No Disrespect Intended BS

UPDATE, February 26, 2008:

Lynde B. Uihlein, Mrs. Pettit's daughter, e-mailed the Journal Sentinel with a short statement. She wrote:

"My mother was a generous, compassionate, unassuming woman who sought to recognize the source of her wealth by building the Bradley Center for the people of Milwaukee and naming it after her father, Harry Lynde Bradley, who loved the city and its people.

"She is in my heart always and in the hearts of those who are able and willing to remember."

That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of selling the naming rights of the Bradley Center to me.

Whatever the Bradley Center board decides to do, I hope Mrs. Pettit's family knows that there are people "able and willing to remember."

I hope they know how much Mrs. Pettit's generosity and compassion is still appreciated.

I hope they realize how strongly some people object to the board's move to change the name of the Bradley Center and how much they care.
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That's the position the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board takes on the issue of selling the naming rights to the Bradley Center. "No disrespect intended."

It's entirely understandable... that some people might be chagrined to learn that the Bradley Center board is looking at a naming-rights deal in order to generate additional revenue to keep the facility up to date with other, much newer arenas around the country.

But it's also inevitable, especially in today's competitive and high-stakes world of professional sports and entertainment. Milwaukeeans can take legitimate pride in this handsome, well-built and well-maintained arena, but it is now the third-oldest facility in the National Basketball Association.

...It's reassuring to see that Bradley officials are going about this difficult challenge in a responsible and thoughtful way. We're impressed to see that the directors have retained a nationally known sports marketing company based in suburban Denver, the Bonham Group, to help search for a company that will respect the legacy of this facility.

Changing or simply adding to the name of the center to accommodate a new corporate sponsor may smack of merchandising to some and consequently disrespectful to the memory of the late Jane Pettit.

But what better way to honor her and her historic gift than to ensure its preservation?

No disrespect intended?

The Board's position on this smacks of disrespect.

The Journal Sentinel's Michael Hunt writes:

For now, the important thing to remember is that Milwaukee is an NBA town thanks largely to the Pettits. That's why it will always be the Bradley Center in our minds and hearts.

In our minds and hearts?

That's very weak.

Friday afternoon, Don Walker wrote on his JS Online blog:

When Jane Bradley Pettit agreed to donate $90 million to build the Bradley Center in honor of her late father, Harry Lynde Bradley, it's safe to assume she wanted the building to be called the Bradley Center for a very long time.

But did she or her longtime attorney, the late Joseph Tierney, get that in writing? Is there a document that exists that says the Bradley Center will always be the Bradley Center?

A spokesman for the Pettit family is declining any comment. But a spokesman for the Bradley Center said he was not aware any such document existed.

...One source who knows family members well said Friday that the family was unhappy about the turn of events. At the same time, the Bradley Center board has tried to be sensitive to the family and the legacy Mrs. Pettit left the community.

THE FAMILY IS NOT HAPPY.

That's an enormous part of this story.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is derelict in its duty by failing to report that other than it being mentioned in a blog post.

The Editorial Board fails to note that.

Just say it. THE FAMILY IS NOT HAPPY.

Jane Pettit's heirs are obligated, with love and respect, to carry out her wishes. If they believed she wouldn't care about selling the naming rights, they wouldn't care. The fact is they do.

Let's be honest about that.

The Journal Sentinel is acting as a propaganda arm of the Bradley Center board.

No disrespect intended?

I guess the disrespect is unintentional. It's still disrespect.