FanPost

I'm not going to sleep tonight

AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU

Seriously. This goes without saying, but a final four for a badger fan doesn't come along every day. For the die-hards like me, this is one of those moments that almost brings a tear to your eye.

Every single fucking year the blow-hards at ESPN, Fox, CBS, what-have-you openly mock Bo Ryan and his philosophy like it's some quasi-respectable way to win and cheap way to exist.

The pace is too slow. It's too boring.

The players aren't athletic. They can't win in the tournament.

What made Bo Ryan successful at other levels can't translate to Division I.

I haven't watched them play, but gee whiz, if you put them on the floor with a team like Arizona, you'll find out who they really are.

Well guess what everybody, Fuck you, with a capital F.

It's about goddamned time that the Badgers and Bo Ryan made it to the final four and I feel like it's okay for me to curse about it. I've been openly frustrated with BigTen colleagues about the conference-wide Bo hate. So what... he makes angry faces. Bo Ryan is one of the most stand-up and most deserving coaches to ever reach the final four. In an age where talented coaches are pegged early (Rich Pitino, for instance) and the next-best-thing is all anyone wants to talk about, Bo Ryan has taken the unconventional path from D-III champion to D-I coach to final four coach. It's unparalleled. He cares about his players, and it's obvious. He's old-school, honest, and unfiltered, and there's very little room for disrespect unless its in the form of envy.

Short story long, this is a blathering drunken post about how happy I am for Bo Ryan. I know the players make the coach, but there's got to be a special place in your heart for a guy who's taken so much criticism for never winning when it counts, and then finally winning when it counts. Here's to Bo (swig) congratulations and best of luck in Texas.

FanPosts are user-created posts from the Bucky's 5th Quarter community. They reflect the opinions and views of that particular user, not that of the staff of Bucky's 5th Quarter nor the blog community as a whole.