Off The Court With Bob Wanek
By Lucas LeNoble
He has never paid to attend a professional or college basketball game, yet Bob Wanek boasts the best seat in the Bradley Center. No, Wanek isn't one of those crazed, screaming fans decked out in Blue and Gold. Instead, he dons the zebra-striped official's uniform, sitting at mid-court peering attentively over the possession arrow, blocking out every sound but the referee's whistle.
"The interesting part about my job is the fact that when the game starts, I don't know there's anybody else in the place except for the teams, the officials and myself," says Wanek. "People find that hard to believe, but you have to concentrate so much to know about all the different things going on. It's really a relaxation. All the problems you had during the day, all the problems you had during the week are gone."
At 75 years young, Wanek has served as official scorer for the Marquette men's basketball team since 1985 -- recording every free throw, offensive charge and 30-second timeout ever taken -- although his experience at the scorer's table goes back much further than that.
The year was 1947. American pilot Chuck Yeager just became the first person to break the sound barrier and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire was making its debut on Broadway. Back on the south side of Milwaukee, Wanek was a freshman at Casimir Pulaski High School with ambitions on making the Rams' basketball team.
That's when Wanek caught a bad break that would change his life forever.
"I was out for basketball and developed blood poisoning from having athlete's foot," says Wanek. "I was on my back for about three weeks and when I came back the coach said, 'well, you can't play for another couple of weeks. I just fired the manager. Would you want to be a manager?' So I learned how to score basketball through being a manager. I never did join the team."
It was an unfortunate circumstance for someone who loved playing the game so much growing up. But Wanek's experience as scorekeeper allowed him to continue his involvement in basketball and led to his next opportunity working high school games in the Milwaukee City Conference and Catholic Conference (now the Metro Conference).
"We had done many basketball games throughout the Milwaukee area, so when the Bucks came in they wanted experienced people in statistics," says Wanek. "So they took 10 of us and through the preseason we learned the rules and regulations of the NBA."
Wanek, who also works Marquette women's basketball, has served as the Bucks' head statistician since that inaugural season in 1968. In fact, both Wanek and Jon McClocklin, a former shooting guard and the team's current television broadcaster alongside Jim Paschke, are the longest tenured employees with the franchise, now in their 40th season working courtside.
"Jon said we're either older, or dumber," Wanek cracks with a smile. "We haven't quite figured that out."
The University of Wisconsin graduate has rarely missed a game during the span. Even before he began working the Marquette games, Wanek would try to catch MU every chance he could, saying he always looked forward to the New Year's Eve match up with the Badgers at the Milwaukee Arena when the then-Warriors would host its in-state rival.
In addition to his full-time gig crunching numbers for the Milwaukee County Parks systems Wanek, a mathematics major in college, continuously found ways to incorporate his education with work in sports. In 1958, Wanek began running the race track scoreboard at the Milwaukee Mile on the grounds of State Fair Park in West Allis. Shortly thereafter, he was approached to work as a timer for the now defunct Champ Car World Series.
Wanek's work in auto racing gave him the unique opportunity to travel across the globe to such places as England, Japan, Brazil and Australia, among other exotic destinations. While he has fond memories of most of his trips overseas, Wanek learned to appreciate the quality of life enjoyed by most Americans. Specifically, he recalls a tense situation working at a race in Germany during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"We walked in the hotel and the attendant told us we were at war," says Wanek. "We didn't know what he was talking about. Then he showed us the TV screen. It was a very nervous time over there. We couldn't call out to the United States, because all of the phone circuits were tied up. One of my sons was over in Frankfurt. We got a hold of him and he was able to call back to the United States to let everybody know we were okay."
Naturally, Wanek's travel with the Champ series forced him to miss a few basketball games throughout the years, as have a few health issues, namely a hip surgery a couple of years back and open heart surgery last Feb. 29, "but nothing too serious over the course of time," he states rather nonchalantly.
"I didn't know I had a problem, but the doctors said we have to do this," Wanek says of his triple-bypass procedure in which they also replaced a valve. "And I said, 'oh, right after the basketball season, right?' And they said, 'no, Friday.'"
Wanek remains proud of the fact that he only missed two Marquette games and six Bucks games during that stretch. He now works out three days a week at the Southridge Athletic Club, roughly one block away from his house in Greenfield, where he lives with his second wife of 11 years and enjoys doing yard work in the summers.
He lights up as he vividly recollects Christmas parties hosted by former Bucks' coach Larry Costello, casually strolling through the local K-Mart with pro players like Dick Cunningham and Greg Smith ("because they were bored"), or teaching Guy Rodgers how to play sheepshead one time before a game in St. Louis. Likewise, Wanek shares fond memories of Marquette basketball and its players past and present such as Doc Rivers, who Wanek called the most exciting player he's ever seen play - and a "dear friend" (Rivers sent a flower bouquet to Wanek following his heart surgery).
Wanek says he's always enjoyed Marquette basketball, adding that there are too many great moments to name a favorite.
"To itemize each one would be monumental, let's put it that way," he says.
"I'm extremely fortunate, and feel grateful for being able to pick up Marquette, because it gives me a chance to sometimes see some kids all the way from high school, through college and into the pro ranks and see how they can improve themselves," says Wanek.
"And that's a real rewarding experience."
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