January 27, 2012

Badger football schedule update

The Wisconsin football team will play Indiana at 11am CT on Oct. 15 for its annual Homecoming game.  Television details haven’t been finalized, but the game will air on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 or the Big Ten Network.

The Badgers have won six of its last seven Homecoming games, including a 41-23 victory over the Minnesota Gophers last season.  This will be the 11th time that the Hoosiers have served as the Badgers’ Homecoming opponent, and Wisconsin holds a 9-1 record in the previous 10 contests. 

Last season, the Badgers rolled to a 83-20 win over Indiana, on Nov. 13.  UW matched the most points ever scored in a Big Ten Conference game, and the most by a UW team since 1915, while taking their sixth-straight win over the Hoosiers.

The Badgers will kick off the 2011 season on Thursday, Sept. 1, against UNLV (7pm) at Camp Randall Stadium.

NCAA releases academic numbers

The NCAA released the Academic Progress Rate numbers on Tuesday.  The numbers measure how well schools are able to graduate their athletes.

Among the four Division 1 institutions in Wisconsin, only UW-Milwaukee’s men’s basketball team came close to facing a penalty with an APR score just 1-point above the cut line.

Packers set shareholders meeting

The Green Bay Packers have scheduled their annual shareholders meeting

2010 Shareholders Meeting

for July 28th at Lambeau Field.  The Packers say the meeting will be held regardless of whether the NFL and players have a new collective bargaining agreement is in place.

The Packers, being publicly owned, must report their financial results every year.  Those figures typically are made available beforehand.  But this meeting will likely draw more attention than usual if the lockout is still in place.

The Packers also set their Family Night Scrimmage for August 6th if the labor impasse is resolved.

County finds savings at work release center

Dane County officials announced Tuesday that they’ve found a way to save a million dollars from the sheriff’s department budget. Newly elected County Executive Joe Parisi says the savings that will result from closing the second floor of the county’s Huber work release center are “significant” – but just a portion of the county’s budget challenges. “For example, the cost to continue in the sheriff’s office . . . just because of inflation the cost to continue is increasing by two million dollars,” Parisi noted. Parisi negotiated the partial shut down with Sheriff Dave Mahoney. Mahoney said the savings will come from moving some inmates into the jail, and using electronic monitoring on low risk offenders, allowing Mahoney to place on hold the hiring of ten deputy sheriffs. The county’s work release center has a capacity of 144 inmates and will house a little more than 100 when the changes are made.

Brewers come from behind to win!

Rickie Weeks 2-run homer in the 7th got the Milwaukee Brewers to within a run and Jonathan Lucroy’s two-out single to right in the 8th inning turned out to be the game winner in a 7-6 come from behind win over the Washington Nationals.  It’s the 8th straight win at Miller Park, the longest win streak in the team’s 10-year history at the ballpark. [Read more...]