Somewhere along the fine line between psychopath and psychic, there exists a unique class of human beings commonly known as college basketball coaches.
They are the offensive architects, the drill sergeants, the gameday gurus. Some sweat through their suits. Some throw chairs. After several years of coaching, some start to resemble their team's mascot - look me in the eye and tell me Tom Crean's bronze skin and impressive, wavy locks don't make him look like a Golden Eagle ready to take flight.
And some, like Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, win basketball games.
For UW's head man, basketball is a simple game based on hard work and religious adherence to the fundamentals.
There's no secret formula to winning. No complicated defenses, no elaborate mind games of X's and O's. Ryan doesn't have a laminated sheet with his various offensive sets written on it.
This simplicity might make Badger fans pull their hair out when he draws up the same play in the final seconds like he did at Texas and weeks later at Purdue.
But it is also this simplicity that has a Wisconsin team without any superstars in first place in the Big Ten conference, and it is this simplicity that is quickly making Ryan a Badger coaching legend.
Of course Ryan would never admit he's a legend. He'd say he's just a guy doing his job day in and day out like everyone else.
For Ryan, no game is more important than the next. A November contest against Savannah State means just as much as a game against Michigan State in February.
Or at least that's what he says. Whether he actually believes this is open to debate, but win or lose, the demeanor of the Badgers' never seems to waver.
In press conferences Ryan is part Mark Twain, part Bill Belichick, part David Letterman - a storyteller, a disciplinarian and a showman rolled into one.
Ask him about Michael Flowers, and he'll offer a short reply like, Intensity, defense, heart ... that's Mike Flowers. He's just a player.""
Ask him again and he'll tell a 10-minute tale, detailing how Flowers reminds him of ""Joe Potzeratz"" - one of Ryan's teammates back on the playgrounds of Chester, Pa.
In both cases, Ryan probably didn't tell you much about Michael Flowers, but, hey, it was probably better than the mundane one-liners most coaches toss out.
In a sports world dominated by image and hype, Ryan focuses only on results, and few coaches in the country have produced results like Ryan.
Throw out the four national championships and 17 winning seasons from his tenure at UW-Platteville. Since arriving in Madison, Ryan has won two Big Ten regular season titles, one Big Ten tournament title and posted a school record 30-win season. Before Ryan became UW's head coach it had four seasons of 20 wins or more. Ryan has had five in seven years. Wisconsin had 19 victories in the other two seasons.
And then there's this season - no Tucker, no Taylor, no problem.
Years from now, when fans look back on great UW coaches, they'll remember Ryan. Not because he did the ""Soulja' Boy"" dance, not because he told wild stories, not even because he ran the swing offense until it made opponents sick of defending it.
Fans will remember Ryan because he won.
As the coach himself would probably admit, it's just that simple.
To gush about Bo Ryan, e-mail Ryan at reszel@dailycardinal.com.
