The Ongoing Saga at the Milwaukee Mile / NOW With New UPDATE

So its been a week since we reported on the possible conspiracy to kill the Milwaukee Mile. Obviously with the Giuffre brothers talking, as well as radio and news catching on to the story; any half-decent PR person knows it would be incredibly beneficial to immediately quell the worries and point out the conspiracies as false...

Well Governor Doyle and his administration, kind-of, maybe tried to do it...

"The administration understands the importance of racing in Milwaukee to both the city and the state and will continue to work with the State Fair Park Board in their efforts to preserve the rich racing tradition at Milwaukee Mile in a way that is fair to both state taxpayers and racing enthusiasts."

In other words: Doyle's administration & the State Fair Board... who are essentially one in the same... are working with themselves... to find a solution to a problem... that they created... that someone else has already given them the solution to...

It seems funny to me that the official stance from the State Fair Board still insists that they have never had official contact with the Giuffres, even though there is proof otherwise (see below posting); and that they can't talk to Dominic Giuffre even if they wanted to, because they are under contract with Claude Napier... you know the promoter who owes millions of dollars to NASCAR & IRL and is now defunct.

Pardon me, but does anyone really believe Claude Napier would be angry if the Fair Board cut his contract and took the debt liability away. The Giuffre's may not have yet offered to take up the debt so much as to just be the new promoters with their financial backing as a starting fund after debt is taken care of. Because as Dominic Giuffre puts it best:

"You have a $150 million asset you have to protect. What's $4 million? If I was (Gov. Jim) Doyle, I would step up to the plate."

Public funding is used extensively to attract and keep sports franchises and other assets that affect the quality of life. Giuffre cited the construction of Miller Park, the $295 million Lambeau Field renovation and even the recent filming of "Public Enemies" in Wisconsin as examples.

"You think they're paying that off?, No, absolutely not. They're underwritten by the state."

My numbers may be off slightly, but by this point, Wisconsin has spent almost 287486% more on all those things, compared to what it would cost to take care of the current Mile promotion debt. To read all the fun quotes from Dominic, and the fun "We're gonna do something, but we're not telling anyone what exactly" comments from the State Fair Board, head here.

UPDATE: I'd like to thank Michael Horne at www.milwaukeeworld.com for linking me up with his report, from just before last weekend, which indicates quite a different story than the Journal Sentinel:

"It appears somebody from the Governor's office gave board chair Susan Crane the go-ahead to begin negotiations with the Giuffres, who promoted races at the track from 1984 to 1991. As recently as last week, Crane offered a noncommital response to an e-mail from Dominic Giuffre. [Milwaukeeworld was provided a copy of the e-mail by a source close to the negotiations.]

The negotiations would be fast and intense, and could be complete Monday. According to sources familiar with NASCAR operations, Monday is a key date on the NASCAR planning calendar for 2010.

Frank Giuffre confirmed to Milwaukeeworld that he and his brother are in touch with fair officials and say they plan to work over the holiday weekend."

I'm not sure if the Journal-Sentinel is getting the run around, or late in reporting fact as their article post-dates Michael's by at least 4 days; And the Monday Mike reports has come and passed, but I'm sure race fans world-wide are hoping that the negotiations are in fact underway, and the Journal-Sentinel is simply getting the run around while negotiations are underway.