Buck Shot Memories

The early logo for the Milwaukee Bucks
(internet image)

I started watching the Green Bay Packers by the time I was three according to my parents, and I'm sure they were right about that.

My first real sports memories, though, revolved around a team 90 miles south of Titletown, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Just what started the connection, I'm not sure.  Their first year, 1968, I turned five so I doubt I noticed.  But my early memories about bedtime involved my dad reading a couple stories then listening to the radio until falling asleep.

The radio was tuned in to the local station, WCLO (where I worked during high school), at 1230 on the AM dial.

If there wasn't a game, they played music.

The Milwaukee Arena, the original
home of the Bucks, hosted a
50th Anniversary game last week.
(internet image)

I liked the games.  Eddie Doucette called them alongside an analyst he dubbed the "Professor."  The team's second, Milwaukee had first pick in the NBA draft and chose a guy who lived up to his can't-miss label, Lew Alcindor.

Two years after he was drafted, Alcindor and the Big O, Oscar Robertson, lead the Bucks to their first (and still only championship).  Bobby Dandridge, Lucius Allen, and Jon McGlocklin formed a great team under coach Larry Costello.  They reached the championship again in 1974, losing in 7 games to the Boston Celtics.

On our driveway hoop, I could be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Alcindor changed his name in 1972), the Big O, or Bobby D while calling my own game for a pretend radio audience.  Some kids of being on the court or field.  I knew that wasn't in my future.  I dreamed of being a broadcaster.

The new home of the Bucks under construction
in February, 2017.  (dwm photo)

At Christmas one year, mom gave dad and me tickets for a Bucks game (she didn't want to go).  At the game, we walked near the court during warm-ups.  I marveled at the players and how large they were.  After the game, I stood in line to get Eddie Doucette's autograph.

The Bucks were very good through the 1970s and 80s, then enjoyed a resurgence peaking in 2001 when they fell just short of another trip to the NBA Finals.

This 50th season is a hopeful one for the Bucks and its fans.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, a phenom with Jabbar-like talent, leads a promising team.  The two eras came together Thursday when the current Bucks played in the home to those early Bucks of Robertson, McGlocklin, Winters, Lanier, and Kareem.  The Bucks lost, but it was cool for this not-so-young fan to see another game on the floor of the Milwaukee Arena.

Fifty years later, with a new home court on schedule to open next season, it feels like the dream is alive for another Bucks run.