GEORGE ROONEY, who died at 90 over the weekend in Ohio, had a full life that included three years playing basketball for the University of Wisconsin in the late 1930s.
Rooney, who was born in Appleton, served as the Badgers captain – he also made All Big Ten – and it upset him his senior year in 1938 when the UW freshmen team beat the varsity. By 1941, Rooney could feel a little better about that loss. Those freshmen were now the varsity and they won the Badgers’ first and only NCAA basketball championship.
Through his life, Rooney never stopped following the fortunes of the Badgers….