Badger Beat Down

One of the great dates on the sporting calendar is the day the Badgers play the Marquette Prairie Chickens in hoops. Especially now that both programs consistently make the NCAA tournament, this rivalry is one the better ones, if lesser known, in the country.

Yesterday I ventured into hostile confines of the Bradley center to watch the Badgers defeat Marquette 70-66. It's really surprising how many misguided people there are in Milwaukee - wearing stomach-fluid yellow and rooting for MU. We Badger fans were mostly packed away in the crow's nest, but it was fun indeed to hear the "Let's Go Red" chant ring through the arena near the end of the game. Ha! Double Ha!

As they say, the final score is not indicative of the true margin of victory. Alando Tucker posted 28 points and looked like a future NBA'er, but perhaps most encouraging was the coming out party held by Milwaukee native Marcus Landry. Point-guard-of-the-future New Yorker Trevon Hughes also shined in his minutes spotting Flowers and Taylor.

Of course, rivalries like this one are good for some nice healthy irrational venting. And then when the hated rival gives you a good reason to dislike them, well, what could be better? This gift was Marquette's pre-game bush-league introductions. Eschewing the courtesy intros (alternating between the teams) seen at virtually every college game anywhere, Marquette favors the NBA-style. First, the Badgers are 'introduced' so quickly and quietly that they may as well have mumbled 'five guys from Madison with some bum for a coach'. Marquette is introduced with the concentrated hoopla that electric lights and amplified sound can provide.

And who could ever have been offended by their friendly Warriors mascot?