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I came across a link on Every Day Should be Saturday to an analysis of school mascots at Golden Tornado. Running down the Big 12, Nathan reaches the spot-on conclusion that ISU’s mascot sucks. Speaking as an alumnus and faithful supporter of the Cyclones, I’ll be the first to admit that Cy isn’t the best mascot in the world, and I doubt you’ll find many Iowa Staters who disagree. I will say, though, that this latest incarnation of Cy is a far sight better that the Cy I knew when going to ISU. The previous Cy was, I’m pretty sure, made out of wood, moved like the Frankenstein monster and could scare small children from 500 yards away. This new version is more like Clone, the short-lived co-mascot that served as our San Diego Chicken of the plains, except that New Cy is a little creepy with that big, toothy smile. (Since when do cardinals have teeth?) It is Our Cy, though, so we have to love him on a certain level, kind of like that embarrassing uncle you’d rather not invite to your wedding but have to.

In his Big 10 rundown, Nathan gets kudos for his top rating for Bucky Badger. “One of our favorite mascots in the country, the badger is [the] epitome of what a college mascot should be.” It’s all in the sweater, I tell you. He is also spot on in giving the thumbs down to both Goldie Hawn Gopher and Herky Jerky the Hawk.

The Hershey Bears proved to be too much for the Admirals, besting Milwaukee 5-1 last night at the Bradley Center to win the Calder Cup in six games. The Bears jumped out to an early lead once again, with net minder Pekka Rinne giving up two goals in the first six minutes of the game. Head coach Claude Noel decided to pull Rinne after that, but reliever Brian Finley fared little better, allowing another goal in the opening frame and one apiece in the final two periods. Darren Haydar came up with Milwaukee’s lone point on a power play in the second.

Despite falling short of the Cup, it was a good run for the Admirals, winning 49 games in the regular season to win the West Division title. Haydar led everyone in the playoffs with 18 goals and 17 assists, while Simon Gamache came up with 12 goals and 16 assists. I would suspect they might get a shot at making the Predators roster next year.

Speaking of youngsters playing hockey, the NHL Draft is coming up June 24, and there are some Badger names to keep an eye on. Derrick LaPoint, a defenseman for Eau Claire North High School, is considered a possible second round pick this year, while Ben Street, who scored 10 goals and had five assists for the NCAA champion Badgers this year, is also a top prospect. And representing the Hawkeye state, Keye Okposo is seen as a first rounder. Actually, Okposo is from St. Paul, but he helped lead the Des Moines Buccaneers to a Memorial Cup trophy back in May.

Missed this news in the run up to Packers minicamp, but Wisconsin fullback Matt Bernstein joined teammate Brian Calhoun in Detroit last week. Bernstein signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent in time to join the team’s rookie minicamp over the weekend. No word on the Lion’s Web site on how well he did. Other Badgers signing with pro teams last week included center Donovan Raiola (Rams), DB Levonne Rowan (Eagles), LB Dontez Sanders (Browns), and OL Jason Palmero (Vikings). So, just for you out there keeping score, that makes nine UW players either drafted or signed to NFL teams, none playing in Green Bay.

The Packers didn’t pick a single Badger in the Draft this weekend, but a small group of Wisconsin players were picked up by other teams and now begin their pro careers. Running back Brian Calhoun was taken in the third round (74th overall) by Detroit, which both saddens and frightens me. He had just one season at UW, but what a season it was, and now he’ll be facing the Green Bay defense twice a year. (Note to Brian: Save your best games for Minnesota.) Wide reciever Brandon Williams, who totaled 59 catches for 1,095 yards and six touchdowns for the Badgers, also went in the third round on a pick by San Francisco.

Tight end Owen Daniels was chosen by Houston at the beginning of the fourth round. He racked up 391 yards and two scores on 25 catches last year as Badger. Fellow tight end Jason Pociask, who was used mostly as a blocker, went in the fifth round (150th overall) to the Jets. Finally, wide receiver Jonathan Orr was picked up by Tennessee in the sixth round (172 overall). He had 40 catches last year for 688 yards and eight touchdowns.

Not chosen in the Draft, though, was fullback Matt Bernstein. I thought earlier today that it would be pretty great if the Packers picked him up in the later rounds because I think he would be a natural fit for the team, and I see that Craig at the Oracle of Cheese was thinking the same thing. Take heart, though, he’s still available to be signed as an undrafted free agent.

As for my own alma mater, linebacker Tim Dobbins was the only Cyclone to be taken in the draft, getting selected by San Diego in the fifth round.

Well, the conference tournaments were pretty disappointing but now the NCAA tourney is set to begin. Wisconsin, which got booted in the quarterfinals after losing to Indiana 61-56, made the #9 seed in the Minneapolis bracket. They play on Friday against #8 seed Arizona and would advance to play Villanova, the top seed in that bracket. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which beat Butler to win the Horizon League title, is the #11 seed and plays Oklahoma on Wednesday. Marquette, meanwhile, earned the #7 seed in the Oakland bracket and plays #10 seed Alabama on Wednesday. A win would probably send the Golden Eagles against UCLA, the #2 seed in that bracket. Sadly, though not unexpectedly, my Cyclones were shut out on the post-season invites, not even the NIT wanted them around. On the bright side, though, they are a pretty young team and should be returning a lot of starters from this year.

The Wisconsin men’s hockey team swept Michigan Tech this weekend at the Kohl Center, advancing to the second round of the WCHA tournament. On Friday night the Badgers recorded a 4-1 victory with four different players reaching the net. Three of those came early in the game against goalie Michael-Lee Teslak, who was replaced after the first period. Wisconsin goalie Brian Elliott had 21 saves. Saturday night the Badgers won 1-0 as Elliott notched his fifth shutout of the season with 19 saves, while Joe Pavelski extended his scoring streak to 11 games with his 19th goal of the year. UW will play their semifinal game in St. Paul against an opponent to determined today as other teams complete their best-of-three series.

Over in women’s hockey, the Badgers blew away St. Cloud State 9-0 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis to advance to the WHCA championship game. They’ll play Minnesota this afternoon for the title, a rematch from last year’s championship game which UW lost in overtime.

Enough fooling around with regular season conference games, it’s time to get serious. The Big 12 and Big 10 tournaments get started this week and I’m looking for good things from both my Cyclones and my Badgers. Okay, neither team was looking real sharp coming down the stretch, but a guy can still have hope. Iowa State comes into their tournament as the #10 seed after losing to Colorado 82-84 this past Saturday to close out their season with a 16-13 overall mark and a 6-10 conference record. They play Oklahoma State (16-14, 6-10 Big 12) in the first round, a team they beat 68-52 just a couple weeks ago, so I’m hopeful the Clones will get into the second round on Friday. If they do advance, the Cyclones will have to play #2 seed Kansas.

Over in the Big 10, Wisconsin gets a pass on the first round as the #4 seed, despite closing out the season with a two game loosing streak. The Badgers (19-10, 9-7 Big 10) play #5 seed Indiana (17-10, 9-7 Big 10), who was ranked #24 when the Badgers beat them 72-54 at the end of January. A win against the Hoosiers will most likely send UW against #1 seed Ohio State.

To be honest, Marquette probably has the best chance to go deep in their tournament, being the #4 seed in the Big East. The Golden Eagles get a bye on first round action and will play the winner of the Georgetown (a ranked team they beat) vs. Notre Dame matchup on Thursday, which will probably send them up against UConn (another ranked team they beat) on Friday.

Wisconsin bounced back from their loss last week to Northwestern, defeating the Golden Gophers 80-74. Alando Tucker scored 22 points to lead the team, while freshman Kevin Gullikson added 12. Another freshamn, Joe Krabbenhoft, recorded a double-double (his first) and Kam Taylor scored 10 points. The win puts UW back up in fourth place in the Big 10 with a 9-5 record, and advances the team’s overall record to 19-8 with two games remaining. The Badgers take on #18 Michigan State (19-9, 7-7 Big 10) on Thursday.

It was a cruel awakening after endless days of Olympic curling and speed skating to find out that the UW men’s hockey team has continued to struggle through the latter part of their schedule. When I last checked in, the Badgers had won 4-2 in the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic over Ohio State at Lambeau Field. Andrew Joudrey scored the game winner at the seven minute mark in the final period and Robbie Earl sealed the win with a goal in the final minute. Goalie Shane Connelly had 18 saves. The next weekend, Wisconsin beat Michigan Tech 5-0 in the Friday night match as the Badgers outshot the Huskies 64-20. Defenseman Davis Drewiske scored twice in the contest, his first two of the season. But then on Saturday, UW played the Huskies to a 4-4 draw with Brian Elliott in front of the net. This weekend, though, spelled real trouble for the Badgers as they dropped a pair to Minnesota State. The Mavericks of Mankato won 6-4 on Friday and then 7-3 on Saturday.

With two games remaining in the regular season, UW is in third place in the WCHA standings with a 15-8-3 conference record. Overall, they’ve won 21 games. Last season, the Badgers made it into the NCAA tournament with a 23-13-4 record, so let’s hope they play well against St. Cloud State next weekend on home ice.

Wisconsin saw their three-game winning streak come to an end last night as Northwestern beat the Badgers 62-51. Luckily I was in the never ending cycle of Winter Olympics action, so I missed out on the heartbreak of watching this game. UW had a terible night shooting, making just 39% of their shots from the field and going 4-14 from three-point range. Alando Tucker led the Badgers with 14 points and Kam Taylor scored 11, while Wisconsin allowed NU’s Mohamed Hachad to score a career-high 25 points. Seems like several opposing players have been getting career- or season-high performances against the Badgers this year, doesn’t it? The loss drops Wisconsin to 8-5 in conference play and 18-8 overall with three games remaining before the Big 10 tourney. The Badgers square off against Minnesota (14-10, 5-8 Big 10) on Sunday.

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