Category: Athletics

It was fitting that Devin Harris rolled up to Bishops Bay Country Club on Monday afternoon in a cardinal red Maserati. The New Jersey Nets point guard just finished the first year of a five-year contract extension worth a cool $42 million so he can afford to drive a swanky Italian luxury automobile.

The fact it was red was where the news value could be found. It’s the dominant color of the University of Wisconsin, which is where Harris starred before leaving after his junior year and becoming the fifth player drafted in the 2004 National Basketball Association draft.

It’s also where Harris is returning to go to school. He said Monday he is planning to enroll for fall semester classes in an effort to get his degree in sociology. He’s 36 credits short.

The 2008 Big Ten Conference pre-season football meetings are set to be held Thursday and Friday at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Their belief that they underachieved and wasted a rare opportunity has not waned.

Their psychological wounds caused by that failure have not fully healed. Their newfound sense of humility, laced with determination to make amends, remains intact.

When many of the University of Wisconsin players reflect upon the 2007 football season, several moments of triumph remain overshadowed by the knowledge a season that began with so much promise ultimately was marred by lackluster performances, including a galling 21-17 loss to Tennessee in the Outback Bowl.

Former Badger basketball star Devin Harris will participate in the Friends of the Waisman Center’s golf benefit on Monday, July 21, at Bishops Bay Country Club, 3500 Bishops Drive, Middleton.

Former University of Wisconsin runner Matt Tegenkamp, fresh off earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic track and field team, ran the fastest 1,500 meters ever on Wisconsin soil Tuesday night in a four-man showdown at the McClimon Track Complex.

Tegenkamp’s victory in a time of 3 minutes, 37.94 seconds, came in front of about 1,000 fans, and at the expense of fellow UW alumnus Chris Solinsky, who finished third in 3:40.67.

The last time Brad Soderberg had an interim job, the interim turned out to be a lot shorter than he wished.

So as the new interim athletic director at Loras College in Dubuque, Soderberg is keeping an open mind as to the definition of “interim.”

Former UW player Kirk Penney poured in 25 points as New Zealand routed Cape Verde, 77-50, in the 12-nation qualifying tournament in Athens, Greece, for the Beijing Olympics.

Matt Tegenkamp, the former UW-Madison distance runner who has qualified to compete in the 5,000 meters at the Olympics next month, ran the fastest 1500 meter race ever on Wisconsin soil Tuesday night, beating training partners Jonathon Riley, Chris Solinsky and Sean Quigley in front of approximately 1,000 cheering fans at the McClimon Track.

Tegenkampâ??s time of 3:37.94 falls just three seconds short of his personal best, but beats the previous track record of 3:42.63, set by John Wild of Oklahoma State in 1996.

Word is there was some talk around the NHL entry draft in Ottawa three weeks ago involving Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves and the vacant Los Angeles Kings head coaching position.

I both despise and am intrigued by rumors, but this one falls more on the side of intrigue. The Kings fired coach Marc Crawford last month, and the only person reported to have been interviewed by general manager Dean Lombardi thus far is associate coach Mike Johnston.

Guess what? A former Green Bay Packers quarterback has decided to return to the football field.

Imagine that.

Wait a second! Itâ??s not that former Packers QB, the gunslinger who has dominated the weekend news.

No, the ex-Packers passer in question this time is Randy Wright whoâ??s about to enter his first season as offensive coordinator at Sturgeon Bay High School. Wright is a former Badgers QB, as well.

A persistent rumble on the NHL coaching front is the Los Angeles Kings have their eyes on Eaves.
Eaves, the UW coach since 2002, has heard that rumor on multiple occasions, too, but said he’s had no contact with the Kings.

The Kings fired coach Marc Crawford last month after they finished last in the Pacific Division with a 32-43-7 record.
General manager Dean Lombardi has interviewed Mike Johnston, the associate head coach under Crawford, but reportedly is sorting through a list of other candidates.

When John Wiley took over as University of Wisconsin chancellor in 2001, one of his first public tasks was to deal with the fallout from the infamous scandal involving The Shoebox.
“It was a tough time,” he said, recalling how one of his first out-of-town assignments was to Jackson Hole, Wyo., to be grilled by NCAA investigators. “It was embarrassing.”

Violations listed.

Brad Soderberg got his first shot as a head basketball coach at Loras College. Now he is headed back to the small Catholic school in Dubuque to serve as its interim athletic director.

The hiring was announced Tuesday on Loras’ Web site.

Soderberg, a former University of Wisconsin assistant and interim head coach, most recently coached at Saint Louis University. He was fired in the spring after going 80-74 in five seasons there.

Madisonian Andy North is renowned for his achievements and commentary in golf, but the two-time U.S. Open champion has another prominent love.

North is an enthusiastic follower of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program, a reality soon to be reflected with a sizeable gift to the school.

How do you explain the shrinkage, the dropoff, the decline in numbers? Blame the economy. That was the knee-jerk reaction when the first session of the University of Wisconsin football summer camp drew far fewer participants than anticipated, far fewer than the high school camp (grades 9-12) had attracted the year before. But upon further review, UW coach Bret Bielema believes the earlier dates (June 15-17) affected the turnout. “That’s because the numbers were up for our second camp,” he said.

Matt Tegenkamp couldn’t believe his luck. This couldn’t be happening.

Having battled a hamstring problem that hampered his training in the final weeks leading up to the Olympic track and field trials, the former University of Wisconsin runner from Madison found himself in a fierce battle with four other contenders late Monday night to make the team in the 5,000 meters.

Although Brian Butch’s name wasn’t called during Thursday night’s NBA draft, it didn’t take much time for the former University of Wisconsin standout to land an opportunity in the professional ranks.

The University of Wisconsin men’s rowing program will continue to be well-represented at the Summer Olympics.

Former Badgers Beau Hoopman and Micah Boyd were named to the 45-person roster selected to the U.S. Olympic rowing team on Friday.

A state appeals court Thursday restored the wrongful death lawsuit against a state employee brought after an ABC cameraman died from a fall at Camp Randall stadium while preparing for a Nov. 22, 2003 telecast of a Badger-Iowa football game.

The District 4 Court of Appeals opinion reverses a ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge John Albert, who dismissed the suit brought by the estate of Richard Umansky against Barry Fox, director of facilities at the stadium.

Albert had concluded that state employee immunity prevented Fox from being sued, but the Appeals Court found that Fox could be negligent because Umansky fell from a platform from which a railing had been removed. As a result, the suit can now be heard in Dane County Circuit Court.

For the first time in 28 years, Kevin Cosgrove won’t be coaching the game that he loves: college football. But the potential for any separation anxiety may be eased by 1) his view that this is more of a respite than a setback, 2) his conviction that he will be coaching again next season, collegiately or professionally and 3) his commitment to relocating back to Madison, where he will volunteer his time to help mentor his son with the Edgewood High School football program.

Cosgrove, the former University of Wisconsin assistant, admitted that family considerations took precedence on the heels of four turbulent seasons at Nebraska; none more tumultuous than the final weeks of 2007, during which head coach Bill Callahan was ousted and Cosgrove was fired as defensive coordinator.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison’s annual Rhythm and Booms fires off this Saturday at Warner Park.

The event, which starts at noon, is expected to draw around 250,000 people. But, one big change this year will be that Madison Metro will no longer be providing the shuttle service between Warner Park and the MATC parking lot.

New federal regulations that went into effect in April prohibit federally-funded transit systems from providing shuttle services for community events.

The new federal rules also mean Metro buses will no longer be able to provide shuttle service at University of Wisconsin football games or WIAA sporting events. Metro buses moved 50,000 people a year on these community event shuttles, WISC-TV reported.

Now all Brian Butch and Draelon Burns can do is wait and hope.

Butch, formerly of the University of Wisconsin, and Burns, who played at Milwaukee Custer and later at DePaul, were among the eight players who worked out for the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday at the Cousins Center.

Representing your country in the Olympics is the ultimate honor for most athletes, and two former Badger runners have been training together for the past five years, striding to reach that finish line. In one week, they’re both hoping to be Beijing-bound for the summer games.

Their accomplishments speak for themselves. Former Badger Chris Solinsky is a five-time NCAA champion. His ex-teammate Matt Tegenkamp became the first runner to break a four-minute mile on Wisconsin soil, and is the American two-mile record holder. But those achievements are only setting the state for what they hope is their greatest conquest to date.

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team was named Big Ten Men’s Team of the Year by the Big Ten Network on Friday.

In the first-ever season-ending awards show, Wisconsin edged the Iowa wrestling team and the Michigan baseball team en route to adding this award to its display case.

If Jay Bilas is correct, the University of Wisconsinâ??s Brian Butch will not be among the 60 players chosen in the National Basketball Association draft Thursday night.

And to hear Bilas tell it, that could be a blessing for him.

Even in an NHL entry draft deep in top-end defenseman, Jake Gardiner gave the Anaheim Ducks a good reason to take him.

Impressive speed made Gardiner, an incoming freshman for the University of Wisconsin, an intriguing first-round target on Friday, and the Ducks took a chance on him with the 17th overall pick.

The Sporting News’ Matt Hayes breaks down the Big Ten’s non-conference schedules and needless to say Wisconsin does not come out unscathed.

Jerry Schumacher is moving on.

The architect of one of the most successful menâ??s college cross country programs in the nation is leaving the University of Wisconsin to take a job coaching elite distance runners for Nike.

University of Wisconsin softball team members Lynn Anderson and Leah Vanevenhoven have been chosen to play with the Wisconsin ASA Regional All-Star team against Team USA. The regional all-star team, made up of players around the state, will take on the U.S. Team on Tuesday, 7 p.m., at McCarty Field on the UW-Stevens Point campus. The exhibition game is part of the 46 stops for the U.S. Olympic team on its Bound 4 Beijing Tour before heading to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Team USA heads into the exhibition 43-1, having lost 1-0 to Virginia Tech.

University of Wisconsin athletes made the grade this year.

According to a report released at the UW athletic board meeting Friday, Badger athletes had a grade-point average of 2.97 in the spring semester. They also posted a cumulative GPA of 2.97.

There were times when a Big Ten Network-Comcast union appeared as likely as uncovering scratchy footage that showed Woody Hayes screaming “Go Blue!”

But that day is here. Almost.

Comcast and the BTN are prepared to put nearly two years of bitter negotiations aside to announce a long-term partnership, the Tribune has learned.

The rewards for good seasons for a pair of University of Wisconsin coaches came in the form of a little extra job security.

Men’s golf coach Jim Schuman and men’s tennis coach Greg Van Emburgh both have been given three-year contracts running through the 2010-11 school year; they previously were on one-year deals.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Three University of Wisconsin runners placed in the top eight in the men’s 1,500 meters Saturday on the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake University. The Badgers scored 12 points in the event to finish 21st in the team standings.

Former Badger wrestler and current assistant coach Donny Pritzlaff came up short in his bid to make the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team for this summer’s Olympics in Beijing, China.

In team trials on Sunday in Las Vegas, Pritzlaff didn’t advance to Sunday night’s finals in the 163-pound weight division when he lost a decision to his training partner, Ryan Churella.

The Big Ten Network will say “On Wisconsin!” next Thursday, June 19, with 24 consecutive hours of Badger programming.

The day will feature some of Wisconsin’s best performances in 2007-08, including the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game against Illinois, the thrilling road win at Indiana thanks to Brian Butch’s last-second heroics, the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships and the women’s soccer team’s win against Ohio State. In addition, the 2008 spring football game will air in its entirety at 9 a.m.

….The schedule also contains more than four hours of campus programming produced by the UW.

Being one of the handlers for a buffalo — Ralphie, the University of Colorado mascot — sounded like a much dirtier job than being a parking attendant at Fenway Park or a beer vendor at Wrigley Field. Especially if Ralphie was on an all-bran diet. “We start running and she starts pooping,” Adam Gregory, the handler, told the Sporting News. “And I’m behind her, just trying to hold on and keep up. And it’s flying everywhere; all over my face, my clothes, everything.”

That’s not dirty, that’s downright nasty, and it has to rank near the top — or the bottom — of the Sporting News’ list of dirty jobs, which included being an NHL enforcer, a NASCAR tire man, an NBA stopper, an NFL wedge buster, and a Major League catcher for a knuckleball pitcher.

There were a few other entries on the list, which appeared in the May 26 issue, not the least of which was being the director of football operations at the University of Wisconsin.

Gwen Jorgensen knows she is fortunate.

Right off the bat, the University of Wisconsin junior acknowledges that God has given her athletic gifts. And itâ??s not too long before she sings the praises of Badgers coach Jim Stintzi and throws some love to her teammates, who she says welcomed her with open arms and pushed her to be better.

Wisconsinâ??s latest running protégé is right on the money in that regard: One doesnâ??t come as far as she has as fast as she has all by herself.

In the span of about 15 months, the Waukesha South graduate has gone from being an average swimmer for the Badgers to an NCAA qualifier for the UW track team in the 5,000 meters. Tonight, sheâ??ll run in the semifinals of her event on the first day of the Division 1 national outdoor meet, which runs through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

The next two and a half weeks are going to be very busy for Brian Butch.

The NBA hopeful and former University of Wisconsin big man has a handful of workouts scheduled for NBA teams. His first one was last Friday in Boston where he was part of a six-man workout that included Indiana’s D.J. White, Louisville’s David Padgett, Alabama-Birmingham’s Robert Vaden, Rhode Island’s Will Daniels and Western Kentucky’s Courtney Lee.

Nevada has mandated budget cuts, but thanks in part to Wisconsin fans, UNLV’s athletic teams aren’t as bad off as others around the state.

According to a story in the Las Vegas Sun, “ticket revenue for UNLV football increased 114 percent this past season â?? largely as a result of a home game with Wisconsin, for which Badgers fans bought thousands of UNLV season tickets.”

Life is great for Jolene Anderson.

It’s Sunday afternoon and the former University of Wisconsin standout is standing outside the Connecticut Sun locker room she shares with some of the best players in the WNBA. Among those shuffling in and out of the cramped quarters at the UIC Pavilion are Lindsay Whalen, one of the league’s top point guards, and forward Asjha Jones, a reigning all-star.