The term "players coach" has been thrown around a ton the past few years, so much so that it's almost become a cliché by now. So, forgive us if we were a bit skeptical when said term was used to describe new head coach Gary Andersen and what he would bring to Wisconsin. 

Skepticism is a healthy thing, but so is keeping an open mind and verifying if you're instincts were correct before burying your head in the sand. So, as the months have ticked off and spring practice has begun to wind down consider this a case of skepticism turned around for this writer. 

Why the turn? Well first off it's the fact that as fans we've been accustomed to associating the term "players coach" with being someone, ala Pete Carroll, who would parade celebs out to his players, make crazy pop culture references, become your favorite tweeter's favorite tweeter, and all sorts of crazy things. The basic gist of it all is that they are hip, cool, and with the times - all of which makes them somehow in-tune with their players and therefore having a special bond that makes their players love them. 

Secondly, it's an article written by Tom Mulhern of the Wisconsin State Journal. Credit where credit is due, this is one insightful and well done look at the program Gary Andersen is in the process of building. In the article Mulhern paints a picture of what it's really supposed to be like for a coach to be a "players coach." Andersen's not some older guy trying to be hip, in fact he readily admits to not being that kind of a guy. 

If you read the Wisconsin State Journal on a daily basis in Madison or check it out on the web you've likely seen a story titled "Gun-toting kicker misses uprights" in the past 24 hours or so. It's a story about kicker Jack Russell and it's headline is supposed to make you think that there is an evil gun loving kicker up to no good.

Congrats Tom Mulhern and the Wisconsin State Journal editorial staff, you got a cheap headline hope you are all happy . What could you possibly be talking about with that headline? I mean seriously, was a Badgers kicker caught on State Street toting a Tommy gun or brandishing a handgun and popping off a few rounds in the air in a drunken stupper?

Nope, instead Russell committed the awful "crime" of posting a picture to his personal twitter account of himself at a gun show holding and I quote from the article "what appears to be an automatic rifle." (see below)

We all know that the annual spring game is set for just over a week away, next Saturday April 20th, but a lot of the details about the game and the events surrounding it were a mystery. Consider the mystery solved then as UW Athletics released all of the details. 

Up first, the actual game details... You know, the reason you, me, and everyone else is here (per UW Athletics press release):

The game itself will pit the offense (White) vs. the defense (Cardinal). The first half will consist of two 15-minute quarters played with normal clock rules. Following a five-minute halftime, the second half will consist of two 10-minute running time quarters (except for the final two-minutes of the fourth quarter). Both teams will have opportunities to score. The scoring system is listed below.

Spring football means different things to different coaches. Some use it as a chance to just practice and get better. Others use it as a way to build their depth chart moving forward. Still others use it as a way to se the tone of the way they want the program to go. 

The best coaches find a way to achieve all of those goals at the same time and for new Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen it's all about setting a tone of competition that will allow them to get better and build a roster around his philosophy.

"I think that it's (competition) important in football, it's important in life," Andersen said during Thursday's conference call with the media. "We try to hit both of those areas. In the game of football... there is going to be a winner and a loser. There's going to be no days off and at the end of the day they've got to look in the mirror and we played well enough to win today or we didn't play well enough to win today.

"It brings a little bit extra. If you are a competitor - no matter what you are doing, if you are playing checkers or dominoes, you want to win. I want competitors and I want to try to help them to learn how to compete every single day and win on the football field and win in life."

The NBA draft scouting process is already beginning, if you can believe it. I know I couldn't, but that notwithstanding expect UW to have some pretty good representation in the tournament as multiple ex-Badgers will take part in the Portsmouth Invitational, which gets underway today. 

What Badgers are participating? It appears that Brian Butch, Marcus Landry, Trevon Hughes, Jordan Taylor and Jared Berggren will all be in attendance. 

Notable #Badgers alums to attend Portsmouth = @brian_butch, @mlandry11, @nyc2wis & @jmtaylor11

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) April 11, 2013

Jared Berggren will be tipping things tonight at 8pm Central time and you can watch it all here.

Sticking with the basketball theme - you can take part in the Badgers 2013 NCAA Tournament reception on April 23rd. More information can be found here.

Bo Ryan being attacked by bloggers, opposing fans, and sports writers with an agenda? It must be the offseason, so let the hits start coming I guess. Normally, it's whatever to us here - I mean, it's become a running joke by now and frankly it's nothing we haven't all heard a thousand times before. 

Normally, that's the case, but every once in a while there's a new angle of attack and well, after thinking we've heard them all before here at MTB we've found a new one. Apparently now Bo Ryan is an evil person attracting and recruiting walk-on's to pad the team GPA and well, we'll let one Joseph Nardone (the article's author) say it best: 

Now, somehow, schools (Not just Wisconsin) are recruiting their walk-ons. These players are generally borderline D-I talent, but add either great depth to the practice team or, more diabolically, are decent enough players but whose grades are so swell, it alters a program’s team grade average — keeping them safe from any potential NCAA sanctions.

Yep, that's a new one if we've ever heard it. If you bother to read the full "article" and we use that term loosely, Nardone attempts to make some sort of point that the NCAA is doing a disservice to players and allowing coaches - notice how Bo Ryan is his only example - to artificially inflate their team GPA's. 

Guess what? We're just a few weeks from the NFL Draft!! Yippie.... Yep, that's where were at here in the doldrums of the offseason, but at least as Badgers fans we can look forward to at least a few names of former Badgers being called at the draft, right? 

Well, as ESPN ramps up their coverage heading into the draft they just recently did a profile on Wisconsin's Montee Ball as part of their Sports Science feature:

Safe to say the dude is powerful... as in having a more powerful stiff arm than the almight Adrian Peterson did in his Sports Science game changer test. At least these sets of drills actually measure things that will matter come Sunday's in the NFL - but hey what do we know having seen this guy for four straight years in the Badgers backfield right?

Chalk this one up in the surprise category as sophomore center Brendan Woods is forgoing the rest of his collegiate eligiblity to sign his contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. Just how surprising? Well, let's just say head coach Mike Eaves is less than pleased with the decision. 

Eaves told the Wisconsin State Journal's Andy Baggot the following: 

"I don't agree with the decision for many reasons,'' Eaves told Woods, "but if this is a decision that it feels right in your gut and your heart, then you have to go with that.''

Woods ended the 2012-13 season with 12 points on 5 goals and 7 assists - topping his freshman total of 10 points. He did the best of his work down the final 16 game stretch of the season, recording 9 of the 12 points in that timeframe. 

Overall, the Badgers have lost an underclassman to the NHL for the eight consecutive season and clearly this is becoming something that is bothersome to coach Eaves. 

Woods was a 5th round selection of the Hurricanes in this past year's draft and according to reports had flown to Carolina over the weekend to meet with team officials and his father, Bob, who's an assistant with the Anahiem Ducks. That's where the Hurricanes told them of their wish for him to be in their system. 

So, off is Woods - property of the Carolina Hurricanes - and now a member of the Charlotte Checkers, the Carolina Hurricanes affiliate in the AHL. He'll be with that team for the rest of the year on an ATO contract.

Yes, this is becoming "a thing" as we reported over the weekend that Wisconsin was getting in on what is quickly becoming a national phenomenon - sending out a boat load of hand written letters to recruits. We've had that report and a few others to date, but folks we have a new winner at this point and that's one Christian Byrum, who claimed via twitter of 64, yep SIXTY-FOUR handwritten letters coming from Gary Andersen and Co.

I just got 64 letters from #Wisconsin in the mail

C.D.B (@Christian1__) April 8, 2013

Clearly this trend isn't stopping and we promise we aren't going to sit here and report on every single one of these, but this particular one has an interesting angle to it. See, Byrum also happens to the teammate of consensus 4-star wide receiver Jamil Kamara, whom the Badgers are hoping will be one of the bigger prospects they land in this class. 

Byrum is no slouch either as he is a three-star prospect according to both 247sports and Rivals and has yet to be ranked by Scout. But, it's interesting to see the full court press going to both teammates out of one of the more frutal recruiting grounds in the country, the Tidewater area of Virginia. 

Welcome to the silly season officially as the unofficial end of the college calendar went down last night - just don't tell that to UW's softball team, who will be looking for redemption this weekend after a 1-2 weekend at the hands of the hated Gophers, or to the track & field teams, or rowing for that matter either. 

Sure, they may be minor sports to some, but they provide some great entertainment and as of late they've all been pretty freaking good. So get your rear ends out and support these teams as spring attempts to find it's way to Wisconsin at some point in time. 

Diatribe over it's time to get on to the links and some of what's going on in Badger nation!!