Dave Begel at tonights Bucks game.....

[paulpressey25]

He was there tonight. Sat in press row a row above Woeffel. Then late in the game he stood in the runway to the locker-room. I can't remember seeing him there very often in recent years.

For those of you that don't know this guy, back in the day he was the biggest sports name in town as a reporter and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal. He had no problem calling out people who weren't doing their jobs. And he'd usually then get blacklisted for it.

He was one of the reasons IMO the Bart Starr era in Green Bay finally ended as Begel absolutely went on the offensive against the inept regime up in Green Bay. It got to the point Starr kicked him out of the locker-room in a public tirade.

These days he doesn't have the forum or following he once had. But after his column on Hunt's column (link below) I'm wondering if he's got one last run in him to be the guy in this town who takes on Herb Kohl's track record with the Bucks.

And if he's not willing to do that, then he should at least ask publicly in his column why Gary Howard gets courtside seats for every game. Maybe that's why Hunt in his column didn't "name names"

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/sports/artic ... 10808.html

[rilamann]

They shoulda had Hunt & Begel brawl at center court during halftime,or had them both dress up in those sumo suits and fight it out

[Chuck Diesel]

Was Hunt at the game too? I've asked around about Begel, and people either seem to love him or hate him.

[paulpressey25]

I take it as a postive sign that Begel might be thinking about kicking ass and taking names on the Bucks management situation via his onmilwaukee.com column.........

Or maybe he just wanted to see Dwade.....

I'm betting on the former.....

[emunney]

Honestly, not enough people read onmilwaukee.com for Begel to have any impact. It has no appreciable reach.

[paulpressey25]

Was Hunt at the game too? I've asked around about Begel, and people either seem to love him or hate him.

I did not see Hunt there....but Gary Howard was front row as the edge of the Heat bench.....

Most of you guys have never heard of Begel but he's smart enough and connected enough to do a job here if he's motivated.

Back in the 1970's and up until about 1985, the Milwaukee Journal had one of the finest sports staffs in the country.....Begel, Jim Cohen, Mike Gonring, Chuck Salituro, Mike Kupper, Bill Dwyre etc.....they all went on to bigger and better things but it was a heck of a lot of top tier talent.

If Begel starts an OnMilwaukee.com journey here, we can help him carry it out to a larger audience......

[Chuck Diesel]

Honestly, not enough people read onmilwaukee.com for Begel to have any impact. It has no appreciable reach.

True, but neither does a Croatian basketball magazine in which Toni Kukoc summed up the Bucks offense as "Michael Redd, Michael Redd and more Michael Redd

[75totheMACCfund]

True, but neither does a Croatian basketball magazine in which Toni Kukoc summed up the Bucks offense as "Michael Redd, Michael Redd and more Michael Redd

[75totheMACCfund]

i like your thinking pp...that's what i was going for in the other thread...hopefully something will come of this media attention

[emunney]

[quote="Chuck Diesel"][/quote]

And the fall-out from JP relating that story over the air? Nothing. It died there. I wonder how many people were watching that particular telecast, and -- of those -- how many remembered that note the next day.

You can't expect eighth hand info to have much of an impact. If Toni Kukoc had given that interview to the J-S, and they'd printed it with a huge headline on the front page, it might have swayed public opinion. Begel, meanwhile, would need to pass through us, where he would be dissected to death, before he could hope to disseminate whatever knowledge he has. He'd be better off just posting a thread here than on onmilwaukee.com.

[paulpressey25]

Begel, meanwhile, would need to pass through us, where he would be dissected to death, before he could hope to disseminate whatever knowledge he has. He'd be better off just posting a thread here than on onmilwaukee.com.

Begel has a magic power no one else here has...he's got a big Milwaukee rolodex from years of working as a reporter....he's not going to just give his opinion on here like we do....he'll make calls....lots of them...and get some to go on record...some off record if he wants to do this correctly.

If he writes a couple stories with some major themes, he can bypass us to get to the sports stations in town (WSSP/WAUK).....he can then get on the wiretap above if the story is good enough....then it gets picked up nationally.

Begel just writing a RealGM rant will go nowhere....but a well researched story with a timeline of critiques and examples could go somewhere.

There has never been a giant 2-3 page feature story in MJS outlining the Kohl years as owner with critiques, compliments and former employees all talking on the record and off the record.

[energee]

A little off topic here, but has Garry Howard written his one article for the year yet. If I remember correctly, I thought he wrote it in late December or early January last year.

For the record, I apologize to Garry if I am wrong and he wrote more than one article. I don't read the JS every day.

[Isocleas2]

-= original quote snipped =-



And the fall-out from JP relating that story over the air? Nothing. It died there. I wonder how many people were watching that particular telecast, and -- of those -- how many remembered that note the next day.

I bet it had more of an effect than you think. I'd wager atleast a thousand dedicated Buck fans heard the telecast, read about it here, or heard it first hand in detail from a friend. Dedicated fans as in people who actively follow the team and attend a number of games a year.

The Bucks fan base here is small but passionate, moves like that go a long way in shaking things up.

[emunney]

[quote="paulpressey25"][/quote]

Well, I wouldn't suggest that he post another unhinged rant with next to no substantive information, here or there. He would have to put together a good argument... my point is that it'd play better here than there. Onmilwaukee.com is a nothing site. Few people know about it, fewer read it... the numbers back it up. And your respect for Begel notwithstanding, both the Bucks and the JS have far bigger microphones, which resonate much more broadly locally. If it comes to a PR war, Begel can have all the ammunition in the world and the Bucks and the JS will still have all the guns.

Why would the national sites run with the story of the Senator's futility as an NBA owner when it's counteracted effectively locally? They don't care about the Bucks. The best he could hope for is a boost in appearances on local talk radio -- again, low audience, but at least better targeted -- or to eventually appear on the wiretap here. I question, though, if onmilwaukee.com has the cachet to even qualify for the wiretap.

While I'd be interested in reading such an article from Begel, I can't see any way in which it could affect change for the Bucks. Bart Starr was fired -- and the Packers' management turned on its head -- because the Packers were long-time losers, not because of Begel. Ultimately, there is probably nothing anyone can do to make Kohl do anything differently than he currently does it, unless, of course, that person is already in Kohl's inner circle. Then they're free to Rasputin away. But if your strategy is to somehow sway the masses into line behind a Kohl ouster, you'd have far more success going through a larger outlet rather than counting on it slowly cycling through this Rube Goldberg-ian PR plot you've constructed, especially since matters pertaining to the Bucks' performance during Kohl's tenure are already public, accessible and apparent.

[El Duderino]

-= original quote snipped =-



Begel has a magic power no one else here has...he's got a big Milwaukee rolodex from years of working as a reporter....he's not going to just give his opinion on here like we do....he'll make calls....lots of them...and get some to go on record...some off record if he wants to do this correctly.

If he writes a couple stories with some major themes, he can bypass us to get to the sports stations in town (WSSP/WAUK).....he can then get on the wiretap above if the story is good enough....then it gets picked up nationally.

Begel just writing a RealGM rant will go nowhere....but a well researched story with a timeline of critiques and examples could go somewhere.

There has never been a giant 2-3 page feature story in MJS outlining the Kohl years as owner with critiques, compliments and former employees all talking on the record and off the record.

I thinking you're grasping for straws here PP

Very likely the only thing that will ever get Kohl to change his ways if he wants to win bad enough and finally accepts that his meddling is hurting that goal to win.

A former reporter for the JS that now writes on a site few people ever read isn't going to sway a man that has been willing to meddle for years even though it's harmed an investment of his that spends millions of dollars of his money.

The other scary aspect is that many want Kohl to just sell the team, but those fans should be careful what they wish for. Given the arena problems, it won't be easy finding someone who wants to buy the Bucks and keep them here long term.