Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Day After 0-59

My Badger flag flies at half mast after Wisconsin's 2014 football dreams were mashed into the seams of the artificial turf at the Indianapolis Dome by the Ohio State Buckeyes. Pre-game prognosticators thought that the Big 10/14 Championship between Ohio State and Wisconsin would be a classically close match between two midwest football powers. The prognosticators were wrong. Dead wrong. After three tough wins against Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, Wisconsin had nothing left against a suffocating defense and 6'5" third-string quarterback.

The only good outcome of the night was surprise selection of Ohio State over TCU into the four team college playoff. A close win over Wisconsin and the Urban Meyer would be kicking the sidelines of the Inconsequential Bowl. Now the league has a player in football's final four. Baylor had a better argument over TCU anyway.

Sure there will be one more Wisconsin game. The Badgers will be selected for a bowl game somewhere because Badgers travel well with a large alumni following, the band is awesome, and everyone wants to see one more 200-yard game from the phenomenal Melvin Gordon III. It will be a nice curtain call and final season polls may adjust. But the season is over.

To those who hang their heads longer than this weekend, I say, "Hey folks, this is college football, Saturday afternoon entertainment, an colorful expression of loyalty to your alma mater, not something really important, like, say, a Packer game." I and other Wisconsin alumni had a good season following the team. It was fun, but it was just entertainment and doesn't have much lasting importance win or lose.

I will take the Badger flag down tomorrow and replace it with something representing the holiday season, I suppose. It's that time of the year I am told. Good will toward men, even Buckeyes, and stuff like that.

Life does go on, even though the Badgers won't.


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