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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.

Spotted a poll on NFL.com today about backup quarterbacks, which seems to suggest that even the league’s own Web minders are tired of slicing and dicing the draft and free agency and are ready for some real action already. Anyway, the question asked how certain free agent backups would fare on their new teams if they were nominated to the starting role. Among the choices was Iowa State alum Sage Rosenfels; he got all of 2% of the vote. (Doesn’t say much about how eager ISU fans are to answer polls on NFL.com, does it?) Now, I’m not here to suggest that Sage is on par with the Brett Favres and the Tom Bradys of the world, I’m not even suggesting he’s on par with the Trent Dilfers, but I think he should be able to get a little more respect than that. Last year in Miami he almost managed to pull out a couple wins for the Dolphins. How much did Craig Nall ever accomplish for Green Bay? Todd Collins didn’t even complete a pass for the Chiefs last year. I’m just saying let’s give Sage a little more credit than that.

By the way, the top pick in the poll with 42% of the votes was Brian Griese, who signed with the Chicago Bears this Spring. Let’s remember this is a guy who got injured after tripping over his own dog and falling down a flight of stairs. (Hey, that’s what he claimed.) Even a lot of Bears fans weren’t thrilled with the deal, though the sad state of the Midway Monsters passing game was evidenced by the fact that most Chicago fans were happy just to get any quarterback.

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.

Marquette had their three-game winning streak broken last night by Louisville, losing to the Cardinals 67-60 in overtime. The Golden Eagles made a furious run in the second half with Steve Novak scoring 20 points and Dominic James hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game in regulation. In the extra period, though, Marquette’s guns went silent as Taquan Dean hit two free throws and a three-pointer to put Louisville in charge for good. The Golden Eagles drop to 19-9 on the season and 9-6 in Big East play with their final game of the regular season looming against Providence (12-14, 5-10 Big East) on Saturday.

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.

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