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So Montee Ball is back at practice. No he wont be taking contact for up to a week, but with three weeks remaining until the start of the season against Northern Iowa there should be no worry about Ball being unprepared. He has never been unprepared as a football player at Wisconsin or, seemingly, anything in his life except, of course, that one time.
That one time has sportswriters hovering index fingers over left mouse buttons ready to hit "Publish" on some piece decrying another star athlete run amok, wreaking havoc on the general student populace. Dennis Dodd even jumped the gun, writing a piece that should have been titled "I'm Not Saying Montee Ball Lied, But If He Did, Here's Why He's Awful." I guess nowadays it's important to be ahead of the curve because with so many columnists and bloggers out there, you tend to read the same thing A LOT. So congrats Dennis Dodd, you said the banal thing first.
FYI, for a thorough takedown of Dodd's piece I really suggest you click here.
Ball maintained at media day that he was not involved in any prior incident that could have provoked the attack nearly two weeks ago. Bret Bielema and teammates adamantly defended him. The young man is being honest as far as we know, but there's a chance he isn't and that would be a bad thing. But spare yourself the lengthy columns until you hear something concrete. If you spend even a minute of you days following Wisconsin football (and I'm assuming you spend several more than that if you're reading this) then you'll know exactly how to feel when the time is right.
Links after the jump:
Some quarterback notes from Wisconsin's media day: Joe Brennan is looking to transfer, which is really scary for quarterback depth. Unless of course, true freshman walk-on Chase Knox is the real deal. Bielema is looking to name a QB start at least 10 days before the opener. Some more excitement for Danny O'Brien.
Joe Schobert has been mighty impressive so far at camp.
Position switches: Derek Watt to fullback and Darius Hillary to safety.
Devin Smith and David Gilbert are back, and 100 percent without pain at practice.
Bradie Ewing lost for the season at Falcons training camp : (
Wrapping up: This mock writer's poll at OTE was immensely enjoyable. Also, link avalanche.