Top moments of the spring semester
By Daily Cardinal sports staff | May. 6, 2013Ben Brust hits half-court shot to force overtime against Michigan
Ben Brust hits half-court shot to force overtime against Michigan
Nic Kerdiles—men’s hockey
For anyone who has suffered through a cold, drawn-out Wisconsin winter, there is little to brag about when describing the weather in the Midwest. While walking more than a quarter of a mile outside in early February is often a challenge, battling the harsh conditions of an often non-existent spring proves to be even more difficult for softball players. Such an unforgiving climate makes for a few months of almost solely indoor practices and numerous cross-country road trips for the Wisconsin softball team.
Every spring brings new life and most importantly, a new group of freshmen to the Wisconsin Badgers’ men’s tennis team. This spring, spectators at Nielsen Tennis Stadium got to witness a very special group of freshmen play their first sets as Badgers.
The player-coach relationship is an interesting one if you take a look at the longevity of it in the realm of college athletics. You have coaches like UCLA’s John Wooden, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Dean Smith and Alabama’s Nick Saban who stand at the pinnacle of this relationship and reflect the qualities of character, equality and hard work, and the list goes on and on.
The last three days have had their fair share of big moments in the sports world. The NFL Draft was as unpredictable as ever. Steph Curry further cemented his status as one of the best young guards in the NBA against the Nuggets. Washington Wizards center Jason Collins became the first active player in a major American sport to come out as gay.
If Joe Lunardi did bracketology for the NCAA men’s tennis championships, Wisconsin seniors Billy Bertha and Alexander Kostanov would be focused intently on ESPN to see whether their careers are over or if they will be awarded one more match.
There are certain things you come to expect in life. Lindsay Lohan getting arrested. Dubstep making your head pound. A less-than-pleasant bathroom experience after Taco Bell (but that second gordita crunchwrap supreme was so worth it).
Wisconsin (15-5 Big Ten, 36-9 overall) achieved a number of milestones in its sweep of Indiana (3-16, 19-31) over the weekend, recording achievements on both the individual and team levels.
The first day of postseason play for the Badgers could also have been their last. No. 59 Wisconsin (4-7 Big Ten 13-12 overall) was run out of Columbus, Ohio, in a rematch against No. 70 Purdue (3-8, 17-11) on the first day of Big Ten tournament, losing 4-0.
The delayed arrival of spring weather has brought with it success for the Wisconsin softball team. The Badgers (12-5 Big Ten, 35-9 overall) will attempt to build upon their six-game win streak this weekend in Bloomington, Ind. The three-game series will open Friday at 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday’s games will both be played at noon.
This Saturday will be defined by three words: bats, balls and glory.
After an up-and-down regular season, the Wisconsin men’s tennis team heads to Columbus, Ohio, this weekend for the Big Ten conference tournament.
Wisconsin (35-9 overall, 12-5 Big Ten) swept the Northwestern Wildcats (25-18, 9-7) in a doubleheader at home Wednesday afternoon, coming a month after the original date for the matchup was postponed due to weather.
“Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.” Those words were famously spoke by the late Jim Valvano during his 1993 ESPY speech and were proudly carried out by Aly throughout her life.
The Wisconsin softball team (10-5 Big Ten, 33-9 overall) plays host to Northwestern (9-5, 25-16) Wednesday in a Big Ten conference doubleheader. The Wildcats look to knock off a surging Badger squad coming off a three-game sweep of Ohio State last weekend.
So I decided to write a mock draft in preparation of this week’s NFL draft. You may be asking, “What qualifies you to write anything on the NFL or football in general? You don’t seem particularly bright, and you probably are ugly.” Well, my only defense to that would be to tell you I have better hair than Mel Kiper, and that covers me on all counts—so take that. Plus most of these “experts” have a worse history of predictions than your local weatherman. So, here we go.
With unfamiliar faces and a new formation, the Wisconsin defense won Saturday’s spring game by a score of 61-47 on Saturday.
Playing together at No. 1 doubles, Wisconsin seniors Billy Bertha and Alexander Kostanov started the day off with an 8-6 victory over their Nebraska counterparts Dusty Boyer and Marc Herrmann.
The Wisconsin softball team (10-5 Big Ten, 33-9 overall) resumed Big Ten action with a bang this weekend at home against Ohio State (6-9, 27-17). The Badgers display of resiliency and teamwork lead to a series sweep of the Buckeyes at Goodman Diamond.