For years now, the Milwaukee Bucks have hinted at their need for a new arena. Earlier this week, Ulice Payne, Jr. -- better known as the former Brewers President/snake oil salesman -- told a gathering of Milwaukee reporters that the time has come to act on that notation.

Payne is the chairman of the Bradley Center's Board of Directors, and a former Marquette University standout.

While it's admirable that a civic leader is coming out in favor of a local team, his comments this week add up to little more than civic blackmail.

Read between the lines, and you'll see that Payne is hinting that it is up to John Q. Taxpayer to step up and save the team.

We've heard this rhetoric before in Milwaukee, and it's not gone over too well. Supporters of a new arena will point to the Milwaukee Brewers, who got a stadium after a long, drawn-out, and often painful fight with lawmakers.

It's easy to justify the building of Miller Park, although many stubborn Milwaukeeans will still try to claim bankruptcy at the five percent sales tax that is funding the facility. County Stadium was nearly a half-century old. It was falling apart. There were no other means of revenue for the team.

The Packers got an updated facility, too, but again, their situation was much different than that of the Bucks.

Lambeau Field, while obviously overrated as a home-field advantage in recent years, already had luxury suites, club seating, and other amenities that made it a feasible venue. What the Packers had going for them, however, was a fan base willing to spend money on anything that had a big, green "G" smacked on it. The Packers were the snake oil salesmen, and nobody flinched when it came time to ante up.

But the Bucks? You've got to be kidding. Their arena is 17 years old.

The Bradley Center was built as a gift to the community by Jane and Lloyd Pettit. The structure enabled the Milwaukee Bucks to stay in town, but the building was never built with the intention of having an NBA team as a primary tenant.

It's no secret, to this day, that the Pettits wanted to bring a National Hockey League franchise to this town. And to their credit, when the expansion fee grew out of control, the Pettits relented, and instead, spent their money on enhancing the Milwaukee Admirals.

The Bucks moved into the facility without having to spend a cent of their own money. The Packers, and even the Brewers, had to put some money up for their new house. All the while, the Bucks have taken control over just about every aspect of the building, to the point where the foyer to the Admirals offices is now a coat check for Bucks games.

Here's the thing. The Bucks aren't like the Brewers, who played in a dump. It was our dump, but County Stadium was still a dump. The Bucks aren't the Packers, either, loved blindly by legions of fans who are willing to spend money on anything.

The Bucks are owned by a senator. And it bears mentioning the team is owned by a very wealthy senator who had the money to give the University of Wisconsin to build a new arena. The Bucks don't like the Bradley Center? Fine, let them have a new arena, but let them pay for it. If Herb Kohl can't foot the bill, no problem, sell the team.

Having the NBA does not separate Milwaukee from Wichita, Kansas. Miller Park sets us apart. And if the Bucks decide to leave, which they would have had Michael Jordan and NBA Commissioner David Stern had their way, it's hard to fathom that an NHL team wouldn't jump at the chance to come to town.

That may not be much solace to faithful Bucks fans, who have shelled out their hard earned money for years in support of the team, but it's not that far-fetched of a possibility.

If the Bucks don't want the Bradley Center, somebody will.

Ulice Payne, Sen. Kohl, and the Bucks can bitch all they want. The Bucks former home, the U.S. Cellular Arena, is sitting right across the street, 55 years old and counting. All it needed was a couple of million in renovations and it seems to be just dandy.

But there is nothing wrong with the Bradley Center. There are fancy scoreboards, cushy luxury boxes, plenty of space, and more than enough bathrooms. Certainly some money could be spent to upgrade the locker rooms, which would be uncomfortable even by high school standards.

But other than that, it's a pretty damn good facility. And again, the Bucks play in a building only 17 years old.

If they don't like it, perhaps they could invest in some of that vacant Park East land, or maybe even the area that could have been PabstCity?

The option is there. Don't try and pin this one on the taxpayers.