Bielema, entering his seventh season as UW?s head coach and trying to win the Big Ten Conference title for the third consecutive season, stated that emphatically Thursday on the first day of the league?s preseason meetings.
CHICAGO ? Legends and Leaders? Ha. The Big Ten Conference divisions look more like Legends and Losers now. The geographically challenged football alignments the Big Ten so painstakingly pieced together don?t look quite as even now that Penn State has been busted by the NCAA for covering up the atrocities committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The Nittany Lions? sudden fall has created short- and long-term competitive-balance issues for the conference.
The issue hummed through the Hyatt McCormick Place complex in Chicago on Thursday when Big Ten Conference football coaches gathered to share their thoughts heading into the 2012 season. University of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer were on the same front, saying they wouldn?t reach out to Penn State players. Bielema kicked off the two-day event by saying he wasn?t comfortable inquiring about Penn State players and his motives are based on the “genuine respect for everybody in our league that you are a Big Ten brother.”
Listening to NCAA President Mark Emmert?s speech announcing the penalties handed down against Penn State, I couldn?t help but wonder if he was doing it with a straight face. For at one point he said: ?One of the grave dangers stemming from our love of sports is that the sports themselves can become too big to fail, indeed, too big to even challenge. The result can be an erosion of academic values that are replaced by the value of hero worship and winning at all costs. All involved in intercollegiate athletics must be watchful that programs and individuals do not overwhelm the values of higher education.?
Really!
The University of Wisconsin football team won?t actively recruit any players off the Penn State roster, even though it?s entirely permissible under the terms of the sanctions placed on that program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Greg Gard chuckled when asked to assess the 2012-13 nonconference schedule that he had put together for the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball team. “Maybe ask me at the end of December,” said Gard, the team?s associate head coach. “It?s obviously going to be extremely challenging. I think it?ll really prep us for the Big Ten.”
The Badgers? 2013 home game against Brigham Young is set for Nov. 9, one week after a road game against Iowa and one week before a home game against Indiana.
Bret Bielema was seated at his expansive dining table last week, the picture and voice of casual comfort in his South Side home, when the most haunting experience of his professional life was suddenly served up cold.
Don Gehrmann was named the greatest miler of the Big Ten?s first 50 years but was versatile enough to set the world record in the 880 indoors and in the 1,000 both outdoors and indoors.Tom Jones, his coach at the UW, called him “potentially the greatest runner the world has ever known.” Gehrmann looks back on the 1948 London Olympics.
The Madison Marathon appears headed for a major makeover.The biggest potential change would involve moving the date of the full marathon from Memorial Day weekend to the fall starting in 2013, pending approval from the board of Madison Festivals Inc. Organizers also are considering changes to the course that would make it less challenging.
The sanctions that the NCAA meted out against Penn State for covering up Jerry Sandusky?s abuse of children were inadequate because they didn?t do much of anything to correct the unhealthy culture that permeates big-time college sports everywhere. Even in Madison.
Penn State got exactly what it deserved. The tattered image of the Big Ten Conference suffered yet another blow. And, after years of bowing to the lords of college football, the NCAA finally found religion. Well, hopefully, anyway….As for the Big Ten, which has taken image hits due to its failures on the field and NCAA scandals off it, the disgrace of consorting with Penn State will extend to the other 11 schools, including the University of Wisconsin. That will make the conference’s climb back to respectability that much tougher. There could be short-term benefits for UW, though.
MADISON – Top leaders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison are weighing in on the sanctions handed down against Penn State by the NCAA and Big Ten Conference.
INDIANAPOLIS ? The NCAA slammed Penn State for the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal Monday with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all the school?s victories from 1998-2011, knocking Joe Paterno from his spot as major college football?s winningest coach. Other sanctions include a four-year ban on postseason games that will prevent Penn State from playing for the Big Ten title, the loss of 20 scholarships per year over four years and five years? probation. The NCAA also said that any current or incoming football players are free to immediately transfer and compete at another school.
Several athletes with Wisconsin ties will take part in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced a $60 million fine against Penn State University on Monday and banned its football team from the postseason for four years.
Evan Jager definitely took the less-traveled road to professional athletics. The route was not even one Jager saw coming as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin.
As a five-time Pro Bowl cornerback during his eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, Troy Vincent gave fans a reason to show up at Veterans Stadium and Lincoln Financial Field.
Restricted free-agent center Greg Stiemsma was born, raised and educated in Wisconsin, but he still considers the contract agreement he reached Saturday with the Timberwolves a homecoming.
It makes sense that Suzy Favor Hamilton would carve some time out of her busy schedule every four years to relax on her couch and watch some of the track and field competition at the Summer Olympics.
In the wake of the sex abuse scandal at Penn State, the Big Ten Conference is considering a plan to give commissioner Jim Delany the power to punish schools with financial sanctions, suspensions and even the ability to fire coaches. An 18-page plan being circulated among Big Ten leadership raises the possibility of giving Delany such authority, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported Thursday.
Some vocal fans have argued that Wisconsin needs to improve the quality of its non-conference football schedule.UW officials took a modest step in that direction by finalizing a home-and-home agreement with Brigham Young, which began play as an independent last season.
Noted: After much soul-searching, runner Mohammed Ahmed, a competitor for Canada in the 10,000-meter race, decided to take the exemption.
University of Wisconsin senior safety Shelton Johnson?s day wasn?t finished last season at the end of practice. Johnson, from Carrollton, Texas, who was in his first year as a starter for the Badgers, accumulated the most community service hours of any player on the team. Because of that, Johnson has been named as one of 117 nominees to the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
Brooke Ammerman was a hyperactive child. Her mom, Babette, searched for an outlet for the youngster?s abundance of energy, giving Brooke the option: gymnastics or roller hockey.
Instead of returning for his junior season with the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team, winger Jason Clark is leaving the program and could turn pro. “It?s something he feels in his heart is the right thing to do,” UW coach Mike Eaves said Tuesday. Clark, from Eden Prairie, Minn., was a third-round pick of the New York Islanders in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He recently participated in their annual prospects camp and performed well enough to receive a contract offer.
The Penn State scandal raises an important question: Would a similar set of incidents have been handled any differently here at UW-Madison or on any other college campus with a big money Division 1 athletic program?
Mohammed Ahmed was pretty hard to miss Tuesday when he showed up to hang out with the press and talk about his excellent adventure.
What does a linebacker have to do to get noticed? University of Wisconsin senior Mike Taylor led the Big Ten Conference in tackles last season with 150, which was the third-highest total in the country. He ranked 13th nationally with an average of 10.7 tackles per game. Yet, Taylor was not on the Butkus Award watch list announced on Monday. The Big Ten placed nine players on the list, including UW junior Chris Borland.
Metairie, La. –Â Wide receiver Nick Toon has agreed to terms with the New Orleans Saints on a four-year contract.
UW-Madison is putting the ball in the legal system?s court in an effort to determine whether Adidas has violated the terms of its contract with the university due to allegations of sweatshop abuses at a factory the apparel giant subcontracted with in Indonesia.The state?s Department of Justice on Friday filed a legal document with the Dane County Circuit Court asking for declaratory relief on behalf of the UW System?s Board of Regents and UW-Madison.
University of Wisconsin interim chancellor David Ward says a decision regarding the school?s contracted relationship with Adidas is imminent, and no one is monitoring the controversial process more closely than Barry Alvarez. As UW athletic director, Alvarez has one of the bigger stakes in the game seeing how Adidas provides an estimated $2.5 million annually in footwear and apparel to the 23 Badgers sports programs. “That would be devastating to us, losing that Adidas contract,?? Alvarez said. “It would be devastating to our athletic program. It would cut the legs right out from under us.??
The thorny, long-running dispute between the UW-Madison and Adidas over the apparel giant?s labor practices in Indonesia landed in Dane County Circuit Court Friday. The university alleged in a lawsuit that Adidas ? which outfits UW-Madison athletes and coaches ? must pay Indonesian workers up to nearly $2 million still owed for back wages and benefits to honor a code of conduct provision in its contract. The chairwoman of a university committee charged with ensuring ethical conduct by contractors criticized the lawsuit as ineffective.
“It’s disappointing,” said Lydia Zepeda, a professor of consumer science and chairwoman of the Labor Licensing Policy Committee. “I believe it’s a way to continue the relationship with Adidas.” She said that, with claims and appeals, the legal process could drag on for months or years as UW-Madison athletes and coaches continue to sport apparel bearing the tri-stripe Adidas logo.
Several athletes with Wisconsin ties will take part in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.
University of Wisconsin coaches in 14 sports were given performance bonuses totaling just over $1 million during the 2011-12 school year. According to data supplied by the school, football coach Bret Bielema and men?s basketball coach Bo Ryan topped the list of recipients with awards of $250,000 and $100,000, respectively.
Change continued to ripple through the world of college football Friday, though this time the only leagues affected were the Big Ten and Pacific 12. Officials from both conferences announced their agreement for a round-robin schedule featuring 12 games per season, set to begin in 2017, had been shelved.
Most athletes spend their whole lives mastering every little part of their sport in the hopes of making it to the Olympics. Gwen Jorgensen will go to London competing in a sport she took up two and a half years ago.
MADISON (WKOW) — University of Wisconsin-Madison?s interim chancellor says the university is close to making a decision concerning its contract with apparel supplier adidas.
Joe Krabbenhoft?s announcement that he was hanging up his basketball sneakers to pursue a career in coaching was met with some skepticism by some of his friends and family members. They know how much the former blue-collar forward for the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball team loves to play the game. Will he really be able to sit there and watch others dive for loose balls, set screens and battle for rebounds?
Ever wonder what Big Ten Conference mascots do during the offseason? This summer, they play out their addiction to the song “Call Me Maybe” in a hilarious music video posted Wednesday.
This story names the athletes with Wisconsin ties, including some from UW-Madison.
Joel Patenaude didn?t know it at the time, but when he was running or riding his bike on the hills around Mount Horeb as a kid, he was taking part in a silent sport. The UW-Madison graduate, whose journalism career has taken him to stints in Egypt, Dubuque, Iowa; and Isle, Minn., among other places, has been editor of Silent Sports Magazine since 2004.
Noted: “It?s got a great school system. People are friendly, with those Midwestern values. Madison is a college town, so we?re big University of Wisconsin fans, even though I went to Illinois. We have season-tickets to the Badgers, so it?s fun following those basketball and football teams. It?s big enough, but yet small enough so you get to know a lot of people. It?s a great community — if you can get past the winters. You?ve got great spring, summer and fall weather — if you can slash it out those four months of the year. Our winters are getting better.”
Running back Montee Ball and linebacker Chris Borland from the University of Wisconsin football team were named to preseason watch lists on Monday for two major college football awards. Ball is on the watch list for the Maxwell Award, given to the outstanding college player of the year, while Borland was named to the Bednarik, given to the outstanding defensive player of the year.
I can?t tell if Barry Alvarez really wants the assignment or if the University of Wisconsin athletic director is just sandbagging. When I asked him recently if he?d accept an invitation to be part of the selection committee that will determine the participants in the four-team football playoff that will debut in 2014, his answer sounded as if he was pleading the fifth. “I certainly would consider it,” Alvarez said. I thought he?d jump at it.
For nearly as long as they can remember, Grant and Ross James were told they should play basketball.
Several athletes with Wisconsin ties will take part in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.
You might assume that if Brian Moore has a slow time on his calendar, this would be it for the assistant athletic director for ticket operations at the University of Wisconsin. You?d be wrong.
As he laced up his shoes and headed out to train last summer, Mohammed Ahmed would often end up logging 160 kilometres or more in a given a week ? all while fasting.
Jordan Taylor has made his NBA Summer League plans, and they do not include the Milwaukee Bucks. The former point guard for the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball team said Monday he has accepted an offer to play for the Atlanta Hawks? entry in the Summer League, which begins later this month in Las Vegas.
In the process of doing some NHL draft research I came across what I thought was a revealing development about University of Wisconsin men?s hockey coach Mike Eaves and his assistants over the years. Of the 26 UW players drafted by NHL teams from 2003 to ?09, 16 actually reached the NHL. That?s a 62-percent success rate. That period reflects the first group of Eaves? recruits to be drafted (Brian Elliott, Andrew Joudrey, Joe Pavelski and Ryan Suter) and the most recent case of a UW player leaving and reaching the NHL (Craig Smith).
Strength of schedule is going to be a prime component for seeding the new four-team college football playoff when it debuts in 2014, so it?s reasonable to wonder if that will bring about a change in philosophy for the University of Wisconsin. ?If you want to be a player (in the national championship equation) and strength of schedule is going to be a part of it, then you really have to consider (a different approach),? UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said.
Jordan Taylor will have to make his way onto an NBA roster as a free agent. As expected, the former standout point guard for the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball program wasn?t among the 60 players selected in Thursday night?s draft.
Mohammed Ahmed buckled to his knees upon crossing the finish line of the men?s 10,000-metre final at the Canadian Olympic Track and Field Trials.
CBSSports.com college football blogger Matt Hinton takes a look at how the past six college football seasons would have played out under the new four-team playoff, as opposed to the BCS system. He?s got the University of Wisconsin football team making the playoffs in 2010, but falling short in 2006 and 2011. So, the question for Badgers fans: Would they feel any better about the last six years, having lost (hypothetically) in the four-team playoff in 2010, as opposed to back-to-back losses in the Rose Bowl?
When University of Wisconsin junior Mohammed Ahmed broked the school record and reached the Olympic ?A? standard in the men?s 10,000 meters at a race in late April, his spot on the Canadian team for this summer?s London Games became a foregone conclusion. On Wednesday night, it became an official conclusion.
Several athletes with Wisconsin ties will take part in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.
While she bides her time between Olympic pursuits Jessie Vetter is giving back to the community. One of the most decorated and accomplished athletes in University of Wisconsin history, Vetter is hosting a benefit golf outing at University Ridge Friday that?s designed to benefit American Family Children?s Hospital in Madison. “It?s always been a dream of mine to have my own golf tournament,” Vetter said. Like her goaltending career with the UW women?s hockey team and beyond, this one looks like a winner.
On Saturday?s front page headline “Title IX at 40,” the subtitle “the unintended side effect” would better have been titled “the intended not-so-side effect. “Title IX destroyed the great American pastime at UW-Madison and for those who recognize baseball as our one true American sport.
Pennsylvania is reporting a Philadelphia man has filed a preliminary injunction in federal court, seeking a restraining order against Jerry Sandusky in the wake of his conviction last Friday on 45 counts of child sexual abuse.
