Milwaukee, WI
Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t the only member of the Milwaukee Bucks family who’ll be a part of the 2024 Paris Olympics
Experiencing the Paris Olympics opening ceremony the Parisian way
The Olympics are underway, and local Parisians are excited to welcome the world to their city with good friends, good food and an excellent view.
Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t the only member of the Milwaukee Bucks family who’ll play a big part in the Paris Olympics.
Johnny Watson, the Bucks’ executive producer of broadcast and live events, will, too.
Watson and Antetokounmpo will both help lead teams — just in their own ways. Antetokounmpo will be representing his home country of Greece from the court, and Watson will be courtside as a venue producer for all men’s and women’s basketball games.
“It’s one of the most prominent sporting entertainment in the world,” Watson said. “It’s a huge deal. I’m honored.”
Watson will be show-calling, aka producing, the basketball games’ in-arena presentations with videos, graphics, music, special effects, lighting, on-court entertainment and national anthems. To pull this off, he’ll be working with a crew of at least 25 people per game who’ve come from around the world, including France, Finland, Australia, Canada and the U.S.
While this may sound like a lot, Watson’s done it before. He worked the men’s basketball games and the women’s basketball medal rounds for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Plus, the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China in 2019 and in Indonesia in 2023.
Watson said it’s nearly the same as what he does for Bucks games at Fiserv Forum. And, internationally with his team on occasion, like when the Bucks played in London in 2015 and Abu Dhabi in 2022.
Here’s a glimpse into Watson’s Olympic journey, from planning meetings that began months ago to what a day in his life will look like during the Games.
“It’s obviously an honor to be here, represent Milwaukee, the Bucks, my family,” Watson said. “It’s pretty special to be a part of it.”
From months of meetings to what game days will look like
About six months ago, Watson started having meetings for the Olympics, which ramped up as the Games got closer. Those meetings focused on processes, staffing, logistics and more, he said. Once that was solidified, planning the programs, what the shows will look like, commenced.
Watson arrived in Paris in mid-July and took an hour train ride to Lille, where the group phases will take place. He’ll head to Paris proper for the medal rounds and stay there through Aug. 13.
There will be four basketball games a day. Watson will arrive about two hours before the first for meetings and to rehearse, step-by-step, what he and his team — including talent, music DJs and graphic operators — will be doing during the game.
“Then, the doors open and you go and you start,” he said.
When the game ends, Watson and his crew will meet and rehearse for the next one.
“It makes for a really long day, but it’s the Olympics,” Watson said. “It’s the pinnacle of sport.”
Watson will be reunited with fellow Bucks representative Giannis Antetokounmpo when Greece takes on Canada Saturday. Antetokounmpo helped lead his home country into its first Games in men’s basketball since 2008 and was a flag bearer for the opening ceremonies.
Heading into his 13th season with the Bucks, Watson’s been with the organization since B.A., before Antetokounmpo.
“To see his growth and know his story now of where he came from and how much it means to him to be a part of the Olympics is pretty, pretty special,” Watson said. “I’m really excited to obviously see him and see some of the other Bucks staff here, too.”
With this being Watson’s first time in Paris, he’s carved out time to explore before heading back home. He’s planning to check out the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Champs-Élysées.
The Bucks’ Johnny Watson will be headed to the US Open in New York next
As if the Olympics weren’t enough for one summer, Watson will be off to the US Open in New York next month to be a stadium director.
As a former All-American tennis player at Coe College with numerous accolades in the sport, this is a “bucket list lifelong dream” for him.
Watson has attended the U.S. Open as a fan with his dad — who got Watson into tennis when he was 7 — around six times.
Watson helped out with the event for the first time in 2022. He mainly co-managed content for the screens at the Flushing Meadows grounds. His role this time around will be more what he does with the Bucks, he said — programming shows and making them happen.
“My main priority is the (Bucks), but the fact that they look at this as professional development, something I’m very passionate about …” Watson said. “The fact that they give me the opportunity to do this or they tell me it’s OK to do these things in the summer and other times, it means a lot to me.”
Milwaukee, WI
Squire Robinson leads a new generation of Milwaukee artists with his distinctly bold style
In a cavernous attic studio stands Squire Robinson.
Next to him on the ground is an unfinished painting of his. Hung above him are numerous paintings that he’s finished in the past year.
The walls are filled with works of art, crafted by the various artists who also call 100% MKE, a nonprofit arts studio and workspace at 217 N. Broadway, home.
Robinson’s art doesn’t just stand among them – it stands out.
Maybe it’s the saturated reds that prevail in each of his pieces.
Maybe it’s the bold strokes that create the even bolder figures that call his paintings home.
Either way, Robinson’s art has a tangible effect for those with the eyes to see.
“Sometimes the most important piece of art is that you feel. His art makes you feel,” Richard Badger Jr. said. Badger, who goes by the artist name Coyote Rich, is also an artist in residence at 100% MKE.
Robinson first fell in love with art through his grandfather, who painted signs for corner stores. Early memories of drawing contests with his grandfather enchanted Squire into the art world.
Later, Robinson drew comics and superhero characters, foreshadowing the powerful figures he paints today.
“My style has always been there, it’s just evolution, it grows and changes,” Robinson said.
Robinson, a 2024 graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, has always had a certain fascination with Renaissance-era paintings.
Yet despite his appreciation of the style, something was missing.
“I appreciated the technique and skill, but I just couldn’t really relate to it,” Robinson said.
For him, the lack of diversity made the style feel distant.
Black culture in art
Now, Robinson’s style flows through the powerful Black people he paints.
“I took some of that flavor and remixed it to something that is more me,” Robinson said. “My inspiration comes from Black culture, music and my dreams.”
Robinson’s own personality is vehemently present in each of his pieces.
“His art has a very strong personality behind it,” said Nelle Speerschneider, a co-founding board member of 100% MKE.
By the end of a lengthy creative process, Robinson’s pieces are saturated with color and shapes that make viewers stop and stare. For Robinson, that’s the goal.
“To me, good art is when you can just stare at it and sit with it and think,” Robinson said. “If you see my work and walk right past it, then I didn’t do something right.”
Music and the flow state
Robinson said when he is met with a blank canvas, he doesn’t begin with a person or a setting; he starts with the mood. Then, with the help of music, he lets his art flow.
“I don’t try to contain the style, it’s just all me,” Robinson said.
Music is a big deal for Robinson. So much so that he can’t paint without it. Robinson’s taste in music, from classical and jazz to his love for Kendrick Lamar, seeps into his art.
“Squire’s art makes me feel like music,” Badger said.
Robinson said music helps him loosen up and get out of a funk.
“It helps me escape and enter that flow state,” Robinson said.
He said music supports his ethereal creative process.
“Sometimes when I paint, I feel like I’m being guided by something higher than me,” Robinson said.
Milwaukee made
As a young figure in the Milwaukee art scene, Robinson wears the city on his sleeve.
“Growing up in Milwaukee made me hard in the sense of staying true to myself,” Robinson said.
At 100% MKE, Robinson offers a unique voice. “It’s nice to have his youthful and urban take in the studio,” Speerschneider said.
Badger said young artists like Robinson are vital for pushing the scene forward.
“They’re the driving force of what Milwaukee looks and feels like,” he said.
Future goals
Going forward, Robinson wants to become an art therapist, someone who uses the medium of art to process emotional challenges.
“Art has always been a way to self-express and get my own feelings out,” Robinson said. “That’s why the tone of my paintings matters the most, because those feelings are what I’m trying to evoke.”
As for his art career, Robinson says his finest work is yet to come.
“I haven’t created my best one yet.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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Milwaukee, WI
Post From Community: Laughing Liberally Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
The Brewers drafted 20 players over the course of 20 rounds in the 2026 MLB Draft, including first-round shortstop Trey Ebel, second-round outfielder Sawyer Strosnider, Wilmot Union HS (Wisconsin) shortstop Chance Ruby, and CC Sabathia’s son, first baseman Carsten Sabathia III. The team now has until 4 p.m. CT on July 27 to sign each draft pick. We’ll keep track of the signees below.
Milwaukee’s total signing bonus pool is $8,042,900, which can be allocated as the team chooses (i.e., slot bonuses are not the guaranteed signing value). Rounds 11-20 automatically have $150,000 allocated to the slot — money given to these picks only counts toward the bonus pool if they exceed $150,000. Teams that exceed their bonus pool face financial penalties, with higher thresholds resulting in the loss of future picks.
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