By Jim Owczarski Sports Editor Published Dec 04, 2013 at 9:35 PM Photography: David Bernacchi

A couple of weeks ago, Greg Jennings returned to Lambeau Field for the first time in the colors of a divisional rival.

On Wednesday, Brandon Jennings returned to the BMO Harris Bradley Center for the first time in the colors of a divisional rival.

No one cared.

Well, somebody, maybe, did.

Greg Jennings was all about mending fences by the time the Minnesota Vikings trekked to Green Bay. The vitriol had long since passed. I honestly forgot about the "event" until some TV reporters asked James Jones about it a few days before.

You could say the same thing about Brandon Jennings’ return. There was some chatter about it when the schedule was announced, and when the Bucks went up to Detroit, but it wasn’t a hot topic of conversation (at least any I heard).

Brandon Jennings said before tipoff on Wednesday he "heard" he’d get booed, but expected a "mixture" of booing and cheering upon his introduction wearing Detroit Pistons blue and red.

"It was fun, actually," he said of his four years with the Bucks. "Just with everything. The fans, they stuck with us for the four years between the good and the bad. They supported us through everything. We had some great times, making the playoffs my rookie year and also making the playoffs last year. I had a lot of great memories here."

Those fans were merciless however. There was no mixture, save for a guy who had a sign saying he came from Denver to see Jennings. The BMO Harris faithful booed Jennings at his introduction, as he brought the ball up the floor, and as he took shots. They chanted "flop!" when he drew an offensive foul on Luke Ridnour near the end of the first half.

He preened after a nice pass off a Bucks turnover that led to an easy Greg Monroe bucket in the second half, nearly dribbled the ball out of bounds off his legs, and finished the night with 17 points on just 4 of 16 shooting. He handed out 11 assists but turned it over six times. He saluted the fans in "Sector 7." He did the things Jennings does.

Such a pedestrian performance surely surprised his coach, Maurice Cheeks.

"Brandon’s the kind of guy, the kind of player that likes certain situations and I think he’s going to like coming back here," Cheeks said. "I think he’s kind of a player that kind of gets into this … he likes being out there, he likes being in this kind of environment so I think he’s going to enjoy it."

It surprised me too, actually.

I thought I’d see Jennings want to take the game over, find a rhythm shooting three’s and running floaters. The only time he tried to assert himself offensively, really, was when Ridnour defended him.

I guess I was hoping for some kind of noteworthy performance just so that I felt something happened. Greg Jennings’ arrival at Lambeau Field was totally anticlimactic, with the Vikings and Packers fading into NFL oblivion and the game itself playing out to a tie.

Greg had no impact then and it didn’t feel like Brandon had one either in the Pistons 105-98 victory.

"Returns" are a weird thing in sports. Having covered two in the last couple weeks I’ve decided that unless you’re of the stature of a Brett Favre, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Paul Molitor or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – you can’t "return" to a place and have it really matter much.

I remember feeling I missed out on something when John Axford "came back" to Milwaukee after his trade to St. Louis in late summer, but in hindsight I realize there wasn’t really much to miss.

Sure, guys can be fan favorites. They can be part of a title team. They might even set a record or two. But in order for your "return" to have a true impact, your stay had to have made one, and I’m not quite sure we’ll see that again in Milwaukee or Green Bay for some time.

Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.

A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.

To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.

Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.

In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.

Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.