Author: gbump

The last few minutes of spring practice Sunday afternoon was called off after a collision led to the hospitalization of sophomore cornerback Derrick Tindal. Tindal went low to tackle running back Taiwan Deal during the Badgers’ scrimmage and remained on the ground for several minutes. As practice ended, he was evaluated, taken off the field in an ambulance and transported to UW Hospital. A UW official said precautions were taken for a head or neck injury and that Tindal had movement in his extremities before being taken off the field.

Constituents of the UW men’s hockey team became more and more outspoken during its six-month drive to 4-26-5, an atrocious, unprecedented run that concluded with a last-place finish in the Big Ten Conference and the most losses in school history.

UW coach Mike Eaves fired assistants Gary Shuchuk and Matt Walsh, a shocking development that evolved out of discussions Eaves had with UW athletic director Barry Alvarez.

The day after the NCAA championship game, UW was the hottest topic on the airwaves, in print or in cyberspace. The Badgers’ 68-63 loss to Duke and their uncharacteristically negative postgame demeanor turned into a national discussion.

Badgers coach Bo Ryan was asked, as many coaches are at the end of a season, what he will remember most about seniors Kaminsky, Traevon Jackson, Duje Dukan and Josh Gasser. His response showed how much the group meant to him. “If you’ve ever played on a team, if you were ever in the service, if you were ever with a company for a long period of time, there’s things that happen and things that develop. It’s hard to describe ’em. It’s just an inner feeling that you have. But this group was so together and enjoyed each other’s company and could needle each other. They did a lot of good things.”

The Badgers’ dream of winning an NCAA title — a season-long mission for a team that won more games than any other in program history — ended with a 68-63 loss to Duke on Monday night in the championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Columnist praises Badger team because they “enthusiastically embraced a prominent, stressful project and insisted that we all tag along … confidently told us about their intent to do something big and bold … doggedly showed us the necessities for handling adversity … passionately demonstrated the value of respect and friendship … (and) joyfully maximized every step of the journey.”

Downtown Indianapolis was a sea of red as Badgers fans swarmed to town determined not to miss out on a chance to witness history as the University of Wisconsin basketball team played in the national championship game for the first time since 1941.

Hoop Scoop, a college basketball website, released its annual rankings of the top 60 college basketball coaches this week and Bo Ryan comes in at No. 6.

As painful as it was for UW to fall one game short of its goal, a five-point loss to a fellow No. 1 seed in a closely contested national championship game shouldn’t shake anyone’s belief that this Badgers team was everything the players told us it was. It failed to end a 74-year drought between NCAA titles for the school, but UW made believers out of just about everyone with its stunningly efficient offensive play, its steely resolve late in games and its news-conference antics that amused the nation.

The Badgers must somehow regroup from the biggest victory in modern school history and play Duke for the real national championship tonight at Lucas Oil Stadium. And they have less than 48 hours to do it.

Alvarez, a member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, admits to experiencing a non-football event that sits on a higher plane.That happened last April when the UW men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Arlington, Texas.

Bohannon, a 24-year-old from Marion, Iowa, is still at UW working on two major projects. One is an MBA to go along with his undergraduate degree in economics and master’s in life science communications. The other is a book about that magical season a year ago.

Kaminsky may be the biggest rock star on the team, but he’s not the only one as the Badgers prepare for their second consecutive Final Four appearance.

Jackson, who returned to the lineup last week after missing 19 consecutive games while recovering from a broken right foot, said he’s feeling more comfortable now that he has two games under his belt.

With 116 victories in his four seasons as a starter he missed the 2012-13 season due to knee surgery, Gasser has played in more wins than anyone who has worn a UW uniform. Fellow senior Duje Dukan, who redshirted the same year Gasser did, has been there for every one of those wins, though he played sparingly his first two seasons. Another teammate, senior Frank Kaminsky, has played in 113 victories, but he didn’t get major minutes until his junior season.

Ryan, 67, takes a 357-124 record at UW into tonight’s championship game. His quest for the Hall of Fame was built largely on the profound impact he has had at the Division I and III levels.

What’s Bo Ryan’s secret? Barry Alvarez, the University of Wisconsin athletic director, gets asked that a lot. People want to know how Ryan does it, how he wins and wins with players some big-time college basketball programs wouldn’t touch, how his teams consistently display toughness and character.