The Wisconsin Sports Rant

For a team trying to identify itself as pretender or contender, the Wisconsin Badgers made a huge statement on Saturday with a hard-earned, well-played victory. Of course, the ending will forever show that Michael Flowers made the two biggest plays of the game, a three pointer for the lead and a steal and heave that prevented Texas from even getting another chance at scoring. Yet one cannot discount the outstanding play of Brian Butch. The big senior scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds, and provided a stabilizing presence for the team. He could have solidified his player-of-the-game status had he nailed the two free throws late in the game, but it all worked out in the end. Key contributions from Jason Bohannon, Joe Krabbenhoft, and Marcus Landry also proved that with their leading scorer (Trevon Hughes) unexpectedly unavailable, the team pulled together and found success. The amount of confidence this win can potentially give the Badgers going into the Big Ten season is extraordinary. If they can build on this win, good things are in store for this team.

The other point I would make about the game is that come selection time, if Wisconsin is on the bubble (which they shouldn’t be), a win like this is huge. This was a victory against a top 10 team on the road. To think that this hasn’t been done by a UW team since 1980, even with all the excellent teams of the last 10 years proves that this was a pretty impressive accomplishment.

All this being said, it is still only a single win. It will mean nothing if the Badgers don’t continue to improve and put themselves in the upper echelon of the Big Ten conference. Somehow, with this kind of heart, and one of the best coaches in college basketball, I don’t see that happening.

The 2005-esque performance put on by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday was absolutely disgusting. In fact, here are the other adjectives I toyed with for that last sentence before settling on disgusting: putrid, horrid, pathetic, ridiculous, laughable, heinous, egregious, foul, awful, terrible, horrible, outrageous, hideous. I don’t care if you are 12-2 or 2-12, that kind of sloppy play is inexcusable, especially for a team still playing for home-field advantage in the playoffs. It was completely embarrassing. If this were a high school team, they would be running wind sprints for three hours a day all week. What a tremendous disgrace that game was!

Here are some of my observations:
1) Anyone who planned to vote for Mike McCarthy for coach of the year ought to rethink that selection. No team should ever show up as ill-prepared and demonstrate as poor execution as was displayed Sunday. It was an abomination of Green Bay Packers football. A coach of the year performance is incompatible with that type of game from your team. On the same note, the strategy of keeping the ball away from Devin Hester is a very sound one. It just shouldn’t be done by having your punts blocked or fumbled; which leads into point number two:

2) Jon Ryan should be hung from a flagpole all week. If you get paid 6 figures to kick a football, and that’s your sole responsibility, you absolutely cannot have a game like Ryan did, regardless of the weather.

3) What the hell has happened to this defense? They didn’t have a great game against St. Louis last week either. Allowing a 5-9 opponent’s 3rd string QB to have a game like that is just wrong. In addition, they can’t stop a second string RB on that offense from having a 100 yard game? Gross.

4) I am going to be Captain Obvious here, but when Favre gets behind, the potential for putridity is huge. I can’t give the guy a hard time with the season he’s having, but DAMN. That’s all that needs to be said.

5) It really looked like the Packers would avoid a let-down game like this one. They had been winning methodically. Boy did they prove that not to be the case. This was beyond a simple let-down. Before Sunday’s debacle, I didn’t even entertain the the thought of the Packers not playing in at least the NFC Championship game. Now, I can see a one-and-done scenario as a distinct possibility, which would also be subject to any of the aforementioned adjectives.

The bottome line here is that this game better serve as a wake-up call for this team. Whatever caused this outcome needs to be identified and corrected immediately so we don’t have to endure yet another ugly ending to a promising season.

Congratulations are in order for a stirring national championship won today by the Warhawks of Whitewater!  Mount Union hadn’t lost in nearly three years.  Here came the team they destroyed the in the previous two Division III championship games, looking like fodder for the third in a row.  Instead, Golliath was defeated by an amazing game turned in by DIII’s player of the year.  Well done Warhawks!

The Marquette-Wisconsin rivalry provided a highly entertaining game last night at the Kohl Center. It had some great offense (late first half), great defensive intensity, drama, and even a bit of a scuffle. This is the first year of the rivalry that I was honestly disappointed with the result. I am usually just satisfied with the game, and am happy for the team that wins. But this game left the same aftertaste in my mouth that the Seattle-Green Bay game of 1999 in Lamnbeau Field did. Wisconsin had this amazing, nearly TWO YEAR winning streak at home, and had it snapped largely because of poor free throw shooting. Just like Holmgren’s return in 1999, it was hard to take a home loss when it had been so long since the last one. Marquette proved, however, that they are a team to be reckoned with. They were able to out-rebound the much bigger Badgers, and grab a few more loose balls. The guards played very well, but it was the play of Ousman Barro and Dwight Burke that surprised. The Golden Eagles scored 44 points in the paint, and seemed to get a ton of offensive boards. On the other side, losing at home wasn’t the only rarity out of Wisconsin. They committed 18 turnovers, something that it would take them nearly 3 games to do last season. They also left 10 points on the table by shooting only 15-25 from the charity stripe. Statistics like this will make it very difficult for a team like Wisconsin to win when they lack the explosive presence provided by Alando Tucker last year. Still, the game may have been a positive in the long run for both teams. Marquette should now believe they can go into any arena and come away with a victory. Wisconsin should have regained a lot of confidence that they can hang with a good team, something they may have lost after being blown out against Duke. Overall, it was good to see both teams provide great effort and a highly entertaining matchup on national TV. Both teams should continue to do so as the season goes on.

There had been considerable discussion the last few days of the Brewers trading for their NL Central Rival St. Louis Cardlnals’ Scott Rolen. While the possibility of pushing an already powerful lineup even further, the overall cost benefit of the trade would have been poor. Don’t get me wrong, Scott Rolen is a good ball player. The problem is that that statement is true only when he plays, which is far from every day. Rolen has battled several injuries in the last few years, and is getting paid handsomely for incomplete seasons. This is not a path the Brewers should or can afford to pursue at this point. I agree with Michael Hunt’s column from yesterday stating that it would be a better idea to go after a closer. We are facing the prospect of a season with Turnblow back in that role. This is something that, frankly, makes me want them to remove the roof at Miller Park, because the rain is a far more effective game-shortener than Turnblow has been.

Just when you think there isn’t anything more to be said about Brett Favre, this comes along.  If I am less of a man because the tears streamed down my face while reading it, so be it. 

 Congrats, Brett.  And thanks for everything.

-Mighty Gosling