As a Wisconsin boy, last nights NCAA Championship game was hard to take, hard to see the guys work so hard and come so far only to fall a few points short of what any Badgers fan felt like they so deserved…a National Championship. Packernation as a whole knows what it is like to come oh, so…close and have to watch another team celebrate a victory wrested from the grasp of its favorite team. For Badgers fans who are also Packers fans…the thought can be discouraging to say the least. But I have a few things to say on this “morning after” to everybody in Packernation. First of all, congratulations are in order to the Duke Blue Devils who claimed the National Title last night. While we didn’t want you to win, the truth is…without your team battling our team on the court, last night’s lights out, foot stomping, screaming, oooohhh-ing, ahhhh-ing, nail biting, fist pumping and heart-rending contest could not have been. I think we all can agree, last night’s NCAA Championship was one hell of a basketball game!
With that said, I want to congratulate the Wisconsin Badgers on the most riveting NCAA tournament
that I can remember. For showing perseverance in the face of several halftime defecits, for showing class in the face of defeat, and for being more than just great basketball players…for being the pride of Wisconsin.
Some of you may not have been the most heavily recruited coming out of High School…some of you may have had to work to find your place on this team, some of you will never play NBA ball, but you worked together and put together one of the BEST seasons in living memory and there is ONE title that no one can take away from you and that is that you are the favored sons of the University of Wisconsin Madison and all the people of the state of Wisconsin and beyond salute you for your skill, strength of character, and HEART!
Let the record show that while the Duke Blue Devils may have hoisted a trophy last night…the fans and friends of the Wisconsin Badgers will raise high the Wisconsin “W” FOREVER!
On Wisconsin!
And Go Pack!
Very nicely written. Thanks
Not to take away from Duke’s accomplishment, but very hard to win when every call in the last 7 mins goes the other way, and one of your best 3 pt shooters can’t get one to fall. Such is basketball.
I’ll fondly remember this team and this run for the rest of my life. Best WI basketball team I’ve ever seen, and can ever hope to see again.
These boys have no reason to hang their heads. Only 2 teams in D1 make it to the final game of the tourney, and they beat unbelievable odds. And no team in NCAA history has gone through a tougher schedule to get there (they faced the highest possible seed for every game, never been done before). Well done men, and hoping for the best for all of you in the future. WiscONsin!
Good job, class act, very proud to be Badger fan.
I sent an email about 3 minutes into the game that the refereeing was starting to favor Duke, to several of my friends. Now I don’t ordinarily believe that the referee’s can change the nature of a ballgame but in this case where both teams were evenly matched, the refereeing in the last 10 minutes gave the game to Duke. When people on the floor out number you 7-5 it makes a difference.
Tougher still to see a team of home-grown Wisconsin boys get beat by a team of one-and-dones that were recruited from all over the country. But that makes me even more proud that this home-grown group got this far and went toe-to-toe in the finals. Way to go, Wisconsin!
I thought of this scenario this morning when I woke up. Didn’t make me feel any better because I am still hurting from the Packer loss. With that said, I am so proud of the class and guts this UW Badger team had throughout this whole ride. I’m hurting for them too. But please know your hard work did not go unmentioned…we truly are so proud of you all and Coach Bo. On Wisconsin.
This is what being a Badger fan is all about. We ALL truly feel the pain, and couldn’t be prouder of this team! And Coach Bo– total class act!
These last 2 seasons with the Badgers mean more to me and my sons than you can imagine.
My oldest son Greg graduated from UW Madison. He would always look forward to every football and basketball season with pride and optimism.Greg passed away from a sudden illness at the age of 34 in the summer of 2013. He would have been so thrilled over the success of this team over the past 2 years. I love to imagine his exuberance.
Although there is a lot of sadness in our loss it has made my other 2 sons Doug and Neal and myself(their mother)appreciate these past two years even more. We were able to share in joy of the success and feel a connection with Greg at the same time. We were sad when they lost in the Final, but we got to watch so many wonderful victories on the court and wonderful moments off the court along the way. We are richer for it.
My youngest son Doug looked on the brighter side like his brother would have by reminding us what Greg would have said. Doug wrote: Greg would have been really proud and would’ve said something infectiously optimistic like, “I don’t know man, I think with the program Bo Ryan has built we have the chance to be in this thing almost every year now!” Me too, man. Me too.
I say; Me to son, Me too!