No Bed of Roses

For my birthday, Jana got me No Bed of Roses, a book recommended by ajs last month in our impromptu book club post. The book is by Chris Kennedy, a walk-on who was a wide receiver at UW from 199-93, and who, quite frankly, I don’t remember. Not surprising, since he was stuck on the bench behind the likes of Lee Deramus, J.C. Dawkins, and Michael London.

A couple days of crappy weather kept us homebound, to my delight, as I was able to finish this relatively short (230 pages) book in a couple days. Overall, it was a really good look inside the Badger football program at an amazing time, the early days of the Alvarez Era when the program was transforming from perennial loser to national power.

Kennedy, understandably, did not see the field, as the talent level on the roster was upgraded dramatically during that time. If he had arrived on campus four years earlier, he may have ended up starting – West Bend’s own Tony Spaeth, also a small high school running back turned college receiver, led the team in receiving one of the Don Morton years.

As you go through, you really feel for guys like Kennedy who bust their ass for years and get barely a sniff of the field. Ever since Barry arrived, an emphasis has been placed on maintaining a thriving walk-on program. That program should not just yield starters like the Jim Leonhards, Donnel Thompsons and Joe Panoses. It also needs guys like Chris Kennedy who push the starters every day in practice as scout teamers, and who keep interest in the Badgers personal in small towns around the state.

Reading the book called to mind the experience of our old friend Kurt Reineck. I met him first day at Sullivan Hall; he told me he was on the football team, and I didn't believe him at first since he wasn't on the roster listed in Badger Plus, which I read religiously. Kurt was smacked with reality his first day of practice, when Donald Hayes glided by him on the 10th set of end-of-practice sprints as if it were a stroll in the park. Kurt left the team after a few days, which is what most of Kennedy's walk-on peers did, what I would have done, and what I was pulling for Kennedy to do while reading. College is too short, man, enjoy it!

If I had one criticism, it would be that Kennedy’s motivation to write the book seems to be to set the record as he sees it straight – no one in his family complained about being left off the trip to Tokyo for the critical game against Michigan State, and as such, he didn’t deserve to be left off the Rose Bowl dress list. Hearing just his side of the story, you come to the conclusion that he got screwed. He also seems to enjoy telling stories of all the wonderful women who find themselves attracted to football players.

To me the most interesting part of the book is Kennedy’s relationship with Jay Norvell, then his position coach and now UCLA’s offensive coordinator. Norvell comes off as a real asshole who in four years never takes the time to get to know Kennedy. Then again, Kennedy was probably never going to see significant playing time, so why devote tons of time developing him rather than getting Deramus where he needs to be? It’s a catch-22, and it’s probably unrealistic to expect position coaches to be close with all their players.

Our good friend Adam Mertz is thanked up front in the acknowledgements section, and a snippet of Mertzy’s review is on the back cover.

In the end, glad I spent the time on it, college football from a different perspective. It’s a good read, pick it up if you have a chance.

Anyone else read it yet? ajs?

Wisconsin-Michigan halftime thoughts

Before getting into today's game, a reference to two good stories from madison.com

-Andy Baggot on Ron Dayne's contributions to the UW athletic department. Never thought of them in such sweeping terms, but it's compelling.
-Adam Mertz tells us why Ohio State fans are miserable human beings. Good call Mertzy.

At halftime:

-I feel strangely confident, not my usual cautious optimism, but outright confidence. Probably because Michigan doesn't look like it cares about this game - if it did Henne and Hart would be playing, no matter what their boo-boos. I'd feel more confident if that awful 50-50 rule didn't give Mathews the catch that led to Manningham's TD. Seriously, what a terrible rule.

-ESPN's production gives the impression that the crowd is 75% Michigan fans, when it looks like it's closer to 1%.

-Why were we passing every down in the early going? Michigan's run defense is suspect.

-What a terrific catch by Shane Carter. He has run support limitations, but we haven't seen ball skills in a DB like his since Jamar Fletcher.

-What an awful pas by Donovan before Crable bailed him out with the personal foul.

-Instead of berating the officials - he should have been penalized - Lloyd Carr should have benched Crable for two dirty plays. Ol' Lloyd will probably feel silly when he watches the tape and sees both were easy calls.

-Donovan's TD pass to Beckum was one of those "No, no, no ... yes!" calls, kind of like me shooting a 3-pointer.

-Ryan Mallett is going to be a star for Michigan, he's got all the tools and will no doubt have weapons at receiver.

-Nick Hayden is playing really well. It would have been crushing had he gone to Michigan. Matt Shaughnessy is also playing very well against All-Universe Jake Long. ;)

-Great to say Luke Swan walk out without crutches. Paul Hubbard said it would be inspirational if he did, and it was.

-Awesome TD run/dive by Donovan. Just as big was his evasive scrambling and pass to Beckum on the last field goal drive, really stemmed momentum that was going Michigan's way.

-Hope Lance Smith isn't hurt too bad, Zach Brown doesn't look ready for this - although he did have a nice run called back by an obvious hold on the last drive.

Listening to a recap of Dayne's career right now, giving me goosebumps. Those were some great years ...

Luke Swan jersey

Here's a fun fact: In my post job, I had a blog that ran for about 11 months and 280 posts. I probably got 10-15 legitimate non-spam comments, and a handful of meaningful, pointed emails. Three days into Badgercentric I got an email, and not even from a friend or family member!

It came from a woman who was looking for information about my Luke Swan jersey. I go mine at Scheel's, a huge sporting goods store in Appleton, in January, and Polzin and Mertzy say there are plenty available at the University Bookstore. But here's a secret: I think my #1 jersey was leftover from Brandon Williams' standout senior season.

#1 should always be a decent number to have, much like Schwalbach's #2. My other Badger jersey is a Pat Richter throwback, #88, but every time I wear it we play like crap, so it's a non-gameday choice. Yes, I'm insane.

This little exercise got me thinking: what's the best number in recent UW history? I'd say it's #2 (Schwib's jersey): Casillas, Calhoun, Starks, Fletcher, DeRamus. Probably forgetting someone, but that's a damn tough group to beat.