The Wisconsin Sports Rant

It may have been a less than perfect way to win the opening game, but you gotta love beating your division rival on their turf, which is exactly what the Brewers did today. What started as a dual between staff Aces (Sheets versus Zambrano) ended with the polar opposite of pitching prowess, as both closers struggled mightily (Gagne and Wood). In the end, though, it was a guy that may only be on the active roster due to the suspension of the primary center fielder that brought home the bacon. Tony Gwynn, Jr. had big at bats in both the 9th and 10th innings that carried the Brewers to the 4-3 win.

Things I Liked:

• Ben Sheets pitched amazingly well, even with a significant amount of time between innings due to the rain delay. 6 1/3 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, and perhaps the best thing: He didn’t get injured!
• Guillermo Mota - it was a short outing, but a good setup man will be very important this year
• That after a relatively poor showing by the offense all day, the meat of the order got it done big time in the 9th inning, and of course, scratched one out in the 10th

Things I Didn’t Like:

• Really, there was one thing I didn’t like, and it was Eric Gagne’s debut outing for the Brewers. Honestly, Eric, for $10 million you should at least be able to blow the save with more style than Derrick Turnbow.

All in all, defeating the Cubs at Wrigley, especially after giving them hope in the 9th inning, made this a beautiful Opening Day. Roll Out The Barrel!

Congrats to the Badgers on actually getting some hardware this year. They took home the conference and tournament championships. But when it really counted, this season ended almost exactly as last year did…losing in embarrassing fashion to a much lower seed because they couldn’t stop one guy. It is hard to talk badly about a team that went 31-5, but the disappointment is as intolerable and unpalatable as it was not making the Sweet Sixteen last season. I read through my previous posts about how great and balanced this team is, and how their defense would allow them to beat anyone. Not so much. It was sickening to listen to all the Cinderella garbage by the commentators. CBS and the NCAA can go have their fun with the sweetheart team that is more sexy than Wisconsin. There is not much else to say right now. Time to move on to the next sports season so we can watch some other team fail to win a championship.

Just as a side note: Marquette did not make it as far as Wisconsin, but their loss was infinitely more uplifting and acceptable.

I have a suggestion for a new Babcock Hall ice cream flavor: Double Champion-chip. This under-appreciated, under-respected, highly successful Wisconsin Badgers basketball team staged a tremendous comeback on Saturday to beat Michigan State, and then methodically dispatched Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game to prove without dispute that they are the Big Ten’s top team. I learned something both in and about Indianapolis this weekend. In Indianapolis, I learned that unlike the other NCAA tournament-bound teams from the conference, Wisconsin did not wilt under pressure. They played their game, and though Michigan State, led by Drew Neitzel, almost knocked the Badgers off, the outstandingly clutch play of Michael Flowers and Marcus Landry prevented that from happening. The Badgers did what they have done all year, which is find ways to win. Sunday’s championship game was interesting for the first 10 minutes, but Wisconsin was just the better team. They rebounded well, played good defense, and hit the three ball, putting and keeping distance between the Illini and themselves. What did I learn about Indianapolis? More on that later…

For just a moment, I would like to return to a less positive time for the Badgers. Going into the 2006 tournament, Wisconsin had been fading fast. They had lost Marcus Landry and Greg Stiemsma at the beginning of the semester, and everything had been going south since that point. Limping into the tournament, the Badgers were destroyed by Arizona. I thought that Michael Flowers would never be more than a decent role player, and certainly never thought much of his offense. I didn’t know whether we would even get Stiemsma back. I didn’t know whether Landry would amount to much either. I have to admit up front, I was dead wrong about these guys. Give credit to them for their tireless work, and to Bo Ryan for molding them into a formidable team. Flowers has become a defensive stopper, an offensive spark, and a true team leader. Stiemsma has become a huge contributor on both ends of the court as well, even a threat to hit the shot from 18 feet. Landry has some terrific moves in the post, and can come out of nowhere to block what would have been a sure layup. I’ve said it all year long, as have many other people: these guys have developed into a true team.

Wisconsin has lost to exactly three teams this year. All three are ranked in the top 20. Barring a ridiculous upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament next week, they will win 30 games for the second year in a row, and only the second time in school history. Anyone who doubts this team is an elite program is just plain wrong at this point. Flair, flash, glitz…these adjectives may not describe Wisconsin basketball; but I have a few words that mean more: winners, conference champions, conference tournament champions.

So what did I learn about Indianapolis on Sunday? I learned that in this city, where the NCAA and thus, its basketball tournament selection committee is based, there must be some truly premium quality crack on the streets. How else can one explain said committee’s decision to bestow only a 3 seed on a team that went 29-4, won its regular season and tournament conference championships, beat Texas in Austin (a team they made a number 2 seed), and whose only losses were to teams that finished in the top 16? I totally understand that when you get into the 2 and 3 seeds, there isn’t a lot of difference in the draws, but it shows a total lack of respect for this program. You can tell from the brackets that this committee holds little regard for the Big Ten as a whole, as Indiana dropped to an 8 seed, Purdue dropped all the way to a 6 seed, and Ohio State didn’t even get in. It’s ironic that Michigan State is the only team from the Big Ten that was put exactly where they belonged in terms of seed. I think that if Wisconsin plays their game, and doesn’t suffer an extended period of offensive drought, they should defintely be playing through to at least the second weekend. Still, I feel this seeding is simply unfair. Look at two of the teams that got a 2 seed ahead of the Badgers: One is the aforementioned Longhorns of Texas (again, a team Wisconsin beat on their home court), and the other is Georgetown, who didn’t win their conference tournament title, losing to an unranked (albeit hot) Pittsburgh team. Despite this one negative from today, it was an overwhelmingly positive weekend for the Wisconsin Badgers. I will savor the tournament championship, and look forward to next week as the Badgers begin their quest for the ultimate prize. Maybe the the folks over in the agriculture school should hold off on that new flavor. After all, Triple Champion-chip sounds a whole lot tastier.

Wisconsin began their post-season as they finished the regular one – with defense. They set the tournament record by holding Michigan to thirty-four points. I honor that achievement with the length of this post.

I have to hand it to the Warriors tonight. They looked really awful for about 25 minutes, and then managed to get motivated and staged a furious comeback. Marquette shot the ball very poorly for most of the game, which put them in too deep a hole from which to recover. However, it is hard to make any type of comeback when your premier defender and offensive machine from the previous two games spends most of his time riding the pine. Jerel McNeal was whistled for several questionable fouls, and thus, had to spend extended periods of time on the sideline. This was indicative of the poor officiating throughout the game. My personal favorite occurred just after another horrible out of bounds call under the Pittsburgh hoop (the ball was clearly off of Pittsburgh). The Marquette bench got understandably animated, especially McNeal (remember, that’s where he spent most of the game). The official, Tim Higgins, came over and warned the bench. Then, as if to put emphasis on the fact that he was the big boss man in charge, and needed to punish Marquette for its zealous display of emotion, Higgins immediately made another poor foul call on the Warriors. That was a real classy move Tim. Or how about with just under a minute to go, after Wesley Matthews missed the corner 3 pointer and Sam Young pushed Dominic James to the floor to grab the rebound? No foul there I guess. Or how about when Lavance Fields elbowed James in the face but nothing was called? I could point out several more examples. It was truly pathetic. It was especially disappointing to see Marquette recover from truly horrible basketball to get within 3, the entire time having to battle 8 instead of 5. Let me be clear. Marquette didn’t lose because of the poor officiating, but it certainly didn’t help their effort to rebound and was severely frustrating to watch.

The silver linings here are twofold. One, Marquette proved that even after playing poorly for an extended period of time, they are capable of catching fire, a key element to making a successful tournament run. In the past two seasons, this team has fizzled in the NCAA tournament, and watching them, you knew that once things started to go south, that’s where they were staying. After seeing this performance, I am more confident that this team can weather a storm of bad play. Two, while I obviously would prefer to see Marquette win, the loss gives them an extra day to rest. I hate even mentioning this as if it were good to not be playing in the championship game of the Big East Tournament, but you have to take some positives away from this loss. Hopefully Marquette will learn from their experience at the Garden, and actually win a game in the Big Dance.

There would be absolutely no let down this day. The Wisconsin Badgers, after dispatching the feisty Northwestern Wildcats 65-52, and posting a gaudy 16-2 conference record, are kings of the Big Ten once again. Not unlike the Green Bay Packers unexpected 13-3 season, the Wisconsin men’s team surprised most by plowing through all but one Big Ten school (we’ll get you yet Purdue!) and finishing strong against Penn State and Northwestern. At 26-4, I firmly believe this team has earned a place at the table reserved for 1 and 2 seeds. The losses by Stanford, Xavier (earlier in the week), and even Duke can only help UW. I continue to be amazed at how complete this team is when they play their game. Conference tournaments are always unpredictable, as bubble teams clearly have more motivation to play their best. Still, I think Wisconsin will treat the upcoming weekend as they have games all year long…that is, they will be methodical in their execution, and dispatch the competition simply by playing a better game. This is the perfect time of the year to be playing your best basketball, and if this season’s body of work is any evidence, they may still be getting better.

So congratulations to you, Badgers. It is no small accomplishment to win 16 out of 18 games against your conference foes. down year or not. Keep working hard, and keep making your fans proud. Let’s Go Red!

Continuing the thank yous for today, I would like to extend one to the cagers in Columbus, OH. The chips are falling into place for the Badgers, which is a somewhat scary thought (that’s just when things seem to go wrong for Wisconsin sports fans). After a highly entertaining game, Ohio State, desperate for a win to push themselves towards an NCAA tournament birth (and possibly thrilled at the offer of some free chaw), defeated Purdue, thereby leaving Wisconsin all alone in first place in the Big Ten. A quiet confidence should permeate the Wisconsin locker room through the rest of the week. There is no such thing as a gimmie game in college basketball, something of which Wisconsin should be painfully aware. Also, as I mentioned in a post last week, the Badgers don’t have the most stellar mark in Evanston. But this is a mature and talented Wisconsin team that should not lay an egg at home versus Penn State or in the aforementioned Welsh-Ryan arena. The opportunity is there for the taking, and this team is ready to take it.

I have no opionions, comments, or other thoughts to post right now. I only want to say thanks Brett, for the amazing career.