The Badgers captured a nation's heart and fell just short of a title

Shocked. That's the only way to put it for fans and players of the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team after losing that close of a game to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA National Championship game.

The team of destiny was ready to get back to the throne they were oh so close to last year. They went through the gauntlet of tests this year and passed every one with flying colors. They were the lovable jokers and comedians that the fans and media adored.

From Nigel Hayes' constant tests of the stenographer with words like: catawampus, onomatopoeia, antidisestablishmentarianism, soliloquy, quandary, zephyr, xylophone, prevaricated, syzygy, prestidigitation, logorrhea and succedaneum, to Frank Kaminsky's goofiness and all the fun times this team has in between, the Badgers seemed loose and unflappable.

They dominated the Big Ten regular season and were ranked in the top ten nationally all year. Going into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed, the Badgers had work to do to secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. They looked shaky against Michigan, but pulled out the win in the end and then dominated Purdue the entire way.

It was then down to the Michigan State Spartans, who had a disappointing season up to that point. With Tom Izzo at the helm though, you couldn't count them out of anything, especially in March. Those pesky Spartans controlled the game and had an 11 point lead with under seven minutes left. That is when the Badgers got hot, scoring 11 straight to take a 60-59 lead with 4:16 left after a Bronson Koenig three-pointer.

The game remained close down the stretch before the Spartans' Brandon Dawson's jumper fell short at the buzzer to bring the game to overtime. From there, the Badgers dominated, shutting out the Spartans in the overtime and scoring at will.

I remember being a nervous wreck for that game sitting there with my girlfriend sitting by my side. This was only a small glimpse of how intense the rest of the postseason would be for the Badgers.

As I walked my girlfriend across the street to the bus station so she could go back to Madison, I learned the good news. The Badgers were the No. 1 seed in the West! My excitement waned when I saw they had to face the same foes from last year's Final Four run and were stuck on No. 1 overall seed Kentucky's side of the bracket.

After a quick dispatch of No. 16 Coastal Carolina University where the game was never in doubt in the first round of the tournament, the Badgers moved on to play the Oregon Ducks. The previous year as a 7-seed, the Ducks gave the 2-seeded Badgers all they could handle in a thrilling game in Milwaukee. The Badgers were able to hold on and go on a run to the Final Four.

This time around, Ducks leading scorer Joseph Young led his team in nearly every category including shooting but was very inefficient from the field. The Badgers knew they would have to try and contain while neutralizing the Ducks other attacking options. Frank Kaminsky, the player who was set to win every national player of the year award, matched Young shot for shot as Young shot his team out of a chance for victory and Wisconsin prevailed in a foul fest.

It was then on to the upstart North Carolina Tar Heels that were hot at the right time. The Tar Heels were full of people that were all able to drive, push the ball up the court and shoot inside whenever they wanted, but they had very few players that could shoot outside.

So of course, the Tar Heels proceeded to shoot 61.5 percent from behind the arc. Watching this with my girlfriend and her father in what only could be described as the quintessential man cave filled with Badger pictures and decorations all over the place was a surreal experience. I sat there watching the game and her father just as much because he was so nervous that he nearly gave himself a heart attack. It was tough to watch, but also extremely cool to see someone take sports just as seriously as I do.

In a close 79-72 contest with the final score buoyed by late free throws, the Badgers were able to pull through at the end thanks to a career high 23 points from local product Sam Dekker. It was crazy that it was his career high because after playing against him in high school, I felt he could have done so much more, That game was exactly what I wanted to see out of him though as he was an unstoppable force driving to the hoop and finishing through contact.

Senior guard Traevon Jackson returned from missing nearly 20 games with a fractured foot and calmly drained a three-pointer in his first minute back in action. Sophomore guard Bronson Koenig filled in admirably in his place throughout the year and looked like he was a better player than Jackson ever was.

It was then onto the 2-seeded Arizona Wildcats for a trip to the Final Four. Last year, the seeds were switched with the Wildcats the 1-seed in the West bracket. That is when the legend of Frank the Tank was born. Inside, outside, driving to the hoop or posting up, the Wildcats had no answer for the 7-foot Kaminsky. It was an insane game that left your stomach in knots the whole time as the Badgers pulled ahead. After a long review with two seconds left in overtime, the Wildcats got the ball with a chance to win the game. Guard Nick Johnson's shot fell short at the overtime buzzer and the Badgers advanced.

This time around, the Badgers dominated down low early and got most of Arizona's front line in foul trouble, but the Wildcats battled back and took a 33-30 lead into the half.

That is when the Badgers caught fire. They hit 10 second-half three-pointers, five of them from Sam Dekker as he bested his career high for the second straight game with 27 points. The Badgers were also anchored by Kaminsky again who had 29 points for the game.

Every time the Wildcats got close, the Badgers responded, typically with a Dekker three-pointer. It was a tense first half, but a great second half to watch as a fan. As soon as a shot went up, you knew it was going to be in. People in Madison were going nuts for the chance to have a rematch against Kentucky.

Say the word Harrison around Badgers fans and they instantly get angry. They have good reason to after Andrew Harrison hit a game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds in last year's Final Four matchup between the two teams.

This time around, Kentucky was the heavy favorites going into the tournament after an undefeated 38-0 regular season. Kentucky's team was miles better than last year's underdog version. This year's Wildcats team featured nine McDonalds All-Americans led by Karl-Anthony Towns who is a consensus top five pick in the NBA.

The Badgers hung tough throughout the first half with the Wildcats and were able to keep the score tied at 36 going into the half. Watching at home with my girlfriend and family, we were very superstitious, wearing everything the same clothes we had on the last game (washed of course), switching our seats at the half, and even dressing up the family shitzu in the same clothes.

The superstitions must have worked as the Badgers hung tough through a six minute scoreless stretch and went on an 8-0 run to pull back ahead 64-56 with 6:37 left in the second half. Dekker closed the game out again as he drained a step-back three-pointer with 1:42 left and then took a charge the following possession. The Badgers salted the game away at the line, and the revenge they had waited exactly one year to avenge was complete.

The championship game was a carbon copy of all of the other games in the tournament as it was once again tied at the half. This time, that was a disappointment though as the Blue Devils were able to go the final seven minutes without their stars Justice Winslow and Jahlil Okafor on the floor due to foul trouble.

After the Badgers came out scorching hot in the second half, the Blue Devils were forced to call a timeout after a Frank Kaminsky layup stretched the Badgers lead to 48-39 with 13:25 left. Enter barely used freshman guard Grayson Allen who scored the next eight points for the Blue Devils to make it a close game once again.

After trading buckets down the stretch, the Wisconsin offense, which was the most efficient in NCAA history according to Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistics, stalled when it was needed the most. Duke was able to pull away and walk away with a five-point championship victory.

There were two close calls that probably went against the Badgers that many fans are unfairly saying went against the Badgers, I do not believe that you can blame it solely on them though. Winslow stepped out of bounds with a few minutes left before making a layup and then had the ball deflect off his middle finger with under two minutes left. The first call is understandable to be missed as his foot just barely stepped out, and the officials are bound to make mistakes.

The second one should have been called out on Winslow which would given the Badgers the ball with a chance to bring it back to a one-possession game. The problem was, the replay technology that the referees used did not have the enhanced angles that the audience at home could see. The referees even admitted it after the game. After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only one minute and 45 seconds, the referees gave Duke the ball back and Tyus Jones proceeded to hit a three to stretch the lead to eight. The NCAA better fix that for next year, otherwise there will be many more close calls that could decide seasons once again.

As much as Badgers fans would love to say it, the referees did not blow the game. The Blue Devils defense stepped up when it needed the most and forced the Badgers to put up some wild shots down the stretch. That doesn't take anything away from this historic Badgers team that had the most wins in school history with 36, and won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. They took their fans on a ride that won fans all across the country with their good-natured humor, general goofiness, and on-court success. They were my favorite team that I have ever seen play in college up to this point and were even able to dispel my first love of the 2004 Marquette Golden Eagles with Dwyane Wade, Steve Novak, Travis Diener, and Robert Jackson, all future NBA players. I wish nothing but the best to this lovable team in their future successes as a few have an NBA future.

Pelicans Balanced Attack Foils Milwaukee

In each team’s final game before the All-Star Break, the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-98.

                With the win, New Orleans improves to 23-29 heading into the All-Star Break activities they are hosting. The loss puts the Bucks at a record of 9-43, far and away the worst record in the NBA.

                “It has been a difficult season for us,” Bucks assistant coach Scott Williams said. “I really want the guys for four days to come back refreshed physically and mentally.”

                The game was close throughout, but the Bucks held a 49-46 advantage going into the half.

                “Offensively we were moving the basketball side to side, 15 assists in the first half for us,” Williams said. “That’s a good number, but the ball stuck a little bit in the second half.”

The Pelicans outscored the Bucks 37-27 in the 3^rd quarter to have an 83-76 lead heading into the fourth.

                That is when rookies Nate Wolters and Giannis Antetokounmpo each made key blocks early in the quarter to spark a Bucks rally to knot the game at 84. After a New Orleans timeout, Tyreke Evans proceeded to hit a driving layup that put the Pelicans up for good with 8:45 left in the game.

                The Bucks were not without their chances to come back. Both Wolters and Brandon Knight missed threes on the same possession with 2:38 left trying to cut the lead to one. Ersan Ilyasova also missed a dunk with 1:28 left.

                “We didn’t make big plays down the stretch,” Wolters said. “We haven’t been very good all year about closing out games, and we didn’t change that tonight.”

                After a defensive stop, the Bucks had the ball with 25.4 seconds left in the game. Ilyasova drove to the hoop and appeared to be hit on the arm while shooting. With no foul called and the crowd of 11,012 booing about it, the Bucks scrambled around, culminating in a Brandon Knight turnover. Eric Gordon hit two free throws to ice the game away.

With All-Star forward Anthony Davis mired in foul trouble throughout the game, the Pelicans had to rely on other guys for scoring. New Orleans featured seven players scoring in double figures and were led by guard Eric Gordon who had 21 points, 6 assists and shot 7-13 from the field.

Alexis Ajinca, who normally averages four points and four rebounds per game, contributed 16 and nine respectively. Curiously, he did not receive a single minute in the fourth quarter to try and get his first double-double of the season.

Brian Roberts added 17 points and five assists. Evans chipped in 12 points. Luke Babbit, signed eight days ago, had 10 points off the bench. Al-Farouq Aminu contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Davis had 12 points in only 20 minutes of action due to his foul trouble.

The Bucks were led by Knight who had 22 points and nine assists. Fellow starting guard, Wolters had 14 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

Asked about his rotating roles on the team, Wolters said:

“Going into the season, I didn’t really know how much I would play. Being able to start a little bit, and then I have also been on the other side where I didn’t play at all, so you just got to work hard every day and be ready when your name is called.”

Gary Neal came off the bench and had 18 points on 8-12 shooting to go along with three assists.

Ilyasova contributed 16 points and 9 rebounds on the night. Khris Middleton had 11 points and four assists. Zaza Pachulia struggled from the field, shooting 3-11, but still had eight points and 7 rebounds.

Antetokounmpo will travel to New Orleans to play in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Game Friday night and the Taco Bell Skills Challenge Saturday night.

“I am excited for Giannis,” Williams said. “It’s been a losing season, and this is a bright spot for us. This is a 19 year old kid that has come over from a foreign land and has performed really well.”

Hauser Ready For Season

     “Something clicks and I stop being the nice guy and start kinda being a dick,” sophomore Zach Hauser said while playing Xbox. “It’s just like a mindset that you have to get into [when he steps onto the football field].”

     Well that is one way to put it. Hauser is set to enter his second season as starting defensive tackle for the Macalester Scots and is also trying out for the basketball team.  Hauser is a chemistry major and math minor with dreams of becoming a crime lab technician.

     Hauser has always been playing multiple sports, as he used to play soccer until 5^th grade and baseball through high school. He also made state his senior year for discus.

     Hauser grew up in Port Washington and Cedar Grove with his mother, Tania Ponfil-Switon, helping him through everything and making him become a very independent person. He was very close with his grandpa before he died when he was 12. His mother and grandmother, affectionately known as “Nana,” have never missed a game that he has played in any sport. Nana even kept a stroke a secret so she could watch his final high school football game, which they won off of Hauser’s game winning safety, before going into the hospital.

     Hauser enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, Abby, of nearly a year, playing Xbox and hanging out with friends. There is never a dull moment with him around, as he has a joke, a random animal noise, or some other way to elicit a smile from whomever he is with.

     His confidence is something that sets him apart from others. Not to be confused with cockiness, according to Dictionary.com, confidence means the belief in one’s powers or abilities.

     He once told his stepsister, Savannah St. Peter, “Even if I don’t know what I am doing, I make it look like I do.”

     This omnipresent confidence is the thing that he relies on to get him through everyday activities. It also allows him to excel on the football field.

     Throughout his high school football career, for the Port Washington Pirates, he played nearly every position. He excelled as tight end and defensive end for his squad that struggled to losing records in each of his four seasons on varsity.

     During his senior season he accumulated 34 tackles, 10 for loss, and four sacks on the defensive side of the ball. As tight end, he was even better with 20 catches for 406 yards and six touchdowns.

     Those numbers were good enough to propel him to be selected to the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star game. It was a week-long event where he raised money for Children’s Hospital. He practiced at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before playing in the All-Star Game at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. His South side won in a blowout 37-0.

     “Just being in the All-Star game was pretty fun,” Hauser said. “That was probably the highlight of my football career so far.”

     His accolades do not stop there though. He was awarded Freshman [this was the first time a freshman was awarded this], Junior, and Senior Athlete of the Year, Athletic Director Award, Fran Joch Scholar Athlete Award, First Team All-Conference tight end his junior year and earned 1^st team All-State tight end his senior year. He also hit a triple off the 400 sign in dead center field at Miller Park and was recruited by Wisconsin for a short period of time.

     Hauser was a captain at one point in every sport he played. In addition to all of that, he still managed to be on the High Honor Roll his entire high school career.

     Hauser transitioned to college remarkably well last year. In seven games, he had seven solo tackles, eight assists, 2.5 tackles for loss and a blocked kick. This year, he has a starting position locked and will be featured in some goal-line packages on offense for the Scots.

     Last year, his 40-yard dash time was measured before the football season at 4.78. That is a better time than last year’s 24^th overall NFL draft pick defensive end Bjoern Werner.

     This year, after putting on 25 pounds of muscle in the offseason, Hauser ran 4.83, which Werner ran at the draft combine last year. That is pretty remarkable considering Hauser is 18 pounds heavier and an inch taller than Werner which really displays his NFL-like quickness.

     Since working with Macalester’s strength and conditioning program, he has gained 40 pounds on his bench press, up to 305 pounds. His squat also increased to 460 pounds.   

     Basketball is a completely different story.  He has played basketball since the 3^rd grade.  He was a backup power forward for his regional winning squad in his junior year. Hauser started over half of his games in his senior year and used his strength to become a skilled low post player that would harass opposing big men, particularly Cedarburg’s star forward Jake Borgardt.

     “Zach just got into his psyche and totally frustrated him, “Ponfil-Switon said. “Our coaches on the sideline were laughing so hard they were wiping their eyes because the frustration on Bogardt with Zach out there up against him. Then he [Borgardt] would get down [in an offensive post position] and Zach would get lower [in his defensive stance]. He would go down farther and Zach would go down farther.”

     After taking a year off, he does not know what to expect when it comes to basketball this year.

     “When I stopped playing basketball, I thought that I wasn’t going to miss it at all,” Hauser said. “I just said I was going to watch, but after watching and meeting all the guys on the team, I figured out that I really missed it more than I thought I would. It turns out I still have a shot after last year.”

     Giving back to the community means a lot to him as well. He has volunteered at daycares, Feed My Starving Children and Habitat for Humanity with the Macalester football team, and Athletes in Action, where he took out garbage for everyone living in his grandmother’s senior apartments.

     Hauser also helps in local football and baseball camps through the Port Washington program. It is something he looks forward to each year.

     “I know I wish that I would have had that extra coaching help who was still playing, coming back and sharing what they know,” Hauser said.

     Hauser is a confident, caring collegiate athlete that helps out as many as he can. As soon as he puts on his helmet and pads, Hauser turns into a completely different person and his inner “dick” attitude emerges. The hard-charging 6’4 278-pound defensive tackle is a quarterback’s worst nightmare imaginable and quite the nemesis to go up against for a rebound on the basketball court.

     As his mom so aptly put it, “He’s had his success because he wants to be the best.”

Game 7: Heat vs. Pacers

       The dictionary definition of relief is: the easing of a burden or distress, such as pain, anxiety, or oppression. It fits the Miami Heat as they hang on to the series and beat the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals

       The Heat are headed to the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, while the Pacers are left to ponder what could have been. 

      The Heat were led as always by Lebron James with 32 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Dwyane Wade showed up big in Game 7 as well with 21 points and 9 rebounds by attacking the rim early. Chris Bosh was very aggressive and had 9 points and 8 rebounds.. Ray Allen chipped in with 10 points and 2 three-pointers in the late 1st quarter to help get the Heat rolling. 

     The Pacers had 21 turnovers, including 15 in the first half when the Heat built their lead. They also had no answer for the Heat in transition or on the glass which is typically their strong suit. The Pacers fought valiantly until the end, but just did not have enough firepower to match the Heat. 

     They were led by Roy Hibbert with 18 points and 8 rebounds as the Heat really had no answer for him all series. Paul George, the NBA's most improved player, had a huge postseason as well. On this night, he struggled mightily, fouling out with 7:43 left in the fourth quarter with only 7 points and 7 rebounds after being hounded by Lebron James all night. Lance Stephenson started off hot and added 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. 

     The game was close until the end of the second quarter when the Heat went on a big run to be up at the half 52-37. The Pacers brought the lead down to 7, but the Heat rallied. When Lebron left the game with 5 minutes left, the Heat were up by 28. 

     It was an extremely competitive series that introduced the world to the Indiana Pacers and their many talented young stars. The problem for the Pacers was their bench depth. Outside of Tyler Hansborough, they did not have one reliable guy off of the bench that they could count on. That is where they severely missed Danny Granger, an All-Star who played in only 5 games this year before undergoing a second surgery on his left knee. Hopefully he will come back fully healthy next year and give Indiana three dominant wings with George and Stephenson as well. 

     The Heat showed a weakness on the glass that had plagued them all season, which the Spurs can take advantage of. They also have to figure out a solid rotation for the series. Shane Battier has been a key player for the Heat the last two seasons. He is a great defender on positions 1-4 and is a good three-point shooter that has been ice cold from the field this postseason. He allows them to play their patented small-ball lineup and started 20 games this year. Despite all of this, he was the only player on either team to not get on the court when the teams emptied their benches. He is a consummate pro, so  it's not a discipline problem. Is he hurt? Whatever it is, they need him to be able to lock down Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, or Manu Ginobili in the Finals and make some threes to keep the defense honest. 

     The Pacers have a bright future, but are not guaranteed to get back to this point again. The Heat will look to become back to back champions on Thursday. Tune in to watch history happen and a champ be crowned. 

Fye's Two Goals Lift 'Hawks Past No. 5 Illnois Wesleyan

Three goals in two minutes provided all the game’s scoring as the Warhawks’ survived the Titans’ late charge to win 2-1.

The offensive cavalcade was headed by midfielder Logan Fye, who scored both of Whitewater’s goals.

The action-packed game featured 8 shots in the first 15 minutes. Both teams had two shots on goal in the first half. The action was fast and furious, yet the first half of the freezing game was scoreless.

About 10 minutes into the second half, the scoring barrage started with defender Ryan Reid floating a ball ahead to Fye.

Fye chased it down, and buried it in the left corner of the net.

Twenty seconds later, Logan Fye received the ball behind the defense again, quickly making it 2-0 Hawks.

The Titans were not content with the score, though. A minute later, the ball was deflected multiple times before Titan forward John Pisani buried it in the back of the net.

The scoring was done after that goal, but not without a few nail-biting moments. The Titans had six corner kicks and three free kicks in the second half that gave the ’Hawks’ fans plenty of scares. The defense held, led by goalie Josh Rohde, who had 8 saves on the night.

With the win, the Warhawks move to 6-4-2 on the season and will head to Rippon College on Oct. 18 at 3 p.m.

'Hawks Finish 7th, 8th In Illinois

      The Warhawk cross country teams set many personal records  at the Gil Dodds Invitational in Warrenville, Illinois. The men finished 8th out of 11 teams, while the women took 7th out of 10 teams.

The Warhawk men scored 247 points. Coach Jeff Miller was not concerned with the finish.

“Nearly everyone had lifetime or season bests,” Miller said.

He went on to say this race was more about opportunities for the people that did not race in last weekend’s meet.

Casey Merrill was the top runner for the Warhawks, finishing 44th place with a time of 27:27.

“Casey Merrill shaved two and a half minutes off of his time from practice,” Miller said.

Red-shirt freshman Austin Seeger also shined with a time of 27:51 in 62nd place out of 136 runners.

Wheaton College, the No. 3 team in the Midwest Region, won the men’s competition, scoring just 17 points. They dominated the meet with six of the top seven finishers.

Wheaton’s James Waterman won the invitational with a time of 25:59.

Illinois-Wesleyan came home second, followed by the No. 1 team in the Midwest Region, North Central College.

On the women’s side, Illinois Wesleyan, the top team in the Midwest, won the invitational with a total score of 42 points.             They also had the top finisher in Rachael Williams with a time of 22:35. Illinois Tech finished second, and Carthage took third.

Finishing seventh, with 215 points, were the Warhawk women, who, like the men, were more concerned about giving others opportunities to run. Many personal bests were set on the women’s side as well.

Sophomore Paeton Wantuch led the Warhawks with a time of 24:40. She finished 36th out of 150 runners and had the second fastest time on the team this season.

Junior Dana Landem was the second finisher for the Warhawks with a time of 25:14. She finished 50th.

Looking ahead, the ’Hawks have a meet each of the next three weeks.

The ’Hawks will face a number of conference teams in this week’s Roy Griak Invitational.

The top ten runners from last week’s meet will be running.

“It will give us a good indication of where we are at,” Miller said.

It will be an all-day event with Divisions I-III men’s and women’s cross country teams in the morning and high school teams competing in the afternoon.

UW-Whitewater travels to Cuba City next week and Winneconne the week after.

A Great Sports Probability Website

Joe Burkland has created a great statistical sports site with power rankings for all NFL teams and predictions each week. Here is the link for his site: http://thestatisticaltruth.org/

Touchception

Words cannot describe my feelings right now. I am so ridiculously pissed off, that this will be very difficult to write. The Packers got royally screwed. There are riots in Wisconsin college campuses. The NFL better get the real refs back now. This is absolute horse crap. The replacement referees have made many small errors and small mistakes, but this lost the Green Bay Packers a freaking  football game. What happens if the Packers miss out on a playoff spot or the Seahawks make the playoffs by one game?  People will go back to this game as a reason. The NFL has maintained that the replacement refs are very capable of performing their job. That is complete BS!!!!!  Countless errors have been made throughout all of the games. I am not saying that the professional referees are completely perfec. They have many famously bad calls. This is also not the worst call ever made, but it has to rank up there.

Let’s flashback to the play in case you were living under a rock and not watching the game. Russell Wilson scrambles around and heaves a pass to the end zone. The receiver he is targeting, Golden Tate, egregiously pushes off of Sam Shields which should have been an offensive pass interference. Every on-screen announcer agrees to this. Let’s move past this obvious penalty that should have ended the game. Packers safety M.D. Jennings leaps for the football and catches it with both hands. As he is securing this to his chest, Golden Tate puts an arm on the football. As they fall to the ground, Jennings has the ball clutched to his chest. Golden Tate has now a firm grip with one hand on the ball. Two referees come running from the different corners of the field. The back judge called it correctly as an interception. The side judge came running in and paused before calling a touchdown. The reality is that both of them made the signal for their respective decisions at the exact time, causing this ridiculous picture.

The Seahawks began celebrating as the stadium goes wild. The Packers are in a state of disbeleif, as the play is reviewed. During the review, tv announcers Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden agree that it was a clear interception. They bring in a retired referee, Gerry Austin, that confirms that it was an interception because M.D. Jennings came down with the ball first, therefore no simultaneous posession as the referees called it. Then he dropped a bomb, saying that the replay cannot determine who had posession of the football. So, what exactly did the referees review? Nobody really knows because the stadium never showed a replay. According to a new rule implemented this year, the stadiums are supposed to show what the referee is reviewing on the jumbotrons so the fans can see it as well. According to multiple reports, that never happened. After watching the replay, the referees came out and and said the call stood. After hearing what the rules were, people expected this, but still hoped that the referees would be able to override that rule.

After all of this happened, all of the Packers and some of the Seahawks were in the locker room. According to NFL rules, there must be an extra point kicked even if the game is technically over. During a post-game interview, Pete Carroll was attempting to get 11 guys on the field for the extra point. For a moment it appeared that they would be kicking the extra-point uncontested. Then, slowly, Packers began filing out to the field. It appeared that some of them had already started undressing as their jerseys were already half-rolled up. They went off to the field, kicked the extra-point and went back to the locker room.

In the meantime, Twitter and FaceBook blew up. There is no other words to describe it. Different trends throughout the game had been started all night about various players and plays. Multiple players from the Packers took to twitter to share their frustrations. Packers T.J. Lang had a few explitive laden tweets that gained him over 45,000 followers, and 30,000 retweets. Here is the cleanest tweet that he had, “Any player/coach in Seattle that really thinks they won that game has zero integrity as a man and should be embarrassed.” Josh Sitton, Jerel Worthy, and Jermichael Finley also had a few notable tweets about it. Aaron Rodgers said in an interview that he was in complete shock that they did not reverse the call after the replay. He may get fined after his interview. Frank Gore, the 49ers running back, tweeted, “We need to start a fund for @TJLang70. Dat dude gonna get fined to the moon!”. Perhaps the most remarkable outcry from this debacle was what Clay Matthews posted on his FaceBook page. Reportedly he posted Roger Goodell’s office number on it to contact Goodell about it. That had me laughing about this for a long time. Almost all of these guys will surely be fined.

The Twitter outrage was not just held to the NFL players. Various NBA and PGA pros tweeted in outrage over it. Celebrities and millions of fans alike tweeted, posted pictures to Instagram and posted statuses or pictures on Facebook. People used it as a peaceful way to deal with their tremendous amount of frustration and anger. Some of these posts and tweets were hilarious, while most were extremely inappropriate due to the swearing or topics that were discussed. Many went too far, including multiple death threats, but for the most part, it was non-violent way to express frustration. The biggest trend was #thingsbetterthanreplacementrefs which went on and on.

Throughout the madness, Mikc McCarthy handled it with an amazing amount of class. He started off his press conference by saying that he would not be answering any questions about the referees in the game. He stuck to his word and had a very prototypical losing coaches press conference. Even today he refused to give the referees the blame for this loss. He is already focused on this week’s matchup versus the Saints.

The reaction from every analyst and sports announcer was unquestionably for the Packers. Trent Dilfer and Steve Young were nearly moved to tears talking about how egregiously the NFL had lost the integrity of the game. Rick Reilly was talking to M.D. Jennings and multiple other Packers in the locker room when the replay came up on the tv. An uproar came through the locker room and he reported that there were multiple things thrown in the direction of the tv.

This story has dominated every sports talk show in America. Even Good Morning America opened with this as their lead story. Odds makers  estimate that over 300 million dollars changed hands thanks to this game. On espn.com fantasy football leagues alone there was over 67,000 leagues affected by the outcome of that one final play. Many people think this is the tipping point for the negotiations between the regular referees and the NFL owners. The regular referees have unprecedented leverage in their negotiations with the owners, which is exactly why some analysts said that the owners would not make a deal this week. They went on to say that Roger Goodell is being blamed for everything, but that he works for the owners. If the owners do not give him permission to make the deal with the referees, he cannot go ahead and make the deal.

These are all valid points, but this is a matter of a few million dollars in a billion dollar industry. This deal needed to get done months ago.  I am not even going to pretend to know anything about what the referees or owners want and the financial ramifications of it all. I do know that this labor dispute has to end now, and that the only way it will is through compromise. I urge NFL owners, Roger Goodell, and the referees to get this issue resolved before another team loses a football game that they won fair and square. I do not care what it takes, but get this deal done to make the NFL relevant again. In the meantime, it will be compared to the WWE. I watch the many NFL games every week, but I vow that I will only watch the Packer game this week. 

46 Game Win Streak Snapped, Whitewater Upset

Emotionally Drained.

Depressed.

Stunned.

                These are a few of the words that describe Whitewater’s shocking loss to the Division 2 Buffalo State Bengals. In a hard-fought, defensive minded game, Whitewater’s dominant defense just could not hold the Bengals one more time. Whitewater forced two interceptions and caused a huge fumble to halt a long Buffalo State drive in the early fourth quarter. The Bengals also forced two interceptions of Lee Brekke, although one of them was on the last play’s desperation heave.

                This game was not one to be proud of for the Warhawks. The defense performed spectacularly with only allowing seven points and forcing three turnovers. The offense sputtered all day though. They never really looked in sync. They were led by Lee Brekke who was 14-22 for 188 yards. 84 of those yards went to Tyler Huber who had 5 catches. Ryan Givens fought hard for his 71 yards on 14 carries. He had to break multiple tackles to even make it out of the backfield on nearly every play. The offensive line really struggled to give him room to run all day. Although, the offense did lead them to two missed field goal opportunities.

                The defense really shined. Embodying the motto of bend but don’t break, the defense  aallowed Buffalo State outgain the Warhawks in yards. The difference was that the defense made many game-changing plays that put the Warhawks into a position to win the game. It took a hook and ladder play with two pitches to convert on a 4^th and 10 with 30 seconds left to keep the final drive alive. The defense also had some luck in the fact that the Bengals missed three field goals of their own. But, when it mattered most, Buffalo State drove it 80 yards in a minute and a half for a touchdown. Buffalo State quarterback Casey Kacz connected with receiver Ryan Carney on a slant for a heartbreaking 10 yard touchdown catch with 3 seconds left.

All in all, the defense did what it had to do. The Warhawk’s defense has only given up 7 points through the first two games. Yes, they gave up the winning touchdown, but that was when they were extremely tired and Buffalo State used 2 trick plays to keep the drive moving. This one can be blamed on the sputtering offense who struggled mightily to put points on the board.

Talking to many freshmen, they echoed some of the same words I used to describe the loss. One girl thought it was a bad omen that the 46 game win streak was snapped in the home opener of her freshman year. I could not agree more. The Warhawks will have a tough road ahead to make it back to the Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia. They hope to make it eight years in a row going up against Mount Union for the division three national championship. The Warhawks will look to start a new win streak next Saturday when they host UW-Stevens Point in a non-conference game at 1:00 in Perkins Stadium.

The Color Barrier Broken

It has finally happened. Jackie Robinson has broken the unofficial color barrier. He has become the first African-American player to participate in major league baseball. Robinson made his first career start at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on a historical night set for the record books. It did not matter that he did not get a hit or that the Dodges won the game 5-3 over the Boston Braves. Jackie Robinson played and that was all that mattered.

           Jackie Robinson did not do this overnight. It took nearly 77 years, but it finally happened. Baseball has been segregated since the 1880’s, forcing African-American players to form the Negro leagues for only African-Americans. Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wanted to change that. In a gutsy move, he offered a contract to Jackie Robinson, only after being assured that Jackie would not fight back against the people against any of the naysayers. He prepared him by calling Jackie every racial slur he could think of as he practiced to make sure Jackie was tough enough to not fight back. Rickey knew that if he fought back, it would not work. He is hoping to encourage other teams to take African-American players as well. Obviously Jackie has not fought back and passed his grueling test.

          Jackie joined the Dodgers farm team, the Montreal Royals, in 1946 and proceeded to lead the league in batting. A few days before this 1947 season started, Robinson was called up to the big leagues. The normal second baseman got the start at first and adapted well. It does not matter that he was hitless, it is the fact that over 14,000 African-Americans flocked to the game to see history happen. Mark this date on your calendars folks. 26,623fans were here on April, 15 1947. Remember this day as one that will live on in infamy. This is a historic day in baseball and will be remembered for years to come.

It’s that time of the year again folks. The NBA Playoffs are about to kickoff this weekend. Even with this lockout shortened 66 game season, there were still plenty of memorable moments to look back on. Blake Griffin could make his own personal top 10 dunks of the year, but the play of the year for many is his posterization of Kendrick Perkins. Then of course, there is Ron Artest, sorry Metta World Peace, that “accidentally” elbowed James Harden in the head That gave him a 7 game suspension which makes the Lakers shorthanded to start the playoffs. The Bucks traded disgruntled guard Stephen Jackson and oft-injured center Andrew Bogut for the scoring-machine guard Monta Ellis, and young, exciting Ekpe Udoh. There were many other storylines as well.
As of Wednesday April 25, 2012, these were the playoff matchups. In the west, there is the #1 seed, San Antonio Spurs, who will play the #8 seed, Utah Jazz. Then the #2 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will play the #7, defending NBA champs, Dallas Mavericks. The #6 seeded Denver Nuggets will attempt to upset the shorthanded #3 seeded Los Angeles Lakers. Rounding out the field, there is the #4 seeded Los Angeles Clippers who will play the #5 seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
My predictions are that the Spurs win in in a close series, the Thunder blow out the MAvericks, the Lakers squeak past the Nuggets, and it is a toss up between the Grizzlies and Clippers. With all that being said, crazy stuff can happen in the playoffs. Any team can upset a higher seed at anytime. I believe the Thunder will win in a tough matchup against the Lakers, and whoever wins the Clippers-Grizzlies series beats the Spurs. I will stick with my preseason prediction of the Thunder making it through the deep Western Conference into the NBA Finals.
The East has four teams that I strongly believe can make a run for the NBA title. Those teams would be the Heat, Bulls, Celtics, and Knicks in that order. The problem is that the #1 seeded Chicago Bulls play the #8 seeded New York Knicks in the first round. The #2 seeded Miami Heat will play the #7 seeded Philadelphia 76ers in a rematch from last year’s first round. The #3 seeded Indiana Pacers will take on the #6 seeded Dwight Howard-less Orlando Magic. Finishing off the first round are the #5 seeded Atlanta Hawks who will try to upset the #4 seeded Boston Celtics.
My predictions are far more easier than in the West. I have the Bulls beating the Knicks in a very close 6 or 7 game series. The Heat will take care of business against the 76ers. Without Dwight Howard, the Pacers will have no problem dispatching the Magic. And then the older, more experienced Celtics will take care of the younger Hawks. The Heat will win a good series against a very talented Pacers squad. The Bulls will squeak past the Celtics in a very hotly contested, possibly classic series. That sets up the rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals of the Heat versus the Bulls. I believe the Heat will beat them again to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA FInals.
I stuck with my and many sportswriters early season prediction of the Durant, Westbrook, Harden led Thunder against the Wade, Lebron, Bosh led Heat in a battle for the title.
Both of these teams could win the title, but I would have to go with my favorite team, the Miami Heat. This series could also be an instant classic.
The NBA Playoffs are sure to be a great show as they always are. I can not wait for the Finals. Go Heat!

The Final Day

When the phone rang,

we knew it was trouble. 

Tearing up before my dad hung up, 

The day was eminent.

"Less than a day" he sighed.

Our vision was obscured from the tears, 

and we could not believe our ears. 

It was the last day for our mom. 

I never thought the day would come,

I had hoped and prayed to no avail.

Then my dad asked a simple question,

"Do you want to come with me?"

Never before have I faced a tougher decision,

After much deliberation, we both replied no.

At the time, I thought I was abandoning her, 

but I could not bear to observe her in that much pain.

Looking back now, I know I made the right choice.

The memory of her in her final moments would have been too much.

I love you mom and always will.

I Remember... When We Won the Regional Finals

“WE WANT JUSTIN!!! WE WANT JUSTIN!!!” the crowd roars. I looked over and bust out a huge smile. There were about four minutes left in the game and it was my time.
“Justin, we will give them what the crowd wants. Get in there.” says our coach, Mr. Ketterhagen. I jogged over to the scorer’s table to a cheering frenzy. It was my time to make my mark on this regional finals game.
But wait, I should probably start at the beginning.

Our first round game had been pushed back due to a nasty winter storm on the previous Friday. Once we beat Wayland Academy, we had a 6:00 to 8:00 practice on Sunday night. We were told that Reedsville collapses the paint, but if we made quick and decisive moves, we could beat them.

On Monday, all I could think about was the game. I have no idea what actually happened at school that day. My best guess was that we reviewed for that week’s finals.

I know that I do not get to play too much, but I was so pumped for that game. It was my last home game at Ozaukee. No matter what, I wanted to go out with a bang.

The problem was, my stomach was not feeling that great because I stupidly stuffed myself with McDonald’s with my cousin, Joey, pregame. I was also feeling the effects of the same massive sinus headache that had been nagging me all week.

I arrived at 5:40, which was five minutes early. That being said, I was the last one there. The delicious aroma of fresh popcorn in the concession stand toyed with my stomach making me regret McDonalds even more. I began warming up in the middle school gym, but every time I took a jumper, my head pounded. I was in quite a bit of pain, but once the clock started creeping closer to gametime, my adrenaline kicked into high gear. When we were getting our uniforms on, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps on my arms.
When we came together for the pregame speech, our coach’s message was simple: “You know what you have to do to beat them. We gave you the gameplan for success. No Ozaukee boys team has ever won a Regional Final before. It’s time to make history.”
We prayed and huddled before going to the floor. We were a few minutes early, so we were forced to sit outside in the hallway. A couple people made a few nervous jokes that were not too good, but it broke the ice. When we were let on the court, the small crowd that had gathered, erupted.

We had a good warm-up and went into the locker room at the six minute mark. Mr. Ketterhagen, our coach, gave the starters’ their defensive assignments and repeated the message of, “It’s time to make history.” We were pumped and ready to follow his instructions..

Following the trip to the locker room, we went back to the floor with a much more populated crowd cheering us on. Everyone got some shots in, and after draining a couple of shots, my nerves died down. By this time, my adrenaline had won the battle against my headache, causing me no problems anymore.
The horn sounded signaling there were 45 seconds before game time, so we hustled to our bench. Our coach talked to everyone, but I could not hear him over the noise of the crowd. We lined up for the National Anthem, where Justin Shininger played it on his guitar for the third time that year. I was excited to hear his awesome rendition of it. He definitely did not disappoint.
We gathered on the bench and watched Reedsville’s starters get announced by Tim Job. There was one surprise. Their starting point guard fractured his kneecap in the previous game. He had played the rest of the game on it, so we had game planned for him to be in. Mr. Ketterhagen handed out new defensive matchups as they were announced.
After that, LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem started. It was time to announce our starters. I jogged to the end of the line. Then, the goosebumps started. It was the same thing that happened everytime the starters were announced. I was the last guy in line for the shoulder bump fom Colton, Pat, Steve, and Eric. Doug and I had our own secret pregame handshake. Right, left,right, left, followed by a salute. This time there was a team huddle where we told each other things I will not repeat. It ended with a Warriors chant. The starters took their spots on the floor, and I went to the bench with the rest of the reserves. I took my usual spot between Alex and Owen. I settled in for the greatest game I have ever been a part of.

Steve won the tip, but it started very slowly. Reedsville never had the lead, but we kept it much closer than we should have. The crowd was going crazy during the game. On the bench, I get to watch the entire game and the crowd at the same time which I loved. Of course I am very biased, but I still think that we had the best fans in the CLC.  

I think we took like a 10 point lead at halftime. Our coaches told us that our defense was fantastic, but our offense was sputtering. They drew up a few plays on the whiteboard for us to run off of our offensive sets. We hustled back onto the floor and took some more game shots before the buzzer sounded. Our coaches told us, “It’s 16 minutes before we make some Ozaukee basketball history. Let’s go finish it.”

Hearing that statement, it really dawned on me and how close we were. WOW. As soon as the third quarter started, we went on a run. We were on fire. On the occasional miss, Eric or Steve would get the rebound and put it in. We picked off of all of their passes and attacked on our fast break chances from them. We made our free throws. The boisterous crowd went bananas. Steve’s uncle jumped on the court with a giant fist bump after Steve dunked on a fastbreak and was fouled. The whole bench, including the coaches, went crazy too. I lost my voice and had no feeling left in my hands from clapping and cheering so loud. It can only be described as sheer madness. Reedsville must have called three timeouts in the third quarter to try to stop the madness. It did not matter at all. After their third timeout, Reedsville settled in and made a couple of shots, but that was about it.

At the start of the fourth, Tim Job made a huge announcement, “ Eric Hartnett has now become the Ozaukee all-time scoring leader with over 1003 points.” The crowd roared, Eric gave a quick wave, and then continued playing. We had the countdown going the last few games, and he had known it was probably going to happen tonight. It was still pretty sweet to hear it announced.

We traded baskets, but we had a 20 point lead while doing it. They never threatened a comeback and were getting frustrated. Now my internal countdown began until I could play. My nerves were at an all-time high sitting on the bench, but the second I got on the court, I was just fine. Then, with about five minutes left, the nearly every game cheers of “WE WANT JUSTIN” began. They always started at some point in the 4th quarter if we were winning or losing by more than 10 or so.
Tonight the cheers were at an all-time high. Knowing it was my last home game, they were deafening. WE WANT JUSTIN!!! WE WANT JUSTIN!!!” the crowd roars. I look over and bust out a huge smile. The were about four minutes left and it was my time.

“Justin, we will give them what the crowd wants. Get in there.” says our coach, Mr. Ketterhagen. I jogged over to the scorer’s table to a cheeering frenzy. It was my time to make my mark on this regional finals game.
I came in with Owen, Hunter, Alex, and Andy to finish the game out. The crowd gave a standing ovation to the starters as they left. Before announcing who came into the game, Mr. Job announced that Eric had just set a career high in points with 30 and stood with 1,022 points in his career. The crowd responded with another deafening cheer.

Mr. Job then announced all of the reserves coming in, and saved mine for last. Then, after a slight dramatic pause, announced with the slow drawl to add even more drama to the scene, “And number 30, Justin St. Peter.” No offense to Eric, but I think my cheers might have been a little louder than his.

Those four minutes went by very quickly. Andy, Hunter, and Owen made some free throws when Reedsville tried to follow the chase and foul strategy. I grabbed a rebound and played some solid defense against their starting post until the subs came in.

Quicker than I thought, the clock expired on Reedsville’s season. The final score read Ozaukee 55, Reedsville 34. We lined up and shook hands, and went back to the bench. We listened as Mr. Job congratulated Reedsville on a great year. The entire gym applauded their effort. Then Mr. Job announced us as the first Regional Champions in the history of the school.  Mr. Ketterhagen was presented with the Regional Champs plaque and handed it to the team..

We hustled to the middle of the court, holding our plaque high for pictures. Then the students rushed the court. We joined the students and went crazy in the middle of the court. Eventually, it died down and congratulations were spread around. There were many pictures snapped, and an official team picture was taken with us holding the plaque.

The locker room was a party, and I do not think I made it home until around 10 that night (the game ended about 8:45). I came home elated and of course set a pretty awesome facebook status about it. In all seriousness, that was probably the best day of my life.

Lin-Sane in the Membrane

         Linsanity. The Yellow Mamba. Lintendo 64. Call him what you want, but Jeremy Lin is quickly turning into an NBA star. From California to Harvard, stints with three NBA teams, and a few demotions to the Development League, Jeremy Lin has found his niche with the New York Knicks. After multiple injuries at the point guard position, he received his chance. He came off of the bench and had 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Nets on February 4^th. Everyone, myself included thought it was a fluke. Boy, did he prove us wrong. For everyone that thought he was going to be a star after the first game, you can say you made a great call. For those that did not (including me) we are all fools.

          The next night, he was given his first start against the Utah Jazz. He played without the team’s two big stars, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, and had 28 points and 8 assists.  Many of the ESPN broadcasters’ just thought it was a nice, heart-warming story. Then came the Raptors game. The Knicks traveled to Toronto to play the Raptors. The game was tied at 87 with 14 seconds to go. He called off all of his teammates, dribbled up to the three-point line and calmly drained the game-winning three pointer.

 LINSANITY followed. This is when Jeremy Lin blew up to epic proportions. Any episode of Sportscenter could not go 10 minutes without making a Knicks or Jeremy Lin reference. The nicknames followed. Throughout all of this, he remained humble and thanked his teammates for putting him in position to make those plays. That instantly got him a comparison to Tim Tebow. Now this week, the “so-called experts” are saying that there is no comparison for Jeremy Lin.

The fifth game of LINSANITY was where the Los Angeles Lakers came to town. One of the NBA’s superstars, Kobe Bryant, did not even know who he was before the game. He definitely did afterwards. Lin finished with a career high 38 points in the win as Kobe poured in 33.

After the 7 game win streak with Lin ended after a loss to the lowly Hornets, they faced off against the defending champion, Dallas Mavericks. Being a big fan of basketball, I usually am too busy to watch full games on tv. I made time for this one and it did not disappoint. It was a game of ridiculous runs, clutch three pointers, Dirk Nowitzki dominating, a Steve Novak sighting, and ended with a dose of LINSANITY. Lin had his best game against last year’s champs. His stat line is incredible. He had 28 points, 14 assists, 5 steals, and 7 turnovers. Steve Novak hit 4 three pointers in the 4^th quarter and newly signed J.R. Smith chipped in with 15 points. The Knicks won 105-97.

You cannot talk about Jeremy Lin without throwing out the race card. He is one of the few Asian-Americans in the NBA. He is also the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese decent. This has been very positive for the Asian community. It also brings more cultural diversity towards the NBA. At the same time, this has brought out bad press as well. ESPN had a story online under an offensive title that was removed and apologized for. Three people were fired for similar things as well. This has also been followed by the nickname the “Yellow Mamba” which has been posted on sports websites and signs by fans.

But, Jeremy Lin’s story is really what makes him such a phenomenon. He was a short 160 pound scrawny point guard that led Palo Alto High School to a state title his senior year. After receiving no scholarships from any schools, he went to Harvard which did not give out any athletic scholarships. He became the Ivy League leader in points, assists, steals, and rebounds.

Even after all of this, he still was not drafted in the 2010 NBA Draft. He was invited to the Dallas Mavericks Summer League team. Following that, he signed a two year contract with the Golden State Warriors which was his home town team. He bounced back and forth from being active, inactive, or being demoted to the Development League three times. He played in a tournament in China during the lockout where he was named MVP. Then, as soon as the lockout ended, he was cut. The Rockets picked him up and he played in two preseason games before being cut again. Three days later, the New York Knicks signed him to be their third string point guard due to injuries. On January 17, he was demoted to the Development League again. Three days later, he recorded a triple double in the D-League. On January 23, the Knicks recalled him to the team. The team’s projected starter suffered a setback in his injury, causing the Knicks to keep him a little bit longer. After a February 3^rd loss to the Celtics, coach, Mike D’Antoni, gave him a desperate chance because the team was playing so bad. The rest is history.

Not everything about Jeremy Lin has suggested greatness though. He is averaging 3.4 turnovers per game and had 9 in the loss to the Hornets. The argument can also be made that this is essentially Lin’s rookie year because of lack of playing time last year. There is also the argument that once Carmelo Anthony gets back, they will not play together all that well. At the time of publication, the Knicks were 1-1 since Anthony has been back, so that remains to be seen.

Jeremy Lin is the classic underdog story. He has burst onto the scene to the point where stores are sold out of his jerseys hours after putting them into their stores. He has become a cultural phenomenon, a media sweetheart, and New York’s newest celebrity. These are extraordinary titles and it will be a challenge for him to live up to the high expectations. I will be one of the fans following his career wherever it takes him. I encourage you to jump on the LINSANITY  bandwagon.

Super Bowl Matchup

          The NFC and AFC championship games lived up to the hype and were great football games. The Patriots and Giants are headed to the Super Bowl based off of some major mistakes by 49ers and Ravens.

In the AFC Championship game, the Patriots had a 23-20 lead with just under two minutes left. The Ravens had the ball and had to go approximately 70 yards to go for the score. Joe Flacco calmly led them down the field against the Patriots 31^st ranked defense. He threw a pass into the end zone that Lee Evans (former Badger great) had in his hands before Sterling Moore stripped it out of his hands. If he would have caught it, the Ravens would have won. Instead, the Ravens were forced to kick a field goal to plays later to send it into overtime. Billy Cundiff, last year’s AFC Pro Bowl kicker, promptly shanked a 32 yard field goal. All that was left was a kneel down by Tom Brady, and the Patriots were in the Super Bowl. It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch.

          Now, all that was left to see is who they would play. The NFC Championship game was an even better game. The 49ers had a 14-10 lead before they muffed a punt. The Giants got the ball and went 30 yards for a touchdown pass. The 49ers kicked a field goal late in the fourth quarter to knot it up at 17. Each team then had multiple opportunities to score, but it went to overtime.

The Giants won the toss. According to the playoff overtime rules, a touchdown wins the game (Tim Tebow’s 80 yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas when the Broncos beat the Steelers). If a field goal is made, the other team gets one possession to try and tie it. This never happened as both teams turned up the heat on the quarterback in the overtime. It came down to another special teams problem for the 49ers. This time the punt returner, Kyle Williams, had the ball stripped as he turned up field. The Giants fell on it and were in position to win it immediately. Lawrence Tynes kicked a 31 yard field a few plays later, and the Giants were in the Super Bowl.

This game is a rematch of Super Bowl 42 from four years ago. The Patriots came into the game undefeated and looked to become the second team in NFL history to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl. In a play forever known as “The Catch”, Eli Manning escapes pressure and chucks it deep to David Tyree who pins it against his helmet as he out-jumps Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. That play set up the Plaxico Burress touchdown which won them the Super Bowl.

Many already see this game as redemption for the Patriots. I personally hope that does not happen. I was rooting for the 49ers and Ravens to go to the Super Bowl, but obviously that did not happen. I hate picking the team that beat the Packers, but I just cannot give the Patriots my Super Bowl pick. Hopefully the Giants win the rematch.

Ozaukee Boys Basketball

Quick disclaimer: This article was created on December 18th as well, but was published today.

              It is a lot of fun to be part of the Ozaukee boys’ basketball team. Our record (when this article was written) is 4-2 overall and 3-1 in conference.  Our record does not even come close to saying it all though.

The first games were a great way to start of the year. Against Sheboygan Christian, we had a big lead, but let it slip away in the closing minutes. We still won by 18. Multiple people had their first varsity points. Then we played Kohler. We played stifling defense and held Kohler to 27 points. We won that game 59-27 and held Kohler to only 2 points in the fourth quarter.

Then it was the Port Washington game. The last time that we had played Port was 2002. I had the game circled on the calendar for a long time because my stepbrother, Zach Hauser, is one of their starters. Our family was extremely excited for the game. My stepmom sewed a shirt together that had Port Washington on one side and Ozaukee on the other. A day before the game began; we were dealt a huge blow. Pat Kroening was out until January 6. We really missed him that game.  In a very sloppy game, Port Washington beat Ozaukee 50 to 43. We made a late charge, but it was too little, too late.

Then on that Thursday, it was off to Oostburg. They won the conference last year and beat us in regionals. It was a dogfight the whole way. We were down by a couple at halftime. In the third quarter, Eric Hartnett dominated. He was given the ball at least 7 times in a row down the floor and scored nearly every time. We opened the fourth quarter with a 1 point lead, before Oostburg took over and won 59-43. I cannot wait to play them again at home.

Last Tuesday, we faced a tough non-conference opponent in the Kiel Raiders. We faced adversity well, with Doug Grimm, Eric Hartnett, and Steve Street getting hurt in the game. All 3 came back at the end and played a crucial role in the outcome. Eric had a career high 29 points on basically one leg, and Doug made 4 clutch free throws in the last 45 seconds. We went 13/14 from the free throw line in that game which was very impressive.

On Friday, we played Random Lake. It was parents’ nights, silent night, and the fight for the jersey, which only added more fuel to the fire of a game against our biggest rival. The JV got their first win of the season.  Then all of the parents were announced. Warm-ups ended with Justin Shininger’s awesome rendition of the National Anthem on the guitar. Starters were announced and the team tebowed. After that, the gym was eerily quiet. The Random Lake fans had a lot to cheer about and they took an early lead. Ozaukee fans followed the tradition of Silent Night and were quiet until Ozaukee scored their 10^th point. It took a long time. With about 4 minutes left in the second quarter, Steve Street stole the ball and dribbled down for a fast break dunk. It was our 11^th point and the crowd went crazy. Random Lake was forced to call a timeout. After that, the crowd never let up. We were still trailing by 10 in the third quarter when the group of Andy Richter, Owen Miller, Tyler Bares, Steve Street, and Eric Hartnett gave us a lead with four minutes left in the game. It was back and forth down the stretch. With less than a minute left, each time was at the free throw line a couple of times from some interesting calls both ways. From what I remember, Doug hit one of two free throws. . Next it was Andy Richter’s turn, and he hit two huge free throws. Then, Evan Rathke of Random Lake went to the line and missed both free throws. Eric got the rebound and was forced into a turnover. Then the defense made a great stop, and Ozaukee escaped with a victory. Andy was able to take home the jersey which is a Random Lake jersey sewed together with an Ozaukee jersey. Whoever wins gets to keep it in their display case until the next matchup. The tradition was ironically started by Mr. Ketterhagen and Coach Krier. At the time he was coaching for Random Lake, but this year switched sides and is an assistant under Coach K.

The Ozaukee Warriors are off to a great start. We are looking to build off of the momentum from this tough win against Random Lake, and head into this week with game at Kohler on Tuesday and at Howards Grove on Thursday. We would like to thank all of our fans for supporting us and hope to see them at the rest of the games this year.

TEBOWMANIA: published in The Warcry

Tim Tebow is one of the most overrated players in the NFL. Do not get me wrong, he is one of my favorite players in the league. He is a great player, but he is not a one-man team. The rest of the Broncos have played incredibly as well. Tebow is the one that has gotten all of the popularity and has deserved quite a bit of it. He has led the team to a 7-1 record as a starting quarterback that took over after a 1-4 start by the Broncos. They are leading the AFC West division by one game. He has led thrilling drives when the Broncos were written off from having a chance to win.

          Tim Tebow’s college career for the Florida Gators was incredible. As a freshman, he was a backup quarterback when they won the National Championship that year. In his three years as a starter, he was a finalist for the Heisman award every year. He also became the first sophomore to win the award. In his junior year, he led the Gators to another national championship. During that year, Florida had an early season loss to Ole Miss when Tim delivered the speech that has since been known as “The Promise”:

:”“To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida has never done here.” “I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season.” “You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season.”

He fulfilled that promise and won the National Championship that year. Tebow was selected with the 25^th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He was made a starter for the final 3 games of his rookie year where he went 1-2. This year, new coach John Fox made Kyle Orton (the same guy that Tebow had replaced the year before) his starting quarterback. There was speculation if Tebow was even the 2^nd string quarterback after a terrible preseason. The Broncos started the year 1-4 with Orton as quarterback. During that span, Denver fans would come to the games just to yell, “WE WANT TEBOW.” There was even false speculation that Fox might lose his job for not starting Tebow. Week 6 was the Broncos bye week, and John Fox made the decision to give Tebow the starting gig. He was promptly ripped apart by reporters for giving into the fans.

His first start was at the Miami Dolphins which was fitting for the Florida native.  He looked terrible for the first 55 minutes of the game. Then it was Tebow time. He went 10-19 with 137 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Tebow ran in the two point conversion to tie the game at 15-15 with 17 seconds left in the game. The Broncos won in overtime on a field goal by Matt Prater.

The next week, the Broncos were annihilated by the Lions. There was more speculation if Tebow should be the starter or if Fox should have stayed with Orton. Fox stuck with him and the Broncos have had a 6 game winning streak ever since. Almost all of these have been won very late in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Tebow has had many reporters who ripped him in the past, change their stance on him. I will admit that I was always a Tebow fan, but I never thought he would do anything in the pros. Now ESPN (which had spent the entire season ripping him apart) have something good about Tebow daily. They spent half of their three hour Sunday morning show talking about the Broncos vs. Patriots game. He has had a ridiculous amount of articles written on him and the Broncos comebacks. Through all of this, he has stayed remarkably humble. He has never even thought about boasting or bragging. He has always put the team first. ESPN had him a microphone on him the whole game, and all he talked about was believing. Not one of his comments was negative. He was always telling his teammates to believe. There was a lot of praying and thanking god as well. Rick Reilly ( a famous sports writer) hired a lip reader who studied Tebow a couple of games this year. The worst thing he ever saw was Tebow getting in someone’s face and saying “Let’s go!”

The Broncos have won on some pretty miraculous plays made him by him and his teammates. He is a very openly religious person and some people claim that he has the power of god on his side. I will not speculate either way. There has been a cultural phenomenon resulting from this though. It’s called Tebowing. It has become a verb in many people’s everyday language. An example of it has been shown in the picture at the top. There are pictures of people doing it all over the world. It has hit our school as well. In my personal fitness class, I know that most of the guys in the class Tebow before playing. It is a fun thing to do. We even incorporated into our pregame basketball ritual. Fans at the game did it as well. IN New York, 4 kids were suspended for tebowing in the hallway. They apparently clogged the hallway. Same thing happened at Nicolet High School in Fox Point. Bottom line, it is a fun thing to do, but be careful where you do it.

Tim Tebow has quickly become a cultural icon. Yes, he is just a football player, but he is so much more. He is a guy that shows anything is possible. No matter what happens with the rest of the Broncos season, he will always be remembered for what he has done this year. My bold prediction is that the Broncos will lose to the Packers in the Super Bowl.