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B5Q Mailbag: Get the salt and pepper ready
by Adam Hoge on Feb 8, 2010 5:07 PM CST
in Columns/Features
5 comments
When I picked Michigan to beat the UW men's basketball team Saturday, I didn't know I was going out on such a limb. The game was a "pick'em" in Vegas, Michigan has played pretty well at home as of late and Wisconsin's Big Ten road record was only 2-3.
I was very happily wrong as the Badgers cruised to a 62-44 victory in Ann Arbor. But based on the e-mails I have received since the game, you would have thought I picked North Dakota State to beat Wisconsin.
Bring it on:
Subject: Re-tract
From: Max Z.
You gonna post a retraction article to your one from last Friday about the Badgers v. Michigan being a trap game? Maybe J-Bo read it and decided to play the best basketball of his career to spite you?
I would be happy to write a retraction, Max. This is actually the first time I've ever been wrong in my entire life. I feel like John Locke in Lost right before the hatch is about to explode. He looks at Mr. Eko and says "I was wrong" probably assuming they would be the last words of his life.
Dear Bo Ryan and the Badgers,
I would like to extend an apology for picking Michigan to beat you 61-56 Saturday in Ann Arbor. It was completely irresponsible of me to think a Big Ten team would ever lose a game like that on the road. I mean, it rarely happens. It's not like Michigan State lost at Illinois on Saturday or anything.
The truth is, I wish I could take it back. I wish I could rip the story up and pretend it never happened. Unfortunately there is this new thing called the internet and once you post something on it, you can NEVER EVER take it back. The good thing about that, however, is that now Max can go back and read the same story over again and realize that I never called this a "trap game" for you guys. I just gave Michigan a little too much credit for beating UConn and home and nearly upsetting Michigan State there as well.
There is a rumor going around that Jason Bohannon read my pre-game story and decided to play the best basketball of his career just to spite me. If that is the case then I would like to retract my retraction and take credit for the Badger victory.
Sincerely, Adam Hoge
5 comments | 0 recs |
Congratulations to Jonathan Casillas and the New Orleans Saints
by Adam Hoge on Feb 8, 2010 4:56 AM CST
in UW Football
3 comments
Congratulations to former UW linebacker Jonathan Casillas who ended his rookie season by winning a Super Bowl ring last night in Miami. Casillas will forever go down in Super Bowl history for recovering the gutsy onside kick by the Saints to open up the second half. For Badger fans, it will go down as his best special teams play since his game-winning blocked punt in Minnesota Oct. 15, 2005.
3 comments | 0 recs |
LIVE GAME THREAD: Doubleheader basketball/hockey vs. Michigan
by Adam Hoge on Feb 6, 2010 12:00 PM CST
in UW Men's Basketball
22 comments
Big Ten Basketball No. 16 Wisconsin at Michigan February 6, 2010 6:00 PM CT Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich. TV: CBS (Kevin Harlan and Bill Raftery) Radio: Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas) Opponent Blog: Maize N' Brew Coverage: Our Wisconsin-Michigan Game Page All-time Series: Michigan leads 86-64 Last Meeting: Wisconsin won 54-48 (Jan. 20, 2010)
at
17-5 (7-3 Big Ten) 11-11 (4-6 Big Ten)
Probable starters:
Trevon Hughes
G
Manny Harris
Jordan Taylor
G
Laval Lucas-Perry
Jason Bohannon
G
Stu Douglass
Tim Jarmusz
F
Zach Novak
Keaton Nankivil
F
DeShawn Sims
Unfortunately we won't have live coverage from Crisler Arena today because we will be at Camp Randall for the Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic, but we'll certainly be watching the game and I'll check in with some mobile comments throughout the day.
Since both teams are playing Michigan, we'll just continue on with this thread once the basketball game is over. So if you are watching the hockey game on Big Ten Network, feel free to keep the discussion going right here!
This is going to be a tough game today for the basketball and some might call it a "trap game".
For now, I leave you with this: ONIONS!
22 comments | 0 recs |
Easiest way to take Big Ten title: Win out
by Adam Hoge on Feb 5, 2010 7:24 PM CST
in UW Men's Basketball
8 comments
Tough game at Michigan begins stretch of eight winnable games
Tuesday's win against Michigan State did a lot of good for not only Wisconsin, but a number of other teams trailing the Spartans in the Big Ten standings as well. Purdue, Illinois and Ohio State all won their next game and closed the gap between them and MSU to two games.
Still, it's a very steep uphill battle for any team trying to catch the Spartans, who built a sizeable lead by winning their first nine conference games. The result is somewhat of a helpless feeling. Sure, a lot of good came from Wisconsin's win Tuesday night, but it doesn't compare to the bad that would have come from a Michigan State win.
The UW win helped three teams close to within a manageable two-game deficit, but a loss would have pushed the Badgers back to a four-game deficit -- one that would be nearly impossible to overcome.
The point is that Tuesday's win over Michigan State was very impressive, very important and very helpful, but there is still a lot of work to do.
The Spartans will lose again. I promise. But how many games will they lose? The back-nine is much tougher than the front-nine for Michigan State but Sparty did itself a favor by winning the kind of road games a Big Ten title contender has to win. The Spartans won at Northwestern, at Michigan and at Minnesota. They still have to play at Purdue and host the Boilermakers and Buckeyes. Saturday's night game at Illinois qualifies as one of those a Big Ten title contender has to win.
Those are the kind of games that Wisconsin has littered all over their back-nine, the first of which is Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor.
It's very possible the Spartans only have two losses left on their schedule, which means a total of three Big Ten losses. I never took a math class in college, but I'm pretty sure that means Wisconsin -- which already has three conference losses -- has to win out.
8 comments | 0 recs |
Your Guide to Outdoor Hockey at Camp Randall Stadium
by Adam Hoge on Feb 5, 2010 12:23 PM CST
in UW Men's Hockey
0 comments
Camp Randall Stadium as of 11:50 a.m. Friday, courtesy the UW live web cam.
Were just one day away from the Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic and things are starting to fall into place logistically. If you are headed down to Camp Randall tomorrow there are a number of questions and problems you probably have, so here's a little Q&A to guide you through the day:
Most importantly, what will the weather by like?
Daily weather update
Currently: 32 F, Light snow
Saturday's forecast: 26 F, Cloudy
The UW men's basketball team plays Michigan at 3 p.m., should we watch that game or go to the women's hockey game?
Some are calling this a hockey doubleheader, but in my mind it's a Wisconsin-Michigan basketball-hockey doubleheader. Basketball still has priority tomorrow even though the team is out of town. The men's basketball team is at a point where if they want to win the Big Ten title they pretty much need to win out (which isn't an unrealistic possibility). While the Wolverines are only 11-11 they have played well at home and this will be a very tough game for Bo Ryan's squad.
My advice is to find a place to watch the basketball game and then head over to Camp Randall when it's over. Unfortunately, that might mean missing the first few minutes of the first period.
Where should we go before the game?
This is pretty much a Football Game Day around Camp Randall. Regent Street should have its regular tailgate parties and they will most certainly have the basketball game on.
One warmer possibility is the Badger Warm-Up in the Field House, which goes from 2:30-4:30. For $20 ($10 for children) you can get all the food, beer and soda you need. But the one drawback is that you can't watch the basketball game.
Will this game sell-out?
0 comments | 0 recs |
Signing day thoughts: Since when is UW loaded at QB?
by Adam Hoge on Feb 4, 2010 7:32 PM CST
in UW Football
2 comments
When Curt Phillips committed to Wisconsin in February of 2008 one could have mistaken him for Jesus Christ himself. The fans were raving him about him, YouTubing him and dreaming about him. The Tim Tebow comparisons started to roll in (Note: That was just a random coincidence that I mentioned Tim Tebow and Jesus Christ in the same paragraph).
Who could blame them? The Badgers had just survived a season with Tyler Donovan under center and the options for 2009 were Dustin Sherer and Allan Evridge.
We all know how that played out.
Phillips of course redshirted his freshman season and Bret Bielema added another quarterback a year ago when he signed Jon Budmayr, who also redshirted his first season.
Like when Phillips signed, there was a lot of good things said about Budmayr, but the compliments became a little more substantiated when I talked to his teammates in August.
O'Brien Schofield and Jaevery McFadden both said he was the most impressive freshman they had seen on offense. But then Garrett Graham -- the guy who was actually catching passes from the quarterbacks -- also put Budmayr at the top of his list of most impressive freshmen.
"Jon Budmayr came in early and I saw what he can do," Graham said. "He really impressed a lot of us."
Now enter into the fold Joe Brennan, a 6-4, 195 pound quarterback from New Jersey that Scout.com's National Recruiting Editor Allen Wallace said "just might have the intangibles to emerge as a dominant player as he refines his technique." Brennan signed with the Badgers Wednesday.
2 comments | 0 recs |
Camp Randall Classic Countdown: 2 Days to Outdoor Hockey
by Adam Hoge on Feb 4, 2010 12:28 PM CST
in UW Men's Hockey
3 comments
Camp Randall Stadium as of 12:20 p.m. Thursday, courtesy the UW live web cam.
Right now the biggest story surrounding the Culvers Camp Randall Classic is the weather. With snow expected Friday evening, the ice crew will have its work cut out for them Saturday morning to get the rink ready and the stadium crew will be at work to clear as much snow out of the stadium as possible.
The good news is that it doesn't look like there will be too much snow -- probably just a couple of inches -- and it appears the snow will be gone by Saturday afternoon.
Daily weather update
Currently: 27 F, Mostly Cloudy
Saturday's forecast: 27 F, Cloudy
Don't forget, Michigan is playing at Bowling Green tonight so they will be making their way to Madison tomorrow and playing on one day of rest Saturday.
3 comments | 0 recs |
'An old-fashioned whoopin'
by Adam Hoge on Feb 2, 2010 11:14 PM CST
in UW Men's Basketball
6 comments
UW ends Spartans' undefeated conference run
MADISON, Wis. -- Knock, knock. Hear that? That's the rest of the conference at the door, Michigan State.
Tired of watching the Spartans eek out tough road wins in the final seconds against other Big Ten opponents, the Badgers took matters into their own hands Tuesday night with a defensive-blitzing, message-sending 67-49 smackdown of Michigan State in front of 19,230 crazy fans at the Kohl Center.
"That was an old-fashioned whoopin'," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said after the game.
After falling behind 1-0 after a Raymar Morgan free throw 89 seconds into the game, the Badgers' usual stifling defense rose to the task and didn't let the Spartans make their first field goal until four minutes into the game. UW jumped out to a 10-1 lead and MSU never got within six points the rest of the game.
The Spartans' starters only combined for a total of 11 first half points and Durrell Summers was the only Spartan to reach double figures as he finished with 11 points. Chris Allen didn't score in the game and reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas only had seven points before leaving with a right ankle injury with 10:41 left in the game.
Meanwhile, UW's offense got hot early and never really cooled off. Sophomore Jordan Taylor scored 10 of UW's first 13 points and finished with 17 on the night. Senior Jason Bohannon led all scorers with 19 points as he hit 8-of-15 shots. Even Rob Wilson came off the bench and scored 10 points while hitting all five of his field goal attempts. It was a complete effort from the Badgers and MSU never had an answer.
Izzo called it Wisconsin's best game of the year and while UW head coach Bo Ryan wouldn't go that far, he didn't exactly disagree.
6 comments | 0 recs |
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Big Ten Conference Standings
(updated 2.8.2010 at 1:56 AM CST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
Michigan St. Spartans
|
9 | 2 | 19 | 5 |
|
Wisconsin Badgers
|
8 | 3 | 18 | 5 |
|
Ohio St. Buckeyes
|
8 | 3 | 18 | 6 |
|
Illinois Fighting Illini
|
8 | 3 | 16 | 8 |
|
Purdue Boilermakers
|
7 | 3 | 19 | 3 |
|
Minnesota Golden Gophers
|
5 | 5 | 14 | 8 |
|
Northwestern Wildcats
|
5 | 6 | 16 | 7 |
|
Michigan Wolverines
|
4 | 7 | 11 | 12 |
|
Indiana Hoosiers
|
3 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
|
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
2 | 9 | 8 | 16 |
|
Penn St. Nittany Lions
|
0 | 11 | 8 | 15 |
Badgers Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
Illinois
|
Tue 02/09 | 6:00 PM CST |
|
Indiana
|
Sat 02/13 | 1:00 PM CST |
|
@
Minnesota
|
Thu 02/18 | 8:00 PM CST |
|
Northwestern
|
Sun 02/21 | 1:00 PM CST |
|
@
Indiana
|
Thu 02/25 | 8:00 PM CST |
Last 5 Games
|
@
Michigan
|
Sat 02/06 | W 62 - 44 |
|
Michigan St.
|
Tue 02/02 | W 67 - 49 |
|
@
Purdue
|
Thu 01/28 | L 57 - 60 |
|
Penn St.
|
Sun 01/24 | W 79 - 71 |
|
Michigan
|
Wed 01/20 | W 54 - 48 |
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