Ted_Perry's Blog

Did you know the students at Davidson don't have to do their own laundry? Seriously, the school does students' laundry so they can have more time to study. Seriously, I'm not making this up. The school's president says academics is number one on the DU campus.

So even though school is in session, the school is paying for FLIGHTS and GAME TICKETS for any student who wants to go to Detroit for the game. So much for academics being number one.

Usually, I cheer for the underdog this time of year but c'mon how can I like a school that pampers students like this? Call it my UW public school bias but I can't wait for Bucky to end this story a few hours from now.  At the UW we did our own laundry. Or in the case of one of my roommate's who shall remain nameless, we didn't do laundry at all. (I never went in his room it was so ripe in there.)

Anyway Cinderella,the dj called last dance so take the floor, let the national media fawn for a few minutes, and then take off the glass slipper before you cut yourself.  Remember your place Cinderella--you'll be back in rags soon.  And make sure you clean my bathtub too---you forgot to do that last time. Just don't touch the laundry, I know you've never learned to do that.

Ok, those of you who know anything about me know I'm a huge fan of the Wisconsin Badgers having graduated from there in 1986 (although the University has asked me to say I went elsewhere!).

But I'm also a Big Ten fan having grown up blocks away from Dyche Stadium (home of the Northwestern Wildcats) and having several siblings and in-laws graduate from the University of Illinois.  I actually rooted for the Blue and Orange before falling in love with the Cardinal and White. Anyway.....

One of the things I like about Illini fans is a little thing they do when they see other fans wearing Illinois t-shirts or sweat shirts. The first person to notice the other yells "I-L-L..."...and the other person yells, "...I-N-I". It spells, of course, Illini.  When it works, it's kind of fun. When it doesn't...it goes over like a fart in church.

So today I'm at the grocery store and I see this woman wearing sweatshirt that says "University of Illinois" on it. As she passes me, I look at her and say "I-L-L...." and then....silence. More than silence. I got a look from her that was about the same look I would have been given if I said, "Hey lady..want to go over to the produce aisle and make out?" It was the most uncomfortable part of my day.

But the day is still young.

There's a park about a half-block from my house and off to the side is a batting cage where a pitcher stands behind a screen and throws to the batter. It's all fenced in with netting so that no balls can get loose.

Anyway, I was driving by the other day and this dad was throwing to his kid who couldn't have been more than eight but probably more like six.  This kid had one of the sweetest swings I've ever seen for someone that age.  I'm no Ted Williams but I played a little baseball in high school and coached some in my adult life so I know the basics of hitting.

Whack....whack....whack....whack...this kid was a machine. Line drive after line drive. That kid's dad was grateful for the protective screen, I'll tell you that.

Just as I was thinking, "That guy is probably the best boy on his team" I looked over again and saw this long hair out of the back of the batting helmet.  The little dude was really a dudette. I stand only minorly corrected: That girl is probably the best player on her team.

I believe the expression is "You go girl".

There's this book out called "The Secret" which I haven't read and don't really plan to but the premise is positive thoughts can produce positive results. (Duh)

But I thought, let's give it a try with our Milwaukee Brewers. Since the Opening Day win against the Dodgers, I have been saying, "THAT'S why we're going to the World Series."

I say it two to four times a game. You don't want to overdo it but don't undersell it either.

I said it a lot last night when I was at the game. JJ goes deep in the whole to rob a single..."THAT'S why we're going to the World Series"....Prince hits two home runs on Sunday ..."THAT'S why we're going to the World Series".

So say it often and say it proud....and if you say it enough ...well maybe "THATS why we're going to the World Series."

I won't kid you-this one hurts.

When Badgers fans filled out their brackets this year, they could hand them in without fear of ridicule if they had Bucky in the Final Four. This year, it wasn't just wishful thinking.

Or was it?

I love college hoops but I'm not enough of an X's and O's guy to know why UNLV beat Wisconsin on Sunday. I just know they scored more points.

Still, I'm no less of a fan than I was going into the tourney and that's mostly because I'm a fan of they guy running the program:Bo Ryan.

A few years back, I had the honor of hosting an alumni dinner sponsored by a Wisconsin Alumni group in Waukesha County. Bo Ryan was the guest speaker and as we sat having dinner before his speech, it came up that I was from Baraboo. Well Bo starts in with this amazing memory, "I coached Steve Showalter at Platteville......"

Steve Showalter was two years behind me at BHS. Great athlete, very good guy and now a cop in Germantown as well as the boys hoops coach at the high school. I expected Ryan to remember Steve-they won a national title together after all.

What really impressed me about Bo Ryan is he started naming names, stats and scouting reports of guys in my class who DIDN'T play for Bo. I mean dead-on accurate summaries of their games, strengths, weaknesses and attitudes. And this was 20 years after they played! I remember thinking, this guy is a basketball computer. He could also talk a dog off a meat wagon- no wonder so many kids want to play for him.

HBO's "Real Sports" (the absolute best show on cable tv) and Sports Illustrated recently did glowing pieces on Bo both calling him the "best coach you've never heard of". Both stories pointed out that Ryan runs a program the way it's supposed to be run. That is to say most of his players graduate, there's not a whiff of scandal and the players are the kind of guys you don't feel like a hypocrite rooting for.

Alando Tucker is perhaps the best example. He's clearly destined to make millions in the NBA and could have gone last year but getting his degree and playing his senior year were more important. You think Greg Oden is sticking around Ohio State to get a degree? Not even Art Schlister would take that bet.

Trust me, I sat through a lot of mediocre basketball when I was a student at UW during the Steve Yoder years. No disrespect to Coach Yoder but Bucky was not a national power then and the prospects of becoming one weren't great. You left the game happy if you got in a good 40 minutes of heckling Iowa players. (Trust me, you haven't lived until you've sat with my former roommate and good friend John Canepa screaming at Herky Hawkeye and anything else dressed in black and gold. John's a pharmacist now and is the most mild mannered guy you'd ever meet. Until tipoff.)

So Bo, thanks for a great year. My brackets are in shambles, my heart is slightly broken but I'm still proud to say we have the best coach in the country running the show.

On Wisconsin!