No, if ands or doubts about it.... This one is a shocker. On Friday afternoon the University of Wisconsin announced that senior defensive end David Gilbert is retiring from football due to reoccuring foot injuries. Here are the words of Gilbert himself in making this announcement: 

“This was a difficult decision for me but I have had multiple injuries and surgeries on my foot and feel that no longer playing at UW is the best decision for me,” Gilbert said. “I have been dealing with pain in my foot since the injury first occurred and I just need to give it time to fully heal.

“I’ve had a tremendous experience at the University of Wisconsin and will graduate in May. Playing in the Rose Bowl is something I will never forget and a memory I will always cherish. I want to thank all my coaches I’ve had at UW, the former staff for what they did for me as a player and person and the new staff for helping me work through this tough decision. I also want to thank all my teammates and wish them the best next year and in the future.

“I understand this is an abrupt announcement but this will be the only comment I have on my decision. To all the Badger fans out there, thank you for all the support throughout the years. It’s been a pleasure sharing this journey with you.”

Everyone knows about the Border Battle between Wisconsin and Minnesota if you're reading this site. Paul Bunyan's Axe is a staple of college sports, but just how bitter is that border battle? Try all the way down to the club sports level. On Friday while the varsity softball team is in Minneapolis taking on the Gophers as part of the "official" Border Battle series, the University of Wisconsin club lacrosse program takes on it's neighbors from the west right in Madison's backyard of Middleton at 7pm Central. 

What makes this version of the Border Battle must see? Besides the general disdain between the two schools, the Badgers lacrosse team that will take the field on Friday night will have a roster full of Minneapolis area talent on it's side of the battle. 

No doubt it adds a lot to the mix for a team that is just in it's 4th year of existence as a member of the MCLA, yet it can be friendly off the field as a lot of players on both sides grew up playing the sport together in Minnesota. 

Wisconsin lacrosse has been a club sport for close to 40 years already, but it existed as more of a fall sport until they upped their game to compete in the largest lacrosse league in the world, the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association. The MCLA has two divisions and UW competes in the highest of them as a Division 1 school and a member of the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference within the MCLA, which has over 100 members in Division 1 and 200 member schools in total. 

Consider the days of a slowly maturing courtship between Wisconsin football and recruits a thing of the past... at least in terms of offering a player. That much is becoming clear as the Badgers begin to look down the road a bit in shaping the program in the image of it's new coaching staff.

Offering sophomores wasn't a common occurrence of the past to say the least. In the past offers going out to sophomores were likely guys that were in-state and had a long term relationship with the university and the coaching staff (ie: George Panos & Craig Evans) and it was usually only one or two a year, but with the new staff that trend is changing as they currently have seven offers out to the class of 2015. 

Wisconsin fans have been programmed since the time of Barry Alvarez to expect a slow build of the relationship before offers were given out to kids, but under new coach Gary Andersen that philosophy has done a near 180 degree turn.

On Wednesday afternoon the Badgers officially announced the addition of a walk-on to their 2013 class, making it a six-pack of players. Wisconsin adds Green Bay (Southwest) product Aaron Moesch to the mix. 

Moesch is a 6'8", 200lbs. prospect that led the Trojans to the state regional finals and led the Fox River Classic Conference in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game to go with 12.1 rebounds a game and in just three seasons as a member of Southwest's varsity program became a 1,000 point scorer. 

“We’re excited to have Aaron join the Badgers program,” Ryan said. “He is a terrific young man, fantastic student, and comes from a very supportive family.

"He had an excellent career at Green Bay Southwest and we’re looking forward to having him join us soon. Aaron will be an excellent addition to our program and the University of Wisconsin in general.”

Moesch earned honorable mention WBCA Division 1 all-state honors this past season and is the 3rd player of this class that is 6 foot 7 inches or taller and he as some good ability to him both in posting up and off the dribble. 

“Aaron has a very high basketball IQ that allows him to learn quickly on the court,” Ryan added. “I’ve always had an admiration for student-athletes that want to challenge themselves at the highest level both on the court and in the classroom and Aaron is ready and anxious to attack those challenges."

Living in the Green Bay area I've seen Aaron play quite a bit and the best comparison I can make is he's a poor man's Sam Dekker, only with less stroke from the outside and a better ability to play with his back to the basket. Check out a bit of what we've seen here in the GB area for awhile here:

With a loss to Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament 2nd round most Badgers fans attention turned to next season, it's a shame because they are missing one entertaining team doing things that have never been done before in school history. Of course, we're talking about the Wisconsin Badgers softball team. They are off to one of the best starts in school history, holding an overall record of 27-4.

On Tuesday they entered the Top 25 of both national softball polls, coming in at No. 25 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and at No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. It's a rare feat for the Badgers to be ranked, accomplishing a ranking in just two other seasons (2002 and 2001) and topping out at a high of 21st in that 2001 season. 

Wisconsin has started the Big Ten season hot as well, standing at 5-1 in conference play, sitting behind only national power Michigan (6-0) and Michigan State (3-0). UW swept Illinois in their first series of the season and went 2-1 against Iowa last weekend. 

The beauty of this team is they are getting it done in all facets of the game. Leading the way in batting are Mary Massei (.454avg and team best 27 RBI's), who leads the conference in hits  and Maria Van Abel (.441avg). They are lead by Shannel Blackshear's 7 Home Run's (25 RBI's) and have four players with 20 or more RBI's on the season already. Also performing well is veteran Whitney Massey who leads UW and the conference with 14 doubles so far this season.

As a team the Badgers are 2nd in batting average in the conference, behind only Michigan, but are the best pitching team in the conference.  They own the best team ERA in the conference and No. 1 pitcher Cassandra Darrah leads all Big Ten players with a stellar 1.37ERA. Meghan McIntosh is also performing well on the mound, owning a 7-2 record with a 1.20ERA (not enough innings/game to qualify for Big Ten stats lead yet). 

Wisconsin will take to the diamond next against bitter border battle rivals Minnesota in Minneapolis for a three game series on 04/05-04/07. 

Injuries are always a part of spring practice, some players are coming off of surgery and others pick up nagging injuries that shut them down for precautionary reasons. There's that and then there's what is happening to the Badgers offensive line this spring, as the unit is down to just eight healthy bodies to work with. 

Don't let that fool you though, the guys and most importantly new offensive line coach T.J. Woods aren't letting that get them down. Instead they are looking on the bright side of things and moving forward with the guys they have. At least that's what they are telling the media. 

Of the eight healthy bodies at offensive line, two of them are walk-on's who moved from the defensive side of the ball. Sorry, that's an issue, but one not of their own making... You can put that one square on the shoulders of the last regime in place. 

You've got to applaud the new staff and the players for their positive spin on a situation that is less than ideal.

Wisconsin has just 10 scholarship offensive lineman on the roster and will have three more coming to them this fall for a total of 13. According to the article and multiple published reports the ideal number of offensive lineman for Woods and Andersen would be 16 total. 

There was no doubt that the Wisconsin men’s hockey team was one of the hottest teams in the nation entering the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately for the Badgers, they ran into a UMass-Lowell squad that was even hotter.

UW’s miraculous run that saw them go 21-5-5 after a 1-7-2 start and claim the 2013 WCHA playoff championship ended in the semifinals of the Northeast regional on Friday afternoon.  

The Riverhawks flexed their collective muscles and proved to be the superior team in almost every facet of the game in which they emerged victorious by the decisive margin of 6-1.

UML struck first and never looked back. Joseph Pendenza lit the lamp for Lowell at the 7:11 mark of the first. That proved to be the only goal of the period.

The Matchup: Wisconsin vs. UMass-Lowell

When: Friday, March 29, 3:30 p.m. CT

Where: Manchester, N.H.- Verizon Wireless Arena (10,019)

Ice Sheet: 200' x 85'

TV: Check local listings

Radio: WIBA-AM 1310

All-Time Series: Wisconsin leads 7-1-1

Last Meeting: Wisconsin W 3-2 (12/4/1988)

This year's Wisconsin basketball team was like no other we've ever seen. At certain points it seemed that they were overachieving, and at other times they made us all want to pull our hair out. As frustrating as this season may have been, Badger fans have a lot to look forward to. Though last week's early exit in the NCAA Tournament was extremely disappointing, the future of Wisconsin basketball is very bright.

The Badgers' rising star Sam Dekker really took Wisconsin's early exit to heart, as the Freshman stud took blame for Wisconsin's loss- despite being the only Badger to score in double figures in the game. In his talk with JSOnline's Jeff Potrykus, Dekker shows Badger fans how determined he is to push the Badgers "to the next level".

"I want to improve every facet of my game," he said. "I mean, I feel like I could have done so much more for this team.

 

 

"This will be one of the hardest-working offseasons our team has ever seen. I am going to try to be a leader and push these guys to get us to the next level."

 

 

Asked to define what he meant by the next level, Dekker didn't hesitate.

"Winning a Big Ten title and making a push deeper into the NCAA Tournament," he said. "We can't be content with anything but the best."

Badgers Power Hour is back for your weekly dose of the best and most comprehensive talk of all things Badgers!! Wisconsin basketball was bitten by Cinderella in the NCAA tournament, but Cinderella could be what people talk about with Badgers Hockey. 

We explored the amazing story of UW's run to the WCHA Broadmoor Trophy Championship & the NCAA tournament and much more. Here are some of the topics explored this week on BPH:

- What do we make of the 2012-13 Badgers basketball season?

- Where does Badgers basketball go from here?

- the WCHA in the NCAA hockey tournament

- Interview with Evan Flood of Badger247 talking Badgers spring football & recruiting

- and the best of the Big Ten in "As the B1G Turns"

Don't forget you don't ever have to worry about missing a single episode by downloading Stitcher Smart Radio!!

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