Music has the power to enliven, encourage, inspire and heal. It’s no wonder, then, that an emblem of Badger spirit and tradition, the UW Madison Marching Band, is joining with theUW Carbone Cancer Center to Band Together to Beat Cancer.
This November 9, as the Badger football team faces Brigham Young University, the marching band will take the field wearing black sashes to show their support for cancer patients and their families. Between now and October 18, people can donate to have the name of a loved one placed on the sash a band member will wear throughout the day. Donors receive the sash after the game.
The uniform of each band member is worn with pride, but it’s more than just a uniform. “It’s unadorned,” says band director Mike Leckrone, “and it signifies what we are as a group.”
Yet, on November 9, members’ uniforms will be adorned for the first time.
Leckrone, now starting his 45th year at the helm of the UW Marching Band, is a Wisconsin icon. He, too, will wear a sash, because he is one of the band, and because he knows personally what it’s like to fight cancer. Members of his immediate family have battled the disease and Mike himself was treated for prostate cancer at the UW Carbone Cancer Center.
But it is his focus on the band that frames his desire to help.
When the group met on a muggy late-August evening to discuss Band Together to Beat Cancer, Leckrone guessed aloud that despite their ages, everyone there had probably been touched by the disease. Looking up, he saw each head nodding in the unison.
“In that moment, I knew that every person there was thinking of a loved one who had faced cancer,” says Leckrone. “If nothing else, this partnership will impact the 300 people in that room.”
Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola has personally apologized to University of Wisconsin Band Director Michael Leckrone for inappropriate remarks he made to members of the band before Sunday’s game in Green Bay.
Raiola had a phone conversation with Leckrone on Tuesday and also indicated that he was making a significant donation to The Marching Band Fund, which supports Wisconsin’s Marching Band.
“My interaction with the Wisconsin Marching Band was inappropriate,” Raiola said in a statement released by the team. “I apologize to those I offended along with all of the members of Wisconsin’s Marching Band.
“I also apologize to the Lions’ organization and my teammates. I understand the standards to which we should conduct ourselves, and my actions Sunday fell dramatically short of those standards.”
Team President Tom Lewand, who personally apologized to Leckrone on Monday, issued this statement:
“After investigating the matter and discussing Sunday’s events with Dominic, we are pleased that he has taken ownership of his actions and admitted those actions were wrong and unacceptable,” the statement read.
“As we said yesterday, his actions were not reflective of the standard of behavior that we expect from any player or any member of our organization.
“We are also pleased that he is supporting his apology with a significant donation to the Wisconsin Marching Band Fund.
“Due to Dominic’s sincere and appropriate response, there will be no additional disciplinary action by the team.”
What does Packer coach Mike McCarthy have to say about this? From WTMJ-TV:
“I saw the headline,” said McCarthy about the story. “We love the Wisconsin band. I don’t know what he’s thinking about, saying anything negative to the band.”
He explained that the UW band has a “phenomenal reputation. They did a great job yesterday.”
So here is an exclusive preview of the next UW Marching Band halftime show (which will include Raiola’s continually marching around the Camp Randall Stadium turf until the show ends or he drops, whichever comes first):
For those who didn’t see it yesterday, here is the terse word from DetroitLions.com:
We are aware of the reports involving Dominic Raiola and the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. Those reports are extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players and from every member of the organization. We currently are gathering more information and will respond further when appropriate.
The writer later added about Lions coach Jim Schwartz:
Schwartz said he’d be disappointed if the reports about Raiola are true and said his players need to be “above that.”
Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand offered a personal apology for alleged homophobic slurs center Dominic Raiola directed towards the Wisconsin band before Sunday’s 22-9 loss to the Green Bay Packers even as Lions coach Jim Schwartz insisted neither he nor any of his assistants heard the comments first hand.
Wisconsin band director Mike Leckrone said Lewand called him to apologize Monday afternoon after allegations of Raiola’s comments surfaced on Facebook and the Internet.
“He just called to tell me that he was sorry for the actions of one of his players and hoped that we didn’t consider it reflected badly on the entire organization, and asked me to convey that onto the band, which I will do (today),” Leckrone said. “I think he felt genuine concern for the people’s reaction. It was short, but we had a very nice conversation.” …
Raiola declined public comment to the Free Press on Monday, and the Lions released a statement saying they are investigating the incident.
“I didn’t hear that personally on the field,” Schwartz said. “No other coaches did. I think we’ve already released a statement that we’re going to look into it as an organization. I’d be very disappointed if that was the case because that’s certainly not the character that we want to display.”
Leckrone said he did not hear Raiola’s comments personally, but several band members relayed what was said and “were quite shaken by it.” …
Leckrone, who was near midfield close to the Packers sideline at the time, said he’s not aware of any band staff members who heard the exchange, either, and he does not have audio or video of the incident.
“As far as I’ve been able to ascertain is our band was in the end zone preparing to finish our pregame show with the Star Spangled Banner and several of them were verbally abused, assaulted, however you’d like to put it, by a player from the Detroit Lions,” Lekrone said. “To their credit, I was really pleased with the way the band handled the situation. If I’m a 115-pound clarinet player I don’t think I would do anything different. But they handed themselves very well and did what they were supposed to do, focused on their part of the performance.”
Some posters on Detroit websites claimed the band member(s) made it up, or criticized the original poster, Tom Melton, for not getting the Lions’ or Raiola’s side. (As if either would have commented, as you read a few paragraphs ago.) The fact one of Raiola’s teammates felt compelled to apologize. even before the Lions’ president did, suggests that the incident did indeed happen.
Some of the comments on the Detroit News‘ and Free Press’ stories are hilarious:
A guy who is obese by any standard and dyes his hair blonde is making fun of fat kids and questioning their sexuality?
This Lions team has a bunch of douche bags who act like they have mental problems. Does this really surprise anyone?
His comments were the only offense the Lions managed all day.
Really? Insulting band? Your OL gave up 5 sacks and couldn’t establish a running game. The Wisconsin Marching Band got into Dom’s head before the game? It would be funny, if it weren’t so Lionsesque!
“Those reports are extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players and from every member of our organization.”
You mean to tell me that the Lions actually have a standard of behavior for their players??? Could have fooled me. At least Dom hasn’t been in jail, which puts him ahead of many of his teammates.
a few too many ped’s before kickoff??
While not proven, if the facts stated are true Dominic Raiola should consider another career. In the NFL you prepare and beat your opponents and do not get points for insulting the band. While other players tend to be able to tune out the behavior of the fans Raiola seems to let it impact his play. Maybe it is but a coincidence but the fact that Raiola yelled at the band rather than preparing for the game might be one reason the O-line that he makes the line calls gave up so many sacks and pressures. He has a history of attacking fans with verbal tirades and obscene gestures. The fear I have is was this conduct more a problem with the system that coach Scwhartz has instilled in this team; that the team knew Calvin Johnson was not playing the day before and thus was defeated before the game even started. Why prepare for a victory in Green Bay when you already know you are going to lose, thus it is acceptable to yell at the fans. Delmas knew of the incident so either the coach did not care about his players not preparing fully for the games because they are distracted during pre game preparations or an example of the coach’s lack of focus on the discipline that results in his players committing costly penalties during the game and pre game incidents that embarrass the team before the game.
You commentators are falling down on the job. Raiola harasses the band and not a SINGLE one of you accuses him of “Badgering” them? C’mon – do I have to think of all the puns???
Maybe the UW Marching Band can form an intramural football team. The Lions can come across the lake and play them and if the Lions win…IF the Lions win…they’ll finally have won a game in the state of Wisconsin.
(I think there were some seasons, though not recently, where a UW Band football team would have beaten the real football team.)
Guess the boys in the band shouldn’t have suggested that Raiola use a matador’s cape to improve his blocking skills.
Another classy move by the sad sack Lion’s. I’m surprised Suh didn’t tackle the band and stomp on their heads as a follow up.
Typical meathead athlete. Has no USEFUL skill like musicians do, but he is given piles & piles of money and women throw themselves at him, so naturally he lords it over the rest of us. He should be made to dig ditches or mop bathrooms at minimum wage for the rest of his miserable life.
It’s just that the Lions and their coach have a history that makes such allegations totally credible.
How many concussions has Raiola had? This must be the best argument yet for improved head gear. I’m sure those musicians could have carved this imbecile up verbally had they so desired.
You would think never having won a game in Green Bay in his career, he would focus on that and not taunting band members! Really not the guy to be ridiculing.
Normally, I’d be wary of making judgments with these sort of “he said” reports… but knowing how Raiola has treated HIS OWN TEAM’S fans, I’m not the least bit surprised he’d have some truly disgusting bile for another team’s band.
I’ve reached out, as has Tom, to the Lions Media Relations department for comment and a request to interview Raiola and Louis Delmas, who was mentioned in the piece as a Lion who tried to apologize for the actions of his teammate. Neither Tom nor I have heard back from the Lions at this point.
I also texted a teammate of Raiola’s for comment, a player who I have a good relationship. His exact text response, “Sorry man, but no way I’m commenting on that”.
I’ve had limited interaction with Dominic Raiola. I met him at a Lions training camp in either 2008 or 2009 (I can’t recall which) and did nothing more than exchange pleasantries. I ran into him again over this past summer and got the look of “I know we’ve met but I don’t know where”. That’s it. So I’m far from an authority on Raiola’s personality or how he might feel about a tuba player.
I know Louis Delmas a little better. I interviewed him while he was at Western Michigan and spoke with him informally at the Renaissance Hotel in Mobile during his Senior Bowl week. The way he is characterized is 100% in line with the Louis Delmas I know. He’s a good guy who takes both his own and his team’s reputation quite seriously.
A longtime friend of mine who is a Badger alum and a level-headed Packers fan (yes, they do exist) reached out to me on Facebook with a link to Melton’s blog. His intimation is that Raiola’s act directly reflects upon the cavalier and arrogant (those are my words, not his) leadership style promoted by Jim Schwartz.
I have to say I had a hard time reconciling that. Schwartz has enough on his plate trying to keep the Lions bound together and staying in first place to worry about how one of his players acts off the field. But I quickly realized that was a hypocritical stance. After all, I’ve criticized Schwartz at length for his inability to foster discipline and respect for the rules in his players on the field.
It’s ridiculous to suggest that Jim Schwartz advocates demeaning and bullying fans of other teams as a motivational tactic. Yet the culture he has worked very hard to foster in Detroit does bear some culpability. He wants his players to push the boundaries and to play on the edge. Schwartz himself is often truculent and vapid with the media, even in unofficial situations; I’ve seen it firsthand. He is the example to which he holds his players, and his standards of behavior are not all that desirable. …
Please don’t let the actions of one Detroit Lions player misrepresent the Lions as an organization or the fan base as a whole. Most Lions fans have for years felt about Raiola the way Badgers fans felt about Bret Bielema in his later Madison years; we know he’s a jackass, but he’s our jackass so we tolerate him. He’s always among the leading vote-getters for dirtiest player and most unlikeable opponent in league player polls. This allegation certainly falls in line with that reputation. We are universally hoping this is his last season in Detroit.
If Raiola was looking to motivate himself, he failed. This was one of his worst games in a long time, and his inability to do much of anything really inhibited the Lions offense. Perhaps it was karmic justice that he played such sour notes on the field after spending the pregame accosting the Wisconsin band…
I repeat my thought of yesterday: The way for the Lions organization to apologize to the UW Band is to invite them to replay for the rematch, one of the NFL’s great traditions, on Thanksgiving.
The Packers continued their two-decade-long regular-season streak of winning when the UW Band provides the halftime and Fifth Quarter entertainment.
Sunday’s 22–9 win over Detroit (which has not won in Wisconsin for the same amount of time) was marred by this unpleasantry from the mouth of Lions center Dominic Raiola, as reported by Tom Melton:
According to a Wisconsin tuba player, Raiola and his teammates were engaged in their pregame warm-ups on the field near the goal line when he turned around and called him and the other tubas “Fat mother f**kers” and told them that “they sucked.” According to that tuba player no one in the band had done anything to provoke him, and no other band members I spoke with witnessed anything that could have provoked Raiola. The tuba player I spoke with made sure to point out that the rest of the band hadn’t even been on the field yet, and none of the tuba players said anything to him, so no one in the band could have provoked Raiola prior to him making those comments.
As the band was preparing to play the National Anthem another band member told me Raiola was yelling at him, saying such things such as “Hey fat guy, you want a hot dog?” When this band member did not acknowledge him, he continued to yell at other band members within earshot of him until the band began to play. A third band member told me Raiola was calling a band member near him a “fat fu**” prior to their pregame performance as well.
After the band’s halftime performance multiple band members I spoke with told me he and multiple other band members vividly heard Raiola ridicule a trombone player’s weight while they were performing. One band member reported hearing a female member of the band say “Hey number 51,” referring to Raiola, which multiple band members told me he responded to by calling her “the c-word” as they were walking back to their seats.
This is all in addition to this facebook status which has been shared 243 times as of this writing:
According to this band member Raiola made comments regarding his sexuality, as well as other insults involving his sister and recently deceased mother. An additional band member confirmed this story, adding that one such insult was “[Raiola] was going to take his trumpet and shove it up his sister’s p***y” in addition to Raiola “repeatedly calling him a fag.” According to this band member “as soon as we stopped for our position to play the National Anthem I just heard [Raiola] yelling continually at him.” Multiple other members of the band reported hearing Raiola uttering homophobic slurs throughout his unprovoked denigrating of the students prior to the National anthem. …
It is worth noting that while Raiola’s comments were completely uncalled for, a band member confirmed to me that Lions safety Louis Delmas apologized to him and other members of the band for Raiola’s actions and assured them that he had spoken with him about it. He also added that he enjoyed their performance.
This strikes me as a sign that Sunday’s game was already lost to the Lions before kickoff. If Raiola (whose brother, Donovan, was an offensive lineman at Wisconsin) is focusing on the band, his mind isn’t on the game. The Lions are already known for self-destruction through lack of discipline, specifically stupid personal foul penalties:
This isn’t the first time the UW Band has gotten some non-performance notice during a Packer game. The book From Red Ink to Roses includes a phone conversation between Gov. Tommy Thompson and UW–Madison Chancellor Donna Shalala in which Thompson asks (somewhat tongue in cheek) what Shalala is going to do about the band’s chanting something along the lines of “Da Bears still suck” during a Bears–Packers game. To that, Shalala replied that she couldn’t sanction the band for telling the truth.
And speaking of the tubas, there was this during a Vikings–Packers game:
Note that the tubas’ target, former Viking wide receiver Randy Moss, th0ught it was funny.
If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is serious about improving player conduct, he needs to fine Raiola. And it seems to me that the Lions franchise should apologize to the UW Band by inviting them to play at the rematch Thanksgiving Day.
We are aware of the reports involving Dominic Raiola and the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. Those reports are extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players and from every member of the organization. We currently are gathering more information and will respond further when appropriate.
The writer later added about Lions coach Jim Schwartz:
Schwartz said he’d be disappointed if the reports about Raiola are true and said his players need to be “above that.”
With the finale of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” Sunday (or so I’m told — I don’t watch), the next-to-last episode last week had a bizarre feature, as reported by Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard”:
During the final scene of last night’s penultimate Breaking Bad episode, Walter White makes a desperate call to his son, Flynn, from a New Hampshire bar. The episode is titled “Granite State,” in honor of White’s hideaway home, and boy do they love their college hockey in New Hampshire. It wasn’t surprising then that, as Walt pleaded with Flynn on the phone, a hockey broadcast played in the background.
I expected the game to be a recent contest featuring the local UNH Wildcats, but upon a closer listen, realized it was not. Let’s go to the transcript:
Walt: “There’s money inside. About 100,000 dollars. It’s all that I could fit into the box. It has to be a secret. If anyone says a word, the police will take it.”
Announcer: “Craig Anderson’s outlet pass will travel the length of the ice, untouched, but right on goal. And Wagner makes the save. Play goes on for Denver.”
Flynn: “Why are you still alive? Why won’t you just die already? Just die!”
Announcer: “He’s been stellar tonight. Solid saves back in the first period.”
Color commentator: “You know, Mike, that’s probably a disappointing fact for Wisconsin. You look at Wagner’s numbers, and it seems like he’s one of the last goalies in the league. You wanna put pressure on this guy. “
The commentator’s criticism of Wagner’s numbers makes this game most likely from the 1997-98 season, in which he had a poor 4.20 Goals Against Average.
Announcer: “Kevin Granato looks to make movement. Save made by Graham Melanson, off Rycroft. Who else? He’s been all over the ice tonight.”
Walt: “I’d like to speak to the agent in charge of the Walter White case.”
Announcer: “2:49 remains in the second period. Denver holding on to a 2-1 lead at the Dane County Coliseum.”
Here are the telling details. Wisconsin and Denver only played twice that year at the Dane County Coliseum (which the Badgers would leave next season), once on February 13, 1998 and again on the following day. In the second game, the score was 2-1 in Wisconsin’s favor in the second period, eliminating it as a possibility.
The Feb. 13 game, however, fits: Denver lead 2-1 in the second period and Rycroft had scored a goal, in keeping with the announcer’s earlier comment.
To borrow a phrase from the ’80s: But wait, there’s more!
Amazingly, the home team came back to score 6 goals in the third period, making it an all-time classic Badgers win:
The amazing comeback, one of eleven that season, was commemorated in the team’s media guide the next year:
(It’s not the first film or TV credit for the hockey team — a UW/Minnesota game is shown in the Coen brothers’ movie “Fargo” and another UW game is shown in the Clint Eastwood baseball movie “Trouble With the Curve.”)
In an interview with Vulture, the episode’s writer-director, Peter Gould, didn’t mention the significance of that particular game, but said he is a hockey fan.
“I’ll be honest with you, we were excited to get hockey,” Gould said. “I’m from New York. Some of the other writers are from Massachusetts. What’s on the TV in New Hampshire? It’s going to be hockey. Having said that, being able to show a hockey clip is not a straightforward thing. We were very fortunate that our postproduction co-producer Andrew Ortner was able to get in touch with somebody willing to let us use a clip for a very reasonable price because they were fans of the show.”
Footage from UW games used in movies or TV shows has to be more than five years old to make sure no current players are involved, said Cindy van Matre, UW-Madison’s trademark licensing director.
A large archive of old Badgers hockey games aired on Wisconsin Public Television exists for licensing through XOS Digital.
“Probably Wisconsin is the best source of any type of hockey footage because of that,” van Matre said.
Before approving use in the production, UW officials get to see the part of the script for which that clip will be used to make sure there’s nothing offensive, van Matre said.
There’s no guarantee the clip will end up in the final product at that point, she said, but if it does, UW gets a check. In the case of the “Breaking Bad” clip, she estimated it as perhaps a $2,000 value.
The question I have is who the announcers are. I had thought “Mike” was Mike Heller, former sports director at WMTV in Madison, but according to WTSO, where he now works afternoons, he announced hockey for Wisconsin Public Television in the 2002–03 season, and he appears to have been out of Wisconsin for this game. “Mike” clearly cannot be Paul Braun, the longtime Badger announcer who made “Shotandagoal!” one word. It may be Michael Bahr, who formerly worked for WIBA radio in Madison.
Thanks to social media, I did find out who the partner of “Mike” is. The announcer who bemoans (prematurely, it turns out) the Badgers’ ability to expose Wagner as a sieve is Rob Andringa, who played for the Badgers from 1986 to 1990 and then announced games on the radio and TV, providing such enthusiasm as can be found here. (I met Rob at a Madison Pen and Mike Club dinner where he got an award and I got a scholarship. I predicted he’d enjoy UW, which was not a revelation to him since his brother, Jeff, also played for Wisconsin and their father was the team doctor. Rob Andringa’s career ended in Detroit in March 1990 with a national championship.)
I wasn’t at the Denver game, but I was at a similar game. It was at the Coliseum, so it was before this game. Minnesota led 2–0 after one period and 4–0 in the second period. The Badgers cut the lead to 4–2 after two, then kept going, and scored five goals in the third period, one while we were walking to our car. (My father’s idea; I’m not sure he’s ever stayed for a complete game in his life.) So Minnesota scored the first four goals, and Wisconsin scored the last seven goals.
What is the correct Badger fan reaction in both cases? All together now: “SIEVE! SIEVE! SIEVE! SIEVE! SIEVE! SIEVE! SIEVE!”
The Wisconsin State Journal’s Andy Baggot creates his own UW version of the Beloit College Mindset List:
When thousands of 18-year-old freshmen descend upon Madison and the University of Wisconsin campus next week they will bring more than wide eyes, a sense of adventure and a credit card revving its engine.
They will come with a specific window of knowledge about the Badgers, a reality tethered to the fact they were born in 1995. This means they come here with great expectations and, likely, a profound sense of sports-related entitlement.
Their earliest memories likely began in 1998, so they don’t know a world without UW basketball and hockey games at the Kohl Center, don’t know what it’s like to lose a Paul Bunyan Axe football game to archrival Minnesota at Camp Randall Stadium and don’t know a period when the Big Ten Conference actually had 10 members. …
“Jump Around’’ has always ushered in the fourth quarter of football games at Camp Randall.
Matt Lepay has always been the Voice of the Badgers.
Mark Johnson has always been a hockey coach. …
Bud Selig, a 1956 grad, has always been commissioner of Major League Baseball.
NCAA men’s basketball tournament berths for the Badgers are an annual occurrence.
UW football games at Camp Randall have never drawn fewer than 73,000. …
UW has always held its own against Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State in football.
The Badgers have always had the upper hand over Indiana in men’s basketball. …
It’s commonplace for the Badgers to win consecutive Big Ten football titles.
Absolutely nothing on that list was the case when I was a UW freshman 30 years ago. The only similarities between then and now would be UW’s colors (even though the current red isn’t really “cardinal”) and the fact that Mike Leckrone is the UW Marching Band director. (Leckrone has been the band director for eight football coaches — John Coatta, John Jardine, Dave McClain, Jim Hilles, Don Mor(t)on, Barry Alvarez, Bret Bielema and Gary Andersen — along with eight men’s basketball coaches — John Powless, Bill Cofield, Steve Yoder, Stu Jackson, Stan Van Gundy, Dick Bennett, Brad Soderberg and Bo Ryan — and three men’s hockey coaches — Bob Johnson, Jeff Sauer and Mike Eaves,)
To rank the teams’ 2013 prospects, we calculated a composite of four 1-through-125 rankings: Athlon, Lindy’s, the Orlando Sentinel and football guru Phil Steele. The shame component is based on five categories: each team’s four-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) figure, the metric the NCAA uses to assess academic performance; recent history of major violations and probation; percentage of athletic-department revenues subsidized by student fees; number of player arrests in the off-season, and a purely subjective, overall “ick” factor. (Sorry, Penn State.)
… that should make Badger football fans feel good:
The X axis represents wins and losses, while the Y axis represents the amount of NCAA and legal trouble the team and its players, respectively, have gotten into over the past season. By their measure you want to be in the upper right, and that’s where Wisconsin, along with Northwestern, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan State and Michigan are.
The Journal also has a map that shows off, by county, college football loyalties as measured by Facebook. For those who observe Wisconsin’s politics and conclude we’re hopelessly divided, note the one color in the Badger State:
Tuesday’s disappointing (but not surprising, as you read) Rose Bowl loss to Stanford ended the Barry Alvarez/Bret Bielema era at Camp Randall Stadium.
It did not end, however, the era of UW Marching Band domination. Even non-Wisconsin-based blogs, such as Buzzfeed, are starting to notice:
Wisconsin’s band worked hard to deliver an excellent performance.
Straight lines.
Precision.
Stanford’s band? Well, they do whatever the hell they want. As a “scatter” band, Stanford’s musicians run willy-nilly between formations rather than marching.
The band members are adorned randomly with items such as this helmet of Medusa-like rose snakes.
Or the rainbow wig donned by the highlight of the Rose Bowl, the “Legalize Weed Drummer Boy.”
ZOOM IN.
That guy is not going to march in The Man’s company front, friends. He’s also liable to play the drum part from “White Rabbit” while everyone else is doing the fight song.
Now comes the Gary Andersen era, which brings already high expectations, as the Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Mulhern reports:
Sixteen of the players who started the game — plus the kicker and punter — are expected to return next season, highlighted by an experienced group of 26 juniors.
While the 8-6 record is a major disappointment for a team that opened the season 12th in both the media and coaches’ polls, this was in some ways a bridge year, ever since former UW coach Bret Bielema started gushing prior to the season about the potential for 2013.
“I know they’re going to be great here next year,” departing offensive coordinator Matt Canada said. “I have no doubt about it. You have nine (starters) coming back on offense. This was the tough year, this was the year to work through a lot of things and a lot of transition.
“They’re moving forward and they’ll have an unbelievable … they’ll have a top offense in the nation with all of the great guys they have coming back and I know a quality staff coming in. They’ll do a great job.” …
Ultimately, this team had some shortcomings and they started at quarterback. The Badgers had 218 rushing yards against the nation’s third-ranked run defense, which came in allowing 87.7 yards per game.
But they weren’t able to make enough plays in the air. …
The Badgers need to significantly upgrade at the receiver position. Junior Jared Abbrederis was the only legitimate threat in the group, and he fell off late in the second half when defenses focused coverages on him. He didn’t have a touchdown in the last eight games and averaged only 40.1 receiving yards in that stretch.
Bielema, who was prone to overstating the abilities of his players, called this his most talented group of tight ends. Junior Jacob Pedersen was named the top tight end in the Big Ten Conference, but the group needs to be more dynamic in the passing game. …
As good as the defense played for most of the season, it needs to produce more turnovers. The Badgers had 15 takeaways — none against Stanford.
The other issues are how quickly the Badgers will adapt to an almost entirely new coaching staff and new schemes on both sides of the ball. That was an issue early this season after replacing six assistant coaches, including a new coordinator in Canada.
Of course, now Andersen is replacing nearly the entire coaching staff. Andersen ran a 3–4 defense at Utah State; I prefer the 3–4 because of its versatility with the linebackers. (As if football coaches care what I think.)
Andersen ran the spread offense at Utah State; Wisconsin’s offense might have more of a spread look, but unless UW finds receivers somewhere, that won’t matter much. But spread formations are not incompatible with successful rushing offenses. Horizontally widening the field puts fewer defenders in the tackle-to-tackle box. UW has used fewer fullback/tailback formations the last few seasons anyway, preferring two or even three tight ends and one running back.
UW needs to be more productive through the air while not losing its ability to pound its opponents on the ground. The template, I think, should be the 2011 Badgers, with Russell Wilson, the best quarterback UW has ever had (yes, based on one season). A quarterback who can run to gain yardage or to extend plays is a quarterback who will cause defensive coordinators sleepless nights. Such quarterbacks often end up assigned to defensive “spies,” whose job is to track and contain the quarterback, and that means one less defensive player for the skill-position players to need to avoid.
The Wisconsin State Journal’s special Rose Bowl section Sunday made me realize something startling:
I have been alive for every single Badger Rose Bowl win. And I remember every one of them.
So? you ask. (I’ll pause while you get your favorite brain pain reliever, or more hair of the dog, or possibly both.)
Consider that before Jan. 1, 1994, Wisconsin had played in exactly three Rose Bowls — 1953, 1960 and 1963 — and lost all three. (In order, 7–0 to Southern California, 44–8 to Washington, and 42–37 to USC.) For me to remember a Rose Bowl would have been like remembering John F. Kennedy’s assassination, since each occurred two years before I was born. I was alive for the Packers’ first two Super Bowl wins — to be precise, 1½ and 2½ years old, respectively — so I don’t remember the Glory Years either.
I’m not sure what year this was, but I remember spending one New Year’s Eve watching a black-and-white movie where football was involved, which was followed by a highlight reel of the 1953 Rose Bowl. And I remember thinking wouldn’t it be amazing for Wisconsin to play in the Rose Bowl, ha ha ha.
I’ve watched the Rose Bowl every year. Most years, I rooted for the Pac 8 or Pac 10 team, usually after watching the USC–UCLA game, because the weather was so nice out there and so hideously cold here. Besides that, the Big 10 representative was usually Michigan or Ohio State, and I hated Missedagain and O!S!U! (My rationale was that if they beat Wisconsin — and that was a given — they could go to hell. That later applied to Iowa too.)
My early Wisconsin football memories are of four-win seasons, with an occasional hiccup (7–4 in 1974, but no bowl — thanks, Big Ten), and, wonder of wonders, three bowls in four seasons between 1981 and 1984. (Similar to my early Packer memories.) Then Dave McClain (he of the seven-win seasons) died, UW hired Don Mor(t)on, and UW football cratered.
But then, the impossible happened — UW not only got to the 1994 Rose Bowl (thanks to a win over Michigan State in Japan and an Ohio State shutout at the hands of Michigan), but won, 21–16 over UCLA.
And then, after a five-year absence, UW went back to Pasadena, again faced UCLA, and again won, 38–31. And then, one year later, UW got back to the Rose Bowl the only way they could — winning the Big Ten Conference outright — and beat Stanford 17–6. (Which, in a battle of Rose Bowls and mentors, makes Barry Alvarez 3–0, vs. Hayden Fry’s 0–4 and Lou Holtz’s 0–0.)
Similar to every other of the Badgers’ Rose Bowl trips, UW’s participation in today’s Granddaddy of Them All is unexpected. Wisconsin got to the 2011 Rose Bowl by having a better BCS ranking than the teams with which they tied for first.
Wisconsin got to the 2012 Rose Bowl by avenging an early-season defeat to Michigan State:
Same story this year, though the season had enough twists for a mystery and enough angst for a soap opera, including a narrow loss to Nebraska and coach Bret Bielema’s departure for Arkansas, to be replaced today by his predecessor, Barry Alvarez.
This would have been the season’s brightest memory were it not for what happened the next week:
I therefore have more appreciation of just getting to the Rose Bowl, because I’ve seen how horrible Wisconsin football can be. (Players win games, but there is no substitute for the right leadership.) This is an amazing and unprecedented photo:
Those are the 56 Badgers who as of kickoff today will have been on the roster for three consecutive Rose Bowls.
The interesting thing about today, besides their similar colors (Stanford’s colors are what Wisconsin’s should be, but you knew that), is their similar styles of play. In contrast to what you’d expect of high-flying Western football teams, the Cardinal play more of a Big Ten style, and in fact the Cardinal are about as similar to the cardinal-and-white as you could imagine.
Teams that play like Wisconsin and Stanford usually succeed when they can get the lead early, and force their opponent to deemphasize running the football. My prediction, therefore, is that whoever scores first will win today. Wisconsin has never been a comeback team under Alvarez; each of the Badgers’ biggest wins, including Alvarez’s three Rose Bowl wins, were when the Badgers got the lead and dictated how the game would go.
I can’t say I’m particularly optimistic about the game. Stanford appears to do what Wisconsin does, but better. Badger fans have overemphasized the effect of Alvarez’s one-game unretirement on this game, although the players appear to love the guy they’re calling the Godfather (from Madison.com):
In the week leading up to Tuesday’s Rose Bowl against Stanford, UW players have raved about the approach to practices taken by Alvarez, who is the interim coach for this game.
Attempting to make sure the players’ legs are as fresh as possible, Alvarez has shortened practices considerably, while still maintaining their intensity, including a 10-minute scrimmage session with live tackling on Thursday.
“I always try to think like a player,” Alvarez said Sunday during the final coaches’ news conferences before the game. “I hated to waste time. I really value and respect the players’ time. So I want to be very efficient in how we practice.”
It will be interesting to see how conservative UW’s offensive approach is, given the fact that Bielema and offensive coordinator Matt Canada clashed this season about the offense, and we don’t know how hands-on Alvarez will be with the offense today. (This is how non-pass-wacky UW is: Bielema argued that UW should do nothing but run inside, and Canada wanted to run jet and fly sweeps.)
The Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Mulhern predicts a 27–21 Stanford win. I think that’s too many points because both teams’ defenses are better than the opposing offenses, but I agree with Mulhern’s winner.
The thing is, though, that the Rose Bowl isn’t just about the football game. My wife annually watches the Rose Parade. And of course …
… there is The marching band performing at the game. You probably didn’t know Stanford doesn’t have a marching band. That … thing … that will be performing with UW can hardly be called a musical group.
Anyway, even though I’m predicting a third consecutive Rose Bowl loss, similar to the Super Bowl or World Series or any championship event, it is better to get to the Rose Bowl and lose than to not get to the Rose Bowl.
The official introduction of Gary Andersen as Wisconsin’s new football coach apparently was delayed by the snowpocalypse.
Assuming the Mayans weren’t right, let’s share some opinions about Andersen, the first UW coach with no previous UW ties (other than almost beating the Badgers in Madison this season) since Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez (who once played Wisconsin as a Nebraska linebacker) replaced Don Mor(t)on as the Badgers’ coach.
First, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus:
When Bret Bielema took over as Wisconsin’s head coach in 2006, he inherited a veteran-laden team coming off a 10-victory season in 2005 under Barry Alvarez.
Bielema’s record in his first season: 12-1, with the lone loss at Michigan.
When Utah State’s Gary Andersen officially takes over, he will inherit a veteran-laden team that could make a run at another league title in 2013. Under Bielema, who left for Arkansas after the Big Ten Conference title game, the Badgers qualified for a third consecutive appearance in the Rose Bowl.
UW could lose as few as six starters after the Rose Bowl, including tailback Montee Ball and left tackle Rick Wagner, linebacker Mike Taylor and three starters in the secondary.
But how will the 48-year-old Andersen, who is set to be introduced as UW’s head coach Friday, fare on the field and the recruiting trail beyond 2013?
“Wisconsin . . . doesn’t have a history of recruiting Utah or junior-college guys,” Big Ten Network analyst Tom Dienhart said Wednesday, “which made up a great majority of the Aggies’ roster under Andersen.
“But I can counter with recruiting is recruiting. Recruiting is about developing relationships.”
Those who have watched Andersen and his staff battle for recruits note that after he took over the Utah State program, he gradually became able to beat state rivals Utah and Brigham Young for players.
That is a significant development because for years Utah State was a distant third in the state in terms of resources and perception.grams – Ohio State, Alabama, USC – that select and then there are the rest that have to recruit.
“And not just recruit, but they have to project the talent. He did so at Utah State.”
The Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Mulhern points out something mentioned here in passing Wednesday:
One of the intriguing aspects of new University of Wisconsin football coach Gary Andersen’s background is his close relationship with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. …
Andersen was the defensive line coach at Utah under Meyer in 2004 when the Utes went 12-0 and earned their first BCS bowl victory, topping Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. …
Andersen’s background as a defensive coach and his keen knowledge of Meyer’s offense must have appealed to UW athletic coach Barry Alvarez during the coaching search.
Andersen didn’t match all of the criteria used by UW athletic director Barry Alvarez during his search, but that doesn’t mean Alvarez failed.
Just the opposite, in fact. Although he comes from an alternate football universe, Andersen appears to fit many of the requirements Alvarez was looking for in a coach and his track record suggests he has the personality and adaptability to alleviate any concerns about the rest.
Based on the criteria he outlined two weeks ago and the things he looked for when he hired Bret Bielema seven years ago, Alvarez’s ideal candidate was this: A college head coach with a defensive orientation who understands the culture at UW and in the Big Ten. A coach who will maintain the status quo schematically and is an energetic recruiter who can bring in good kids and maintain a high-quality program.
On many levels, Andersen fits that description.
He is a proven success as a head coach, using his ability to recruit, relate to and develop players to author one of the nation’s more remarkable turnarounds at Utah State. The Aggies were 9-38 in the four years before he arrived and are 26-24 in the four years since, including an 11-2 record this year and a No. 18 national ranking.
His teams are known for being tough-minded and physical, a style that fits the Big Ten. UW fans found that out when Utah State threw a huge scare into the Badgers before dropping a 16-14 decision at Camp Randall Stadium in September.
And he has a long association with top-notch defenses. He was a key defensive assistant on Utah’s undefeated teams in 2004 and 2008, and his defenses at Utah State have improved dramatically every year he’s been there. This year, the Aggies rank 15th in the nation in total yards. …
Alvarez is adamant about maintaining UW’s power running game, as he should be. The Badgers’ one natural recruiting advantage is their ability to find huge linemen to run behind. To employ an offense that uses smaller, faster linemen would negate that advantage and could lead to disastrous results (See: Morton, Don).
Former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst had great success by layering an NFL-style passing attack over UW’s traditional running game. Can Andersen find a way to keep some of his spread concepts and yet utilize UW’s behemoths in a power running game?
His defensive track record suggests he’s a coach who is willing to adjust his schemes. Andersen coached a 4-3 defense at Utah and, until this season, at Utah State. He switched to a 3-4 this year because that’s what his talent dictated.
The good news is Utah State featured balance between running and passing. That meant Alvarez didn’t have to sell Andersen on the value of running the ball, only how best to do it given UW’s talent pool.
The Journal Sentinel’s Dave Heller interviewed three Utah Statebeat writers — Wade Denniston of the Logan (Utah) Herald Journal, Kevin Graham of KFAN in Salt Lake City, and Tim Olsen of the Cache Valley (Utah) Daily:
Q. How would you describe him as a coach?
Denniston: Energetic, passionate, dedicated. He’s definitely a players’ coach and the Badgers should love him. He’ll do things the right way and his teams will be tough-minded and physical. Coach A will definitely put an exciting product on the field. … Gary is a great guy. He was easy to work with. Wisconsin is getting a winner and it’ll be fun to see him and Urban Meyer battle it out now.
Graham: Everything you want in a head coach – attention to detail, motivator, disciplinarian yet players respect and love playing for him. He’s direct and honest. What you see is what you get.
Olsen: Coach Andersen is a very passionate and fiery coach. You can just see the glint in his eye, and when he sets a goal you believe he and his team can reach it. When he first arrived at Utah State, he said the Aggies would be competitive with the top in-state schools (Utah and BYU) and the top teams in the WAC (Boise State at the time). USU has not only competed with Utah and BYU during Andersen’s tenure, but has defeated each school. The Aggies also won the WAC title this season with a 6-0 conference record – USU’s first outright conference title since 1936. …
Q. What do you remember about Andersen’s reaction to playing at Wisconsin? …
Denniston: … After the game: “We played at a high level. That defense for Wisconsin wasn’t good, but a great defense. They are very well coached. They play football the right way. I was even more impressed after watching the tape twice yesterday. The kids reacted to the road very well. They handled the situation well. We came up a play short at the end. There’s no way, shape or form one play wins or loses a game like that. If the kick goes in, yeah it’s a game-winning kick, but it didn’t win the game alone. I feel the same way about it not going in. There are a lot of young men that you look at who could have made a game-winning play. That’s my big thing is to tell the team to do your job and worry about yourself.”
Graham: Outside of the disappointment of barely losing that game he was very impressed with the atmosphere there. I know he was frustrated with the fan support at Utah State. Despite producing a winner they barely got 17,000 fans to attend the games.
Olsen: One of Andersen’s favorite phrases (other than saying a player is tremendously tremendous) is to say “that is big time Division I football.” That’s exactly how he described the atmosphere at Wisconsin – big time Division I football. It’s no secret that Camp Randall is known as one of the best home venues for college football in the country. Following the game, Andersen said it lived up to its billing.
Q. Utah State ran a spread, which won’t fly at Wisconsin. I know Andersen is more defensive-minded, but what are his theories on offense?
Denniston: He loves having a dual-threat quarterback, which is all he’s had at USU. While the Aggies are a spread offense, they are pretty balanced. They like to take shots down the field with their speedy receivers, then grind it out on teams, as well.
Graham: He implemented the spread based on the personnel he felt he could recruit at Utah State giving the program the best opportunity to be successful. He has a sharp football mind and will adapt to an offense that will best fit his players at Wisconsin.
Olsen: Andersen is a defensive minded guy, but offensively he will try and match the strengths of his players or team. In 2011, Utah State had a loaded backfield. The Aggies had two running backs in Robert Turbin (Seattle Seahawks) and Michael Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) who were drafted into the NFL. This year’s starter, Kerwynn Williams was also in the mix. That team finished the season at the No. 6 team in the country rushing the football with nearly 283 yards per game on the ground. He will be able to similarly match his offense to his players at Wisconsin.
Q. What kind of defense does Andersen run? Aggressive? Blitz a lot? Press corners?
Graham: Andersen prefers an aggressive style of defense. He wants corners with speed and the ability to play man press coverage. He likes to confuse offenses with a variety of looks and pressure packages.
Olsen: Andersen loves an aggressive style defense where he can blitz a lot and leave his corners out on an island to cover. The Aggies had a game earlier this season where they recorded a school-record 13 sacks against San Jose State. Another great example of Andersen’s defensive style is Utah’s win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl a few years back. He likes to use speed and different formations to attack and confuse opposing offenses.
All interesting observations. The points about defense might be worth more attention than what’s been noted about offense. Obviously Wisconsin has emphasized defense under Alvarez and Bielema, but I wouldn’t call the Badger defense especially aggressive. Particularly in Alvarez’s early years, it would have been better described as bend-but-don’t-break — don’t let the offense get behind you, give up yards, but don’t give up points or big plays. They were more aggressive when they had high-quality defensive backs, such as Troy Vincent, Jamar Fletcher and Scott Starks, but for the most part UW played a 4–3 with not much blitzing. And obviously it worked.
As for the spread, the State Journal’s Jim Polzin reports:
The lifeblood of UW’s successful program under Alvarez and Bielema, who left for Arkansas earlier this month, has been mammoth offensive linemen — many of them state products — opening holes for a series of talented running backs.
But some think a form of the spread offense could be successful at UW if that’s the direction Andersen chooses to go.
“The big road graders are still athletes,” longtime Mequon Homestead coach Dave Keel said. “You think of the best UW linemen, they pull. A good college lineman is a good college lineman, regardless of the offense.
“The challenging part of the spread is the four wideouts or five guys who can run like the wind and a quarterback who can also run. … It’ll be a challenge to get that right quarterback in there. And if you decide to run your quarterback, you better have two or maybe even three. If he chooses to stay with the spread, he’s going to have to adjust his recruiting just a tad, but not with the linemen.”
How do you know Keel is right? By looking at how many UW offensive linemen are, or were, NFL offensive linemen. Mark Tauscher played for run-oriented Badger teams and pass-oriented Packer teams, and did just fine.
The University of Wisconsin is set to hire Utah State’s Gary Andersen as the Badgers’ next football coach.
A source close to the football program told the State Journal on Tuesday night it is a done deal: Andersen is UW athletic director Barry Alvarez’s choice to succeed Bret Bielema, who left to become the head coach at Arkansas.
Multiple sources earlier in the day pointed to Andersen as the leading candidate and indicated a final decision could come quickly.
This is interesting because Andersen was nowhere to be found on the list of early coaching favorites.
Perhaps he should have been on the list, though. Andersen led the Aggies to what would have been a monumental upset of Wisconsin in Madison in September had it not been for a missed 37-yard field goal that preserved UW’s 16–14 win. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have been an upset:
Utah State, currently No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, finished the season 11-2 overall. That included a 6-0 record and first-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference. …
Andersen was named Utah State’s head coach on Dec. 4, 2008, after five seasons as the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Utah. He helped guide the Utes to a 13-0 record in 2008, when they finished No. 2 in the Associated Press poll after beating Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl.
In his four years at Utah State, Andersen, 48, has a 26-24 overall record. He took over a program that was a combined 9-38 the previous four seasons.
He was reported to be a candidate for several coaching openings, with his name coming up at Colorado, Kentucky and California.
Truth be told, Andersen’s got an impressive résumé, with experience on both sides of the ball.
This part is interesting, and gives the lie to a comment Alvarez made about, of all things, UW’s football uniforms, when he said of coach Bret Bielema, “It’s his program”:
Andersen’s hiring is a surprise, because his name has not come up in the coaching search prior to this and his team runs a spread offense. Alvarez has made it clear he doesn’t want to convert to a spread offense.
“I don’t have any problem with our scheme,” Alvarez said recently. “I don’t perceive us as a spread them out, fast pace, no huddle, one back, five wides. I don’t see us doing that because that’s not the type of kid we can consistently recruit and we have to remember that.
“You know what the plan is. It starts with those big palookas up front.”
But Andersen came up mostly as a defensive coach — specifically, the defensive line.
He would likely have no problem changing his offensive style to suit UW, if that’s what Alvarez wanted.
Utah State ranks No. 33 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 34.9 points per game, and No. 23 in total offense, averaging 469.1 yards per game.
The Aggies have been even better on defense, ranking eighth in scoring, allowing an average of 15.4 points per game, and 15th in yards, giving up 322.1 per game.
If Andersen is the best possible candidate, why would Alvarez hamstring him by telling him what kind of offensive style Alvarez wants? Or is this speculation on the part of the State Journal? Alvarez could have hired Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker or Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell (both former players for Alvarez) if he wanted to be that dictatorial about football style.
Football in the West, particularly the past and present iterations of the Western Athletic Conference, is wide open, to say the least. (Except at Air Force, which runs the wishbone.) Utah ran the spread at the behest of former coach Urban Meyer, who went undefeated one season. Nontraditional offenses such as the spread (well, it used to be nontraditional) often are the choice at schools whose football fortunes have been moribund for a long time. The theory is that putting up lots of yards and points attracts fans and generates excitement in the program.
That is not the issue at Wisconsin, of course. Two reasons the 2013 Badgers may look a lot like the 2012 Badgers on offense is that (1) even without Montee Ball they have a lot of good running backs, and (2) based on this season they have exactly one receiver on the roster, Jared Abbrederis. I would like to see UW equally proficient at running or passing, which they were under former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst. (In previous ground-bound seasons, I don’t know why a defensive coordinator would not simply line up everyone between the tackles, no more than five yards behind the line of scrimmage, and dare UW to throw.) Interestingly, Utah State this season was ranked exactly the same nationally in rushing offense and passing offense — 37th — and they were 26th in offensive yardage and 36th in scoring offense.
Anyway, as I argued here before, you do not want a coach whose success is predicated on a scheme. Don Mor(t)on claimed the veer would lead to victory, and it did — to be precise, six victories in three seasons. Alvarez wasn’t a system coach — he wasn’t known for a defensive system such as, to use NFL example, Buddy Ryan’s 46 Defense or the various Cover-2 disciples, such as Chicago’s Lovie Smith. Systems eventually get figured out, wherever they’re played.
If the reports are correct, take a look at Andersen’s assistant coaches. Many of them may well be coming to Wisconsin. (Except Mike Sanford, named head coach at Indiana State.)
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