For the first time, UW-Madison is taking another school to court over its prized Motion W logo.
On Friday, the university filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against Washburn University, a small liberal arts and professional education school in Topeka, Kan. The move is unprecedented, even as the university has aggressively defended the logo used by UW-Madison athletic teams since 1990.
UW-Madison placed 10th in a magazine’s ranking for athletics and academics at NCAA Division I universities.
Stack magazine, which provides information for high school athletes, published a list of “Elite 50” colleges this year for the first time. The study looked at a combination of academics, athletic opportunity and overall performance.
How could it have come to this? How broken and inept must our governmental and corporate institutions be that, within the span of only a month, both Packers and Badgers fans were unable to get access to two of the most important games of the season?
Here’s a loaded question for you, Barry Alvarez: What’s the biggest problem facing your University of Wisconsin Athletic Department in the coming years?
The Tennessee team set to face the University of Wisconsin in the 2008 Outback Bowl has endured a season that can only be described as tumultuous.
Probably nobody on the University of Wisconsin football team is looking forward to the trip to Tampa, Fla., for the Outback Bowl more than sophomore running back Lance Smith.
“I’m telling everybody, ‘I love playing in Camp Randall, but I’m just ready to get on a plane with my teammates,’ ” Smith said after the Badgers started bowl practices on Friday. “I wasn’t able to do that this year and just fly to a nice environment and play football and get on the field and make plays for my teammates.”
For the sixth straight year the University of Wisconsin athletic department will have a large payday as it heads to its 13th bowl game in the last 15 years this year in Tampa, Fla., for the Outback Bowl.
PHOENIX (AP) — Alando Tucker, the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft, has been assigned to the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League by the Phoenix Suns.
Tucker, the Big Ten player of the year last season at Wisconsin, played in two of Phoenix’s first 14 games and averaged six points and eight minutes.
In announcing that the University of Wisconsin football team had accepted a bid Wednesday to the Outback Bowl, Jim McVay, president and CEO of the bowl, described the Badgers as “the perfect bowl team for our game.”
“The Badger package is unbelievable with the team, the coaching, the fans, the band, the cheerleaders,” McVay said. “Everything about Wisconsin says, ‘New Year’s Day bowl game.’
With an invitation to the Outback Bowl in his pocket and his team’s first bowl practice set for Friday, University of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema believes two things:
First, UW’s 9-3 record and top-20 ranking in every major poll demonstrate the Badgers earned the invitation to play a Southeastern Conference foe on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
Second, the Badgers should be as close to full strength as possible.
There is a tug-of-war between two bowl games in one state. Badger fans are something to fight over in Florida.
The UW Football team is headed to Tampa, Florida to play in the Outback Bowl. There are several reasons the Sunshine State is ringing in the New Year with Badgers for the fourth year in a row. Besides the fact that the UW Football team finished its season with a 9-3 record and a win against Michigan, Wisconsin fans are highly sought after.
“There was a significant discussion about a return to the Capital One Bowl,” says UW Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison football team has agreed to play the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on New Year’s Day although the Badgers’ opponent is still unknown, athletic director Barry Alvarez announced on Wednesday.
The Badgers, who boast a 9-3 record, pulled out victories at the Capital One Bowl in the last two years, but have played in the Outback Bowl three times since 1998. They defeated Duke, 34-20, in the 1995 game, which was then known as the Hall of Fame Bowl. The team lost two games to Georgia in 1998 and 2005.
The contract between the Big Ten Network and UW-Madison has come under scrutiny recently, with two legislators demanding additional answers from Chancellor John Wiley in a letter released Tuesday.
Chris Spencer wants to join a women’s basketball program that will allow her to become the best player she can be.
And the third-year sophomore said that would not occur if she stayed at the University of Wisconsin.
The University of Wisconsin football team has accepted a bid to play in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
Officials from the Outback Bowl extended an invitation to the Badgers on Wednesday after the Capital One Bowl, based in Orlando, released UW from consideration.
After starting the season with a 5-0 mark that vaulted them to the No. 20 ranking, the Badgers were thumped by Duke, 82-58, Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The outcome should remind everyone that UW is still far from a finished product.
A similar dispute between the Big Ten Network and major cable providers has kept University of Wisconsin football and basketball games off cable TV. Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, the two major cable companies in Wisconsin, do not carry the channel.
The cable companies say they want to keep subscription prices down by including the Big Ten Network only as part of an optional premium sports package. Big Ten Network, which launched Aug. 30, insists the network be part of an extended basic cable package, saying the local appeal warrants widespread access to the games.
The battle is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.
Dear Editor: First I must thank you for putting the article on the amount of money the University of Wisconsin is making with the Big Ten Network on your front page. I am also glad that state lawmakers started questioning, or we would never have known.
It does not seem fair to the coaches or teams, as there are many former fans who are losing interest in these sports when they can’t be seen on our regular cable TV. And this loss of interest will continue.
(This is the entire letter to the editor.)
The e-mail popped into Wquinton Smith’s University of Wisconsin account one day in late October, and was almost sent — unread — into the virtual wastebasket.
“I was real close (to deleting it) and then I decided to read it because it said men’s basketball,” Smith said. “At first I thought it was just a flyer or something, and I kept reading it and I thought this was my chance to finally try to prove myself.”
MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said that he has no interest in returning to coaching.
Alvarez’s name has been bandied about as the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers search for their next coach.
Alvarez stepped down as Badgers’ coach in 2005. He played linebacker at Nebraska from 1965 to 1967.
Since the Big Ten concluded its regular season — some four or five months ago — there has been some clamoring for a Ron Zook Bowl, matching Zook’s former team (Florida) against his current team (Illinois), presumably in the Capital One Bowl. What’s in your wallet? Or Zook’s?
It couldn’t have been drawn up much better for the University of Wisconsin volleyball team.
The Badgers learned Sunday night that they were awarded home matches for the first two rounds of the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championships. And that could clear a path for them to reach the regionals, which they happen to be hosting, too, at the UW Field House.
The road to the 2007 NCAA women’s volleyball championships travels through the University of Wisconsin Field House.
Wisconsin, ranked No. 9 in both national polls, on Sunday was awarded a home berth for the first and second rounds of the 64-team tournament.
WHATEVER HAPPENS on the basketball court Saturday when the University of Georgia Bulldogs play the Badgers at the Kohl Center, it can’t possibly be as dramatic as the circumstances that brought the Georgia coach, Dennis Felton, to Madison the first time.
It was in 2001, and Felton was then the basketball coach at Western Kentucky. It was football season and it happened that Western Kentucky was scheduled to play Wisconsin at Camp Randall. Felton hitched a ride on the football team plane because for the past two months he had been corresponding by e-mail and speaking on the telephone with a longtime Madison resident named Nancy Klatt.
Dear Editor: Thank you for publishing the minimum amount that the University of Wisconsin will receive as a result of its broadcasting agreement with the Big Ten Network. Everybody knew the deal was all about the money. Until your article nobody knew exactly how much money was involved.
The minimum amount of $6.1 million that UW will receive is a lot of cash! At least Chancellor John Wiley has “generously” allowed non-athletic departments to share 30 percent of the financial windfall. I wonder how much the academic staff was involved in the decision on how to distribute that money. I think there would have been a lot more money made available for academics if they had an equal say in the distribution.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Would two college hockey conferences be willing to scale back their schedules to accommodate more nonconference games between members who also happen to belong to the Big Ten Conference?
It may not be as far-fetched as you think.
Seeing a growing market for games between Big Ten schools, Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod and his counterpart in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, Tom Anastos, are in the early stages of exploring options to make it happen.
The Green Bay Packers’ search for a new president has been trimmed to 10 candidates, including two potential frontrunners – Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany and Northwestern University athletic director Mark H. Murphy.
The UW-Madison Athletic Department has increasingly become a separate entity from the rest of the university. This hurts everyone involved with the university including students, fans, donors and athletes.
Because it remains uncertain which teams will fill the Bowl Championship Series slots, the University of Wisconsin’s bowl picture remains unsettled.
However, according to a high-ranking UW official and a representative from Florida Citrus Sports, UW remains in the running for the Big Ten Conference’s No. 2 bowl, the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando.
Michigan-Ohio State. Yankees-Red Sox. Duke-North Carolina. When bitter sports rivals backed by massive resources face off against one another, fans are typically the winners.
But not in the latest battle dominating sports pages – league-controlled sports networks vs. cable companies.
No longer satisfied with simply selling the rights to games for millions of dollars, the National Football League, Big Ten conference and other leagues are setting up their own networks that can bring them millions more in cable subscriber fees, even during the offseason. The leagues are building up entities that could eventually be worth billions.
A state lawmaker says he’s not satisfied with answers from the UW-Madison, regarding their contract with the Big Ten Network.
UW officials say their contract with the Big Ten Network will mean more than $6 million for the school this year. Most of the revenue will go to the athletic department, although some will go to academics as well. State Representative Dave Travis (D-Westport) says it’s still not worth it though.
Travis says the deal is a disaster because the UW is blind to the fact that the average person is being denied the ability to see away games, since the Big Ten Network is only available on satellite TV or through some small local cable providers.
Chancellor John Wiley and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez announced Friday that revenue generated from the Big Ten Network would be distributed to campus entities outside the UW Athletic Department.
Forcing cable providers to provide the Big Ten Network makes about as much sense as passing legislation that mandates McDonaldâ??s carry the Whopper. Not surprisingly, this is exactly what the state Legislature is considering.
The University of Wisconsin will receive $6.1 million in royalties from the Big Ten Network by the end of the 2007-08 academic year, Chancellor John Wiley said Friday.
UW-Madison will earn at least $6.1 million this year under its broadcasting agreement with the Big Ten Network, Chancellor John Wiley said Friday.
With their fourth consecutive victory over rival Minnesota in the books and the opportunity to record a 10-victory season intact, the University of Wisconsin players can recuperate thanks to a week off, and wait to learn their bowl destination.
After his team stated its case on the field, winning its ninth game for a record fourth straight season, University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema made the case for his team to appear in a January bowl game again.
“Without a doubt,” Bielema said after the 41-34 victory over Minnesota on Saturday in Minneapolis, when asked if the Badgers (9-3 overall, 5-3 Big Ten Conference) are worthy of a Jan. 1 bowl game.
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin will earn at least $6.1 million this year under its broadcasting agreement with the Big Ten Network, Chancellor John Wiley said Friday.
Wiley said 70 percent of the revenue will go to the athletics department to support its strategic plan. The rest will be used for financial aid for low-income students and to support the school’s library system.
The university released the details Friday afternoon, capping a week in which state lawmakers started to question the deal.
Many Badgers fans are angry they can’t get some Wisconsin games on cable TV since the state’s two biggest cable companies and the network have failed to reach an agreement.
MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley said his school will earn more than $6 million this year under its agreement with the Big Ten Network.
Wiley says 70 percent of the revenue will go to the athletics department to support its strategic plan. The rest will be used for financial aid for low-income students and to support the school’s library system.
Three state lawmakers are asking for an audit of the University of Wisconsin athletic department’s contract with the Big Ten Network.
Most cable networks across Wisconsin are not airing the Big Ten Network this season, leaving a number of Badger football fans in the dark. State Representative Dave Travis (D-Westport) wants to know why that’s happening.
The lawmaker is calling for an audit of the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics at the UW-Madison and its contract with the Big Ten Network. Travis wants to know what kind of deal the University received and why it’s stopping some UW games from showing up on the public airwaves.
University of Wisconsin officials have spent a considerable amount of time and energy this semester expressing their displeasure with student behavior at Camp Randall Stadium.
University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez testified at a Capitol hearing Wednesday in support of a bill that would make donations for preferential seating at UW athletic events exempt from sales tax.
Will Wisconsin tight end Travis Beckum return to UW for his senior season or enter the 2008 National Football League draft?
MADISON, Wis. â?? Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez asked lawmakers Wednesday to shield his department from a potentially huge tax liability.
The Department of Revenue is threatening to start collecting sales tax on payments made by people trying to qualify for Badgers season tickets, Alvarez said. His department would owe $400,000 in the first year and up to $2 million if the tax is collected retroactively to 2001.
….As the one-week early national signing period begins today, recruiting analyst Van Coleman studied the Badgers’ four-man class and rated it as middle of the pack among Big Ten Conference schools.
Coleman then added that rating means nothing to Wisconsin because, “those guys will be better in Bo’s system than they’re rated as individuals.”
Jolene Anderson, Danielle Ward and Janese Banks have bonded through adversity during their careers with the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team, and breaking into the Associated Press Top 25 poll has been a satisfying accomplishment for the seniors.
Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez asked lawmakers Wednesday to help his department avoid a potentially huge tax liability.
The Department of Revenue is threatening to start collecting the sales tax on donations made to Badgers’ athletics by people trying to qualify for season tickets, Alvarez said. His department would owe $400,000 in the first year and up to $2 million if the tax is collected retroactively to 2001, he said.
All claims of deference and honor to indigenous populations aside, there are few things in sports more offensive than the caricatures of American Indians that populate a surprising number of college and professional logos.
A UW-Madison student dressed as mascot Bucky Badger at Saturdayâ??s hockey game against North Dakota will receive an apology from a Sioux hockey player who slashed him on the shins, The Capital Times reported Tuesday.
Rumors are swarming that an announcement concerning Lloyd Carr’s retirement will come after this weekend’s Ohio State-Michigan game. None of my sources can confirm it, but I wouldn’t be shocked.
Michigan may have been looking at its next head coach when it lost to Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema last Saturday.
Week after week, University of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema didn’t hesitate to praise freshman tailback Zach Brown.
After a 27 News Report, DISH Network changed it’s policy about an assisted living home and unblocked the Big 10 Network.
Residents at Creekwood Assisted Living in Waunakee will get to see the Badger game against the Gophers.
As 27 News reported Friday November 9th, the center wasn’t getting the Big 10 Network, despite subscribing to DISH Network.
Over the years, University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley has expressed a great deal of discontentment with Badger fansâ?? behavior during home football games.
Bucky Badger took a tap on the shins from a North Dakota hockey player on Saturday â?? and now the University of Wisconsin mascot will receive an apology.
WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said Sioux defenseman Joe Finley was captured on videotape slashing Bucky Badger â?? played by UW student David Blanchard â?? before Saturday’s game, which North Dakota won 3-1.
Finley must write a letter of apology to Blanchard, McLeod said.
All is well at Creekwood Assisted Living in Waunakee.
About two months of going without the Big Ten Network due to a customer service snafu by DISH Network has ended with DISH agreeing to provide BTN to the 20-resident facility for free.
Creekwood director Judy Goldade said she was told BTN will be available to Creekwood by the weekend, which is important with the University of Wisconsin football game against Minnesota on BTN at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Badger basketball games against Savannah State, Florida A&M and Colorado airing on BTN on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.
“The residents will be ecstatic,” Goldade said today.
Tennessee is still the unanimous No. 1 and Wisconsin’s back in the Top 25 for the first time in five years.
…”It’s an awesome thing for us to reach the Top 25,” Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone said. “It’s an early ranking, but it demonstrates the fact that we’re headed in the right direction.”
…Texas, Louisville, Notre Dame, DePaul and Wisconsin held the final five spots.
With the University of Wisconsins regular-season football finale less than a week away, this much is known about UWs bowl prospects:
A victory over Big Ten rival Minnesota on Saturday would keep UW in the running for a spot in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
Madison – With the University of Wisconsin’s regular-season football finale less than a week away, this much is known about UW’s bowl prospects:
A victory over Big Ten rival Minnesota on Saturday would keep UW in the running for a spot in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.
I am writing to describe to you my experience at this weekâ??s football game, which was one of the best and worst experiences I have had at a Badger game.
