The Wisconsin Sports Rant

At one time this season, the Packers were being referred to as the worst team in the NFL. They looked pretty awful early on, and it didn’t seem like it was going to improve any time soon. Still, at 3-4 and heading into a third straight game against a sub .500 opponent, things indeed are looking better for the Pack. The offense seems to have found itself. The zone blocking scheme is beginning to catch on, and even provided the first 200 yard rushing performance since 2004. Favre has cut down on his interceptions, and despite the fact that he lost the key fumble against the Rams, overall he has committed less costly mistakes than last year. And remember that this is coming with a depleted receiving corps, significant lost time at the RB position, and no less than 2 rookies on the offensive line at any one time.

I will reiterate my thoughts from last week: the fact that this improvement has come against some pretty awful competition just doesn’t matter. Winning does. Next week Green Bay has to go into Buffalo and play another sub par team. It will not be a walk in the park, but a win will put the Packers in a tie for 2nd place in the division, and more importantly, get them back to .500. Now who out there would have predicted that after a month ago? We shall see. Despite the optimism and improvement surrounding this team, 3-5 still seems as likely as 4-4.

49-14 in 2004. 51-48 in 2005. These are the scores of the last two seasons’ let down games that came against Michigan State and Northwestern, respectively. At 21-3 with 5 minutes and change to go in the first half on Saturday, it was beginning to look like we were watching this year’s edition. However, in an impressive display of character, the Badgers picked themselves up off the mat and defeated an Illinois team that played better than a 2-6 record would suggest. It was brilliant halftime adjusting from the coaching staff down to the players that allowed them to bounce back in dominant fashion. After trailing 24-10 at the half, they shut down Illinois, not allowing another point. They certainly got lucky on the 3rd and 1 play where “Juice” Williams missed a wide open touchdown after getting the entire Badgers defense to believe they were going to plunge ahead for that short first down yardage.  It was basically a 10 point swing for Wisconsin, as they marched down to score a FG on the ensuing drive.  it was also definitely a stark contrast to the way Williams played in the first half, when he looked like Michael Vick running all over the place and making play after play. He may become a special player in the next few seasons. Other than that 3rd and 1, however, the defense began to play as they had all season long, and the offense finally got going. Travis Beckum has emerged as a huge offensive weapon, and Luke Swan has made an impact as well.  It was bad to see Hill have to leave the game, but good to know the Badgers can move the ball without him. We have seen Wisconsin blow teams out, where the outcome was never in question. Now we have seen that they can deal with adversity as well. At 8-1, and 5-1 in conference, a victory over Penn State this weekend may seal at least a 3rd place finish in the Big Ten and a return visit to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl. Not to count our chickens before they are hatched, but hopefully we have avoided the let down game for 2006.

Talk about hype! In the NCAA hoops preseason coaches poll released today, Wisconsin was #9 and Marquette was #17! I don’t remember ever seeing both teams ranked that high at the same time in the preseason poll before. Marquette’s position doesn’t surprise me since they return two excellent guards and lose only Novak (admittedly that’s a big loss, but guard play is key). Wisconsin, however, surprises me a bit. I do think they are in a 2-3 team race for the Big Ten title, and should be in the top 15, but 9th? That shows a lot of respect for Bo Ryan and his Badgers. It all gets me very excited for this season, and makes that annual UW-MU game look like a big time game. Of course, I remember quite un-fondly (is that even a word?) the last time UW was ranked so high in the preseason. It was 1995 - the year that Stan Van Gundy stole. I’m sure things will go much better this time around.

What a way to get your first ever win in Miami, eh? It’s amazing that it was the 2006 edition of the Green Bay Packers that accomplished the feat. I understand that the Dolphins are not a good football team, but I must say, the way the Packers played and won this past Sunday was most encouraging. Consider:

• They were able to come back from a sluggish first half performance.
• The defense (namely our high priced free agent Charles Woodson) scored a momentum-changing TD to set the tone for the second half.
• Ahman Green showed breakaway speed and play-making ability with his 70 yard TD.
• Favre’s strike to Driver was one of his classic risks but unlike most of the last season and a half, it was rewarded with a remarkable catch from Driver. In addition, Favre still looks like he is enjoying the game, and his teammates.
• An offensive line made up of 3 rookies, including the all-important left tackle position actually played very well overall. Colledge got beat by Jason Taylor a couple of times, once which almost directly led to a TD. That’s not good. However, he made the adjustments and played excellently the rest of the way.
• Dave Rayner looked great. Although it didn’t count, booting a perfect 55 yard field goal and then boothing a 40-yarder right away shows that he has great leg strength. Kickoffs looked solid as well.
• Although the Packers did seem to get giddy a bit prematurely, that drive to seal the game was what they used to do when they were good. They even kept that drive going with some ballsy calls (read: reverse on 4th and 1). This was perhaps the most encouraging thing about the win.

I am not ready to say this team has turned the proverbial corner, nor do I think they will make some magical run to the playoffs. What I am seeing is a team that has improved since week 1. Even in the losses to New Orleans and St. Louis, the Packers had chances to win. Mike McCarthy is beginning to change my mind as I think he has this team prepared, and his game plans have been pretty good.  Yes, there have definitely been some indications of inexperienced coaching at times, but overall, I think he has the Packers headed in the right direction.  Defensively, there is still a lot of work to be done. Dendy has definitely been an improvement over Carroll, Hawk looks like he is elevating his play (although I would expect more of a 5th overall pick at this point), and if Woodson can play like he did Sunday instead of the way he had been playing before, then things might get better on that side of the ball.

Like I talked about with the Badgers, a win is a win. You play the schedule given to you. The difference is that in the NFL, even the worst teams have a chance to win on any given Sunday, so any victory is a good one. On the road, the Packers played a pretty decent game and got a nice win coming off the bye week. Another subpar NFL team awaits next week in the Cardinals, but remember what happened the last time the Pack looked past them? If they can get that elusive Lambeau win, they will improve to 3-4, coming within one victory of last season’s total. Considering how bad they looked in week 1, I have to say I am feeling better about this team and the direction they are going right now.

Wisconsin continued its demolition derby this weekend, this time knocking out what had previously been a rather offensively potent Purdue team. You probably have already read the stats about the defensive performance of the Badgers:

• For just the 4th time in 117 games under Joe Tiller, the Purdue Boilermakers failed to score in double digits
• Purdue had been averaging 31.1 points per game
• Purdue had been ranked first in the Big Ten in 3rd down conversions (49.5%) before Wisconsin held them to just 3 out of 14
• Wisconsin held Purdue to 286 total yards; 185 yards below their season average

And that’s just the defense. While the offense wasn’t as sharp as it was against Minnesota, P.J. Hill still pounded out 161 yards and 2 TD’s. Simply stated, this was another dominant performance on the road in the Big Ten. It’s easy to let the idea seep into your head that these opponents are no good, and these wins don’t mean a whole lot, but all the Badgers can do is beat whoever is next on the schedule. This is fact; as is that their 4 Big Ten wins have come by an average of 31 points. The Polls are beginning to take notice as well, as UW has cracked the top 20 in both. As long as that 1-0 mentality truly sticks with the players and the coaches, and they perform as such, the team can achieve some pretty lofty marks this season. Considering that I had expected an 8-4 season, I am quite impressed with the team so far.

Something I think that is worth mentioning about the 2006 Badgers under Bielema is that they play a little less conservatively than under Alvarez. Once they have established a solid lead, it feels like they are really playing to knock the other team out, rather than to hold that lead. In addition, although there is a thin line between winning with class and showing up an opponent, building big leads and winning by large margins is an important factor when the computers and pollsters rank teams. I’m not saying they should be throwing for TD’s when they are up 30 with a minute to go, but continuing to play your normal game until the very end does contribute to boosting your ratings, which the Badgers need right now.

I received my Sports Illustrated today, which was the NBA preview edition. What I saw brought a smile to my face. The cover featured the three brightest young stars in the NBA - Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and LeBron James. What made it so satisfying was that it was Wade, not LeBron, front and center. Now don’t get me wrong, LeBron is a phenomenal talent; a player who is wise beyond his years, and seems to be infallible on and off the court. But D Wade is our guy…someone we all thought would be an above average, perhaps even a perennial All-Star NBA player. If I had said two years ago that Wade would overshadow LeBron on the cover of the SI NBA Preview, I probably would have been laughed at as a hometown fan that had lost his perspective. Yet there he is on the cover. Of course, winning a ring has a lot to do with it, but Wade has become the star of the NBA. Everyone loves him, he plays incredibly hard, makes acrobatic plays, and now is a champion. It makes me almost want to be a Heat fan. It’s just too bad the Bucks never had a chance to draft him.

48-12. What a beautiful score! This was a thrashing, and there is nothing better than laying it to our neighbors to the West. I think Michael Hunt’s column from Sunday says it the best; that this team is actually pretty good. Sure, their only truly quality opponent was Michigan, who beat them pretty soundly (at least in the half that mattered), but when you are pulverizing teams by these kinds of margins, you have to be doing something right. Look at Indiana, who defeated Iowa this weekend. Iowa was a top 15 team going in. We destroyed Iowa, and though I realize that syllogisms mean nothing when it comes to sports, it does lend some perspective. The Big Ten is definitely top heavy this year, but it is still one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. Minnesota had all the motivation they needed coming in. The Axe, the amazing collapse of 2005, the most oft played rivalry in NCAA I-A history. Yet it was Wisconsin who came out and made it a laugher early. A quick defensive score, a bit of P.J. Hill, and by the middle of the 1st quarter, they were up two TDs. The rest was almost like performance tuning. In a year where a coaching icon and most of the offensive skill positions experienced turnover, 6-1 and bowl elligible is looking mighty fine right about now.

Ahmad Carroll was extremely fortunate today, as he actually found an NFL team dumb enough to be interested in his services. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who are doing quite well, have rolled the proverbial dice and signed Ahmad. Little do they know that those proverbial dice are proverbially weighted. I am just waiting for them to be forced to use him late in some game due to injury, and he gives up the winning 50 yard TD pass (or the 50 yard interference penalty that leads to a 1 yard TD plunge at the buzzer). Have fun Jacksonville!

No analysis, statistical or otherwise, really does much good after a game like we witnessed yesterday. The Packers looked decidedly better than they did Monday night, and had the stats to back that up. The running game gained over 100 yards and a touchdown. There were significantly less plays of 25 yards or more given up by the defense. Favre didn’t throw an interception (which actually became the first time he has done that at home and not won). Overall, they looked pretty evenly matched with the Rams. All that matters, though, is the end result. And, as has been the case 16 times in the last 21 games, that outcome is a big fat L. For a moment there, it looked like Favre would have yet another 4th quarter comeback. He drove the team down and put them inside the 15 yard line with enough time to win or at least tie the game. If you would have told me that would be the situation and he would not throw a pick, I would have bet a large sum that the Packers would have come away with a score. I would have been very stupid. These are the 2006 Green Bay Packers. Favre Fumble. Game Over. You Lose.

In a season where wins, no…chances to win will come at a premium, dropping a game in this fashion is disastrous. Of course, Favre is not the only one to blame. I blame him partially, but what about Tauscher, who failed to block Little when it counted? What about Al Harris dropping an interception in his numbers? What about Charles Woodson dropping one, in addition to playing well below his salary level? What about 5th overall pick A.J. Hawk dropping one? What about the lack of pass rush for most of the game? What about Donald Driver continuing to display poor hands? What about Morrency putting the ball on the ground twice, once losing possession? What about Dave Rayner missing another field goal (which turned out to be the score differential)? And finally, what about the coaching staff apparently not teaching the players the most basic of rules - that you can only have eleven men on the field at one time. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this list is that a majority of the mistakes and missed opportunities were committed by veterans and players who have been to Pro Bowls! We see excuses like the team being young, or not having enough playmakers, which is true. But that being the case, you need the ones you DO have to perform at the level that is expected of them!

This team makes more mistakes than good teams can overcome, let alone bad ones. Yet still…there they were…ready to win the game and put themselves in a positive direction going into the bye week. They just couldn’t get it done. A terrible, costly mistake at the most inopportune time put them away. It is simply amazing how they can find a new way to blow it every week. Maybe in two weeks they will fumble the snap while trying to kneel down to preserve an elusive win; the Dolphins will recover and run it in for a TD, sending the Pack to a 1-5 record. Crazy? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t put it past this team. I just hope my TiVo doesn’t get confused and start recording Packers games instead of my favorite show…Lost.

So it appears we may have a battle on our hands to see who wins the 2006 Mossy Cade award, which goes to the Wisconsin professional or collegiate athlete who you would most associate with the term criminal. Nominees this year include:

• Booker Stanley - Supposed to be Wisconsin’s featured RB, instead Stanley committed multiple violent crimes, including a fight on Mifflin Street and strangling a young woman in his apartment. Stanley was dropped from the team before the season.
• Koren Robinson - On Tuesday he was sentenced to 90 days in jail in Seattle for drunken driving. This is not to be confused with the charges against him for DUI in Minnesoate in August of this year.
• Ruben Patterson - While he hasn’t actually committed an offense yet in this state, he had to register as a sex offender stemming from a 5 year old rape charge

If you have any other nominations for this prestigious award, please feel free to leave a comment.