Your End of February Weekend Roundup

The last day of February is upon us, as on Tuesday we'll be entering one of the best sports months of the year. The NCAA tournament will be taking place, the NBA/NHL are winding down their regular seasons,
and Spring Training is finally here (Brewers play spilt squads to kick things off today). But before head fullsteam into March, let's take a look at what the final weekend of February had to offer.

We'll start at the Kohl Center, where even though Jordan Taylor may not be a senior, the guy is still playing like a team leader. The Badgers played in Madison for the last time this season, beating the Wildcats 78-63. Wisconsin finished the season perfect at home, which is the third time under Bo Ryan. It was actually Senior Day for the Badgers, but the people at home didn't get to see any of the ceremony, which would have been nice.

This year's crop of seniors included Wquinton Smith, Brett Valentyn, Tim Jarmusz, Jon Leuer, J.P. Gavinski, and Keaton Nankivil. You don't hear too much about Gavinski, Valentyn, and Smith, but Wquinton Smith did come in and made a three pointer late in the game which was a neat moment. Leuer, Jarmusz, and Nankivil are of course the ones that will be missed the most. Leuer has been a huge part of Wisconsin basketball since the day he became a Badger, and he capped off his home career with a 26-point performance.

It was good to see the Badgers get their final win at home and finish undefeated at the Kohl once again, and that record should help them come tourney time. As long as they don't tank in the final two games or the Big Ten Tournament they should be a three seed for the dance. So things are looking bright for the team from Madison right now. They still have Indiana on Thursday, and Ohio State on Sunday. The Badgers also are back into the top ten in the new polls that came out Monday.

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Next up, lets look at the college team from Milwaukee. Marquette took on Providence in what I considered a must win game on Sunday, and Marquette did more then just win the game. The Golden Eagles blew out the Friars 86-62. This was a much needed home win for Marquette as they too have two games left this season. (including their Senior Night this Wednesday at the Bradley Center). The game against Providence should have given this team some confidence offensively, and stat-wise Marquette had two players tally double doubles. Jae Crowder did it scoring 12 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Junior Cadougan did it by getting 10 points, and 10 assists. The Golden Eagles did well on the defensive end too, holding Marshon Brooks (who scored 52 points for the Friars in a game last week) to just 17 points.

Marquette now has Cincinnati at home on Wednesday, and then Seton Hall on the road to close the regular season this Saturday. If they can finish the season with two wins I think they should be in the dance not matter what. If they finish 1-1 they will need at least two wins in the Big East Tournament I would think. Winks thinks that they have already done enough to get in, but I'm still not sure. I still like their chances, but I'd like to see a couple more wins before I get as confident as he is. Either way, more wins can't hurt.

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The "pro" team from Milwaukee also played this weekend. This was like one of those Brewers/Cubs games from a few years ago where the whole place was littered with fans from Chicago. There might have been a few Bucks fans at the game on Saturday night, but you'd be hard pressed to find them. Case in point, Milwaukee was booed by the Bulls fans at the start of the game. That might have fueled the Bucks fire for the first quarter, but the Bucks slowed down after that. The Bulls took care of the Bucks with a big defensive second half to win 83-75 Saturday night.

This Bucks team is getting harder and harder to watch and then write about. I started my first day as a bouncer at a local bar on Saturday night, which I am doing more to get out of having to watch Bucks games than I am for the money. I watched the first quarter, and the Bucks looked real good, I was very pleased with what I saw. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored eight points in the first, and Larry Sanders chipped in with six. It seemed that maybe those two could spark the rest of the team, but that didn't happen. Mbah a Moute can't lead your team in scoring if you want to win games, but that is what happened Saturday as he finished with 16 points. Andrew Bogut was 2-10 from the field, so he needs to get his ass off the court. I say shut him down for the season and just call it a year. He's clearly still hurt and this Bucks team is done, so why not just not risk a further injury by putting him in a suit and tie on the bench. 

Next up for the Bucks are the Pistons on Tuesday, the same Pistons team that might have "boycotted the coach for a game", but no one really knows. Either way I bet the Bucks find a way to get beat by a team that shouldn't win the rest of the season. The Pistons are a wreck on and off the court, but I think they should still be favored to win. Things are just not looking good for the Bucks right now. If you want to see something worthwhile at the Bradley Center check out the Milwaukee Admirals Saturday night. I'll be in attendance, especially because of the fact that the first 3,500 fans get a free Gruber Law Office T-shirt. I can't wait to get my new T-shirt let me tell you.

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Last but not least, if you're not a basketball fan you could have checked out the NFL Combine. We know that the Badgers have a few guys that will go in the first round, but lets not forget about John Clay. I was kind of surprised when he said he was going to leave early, but he is working hard at improving his draft position. He has got his weight down to 230, and is working out with the trainer that helped Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. So you can't say he is just thinking his stats from college are going to get him drafted. J.J. Watt on the other hand is trying to look more attractive by claiming that he can also play offense. He said that he could see himself playing tight end and defensive end. Not really sure why he is talking about this, but I guess teams can throw him in as a TE too? Gabe Carimi says he is the best lineman in the draft, so the guys from Wisconsin are confident that they will be making an impact on the NFL and I don't blame them.

We won't find out where they get drafted until April, but in the meantime we have a healthy slate of games to watch in March. The NCAA tournament is at the top of my list, but there's plenty of Brewers Spring Training and shitty Bucks games to go around as well.