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Category: Athletics

Wisconsin hockey superfan known for leading crowd in cheers dies

Wisconsin State Journal

There was only one name to know when it came to leading cheers at University of Wisconsin hockey games: Phil.

Phil Dzick, who spent decades organizing Badgers fans counting goals and asking for more at the Dane County Coliseum, the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena, died Wednesday, a Wisconsin spokesperson said. He was 81.

UW-Madison chancellor orders review of Badgers’ athlete welfare, mental health policies

Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin athletic department’s policies around player welfare and mental health are set to be scrutinized. UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin has ordered a review of “programs and policies associated with the student-athlete experience,” athletic director Chris McIntosh said Wednesday at a meeting of the Athletic Board.

 

Here’s why the Wisconsin Badgers switched to Klement’s brats

Wisconsin state Journal

Part of the shipment of food to be prepared for the next week’s University of Wisconsin football game arrived as usual at Camp Randall Stadium on a Thursday last year.

The collection was short in one product that in Wisconsin almost certainly would get noticed if concession stands ran out early: There weren’t enough brats.

Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh vows ‘more Athletics-funded investments’ into football program

Wisconsin State Journal

University of Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh again put his support behind football coach Luke Fickell on Monday and vowed increased investment in the program.

In a letter sent via email to fans Monday morning, McIntosh said the football team hasn’t performed to the department’s expectations and while that’s frustrating, he believes in Fickell’s plan for the program.

Former Wisconsin Badgers quarterback returns for Rose Bowl reunion

The Capital Times

Brooks Bollinger has occasionally caught his youngest son watching YouTube highlight videos of his dad’s playing days at the University Wisconsin and in pro football.

In turn, he has found himself sitting down with his second grader and reliving some of his past gridiron exploits, notably as a four-year starting quarterback with the Badgers

“The first thing that comes to mind is how damn long ago it was,” chuckled the 45-year-old Bollinger, a member of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

What is Luke Fickell’s buyout at Wisconsin? Inside the details of the coach’s buyout clause

Wisconsin State Journal

Luke Fickell requested fans’ ire Monday when asked for his message to a frustrated nation of University of Wisconsin football backers.

His answer asked for support for the players on the field and for fans to direct their anger about the state of the Badgers to him. Fury from fans can be heard at Camp Randall Stadium on game days, which have included two blowout losses at home in the past four weeks, and daily via social media.

Time to end enormous buyouts for UW coaches

Isthmus

Remember when the Badgers football team competed for the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl? If so, your memory would have to go back a few years. Remember when the Badgers lost to a so-so, 20th ranked Michigan team by 14 points and that was considered a moral victory? You’d have to think all the way back to last Saturday for that one. It might be fresher in your mind.

Why this player with heavy Minnesota ties committed to play for Wisconsin women’s hockey

Wisconsin State Journal

“Just getting on campus and getting to see the school and going through the process, it became very clear to me that Wisconsin is where I wanted to be and that was going to be my home,” Emily Pohl said. “And I’m really excited about it.”

Pohl, who described herself as a power forward with a high compete level, led Hill-Murray to the Minnesota state high school championship last season as a sophomore with 41 goals and 74 points in 31 games.

UW-Madison plans to move Athletic Hall of Fame to Kohl Center

The Cap Times

While the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Athletic Hall of Fame is set to move next year, commemorative bricks purchased by Badgers fans will stay near Camp Randall Stadium, an administrator said Tuesday.

The athletics department plans to relocate the Hall of Fame outside of the Kohl Center, where the school’s basketball teams play. About a mile east of UW-Madison’s football stadium, the Kohl Center is a “prime location” on campus that attracts thousands each year, said Jason King, UW-Madison’s senior associate athletic director for capital projects and operations.

Wisconsin Badgers changed the brats they’re serving at games. Here’s the backstory

Wisconsin State Journal

Part of the shipment of food to be prepared for the next week’s University of Wisconsin football game arrived, as usual, at Camp Randall Stadium on a Thursday. The collection was short in one product that in Wisconsin almost certainly would get noticed if concession stands ran out early: There weren’t enough brats.

In the short term, a search gathered enough supply of the brats to get Wisconsin through the football season before pivoting. Over the following months, chefs went through a taste-testing process that informed how they were planning to move forward.

How salary for new Wisconsin women’s tennis coach compares to predecessor

Wisconsin State Journal

Marek Michalicka will make $125,000 this year in base salary, according to records released to BadgerExtra by the university through a public records request. This is his first college head coaching position.

He was hired for the job after Kelcy McKenna left for Southern Methodist in August just before the start of what would have been her 10th season in charge. She made $153,816 last season after starting with a $95,000 salary in 2016.

Former Wisconsin football teammates reflect on troubled ‘entertainer’ Bill Ferrario, who died at 47

Wisconsin State Journal

Bill Ferrario, a four-year starter who was part of two Big Ten Conference and Rose Bowl championship Wisconsin teams in 1999-2000, died unexpectedly early Tuesday morning. He turned 47 on Monday. Details of his death have not been publicly released, but multiple former teammates who spoke to BadgerExtra on and off the record said he lost his battle to addiction.

‘Trailblazers in Motion’ exhibit unveils progressive history of UW-Madison women’s physical education program

The Daily Cardinal

When the University of Wisconsin-Madison launched a Women’s Physical Education Department in 1912, Wisconsin women did not have the right to vote. Women, only reluctantly admitted to UW-Madison in the first place, faced scientific misconceptions, double standards and restrictions from administration. But the department itself was always years ahead of its time, alumni said, from its early days to its eventual merger with the men’s program in 1976.

Will Camp Randall keep moonlighting as a music venue?

Madison Magazine

The success of this summer’s Morgan Wallen and Coldplay concerts suggests that the stage is set for the University of Wisconsin’s football stadium to continue serving as a venue for big-name acts.

The comeback is nearly three decades in the making. Before this summer, Camp Randall Stadium last held a major music concert in 1997: the year Princess Diana died, the first “Harry Potter” book was published and the WNBA debuted. On Oct. 6, The Rolling Stones thrilled more than 27,000 local fans at Camp Randall as part of their Bridges to Babylon Tour.

Badgers partner with MMSD to get students excited about reading and develop better literacy habits

WKOW - Channel 27

Badgers were spotted at Sandburg Elementary on Monday helping students get excited about reading.

The partnership between the Wisconsin Badger football program and Madison Metropolitan School District helps UW athletes give back to the community through the support of the district’s reading literacy initiative.

Barry Alvarez says Wisconsin fans are ‘spoiled rotten’ after ‘Fire Fickell’ chants

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Barry Alvarez is not a fan of the “Fire Fickell” chants that occurred during Wisconsin’s Week 4 loss to Maryland. The revered former Wisconsin football coach and athletic director made that abundantly clear during the Sept. 23 episode of ESPN Madison’s Barry Alvarez Show.

“I think it’s embarrassing,” Alvarez said. “I think it’s terrible, despicable. They’re spoiled rotten.”

Wisconsin chancellor weighs in on AD after Chris McIntosh gives support to Luke Fickell

Wisconsin State Journal

Chris McIntosh expressed his confidence in University of Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell after a second straight blowout loss Saturday.

UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin now has given McIntosh, the Badgers athletic director, a public vote of confidence. Mnookin declined an interview request by BadgerExtra through a spokesperson Monday but issued a brief statement.

“We all know what a complicated time it is for college athletics,” Mnookin wrote in the statement. “Our Athletic Director, Chris McIntosh, has my full confidence as we navigate these challenges here at UW-Madison.”

Inside falling Wisconsin football attendance early in the 2025 season

Wisconsin State Journal

The announced attendance of 65,952 for the Aug. 28 opener against Miami (Ohio) was the lowest for a first home game of a season since 1992. After Wisconsin announced a 70,368 figure for the Sept. 6 game against Middle Tennessee State, its average from the first two games was down 10% from the same window of the 2024 season.

This former UW Badgers athlete says she encountered ‘toxic’ coaching. Now she’s speaking up.

Wisconsin Public Radio

Lexi Westley comes from a family of coaches and athletes. But it took what she calls a “terrifying” experience with a coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to motivate her to pursue coaching herself.

A little more than three years after coach Mackenzie Wartenberger resigned from her position as head coach of the UW-Madison women’s cross country team, Westley and four of her teammates are coming forward about what they call abusive behavior by Wartenberger.

Our view: UW athletes deserve better than abuse

Wisconsin State Journal

Badgers fans love to win. But more important than any championship are the lives and wellbeing of the student athletes in red and white. They face enormous pressure to succeed in their sports, often with scholarships and additional compensation at stake.

That’s what makes the State Journal’s recent investigation into the women’s cross country and basketball teams so troubling. Winning, or trying to, trumped the best interests of students.

What it costs to buy a beer at Camp Randall Stadium in 2025

Wisconsin State Journal

Prices might be going up elsewhere but it costs the same to buy a beer at Camp Randall Stadium this season as it did in 2024.

Cans of Coors Light, Varsity Golden Ale, Modelo and other beers were priced at $11.99 when the University of Wisconsin football team opened the 2025 season Thursday night. Other alcoholic beverages like Blue Moon, Ninja Dust and Nutrl were listed at $12.49.

The home of UW–Madison’s game day hype committee

Madison Magazine

Sure, there are other marching band houses on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus: Tuba Haus, Clarinest, Pi Palace (for the saxophones), Bone Zone (trombones). Nine in all. But only Trumpet Haus — Thaus, for short — lays claim to being the unofficial game day hype committee. This is where a lucky few trumpet players in the UW Marching Band call home.

Wisconsin men’s basketball program leader in scoring average dies at 75

Wisconsin State Journal

Clarence Sherrod, one of the top scorers in University of Wisconsin men’s basketball history, died Aug. 18. He was 75.

Sherrod was a three-year starter at guard for Wisconsin from 1969 to 1971. He was the leading scorer for the program’s 1970-71 team, a squad that averaged the most points per game in a single season in team history at 86.3 points per game.

Court seeks more information from Wisconsin football player Nyzier Fourqurean, NCAA

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 University of Wisconsin football player Nyzier Fourqurean scored a small win in court Aug. 25.

Wisconsin district judge William Conley denied part of the NCAA’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit Fourqurean filed against it in July that seeks declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief against the NCAA for its rules related to how many years a student-athlete is eligible to play NCAA Division I football.

UW-Madison scores big with $3M in alcohol sales at Camp Randall events

WKOW - Channel 27

The University of Wisconsin pulled in more than $3 million from alcohol sales at Camp Randall Stadium.

This marked the first year alcohol was sold during a full Badger football season, as well as three sold-out concerts. Patrick Herb, UW’s assistant athletic director for strategic communication, described the first year as a success both financially and operationally.

Read the lawsuit 5 former Wisconsin players filed against former coach Marisa Moseley

Wisconsin State Journal

Alexis Duckett, Krystyna Ellew, Mary Ferrito, Tara Stauffacher and Tessa Towers filed a 51-page lawsuit Friday in federal court, also accusing Moseley of retaliation and discrimination.

The former players’ lawsuit named Moseley, the Wisconsin Board of Regents and former senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty, the sport administrator for basketball, as defendants.