seat at BMO.

Milwaukee started the season well and their rising star Giannis Antetokoumpo was elected to start in the NBA All-Star game next weekend.  When the calendar turned to 2017, the team fell into a slump of nearly epic proportions.  They can still make the play-offs, but need to turn it around.  Soon.

Judging from the game before me, it looks like they need to play defense, like they displayed in the fourth quarter as they mounted a furious rally, for the entire 48 minutes.

The rally was exciting and had the arena on its feet as they closed the gap to 6 with five minutes left. They, WE, had a chance to get the win.

The Lakers held off the Bucks, 122 - 114.  Milwaukee is 8 games under .500 and 3 and a half games out of the play-off hunt.

There is a month and a half left to play, but they need to pick it up.  A job made more difficult with the loss of their other star, Jabari Parker, to a knee injury which will shelve him for a year.

Now, nearly every game is on TV.

For the next game, though, it might be fun to listen on the radio with a burger, fries, and an Orange drink from Mickey D's.