Here are some of my old miscellaneous comments...the main Kirk page was
getting a little long with all of these on there. Also, notepad kept
yelling at me because I had reached my character limit, or some shit like
that. Anyway, I don't have dates for these comments, but they start with
the earliest ones and get more recent. The first one is from sometime
early in the 2001-2002 basketball season.
How about that Haka dance? The Badgers should start doing that
before games. I'd support it.
It makes me laugh how often tv announcers feel the need to state that
Penney is from New Zealand. Not that I care, but I was getting a kick
out of it.
As I was sleeping last night, my basketball poster fell off the wall and scared the bejesus (bejeezus?) out of me. As I was putting it back up today, I noticed that Penney's shoes aren't tied. Interesting.
According to Sarah (my roommate), we (Sarah, Liz, and I) were on TV during the Dec. 22 game. I guess that is one of the many perks to being in the 6th row...although my seat is right behind the basket. That significantly decreases my view of the court at times, but I manage. And what's with super tall people always standing in front of me at sporting events?? And my height (5'4") doesn't help matters either.
Congratulations to Penney for being Big Ten's player of the week for two consecutive weeks! That hasn't happened since sometime in 1999, or something. And it hasn't happened with a Badger since sometime in '92-'93. I could look up the stats again to be sure, but I don't want to. Sorry. He's been doing incredibly awesome these past few games.
WOW! How about that Illinois game! That was absolutely incredible. And great job, Dave Mader! You sure put those stupid rowdy people sitting behind us into place. They'll think more than twice before unfairly criticizing you now! Too bad we couldn't follow that up with a win at Penn St...oh well. The team is still doing wonderfully.
I had some stuff I wanted to write about, but now I can't remember
because I put it off too long. Oh yeah...I went to the BSFC pep rally.
It was fun even though I didn't win any prizes. But I wasn't expecting much
since I have never won a raffle EVER in my life...not even a cake walk.
It's quite sad, really. We all decided that we love the way Kirk says
the number seven. Not like everything else he says isn't adorable sounding.
I was tempted to say something to him after it was over, but I am WAY too
much of a pansy, so I didn't. I did attempt to make some three-pointers
though...and whoa, am I horrendous at it. I have to use all the force I
can muster to heave it up there, and at that point I lose all aiming ability.
After the game on Saturday against Penn St. I went to Chili's and we saw
Tony Bennett! That was the excitement of my day. How sad. Tony Bennett
is also quite the looker, I might add. And holy crod! Check out uwbadgers.com!
A gazillion more pictures have been added of the Purdue and Penn St. game.
They are all really excellent. I will add some of them to my photo gallery here
sometime, but I need to make them smaller first...and there is no program
on my computer that can do that, so it'll have to wait. But there are a couple
of great ones with both Kirk and Dave, so Liz and I were very happy. Well,
for not remembering what I had to say, I sure wrote a lot. Go Badgers!!
Man, what a couple of crushing defeats. Not a good away stint there. We're just going to have to be extra fucking supportive the next couple of home games...wouldn't it be GREAT to beat Ohio St.? On a side note, how much can a person hate another basketball team? Because I think I have achieved the most hatred possible for Michigan. I cannot believe what they were yelling while Wills was making his free throws...personal comments about the actual players are one thing, but personal comments about their loved ones?? That was so fucking cruel. I so hope that when we play them here on our last game, we kick their asses so bad that they can't sit for a month. ANYWAY...I just had to get that out. On a good note, how cute was the article about Penney on captimes.com today? The answer: very cute.
Hurray for being 5-0 at home during conference play and 4-2 against ranked teams! What an excellent win, especially after our last two defeats. What an amazing crowd...we were loud during the entire game...good job! However, the massive amount of shouting I was doing took its toll on me. As overtime neared I almost fainted from lack of oxygen...seriously. I had to endure lots of the overtime leaning on the chair in front of me and taking deep breaths. I tried yelling a couple of times, but I took it as a bad sign that my upper extremities were tingly and numb. But it was definitely worth it! Congratulations, Penney, for getting your second double-double! And nice picture on the cover of the Daily Cardinal (even though they spelled your name wrong)! You know, ever since I bought my #20 jersey and started wearing it to games, we haven't lost (home games, that is). I hope we can get 3 more wins to put Bo Ryan at 400 career wins.
So I watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight. Saw New
Zealand march in...11 people competing from there, I think. According to
Bob Costas, the NZ snowboarders said they came "for the babes and the
beer." Ha! They also said something like, "Kiwis sure know how to have
fun! They better, after flying halfway around the world to get here."
You know, I generally like Bob Costas, but somehow he really gets to me
during the Olympics. Maybe it's just all the idiotic/cheesy things
announcers feel the need to say. So it occurred to me: Wow. Did Kirk
march in the opening ceremonies in the last summer Olympics in Sydney?
If so, I bet that was cool. Hopefully participating makes it more
interesting, because I find the whole thing boring as hell. And weird
as hell. They had this whole creepy section with icicles attacking a boy.
Then this annoying "fire within" guy skated around. Then a hoe-down
ensued. I wasn't too impressed with the choice for the torch-lighters,
either. But how can you beat Muhammed Ali? At least it wasn't 'NSync or
Britney Spears...how sad would that have been?
Holy shite, do I love basketball! Man, what a game last night. Is there anything better than a good ol' fashioned trouncing? That is, when you're the one dishing it out... Kirk had an amazing game! He had another double-double (15 pts and 12 rb!!), 4 assists, no fouls, 1 steal, and only 1 to. Plus, he shot over 50%. I was beyond happy when all of the bench players got to play! I'm a little worried about our coming away games...we haven't won at Indiana since like, 1977, or something. But hey, we broke Michigan St's home game streak, so I bet we can break this losing streak. MN will be a tough one, too ( I sooo wish they had lost at Iowa!). Boy has Wills been playing awesome these last few games! I hope he can keep that up!
Hurray for being 5-2 against ranked teams...and for breaking another
homegame streak! I absolutely LOVE our team! They are incredible! I
couldn't help feeling frightened coming into this game remembering our
game there last year [shudder]. But right off the bat it was apparent
it would not be a repeat. Poor John Cougar Mellencamp (whom my friends
and I have renamed Toilet Panther BerryResort...think about it...). I
remember that the TV kept showing him in the crowd during last years
game also. Well, he can handle the loss...after all, it's "just another
day." And "ain't that America" to have the underdog win? Man, these
"wild nights" of close wins "hurts so good." The Badgers were playing like
there was no tomorrow...they must realize that "your life is now." Ok, that
was cheesy and sad...but amusing for me, anyway. What the hell was up
with all the blocked shots the Hoosiers were getting?? I swear half of
them were Kirk's too. Croddy. Now we just have to beat the Gophers...I
know we can do it! My dad will kill me for saying this, but I am SOOO glad
that they lost tonight! Ok, enough rambling. Oh yeah, congratulations to
Kirk for being named Second-Team All-District! He's in great company with
that group.
I'm as happy as a girl can be! What an incredible win. Is it even possible
for a guy to score 27 points in one half?? Apparently so. I have to laugh
in retrospect--after the first half the announcers were like, "Kirk Penney's
not a factor this game." Don't speak too soon there, shooters. Well, they
pulled through and named him the "On the money player of the game." I'd
say. 6 jandals...wow! It would be cool if come Monday he's the Big Ten
player of the week. I can hope. I like how the announcers labeled Kirk
the "pride of New Zealand." The also called Dave Mader the "pride of
Appleton East High School." And one of the announcers has some sort of
love affair with Travon--in both games that I remember him "announcing" he
said that Travon is "the only guy who doesn't know he's only 5"11!," in waaay
too excited a voice. I'm sure he knows he's 5"11, come on...then again,
I thought he was 5"10. So I guess he wasn't the only one who didn't know he's
5"11. I do feel kind of bad for my dad and brother though...they had to see
their precious Gophers lose up close and personal. Rickert really annoyed
me and I hate the name
Dusty. I took care of a dog named Dusty once. He liked to pee on the
floor. According to one of my friends, they interviewed Kirk Penney at
the hockey game tonight. But apparently he was comatose during the
interview because he couldn't remember anything he said [friend=comatose,
not Kirk]. Well, I think I'll finish this up now and try to ftp transfer
it over...but it's being REALLY slow, so good luck to me. I love you,
Badgers, and I can't wait until you're 11-5! One more thing: I had the
?pleasure? of seeing Luke Recker bash his head against the court floor
today--lots of blood running down his noggin...and they kept replaying
it. I'm surprised he didn't fall into a coma. Maybe he'll be dazed on
Tuesday...
For the 3rd time this year, Penney has been named Big Ten Player of the Week. But he does have to share it again, strangely enough with the same guy he shared it with previously (Frank Williams). This is the first time in school history a Badger has been named Big Ten Player of the Week 3 times in one season. Yay for Kirk! I was watching a recap of the Badger-Gopher game on ESPN, and they were showing a montage of Penney baskets. The sportscaster says, "I think Penney should be a dollar after this game!" I hope Kirk Dollar can light it up our remaining games. There are so many "clever" headlines and phrases for Penney's name. I should compile a list.
Congratulations, Bo Ryan! What's his record now? 400-112, or something?
That's incredible! Nice that his 400th was on national tv. Nice win we
had last night, but not like we all weren't expecting it. The Badgers are
invincible! My friends and I were making bets on what the point spread would
be, and I was right on...+8. Too bad we didn't actually bet money...but
I won the satisfaction of knowing I was right. Yee-haw. I'm going for
+13 on the Michigan game. And I'm betting it'll be a big night for Kirk.
Ok, everyone seems to have this intense disliking of Recker, but I find that
Reggie pisses me off more. He frightens me. Kirk had a nice second half
splurge again, although he went the game jandal-less. A great game for
Mader--he beat his career high in points and minutes. Dave and Devin--what
a couple of dunkin' dreams. I'm still waiting for Kirk's dunk. I read an
article today on Travon, and I find him adorable. He says such great
things. I love the fact that, like, 13 of his family members go to each
game. I'm glad he's doing so well. You know what I hate? Jerseys that have
crap written on the asses. I hope we NEVER do that.
I was at The Nitty Gritty last night for one of my friend's birthdays, and my friends graciously pointed out a picture of Kirk to me. It's hanging up on a main pillar in the waiting area. It's a really nice picture. I was laughed at for thinking he looked tan...apparently you can't tell if someone is tan or not in a black and white picture. Whatever. I suggest you check it out if you're ever there (but beware: my waitress poured a stream of pop on my head while passing them out. I don't think she ever realized it either. Funny, yet also a bit gross.).
BIG TEN CHAMPIONS!!! First, I have to thank the BSFC for giving me front row tickets to the Michigan game last night. I love you!! Words cannot describe how great a time I had. The seats were absolutley incredible... great views of the court, the players, and everything else. I danced with Bucky during the Bud Song, got my picture taken by uwbadgers.com (let's see if it shows up on there), got a close-up on ESPN, and was in the forefront of the court-storming. I was able to hug Travon, Dave, Kirk, Neil, and a couple of other players...but I couldn't see their faces at the time, so I have no idea who they were. Somehow I ended up right next to the ladder while they were cutting the net down, so I had a great view of that also. I had brought my camera to the game, but totally forgot about it. I could have gotten some excellent pictures...too bad I'm an idiot and forgot about it. It made me SO happy seeing how happy the players were. I LOVED IT! What a great birthday Devin must have had. I wonder if he had a good time at the Nitty :) What an amazing game for threes. Ok, so it was an amazing game in general. I really dislike Chris Young. I love the fact that we're the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. I hope we do well. And for all you Badger players who log into my website everyday (right), I love you guys!
Well, none of the Big Ten games that were played today went how I
wanted them to go. I wanted Penn St. to win simply because I felt bad
for them. They have what...3 conference wins? Then again, Keady did
tell us to "go win the Big Ten Championship," so I'm not too sad that
they won. Then Indiana had to go and win. It annoyed me how the
announcers kept saying, "It's their first win since 1993." Big freakin'
deal. 9 years...how about 55 years. Then Michigan St. had to go and
win. Not really sure why I wanted Iowa to win, but I did. What really
pissed me off was that Marcus Taylor scored 34 points, breaking Kirk's
Big Ten record this season for points in a game. So now I hate him.
He gave me a scare the last game he played too, scoring 32 that game.
Then Ohio St. won. I really hope the Gophers beat Illinois tomorrow.
3 teams sharing the championship is enough...we don't need 4. On a side
note, if you see a really great snow angel on Bascom Hill, that was me.
It's a think of beauty, I'm telling you. My entire body did go completely
numb from cold after that, but it was worth it. Playing in snow is a
very enjoyable activity, even at midnight with 80,000 mph wind gusts.
Ok, so now Illinois had to go and take a fourth of the Championship. I
was so disappointed in the Gophers. Anyway, I was was watching a tape
of the Michigan game (it's a nice moment to re-live), and I noticed something
that I found to be hilarious. With about 19:46 left in the second half, Michigan
shoots and misses. A bunch of people are jumping for the rebound, and Mader's
arm flings behind him and he completely backhands Kirk across the face. Kirk's
head flings back, he kind of grabs his head and stumbles down the court out of the
camera frame. That must've hurt, but it looks funny. I compiled a list of college basketball
players who I either dislike or just annoy me. Care to see it? Here it is:
|
10. Frank Williams (Illinois). He simply annoys me because he twice stole some of Kirk's
glory on the Player of the Week thing. Other than that, he's fine.
9. Chris Young (Michigan). No specific reason here. I just look at him and intrinsically dislike him. 8. Lucas Johnson (Illinois). Even though he didn't play much when we played Illinois, I didn't like what I saw when I watched him in other games. He reminds me of a bad guy in some movie... I can't think of what movie it is though. 7. Luke Schenscher (Georgia Tech). Ok, it's all in the name on this one. 6. Reggie Evans (Iowa). That many double-doubles should be illegal. 5. A.J. Moye (Indiana). He consistantly wears an enormous t-shirt under his jersey. And he always looks confused or surprised. I imagine him talking like Mike Tyson. |
4. Marcus Taylor (Michigan St.). See below miscellaneous comment. I would put him closer to
#1, but he did really help Michigan St. beat Ohio St., so that moved him up a couple notches.
3. Lynn Greer (Temple). Ok, the guy scored 47 points against us. Need I say more? 2. Tom Coverdale (Indiana). My extreme dislike for Coverdale spans last year as well. The guy just looks like a total ass. Granted, I don't know him, but do I know any of these people? No. 1. Robert Archibald (Illinois). His name really doesn't help him out, but that's not why I don't like him (I can't help but think of the old hunchback guy named Archibald Crane in A Secret Garden). He would be cute if he didn't look and act like a total cock. The last two games I watched him play in, he acted like a total dick. I can't believe he's not the one who got a technical when he stepped on that guy.
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Congratulations Bo, Kirk, and Charlie! Bo Ryan was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Kirk was named First Team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media, and the coaches named Charlie an Honorable Mention. Congratulations, guys! What an honor. You all deserved it.
I probably shouldn't be writing right now, seeing as we just lost 2 minutes ago and I'm absolutely crestfallen, but I can't stop myself. I can't believe I used to like Luke Recker. I should have known people had a reason to hate him. It's funny how opposing players' ability to score points makes them horrible people. I feel fickle, but that doesn't stop me from REALLY not liking Recker. And I was so frustrated during the first half when Kirk had to sit out for what seemed like a million minutes. I didn't know that the tournament was being played in Turnover City, either. I can't believe I just wrote that...I really should delete it. Well, Kirk did get 3 jandals and a total of 19 points. Not bad at all. I should be semi-thankful that they lost. Now I can study for my midterms this weekend, since I have no urge whatsoever to watch any more of the tournament games. Too bad that really doesn't console me. Is there anything worse then last second game winning [losing, in our case] shots? [Besides death, maiming, excrutiating pain, the smell of the Chad main lounge, centipedes, Luke Recker,...] Well, as bitter as I may sound, I still love the Badgers. If only we could win [at least] our first couple of games in the NCAA tournament...let's not have a repeat of last year...2 years ago, yes. Last year, no.
I have now recovered from the loss, and am eagerly anticipating our next game. So, apparently we play St. John's in Washington D.C. Ok, I know absolutely nothing about St. John's. I should look stuff up on them. I really don't like thinking about us possibly having to play Maryland. But who knows? Maybe they'll be upset and we'll play either Alcorn St. or Siena! A girl can hope, can't she? Liz is happy because her 2nd favorite team (Oregon) made it into the Midwest region, so if they make it into the regionals we can watch them practice at the Kohl Center. Well, I'm not quite sure how I wanted Iowa to do in the championship game. A part of me thought, "If they win it, it won't be so bad that they beat us." Another part of me thought, "I hate Iowa and I hope they get their arses whooped." So I guess I got a mix of both...they also beat Indiana (whom no one seems to be doubting) and then got beat by Ohio St. by 17 points. You know, I'm glad Ohio St. won...they seem like a nice team. And I take Savovic off my Honorable Mention annoyance list. Come on, the guy's dad is adorable. I couldn't help but beam uncontrollably whenever they showed him. He looked so happy. And I still can't figure out my feelings on Recker. Want to like him a lot, but has recently given me much to hate about him. Well, I won't be seeing any more of him, so I guess it's not a problem. Go Badgers!
Well, as of now I'm 1 for 1 on my NCAA bracket picks. Go Siena! Sarah was absolutely abhorred that I picked a team with a losing record to win. Well, it worked out for me, didn't it? And it's not like I'm taking this thing WAY seriously...I have Wisconsin beating Duke in the championship game. Not that I don't think you can do it...I have to be loyal to the bone. Then again, I had Wisconsin taking it all last year and they lost in the first round...good thing I'm not superstitious. Let the Dance begin! [cue cheesy graphic of people dancing that lasts 5 seconds but probably took 1 hour to make...ESPN is funny]
Huzzah, twenty pounds for the King! What an excellent win over St. John's! I am now laughing at all 3 of the "experts" at espn.com who predicted a win for St. John's. Although at times it seemed like Wisconsin vs. Hatten. I LOVE how 5 (and almost 6) players reached double figures. And I also LOVED when the bench players got to go in...I was so happy! I also thought that I would die of happiness when Devin was at the free throw line near the end of the game...he looked so incredibly happy. I think Kirk was the Chevrolet Player of the Game, but I'm not sure because they didn't really announce it that clearly. Although the announcers said that "Freddie sure gets some votes." And how about this, straight from Dick Vitale: "In a battle of a No. 8 vs. No. 9, St. John's ran into a brilliantly coached Badger team. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan -- who should get serious consideration for national Coach of the Year -- had his kids tuned up and ready to perform. Marcus Hatten scored big for the Red Storm, but he had to take many shots to do so. Along the way, Kirk Penney was his solid self while Freddy Owens and company provided balance." Wow! That was nice. Well, my bracket picks aren't looking too pretty anymore. The left side looks pretty good, but the right side looks horrendous. Two of my favorite things: massages from Sarah and buffalo wings (caribbean jerk) from BW3's. And Badger wins, of course!
Holy Juan Dixon! Man, did this game get painful to watch. Maryland was incapable of missing a shot (and when they did they'd end up getting the bunny) and at times we were incapable of making a shot. Not a good combo. But I have to say, the first 15 minutes were GREAT to watch. Too bad Maryland got hotter than hot...and too bad the ENTIRE crowd was Maryland people. Not a good game for Kirk. But I was glad that both Travon and Charlie did well, since it was their last game. For a while I considered being happy for the Maryland bench players who got to go in, but then I decided that I wasn't, since they probably have that opportunity a lot more than we do. Is there anyone in the world who is doing well on their brackets? Mine is not looking good. But at least 3 of my 4 picks for the Final Four are still in the count. Go Duke, Oklahoma, and Oregon! And GO BADGERS (just for the hell of it)!!!
So, I went to watch the basketball practices at the Kohl Center today. I saw all of them except Texas...come on, they were practicing during lunch time. A girl has got to eat. Liz and I decided to sit in a neutral "endzone" area, which happened to be near where all of the media people were standing about. The Illinois practice was dumb. So is Archibald. I really like Cory Bradford and Frank Williams, because they stayed to sign a bunch of autographs for people. That was nice. The Oregon practice was pretty nice...I really enjoy the Lukes. They both have a nice head of moppy hair. I like how they call their 3 main guys "LL cool J." (Luke, Luke, and Jones) I have to laugh at that. Then Kansas came out. The crowd booed for them, which initially made me laugh, but then I felt bad for them. But you don't knock the Badgers style of play and expect a warm reception, even if it was a while ago. At first their practice was really boring because they were just stretching and piruetting down the court. I have no idea how to spell "piruette"...so if it's wrong, sorry. I'm too lazy to get a dictionary. But then they did a relatively entertaining scrimmage type thing. Bo Ryan showed up and was swarmed by people wanting his autograph. I swear he was signing them for like an hour. I felt bad for him-- so what do I do? Walk down there just as he's leaving and yell, "Coach Ryan! Could I please get a picture with you?" He seemed to think about it for a minute, but then must've seen the pleading look on my face and said, "sure." So I got my picture taken with Bo Ryan. Thanks, Coach! My bet is that I'll look absolutely horrid in the picture and therefore will never want to look at it. We'll see, I guess. We also saw a guy eating nachos who looked a little like Kirk, another guy who kept moving from section to section who looked like Devin, a guy sitting at a scorers table who looked like Mike Wilkinson, and another guy who looked like Travon. The guy who looked like Travon looked A LOT like Travon...but I couldn't get a close enough look at him, so who knows? Hey, Travon--did you go to the practices?? We also saw Matt Lepay, whom we originally identified as "the guy from the Bo Ryan show," the red-headed sports reporter from some news station, and Mike Lucas from Capital Times. What an eventful day. Well, I hope everyone has a great Spring Break that will probably be more exciting than mine! And how about Indiana beating Duke?? Wow!
After an uneventful Spring Break, I have returned back to Madison today.
I read a travelogue book on Australia by Bill Bryson called
In a Sunburned Country. It was REALLY good and I recommend it to
everyone. It was interesting and very funny, as well. Did you know that
there are camels in Australia? I also read a book by Andrew Stevenson
called Kiwi Tracks about his backpacking experience
around New Zealand. It was nowhere near as good as Bryson's book...he
seemed to whine a lot and wallow in self-pity. But it wasn't bad, and I
did learn some interesting things. Did you know that there are penguins
in New Zealand, and no snakes? I was also watching a show on the ?Discovery?
channel...it was the Adventure Challenge, or something. Anyway, the Kiwi
team was totally kicking ass throughout over half of it. But then I had
to leave to go grocery shopping, and when I returned the Finns had taken
the lead. Maybe the Kiwis' strategy of no sleep caught up to them. But
they got 2nd. Not bad. Bummer the Badgers had to play the national
championship team in the second round. Hopefully we'll get a better draw
next year when we take the NCAA tournament by storm!
Who says all jocks are dumb? Congrats to Penney for earning a spot on the Winter Academic All-Conference Team. To be eligible you need a GPA of at least 3.0. And some other crod, but nothing interesting. Mike, Ike, and Max also made the team...great job, guys! I also have to let out a sigh of relief that Tony Bennett won't be leaving here for UW- Green Bay. Tony's great! I was at the Nitty again a couple of days ago for a birthday...in addition to the original Kirk photo I saw, they now have a picture of a bunch of the team there after becoming Big Ten champs. I'm guessing it's from Devin's birthday. AND...there are also two pictures up with Bill Raftery, my favorite announcer. I love that guy.
 Last year |
 This year |
 Next year??...let's hope not... |
I really hate it when I can't stop staring at someone, especially when they notice you staring at them. I have that problem whenever I see a basketball player around campus. It's really quite pathetic, but I can't help it. It's not everyday that I see them around. Ok, so my schedule coincides with a few of them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it's still exciting. Here's a funny story for you (I think it's funny anyway): I'm walking to class and I see Devin Harris. I stare at him. He looks over and sees me staring at him. I give him a big smile. He gives me a confused look and quickly turns away. I feel dumb. But really, what else would I expect him to do, I ask? That's what I would do if I saw a person staring at me that I didn't know. My friends find my reenactment of the situation hysterical. Too bad I can't convey it well on here.
Well, I've been meaning to write a bunch of random crap here for a while now, but the ftp transfer thing was being slower than my arse, so I couldn't. Anyway, last sunday-wednesday Eco-Challenge: New Zealand was on tv (USA network...I think). I didn't have time to watch them, so I recorded them, hoping I'll have time to watch them later. But I forgot to record the 2 hour conclusion, so hopefully that will be on again, so I can actually see the end of the damn thing. Curiosity didn't kill the cat, but it did kill the cat's suspense--before the show aired I couldn't help but to search the internet to see who won. I was very disappointed to learn that the Kiwi's came in second. I think it was the whole "no sleep" thing again. Something like 34 of the 67 teams competing were American. Criminy. No wonder an American team got first...Americans constitute fifty percent of the competitors.
I thought I'd give a run-down of "awards" that the basketball team received from the Daily Cardinal last thursday. In the Top Ten Moments of 2001-02, the Big Ten championship win came in at #5. Not bad. In the Defining Moments in sports, basketball made a showing with 4 entries. #1: Championship, #5: Michigan St. win, #9: "Kirk Penney torches the Gophers on the road, literally" (not sure what's up with the "literally," but it does conjure up some funny images), and #11: The loss to Luke Recker in the tournament. Also, Kirk Penney was honorable mention for Male Athlete of the Year and the team as a whole won Men's Team of the Year. Bo Ryan got Men's Coach of the Year. And the Michigan St. game was Away Game of the Year. The men's basketball banquet was last night, and I was sad to read today that Bo Ryan doesn't plan on doing anymore banquets unless they have another phenomenal season. But we all know they will have another great one, so no worries. I know that they showed the banquet on tv last year, so I'm hoping they'll show this year's as well. If anyone knows when/if it'll be on, let me know! I had recorded last year's, and they had this great highlight clip of the season. But somehow I recorded over that part, so I am extremely sad about that. Anybody out there have a copy of it?
Wow, long time with no update. But this time of the year isn't exactly spewing forth basketball, let alone Kirk, information. Also, now that I have permanently moved out of Chadbourne I no longer have the luxury of ethernet. I'm actually stuck with a dial-up...not conducive to wanting to go online. Anyway, I still don't have any great news (or even interesting?), but there are a few things that I feel like writing. Kirk has quite the busy summer, from what I read in the Bo Ryan interview transcript thing. He's going to be playing basketball in New Zealand, Madison, Europe, and Indianapolis. Maybe somewhere else, but I can't remember exactly. Then there's my summer...work, work, work...hey!, a vacation at my cabin in northern Minnesota (ooh!), work, work, work, all right!, a week long horseback riding trip in Montana, work, work, work, back to school. So I guess mine could be worse. Rochesterfest (our city summer festival thing) was last week. We had the Midwest Lumberjack Championships here. Our newspaper the next day had the headline, "New Zealand dominates." Well, I already knew this, but I guess the rest of my city needed some sort of proof. Basically, the 1st and 3rd place for men went to Kiwis, and the 1st and 2nd place for women went to Kiwis as well. So not only can they play basketball, but they can chop wood as well! Yee-haw! I read Tony Hawks' "Round Ireland With a Fridge." It's a funny travel book in which a New Zealander makes a somewhat memorable appearance involving a doghouse. Hmmm, I thought I had some more non-important crod to write, but I can't think of it right now, so I guess you are spared. I hope everyone is having a great first week of summer (or winter, for you southern hemisphere-ites)!
Congratulations on Penney being named captain of the basketball team! At least I'm assuming he was...I didn't read it anywhere "official", like uwbadgers.com, but it said that he was named captain in the newest article from a NZ newspaper that I put up on here. I'm assuming they wouldn't make stuff up. Besides, if he wasn't named captain, something would be very wrong with the world. So, congratulations again, Kirk! I know you will lead the team to a wonderful season!
Last week Penney played on the Tall Blacks squad (NZ's national team) in a tournament against Hungary. He played well, as did the whole team. They won the series 4-1. Penney scored 17, 10, 31, 15, and 34 points in the 5 games, respectively. This tournament must have brought new Kiwi interest in Kirk. My friend Liz chats on a message board which includes a Kiwi (Kiwi Chris, as we refer to him as). He informed her that Kirk's been in the papers a couple times last week, including a picture. I've also gotten a few emails from Kiwis who discovered my site. Apparently he was on the national sports show in NZ. It's also reported that he sounds very American! Man, if his accent sounds Americanized, I'd LOVE to hear an "untainted" NZ accent! There's nothing I love more than checking my mail and finding email pertaining to my website (especially if it's from NZ!). Ok, so there are things I love more than that, but I really do enjoy getting email. So even if you don't have anything in particular to say, you can still email me to tell me whatever (even if it's to tell me that my website sucks and you find me creepy). Hey, everyone has their opinions...and I want to hear them! I feel like I just wrote a promotion. How dorky and pathetic do I sound?-- "email me!!! I love reading email!!" Whatever. I had to laugh, because in an article I read (not one I posted because it wasn't a "Kirk article") the Tall Blacks coach was saying how they never received the scouting tape on the Hungary team. He said that the tape seemed to have went on a "walkabout." Haha! Walkabout! That reminds me of Crocodile Dundee. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Hopefully I'll find some more info to put here later. Until then, enjoy whatever it is you do during the summer (poor Kiwis...winter for them, and that means school :( ).
Well, the World Basketball Championships are being held in Indianapolis this
year. New Zealand got the Oceania spot by beating Australia in qualifying rounds
last year. It was the first time they beat Australia since like, 1974 or something.
Anyway, there are 16 teams in the championship, and they are divided into 4 groups.
Games are played until one team comes out the victor...the exact process of which, I
really don't want to explain. But, my main point is that New Zealand is in group D and
the US is in group C. So, if NZ finishes in the top third of its group of 4 in the
first round (and if the US finishes in its top third...likely) then NZ will play the
US at least once. And, all US games will be televised (either on NBC, ESPN2, or TNT) so
in that case, we can watch Kirk play! So here's hoping NZ finishes in the top 3 of their
group! Well, let's hope that they finish higher than that, but you know what I mean. I have NO
idea how good the other teams in the NZ group are. If you want to know more information
on the World Basketball Championships, then go here: WBC2002
Also, Ryan from NZ gave me a couple sites of NZ basketball interest, and one includes
a picture of the Tall Blacks squad, complete with Kirk (who looks to be #22...Mike Kelley's
old number!). So that's where this picture came from. I love how they are sponsored by Burger King and have "Burger King" written on the front of
their jerseys. That's one more reason why Burger King is better than McDonald's! I'll
take Burger King (flame broiled!) over McDonald's any day...unless they're the ones off
of State Street. Then I'm afraid I often choose McDonald's...it's so much cleaner than
the Burger King! I think that Burger King mops its floor with pop, it's so sticky.
Here's the picture that accompanied the last article I posted, with help from Emily.
I felt it deserved an insertion into the miscellaneous comments area. Kirk looks pretty
damn buff, but I still think that Maori warrior could bring him down...check out that
guys abs...and arms! Granted, he's made of margerine, but if he were to come alive...wasn't there
some horror movie about that? Waxworks, or something? Who knows. Kirk seems to have
the pose down pretty well, but where's the tongue?!?
I've been wanting to update for a while now, but I've been without an internet connection for over the last week. So now I'm finally getting around to it. Anyway, Foxsports.com rated the Badgers #19 in the preseason ranking! Not too shabby! AND...Kirk was named as a Wooden Award candidate. Again, not too shabby! AND...Kirk played excellently for the Tall Blacks in their recent tour thing in Europe. I think it was called the Super Cup, or something. The TB (Tall Blacks, not tuberculosis) record in that was 2-5. Not the greatest, but they had a couple of close ones. In their first game they lost to France (97-92) in OT. Kirk had a game high 26 points. Tab Baldwin (TB coach) had this to say of Kirk: "Kirk is a reflection of our whole programme. Every time out, it's a learning curve, but you can see him growing with the rest of the team in terms of exposure and experience." They also lost their second game against France (86-80), Kirk having a game high 26 points again. But apparently the officiating was really shitty. Hey, we all know the French are assholes. But the opposing coach had this to say about Kirk: "We had a lot of problems with Penney. Of course, we knew Sean Marks was an excellent player because he is in the NBA, but we did not know about Penney because he is young. I think he will be a historical player for New Zealand. He is 'mondiale', first class." How sweet. They won their next game against Yugoslavia (I think they were the reigning world champs) 81-79. Kirk had 18 points. They lost their next game against Germany (83-74), Kirk with a team high 17 points. They lost their next game against Lithuania (85-75), Kirk with 15 points. I guess the TB have great manners. One of the scorer people from that game said of the TB, "Whenever they put in a sub, they always said 'please'. They were always so polite and you never hear that from other teams." Well, if that just isn't adorable! They then lost a game against Canada (75-72). But this was a little weird. I guess the TB called a time out with like 5 seconds left. It wasn't acknowledged right away. So the buzzer rang. But the scoring table realized a timout had been made and added 5 seconds to the clock. But the referees had run off, so they couldn't continue, and the game just went to the Canadians. How bizarre is that?? Kirk had a game high 26 points in that game. I guess 26 is his favorite number. Baldwin said about Kirk, "He is a really great player. Kirk has been a workhorse for us through our preparation and had another good game here tonight." Well, they won their next game against the Canadians (84-81), Kirk with 20 points. Take that, our Northern Neighbors! There are some great pictures I have of him on the TB team, but my computer is stupid and won't save them in normal formats. So I can't get them up here immediately. But I will sometime relatively soon! I'm a little confused with some of them though. I thought he was #22, and in some pictures that is apparent. But in some later pictures I see a guy who looks like him, but he's wearing #6. But these shots are kind of crappy and at odd angles, so it might not be him. But it looks like him...anyone know if for some reason he switched numbers, or if I'm just an idiot? Well, that's all for now. It better be, considering I just wrote a novel!
Woo-hoo!!! New Zealand beat Russia today at the Conseco Fieldhouse at the World Basketball Championships! Kirk scored 19 points. I'm looking forward to them playing the US in the next round (I know they'll make it). Then we can watch it on TV! Also, in a game played prior to the tournament, NZ lost to Brazil (83-73). Penney had 18 points. Go Tall Blacks!
And there's another win for the Tall Blacks! They beat Venezuela today in the RCA Dome 98-85. Kirk had 20 points. Now they are assured of moving on to the next round and that means that they will play the US...which means they'll be on TV! So I'll have to try and figure out what channel. Hooray for Kiwi basketballers!
Well, Argentina beat NZ today 112-85. Kirk had 13 points. I guess Argentina just exploded the 4th quarter. Too bad. But at least they had already advanced to the 2nd round. Good luck there!
New Zealand plays Germany tomorrow. On Tuesday, Sept. 3 they play the US at 8pm. It will be televised on ESPN2 (ch. 23 in Madison) that night (at 8). So keep that time slot open! Then they play someone else the next day, but I can't remember who. Good luck, Tall Blacks!
What a GREAT first half the TBs played against the US! They were only down by 6 at the half, and had been up by 6 in the 2nd quarter! And then a 2nd half had to be played...and what the hell happened?!? I started hating the US team with a passion during this half. They seemed like cocky bastards. And one of them took Kirk down on a block...and a foul wasn't even called. Tab (NZ coach) got pissed and a technical was called on him. They ended up losing 62-110..or something close to that. Kirk led the scorers with 16 points. And Michael Finley led the US team with 20 points. He went to UW-Madison a bit ago. He has like 8,000 school records. And before this game they showed the NZ team doing the entire haka, but NEVER SHOWED KIRK!! I was so angry...just pan the freakin' camera over 2 more feet! So that kinda sucked. Germany also beat NZ last night by 20 points or so. Kirk had 15 points in that one. Well, I hope the TBs beat China. And I hope Kirk isn't missing out on too much school work, being as he's missing the first week of school. Oh yeah, and Kirk was wearing a mouthguard that was making it look like he had fangs. That's all, 'till later, I guess.
Hooray for the Tall Blacks beating China!! Kirk had 19 points. Bizarre occurance in the game: Yao Ming from the Chinese team (who was thinking about coming to school in Madison a couple of years ago...wouldn't that have been weird?) was called for a foul. He was not happy with this call, so he chased the ref down the court and ended up getting a technical. I wish I saw that! With this win the Tall Blacks have advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Championships. So they are guaranteed to be placed somewhere in the top 8. WHAT A GREAT JOB!! It makes me SO happy hearing about all the support the TBs are getting from NZ. In articles from last year and before, Kirk has said that he didn't know if many people knew who he was in NZ. Now I'm sure lots of Kiwis know him! Not only does Kirk have followers in the US and NZ, but I've gotten emails from people in Germany who've become fans (happy belated birthday, Mimie!)! Wow! Very impressive. I guess the Tall Blacks are being inundated with emails. The aforementioned Kiwi Chris said that if we ever see Kirk to tell him how proud NZ is of the Tall Blacks and to thank him for what he's doing to the country. That is so great! I never see Kirk, so I won't be able to tell him that, but what great sentiments nonetheless. The Tall Blacks play Puerto Rico tonight at 8:00. I hope they kick some ass! We need them to play the US again...why can't they televise more games??
And the Tall Blacks advance to the Semi-Finals!! This is amazing! The Tall Blacks beat Puerto Rico tonight in a close game to advance to the Semis. I don't know how many points Kirk scored because I can't get to the World Basketball Championships website, presumably because the traffic there is too high. And the US lost again, this time to Yugoslavia, so they are now out of the tournament. This is going to wreak havoc upon the estimated attendance since Americans are incapable of enjoying games that they aren't participating in. But who knows? Maybe we'll surprise me. Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS TALL BLACKS!!!!!!
The Tall Blacks' magnificent run ended today with a loss to Yugoslavia (78-89). :( Again, they had an excellent start. I was really pissed off though because I had to miss the first 3 minutes of the game because a stupid football game that was on that channel beforehand went longer than expected. Football sucks. Especially when extremely obnoxious people sit behind you and it's 95 degrees (as were the circumstances at the school football game that I went to this afternoon). Now I have really freaky sunburn lines on my face from my sunglasses. Anyway...Kirk had 24 points in this game (he had 7 the other night against Puerto Rico). And I saw NZ perform the best passing sequence I have ever seen. It was truly amazing. My friends and I rewatched it like 10 times. We couldn't get over how great it was. Ooh, and they showed the haka again (a crowd favorite!) and this time they showed Kirk! I was a happy girl. He was also interviewed briefly at the half and exited the interview with "cheers, brother" to the interviewer. They got a kick out of that. So while I am very sad that they lost today, I'm very happy with how far they've gotten. Quite amazing. They play Germany tomorrow to determine who gets 3rd. I can't wait to see him play with the Badgers this year... only 2 months until the season starts!
Germany beat NZ today...94-117 (I think). Kirk had 19 points. I swear he made like 10 points in the last 2 minutes. So NZ ended up 4th IN THE WORLD. Not bad at all. Better than the US! I hope they are extremely proud. Kiwi Chris said that he saw them on the news after the loss to Yugoslavia and he said that they were really sad and they were saying how they let their country down. That is so sad, and I hope they honestly don't feel that way! I saw an article about a kid from NZ who just got a basketball scholarship to play in the US, and he hopes to transfer sometime to a division 1 school here to play basketball. He said that Kirk Penney was his role model. I almost died when I read that...it is so great!
So I was in Walgreen's the other day and saw a magazine with Kirk on the cover. Of course, I had
to buy it. It's Athlon Sports College Basketball Edition. Whatever Athlon Sports is. According to
the magazine cover it's "America's premiere sports annuals." But what does that really mean? Like
a magazine would ever say, "We're not that popular and kind of suck." But any magazine with Kirk on the
cover is fine by me. But they must have like 50 different versions they put out for different
regions of the country...I doubt that if it was national all 3 playes on the cover would be from the Big Ten
(Kirk, Glen Worley, and Rick Rickert). Anyway, they have Top Ten lists in there encompassing all
players in NCAA. And Kirk made the Top Ten Shooters list at #9! Not bad. The only other player I recognized
on the list was Marcus Hatten (from St. John's who we played first round of the NCAA tournament last year).
The players on the Shooters list "possess a knack for making tough shots when they count the most. The
name of the game is scoring, and these guys can do it in bunches from anywhere on the floor-- often
from well beyond the 3-point line." But this mag can suck it, because they have Wisconsin finishing #6 in the
Big Ten and going to the NIT. Whatever. They're totally going to kick more ass than that. But they did
say that their "underrated backcourt could push team towards top." And they predicted Kirk to be on the
All-Big Ten first team and Devin Harris to be on the 3rd team. On the Wisconsin team info page it
says of Kirk: "Penney developed a reputation during his first two seasons as a one-dimensional
offensive player who scored only from the perimeter. But after adding muscle and an array of
inside moves prior to last season, he blossomed into an efficient scorer and a first-team All-Big
Ten pick. Penney's 3-point percentage dipped, but he attempted 112 free throws, 37 more than he had
in his first two seasons combined. He also improved his field goal percentage and increased his scoring
to 15.1 from 11.2. This season, Penney will be the team's lone senior and must lead more than ever before.
'I think Kirk is ready for the role,' Ryan says." There's also a picture of Kirk on this page (and on the
intro Big Ten page). I was reading through the rest of the magazine, and I got to Xavier. There's
a picture of David West, and I was like, "I hate that guy! Hey, it's Kirk!" The picture they used of
him was when Xavier played Wisconsin, so Kirk was in the background of the picture. It was pretty funny.
Well, I guess that's all. Ooh, I saw Kirk on the street today, smiled at him, and he returned the
smile! That's the excitement of my day, thus far. I wanted to congratulate him on the World Basketball
Championships, but 1)I temporarily was rendered speechless, and 2)Even if I could speak, I don't know if I
would because does that just annoy them? If everybody who recognized them spoke to them, they'd
never get anywhere!
10.3.02 Ok, I'm starting to date my misc. comments. In case anyone ever has some reason to wonder which day a comment was made. Wow, that Athlon picture below is REALLY crappy. I bought Lindy's magazine today..."Your complete guide to college basketball." I'm not so sure about that, but it is pretty nice. No Kirk on this cover though...this time it's Adam Ballinger and LaVell Blanchard. Really bad pictures, too. They did a really bad cut-and-paste job on LaVell and Adam's pose is slightly T-Rexish. Actually, most of the pictures in this magazine are pretty funny. And they reuse the same ones a lot. I say they get a new graphics guy. But like I really care. Anyway...Lindy's was nicer to the the Badgers than Athlon. The Badgers came up #24 in their Top 25 list. Nice! I like their "Parting Shot" comment: "Can Bo Ryan coach or what?" Yep, he can coach. Kirk came in #13 on their Top Shooting Guard list--"Has grown into more than merely a shooter." They predict Wisconsin to finish #3 in the Big Ten, saying, "Penney and Harris stack up as league's best backcourt." And Kirk, of course, made their All-Conference First Team (with Devin making the 2nd team). Under their Big Ten Honor Roll Kirk came in as Top Shooter. On the Badger page Kirk says of last year, "A lot of lessons were learned early on that really helped. I'm so proud of what the team achieved." About Penney the mag says, "Their senior is Penney, a 6-5 New Zealander who made the Wooden Award preseason top 50 on the heels of his All-Big-Ten season. Asked to diversify his game and spend some time in the post to make the swing more effective, Penney responded with fewer points than he could score elsewhere (15.1 ppg), but added 4.9 rebounds and played better defense than before. 'Kirk changed his game to help our team,' Ryan said. 'I think that shows the adaptibility of a guy like him.'" Regarding Andreas Penney says, "He's a solid player. He's a strong and a tough guy. It's good to have a rock down in the post." And apparently Penney says that freshman Alando Tucker "jumps out of the gym." About this year Penney says, "I'm always optimistic. We've got a bunch of young guys, but they're talented players. I'm looking forward to it." And there's a picture of Kirk on this page that looks like a pose the old guy in Metallica's 'Unforgiven' video makes at one point. Kinda funny. And how many times can I start a sentence with the word 'and'? Me and my poor grammar...
10.13.02 The Wisconsin State Journal just did an interview with Bo Ryan, and he had some nice things to say about Kirkus Maximus (apparently Penney's nickname on the Tall Blacks squad): "WSJ: What about Penney? Do you worry about burnout after a summer of playing with the New Zealand national team? Ryan: He has had some time to get away. ... So when he came back, he has attacked the hill, done the individuals, the agility drills and everything else. He looks like he's ready to go. WSJ: Where does he rank among the guys you have coached? Ryan: Where he's up there is the fact that he listens. Offensively, what people like is that he can do more things, not for the NBA but for his college team. He accepted that challenge. He ranks very high as a listener and a man committed to doing what is best for the team. In my eyes, he's what it's about. He represents the student-athlete in so many ways that I'd say he's one of the best that I've ever coached in doing all the right things." The team also started practice yesterday. There's nothing I can really add to that, just thought someone may be interesting in knowing that who didn't already know. And I know Bo Ryan has his reasons, but I really wish we'd have a Midnight Madness because that'd be fun. Oh well. November 6th, hurry up and get here! Now back to writing my paper on the movie Heathers...
10.23.02 Ok, I feel the need to post a little message here about something my roommate overheard while waiting in line for basketball tickets. Apparently a girl whom I won't name because I'm not a complete bitch (and her name's not important anyway) was talking to another group in line about me and my website. Her basic point to them was that I am completely obsessed with Kirk Penney and basically, that I'm really pathetic. So just to reiterate, I am not OBSESSED with Penney. Yes, I have a website on him. No, I don't think about him every second of every day. I have the website because I think it's fun, and I know others enjoy it. If I honestly heard that Penney was creeped out by my website, I would take it down and it wouldn't kill me. She also was saying how pathetic I was that I got excited when Penney smiled at me on the street one day. Ok, I really don't think that I'm the only person who gets mildly excited when I see a basketball player...in fact, I know I'm not. Unlike her, I don't know the players and rarely see them off the court. Seeing them doesn't "make my life complete," it just makes me momentarily happy. I would just like to say to you that I think it's really shitty how you tell people how pathetic I am when you don't even know me, especially in a public place where it's not unlikely that I, or someone who knows me, could overhear. If you enjoy making people feel like shit, congratulations, because you succeeded. And if you don't enjoy my website, fine, because I know of many people who are glad I have it up. Are they pathetic too, for wanting to read about him? Ok, that's all I really have to say.
10.27.02 On to the next magazine review of Kirk and the Badgers: Street & Smith's College Basketball 2002. I've got some issues with this magazine. First of all, they have pictures of cheeleaders on the table of contents page. Second, they say that our team's going to need improvement from Neil Plank and Marcetteaus McGee if we want to succeed. So I guess we'll fail this year. Third, they didn't put Kirk on their All-Big Ten team. Hey, it's their magazine and they can do whatever they want, but how uninformed can you be? Neil and Marcetteaus? I guess maybe I can understand the Marcetteaus mistake, but we all knew Neil wasn't coming back since last spring. And not putting Kirk on their All-Big Ten team even thought they picked Wisconsin to finish 3rd in the Big Ten (which they did--good for them on that count)? Interesting. They did rate Penney "Best under pressure" (and Devin "Best athlete"). And they ranked Wisconsin 18th in the country, so that was nice. The rest is pretty boring, but they seem to like Devin a lot.
And man am I glad that the last couple of weeks are over...they were WAY too hectic. Waiting in a line outside in the rain for days is not conducive to doing schoolwork. And I can't say that sleeping under a tarp on concrete was particularly comfortable. But hey, I did get to see my share of basketball personalities. And I had a short conversation with Tony Bennett, which was nice. But maybe I shouldn't mention seeing the players...I may be letting on how pathetic I am. Haha. Whatever. I'd like to say that I love the Badger Student Fan Club for making it so that we could sleep inside the Kohl Center on Saturday night, for bringing in a live band to play, and for giving us donuts for breakfast. So I ended up with tickets in the 15th row...kinda disappointing since last year I had 6th row tickets and we waited in line nowhere near as long, but that's ok. Two girls behind us actually got 2nd row seats because they were just a group of two and could fill in the 2 empty seats there. Lucky! Now I'm more excited than ever for the season to start! Oh, and on Friday I went to the Kids at the Kohl thing (hey, it said people of all ages were welcome!) and it was SO adorable! I have to say that the cutest thing was watching the little kids in the media room interview the players. We went through the hockey locker room (too bad...the men's basketball locker room was closed). We walk into one room and the guard guy in the room says to us, "That's closed off because it has some of their personal stuff in it. But you can go in and just look around." Like what else would we have done in there? Tried on their underwear?
10.28.02 Congratulations to Penney for being named on the Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team by both the Coaches and Media! But is that really a surprise? Bo Ryan also had some nice words to say at the Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Day: On the importance of the team leadership of Kirk Penney: "(Kirk Penney) doesn’t do anything half way. In personality, socially, he’s an A, work habits he’s an A, leadership he’s an A. He just does everything well … The rest of the players look at him and say ‘Wow, that’s what it takes to be pretty good’. I’m hoping all of them say, ‘This is what we have to do.’"
11.4.02 So, I went to the scrimmage the players had on Sunday. It was really fun and interesting to see the new team play together. It got me even more excited for the season to start! I can't wait until their first game on Wednesday, even though it is just an exhibition game. I also got the team poster at the scrimmage and got it signed by all of the players and the coaches. Man, the line for Kirk's autograph was friggin' long! I also got my picture with Kirk. I felt like a complete ass, but I knew I would rather feel like a complete ass for a few minutes and get a picture with him than not to get a picture with him and be mad at myself forever for it. He was really nice about the whole thing though. Actually, it was really nice of all the players to stick around and sign autographs. Thanks, boys! Hmmm...that's all for now. Oh, I did see somewhere (can't remember where right now) a ranking of the Big Ten teams' front and back courts, and Wisconsin was ranked the #1 backcourt. Nice! And soon I'll stick some more pictures that I've acquired and a couple more audio links on the site. So look for those, if you're interested!
11.6.02 And the Badgers have played their first game of the season! After a somewhat unsettling start (they were down 10-0!) they caught up and ended the half tied 26-26. Second half they turned it up a bit and ended up winning 71-52. Kirk had 14 points (team high along with freshman Alando Tucker), including 3-6 on 3s...all in the first half. At one point he was totally taken out by an EA Sports guy and totally hit the ground. I swear I could hear his head hit the floor. Ouch. But he got right up...good thing he's rugby tough! There was also a hysterical moment when Devin practically got a piggy-back ride from an EA Sports player. He jumped at just the right time, landed on the guys back, and stayed on for what seemed like forever. The crowd was pretty quiet the whole game, but I guess that's to be expected for an exhibition game. I hope the team continues to improve and we keep getting quality time out of the freshmen. GREAT job tonight, Alando! And Kirk too, of course. Next up: The Fighting Cocks (Gallos de Pelea...rough translation...) on Saturday!
11.07.02 Because I knew everyone
was curious about this, here are the various shoe styles the Badgers have had throughout Kirk's career here.
This is not including this year. They go in order from oldest to most recent. This year's shoe looks a bit
like last year's but with the colors switched...then again, some of the players have different shoes, so I'm
not sure what's up with that. And no, none of the feet pictured are Kirk's. The middle shoe looks like it has
an outline of a high-heeled shoe on it. It's not so apparent on Mike Kelley's foot (the one pictured), but
you get the bigger shoed guys and it's more humorous (like Mark Vershaw's). Yes, this is what I do when I'm
avoiding writing a midterm...
11.09.02 Well, what a great game against the Fighting Cocks. We totally beat those Cocks...that sounds vulgar, sorry.
The final score was 97-55. Kirk had a wonderful game, scoring 21 points on over 50% shooting. But what I was happiest about was that
every single player on the roster scored points! I was getting a little nervous about that because John
Emerson hadn't scored any points and there was only like 1 minute left in the game. But sure enough, he
unleashed a three-pointer. Yay! We also got to see 2 Dave Mader dunks (who, by the way, broke his high score
record with 10...and had 9 rebounds [another record for him?], so almost a double-double). The crowd was also
much improved over last game...hopefully during regular season it'll pick up even more. It was pretty hilarious,
because Sarah spotted some guy in the crowd who looked like Conan O'Brien's clone. Actually, he looked even
more cartoonish than Conan does, if you can believe that. We also were happy with the flight of a few stray balls
throughout the course of the game...but I won't get into that. So, I'm looking forward to the 15th...our
game against Eastern Washington. It should be a snap, after seeing how great our team looks together tonight! A
definite improvement over Wednesday.
