Coach Ryan is an entertaining interview no matter what he’s talking about, so when you add in Halloween on State Street and Madison toga parties, it becomes a must listen. I love DP and think he’s one of the best guys on sports radio, so take a listen if you’re one of the people that can’t wait any longer for March Madness to get started. They also talked about Frank’s improvement during his time at UW, Kentucky’s chance to go undefeated, and his ritual of having the Wisconsin freshmen practice sliding off the raised floor in Minnesota. We’ve only got another two days to wait for the Badgers to be back in action, but for now this will have to do. (If you really only clicked this to hear Bo Ryan say the word ‘marijuana,’ that part of the interview comes at about 10:30.)

The Bucks took care of business at home last night, defeating the Magic 97-91. It was a close game down to the wire but thankfully the Bucks came away with the W down the stretch. Khris Middleton led all scorers and tied his career high with 30 points, while Zaza Pachulia added a double double – 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. (Zaza’s game looks ugly, but he’s probably the Bucks’ most effective center, as sad as that is.) Nikola Vucevic had a double double of his own, scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 boards for Orlando.

Despite what their record would indicate, the Magic aren’t a terrible team. Since firing their coach Jacque Vaughn they’ve gone 6-8. Victor Oladipo had been averaging 25.2 points per game in the month of March, but tonight the Bucks held him to just 14 points on 4-17 shooting. This was an important game to win, as the Bucks have a difficult schedule the rest of this month.

The Bucks did an outstanding job sharing the ball last night as they finished with 30 assists on 39 made field goals. Milwaukee also outrebounded the Magic significantly, 51-33. MCW struggled shooting the ball going 4-13 and committed a game high 5 turnovers, but he did a good job defensively and on the glass. You can definitely see flashes from him at times that would explain why Jason Kidd believes in him as the point guard of the future.

Since Knight was traded away, there have been some questions as to who would emerge as the Bucks’ go-to-guy down the stretch offensively, and I think we now know the answer to that question is Khris Middleton. He’s currently averaging 20.3 points per game in the month of March. Middleton is changing from being known primarily as a defensive stopper/advanced statistics darling into a legitimate scoring option for the Bucks. He’s likely going to live up to his nickname this offseason as he is set to make some serious money. The max for Middleton would be about 16.5 million give or take, and don’t be surprised if a team offers him close to that amount, which I firmly expect the Bucks to match.

Milwaukee starts a three game road trip tomorrow at Indiana. The Pacers are currently the hottest team in the NBA, having won 6 games in a row and 9 of their last 10. Indiana is 4.5 games behind the Bucks in the standings and have a legitimate shot at catching the Bucks for 6th place, especially since All Star Paul George is now set to return later this month. Indiana’s hot streak, combined with the Bucks coming off a back to back, makes me believe that this will be a tough game for the Bucks to win at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Prediction: Pacers 99, Bucks 89

You hate to see something as hyped up as Hooters get ruined for somebody like this, especially when it’s someone like Melvin Gordon who you’ve supported for a long time. It’s like the Easter Bunny but for guys who would like to be served chicken by large chested women. Eventually you wise up and realize that the wings aren’t that good and the waitresses don’t look anything like the chicks Dickie V is hanging out with in those commercials, and it’s a tough reality to face. Most guys have that epiphany early in high school when all your friends decide Hooters is the closest thing you can get to a strip club, but apparently Melvin was a little late to the party. Sad day.

We’re coming up on the end of a short week, so consider this a Christmas present from TVL to you. Georgia Ellenwood is a sophomore track runner for the Badgers, and she just really gets it when it comes to Instagram. A while back I was going through the candidates for hottest Wisconsin athlete, and it looks like I missed an obvious frontrunner. If they could’ve found a way to get her and Taylor Wurtz on the same team, Wisconsin volleyball wouldn’t have been the only relevant women’s sport on campus.

Follow @George_ahhh

This issue has come to the forefront since it came out that academic restrictions were a big reason for Gary Andersen leaving Wisconsin, but anyone who’s familiar with our athletic department knows that this is nothing new. I’ve confirmed that theory with multiple reliable sources who are better than yours, by the way. They believe academic restrictions were the real reason for Gary’s departure, not some type of cover up or excuse. So the question then becomes, would you want the University to change those requirements in an effort to improve our athletics? I know UW has already spoken out and said that they won’t be changing, but if you were in charge, would they? If we started bending the rules a bit so we could attract more top tier athletes, it’s a fact that we would see the results on the field/court. Every year there are just certain guys that our coaches have to cross off the recruiting list because it would be impossible to get them into school here. We just have a smaller pool of guys that we can choose from, and if that wasn’t the case, we’d probably have a few more trophies on our shelves. Plus, it just seems like everyone else is doing it. All you have to do is listen to a few postgame interviews to figure out that a lot of guys playing college sports are complete idiots who couldn’t care less about going to school. The fact of the matter is that we expect championships out of our teams, when really we’re not on the same playing field as a lot of our opponents because we can never get a lot of those huge recruits.

But even though it’s frustrating, honestly I wouldn’t want it to change. There’s something special about being a Wisconsin Badger, and not being a dumbass is part of that. Everybody knows which schools are challenging and which schools are a free ride, and UW is the former (For our Marquette readers, that means it’s the first one). That probably sounds self-righteous, but it’s true. That reputation is worth something. Plus, it’s not like the guys we’re recruiting have to get a 30 on their ACT to get in. I’m not claiming that every student-athlete at UW was some type of scholar in high school. The expectations aren’t really that crazy, but the University does draw a line. Some guys will never be able to play here because they’d never be able to learn here, and that’s never gonna change. I can understand the other point of view because I obviously live and die with Badger sports, but this is also just part of Badger sports. UW holds these guys to a higher standard than most schools who compete at this level, and when we finally break through and win a big one, it’ll make it that much more special.

Two teams that have absolutely nothing to do with Wisconsin were playing during Monday Night Football, and both the Packers and Badgers were featured during halftime. When was the last time that would’ve happened? Never? We’ve always been regarded as having “boring” teams, and it’s rare for big media outlets to even remember that Wisconsin exists. If somebody from Alabama ran for 400 yards or the Cowboys scored 50 in back to back games, it would be all that’s on TV for the next two weeks. We’ve gotta settle for a 2-minute plug at halftime, but we’ll take what we can get. It wasn’t quite a weekend to be a cheesehead, it’s quite a year to be a cheesehead.

Hand symbol? Hand sign? Hand signal? I don’t know what you call that thing that everyone does when they put their thumbs together to make the “W”, but what I do know is that it needs to change as soon as possible.

Out with the old:

1. It started with Bret Bielema, who I think we can all agree is an enormous douchebag. He’s trying to do the same thing at Arkansas now. As great as it was losing three straight Rose Bowls, it’s time to leave that era behind us. Do Badger fans really want the universal symbol for Wisconsin to be something that was created by one of the most hated guys on campus?

2. It looks too much like Miami’s “U” logo. Obviously it’s not the exact same and we’re not copying the Hurricanes when we do it, but that’s what people from other schools think when they see it.

3. For lack of a better term, it’s just LAME. There’s nothing intimidating or flashy about the W that we currently use, and the only time I ever wanna see it again is if you look like Kylie from Madison:

In with the new:

1. You can do it with one hand. Look at any of the great hand symbols that are legendary in college sports. Hook Em at Texas. Victory at USC. Guns Up at Texas Tech. They all only use one hand.

2. You don’t have to put your beer down to do it. Everyone knows the only time you throw up the W is when you’re posing for pictures anyway, and it’s annoying every time you have to drop whatever you’re holding to use both hands. This is just an easier motion – Hell, Ben Brust can do it in his sleep.

3. Nigel Hayes said so.