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immigrationcourtside Sports: Wisconsin Badger Men’s Buckets Mid-Season Report

The Badger hoopsters outlasted the Indiana Hoosiers today notching a hard-fought 65-60 victory at the Kohl Center in Madison. Redshirt sophomore center Ethan Happ led Bucky with 20 points, adding a key steal and slam dunk down the stretch, while senior forward Nigel Hayes chipped in 15. Neither team was able to shoot the ball in the first half, although the offense picked up some in the second half.

The #10 Badgers remained in first place in the Big Ten with a 9-1 conference record (20-3 overall). They should move up several slots in the rankings this week due to losses by several other top-ten teams over the weekend. Happ is having a stellar season on offense and defense, proving himself to be one of the premier “in the paint” players in the country. He leads the team in just about everything except selling hot dogs during halftime. If he could only make a basket from beyond four feet (he has canned exactly one jump shot this year) he would be virtually unstoppable.

The Badgers appear to be in a strong position for the Big Ten Tournament and will undoubtedly make their 19th consecutive appearance in March Madness, hoping to improve on their Sweet Sixteen ending last year. With an experienced team and continued great coaching by second year (first full) Coach Greg Gard, the Badgers should be a threat to make an even deeper run toward the Final Four this year.

But, there are a few cautionary notes. Over the last three games, against horrible Rutgers and Illinois and an Indiana team missing key starters, the Badgers were unable to throw a knockout punch despite having a substantial talent advantage. And the Badgers have had problems shooting free throws and turning the ball over, two things that usually are the strength of Badger teams. Recently, the three-point shooting has also been sketchy. For example, the Badgers were only 4-17 from beyond the arc this afternoon. While those things might not kill you against the Illinois, Rutgers, and Penn States of the world, those teams won’t be around at tournament time.

The Badgers next will play at the Nebraska Conhuskers Thursday night.

Meanwhile, over on the gridiron, former Badger star running back James White played a key role in the Patriots exciting 34-28 comeback Super Bowl comeback victory, scoring the winning TD in overtime on a pitch from the amazing Tom Brady and some tough running.

PWS

02/05/17

WSJ Sports: With AR v. Matt Ryan On Sunday, The Points Will Mount Up — Kicking a FG Might Cost You The Game!

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nfc-championship-the-losing-team-will-be-the-one-kicking-field-goals-1484868545

“The forecast for offense in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game is nothing short of unprecedented. The expected total of more than 60 points is the highest in NFL postseason history, and for good reasons. The Falcons have one of the highest-scoring offenses ever, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers is on an all-time roll, and both defenses tend to underwhelm.

This game is such a unicorn that the coaches may have to employ an unthinkable strategy: forget about the kicking game. Punting the ball near midfield may be nonsensical when the other team is likely to score no matter where they start the drive. And the team that converts a field goal may find itself three points closer to losing.”

**********************************

Should be an exciting contest!

Go AR! Go Pack Go!

PWS

01/20/17

Sluggish Badgers Hold Off Western Michigan to Win the Cotton Bowl!

The favored Wisconsin Badgers did just enough to hand the outmanned but game Western Michigan Broncos their first defeat of the season, 24-16 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The lackluster performance gave the Badgers an 11-3 mark for the season, while the Mid America Conference Champion Broncos, who entered the game as the only undefeated “BCS” team besides Alabama, dropped to 13-1.

The Badgers came out in the first quarter looking like they were going to do what a bigger, stronger, more athletic team should do when faced with a highly motivated yet less-talented opponent — ram the ball right down their collective throats and end the game early. Behind senior quarterback Bart Houston and an initially punishing running game led by senior running back Corey Clement and the outsized offensive line, the Badgers put together touchdown marches of 75 and 88 yards to lead 14-0. It looked like a laugher.

But, thereafter, the Badgers allowed the smaller, less-talented Broncos to push them all over the field, on offense and defense, outscoring Bucky 16-10, to make a game out of it. After Houston ably led the first two drives, completing all of his passes, Badger Coach Paul Chryst did what he often has done this season – switched to freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook. The results were immediate – on a third and long Hornibrook lobbed a long, but not crisp, pass that forced receiver George Rushing to come back on the ball, failing to pick up a first down needed to keep the drive going. Wisconsin punted.

Reminiscent of the Penn State debacle, which cost the Badgers a shot at the Rose Bowl, the offense then largely went dormant. Indeed, the only other Badger touchdown was set up by a defensive interception by sophomore inside linebacker T.J. Edwards, who ironically had initially committed to play for the Broncos.

The Badgers also benefitted from several questionable decisions by Broncos Head Coach P.J. Fleck. First, Fleck apparently decided not to have his coaching staff study Wisconsin game film. The Wisconsin field goal was set up by a 51- yard wide receiver sweep by Jazz Peavy – a carbon copy of one that Wisconsin had run successfully in many games this season, until opposing coaches finally caught on. The Broncos also helped the Badgers by continuing to “grind out” yards and occupy clock, even well into the fourth quarter when down by two scores, rather than speeding up the offense and forcing the ball downfield.

The undisputed star for the Badgers was junior tight end Troy Fumagalli, who caught six balls, at least two of them spectacular, for 83 yards and a touchdown. On the other hand, the supposedly “shut down” Wisconsin defense, failed to mount a consistent pass rush against the Broncos smaller offensive line, managed not to corral several Bronco fumbles that were right in front of them, and the Badger defensive backs more or less stood and watched while Bronco quarterback Zach Terrell lobbed a desperation “ripe banana” pass to Corey Davis in the end zone with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter to bring the Broncos within eight. Thereafter the Badgers were able to recover the onside kick and run out the clock to avoid embarrassment and preserve the less than inspiring victory.

The Badger football season is over. On to basketball, where the #14 UW Men (12-2, 1-0, BT) take on the #16 Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington tomorrow night.

Modest suggestion for Coach Chryst: Next season, if you want to give your “future stars” some real-time game experience, why not use your superior size and talent to put games like this “out of reach” early before bringing in the next set of “Hornibrooks?” Houston wasn’t going to compete for the Heisman Trophy, but he was a competent senior quarterback who provided some offensive consistency and was more mobile with a better arm than Hornibrook. The bizarre move to Hornibrook early in the Cotton Bowl let a reeling, discombobulated, and totally outmatched WMU team back into the game. Bad move! It also made the game tedious for the fans, as WMU lacked the talent to win while Wisconsin lacked the “oomph” to put the game away.

PWS

01/02/17

Pack Drops Season Finale to Fairies! Controversial Call Ends Bid For Perfect Season!

The Beloit Fairies handed the Green Bay Packers, led by their legendary player-coach Curly Lambeau, their first — and only — defeat of the professional football season in a gritty, hard fought 6-0 game that ended with controversial call denying the Pack a potential game-winning touchdown, resulting in a near riot! The year was 1919, and while the teams, faces, and style of the game differed from today, some things were the same — excitement, controversy, rivalry, and hard hitting. Gotta wonder how many arrests and ejections took place among the fans!

Anna Patchin Schmidt, our daughter, who lives with her family in Beloit, WI, forwarded this item from Treasured Lives:

“Before the Green Bay Packers could conquer the world, first they had to best the state of Wisconsin and parts of Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. In their first two seasons, before joining what later became the National Football League, the Packers battled the Laphams from Milwaukee, the Oshkosh Professionals and the Stambaugh Miners from Michigan.
The 1919 Green Bay Packers, sponsored by the Indian Packing Co. of Green Bay. (Wikipedia)
In their first two seasons, the only team to beat them was a scrappy factory-backed team from Beloit called the Fairies. Make no mistake, the Beloit gridiron 11 was no group of winged waifs with pixie dust and a magic wand. Named for the Fairbanks Morse & Company, the Fairies handed the storied Packers franchise its first-ever loss in the fall of 1919. The game was decided on the last play and nearly caused a riot at Beloit’s Fairbanks-Morse Field.

With time slipping away, the Fairies led the Packers by a 6-0 score. The Packers punched through the Beloit line repeatedly and reached the opponents 5-yard line. “Beloit then stiffened, threw up a stone wall and fought back,” wrote the Janesville Daily Gazette in its game recap, “but though they were heavier than the Bay boys, Beloit couldn’t hold.”

The Packers scored a touchdown as time expired, but the linesman flagged the Packers for being offsides. “Cries of derision were heard all over the sidelines from the spectators when the penalty was called,” the Gazette wrote. “For a time, with the 2,000 spectators surging over the field towards the two teams and the referee, it appeared that a riot would be in progress, but the players of both teams forced the crowd back.”

It was not the first controversial call of the game. Earlier, the referee whistled the Packers for being out of bounds. “A beefing match then followed, with the referee and the captain of the Green Bay team chewing the fat over the rule book, and the discovery that the referee was using a 1918 set of rules.” The Green Bay captain was none other than the legendary Curly Lambeau, who served as player and coach in those early years.

Adding to the lore of that Packers-Fairies match was an after-game rumor that the Packers offered $5,000 to play the game again on a neutral field with football authority Walter Eckersall as referee. That never happened, and the Pack finished its first season with a 10-1 record. Even in the 1920 season, the Fairies again proved a nemesis, handing the Packers their only loss, a 14-3 decision at Fairbanks-Morse Field.

In those early years of Packers football, they played teams including the Menominee Professionals, the Racine Iroquois Athletic Club, the Marinette North End Badgers, the Chicago Boosters, the Milwaukee Maple Leaf Athletic Club and the Milwaukee Lapham Athletic Club. The first seasons, the Packers were under the sponsorship of the Indian Packing Company of Green Bay, where Curly Lambeau worked.

Those first two seasons, the Packers compiled a 19-2-1 record. They registered eight shutouts in the 1920 campaign. They played their first Thanksgiving Day game versus the Stambaugh Miners in 1920, winning by a 14-0 score. In August 1921, the fledgling American Professional Football Association (later called the NFL) awarded a franchise to Green Bay under the sponsorship of the Acme Packing Co.”

https://treasuredlives.us/2015/12/27/beloit-fairies-handed-green-bay-packers-first-loss/

Of course, I hope that the 2016 version of the Pack does better in their regular season finale — a date with the Detroit Lions in Detroit on New Year’s night for the NFC North Championship and a trip to the playoffs. Go Pack Go!🏈

PWS

12/30/16

Razorback FB Player Charged With Ripping Off Belk Store Shortly Before Team’s Appearance in Belk Bowl! — Thought He Was At Walmart?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/12/29/arkansas-senior-tight-end-suspended-from-the-belk-bowl-for-alleged-shoplifting-from-belk/?hpid=hp_local-news_hokies1020p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3fcefb9172b9

“Part of the player gift for Thursday’s Belk Bowl between Virginia Tech and Arkansas was a $450 gift card to the Belk department store in Charlotte’s SouthPark Mall and 90 minutes to spend it on anything the players would like.

For Arkansas senior tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, that apparently wasn’t enough.

Arkansas announced two hours before kickoff that Sprinkle had been suspended. He was the Razorbacks’ No. 3 receiver this season with 33 catches, 380 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season, and although the team did not reveal what the suspension was for, SEC Country’s Jason Kersey reported Sprinkle was caught shoplifting during the team’s shopping spree earlier this week.”

Meanwhile, on the field, former Badger Coach Brett Bielma’s Arkansas Razorbacks squandered a 24-0 halftime lead en route to a 35-24 thrashing at the hands of the Virginia Tech Hokies. Led by Bud Foster’s resuscitated second half defense and quarterback Jerod Evans, the Hokies scored five unanswered touchdowns. Bielma won lots of games at Wisconsin, but not many of the big ones. Guess things haven’t changed much for Ol’ Brett down in Fayetteville.

PWS

12/26/16

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