While the concept of “improbable but not impossible” is what makes watching sports so rewarding, the past year in Wisconsin has been nothing short of “impossibly improbable”.
How ridiculous has it been?
To call the events I’m about to detail Shakespearian in nature is an understatement.
Let’s start with the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball team…
What an absolute high to watch this 2014-2015 Badger team. Their tournament run was absolutely amazing. It’s the second half and the Badgers are up 9 points on Duke. In foul trouble, two of Duke’s best players are riding the pine. Coach K is forced to rely on freshman and bench players. As a fan you can see the dream coming true…. An actual NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is within our grasp!
All this veteran team needs to do is play the same smart, tough basketball that defines this program for less than 9 minutes and the Wisconsin Badgers will make history.
Somehow Wisconsin, a team so well disciplined on defense that they committed the fewest fouls out of any team in the nation and so efficient offensively that they set an NCAA Division I record this year…suddenly can’t hit a shot or make a stop to save their lives? Out of nowhere and with everything on the line the team is tagged for more fouls in a half than they averaged after 39 games played in the season. Offensively they can’t hit a shot. It all slips away…. They couldn’t even catch a break with the clock stopped as a seemingly obvious instant replay showing a Duke player touching the ball last as it goes out of bounds turns into the official’s call of Duke ball.
In an instant the dream was gone. Don’t get me wrong, Duke earned it. I’m not writing to disparage what they did rather I’m pointing out how improbable it was. Badger fans could taste it.
By itself a loss of this magnitude would be enough to crush any fan’s spirit but come on now… you’re in Wisconsin! We don’t stop after one brutal and heartbreaking loss! After the past year I’m starting to believe that when Russel Ziskey said in Stripes that he once got his #SS kicked in Wisconsin that he was actually remembering rooting for our sports teams.
Enter the 2014 Green Bay Packers and their epic Championship game collapse against the Seattle Seahawks in January 2015. I still can barely talk about this game. What happened isn’t rational. Who the hell scores a 30 yard two-point conversion? You can pick any number of plays where if just ONE play happens different the Pack faces off against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. It was improbable but not impossible for Seattle to pull that game out. Nobody had EVER come back from that deficit with such little time left yet Seattle did just that in an ending that made even Brett Favre wince and look away.
Speaking of looking away… how about them 2014 Brewers! The talk of MLB as they sprinted out of the gate and grabbed firm control of the NL Central, the Brewers were in first place for almost the entire season until a full-out collapse over the final weeks of the season left them not only out of the playoffs but barely able to finish .500.
Then there’s the Milwaukee Bucks… The once proud franchise turned league doormat during the 2013-2014 season gets a serious shot in the arm when Herb Kohl finally sells the franchise to a couple of guys from New York who are hungry to make their mark. They quickly overhaul the roster and draft promising rookie Jabari Parker only to watch him fall to the court in agony, clutching his knee after tearing his ACL.
Why stop here? Let’s go full circle back to the Wisconsin Badgers where, on the verge of a big New Years Day Bowl Game, Gary Andersen bails on the Wisconsin program two years after Barry Alvarez plucked him from a smaller college. Adding insult to injury, Andersen leaves Wisconsin to take a job at a lesser football program in Oregon State. Worse yet, in the wake of Andersen’s leaving town are rumors about the academic standards and pay structure for assistants which calls into question the ability of the Wisconsin program to compete long-term. Only a Barry Alvarez come-from-behind win on New Years Day takes the sting out of this situation, stopping the bleeding until the new Head Coach, Paul Chryst can be announced.
Several recruits are lost but one has his scholarship pulled as one of the State’s top High School football players, Mukwonago’s Dominic Cizauskas sexually assaults a college student during a campus visit. Instead of lining up in Badger Red to start a promising career Cizauskas dons prison orange as he is sentenced in June 2014 to one year in jail.
Back to the Bucks… Jabari Parker is out for the season yet the young Bucks somehow continue to win, going as many as 8 games over .500 at one point. An potential All-Star, PG Brandon Knight is quickly becoming the team leader and a fan favorite. Knight is selected to participate in the NBA All-Star games skills challenge where he finishes second overall. The Bucks are not only looking like a cinch to make the playoffs but they seemingly are building a case to compete for a home court advantage in round one by finishing in the top four of their conference. It would be improbable for them to lose it all and not make the playoffs, the writers say. Well, days later Knight would be traded in a three team trade that brings Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee. The team struggles to find chemistry on offense and goes on an long losing streak, falling 2 games under .500. With five games left in the season the Bucks are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot. They have a 3 and 1/2 game lead over the Miami Heat for the final playoff spot. Their magic number to clinch is 1 game.
Sounds improbable that they could get knocked out of the playoffs, doesn’t it?
Just remember that improbable doesn’t mean impossible.
Badger State Sports 