Category: Athletics

MADISON, Wis. ? Wisconsin consumer protection officials are warning football fans to watch out for Rose Bowl scams.

A word of warning to excited Wisconsin Badger football fans hoping to head to sunny California for the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2: Avoid the thorns. The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is cautioning people to be careful when booking trips to Pasadena for the game because some packages might not include everything you need, such as tickets to the game between the Badgers and the Oregon Ducks.

Pasadena proved to be an easier sell to University of Wisconsin football fans than Indianapolis. The school announced Monday morning that it has sold out its allotment of tickets to the Rose Bowl, where the Badgers will face Oregon on Jan. 2.

Running back Montee Ball, junior center Peter Konz and senior right guard Kevin Zeitler were named to the team.

Say what you will about the Miracle of East Lansing the first time these teams met this season, this one will be remembered in a similar shade of wow.

Wisconsin and Michigan State gave Big Ten fans and the nation a sequel that not only matched but surpassed the teams? regular-season meeting.Trailing by eight points late in the third quarter Saturday night, UW rallied behind the poise and playmaking ability of senior quarterback Russell Wilson.

The last two losers of the Rose Bowl have another chance to get it right.Pac-12 champion Oregon will face Big Ten champion Wisconsin on Jan. 2 in the 98th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All, the schools learned Sunday night.

Offensive coordinator Paul Chryst might be in his final go-round with the University of Wisconsin football team.

Upon further review, as they say, the seat filler ad for Saturday?s Big Ten Conference football championship game was an Internet hoax. The author of the Craigslist ad offering $75 to anyone willing to don red or dark green clothing and fill empty seats at Lucas Oil Stadium came clean to the website SBNation.com, explaining that he was miffed at the massive collapse in value of the tickets he purchased long ago with the intent of scalping them.

UW suffered its first loss of the season, 60-57, because its shooting was dreadful, particularly from the three-point line, and trips to the free-throw line were rare events.

“It?s a really special experience for our fans and for our athletes and coaches,” said Justin Doherty, the associate athletic director at U-W Madison.

Some of the differences are small: “We typically stay at the same hotel and we have the same agenda if we?re playing at another Big Ten school,” said Terry Murawski, the executive director of the national W club. “But this one is a little different because we?ve not been there before and the accommodations and everything about it is new.”

University of Wisconsin running back Montee Ball is the Big Tens offensive player of the year and Penn State tackle Devon Still has picked up the honor on defense.

Though the Big Ten patently denies it is paying people to fill empty seats amid a soft ticket market for Saturday?s inaugural football title game between the University of Wisconsin and Michigan State, it appears that somebody was poised to do so. An ad on the Indianapolis Craigslist under the heading “Event-Seat Filler” that was visible until Wednesday evening asked for candidates to wear “red or dark green casual clothing” and be able to “tolerate loud noise and crowds” for an event in downtown Indianapolis that runs from 8 p.m. to roughly midnight.

INDIANAPOLIS — Event organizers for the Big TenFootball Championship to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday are hoping fans will fill all 66,000 seats.

The Big Ten has announced that Wisconsin junior running back Montee Ball is the Big Ten?s Offensive Player of the Year. Ball is the second Badger running back to win the award in three years. This year the award was renamed the Graham-George Award after Otto Graham and Eddie George.

The matchup of respected programs and top-10 teams – No.?5 North Carolina and No.?9 Wisconsin – should feature an intriguing contrast in style and provide a measuring stick for a UW team that so far has seamlessly replaced three senior starters from last season.

As the University of Wisconsin football team concludes another regular season, that can mean only one thing: more job rumors involving offensive coordinator Paul Chryst. Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas fired Ron Zook as head coach on Sunday and reportedly started an immediate search for a new coach. A UW source confirmed Illinois has interest in Chryst.

Badger fans are gearing up for the Big Ten Championship Game against the Michigan State Spartans this Saturday. It?s the first ever title game, to be held this year in Indianapolis. Tickets went on sale for the general public at www.uwbadgers.com Monday morning, and are going fast. The Athletic Department had 15,000, and by late afternoon, had already sold 13,000. Many organizations, like the Wisconsin Alumni Association and student-run Badger Trips are offering package deals. But agents say they?re close to sold out.

In response to a recent letter regarding pay raises for UW assistant coaches, yes the budget is tight. But the 25 percent raise the coaches got did not all come from the taxpayers. Much of it came from booster clubs and private individuals. You have to realize what these coaches bring in ? millions of dollars in revenue to the athletics program and the university. Without that we are going back to the old days when you could not give a ticket away.

Wisconsin junior tailback Montee Ball on Monday was named Big Ten co-offensive player of the week.

Facing No. 11 Michigan State (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) in the Big Ten title game at 7:17 p.m. Saturday in Indianapolis should provide No. 15 UW (10-2, 6-2) the opportunity to prove it did learn from its mistakes on the final play of its 37-31 loss to the Spartans during the regular season.

So on Saturday, Penn State and Wisconsin will play their final regular game of the 2011 football season, with the winner moving on to the first Big Ten championship game against Michigan State.

I only wish I could generate a tenth of the enthusiasm for that Camp Randall matchup as I did for Penn State becoming part of the Big Ten 21 years ago. But the Penn State scandal is so unimaginable – and hits a little too close to home in a state where the Catholic Church covered up its wrongdoings and Marquette violated the law under different circumstances – that, at least for me, an awfully big game has lost something.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said on Monday UW officials planned to honor the children allegedly assaulted by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. To that end, a large blue ribbon has been hung on the outside of the south wall of the UW Fieldhouse in an effort to help create awareness around the issue of child abuse. Blue is the ribbon color used to highlight child abuse awareness.

Nick Toon was present last month to celebrate a memorable and touching moment with his father, Al Toon. This week is Al Toon?s turn. Nick Toon is set to play his final home game at Wisconsin on Saturday, 27 years after his father, a wide receiver at UW from 1982-?84, played his final home game for the Badgers.

The Board of Trustees considered canceling Penn State?s final three football games, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Chronicle of Higher Education. If trustees had ended the season, it would have meant no game Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium between the Nittany Lions and University of Wisconsin. The move also would have forced Penn State to forfeit its home finale against Nebraska on Nov. 12 and last week?s game at Ohio State.

University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is urging fans to show “class and dignity” on Saturday when the 15th-ranked Badgers football team host No. 20 Penn State. Alvarez said the school has hung a large blue ribbon on the outside, south wall of the UW Field House, near Camp Randall Stadium, to encourage awareness of the “serious issue of child abuse.” Blue is the ribbon color used to highlight child abuse awareness.

….Dean of Students Lori Berquam echoed Alvarez’s plea for attendees at Saturday’s football game to conduct themselves in a respectful manner.

University of Wisconsin senior guard Kevin Zeitler doesn?t want to be a distraction.So while the emotions of Senior Day at Camp Randall Stadium before Saturday?s 2:30 p.m. game against Penn State could sneak up on him at some point this week, Zeitler expects his complete focus to be on the Nittany Lions.

The Badgers wound up 97 points as a team to claim their fifth NCAA championship and their first crown since 2005. Seniors Elliot Krause (17th place) and Ryan Collins (23rd) and junior Reed Connor (36th) joined Ahmed as All-Americans, while junior Maverick Darling crossed the finish line 46th in the 10-kilometer race on the LaVern Gibson Course.

University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema and athletic director Barry Alvarez have not had much success influencing students? behavior at Camp Randall Stadium. Bielema and Alvarez made an appeal earlier this season to stop an obscene chant by students, to no avail. So it was perhaps understandable that Bielema stopped short of telling the students how to act during the game against Penn State on Saturday. Bielema said at his Monday press conference that UW officials were going to meet to discuss anything that might happen before the game.

When the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team won the national title in 2006, it ushered in a period of remarkable recruiting success. In the four years that followed, UW coach Mike Eaves and his staff brought in 10 players chosen in the first two rounds of the NHL draft. That influx of high-end talent proved to be a double-edged sword for the program.

It?s highly unlikely University of Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson or running back Montee Ball can make enough of a late-season push to be considered legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates. But both players should be in line for a number of other awards — including some in which they will compete against each other.

Jim and Alice Wilcox are going to the Penn State game at Camp Randall Stadium a week from Saturday, and bringing two love stories with them. One will end, in a fashion, when the game does. The other one? The other one goes on forever. Jim and Alice will celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary on Nov. 26 by attending the UW-Penn State game. It also marks the end of a 62-year run in which the Wilcoxes have had season tickets to the Badger games at Camp Randall.

Funny how one week can change things. Last week, Wisconsin could be seen going to a number of bowls, including the Rose or Sugar, but now it seems to be down to two: Rose or Capital One.

In some ways, Barry Alvarez is no different than the rest of us when it comes to dealing with the awful revelations seeping out of Penn State. “It?s something that you have a hard time getting off your mind,” the University of Wisconsin athletic director said. “You don?t quite understand it all. You don?t have all the answers. It?s very disturbing.”

Quarterback Russell Wilson, whose Heisman Trophy candidacy is being promoted by the University of Wisconsin, was asked Monday who he would vote for if he had a say. His answer: Teammate Montee Ball, the Badgers? junior running back who set a Big Ten record with his 27th touchdown of the season on Saturday.”He?s the man,” Wilson said. “?Money Ball,? I guess they call him.”

Bobbie Kelsey may be the new kid on the Big Ten women?s basketball block, but that doesn?t mean she?s a total stranger to the neighborhood.

University of Wisconsin basketball icon Bo Ryan found victory off the court this week, as officials announced his salary will be raised to more than $2 million.

There?s a good deal of crisis management going on in the Big Ten Conference these days, something Joel Maturi knows something about. The Minnesota athletic director may not have the pulverizing agendas on display at Penn State or Ohio State ? an alleged cover-up of sexual abuse by a former football assistant and major NCAA rules violations, respectively ? but Maturi could argue his crisis has had a much longer shelf life.