By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Nov 08, 2011 at 1:08 PM

The fix may well be in.

I know it's hard to believe that the world of higher education would stoop to such lows, but I know from experience, the fix may be in.

I'm talking about the exciting news that UWM, our favorite university crammed into the densest population area of our city, has agreed to pay $87,450 to study whether UWM should add football to its athletic menu.

Give me a break here. Do they think I just fell off the turnip truck yesterday? Hell, they could pay me about $50 and I'd be happy to give them the answer to that question. No! No! And just to be clear here, NO!

But, and again I speak from experience, this consultant thing is not about football. So don't be fooled. It's not about hockey or fencing or ping pong being added either, or any of the other issues put before this consulting company.

What it's about is the continuing nightmare fantasy about building a basketball arena on the campus. I believe that the university has made it clear to the consultants what they want, and that's what they are going to get.

And when the consultant's report comes back it's going to say a version of the following: "After extensive study, we recommend that the university not field any additional sports at this time but concentrate on building existing sports programs. As part of that strategic plan, a basketball arena on campus is of critical importance and will have the following benefits..." Then it will list some benefits.

Following the release of the report, UWM will say a version of the following: "Well, we can't do football, but the consultants recommend we build an arena on campus for our basketball teams and other things. Now maybe the neighborhood will shut up about this. The consultants have had their say."

I've been a part of these shams before, on both sides of the coin. I once was part of a public entity that paid a quarter of a million dollars to a Harvard consultant to recommend something we already knew and planned on doing. But we needed the outside consultant's report to help sell it to our community. We told him what we wanted, and, lo and behold, he gave it to us.

I'm not blasting all consultants here. I've done good work with consultants and as a consultant. I know consultants who do valuable work. Being a consultant is an honorable job and one that is fraught both with programmatic and political difficulties.

But look at the website of this company UWM hired. They've been hired by a whole bunch of schools and, surprise, almost all their recommendations came back that they think the university should go ahead with existing plans. Like that wonderful faculty restaurant at Brown University. The consultants thought that was a wonderful idea.

UWM does not need an arena on campus. Take a walk around the campus after about 4:30. It's like walking through a town that recently suffered through a nuclear winter.

There is no place on the East Side for an arena, unless you want to knock down Prospect Mall and build a mini-court or tear down the old Columbia Hospital, which is perfectly suited for the new School of Public Health. Traffic and parking on the East Side is already a nightmare.

The basketball program is a nice, mid-sized one, but let's not get delusions of grandeur here. UWM is a great college. Their academic programs are among the best in the state. They have opportunities to lead the nation in several areas, including the much ballyhoo'd water institute. I love UWM.

But UWM students go home. They go to jobs. They go to the duplexes they rent on the East Side and from which they can launch their tagging graffiti attacks on dozens and dozens of garages. Ask the cops what they think about the area around the campus.

I don't remember which branch of the armed forces it was, but one of them had the slogan, "Be All That You Can Be." The slogan wasn't "Try To Pretend You Are Something You Are Not."

UWM knows what it is. It should stick to being the best at that. Go down to the arena and play your games. Then, just like all the rest of the UWM student body, go home.

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.