Wisconsin Football Vault

Somehow, some way, my mom keeps finding new Badger-related reading material for birthday and Christmas gifts. Bless her heart!

This year for my birthday she gave me the University of Wisconsin Football Vault, written by Pat Richter, Vince Sweeney, and Justin Doherty.

At its heart, the "book" is a historical look at the program, with few new facts or anecdotes. Stories about Pat O'Dea, Ivy Williamson, Rufus Ferguson, et al, are well-known to any of us who have read Badger history books before. The pictures and layout are really nice, afforded by the large format.

What makes this offering outstanding, though, is the Badger football "artifacts" littered throughout the book. These are reproductions of game programs, a letter from O'Dea to Yale's athletic director, a Daily Cardinal song supplement, tickets, media credentials, O'Dea's Hall of Fame nomination, schedules, roster sheets, and camp brochures.

This stuff is really neat, worth the price of the book. The artwork on some of these things is phenomenal, and the language is interesting. I'm going to try to scan and post some of the artifacts, particularly the game programs, you'll enjoy them.

Check it out, you can buy it through Amazon.

Wisconsin's all-time Top 10 athletes

Last week my brother-in-law Nick (Sorgi-Romo) Barbera emailed me a link to an SI.com feature on Wisconsin's Top 10 all-time athletes. It's interesting -- here's the list:




10. Joe Thomas
9. Tony Granato
8. Pat Richter
7. Michael Finley
6. Red Below
5. Mark Johnson
4. Alando Tucker
3. Ron Dayne
2. Suzy Favor-Hamilton
1. Alan Ameche



Here's my top 20:
20. Gene Englund
19. Lee Kemp
18. Joe Thomas
17. Mark Johnson
16. Sara Bauer
15. Chris Solinsky
14. Al Toon
13. Alando Tucker

12. Amy Wickus
11. Cathy Branta
10. Kathy Butler
9. Robert Butler
8. Arlie Mucks
7. Pat O'Dea
6. Dave Schreiner/Pat Harder
5. Alan Ameche
4. Mike Eaves
3. Ron Dayne
2. Pat Richter
1. Suzy Favor-Hamilton

Don't know some of these names? Visit www.uwbadgers.com and do some research. Please return and discuss.