Trust me when I tell you that I've made some bad first impressions in my life. When you think about it, we probably each make at least one bad first impression per day. Despite this, I'm not sure too many of you have made a first impression as bad as what Brandon Jennings has made to the Bucks faithful. Skipping workouts, showing up late to the draft, saying the n-word with every other breath, and calling out members of the current Bucks roster are all things that are just part of Brandon "Young Money" Jennings' life right now. And to many Bucks fans, these actions are appalling.

I, however, am not one of those fans. Everything Jennings has done since the Bucks drafted him has been pure gold, and not because I'm hoping to watch some sort of massive trainwreck develop over the next couple of months. Yeah, he's going to have some 'splanin to do to whichever one of Ramon Sessions or Luke Ridnour is in Milwaukee next season (Deadspin has the transcript of the now-famous conversation with some rapper friend of his), but those bridges can be rebuilt quickly enough. Let's lay off Jennings and his big mouth for a second and remember that, and this is the oh my goodness factor, someone is actually making the Milwaukee Bucks somewhat relevant.

Think about this. Nobody outside of Wisconsin - if their fanbase even reaches outside of Milwaukee - cares about the Bucks. They are just a team that exists and nobody quite understands why. They're not good, they have no stars, they have no interesting personalities, they have no legendary head coach or crazy attention-whore owner, they're not the worst in the league, but they never make the playoffs. The Bucks are like the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL, or the Baltimore Orioles of the MLB. Sure they were good in the past, but right now these teams are mired at the bottom of their tough divisions and have no real stars. But Brandon Jennings can change that.

It's not only because he's somewhat of a personality - I can't state enough how much I loved his entrance at the draft - but because this guy could turn out to be the one legitimate stud out of this year's NBA Draft. Minus Blake Griffin (whose career is already over as he'll get lost on the Clippers) and Ricky Rubio (who may not even play in the NBA next year), Brandon Jennings is going to be the guy. During his senior year of high school, he was rated the number one player in the country by nearly everybody, averaging more than 32 points a game. He's got the talent, he's got the ability, and he's got the potential to be a star the likes of which the Bucks haven't seen since the 1970's.

Sure, the negatives are about his attitude and his play in Italy last season. However, his attitude isn't really the problem, as he's already talked about being excited to play in Milwaukee. I mean, that's something that nobody ever says. The rest of the issues he's making news for can be molded in time, but remember this kid is just 19 years old. He's a teenager yet. Do you know how different of a person you were when you were 19 years old? If I had the chance, I would stuff the 19 year-old version of me in a woodchipper, but you have to learn and develop yourself in those years before you can turn into a mature adult. Sure, he'll make more money and have more spotlight than I ever will, but that shouldn't be an arguement as to why he needs to mature faster than the rest of us.

As for his play in Italy, I look at that as a positive rather than a negative. He may have only averaged about 18 minutes per game, and he didn't put up the sexiest stats, but ladies and gentlemen this guy has already gone through his rookie season! He's already had to adapt to a new team (and in this case, a new culture), he's already had to learn a different game than the one he was used to in high school, and he's already familiar with the spotlight and attention that is put upon a professional basketball player. Remember, while all these draftees were playing collegiate ball last year, Jennings was a professional. His experience is Europe is going to be much better for him in the long run than going to college would have been, and I wouldn't be surprised if more kids didn't go the same route. That's totally what I would do if I had the skill set.

What also seems to be a key complaint against the Jennings pick is that he's too much of a "project", something the Bucks really don't need after drafting Joe Alexander last season. We as Bucks fans need to be a little realistic though. We are not NBA title contenders. We aren't going to be for a couple of years. But if we use the next two or three years to build a core group of guys (Sessions, Mbah a Moute, Alexander, Bogut, Jennings, etc...) then we could really turn into a legit basketball team. Remember in like 2005 when you watched the Brewers suck but then said to yourself, "It's okay, we're going to be good in three years", well, why can't we take that same approach with the Bucks?

Besides that, who the hell else were we really going to draft at the ten spot? Holiday maybe, maybe some other schlup, but the Bucks made the pick they had to make, and three years from now any debate about if we should have taken Jennings or not will be put on the backburner as the Bradley Center is rocking during the Eastern Conference Finals.

Wait, did I just predict the Bucks to make the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals? You heard it here first, people!

My apology this week goes out to the people I was out with on Saturday night. I started to get a little annoyed at how Michael Jackson's songs were playing at every bar I went to. I'm a fan of his music, no doubt, but I thought it was cheesy that people are all of a sudden into him just because he's dead. My point was that if you're going to go all crazy over MJ, where was the love for him a week ago? Looking back, I guess I could be wrong on this position. If Michael Jackson's death can help us to remember just how brilliant of a musician he was before he got weird, then I guess I can handle that. I still think it's borderline tacky to play his music all the time right now, to an extent, but he's got some really phenominal stuff to listen to, so that supercedes my ranting desire. Does that make any sense? 

I've never had a bad experience at the DMV. I think it's time to give the hard working people there a well-deserved break.

I know I said that I was done talking about wrestling on here, but I have to mention one last thing. During their broadcasts, the WWE always shows a quick graphic about how many viewers watched last week's program (ex: Last week, more males 18-34 watched RAW then ABC, NBC, FOX, and the CW combined). Well, one such graphic on this Monday's program was that last week, two million women watched Monday Night RAW. So hold on a second here. You mean to tell me that two million chicks are doing the same loser thing I do every week? Where the hell are they hiding? I know that chicks that like wrestling can't be that hot based on pure demographic research, but there have to be some cuties in that bunch, don't there? I thought I fell in love easy before, but I can't tell you how quickly I'd fall in love if I found a girl that was as big of a Kofi Kingston fan as I am.

I have no problem with the fact that Manny Ramirez is allowed to play minor league games as part of his 50-game suspension. Two things are at play here: 1) Baseball is sending a message that they have to enforce their penalities, no matter how big the star. 2) Baseball isn't stupid, if Manny were to come back on July 3rd not having played any baseball, he'd probably have to spend a couple of weeks in the minors and would end up missing 60-70 games total. That's 15 or so extra games without one of your biggest players. Manny served his penalty, I don't think the fans should be penalized by having to miss out of more Manny than they already have.

Clearly, this guy is on my fantasy team.

Does anyone else rock a Brewers shirt and a Brewers hat at the same time when they are not at a game? Outside of attending a sporting event or watching a big game, I just can't get myself to do the hat/shirt combo on a regular night.

I'm planning on hitting up Potawotami this weekend, although I'm not quite sure why. Off the top of my head, I'd say that I've visited a casino 15-20 times in my life, and I can count the number of times I've walked out a winner on one thumb. I don't know why I keep going back, other than I just really love how casinos sound. That constant noise and spinning of the wheels is music to my ears. Despite my failed efforts at winning when I go, I don't like to think of myself as a loser. I just like to pretend that I had a night of free entertainment, however each Diet Coke I had cost me $50.

Speaking of gambling, my best moment of the week was when I played a bar machine this weekend, with my mom playing a machine to the left of me, and my grandpa playing one to my right. I've never been prouder to be a part of my family.

Is it just me, or does ESPN always go to a commerical during the Packers and Bucks draft picks?

See you Friday night at Summerfest... The Roots!

And one last quick plug while I have the space. Last week I told you that my dad, Greg Winkler, has written a book about coaching. The book focuses on how to build relationships with your players, parents, and administration in order to make each season a significant one (check out his website). Just wanted to let anyone in the Fond du Lac area know that he will be holding a book signing at JR's Sports Bar in Fond du Lac tonight from 5-8pm. Just thought I'd be a good son (for once) and let people know. 

And why not, make sure to check out my blog, bartwinkler.blogspot.com. Wisely, I've changed the name of the site since I registered that name.