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You Don't Have to Be a Sports Fan to Appreciate this Touching Story

by Dennis Gaskill
6 replies
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Every year since 1976 Wisconsin Badgers basketball coach Bo Ryan took his dad, Butch, to the NCAA's Final Four tournament as a father/son bonding ritual. Butch used to be a youth coach in his day, so his love of basketball was equal to Bo's love of the sport.

Bo's Badgers have made it to the NCAA tournament each year since he became their head coach 13 years ago. Even though Bo has over 700 wins in his coaching career, and has won four national championships as a division III coach, he's been knocked as the best coach to never make it to the Final Four.

Bo's dad passed away a few months ago, so this is the first time since 1976 Bo can't take his dad to the Final Four, but...

Last night, in one of the best games of basketball I've ever seen, Wisconsin beat Arizona 64-63 in overtime. Bo is finally going to the final four as a coach instead of a fan ... clinching the berth on the very day that would have been his dad's 90th birthday.

I thought that was a pretty neat backstory to the win. Go Badgers!
  • Profile picture of the author TimPhelan
    Yes, that is a touching story and that was a great game last night! I'm rooting for the Badgers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Glad you liked it, Tim. And glad you're rooting for the Badgers. Charles Barkley made a comment that this Badger team could beat the Bucks. Sad thing for the Bucks, it's might be true. They've got the worst record in the NBA this year with only 14 wins. Maybe the lottery balls will fall their way this time. They can use a LOT of help.

    Edited to add: By the way, Tim, the Badgers have already beaten 3 of the 5 remaining teams (Florida, Michigan, and Michigan State). One of Florida's two losses were to the Badgers, 59-53. They haven't played UConn or Kentucky.
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    • Profile picture of the author TimPhelan
      Yeah, the Bucks are bad. They scored just 67 last night in losing game # 59. They could use Kaminsky for sure. Is he going to be in this years draft?
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      • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
        Originally Posted by TimPhelan View Post

        Yeah, the Bucks are bad. They scored just 67 last night in losing game # 59. They could use Kaminsky for sure. Is he going to be in this years draft?
        I don't think he's declared. He's a junior, but he's really improved a lot this year. He's taken on more of a leadership role and increased his scoring by about 10 points a game.

        If I were to guess, I'd say he's coming back for his senior year since I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Of course, I say that without knowing his personal circumstances or aspirations, so it's possible I couldn't be more wrong. For purely selfish reasons, I hope he's a Badger again next year.

        I reckon it's possible his decision rests on the outcome of the tournament. If they win it all maybe he figures he has nothing left to prove; and if not, maybe he's hungry for a championship.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
    Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post


    Last night, in one of the best games of basketball I've ever seen, Wisconsin beat Arizona 64-63 in overtime. Bo is finally going to the final four as a coach instead of a fan ... clinching the berth on the very day that would have been his dad's 90th birthday.

    I thought that was a pretty neat backstory to the win. Go Badgers!

    Yeah, it IS a good backstory, though his trip to the Final Four came at the expense of Arizona and my Oregon Ducks. :-(

    LOL

    I guess that's payback for our Rose Bowl win over Russell Wilson and the Badgers a couple years ago, eh? :-)

    I was just posting on the Oregon forum this morning about what a good team Wisconsin is, what a tough schedule they've played and how I hope they win it all, because then we'd be able to say that we lost to the eventual national champions.

    Right after I posted that someone else posted and said that if that happened (Wisconsin won it all), it would be the third consecutive time that Oregon would have lost to the eventual national champ. They lost to Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen last year and to Florida in the Elite Eight in 2007.

    Anyway, I'll be pulling for Bo Ryan and the Badgers the rest of the way.

    On another note, I'd like to say that I was disappointed in the late foul by an Oregon player in that game vs Wisconsin when the outcome had been determined. That was obviously out of frustration, but there's ZERO excuse for these kids to not be able to win and lose with class. One LeGarrette Blount incident in a lifetime is enough for our university.

    Go Badgers!
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by Joe Stewart View Post

      I guess that's payback for our Rose Bowl win over Russell Wilson and the Badgers a couple years ago, eh? :-)
      That was a pretty good game too, as I recall.

      I was just posting on the Oregon forum this morning about what a good team Wisconsin is, what a tough schedule they've played and how I hope they win it all, because then we'd be able to say that we lost to the eventual national champions.
      I tend to do the same thing.

      Right after I posted that someone else posted and said that if that happened (Wisconsin won it all), it would be the third consecutive time that Oregon would have lost to the eventual national champ.
      Ouch!

      Anyway, I'll be pulling for Bo Ryan and the Badgers the rest of the way.
      Awesome!!

      On another note, I'd like to say that I was disappointed in the late foul by an Oregon player in that game vs Wisconsin when the outcome had been determined. That was obviously out of frustration, but there's ZERO excuse for these kids to not be able to win and lose with class. One LeGarrette Blount incident in a lifetime is enough for our university.

      Go Badgers!
      Kids get caught up in the moment sometimes. My guess is his coach has either had a talk with him about it or will. Hopefully he'll learn from it.

      I was kind of surprised Michigan and Michigan State both lost today. Bad day for Michiganders. Would have been pretty sweet for the Big 10 to have gotten 2 or 3 teams in the final four.

      Go Badgers!
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