Welcome back to the Brew Hoop Round Table, where we ask that everybody use coasters and please don’t feed the pugs from the table, thanks. Today, we take a quick break from the Milwaukee Bucks coverage and focus on...ourselves!
Mitchell: Brew Hoop has gone through a number of changes in the past few months. A number of our alumni have moved on to other opportunities, and even site co-founder Frank Madden had to take a step back. It’s been quite a year, to say the least.
As SB Nation continues to evolve, Adam and I were given the chance to take care of the site as a permanent solution is decided upon. Our interim goal was to continue to provide our community with the platform to discuss all things Bucks, and look for ways to better understand both the team and the game. In this effort, I can only hope that we met your expectations.
But as the team continues to grow and improve (we hope), so does our community, and it seems only fair for you to have a better idea of who we are and what we’re about. So now I turn it over to the staff for our first (and possibly last!) non-basketball roundtable.
Who are you?
Adam (interim site co-manager): I’ve been at Brew Hoop since last September, when I was plucked from the dungeons of personal Bucks blogging and welcomed in with open arms. I played basketball up until high school, and was criminally overused as a low-post player despite being one of the shortest people on the team. When I’m not watching basketball, I’m a serial television binger and oft-player of video games, an industry I covered in college and occasionally blog about.
Mitchell (interim site co-manager): It’s been a while, huh? I joined as a commenter in May 2008, and my first “official” post was in 2009, when I wrote a guest recap of a Bucks-Nets game (click at your own risk). I’ve been basically going ever since. I previously helped manage Acme Packing Company (currently ran by my good friend Evan), but stopped because football is dumb and basketball is not. Outside of Brew Hoop, I spend most of my time hanging out with my wife and/or the little homie (turning 2 in April!), getting worked up over politics, and recently I’ve picked up D&D as a hobby.
...wait, why are you laughing?
Rachael: I’m the newbie here, having only joined the team this month. After my basketball career failed in high school, I’ve taken to spending essentially all of my free time watching the NBA. You went out at night in college to bars and had social lives? Can’t relate. To sum me up, I’m a huge nerd who loves basketball, video games (shout out to me renting a two bedroom apartment purely to convert the second into a game room), cats (shout out to my cat aka the best cat in the world, Precious), and fried chicken.
Dylan: I’ve been with Brew Hoop for about a month and a half now. Although I’ve been a life-long Bucks fan, I didn’t start following the team with this fervor until about three years ago when I started college. Growing up I was the fundamentally sound, high basketball IQ player on my team, but, tragically, my playing career was cut short when I got mono and then I ensconced myself in the theater. Otherwise I’m usually watching tv shows, listening to podcasts or doing improv comedy here at UW-Madison. You can also read my thoughts on the Badger basketball team at Bucky’s Fifth Quarter.
Corey: I joined in the fall of 2014 writing recaps and previews, occasionally branched into features and have been hanging around sporadically ever since. My basketball career ended in second grade when I was a shooting guard who could not shoot and didn’t know how to lob it inbounds. My career lies in sports broadcasting, where I do play-by-play for East Carolina University baseball and studio host work for TCU football/basketball and Florida basketball. I hosted a sports talk show in Janesville back in the day and had Frank on the show a few times. We became best friends.
Riley: This is my second stint here as a writer for the site, and I’ve been following the Bucks with intensity since the vaunted Fear the Deer run. I can admit to having never played competitive basketball in my life, but the mix of intricate movement, raw athleticism, and chance of the game drew me in as a viewer. I’m a graduate of the University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!) and spend the rest of my free-time immersing myself in my studies on history (the Austro-Hungarian Empire is a personal favorite), the German language, and the nature of modern and historical geopolitics. To answer your followup question, yes, I am undoubtedly the most fun person you will meet at a party.
Why are you here (Brew Hoop)?
Adam: Bucks obsession is a pretty tight-knit community, and the opportunity to discuss theories, conspiracies and intellectual analysis with fellow Milwaukee fans in the real world is few and far between. This is as good a place as any for those ruminations.
Mitchell: I moved away from home at 19 after transferring away from UW-Milwaukee, but I still wanted to keep up with my hometown team. During my travels, I found Alex Boeder’s blog (Boeder Bucks) and Brew Hoop predecessor (Just Another Bucks Fan) mentioned on Truehoop, so I made them a part of my scheduled Internet visits. Lo and behold, those two teamed up to form Brew Hoop, which I promptly joined. One thing led to another, and here we are.
Rachael: I love watching and discussing basketball, and I love the Bucks. Brew Hoop was the perfect fit for me, and I’m so excited to be able to play a part in the site’s future.
Dylan: I’ve grown to love the Bucks, but honestly, I’m just trying to jump on the bandwagon early.
Corey: My father grew up in Milwaukee and took me to games as a kid, followed them ever since. I’ve taken my fandom to North Carolina where I get curious glances at what “Antetokounmpo” is.
Riley: When I watched the Bucks from the ice fortress that is Minneapolis, I felt an internal pull to write something, ANYTHING, about this team I was only really beginning to know. I thus started my own site (which still exists!), and reached out to Brewhoop to get approval to link some stories of theirs to a piece or two of mine. They pitied me enough to give me the ol’ college try on their servers, and here I am!
Brett: A few years back, I applied to write for Behind the Buck Pass and was given a great opportunity to do so by Adam McGee. After the site and I parted ways, I wrote something on a personal blog, Frank Madden saw it, slipped into the DMs, and here I am.
What is your favorite Bucks moment?
Adam: The Brandon Knight trade. I shut my door and spent the next few hours completely incapable of being productive in any way and blabbering on to anyone in my phone who would listen. Sure it doesn’t look great in retrospect, but it felt like such a refreshing moment in the immediate aftermath.
Mitchell: Always and forever, it’s going to be Brandon Jennings scoring 55 in his rookie season. Not only did I love Jennings’ swagger and confidence, I was convinced he was going to be the Next A.I, except with a three-point shot. I was also convinced that the Jennings-Andrew Bogut P&R was an unstoppable force, and that Scott Skiles was a great coach who got the best out of his players.
This is to say that I am often wrong.
Rachael: Jerryd Bayless making the buzzer-beating layup in Game 4 versus the Bulls in the 2015 Playoffs. That playoff series was the first I ever attended in my life. When Bayless made that shot, the Bradley Center absolutely exploded. I think I screamed for 3 straight minutes. It was euphoric madness and an outburst of celebration I will never forget.
Dylan: November 19, 2014. Bucks vs Nets. Triple-OT thriller. I distinctly remember watching this game alone in my dorm room, but there were at least three other rooms on my floor watching the game at the same time. At the end of regulation, the first OT, the second OT and the third OT everyone watching the game ran out into the hallway screaming, jumping and wallowing in a classic moment of Bucks disappointment that became pure elation. It was the first time I felt part of a larger Bucks fan community.
Corey: Beating Atlanta in Game 5 of the East quarters in 2010. Ilyasova trapped under the bucket found Delfino in the corner, had no idea the shot clock didn’t reset and just fired a three for the dagger. I shrieked so loud and hit my desk that my neighbors thought I was being murdered. That would come in the next two games. But that Game 5 was a thing that’s stuck with me.
Riley: I’m a simple man fueled by simple pleasures. My favorite moment was Brandon Jennings sinking a game-winning three over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the start of the 2012-2013 season. I was in attendance, and had never seen an in-person buzzer-beater, so of course I was in absolute disbelief in the nosebleeds. Jennings moved on to other pastures, but he’ll always hold a special place in my heart for that moment alone.
Brett: When I was younger, my dad and I were approached at a Bucks game after the first quarter by a team employee who had courtside tickets for Desmond Mason’s wife and his mother. His mother had gotten sick, and they had to leave. They gave the tickets to us, and my dad and I sat in awe for the next two hours. I still have an armband from Damon Jones and a picture of Tim Thomas about to pick me up during a timeout. So that was OK, I guess.
Compare your real-life game to an NBA player (past or present).
Adam: Luke Ridnour without dribbling skills. True story, I once wore a Ridnour shirsey to shoot hoops alone only to be corralled into a game of 21 with two guys shooting on the other side. They stole the ball almost every time from me, made me look like a marionette on defense with their dribbling and the only way I could get a shot off was to launch it from three, often to no avail. I haven’t shot a ball since.
Mitchell: Rajon Rondo without the obsessiveness. I can handle myself with the ball and usually play to pass, and my shot is shaky. Also, I’m low key not that good of a defender, and between my knees/ankles and being a dad I seem to have also gained Boris Diaw’s conditioning level.
Rachael: Metta World Peace, mainly for the passion and love (cue the Lakers “I love basketball!” huddle break) of the game. I was a decent scorer and may or may not have thrown an elbow or two in my days on the court. Also, he’s a very strange and unique man and I am a weirdly quirky woman.
Dylan: A late-career Jared Dudley. I’ve lost all of my quickness, but I play with heart. I’m in the right place at the right time, but I try to stay out of the way of the real players. My fundamentals are second to none, I’ll hit the occasional three pointer and my defense is rock solid. Your mental mistakes won’t fly on my court.
Corey: Name a mediocre player from the past who is now dead, put his corpse on the floor and that is me.
Riley: Drew Gooden can sink a mid-ranger like nobody’s business, and so of course I modeled my pick-up game after him. Still trying to keep all the hair on my head, however.
Brett: Isaiah Thomas on defense, Delly-with-less-grit on offense.
Dogs vs. Cats: who you got?
Adam: Cats. Not a fan of having to worry about additional responsibilities, and my cat Blue is the ultimate lazy lounger.
Mitchell: Cats, all the way. Dogs are just so needy! Also, cats get shouts-out on basketball podcasts for jumping up behind the computer you’re recording on.
Rachael: I can’t believe I even have to answer this preposterous question. CATS!
Dylan: I audibly moan whenever I see a dog on the street, and I love a big ole pupper as much as the next guy, but personally and emotionally I’m more in tune with the mellow vibe of the cat lifestyle.
Corey: ^^^^^^^^^ DRUNK. Dogs for life and it’s not close. No human or creature has as much joy in their faces as a dog when you return home from work. They think you’ve left forever and they’re SO HAPPY when you get back.
Riley: Doggos get the title of “Man’s Best Friend” for a reason, and for that I stand on Team Dog.
Brett: Both are enjoyable.
Where can the people find you?
Adam: I blabber from @adamrparis on Twitter, usually about basketball but sometimes about other things.
Mitchell: I tweet from @WhalesLarry, a handle I’ve had since high school despite forgetting why I use that handle.
Rachael: You will most often find me in my natural habitat, the BMO Harris Bradley Center. I am the girl with the big glasses who sits alone and coaches from her seat. Oh, did you mean online? My Twitter handle is @rachaelhoops.
Dylan: @poppop_paris is where I make mediocre jokes, tweet about hoops and profess my pop culture opinions.
Corey: On the Tweeter at @CoreyGloor. Many college baseball tweets are in the future, and I feel strongly about things at the moment so you’ve been warned.
Riley: Tweet me @RileyFeldmann, and find me in the mean streets in and around Minneapolis. Come for the bad professional football, stay for the burgers with a molten cheese core; that’s what these Minnesotans tell me, at any rate.
Brett: You can find my John Hammond avi-ed Twitter account @BrettAbramczyk.
Mitchell: I hope the chance to get to know us a little bit better was worth your time. I am incredibly proud to be able to work with each of these wonderful people as we all move forward. It’s an exciting time for the Milwaukee Bucks, and hopefully we’ll find that bright future sooner or later. Hit us up in the comments or on Twitter if you want to know more, and we’ll all see you at the next Roundtable!