Why it's probably a good thing that Wisconsin lost the Rose Bowl
First, let me get two things out of the way:
1. I really do wish Wisconsin would have won. I'm still upset to the point that I haven't read or listened to anything about the game.
2. WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO PASS FOR THE 2-POINT CONVERSION?!?!!???
Whew. Okay, now I'm ready.
Right after the Rose Bowl matchup was announced the Wisconsin State Journal ran an article about how TCU was about the same size as UW-Whitewater. Oh ha ha. That set the tone . In the weeks to follow Wisconsin fans were saying crap like "TC WHO??" and basically acting like there was no way we could lose.
To be fair, I didn't think we could lose either. I thought we'd beat anyone. I think that's a fairly healthy attitude. However, acting like TCU was some chump school isn't, and that's what I think a lot of Wisconsin fans did.
As fans, we acted like bullies. We had too much hubris. The football gods were not pleased with our attitudes and predictably knocked us down a few pegs.
The Wisconsin fan base shouldn't be about making fun of other teams or schools. Remember when we were called "the worst team to ever play in the Rose Bowl?" Remember how that felt and remember how the Badgers responded to it? It's stupid to give your opponent that kind of motivation.
But it's more than being stupid. It's classless. We're Wisconsin. We know we're awesome. We don't need to put down other schools to prove we're better. We prove we're better by being better - on the field, around town, after the game, in the parking lot and on the anchor man drinking teams.
When we found out we were playing TCU, we should have been excited to not only go back to the Rose Bowl, but to do so against an undefeated team ranked above us. This was an amazing opportunity to prove that our team and our fans still had it. Rather than embrace that, we suddenly acted like we were the Ohio State University or USC or something - like we were so above all of this.
No, we're not. We're Wisconsin. Our image isn't just about winning football games. We're the good time school. We're fun. Bullies and dbags aren't fun (they're Cubs fans - oh yeah, I said it).
Wisconsin lost the Rose Bowl and that's terrible, but I also hope we lost the attitude. It simply doesn't become us.
Posted by kris at January 3, 2011 08:21 AM
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Comments
| # January 3rd, 2011 8:41 AM james |
| I dunno, TCU is a little tiny school who until Saturday hadn't beaten anybody. I think it was fair to question their Rose Bowl appearance. It's not making fun of them, it's stating an opinion.
I didn't see many Wisconsin people flat-out insulting or "disrespecting" them. I did think we'd win that game by 37 points, because I thought we were that much better than TCU and everyone else. Turns out I was wrong. I feel like the TCU fans invented a lot of the controversy. Following the game, there have been thousands of tweets from TCU fans that read: "UNbelievable! After Rose Bowl, Wisconsin coach says that TCU will get crushed by Big East schedule next year! How classless!!!" Bielema didn't say anything like that. He said that TCU is a good team, and with them playing a Big East schedule next year, they won't have so many people questioning it. It was a compliment. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 8:46 AM kris |
| But it shouldn't have mattered who we played at all - because Wisconsin fans shouldn't really even care who the opponent is - we should be all about Wisconsin, you know? |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:01 AM james |
| TCU deserved to win that game, and though we can't say it out loud without looking like crybabies, we all know that Wisconsin played like crap. Maybe that's in part due to TCU's game plan, I dunno. But I still feel like if we played that game 10 more times, the Badgers would win at least 7. Then again, I thought that the Badgers would win in a landslide, so what do I know? It's probably not fair of me to even say that. I probably look petty. And it probably is petty. But still... |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:07 AM kris |
| I think TCU's coach said something before the game like "If we win are you guys just going to say we won because Wisconsin didn't play well?" I feel sorry for him because they really did win because Wisconsin didn't play well. The receivers played like crap and it killed not to have Kendricks in the game. So yeah, I think they won because we played like crap.
But, that's not really my point. I just think we, as a fan base, got away from who we are. Also - probably even more important is the fact that if we had won Bielema would be super entrenched. I still don't like the guy and I don't think he's the right coach for us. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:19 AM james |
| On the plus side, the #5 Badgers lost to the #3 Horned Frogs by 2 points. No shame in that - they weren't supposed to win the game. They even managed to cover the spread. :) (We beat the spread! We beat the spread!)
I've changed my stance in Bielema. Loved the guy, then hated the guy, and now I like him again. He's a young coach who seems to be still learning & improving. I have a feeling he's around for the long haul, barring some sensational scandal that gets him canned. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:23 AM james |
I see that Don Treadwell was hired by Miami (Ohio). Also learned that they call Miami the "cradle of coaches."
The Cradle of Coaches is a nickname given to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for producing star football coaches including Earl Blaik, Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Bill Arnsparger, George Little, Weeb Ewbank, Sid Gillman, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, Carmen Cozza, Bill Mallory, Jim Tressel, Joe Novak, Ron Zook, Dick Crum, Paul Dietzel, William Narduzzi, Randy Walker, John Harbaugh, Gary Moeller, Larry Smith, Dick Tomey, Sean Payton and Terry Hoeppner. So I guess it's a good job to get? I thought Treadwell would have been able to land a much higher profile gig at this point. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:38 AM kris |
| Who's Don Treadwell?
I still don't like Bielema. I've heard too many stories about him drunkenly making out with college chicks at bars. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:39 AM kris |
| Also "We beat the spread!" "We beat the spread!" is so the Wisconsin way to do things! |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:40 AM james |
| The Michigan State OC who coached the team vs. Wisconsin. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 9:41 AM kris |
| Oooh...he's awesome. Hmmm, well yeah, that's probably a good gig on the way to a head coaching job in the Big Ten then. You've gotta figure that Zook probably only has a year or two left and then he'd look good there. |
| # January 3rd, 2011 7:40 PM themandownthehall |
| I wish I could have seen your game. Sadly I was driving home to Carolina after watching my team made into shredded cheese and put on a taco for dinner...
TCU had no reason before the Rose Bowl to be ranked 3rd. There was no reason for anyone to think differently than James. I figured anyone who can lay 80 on a big 10 team can lay a ton on TCU. Plus last year they were oh, so deserving of that ranking before BSU mauled them. And as for the fans, well, come on, it's TCU. Before this,who the heck were they? I know you shouldn't have taken them lightly, but I don't know of a team or fanbase that wouldn't have. Still, great season guys. Your Badgers did well. After Harbaugh gets to Ann Arbor maybe we'll compete again! |