UW-Northwestern halftime thoughts

Wow, that was horrible. Northwestern is a slightly above-average team, well-coached, but they looked like the freaking 1984 San Francisco 49ers in the first half. I honestly don't see any way we win this game, our guys look uninterested, and our coaches overmatched.

-Isaac Anderson's first half performance sums it up. On our first play he drops a touchdown pass on a perfectly thrown ball from Scott Tolzien. Later he muffs a kickoff, then doesn't realize he needs to hustle after it and get it out of the end zone.

-Tolzien has played reasonably well. Paul Chryst has done a good job of getting Garrett Graham open, and Scotty has found his tight end.

-That doesn't really matter if we can't get the running game going. I can't think of one run thus far that has indicated we're ready to bust out. And this isn't Iowa or Ohio State we're playing against here, it's Mike Hankwitz stopping us with smoke and mirrors.

-We've had absolutely no pass rush so far, so while you can say our defensive backs have been clueless, Mike Kafka has had all day to find his guys.

-Poor special teams again. We allow their slow kickoff return guy to take one back into our territory, untouched except for a pathetic tackle attempt. Brad Nortman booms a coffin corner punt almost out of Northwestern's end zone. Anderson's muff.

-On Twitter our guy Randy Kessler commented that he hates Wayne Larrivee. If he weren't the Packers' radio guy I'd hate him 100% of the time, too, now I tolerate him for three hours on Sundays. Pair him with Chris Martin, terrible all the time but even more annoying calling a game with his alma mater, Northwestern, and when we're playing poorly ... it's tough to listen to.

-Seeing the see of red at Northwestern's high school stadium (Jim Polzin estimates that in his sight line it's 80-20 UW-NU fans, although he can't see a large portion of the stands) made me feel good, but if I was with my fellow Badger fans right now I would be incredibly upset for having made the drive.

I was trying to figure out what this does for our bowl prospects, but right now I'd be better off going to help Jana paint our laundry room. We're going with a very bright yellow, in case you're interested.

Line not offensive at all

After thinking about it, I thought the offensive line played perhaps its best game of the year against Michigan State. The first two series were rocky (Jim Polzin reported that John Moffitt offered reporters $15 not to mention his early whiffs, funny stuff), but after that the play was really solid. We ran the ball effectively against what was by far the best run defense we've faced this year, and Scott Tolzien was given time to throw.

The interesting thing is, that wasn't the offensive line as it was projected at the beginning of fall camp. In fact, only the starting tackles were as projected. As far as I could tell, the line shaped up like this:

LT: Gabe Carimi
LG: John Moffitt
C: Peter Konz
RG: Kevin Zeitler
RT: Josh Oglesby

His camp injury aside, Carimi is a given, although the hold he was called for against MSU was pretty ugly. The fact that Oglesby has been largely unmentioned thus far can only be seen as a positive. The quality of competition he's going to face is about to getting dramatically better, hopefully he's built up enough confidence to play well against the likes of Ohio State and Iowa.

The interior spots are most interesting, though. Apparently Jake Bscherer has settled into a career as a backup. Is Travis Frederick healthy enough to go, or has Konz just played well enough to keep him on the bench? Same goes for Bill Nagy and Zeitler at right guard.

Tough to say. Without extensive video review it's often hard to determine the effectiveness of individual interior linemen. But it seems clear that Bob Bostad has about eight starting-caliber linemen at his disposal. Even better, not one of these linemen is a senior. As well as the offense has played so far, it's not a stretch to say that with just about everyone scheduled to return next year, the Badgers' 2010 offense could be one of the best we've had.

Big Ten Network: More Polzin please!

Tonight Jim Polzin, who in my opinion is one of the top three Badger football beat writers, made his debut appearance on the Big Ten Network. He briefly answered the host's question about what Bret Bielema will be looking for Saturday against Akron, touching on new cornerbacks Mario Goins and Niles Brinkley.

In our house the program was pre-empted by Barack Obama's acceptance speech, but we watched Big Ten Tonight right afterward. My wife, an avowed Obamaniac, was considerably more excited to see Jim. Looks like we have another Polziniac on board.

Here's hoping BTN viewers get a steady diet of Jim (heh heh) throughout the course of the season. The good news is it seems Time Warner and Comcast are breaking down and carrying BTN. Because you don't want to miss the Akron game!

Cumulative rankings

Awhile back I mentioned that it would be nice to determine the Badgers' consensus preseason ranking based on a variety of reputable sources. Based on a link posted in Jim Polzin's blog last week, that work has already been done for us.

This site does a nice job using sources like Lindy's and Athlon to show consensus, and what is revealed is pretty damn close to what I would choose if forced.

Where do the Badgers fit? Nicely at #12, which can seem both perfect or too high if you ask me, depending on whether or not I've had coffee yet. A couple other sources, including Sports Illustrated, have picked Wisconsin #10.

The Badgers are also picked to finish second in the Big Ten, which also seems reasonable, although if I was playing with mortgage money I'd pick Illinois second.

Interesting that Ohio State, nobody's #1 but most people's #2 or #3, is the consensus #1. Maybe getting humiliated in two straight national title games has people gun-shy about committing them to the top spot.

Bielema to Penn State?

Last week both Dave Heller and Jim Polzin commented in their blogs on a story from Sporting News' Matt Hayes. Both guys bring up the flaws I saw in Hayes' theory -- it's hard to see Bielema leaving for another Big Ten program (except maybe Iowa), and even after two very good seasons he's still something of an unproven commodity as a head coach.

Not wanting to rehash what those other guys wrote, let me throw this out there: is the Penn State clearly a better job than Wisconsin right now?

On the "Obviously it is, come on" side of the ledger: history, tradition, fan base, and most importantly, better local recruiting talent.

On the "Maybe it's not" side: following a legend (sorry, but JoePa dwarfs Barry here), higher expectations (could also be seen as a good thing), increased competition for Pennsylvania/New Jersey recruits (from Ohio State, Rutgers, Pitt).

Personally, I'd lean on the side of Penn State is a better job than Wisconsin, even right now and after Paterno retires. But it's not by as wide a margin as it once was.

Read some of the comments following Hayes' column, fans of other teams give Bielema much praise.

Anthony Davis, eh?

Can you believe that in over 300 posts on a blog called Badgercentric there has not been one mention yet of Anthony Davis? The Anthony Davis who is Wisconsin's second all-time leading rusher, with 4,676 yards and 42 touchdowns? Who was just incredible his first two seasons, before injuries derailed his college career?

Well, here's the first. Was reading a pretty good Mike Lucas story today on Tyler Donovan's emotions during the NFL Draft, and what his future in the CFL looks like. It's funny, because several times during the draft Saturday I made a remark to Polzin like "Hey Jimmy, the Ravens just took Donovan, time to get to work." Interesting to see that NFL teams actually were talking to Tyler, although it would probably have just been for tryouts.

Anyway, back to Davis. According to Lucas's story, Davis played the last couple years for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before being traded to the Toronto Argonauts in December. Unfortunately, the Argos' website indicates AD was released three weeks ago.

Davis was on my mind last fall when we were debating here how the Badgers' current running back depth chart should shape up. Some people indicated that they wouldn't be disappointed if P.J. Hill moved on, since Zach Brown, Lance Smith and John Clay could fill in just fine. I disagree. When you find a superstar back - like Davis was his first two seasons - the dropoff to guys who are just pretty good can change a season.

When Davis got hurt in 2003 and 2004, Badger fans probably thought it would be no big deal since Dwayne Smith and Booker Stanley were waiting in the wings. They proved capable, but the offense bogged down at times. It wasn't until Brian Calhoun came in the next season that the offense again had a dynamic threat out of the backfield, and that side of the ball was explosive for the Badgers.

My point is, when you have a guy who's a true game-changer right off the bat, you ride him as long as he can, because the guys behind him might not necessarily be better.

Crazylegs=Crazy fun!

It wasn't the best day for the 27th annual Crazylegs Classic, with overcast skies and blustery wind. I finished 4,963rd, which was good for second place in our group. Unfortunately, it was 4,962 places short of finishing our quest for the perfect baby name; Jana and I made a deal that if I won the whole ball of wax, we'd name our son Elroy Hirsch Tappa. No dice.

For those of you who know us, the our quintet's finish was: 1. Tim Toohey (great race dude!), 2. me, 3. Matt Schwalbach, 4. Jim Polzin, 5. Andy Tappa. Andy and Jim crossed the finish line at the same time (sadly, not holding hands), but Jim crossed the start line a second before Andy.

A good time. Someone suggested I did some hits and misses for the day, so here goes:

Hits
-Here's who greeted us at the starting line: Morris Cain, Lance Kendricks, O'Brien Schofield, Kevin Gullikson, Brett Valentyn, Greg Stiemsma, Joe Krabbenhoft. Saw Brian Butch, wearing a big black hoodie, on Breese Terrace near the stadium entrance.

-The wave start was done better than ever, meaning less running in place and a less congested first half-mile of running.

-Ron Dayne, talkative as ever, told the crowd he planned to play two more years in the NFL before retiring to work with the program. Apparently he's also spending a lot of time in Madison working with schoolkids. Nice to see a strong alumni connection to the current team.

-Free beer at the end is a really good thing about Crazylegs.

-Didn't miss any of the NFL Draft, which started later this year. Really enjoying the new 10 minutes between picks first round, kudos Roger Goodell.

-Always a great feeling to run onto the field at Camp Randall.

Misses
-The guy with the lip piercing who enforced the double-letter waves way at the end, who made kids move from BB to CC. Come on dude, lighten up.

-The folks with really bad leg tattoos who dressed up in full Joe Thomas UW uniforms for at least the second time. I appreciate the school spirit, but the tattoos are just creepy.

-Did not hear the theme song from Rocky once. Very disappointing.

-People who are walking on the running course should move to the right side and let us run through!

-Some dude was wearing an Adam Haluska Iowa jersey. I subtly pushed him into Lake Mendota.

-The course got kind of narrow on the lakeshore after the dorms.

-George Johnson, sports director of Channel 3 in Madison and the MC at the finish line, is a bit much for my tastes.

Already looking forward to next year. Will is asking to run with me next year. I'm not sure that's such a good idea, although there were some 6-year-olds who seemed to be finishing ahead of me this year.

Happy April 1-0

When we were in school, I thought our staff at the Daily Cardinal did a nice job with the sports section. Sure there was some entry-level crappiness, some really good stories, columns, and photography, and a whole lot of typical college newspaper sports coverage.

We never did anything too silly, though, which in one sense is good - we were training to become professional journalists. On the other hand, it's a shame we didn't - college is your last real chance to goof around and do stupid things before you have a car payment and diapers to buy.

That's what makes this Cardinal April Fool's Day story Jim sent over so funny:

Bielema's girlfriend tired of 1-0 mantra

Give it a read, it's good. I, for one, think the whole 1-0 thing is silly (but not the guy in the picture above). I sure did back at my first job in Ohio, when control freak coach Tom Peiffer of Gibsonburg brainwashed his kids with the 1-0 thing - and it's nice to see someone poking fun at it. A little bit risky, too - who knows how Bielema will react?

Well, our basement had some minor flooding last night, so I'm going to wet vacuum 1-0 right now.

A look at the Badgers' football recruits

Bret Bielema signed his latest recruiting class when I was still recovering from my Germany jet lag, so I've been remiss about commenting on our latest round of new Badgers.

Maybe that's because this class didn't have the pizazz of some of our other classes — no John Clays or Josh Oglesbys. Maybe it's because my least favorite Big Ten coach, Tim Brewster, signed what is being heralded as a terrific class at Minnesota.

Or maybe it's because I've finally come to realize that, while it can be fun to follow, getting really worked up about football recruiting is pointless. It would be one thing if we were players in the Terrelle Pryor derby, but we're not. Here is my take on football recruiting in a nutshell:

-We will never rank near the top of the Big Ten recruiting rankings. Ohio State and Michigan will always be 1-2, and Penn State will usually be third. Some school like Iowa or Minnesota or Wisconsin will sneak into the #4 spot on occasion. That doesn't always translate into wins - the core of Iowa's last two disappointing teams was a recruiting class considered the school's best-ever, while their success preceding that came with players who may have flown under the radar in the recruiting process.

-If you get a lot of capable kids and coach them up, you'll have a chance, even against all the bandwagon-jumping mercenaries suiting up for the Buckeyes and Wolverines.

-Getting the key in-state kids to come to Madison will always be our top priority, and with a few exceptions (Adam Stenavich) we've been outstanding in this area since Barry took over. This year is no exception.

-Complementing the signees with solid walk-ons is critical.

-Our best teams have not been led by highly-ranked recruiting classes, but rather by deep classes that didn't have many busts.

So what about this year's class? I like Tyler Westphal, the defensive end from Menasha. Iola-Scandinavia scrimmaged Menasha this year, and my buddies who saw it said Westphal just threw our kids around - and we were state finalists.

The offensive line signees - Neenah's Peter Konz, Wisconsin Lutheran's Kevin Zeitler (left), Joe Schafer of Minnesota, Jake Current from Ohio - seem poised to carry on our tradition up front. I like that we signed so many defensive backs from Florida and Texas, and loaded up on defense in general (14 of 23 signees).

We signed a junior college transfer, Dan Moore, to help immediately on the defensive line. Thankfully, we haven't relied on Juco guys too much over the years, but sometimes you need them to plug holes. Clearly we're thin on the defensive front, so Moore will get his shot.

Curt Phillips (right) has already enrolled in school, will take part in spring practice, and might have a chance to compete for the starting quarterback job this fall (although my money would be on Allan Evridge). I'm excited about this guy. And the kid who may have the biggest immediate impact is Brad Nortman, a highly-regarded punter from Brookfield Central.

An interesting side note: Jim Polzin wrote an interesting story fleshing out something we touched on here a couple months ago. Basically, Jim points out that we signed six players from SEC states, three from Texas, and none from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. This is because the current batch of assistants doesn't have ties there like past staffs had. Let's just hope Florida, Texas, and the other warm weather states we're now mining are as good to us as New England has been.

Athletic Board dealings

Usually, when the State Journal and Cap Times sports staffs cover an athletic-related event, the accounts are pretty similar. Not so Saturday, when the papers published very different accounts of Friday's University of Wisconsin Athletic Board meeting.

Andy Baggot's State Journal story led with the news on coaching contract extensions, and focused on the fact that Barry Alvarez wanted a performance review in light of John Wiley's upcoming departure as chancellor. (Has it really been almost four years since Barry took over as AD?)

Jason McMahon's Cap Times story was more compelling, reporting that the board meeting got tense at times. Unlike Baggot, McMahon quoted history professor/board member Jeremi Suri, who seems like a squeaky wheel who was looking for an audience. Read the story - his big beefs seem to center on the Big Ten Network fiasco and the athletic department's tendency to operate separately from the rest of the university. Valid points, it would seem.

-Also have to give a plug to Polzin's column on Ike's fall from a charmed existence in 14 months. Jim gives some perspective on Ike's personality that as far as I know hasn't been revealed before.

Badger coaching tree, part 2

Thanks to ajs for commenting on these guys who should definitely be mentioned as prominent parts of the Badger coaching tree. I feel like I was trying too hard to look for long-ago guys and missed these more recent ones.

-Dan McCarney, Barry's old defensive coordinator, had a fairly successful stint as the head at Iowa State. Mac's now the assistant head coach/defensive line coach at South Florida, which we all know had a Cinderella season of sorts.

-John Palermo, now Miami's defensive line coach. It's cool to read his bio and see all the All-Americans he produced while at Wisconsin.

UPDATE - Polzin comment: Just to clarify, Palermo left Miami after the 2006 season and spent last season as the defensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech under Watson Brown (Mack's brother). Palermo has since announced his retirement.

-Ron Lee, our secondary coach for a couple years, moved on to coach cornerbacks at Michigan in 2006, now coaching Minnesota's defensive backs.

-Bernie Wyatt - ajs says he took another job at Iowa after leaving UW in 1996, but I haven't been able to find any evidence of that, and we all know that Google is infallible. Jimmy, you worked with him on your All-Alvarez team, right? What did he do after UW?

UPDATE - Polzin comment: I believe Wyatt was a ``consultant'' at Iowa.

-Todd Orlando, who played linebacker at UW and was a member of the '93 Rose Bowl team, is the defensive coordinator at Connecticut, which had a great season. Dave Heller's JS blog says Orlando is a candidate to be Pittsburgh's new defensive coordinator.

Anyone else?

UPDATE - I somehow forgot Kevin Cosgrove, also shown the door at Nebraska along with Bill Callahan. Doesn't look like he's found a new job yet. Interesting tidbit I found with a story that mentions the new Huskers staff: they had eight de-commits following Cally's departure. Shows you the value of getting your new coach in place at the right time.

Happy new year!

OK, here's what a geek I am: You know how you sometimes are sitting around in the morning and you remember a brief dream you had the night before? This morning I was reading my Sporting News college basketball preview while brushing my teeth, and remembered that last night, I had a dream/nightmare that big-time big man recruit Evan Anderson of Eau Claire had committed to Marquette. Thankfully, that has not yet happened.

Feeling good about the Outback Bowl because we're underdogs. Watching ESPN's bottom line during yesterday's bowls, it appears 70% of those users are picking Tennessee, as are 73% of Yahoo users. The Vegas odds are tighter, essentially calling it a toss-up with the Vols a 1.5- or 2-point favorite.

On the radio preview Matt LePay was just talking about how a guy like O'Brien Schofield might play a lot, even start; one of the papers reported this in the last couple days. Another big variable is time of possession: UW is #2 nationally, UT #100. The wind is blowing pretty hard in Tampa, which should work in our favor.

Final note: While watching the Outback and Cotton bowls today remember that Polzin said Wisconsin and Arkansas might be playing for the national title this year, a point I missed but he reminded readers of today.

The Metrodome: Minnesota built it, Wisconsin owns it

Another fun trip to the Metrodome has come and gone, the last time we will see the Badgers leave that dingy stinkhole victorious. For the record, UW went 4-0 in front of me at the dome, all four games - '95, '97, '05, '07 - memorable in their own way.

Here are a few pictures from our group at the event. Special thanks to Tim Toohey for the photos, Matt and Megan Schwalbach for the hospitality and the pictures, Chris Toren for the early tailgate work, and everyone else for chipping in on the fun.



The group: Molle Polzin, Erik Olson, Brian Hermann, me, Matt Schwalbach, Tim Toohey, Will Bottinick, Eric Werner, Megan Schwalbach, Chris Toren, with Jim Polzin keeping play-by-play notes on the coaches' postgame handshake.



This was either the Badgers chopping down the goalpost with Paul Bunyan's Axe, or them beating the crap out of those annoying UM cymbals players who stood right on the end zone line.



Maybe next year, Chris - always a good sport. Feuding friends Toren and Toohey in a light moment, presumably before Toohey spilled a beer all over his seat. For the record - Toren and I emerged as Baggo champions once again, although not before dropping a game to Schwalbach and Hermann.



EO, me, and Will, taking a break from discussing The World Without Us (started reading it today).





Nothing says college football like a parking lot surrounded by skyscrapers. Welcome to Minneapolis, home of the least college-like atmosphere in the Big Ten. Even if it's not college-like, it's still tons of fun. Highlights from this spot:

-Will learns Baggo
-Molle smells brocoli
-I drop not one, but two Rolling Rocks
-The best: Toren sees a kid peeing near his Pilot, confronts him: "Hey Gopher guy! Did you pee on my car?" Then he knocks the beer out of the guy's hand. Represent! Replays were inconclusive as to whether or not the guy actually peed on the car, but Chris took care of business.








No one can deny that Will made it count. This one's for the girls.

Minnesota football: A program in shambles under Tim Brewster

Conversely, if you're a Gopher football fan, there's not much to be excited about, even after a spirited effort by an overmatched group on Saturday. In his first year as coach, Tim Brewster has led Minnesota to a giant step backward, turning a program that was competitive and excellent in many areas under Glen Mason into something resembling other big-city sports "entertainment" where the game is secondary to the hoopla surrounding it. They also played with a lack of maturity and discipline resembling Miami's late '80s teams, only with 5% of the talent.

To that end, let's take two examples that were well detailed in Jim Polzin's Capital Times story last night.

-... UW senior kicker Taylor Mehlhaff was heading over to congratulate Minnesota counterpart Joel Monroe on a great game when he was approached by Clint Brewster (right), the son of the Gophers coach and a freshman quarterback on the team.

According to Mehlhaff, Clint Brewster said: "You guys are terrible. … We're 1-10 and we should have beat you.''

"I just couldn't believe he said that,'' added Mehlhaff, who made two field goals Saturday but missed as many (two) as he had all season. "I was giving their guys high-fives … and telling them good game. I just couldn't believe anyone would come up and be like that.

"And then he said, 'How many kicks did you miss today?' That's pretty bold. I just said, 'I've got to go celebrate (with) the axe.' ''

Very classy, Clint. I remember two years ago, after the Gophers' gut-wrenching loss to UW in the dome, Laurence Maroney warmly embracing Brandon Williams (both St. Louis guys). That was how this rivalry should play out - fight hard, then a big hug. Our schools and states are pretty similar, records aside, and this should be one of those mutual respect deals. We'll see if the Brewsters can learn that.

-Another thing players that mutually respect one another don't do is punch their opponents in the testicles. From Jim's story:

Bielema revealed the Mehlhaff/Clint Brewster exchange during his postgame news conference and also said he was bothered by an incident between Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker and UW cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu during the game. In the second quarter, Decker appeared to punch Ikegwuonu in the groin area while blocking him, causing Ikegwuonu to leave the game for a play.

Thing is, Decker (above) played really well Saturday, clearly getting the best of Ike, and this totally wipes that out. The Minnesota papers made a big deal out of the fact that Ike head-butted Decker at another juncture. Well, let me tell you, getting punched in the balls hurts more.

-The dome atmosphere resembled a Mike Veeck production. Fireworks. Loud piped-in music. A tire race in the end zone, the winner getting a 6-inch sub! Two drunks running through tackling dummies and doing end zone dances. People throwing Nerf footballs from the upper deck and end zone targets. Apparently, Brewster has decided the residents of Gopher Nation don't want Big Ten football, they want minor league baseball.

-And that's another thing - Gopher Nation? They can't even sell out the dome for the Wisconsin game! Most Minnesota fans left after we went up 41-27, and missed a really excited long touchdown pass. They still had a chance with a minute left. Gotta beat the traffic though. Gopher Nation? Better work on convincing the Twin Cities first, Timmy.

-One thing that stood out during the pregame festivities was the number of aggressively anti-UW shirts worn by Gopher fans. "Better dead than red." "Bucky Badger is a whore." "Buck the Fadgers." Now, I realize that similar anti-UM shirts for Badger fans probably exist, but I didn't see any Saturday, the logical time to wear them.

You know what those shirts are the sign of? An inferiority complex. You know how I know? Because those are exactly the kind of shirts we've worn (okay, I've worn) to denigrate Michigan, as they've beaten us year after year. So yeah, it's a rivalry, but it's so one-sided that the perennial loser resorts to conjuring up images of death, sexual indiscretion, and implied cuss words.

Last night when I first heard about all this crap the Gophers pulled during game, I was madder than a wet hen. Eric Decker punched Jack Ikegwuonu in the nuts!

This morning, though, with the emotions of the day worn off and a little perspective, I just feel bad for Gopher fans. Brewster could end up being a good coach, and I'm not writing him off yet. But the scene we witnessed yesterday indicated that even if he brings in some of those four-star recruits that fans are hyperventilating about, Brewster has a lot to learn about controlling his players, creating a college football environment, and winning ballgames.

Friday Night Lights dimmed

MINNEAPOLS -- I'm sitting here at Schwalbach's house, watching the snow fall ... already? I suppose we used to have lots of snow on Thanksgiving most years growing up, but not lately. Had a nice meal last night at Pepito's with Toren, Schwib, Polzin, Toohey, Eric Werner, and Will, Olson, and Molle showed up later to add to the meaningful discussion.

Shockingly, few wanted to talk about the Wisconsin high school football championship games, except for someone who asked me if I'd even gone to the Iola-Scandinavia game on Thursday. I did, with Mr. Austin and Greg Loescher, but not much to report there. Some shaky early offense and special teams play put the Thunderbirds in a 14-0 hole halfway through the first quarter, and it was a steep uphill climb the rest of the way. Had I-S played a perfect or near-perfect game, Stratford could have been beaten, but there's a reason they've won five gold balls in a row - depth, execution, strategy, experience.

Great season for Iola, though, lots of fun to watch and a terrific galvanizing event for the community.

Sign of the game, held by a Stratford fan: "Iola has the car show, but we have the titles." Clever.

-Another easy win for the basketball team last night. Didn't see it, but looking at the box score, saw the Marcus Landry and Jason Bohannon led the way with 17 apiece - very encouraging. As ajs posted Friday, there's been talk that J-Bo had knee surgery over the offseason and that's set him back. I haven't seen evidence of a lingering injury or recovery, more of a deal where he's not shooting well ... although that could be a byproduct of not having his legs just right.

Never really worried about Landry, no reason for him to force his offense in these cupcake games, but nice to see that he still has it nonetheless. If we can find ways for him - and Jon Leuer - to play the 3, especially on defense, that makes our lineup awfully imposing from an shot-blocking perspective.

-Interesting to be up here in Gopher country and gauge fans' attitudes toward Tim Brewster. I suppose you have to be optimistic, but he is about to be responsible for the worst season in school history. His saving grace is allegedly his recruiting prowess, but given the number of de-commits he's had lately, that prowess is far from a given.

One member of our party wants to see if Brewster and Bret Bielema shake hands before the game, given Bret's words about how "Minnesota has been good to us" lately and Brewster's reaction to that. Hey Tim, it's not a false statement, and Minnesota has been good to Ohio State, Notre Dame, USC, et al in recent years. Do something about it.

Ben Strickland - a great story

A really great story about one of Wisconsin's captains was just posted to the Cap Times website. It's about Ben Strickland, a special teams standout and defensive back reserve, and written and reported by Jim Polzin.

Basically, the kid gave up his scholarship so that one of his best friends, long snapper Steve Johnson, could have one. He works in facilities maintenance to pay for school. He's an academic all-Big Ten choice. And he works with special ed kids.

If Will turns out to be half the young man Mr. Strickland is, we'll be pretty happy.

Give it a read, and if you feel like commenting, please do it after the end of Jim's story, not here.

(Cap Times photo by Michelle Stocker)

Minnesota tickets! and other Monday Badger thoughts

Got the email from Toohey today that we've got tickets to the UW-Minnesota game, the last of its sort at the Humpty Dome. Very excited about heading to the Twin Cities in a month to hang out with the More Points crowd for one more game this season ... unless we reconvened in Tempe in late December, a possibility Jimmy raised in a comment yesterday.

Tim's email said the tickets cost $64, which is fine, will gladly pay it. But, unless these are really good seats - and I can't imagine the U giving Badger fans really good seats - it seems high. When Andy and I went to the opener against Washington State, we had seats on about the north goal line, about 40 rows up, and they were $39. Decent seats, decent price.

But $64 for a University of Minnesota football ticket? My high school economics teacher wasn't that great, but he taught us enough about supply and demand for me to know that when a school puts a mediocre product on the field for 40 years and plays in front of half-empty stadiums, a $64 price tag is high. Guess paying off Clem Haskins' old tutors isn't cheap.

-On the ride home from work tonight the local radio news reader, paraphrasing Bielema's presser today, said the coach believes the team lost the 1-0 focus these last couple weeks. And I threw up in my mouth.

-Reading the quotes from the press conference, I see Chris Maragos was the scout team MVP for the second time this season, and BB expects big things from him in the future. We might be in bigger trouble than I thought.

-Someone, I think Will, made the comment earlier that those of us in Vegas knew there was something wrong with this team and that it probably wasn't a title contender. I will be honest and admit that I didn't feel that way at the time - fully expected them to return home, throttle The Citadel for 60 minutes, roll through the first three Big Ten games, then battle Penn State. Must have been those cardinal-colored shades I picked up before the flight.

-As much as I realize the passing game needs Jefferson and Gilreath to continue getting acclimated with Donovan, what I would really like to see is for the Badgers to run the ball about 60 times for 400 yards, with Brown and Smith splitting the second half. That's what I thought going into the Citadel game, too, and that game didn't go so well, although we did run the ball as well as we should have. I also remember five years ago, watching UW play Northern Illinois with my dad at my aunt Karen's house, and watching Bollinger get sacked 10 times, so you just can't take anything for granted.

-Jim's story today touches on whether or not a bye week would be good for the Badgers this week. I think it's a good thing they're playing so they don't stew over the Penn State game. In another season, I might think a bye is perfect here in week eight. Something you just can't tell until a season starts going.

-Kyle Turris is off to a great start for the Badger hockey team, two goals and four points in two games. You'll be hearing his name a lot, even if you're a casual fan, especially our friends in Phoenix (Coyotes draft pick).

-For Andy: Diamond Taylor was at Night of the Grateful Red, per Schultz in the Cap Times. He's spending a lot of time in Madison. We have to get this guy, can't think of a better name in Badgers hoops history.

Wisconsin-born UW quarterbacks

Not to immediately change the subject, but in the event people don't want to talk about the game ...

This morning's Cap Times had an interesting story by Jim about the dearth of Wisconsin-born QBs starting for the state university. Remember the last one before Donovan? Bud Keyes, in 1987, Milinovich's freshman year.

Link to Cap Times story

Jim does a nice job of breaking down the reasons for this, and the names/hometowns of the QBs we've brought in over the past 20 years. It's a nice trip down memory lane. I have some thoughts on the matter, feel free to discuss.

Appleton Post-Crescent story from a few weeks ago

Appleton Post-Crescent photo of Donovan

Titan shout-out from Ike!

Quote in Potrykus's story today (which also nicely breaks down that Donovan incompletion I referenced Saturday):

"We were playing undisciplined football," UW cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu said of the defense. "And you play that way against Illinois or . . . I don't know, UW-Oshkosh, it doesn't matter. If you play undisciplined football, you're going to get beat."

Now, Oshkosh has made great strides since Phil Meyer took over when Schwib, Frank and I arrived in town seven years ago, and Pat Cerroni has done a good job keeping the program moving forward since Phil left to coach with Brewster at the U. But Ike might be getting a bit dramatic here, and I hope his comments aren't seen as disparaging. He should have said "... I don't know, Minnesota."

Oh, and we're discussing Swan's season-ending injury, as reported by Millie and Jim Polzin of The Capital Times, in this comment thread.

Badgers' defensive leadership

Will mentioned Jim Polzin's story today about the lack of leadership on the UW defense. It's a good read, and as questions came up while reading it Jim answered them later. My thought is that it's not so much about leadership as it is about experience - different things that come with playing a lot. Is it a lack of leadership when Hodge overruns pursuit of a ball carrier and leaves a cutback lane open, or when Carter takes a bad angle to a tackle? It's experience.

Either way, something along those lines is missing, and it wasn't missing last year even though Casillas, Levy, Ike and a couple others were starting for the first time.