It’s exciting times over here at Brew Hoop. Well, with the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s always exciting (or is that dread?), but we have two additions to our team that we’re thrilled to be bringing aboard. We’ve asked them to introduce themselves to you below, and hopefully you get to know them through their posts and comments that are on the way!
Danny Ziolkowski – @OCBasedDan
Hey everybody, I’m Danny, super excited to be joining Brew Hoop! I’m new around here but I’ve covered the Bucks and Badgers a bit in the past at UW-Madison where I’m finishing up my senior year right now.
I know a lot of readers here have been Bucks fans since longer than I was born, so feel completely free to call me out if I don’t know something from back in the day. The first Bucks game I ever went to was at some point during Andrew Bogut’s rookie season, and I have a very vivid memory of a red quarter zip jacket – one I’d certainly still be wearing today – slipping through my hands and falling to the tunnel floor. AND I HAVEN’T CAUGHT A THING AT A SPORTING EVENT SINCE... but I digress.
As a HoopMixtape hype beast, I was certain Thon Maker would be Giannis with a jump shot. There’s a video of him crossing up Bam Adebayo and splashing a three in his face, and I was 100% sold from that day forward. (I’ll never give up.)
Outside of just Bucks stuff, I grew up in Oak Creek which is about 20 minutes outside of Milwaukee, and now I’m finishing up my last year in UW’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I host a podcast called The Green Room with a buddy from home that talks sports and movies, but it’s really just us having some fun and doing what we love. To stay alive I bartend a little bit – I make an elite old fashioned – and I stay active snowboarding and playing pickup whenever possible. Last quick thing, I made a dunk for the first time in about a year last week, but I know those days are on borrowed time whenever I bend my knees and hear very concerning cracking sounds.
Excited to get to know everybody!
Van Fayaz – @LohausFan
Hi, I’m Van Fayaz, aka Lohaus Fan. You might remember me from such FanPosts as Khris Middleton: The Silent All-NBA Third Team Contender and Here Comes The Wild Speculation! Happy to be joining Brew Hoop: I’ve read the site religiously since the Keyon Dooling Era and have been a Bucks fan since the 90s.
A quick admission: I was barely five years old when Brad Lohaus left the Bucks, but he and Blue Edwards endeared themselves to me as to me a few years later while playing the original NBA Jam at a neighborhood fried chicken restaurant, until they updated to Vin Baker and Eric Murdock. Legendary duos to be sure. My first clear memories of true Bucks fandom was during the 2000 first-round series with the Pacers. It was shaken, like many of yours, with the Ray Allen trade (just ask my mother how I took it). Thankfully, it grew back during the Desmond Mason (ok, and Redd) years before returning to its previous highpoint in 2009–10.
Outside of Bucksian things: I’ve lived in Wisconsin most of my life, with stints in California (LA), DC, and Illinois. I’m currently working on a doctoral dissertation, so writing here will be a nice break from all the academic mumbo-jumbo. I enjoy Wisconsin-y things like making elaborately-garnished Bloody Marys (with my own mix!), the Brewers, the Badgers (UW-Madison alum here), cribbage (I’m ok), and euchre (I slay). I also enjoy crossword puzzles, board games, the outdoors, spicy food, red wine, and the basic stuff like traveling, cooking, the outdoors, beer, swimming, and running. It’ll be a while before I can do that last one, though, because fun fact: I’m about to undergo the same knee surgery Zion Williamson had as a rookie and Kristaps Porzingis had last October for the same injury (my second knee procedure; one on each!)
Want to see your name on our masthead? Let us know, on Twitter or via email.