The quote Tony Bennett memorized after his father got the Badgers to the Final Four in 2000

Tony hasn’t forgotten watching and listening to his father after UW defeated Purdue in 2000 to earn a trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

“I was sitting in the back of a press conference,” he said. "I memorized his quote. He said a quote I never forgot. It stuck with me for that long.

“They asked him: ‘Is this one of the greatest feelings that you've ever had, getting to the Final Four?’

“He said: ‘From a feeling state, euphoria, yes, it is. But it doesn't compare with faith, with kids, family, grandkids. Because I know what truly matters, it enables me to enjoy what seems to matter like this.’

“I've remembered that quote and tried my best to live by it. I want this program to honor what's important to me, my faith and these young men through success and through failure.

article at JS

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YES!!!!!

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A welcome surprise

Greg called it.  He also called the Badgers winning the Rose Bowl. 

So close..

ESPN

Sweet Sconnie!

MJS

MJS

Some great post game interviews by both coaches.

Don't forget the High School tourney. Sam Dekker is amazing, and a Badger recruit. My cousin sat behind the Sheboygan bench. They are down by two, Dekker's dad is the head coach, and he's calling a two point play going for the tie. Sam Dekker yells, "No, I'm going for the win!" Then this happens(down by two), he scored 40 points, 12 in the last 45 seconds.




And another Badger recruit Zak Showalter makes Madison Memorial looks silly. Germantown went on to win the D1 Championship over previously undefeated Milwuakee King. This is just crazy.

It's Tourney Time!

Game on!

FANtastic Fridays: UW-Madison Memes edition

There is this crazy obsession called memes going across Facebook... My brothers are obsessed with the UW-Madison Memes Facebook page.

So many good photos, so little space. Ahhh, Madison. Happy Friday!

Lombardi on the Rose Bowl

"We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time." - Vince Lombardi

A good game and a good season.  Needlessly wasting timeouts in the second half ended up costing the game.   Glad that Michigan State was able to salvage another otherwise embarrassing bowl season for the Big 10.

more at JSOnline

Roses

mjs

Old School Bucky

Bill Sagal '51 tries on his mascot head with designer Connie Conrad and Homecoming chair Bill Sachse '50. Photo Courtesy UW-Madison Archives

Good game LarryD

On Wisconsin

Matt and I (Virginia) were emailing this morning about the state of Wisconsin sports (a coworker of mine would like Ron Roenicke driven out of Milwaukee, but that's another post). I mentioned that sadly, no one wanted to talk about Badger football this morning with me and deluged Matt with tales of my favorite Badger games. Matt said, ummm hey you know this blog I have? Go share with Badger nation.

Given that the BCS complaint line over rankings has already formed, let's do some reminiscing over my favorite Badger games as a student...
- The game where Bucky was arrested and taken out in handcuffs for crowd-surfing;

- The 2003 Wisconsin-Ohio State game (back when Maurice Clarett played for OSU, remember that?) when students rushed the field after UW beat the No. 3 ranked Buckeyes;
- And I have no idea during which of my undergrad years this happened... but someone in the student section smuggled in a blow-up doll and dressed it in clothes so it looked like a real person. The student section did the "pass it back, pass it back" and when the doll got to the last row, they threw it over the edge of the stadium. Security freaked out and thought it was a real person that got tossed over. I have matured since then... but to be young again.

Also, you may have heard about the UW Athletic Department asking students to end some of their chants... Couple thoughts: 1. Welcome to the Big Ten, Nebraska! 2. Did they seriously ask students to be "more creative"? Uhhhmmm... 3. Camp Randall wasn't named #2 in the top 5 most intimidating stadiums by ESPN because there's daisies along the sideline...

The New York Times did an awesome write-up of the history of "Jump Around." Read it! UW beat Purdue the day Jump Around was first played, wayyyyyy back in 1998. In 2003, while Camp Randall was under construction, Jump Around was not played due to concerns that those in the press box found the movement unsettling (teeheee... jokes about reporters here...) and a sure-fire tradition was cemented.

New poll question: Favorite Wisconsin based sports team

It's also over on the right bar over there.  Although my wife sometimes argues with me, my pick is the Milwaukee Brewers as my favorite sports team.  Especially these Brewers, everything about this team makes me love baseball despite the ridiculous corporate structure of the MLB(as opposed to the brilliant setup of the NFL).  The Brewers overcame some terrible ownership, and have been saved by LA businessman Mark Attanasio, who had his father sing the national anthem for game 1 of the playoffs(who also sings the anthem at every opening game).  And not just the team, but two words which makes a world of difference; Bob Uecker.  The team is sooo Milwaukee and sooo Wisconsin.  Don't get me wrong, I love watching the other Wisconsin teams(well I don't watch the NBA...), but the question is who's number 1.   Ask me in a couple years and maybe I will have changed my mind..  I think it will be interesting to see the results on this one.  By the way, the staches win on the previous poll.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Results

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Brilliant!

Some brilliant mind gave this to the internet.

UW pays ADF a half million dollars in legal fees for UW discrimination against Christians

MADISON, Wis. —The University of Wisconsin-Madison has agreed to cover legal costs racked up as a result of its latest multi-year effort to discriminate against Christian students in Badger Catholic v. Walsh. ADF has been involved in six different lawsuits involving the state university system’s relentless discrimination against Christian and conservative groups.

“Universities should recognize the constitutional rights of Christian students and ministries just as they do for all other students and campus groups,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence.  “Sadly, the University refused to do so, and instead squandered money by trying to defend the indefensible:  blatant, unlawful discrimination against Christian students and ministries.”

In September 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled that University of Wisconsin-Madison officials violated the First Amendment by refusing to fund certain events of Badger Catholic, a registered student group, while providing funding for the events of other student organizations. The university refused to provide funds from student activity fees because the student group’s events contained religious expression, including prayer, worship, and proselytization. In March 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the decision, allowing it to stand.

ADF filed this lawsuit after the university violated the terms of a settlement agreement reached in a previous lawsuit on behalf of the same group when it was known as the Roman Catholic Foundation. The federal courts again agreed with ADF and the university will cover nearly $500,000 in legal costs incurred as a result of the university’s refusal to obey the U.S. Constitution and repeated judgments against it in federal court.

 Alliance Defense Fund

This is Sparta

Congrats to the Michigan State Spartans for spanking the overranked and outplayed Wisconsin Badgers.  ....  And yes, this is quite painful, thank you very much.