Pop the champagne...we've got a mailbag folks! Our first ever question came from my college buddy "Ross Gellar". Now, typically, the way mailbags work is that someone asks us a question and we answer it...but every blog does that. I'm going to try and change this up a bit, and pose all questions to you...my 15 readers. Use the comments section to let me know your answer! And if you want to be heard in this blog or have a question of your own...email me at firstandbigten@gmail.com!!
Ross' Question: Which team in the Big Ten has been the most disappointing over the last 5 years?
F&BT fans...I want to know what you think. Look for my answer to this question in the near future, but in the meantime...give Ross' answer to his own question a little thought. Forewarning, Ross Gellar is a Badger fan and sent this in on Saturday after Michigan did something terrible to the Badgers. Enjoy.
Ross' Answer:
There are so many ways to subjectively consider this question. Look at some of the worst performing teams over the past 5 years and you could say that Indiana or Northwestern have been the most disappointing. Minnesota's 1-11 season last year was terrible and disappointing for their fans. And certainly, Ohio State laying two eggs in the last two national championship games is disappointing for the entire Big Ten. Those are persuasive arguments.
But how is Wisconsin simply not the most disappointing program in the last five years. In 2005, this team lost to Northwestern and then had two, count 'em, two opportunities to go to the Rose Bowl. Both were losses in back to back weeks to Penn State and Iowa. The year before that it was the same story. Go to Michigan State and win and you go to Pasadena at worst. In consecutive weeks they choked!
And the 2003 team underperformed its way to 7-6 record.
Last year, the team was ranked in the top 5 (admittedly way overrated, but isn't not living up to a high ranking the definition of sports disappointment?) and lost in a cataclysmic manner in Illinois. Then they got waxed in State College the next week. Show you are a second-class citizen in the Big Ten by losing to Ohio State and you have yourself a berth in the Outback Bowl (which you lose to a declining program in Tennessee). Fantastic.
Today's loss to Michigan is really just a continuation of the past 4 years. This team was given a golden opportunity...a loss by OSU opened the door for them to beat a down Michigan team then have the Big Ten's other best teams at their place. But, in typical Wisconsin fashion, we can't win the big game.
You might interject right now, haven't they won 3 Rose Bowls in the last 15 years? Yes that's true. But we haven't sniffed the Rose or any other BCS bowl since the 1999 season. Every time we have, we have had a massive meltdown. So, I don't define disappointment as being terrible (Indiana, Northwestern or Minnesota) or getting to a championship game and then choking. Hey, at least Buckeye fans got to spend their December's under the (misguided) belief that they had a championship caliber team on their hands! With the Badgers, we are good enough to have the opportunities but never quite good enough to actually seize them.
That's why, in my opinion, the University of Wisconsin has been the most disappointing program in the Big Ten in the last 5 years. And don't get me started with why...I think it boils down to not having a playmaker at the most important position on the field. Sorgi, Stocco, Donovan, Evridge....game manager, game manager, game manager. Give me someone who can win the big game, not just get me there!!!
Showing posts with label Terrible Losses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrible Losses. Show all posts
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Absolute Worst Way to Lose....Ever
A forewarning that this post is not going to be family friendly or acceptible at most work places. I thought about saving it for tomorrow when I may be more rational or have some perspective. Nope.
Fuck.
I mean....Fuck. It can't possibly be worse than this. There's no worse way to lose...we've set a new record. Michigan's upset of my Wisconsin Badgers is absolutely to worst way to lose in the history of sports.
Blowout...I'll take it. It's a slow, painful death. Late touchdown to seal it...fine. We didn't deserve to win. Going for the endzone down 7 and failing...it's ok. We probably should have won, but we didn't. I can live with all of those....but I don't know if I can live with this. This was brutal.
As a preface, I woke up this morning and watched the NU @ Iowa game. Iowa was driving with just over a minute to go in the 4th quarter and failed to get a touchdown from 1st and goal from the 8. The 4th down pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage, and Iowa lost. Knowing WildHawk was at the game, and that he hadn't decided who to cheer for, I texted him looking for his first reaction to the 4th down stop..."Happy or Disappointed?"
"Disappointed"
Well, that sucks. I felt bad for him, as it was homecoming and all. But it was a great game to watch, and I knew that Iowa fans probably felt horrible as they were so close having 1st and Goal. Little did I know that they would get off easy. Little did I know that I was about to watch the worst Wisconsin loss of my life.
The first half couldn't have gone better. Sure, we missed an easy field goal early, but Michigan was fumbling everytime that I looked up. Short fields, crazy momentum, a silent 109,000 fans. Life was good. The offense wasn't converting too many touchdowns, but 19 points is 19 points. And the way our defense was playing...19 should have been enough. 3 should have been enough.
The second half was a different story. Michigan dominated the TOP, as the Wisconsin defense wasn't able to get off the field. Offensively, Wisconsin got complacent. Conservative playcalling and the offensive line disappearing led to only 1 drive in the entire 3rd quarter. You think the defense may have gotten tired? They were on the field the entire 2nd half. Most of that is their fault for not stopping 3rd downs (paging Matt Schaunessy...please don't rough the passer on 3rd down...thanks). Part of it though was the offense. This is when Wisconsin is supposed to be at it's best. With a lead in the 3rd and 4th quarter, the big ugly's up front and our pounding running backs should dominate the game. Turns out Gabe Carimi decided to have arguably his worst game as a Badger. Nice timing.
But none of this should have mattered. The reason this was the absolute worst way to lose was the last Wisconsin drive. After Allan Evridge's fourth (FOURTH!!) turnover, Wisconsin drove down the field. My Boy! #85 David Gilreath made a fantastic catch to get the TD, and UW was going for the 2-point conversion. Easy pass to an open Travis Beckum in the endzone...hello overtime. Ace's Bar in San Francisco was going nuts...beer being sprayed, the entire place jumping up and down...flag on the field. Beckum lined up in the wrong spot and covered the TE when he should've been off the line of scrimmage. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Can I be mad at Beckum? A guy who has won so many games for us? A player that has done nothing but give his all? A player who put himself into the game when the coaches were holding him out because, like Superman, he knew his team needed him? I can't. I can't do it. I can't be mad at Travis Beckum.
But he is the reason that this was the absolute worst way to lose ever. Think about it...your favorite team in your life has given up the biggest comeback in your opponent's storied history; they drove down the field to score a TD with a chance to tie; they tie the game on a 2-point conversion. Only, it doesn't count. The play is called back by a penalty and you lose the game. The reason this is the absolute worst way to lose it that we thought we had it tied...it was basically overtime already...only we were about to lose. The exhilaration of winning turns to the deep depression of losing with one stupid penalty. Fuck.
Bill Simmons on EPSN.com has already developed some levels of losing...and this is at a minimum "The Stomach Punch Game"...if not it's own new category. We had overtime...stomach punch...we lose. Fuck.
I knew Wisconsin wasn't a BCS championship caliber team this year, but this is unexcusable. For the love of Lloyd Carr even Notre Dame was able to beat Michigan. They gave us 5 turnovers in the first half...THE FIRST HALF!! And we couldn't capitalize. While there is plenty of blame to go around...Evridge's 4 turnovers, Evridge's ability to repeatedly throw behind receivers, dropped passes, defense couldn't get off the field, our O-line disappeared, stupid penalties, failure to capitalize on turnovers...it really comes down to one thing. Coaching.
Brett Bielema needs to find a way to keep his team into the game for 60 minutes. Two games in a row now, the Badgers have come out fired up and dominated the first half, only to struggle in the second half of football games. The offense gets stale. The defense can't get off the field. The sideline gets quiet and loses energy. That's coaching....plain and simple. Now, I like Bielema. He's kind of an asshole (dancing across the field at Fresno when we won), but being a Badger fan I love that about him. But he has some coaching deficiencies that he needs to recognize, accept, and improve...similar to the way he expects his players to improve on their deficiencies. Keep the players fired up all game. Make the necessary halftime adjustments even if you're winning. Manage the team to not get too high and not get too low.
But for now...fuck. That was awful. My mom even called me to see if I would talk to my Dad because he was having a hard time getting words out. I was too. I couldn't even begin to describe the feelings of thinking that you had overtime...and then having a loss. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.
At least we get Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor next week.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I mean....Fuck. It can't possibly be worse than this. There's no worse way to lose...we've set a new record. Michigan's upset of my Wisconsin Badgers is absolutely to worst way to lose in the history of sports.
Blowout...I'll take it. It's a slow, painful death. Late touchdown to seal it...fine. We didn't deserve to win. Going for the endzone down 7 and failing...it's ok. We probably should have won, but we didn't. I can live with all of those....but I don't know if I can live with this. This was brutal.
As a preface, I woke up this morning and watched the NU @ Iowa game. Iowa was driving with just over a minute to go in the 4th quarter and failed to get a touchdown from 1st and goal from the 8. The 4th down pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage, and Iowa lost. Knowing WildHawk was at the game, and that he hadn't decided who to cheer for, I texted him looking for his first reaction to the 4th down stop..."Happy or Disappointed?"
"Disappointed"
Well, that sucks. I felt bad for him, as it was homecoming and all. But it was a great game to watch, and I knew that Iowa fans probably felt horrible as they were so close having 1st and Goal. Little did I know that they would get off easy. Little did I know that I was about to watch the worst Wisconsin loss of my life.
The first half couldn't have gone better. Sure, we missed an easy field goal early, but Michigan was fumbling everytime that I looked up. Short fields, crazy momentum, a silent 109,000 fans. Life was good. The offense wasn't converting too many touchdowns, but 19 points is 19 points. And the way our defense was playing...19 should have been enough. 3 should have been enough.
The second half was a different story. Michigan dominated the TOP, as the Wisconsin defense wasn't able to get off the field. Offensively, Wisconsin got complacent. Conservative playcalling and the offensive line disappearing led to only 1 drive in the entire 3rd quarter. You think the defense may have gotten tired? They were on the field the entire 2nd half. Most of that is their fault for not stopping 3rd downs (paging Matt Schaunessy...please don't rough the passer on 3rd down...thanks). Part of it though was the offense. This is when Wisconsin is supposed to be at it's best. With a lead in the 3rd and 4th quarter, the big ugly's up front and our pounding running backs should dominate the game. Turns out Gabe Carimi decided to have arguably his worst game as a Badger. Nice timing.
But none of this should have mattered. The reason this was the absolute worst way to lose was the last Wisconsin drive. After Allan Evridge's fourth (FOURTH!!) turnover, Wisconsin drove down the field. My Boy! #85 David Gilreath made a fantastic catch to get the TD, and UW was going for the 2-point conversion. Easy pass to an open Travis Beckum in the endzone...hello overtime. Ace's Bar in San Francisco was going nuts...beer being sprayed, the entire place jumping up and down...flag on the field. Beckum lined up in the wrong spot and covered the TE when he should've been off the line of scrimmage. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Can I be mad at Beckum? A guy who has won so many games for us? A player that has done nothing but give his all? A player who put himself into the game when the coaches were holding him out because, like Superman, he knew his team needed him? I can't. I can't do it. I can't be mad at Travis Beckum.
But he is the reason that this was the absolute worst way to lose ever. Think about it...your favorite team in your life has given up the biggest comeback in your opponent's storied history; they drove down the field to score a TD with a chance to tie; they tie the game on a 2-point conversion. Only, it doesn't count. The play is called back by a penalty and you lose the game. The reason this is the absolute worst way to lose it that we thought we had it tied...it was basically overtime already...only we were about to lose. The exhilaration of winning turns to the deep depression of losing with one stupid penalty. Fuck.
Bill Simmons on EPSN.com has already developed some levels of losing...and this is at a minimum "The Stomach Punch Game"...if not it's own new category. We had overtime...stomach punch...we lose. Fuck.
I knew Wisconsin wasn't a BCS championship caliber team this year, but this is unexcusable. For the love of Lloyd Carr even Notre Dame was able to beat Michigan. They gave us 5 turnovers in the first half...THE FIRST HALF!! And we couldn't capitalize. While there is plenty of blame to go around...Evridge's 4 turnovers, Evridge's ability to repeatedly throw behind receivers, dropped passes, defense couldn't get off the field, our O-line disappeared, stupid penalties, failure to capitalize on turnovers...it really comes down to one thing. Coaching.
Brett Bielema needs to find a way to keep his team into the game for 60 minutes. Two games in a row now, the Badgers have come out fired up and dominated the first half, only to struggle in the second half of football games. The offense gets stale. The defense can't get off the field. The sideline gets quiet and loses energy. That's coaching....plain and simple. Now, I like Bielema. He's kind of an asshole (dancing across the field at Fresno when we won), but being a Badger fan I love that about him. But he has some coaching deficiencies that he needs to recognize, accept, and improve...similar to the way he expects his players to improve on their deficiencies. Keep the players fired up all game. Make the necessary halftime adjustments even if you're winning. Manage the team to not get too high and not get too low.
But for now...fuck. That was awful. My mom even called me to see if I would talk to my Dad because he was having a hard time getting words out. I was too. I couldn't even begin to describe the feelings of thinking that you had overtime...and then having a loss. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.
At least we get Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor next week.
Fuck.
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