Gothamite

Could London Olympic arena become cheaper way to keep Bucks in Milwaukee?

MILWAUKEE - An architecture firm which designs sports venues says the 2012 Olympic basketball arena could theoretically become the home of the Milwaukee Bucks.

No, the Bucks wouldn't relocate to London.

The arena would be modified, and moved to Milwaukee.

That arena's for sale, right now, for a lot less than the half-billion dollar figure that's been discussed for a new gym for the Bucks.

"Half a billion sounds like a lot of money...we probably built (the recently-renovated 90,000-seat) Wembley Stadium for less than that," said Sam Wright, the assistant director of Wilkinson Eyre Architects in London.

"At the moment, you can buy the main structure, the envelope and seating for roughly about $7.5 million."

His firm designed the Olympic basketball arena (reported cost: $40 million) to be what he calls sustainable, able to be taken down and put up somewhere else.

"It's currently being dismantled in London at the moment," Wright told 620WTMJ's Jay Sorgi.

"A reusable building, you're putting it up, you're taking it down, you're either putting it up in the same configuration, or perhaps you're looking at a different number of parameters."

The specific parameters for the Bucks might include adding:
- 8,000 more seats (it sat 12,000 for the Olympics)
- permanent locker rooms and storage space
- revenue generators like luxury boxes, restaurants and shopping
- the ability to withstand cold Wisconsin winters

Could Wright's firm do something like that?

"It's infinitely flexible," Wright told Jay.

"The structure itself is a very simple structure. You can change the grid.  You can extend the building in length, and in terms of the bowl design, you can adjust the height as well."

Wright says that the 2016 Rio De Janerio Olympic Summer Games could have used the building.

"Could we have taken it to Rio?  Yes, and Rio made very serious noises about it."

Specifics about Rio De Janerio's necessities didn't allow that plan to work.

If such issues don't come up with Milwaukee, Wright says his firm could ship, reconfigure, and rebuild the arena for the Bucks with a much smaller final price tag than that bantered-about figure of $500 million.

"Much cheaper.  Take off a zero and that's where you're probably at," claimed Wright.

Of course, it could cost more than $50 million with the money-making amenities the Bucks need, road construction, utilities and other parts of the construction work.

But if the firm's plan works, it could be a relatively low-cost way for the Bucks to stay in Milwaukee.

NBA bullies Knicks fan from Brooklyn over his 'Knicklyn' Web site, apparel

A diehard Knick fan from Brooklyn is crying foul over the NBA’s treatment of his loyalist Web site, Knicklyn.

Amid the hype around his Manhattan team’s rivalry with the new Brooklyn Nets, Mike Sorisi, 26, created an online fan base for Knicks loyalists such as himself who live in Brooklyn, home to its first new major-league sports team in more than 50 years.
Sorisi coined the term “Knicklyn” to represent fans whose loyalty may be divided between the Knicks, one of the league’s original franchises, and the Nets in Brooklyn, one of the city’s most pride-filled boroughs.

Sorisi designed a clever logo to go with the moniker and started selling hats and stickers.

Days later, the NBA unleashed a full-court press ordering him to cease and desist, claiming trademark infringement, he said.

“I kind of feel like I’m being bullied,” Sorisi said. “I’m one person operating this thing, and I need to sell goods to cover my costs.”

The NBA said Sorisi’s use of the word “Knick” is a trademark infringement, as is his logo which features a basketball that is similar to the Nets’ design.

The NBA threw its first elbow just days after Sorisi’s site went live.

“I was shocked at how fast I was contacted,” Sorisi said.

But there it was in his inbox, a missive from the National Bullies Association ordering him to shut down sales — or else.

“Your unauthorized use of NBA Intellectual Property is an attempt to capitalize on the fame and goodwill of NBA Intellectual Property — including the ‘Knicks’ name and the ‘Nets’ logo,” the league told Sorisi in the e-mail.

The note warned him to stop selling his popular hats and stickers and deliver any unsold products to the NBA.

But Sorisi said the charge is an air ball.

“They don’t own a trademark on circles,” Sorisi said. “There’s a Knickerbocker Avenue that runs through Brooklyn. They don’t own that word.”

The issue, he said, is representing fans in a unique market.

“ ‘Knicklyn’ has provided an identity for many fans like myself whose loyalty remains with the New York Knicks despite having a Brooklyn address,” Sorisi said. “Brooklyn is my home. New York is my team.”

An NBA rep said in a statement, “We have been in direct communication with the owner of the site to singularly address the sale of unlicensed merchandise using NBA trademarks, which violates league and team intellectual-property rights.

“There has been no demand for compensation or for the shutdown of his Web site.”