If you build it, they will come.
They being the National Hockey League.
That was the hope (dream?) that led to the construction of the Bradley Center 30 years ago. Three decades later, that arena is being dismantled and Milwaukee still has no NHL franchise.
But the hope and dream of southeast Wisconsin hockey fans that the city will someday be a big league hockey town lives on and maybe got a little boost last month when Sheng Peng posted "Cities That Should Have an NHL Team" on Stadium Talk.
Or maybe it's all just fantasy.
Because there sits Milwaukee, about halfway through the list, nestled among Hartford, Kansas City, Atlanta, Cleveland, Toronto and – wait, what? – Helsinki, Moscow, Sapporo, Prague and Mexico City.
Damn, that'd be a hell of an away series.
But, it could happen ... at least for Milwaukee.
"The Nashville Predators' top minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, have held down the hockey fort in Milwaukee in various leagues since 1970. In terms of attendance, they've had consistent success," the article notes, suggesting that even if the Bradley Center couldn't git 'r done, the new Fiserv Forum just might.
"But for the NHL, dreams of capturing the city's imagination like the Green Bay Packers would have to be the goal. A just-opened NHL-ready area, Fiserv Forum, which currently hosts the NBA's Bucks, also could prove to be a lure for the NHL."
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
