UW-Northwestern thoughts

Early in the second half of the Badgers' win over Northwestern Sunday, I was thinking that my prevailing takeaway from a UW win would be something like "Twenty wins, they've already exceeded my expectations. Everything from here on out is gravy."

But then we almost pissed the game away against a marginal team at home. This coming off a poor defensive performance against Illinois, a laugher against a bad Indiana team, and a pathetic showing at Minnesota. So yeah, we won, but right now I'm feeling glass-half-empty about this team.

In particular, I don't think this is a great defensive Badger team. Good? Sure, we'll never be below average with Bo around. But the stellar points-against numbers we yield are more a product of tempo and limited possessions than lockdown defenders. Like today: we only gave up 63 points, but:

-Northwestern shot 22 free throws, and got into the double bonus before we did in the second half. Coming into today we had shot just four more free throws than our opponents, a dramatic departure from the norm. This can be attributed to Jon Leuer's absence, the resulting lack of post touches and tendency to settle for jumpers, and perimeter defense that just isn't quick enough all the time to contain penetration.

-John Shurna had a big game for Northwestern today. No shame in that, he's a good player. But we had no one to slow him down. Tim Jarmusz wasn't exactly doing the job, but as Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas said on the radio, who else were you going to put in at that time? Ryan Evans? Mike Bruesewitz? Evans at least had some success against Kyle Singler earlier this year.

-Leuer had those big blocked shots today, which is an element we've been missing the last two years. Better shot blocking could cover up for some of our perimeter defensive deficiencies.

No Joe Krabbenhoft. No Michael Flowers. No Greg Stiemsma. We just aren't as good defensively as our reputation.

Also not to like today:

-On the topic of reputations not being lived up to, Jordan Taylor had four turnovers today. Is it just me, or has he seemed shaky with the ball lately?

-Leuer, Pop and Jarmusz missed free throws in the waning moments.

On the plus side:

-Jason Bohannon has quietly become exactly the player we hoped he'd be. His step-back jumper is a beautiful move, a nice go-to move that has made him something other than just a 3-point gunner.

-Leuer seemed more comfortable out there.

-Taylor continues to score more than I ever expected him to.

-Give Northwestern credit, they were playing desperate. Of the middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams, they deserve far more credit this year than Michigan or Minnesota, considering the relative talent levels and what Northwestern lost to injury.

We'd better watch out for Indiana, they're going to be a lot tougher out in Bloomington than they were in Madison.

Good morning from Indianapolis

First, a rant: the Embassy Suites still charges for Internet access. $12 per day. Are you freaking kidding me?!? Who charges for Internet access any more? What is this, 1998? No-name, off-brand motels don't even charge for Internet access any more! The other Hilton chain hotels don't charge for Internet access any more!

But ... if we weren't at the Embassy Suites, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of discussing last night's epic Syracuse-UConn game with Mike Lucas this morning. Discussing might be overstating it. After getting on the elevator and heading down from the ninth floor, Lucas and his wife got on one or two floors down.

He said: "Are Syracuse and UConn still playing?"

The rest of us on the elevator: "Heh heh, mmm."

So not really a "discussion," but still an interesting way to start the day. After awhile, the Lucases were joined at breakfast by Barry Alvarez. As Andy said, Barry seemed to be lecturing Lucas about something; maybe he was upset with all the Izzone shirts at breakfast in UW's official team hotel. Later on, Marsh Shapiro held court, Nitty Gritty style.

As Andy, Kenji and I scarfed down breakfast, our conversation turned to how much we appreciated having a top-notch radio announcing crew like Lucas and Matt LePay. This could not have been made more apparent than it was yesterday, when I listened to about 10 minutes of the Marquette-Villanova game on my drive to West Bend.

For starters, Steve "The Homer" True is a stain on broadcasting. It's one thing to be a homer, it's another to be The Homer. You might think I feel this way just because he calls Marquette games, but I'd feel this way if he was calling our games, too; I'm not a huge fan of Wayne Larrivee and Ted Davis, for instance. True's a caricature, and not the good kind. Jim McIlvaine, while light years better than the incoherent unofficial assistant coach/cheerleader that was George Thompson, doesn't bring much to the table other than "I guess there's Saran Wrap on that rim" to explain the shooting woes each team suffered at times.

LePay and Lucas, on the other hand, provide even-handed play-by-play and analysis over the course of a game. LePay has a superb feel for the flow of the game, and knows when the pause for Lucas, who offers good analysis interspersed with interesting backstory and statistics. In my book, Lucas is a far better announcer than writer. Do they get excited when Wisconsin does well? Sure, but only in the most appropriate moments. Some of LePay's end game calls are classics in any book that still give me goose bumps. The Homer treats a three-second call with the same gusto as LePay treated Brian Butch's game-winner against Indiana last year.

Hey, to each his own. If Marquette fans like their announcing team, good for them, that's all that matters. I'll take ours.

And by the way, did you watch the entire Syracuse-UConn game? We did, incredible.

Top Badger running backs of all-time

In the wake of P.J. Hill's NFL declaration, Mike Lucas ranked his top five Badger running backs of all-time. For whatever reason, I can't find the story on BadgerBeat.com now, but I know that Ron Dayne and Alan Ameche were his top two. That's where I'll start my top 15 list.

1. Ron Dayne
Who else?

2. Alan Ameche
You win a Heisman, you're at the top of this list.

3. Brian Calhoun
Quality over quantity. His 2005 was the most well-rounded season by a Badger offensive player, ever.

4. Brent Moss
Many would pick Billy Marek over Moss, but Moss led the Badgers' current resurgence. He was so good on that stretch play. Had a pretty damn good line in front of him, too. Did sharing carries with another great back help or hurt him?

5. Billy Marek
Did it for some bad teams, but never lifted them beyond that.

6. Pat Harder
"Hit 'em Again" Harder.

7. Rufus Ferguson
The Roadrunner.

8. Alan Thompson
Thompson-Ferguson-Marek was a pretty damn good back-to-back-to-back for some pretty damn bad teams.

9. Terrell Fletcher
May have been better than Moss, as he showed in late '94 after Moss was kicked off the team. Lasted a long time in the NFL.

10. Michael Bennett
That speed ...

11. Anthony Davis
Injuries limited his last two years, but he was electrifying.

12. P.J. Hill
Better than many fans gave him credit for.

13. Elroy Hirsch
Thing is, Crazylegs didn't have eye-popping numbers in college, just a couple incredible games on a balance team. Probably better at Michigan and in the pros.

14. Larry Emery

15. Marvin Artley

This list probably excludes some worthy guys from the very early days of Wisconsin football, but it's so tough to compare those guys with the others.

What does your list look like? Even just a top five or 10?

Another Hill to Climb, another book to read

Over the holiday break I got around to reading Bo Ryan's book, Another Hill to Climb. If you'll recall, my mom got me the book and had it signed by Bo, who declined to personalize it in any way.

How was it? Well, it wasn't The Iliad, but it was interesting. Sort of read like a 211-page Mike Lucas column, not surprising since he was the co-author of the book. Some would argue that's about 210 pages too many. Lots of one-sentence paragraphs and loose transitions. A random finish.

Other than that, my only real criticism of the book is the overuse of the first person. At one point it was really jarring, so I counted the number of uses of the word "I" on a random page -- 28. Flipped back about 25 pages or so and did the same thing -- 28 again. Shame on Lucas for not cleaning that up more.

Much of the book is stuff we already know about Bo, but there were a lot of anecdotes that were new and interesting to me:

-When Bo was an assistant at Wisconsin in the '70s, he would go running, and his frequent running mate was Steve Randall, the old Oshkosh West coach and widely-liked good guy who passed away several years ago. Randall earlier coached at Iowa-Grant, where current UW assistant Greg Gard played for him.

-Pickup games at the Field House at that time included Andy north, Van Stoutt, and Jim Doyle. Wouldn't you have loved to see Stoutt get fouled hard?

-Reading about some of the recruits UW got in the '70s and early '80s -- Wes Matthews, Larry Petty, Joe Chrnelich, Claude Gregory, Scott Roth, Brad Sellers, Cory Blackwell, Ricky Olson -- it's amazing the program was so bad for so long. Probably a combination of mediocre head coaching and a tougher Big Ten than we have today.

-Bo writes about recruiting Roth and Sellers out of Cleveland, two very big gets for the Badgers (even if Sellers ended up transferring). During the Michigan game when Rob Wilson got in, the announcer made a reference to Cleveland being a pipeline for Bo, and mentioned Roth. Has Bo gotten anyone besides Wilson during this go-round in Madison? None come to mind. That would be a great place to tap a pipeline to, though, just as it is for football. So much talent, only one Ohio State.

-Apparently during the time between when Bill Cofield was fired and Steve Yoder was hired at Wisconsin, Bo was pursued by Jud Heathcote to move to Michigan State. He and Tom Izzo could have been best buds!

-Paul Chryst, whose dad George was the athletic director at Platteville and recruited Bo there, helped move Bo's family to Platteville.

-Tom Davis, who coached so well at Iowa, wanted the UW job when it went to Cofield.

-As a young lad, I played against two guys who went on to contribute to Bo's championship teams at Platteville -- Ben Hoffmann, who played at Hartford against our West Bend East teams, and Colin Gassner, who beat my eighth grade St. Frances Cabrini team to win the 1990 St. John's tournament. The things you don't forget ...

-My memory of the 2003 Badger team is that a weak Big Ten helped contribute to a conference championship, but think of the talent on that team: first round NBA picks Devin Harris and Alando Tucker, and future pros Kirk Penney and Mike Wilkinson. That's a helluva foursome, I'd put them up against anyone in any conference in any year. Bo poses the question "Have I ever thought about what it would have been like if Alando Tucker and Devin Harris had been able to play together for more than one season?" I have, it's bittersweet to think about.

-Lastly, before going to the book signing, my mom asked me if I wanted her to tell Bo about my blog. No, I said, please don't. Good call -- Bo seems to have a problem with blogs and bloggers. To quote:

"... during our 2008 Big Ten coaches meetings ... we had a panel discussion with two respected sportswriters ... and a blogger. Yes, a blogger. That's how times have changed. In many instances, I just think there's a lack of accountability with blogs. It almost becomes an obsession with some. And what follows is usually hearsay or an over-reaction, whether it's to one play or one game or one team. Where's the credibility?"

Ah, um, er ... I see where he's coming from, and he's to an extent he's right. The Internet, particularly the anonymity it provides, has heightened the second-guessing and scrutiny of people with public jobs. But what I think bothers Bo about the Internet is he can't control the conversation like he does with traditional media, as he boasts about in the succeeding pages. In fact, it seems the only "sports journalists" Bo holds in high regard are those who deliver only fawning praise.

Frankly, I'd wager that Bo has never read a blog, and is using the term as a catch-all for everything on the Internet. Certainly none of the blogs devoted to the Badgers are ever very critical of him or his program, and with good reason, we appreciate the job he's done. Blog comments, or other Big Ten blogs, maybe, but that just reflects what fans are thinking.

Not all bloggers are purveyors of hearsay and over-reaction, and the Internet as a dominant medium isn't going away any time soon, so deal with it.

Later, Bo is talking about Cicero. "... I'm told he was a Roman statesman, who was known to be a flip-flopper. He would change his position depending on which way the wind was blowing -- and then over-react. He might have been the world's first sports writer or blogger."

Ouch.

As with any of these books, if you're looking for a deeper understanding of Badger sports and one of the more successful programs we've ever had, give it a read.

UW-Florida State thoughts

Just read lonebadger's comment on the halftime post, and wanted to throw this statement out there to start the recap.

I am not embarrassed by this loss.

Agree or disagree.

Florida State was the better team and deserved to win this game. But they sure as hell weren't 29 points better, and with the exception of a couple plays proved the Badgers belonged on the same field as the team almost everyone picked to beat them.

Because, at the risk of being That Guy Who Bitches About The Officiating, if two calls go our way, this thing doesn't snowball out of control into a rout. If two calls go our way, we stay with our effective game plan and who knows what happens.

One of the calls was questionable, the other outright horrible.

-The first came when Jay Valai appeared to have created a turnover, either an interception or a fumble, off a Ponder pass. The ultimate call may very well have been the correct one -- the replays did not seem to indicate either way -- but my question is if the call on the field is Wisconsin ball, how did those replays show enough visual evidence to overturn the call?

As we know, FSU then went on a painfully long touchdown drive in which our secondary seemed to forget Carr was out there. That third-and-19 conversion where Carr was open for 20 was just inexcusable, we didn't have a guy within five yards of him. He absolutely ate us alive.

Florida State's offensive line also played much better in the second half.

-So that touchdown made it 21-6, even after P.J. fumbled, we held them, and a methodical drive running the ball could have made it a one-score game. Instead, Graham Gano slips after punting and Louis Nzegwu gets flagged -- not just for running into the kicker, but for roughing the kicker, a 15-yarder. When he didn't even touch the kicker!!!

Worst call I've seen in quite some time. The ref was right there. What was even more galling was Gano laughing his ass off on the sideline afterward, and the announcing crew laughing along with him. FSU scored quickly thereafter and the game was over.

If those two plays go our way, or even one of those two, the complexion of the game is totally different. We're not forced to pass and allow Florida State's defensive line to tee off on Sherer, leading to another FSU defensive touchdown. We can keep running the ball, and we've got a chance.

Add that to the two frustrating things from my halftime post, and winning was a impossibility. As Lucas and Lepay just said on the postgame, this team isn't good enough to overcome its mistakes against good teams.

So I disagree with lonebadger, I don't think this team quit. I think the accumulation of unfortunate events of this game, maybe from this entire season, overwhelmed them against a team that had the talent to take advantage. Whether or not that's quitting is up for debate, but those last few touchdowns the Seminoles scored would have been allowed by a lot of teams.

-Seems that Gano was named player of the game, what a joke. His punts in the first half were tremendous, but Florida State never scored as a result of the field position he gave them. I suppose his non-collision with Nzegwu was a turning point in the game, but there were probably five Seminoles more deserving of the honor.

-P.J.'s key fumble looked familiar -- he's fighting for extra yards, gets bent in an awkward position and gets hammered. Not sure why he ends up exposing himself like that so often, but it would be nice if he'd stop.

But he had a nice game with 9.3 yards per carry, 139 total yards. I really hope he comes back, he and Clay will be a terrific 1-2 punch next year.

-I liked that we ran the ball on our first 17 first downs. That's what we have to get back to: Line up and pound the rock. Here it comes, if you can stop it, more power to you.

-How many unsportsmanlike conduct or personal foul penalties did Florida State end up with? Classy.

-One of the gomers in the booth screamed "They have not seen this kind of speed!" during Florida State's second fumble return. Bull. Penn State was every bit as fast as Florida State (similar results against Wisconsin), and Ohio State was on defense. Overall, FSU was probably the fourth-best team we played this year, throwing Iowa ahead of them as well.

On this speed thing: Florida State was indeed quicker, but that didn't decide the game. It was Carr, who is no burner, galloping to wide-open spots in our defense. It was our offense being forced into predictable situations by a large deficit. Or it was our offense getting too cute.

When we ran the ball straight ahead, we did very well. That was how we could negate their speed advantage. Unfortunately external forces got us out of that strategy.

The constant harping on the speed disparity between the teams, both before and during the game, was lazy reporting and analysis.

-As predicted by our Florida State friends our tight end was able to do some things, as Graham had 62 yards receiving.

-Nice to see us get a touchdown at the end, Sherer made a nice pass to Elijah Theus.

-Was glad to see Bielema let the seniors finish the game on defense, they deserved to see it through. This was a disappointing season, and a disappointing end to it, but those guys gave a lot to this program.

I've got plenty more thoughts on this season on the whole, and the state of the program, that I'll write about in the days to come. For now, I'll just spend Saturday night disappointed for the sixth time in the last three months.

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.

Sunday morning stream of consciousness

Thoughts while enjoying Starbucks in the Sheraton lobby, watching Andy North and now Mike Lucas walk by.

-Just read the Indianapolis Star recap of our game yesterday, and it barely mentioned the officiating. For all the kvetching about the refs from both sides (read Kyle's Spartans Weblog for a well-reasoned criticism, not from Michigan media idiots like Drew Sharp), a neutral observer focused on Neitzel's excellent BTT after a tough season, and UW's fourth title game run in five years.

-I've been disappointed in our NCAA seed too many times to get too worked up about it this year, but we really should be a #2 seed. Duke, Georgetown, and Stanford losing yesterday has to help our cause there. But we'll still likely be a #3, since the Big Ten is just so damn unimpressive.

-If I were Bruce Weber, I'd play McCamey off the ball more and leave Frazier to bring the ball up the court, Chester's no threat to come off a screen jacking up 3-pointers.

-In some downer Badger news, the hockey team lost to St. Cloud State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs and is now an iffy bet at best to make the NCAAs. Too bad, the regionals are in Madison.

-I've been defending the Big Ten a lot lately, but here's some criticism: very little imagination or crispness in the offensive sets. The Swing is deliberate, but at least it yields good looks on a consistent basis. Many of the other teams we've seen in Indy just toss the ball around the perimeter aimlessly for 28 seconds, then panic to jack up a long 3-pointer or crash recklessly into the lane and either miss the shot or throw the ball away. So yes, our teams play good defense - in particular, Big Ten big men are exceptional at hedging on ball screens and forcing the dribbler to flatten out his path - but our coaches need to take a long look at their offensive systems this offseason.

Badgers: Big Ten champs

Image courtesy uwbadgers.com

You know what the best thing about tonight's game was? Watching our kids' smiles. Not grins, or smirks, not chest thumping self-congratulation. Ear-to-ear smiles when their teammates made a nice play, or when their play set up a teammate's nice play.

J-Bo beaming after a 3-pointer rattles in from the corner. Greg Stiemsma smiling - an on-court career first? - after a terrific pass setting up Joe Krabbenhoft's dunk - a college career first? Michael Flowers going crazy after Stiemsma's follow-up dunk. Every last person on the team (in Wisconsin?) smiling when Tanner Bronson made that 3-pointer. It's like kids playing around at the Y, just having fun.

It's nice to know that they're enjoying it, because these guys have given me thousands of smiles this winter. It's also nice to know that we may not be done smiling. LePay and Lucas were just commenting as the game wound down that with last year's team, you had a sense they had hit a wall at season's end; with this year's team, you have a sense that they're getting better every time out.

I've got some more thoughts that I'll get to after Saturday's game, win or lose, but wanted to make one more observation:

Our opponents' student sections rush the floor when they beat us. Our students rush the floor when we win championships. As recently as my years in college, this would have been a pipe dream.

Bo has built this program to unforeseeable heights. Here's hoping we haven't seen the peak yet.

-As for the game, it reminded me of the Michigan game in 2002 where we wrapped up our first Big Ten title in 55 years. Or like the football game against Iowa in '99, the Dayne Game. The opponent was almost invisible. The outcome tonight was never in doubt, nor should it have been. Poor Penn State, losing Cornley on top of Claxton.

-Tim McCormick and Wayne Larrivee kept talking about how good our bigs' footwork was, and it was a great point. Landry and Stiemsma in particular got themselves some great looks tonight by not just getting in the right spot, but getting there ready to go up strong. Love how we pounded the post.

-Stiemsma is picking the perfect time to be playing the best ball of his career. As much as Butch is still clearly our starting 5, it's nice to know he can get more rest, play more aggressively, or team with Stiemsma against teams playing two traditional bigs.

-Dunks tonight: Stiemsma, Butch, Krabby, Gavinski. Gavinski? Stiemsma's follow-up dunk gave me goose bumps.

-Pop looked quick and strong tonight, hopefully the six-day layoff helped his ankle get better.

-When Tanner hit that 3, I felt awful for previously suggesting he shouldn't be playing, even in garbage time. What a great crowning moment for the young man and his family after putting in so much hard work on behalf of the program over the years.

-Was it me, or did Gene Keady list one of our second half keys as "keeping Cornley off the boards"? If so, mission accomplished.

-My one complaint is that we still switch to quickly defensively on pick and rolls. Tonight, it didn't seem like our guards even made an attempt to get through the screen, and Penn State's bigs weren't exactly wide bodies. PSU's decent guards capitalized a couple times, and you'd have to believe we're going to run into better guards who will hurt us more.

I'm so excited, think I'll go to the Kohl Center tomorrow ... to watch Iola-Scandinavia play Eau Claire Regis at the state tournament. A freaking 9 a.m. start - hope these kids drink coffee!

Let's make this thing ours alone Saturday in Evanston.

Wisconsin-Iowa thoughts

Not one to write home about, but a good win nonetheless. A survive-and-advance feel, and any time you win on the road it's a good deal. Iowa is better than I remember, but a team we should beat.

-This one's fresh in my mind, but how embarrasingly bad was the Big Ten Network's play by play guy? Was his name Jim Kelly? If he wasn't Iowa's regular announcer then I'm not 75% bald. "JJ!" "Hello! (after Johnson's 3)" "Gorney just got run over!" "Coach Todd." Show some professionalism, fella. Or "I can't imagine why these fans are booing" after Pop turned his ankle ... maybe Bohannon's coming in and they've been booing him since he committed to UW three years ago?

-At one point I wrote down "FREE THROWS" and was sure it would cost us the game, but we were money down the stretch. Love sending J-Bo to the line in that situation, he is our closer.

-Butch's 12 were quiet, but his two 3-pointers were obviously huge. Gorney did a nice job not letting him get his feet and legs were he wanted. Conversely, if we would have lost because Seth Freaking Gorney scored 10 points, mostly on long jumpers, I would have puked.

-Really nice game by Landry, although he did mis some short ones. He's found his rhythm on offense, glad he's spending most of his time in the post. His dunk was the most explosive play by a Badger this year, and his late block on Freeman was clutch.

-Tony Freeman had a nice game, but really struggled late in the shot clock and cost Iowa in some key situations. Krabby did a great job on Johnson, who was 1-for-9, the 1 being a wide-open transition 3. As well as Krabby did on defense, he made Johnson work hard on post defense on the other end. Another game showing why Joe deserves so much praise.

-Is it me, or does Kurt Looby travel every time he touches the ball?

-At one point when we were struggling from the free throw line, Cyrus Tate, who shoots them like a blind shot putter throwing a dart covered with melted butter, was the second coming of Rick Barry and I thought we were in big trouble.

-On the postgame radio show Bo just told Lucas that Stiemsma's minutes, while not packed with stats, were big because they gave Butch and Landry legs at the end of the game. That guy might be a pretty smart coach.

-Why isn't Purdue ranked? They're 18-5, 9-1 in the Big Ten - that' ridiculous.

-Switched to the Carolina-Duke game during commercials, and guess what?!? Dickie V's back! And just in time for his twice-annual fellating of the Tar Heels and Blue Devils, baby! Just thinking about how pleasantly quiet the college basketball season has been ... no more. He did manage a plug for our boys and Bo during one soliloquy to Duke's excellence.

Now I have to watch those Indiana and Minnesota games, which I'll enjoy even more than this one.

Plaxico-Harris: Plaxico-Fletcher or Fletcher-Mitchell?

At the start of last night's disappointing NFC championship game (congrats to the Giants, who clearly played the better game and deserved to win), I found myself thinking about the Plaxico Burress-Al Harris matchup and how it reminded me of the Michigan State-Wisconsin game in 1999. In that game Jamar Fletcher shut Burress down after publicly demanding the assignment, and I was hoping Harris would shut Plax down like Fletch did.

No dice. As Burress dominated the early going, I got to thinking of a different high profile matchup - Fletcher vs. UCLA's Freddie Mitchell in the next season's Sun Bowl, where Mitchell got the better of Fletch. In case you've blocked that game from your memory even though it was a Badger win, check out the recap. I remember being really sick and having to work that day, and Fletch's play and actions didn't make me feel much better; sort of like Harris last night.

Tying this all back to the NFL, Mitchell, a true horse's ass, made the fourth-and-26 catch for the Eagles to hand the Packers their most painful recent loss until last night.

Was planning on writing about this Burress-Fletcher memory last night, but the loss had made me numb and I took to watching Big Ten women's basketball. Then, logging on to the website of my favorite Madison afternoon newspaper, I see Lucas had the same thoughts, and did a nice job fleshing it out.

The other UW-related note on last night's bummer was that Mark Tauscher played really well. As far as I could tell, Tausch didn't let Michael Strahan do anything on him. And he recovered a fumble after a Giants interception, which thanks to curious play calling turned into just three points for the Packers. Tausch is a great player and a class act, one of the true underrated players in the league.

No Badgers in the Super Bowl ... sigh.

Iowa game

This game is driving me nuts. Iowa's got a nice defense, but we can run on them. What's frustrating is how both times we've scored, the defense has seemed to relax and let Iowa's inept offense score. Give the ball to PJ and run the clock out.

What does Aaron Henry have, three sacks? Looks like the #7 jersey we bought our son for Christmas might be relevant for another four seasons.

This will sound cliche, but Musberger and Herbstreit are horrible and I'd rather be listening to Lucas and Lepay, but the 5-second delay between TV and radio makes that impossible.

As hard as this game is to watch, it's better than the baseball game that just ended ...