Wisconsin News and Sports
The Wisconsin Badger football team, despite a loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl, finished in the top 15 in both major college top 25 football polls.
Wisconsin (10-4) is 13th in the Amway Coaches poll and 11th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Badgers had three Big Ten teams finish in front of them, Ohio State, Penn State and Minnesota. The Buckeyes are third in both polls, Penn State finished 9th and Minnesota was 10th.
Aaron Rodgers File Photo UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Aaron Rodgers played one of his best games of the season, helping the Green Bay Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23 in the NFC Divisional playoffs and securing a rematch with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.
Rodgers and Davante Adams put the Packers on their backs, connecting eight times for 160 yards and two touchdowns. The 160 receiving yards for Adams is a Green Bay Packers playoff-franchise record.
When the Packers needed a big play, Rodgers was there to deliver a series of pinpoint accurate passes, helping his team to a season best 9-of-14 on third downs (69%). That is the best third down accuracy rate for the Packers since the 2016 season.
Rodgers sealed the victory with a pair of third-down passes, a 32-yard pass to Adams on a third-and-8 [Read more…]
Josh Hader File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The Milwaukee Brewers and their ace closer Josh Hader are scheduled to swap salary figures today. Hader is in his first year of arbitration as a “Super 2” player (ranking among the top 22% of players with between two and three years of service time).
Hader hit the cutoff date at 2 years, 115 days, which gives him four years of arbitration instead of the customary three.
In 151 games in the majors, Hader is accumulated a 11-9 record, 2.42 ERA, 49 saves and a 0.845 WHIP. He’s won the National League’s Reliever of the Year award the last two seasons.
Hader is expected to make between $4 million and $5 million in his first year of arbitration. The figure [Read more…]
One of the great golf design minds, World Golf Hall of Famer Pete Dye passed away at the age of 94.
Dye designed Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits near Kohler. He also designed Florida’s TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship and Kiawah Island in South Carolina, which has hosted both a PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup.
One of his most famous creations was the 17th-hole island green at TPC Sawgrass.
Whistling Straits will host the 2020 Ryder Cup later this year.
Camp Randall Stadium (Photo by David Stluka)
The Wisconsin Badgers will open the 2020 season against Big Ten foe Indiana on Friday, Sept. 4 at Camp Randall Stadium. The game time and broadcast network will be announced at a later date.
It marks the fourth time in the last 10 years that Wisconsin has opened a season with a night game at Camp Randall.
Indiana is one of four teams that played in bowl games in 2019 that will visit Madison in 2020. In addition to the Hoosiers, Appalachian State (Sept. 19), Minnesota (Oct. 10) and Illinois (Oct. 31) come to Camp Randall next season.
The home schedule also includes Southern Illinois (Sept. 12) and Nebraska (Nov. 21).
Kobe King (Photo by David Stluka)
The Wisconsin Badgers saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, falling to Illinois 71-70 on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers 15-game winning streak against the Illini also came to an end.
Illinois (11-5, 3-2 Big Ten) defeated Wisconsin for the first time since Jan. 2, 2011. The Illini won for the first time in Madison since Feb. 9, 2010.
The Illini became just the fourth Big Ten team to win a league game on the road this season, joining the Badgers, Michigan State and Rutgers. Overall, Big Ten teams are 4-25 on the road in league play.
Sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu hit a three-pointer that put Illinois up 71-67 with 45.6 seconds left. Dosunmu led the Illini with 18 points and six assists.
Wisconsin’s Kobe King answered with a three-pointer with 22.6 seconds left to climb to within one point. Giorgi Bezhanishvili missed the front of the bonus which gave the Badgers a chance. But guard D’Mitrik [Read more…]
They’re not always going to be perfect and Wednesday night’s game against Golden State in San Francisco is a perfect example of that. But when the dust settled, the Milwaukee Bucks pulled out a 107-98 win over the Warriors.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Bucks. Khris Middleton added 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Milwaukee improved to an NBA best 33-6 on the season and 15-4 on the road.
Just like in the Bucks loss at San Antonio on Monday, the Warriors packed the paint and invited the Bucks to fire away from three-point range. The Bucks hit just 9-of-41 from distance (22%), their second-worst game of the season.
Antetokounmpo is just 1 for 12 from three-point range in the first two games of the road trip. Middleton is 4 for 15. Donte DiVincenzo is 2 of 11 and Eric Bledsoe just 2 of 8.
The Bucks rely on three-point shooting for their success, so they’re hoping the recent slump is short-lived.
Alec Burks led the Warriors with 19 points off the bench. Glenn Robinson the Third and Damion Lee added 15 points apiece in the loss. Golden State has now lost six straight to fall to 9-30.
The Bucks play the third game of their four-game road trip at Sacramento on Friday night.
Tyler Biadasz
Wisconsin Badger junior center Tyler Biadasz, who is Wisconsin’s first winner of the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s outstanding center, is leaving Madison a year early and declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft.
Biadasz made the announcement with a video posted to his Twitter account: @TylerBiadasz.
“Playing for the Badgers was always a dream for me, but the last three years have been more than a dream,” Biadasz said. “I’ve been blessed to be part of this program and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together. We’re a family and it’s hard to say goodbye to my teammates and coaches, but I’ll always be a Badger. Now I’m going to attack this opportunity to play in the NFL with everything I have.”
The Amherst, Wisconsin native played in all 41 games over the last three seasons, starting at center in [Read more…]
The Milwaukee Bucks saw their five-game winning streak come to an end on Monday night, falling 126-104 to the Spurs in San Antonio.
DeMar DeRozan had 25 points and the Spurs had a season-high 19 three-pointers to beat the Bucks two days after losing in Milwaukee last Saturday night.
Patty Mills added 21 points, including 6-of-10 three-pointers as the Spurs hit 19 of 35 (51%) from distance. LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay added 18 points each for San Antonio.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Bucks. Donte DiVincenzo added 16.
Despite the loss, the Bucks still have the NBA’s best record at 32-6. They will play game two of their four-game road trip at Golden State on Wednesday night.
Some thought that Eric Thames would eventually find his way back to Milwaukee, but the slugging first baseman instead, signed a one-year deal worth a reported $3-million with the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals.
According to the Athletic, Thames will earn $3-million this season with a mutual option for 2021 worth $4-million and a $1-million buyout.
The Brewers added free agent first baseman Justin Smoak, making Thames somewhat expendable.
In three seasons with the Brewers, Thames hit .241 with 72 home runs and 161 RBI in 383 games. He’s expected to share time in Washington with returning veteran Howie Kendricks.