With a breakthrough in Milwaukee, former Badger basketball men's assistant coach Rob Jeter will soon have the opportunity to lay claim to a first at UW-Milwaukee.
In news that you likely missed, two schools—UWM and Marquette University—put aside their differences and came to agreement on a contract to play each other five times over the course of five seasons, beginning in 2007-'08.
This is a significant development. These two rivaling teams had met 34 times—with Marquette winning each game—until the 1998 season. Since then, it's been a story of bitter disagreement and finger-pointing between the two, which are literally a walk away from each other.
As early as last week, it looked as if the deal was moribund. The main holdup, of course, was money, with UWM seeking approximately $20,000 more than Marquette was offering. Monday's accord was struck, in part, because two anonymous donors filled the void.
""This is clearly an important issue to our fans and our students and fans of college basketball in the city of Milwaukee,"" UWM athletic director Bud Haidet said after inking the contract offered by Marquette, with no revisions. ""We're thrilled to be able to make this a reality and really happy that it could get done.""
Marquette head coach Tom Crean later in the day responded to the signing. ""We're pleased they finally recognized the appropriateness of the contract.""
In case you're wondering, here are the terms agreed upon: The Panthers and Golden Eagles will meet five times over five seasons, beginning next season. Marquette gets to host four out of the five at the Bradley Center—in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. In 2010, UWM will host at the U.S. Cellular Arena.
In terms of fees, Marquette will pay its crosstown rival ""guaranteed"" fees of $58,000, $60,000 and $62,000 for the first three meetings. In the last two match-ups, the home team will keep all generated revenue. In the event that either school does not abide by the terms, the other will be compensated $50,000.
The contract even goes as far as to detail the referees: the 2007-'10 games will be officiated by the Big East, and the last will be refereed by the Horizon League.
Still, UWM was not happy with all aspects of the contract. UWM chancellor, Carlos E. Santiago, was reportedly upset over the issue of the number of tickets offered to his school for the away games.
In the grand scheme, though, this is a major accomplishment for the two schools. For some time, the two institutions were at odds—and still probably are. On the east side, some at UWM have viewed Marquette as uppity, while downtown, Marquette supposedly was looking for better opponents.
Now, the teams can settle things on the court, and a Bo Ryan protAcgAc can look forward to making history.
""From the beginning I've said this is something that we definitely wanted to work through and make sure it worked for both ends,"" Jeter said. ""I understand the position that both sides are in. We just feel fortunate enough that we were able to get it done. That's what it's all about.""
Jon is a junior majoring in journalism. He can be reached at bortin@wisc.edu.
