Sports Guy as Bucks GM?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3267445

Note: I promise to actually figure out how to link this without putting the actual URL in...I promise.

Now, Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, jokingly mentioned earlier that he should be the Milwaukee Bucks GM. While this is a joke, so is Larry Harris. This article talks about why it would be a good idea for this to happen. While I don't agree with the point (and it's a joke, so you know, whatever), there are some truths that needed to be pointed out. I will get to them in a minute.

I have been a Bucks fan since I can remember watching sports. When I started paying attention to sports, the Brewers were two years removed from their only World Series run, but due to injuries, had a bad year. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers were in a string of 8-8 seasons, good enough to tease us with potential playoff berths, but not actually good enough to get there. I remember the scenarios: "The Packers can get in the playoffs if they beat Tampa Bay by 35, the Redskins, Saints, Eagles, Broncos, and Bills all win, and if the Bills somehow manage to win the game in Omaha, the Packers only need Minnesota and Chicago to lose to get in." At the same time, the Bucks were in a string of 7 straight division titles. This was 1984. So, the Bucks were really the only thing resembling a good sports team in Wisconsin. I remain convinced that they could have won a title or two in the 80s if it wasn't for them running into unbelievable 76ers and Celtics teams.

But, after that run, they slowly regressed. The first Bucks game I attended was the 1990-1991 regular season finale against the Indiana Pacers. Even though the Bucks won, you could see a changing of the guard. Indiana was on the way up, Milwaukee on the way down.

The Bucks became a joke of a franchise, and save for the 2000-2001 run to the Eastern Conference finals (where they lost to the Sixers....grrrrr), they have become largely irrelevant in the Wisconsin sports scene. This is a damn shame. And the thing is, no one cares!! Right now, Senator Herb Kohl (who kept the team in Milwaukee, so kudos to him) is holding onto a team he probably doesn't want anymore, and he has a GM that has proven to be largely incompetent (although it took quite the sack to draft Yi given his handlers specifically said he would not play in Milwaukee...or Minnesota, for that matter). I am sorry, but Larry Harris has got to go. The Bucks need a real basketball mind. And, if Bill Simmons wants the job, he can have it, especially if the other option is Larry Harris. Something needs to change, because a big day of reckoning is coming. The Bradley Center, a wonderful gift of Jane Pettit to the city (although the idea was to get the NHL to come to Wisconsin), is outdated. It doesn't look that way, as it's a beautiful facility, but it is outdated. Pretty soon, it's going to be time to build a new arena. And, no one is giving another arena to the city. So, if the Bucks want that new arena to be built, they need to have the general public backing them. And, the way to do it is putting a good product on the court. If they don't, an apathetic fan base will watch as some other city chases them. Don't think it can happen? The Sonics are about to leave Seattle!!! SEATTLE!!!! If anything, Seattle ought to be a 4-sport market. Instead, they will soon lose the only team to win them a championship. I don't want this to happen to Milwaukee.