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Last week I was all fired up about "our" Green Bay Packers winning the Super bowl. This week I'm still fired up and I even wore one of my Packer ties to church again and received several comments. But, I'm also very fired up about the UW Badgers men's basketball team taking care of previously NCAA Number 1 and Unbeaten Ohio State Saturday at the Kohl Center. I was at the regional wrestling tournaments so i didn't get a chance to see all of the game. i did, however, see a good share of the first half, but the Badgers were leading when I had to get back to the wrestling tournament coverage. They were down by two at halftime and then an announcement came over the PA saying they trailed by seven and some groans went up from the crowd. The next message was that they trailed by 15 - but in the same breath the announcer said "but now the game is tied!" I had a little break in the action, so I snuck into the TV (coach's) room and watched some of the final 2+ minutes. They were leading by seven or so with :18.4 left, so I felt pretty comfortable they would win. If Jordan Taylor doesn't make Big 10 and maybe even NCAA player of the week, there's something "rotten in Denmark"! Coach Bo Ryan just let him pretty much go on his own and he responded. Maybe it was desperation for Bo, but I prefer to think it was his usual brilliant job of coaching. Anyway, it all turned out for the good and the Badgers have beaten the Buckeyes in both football and basketball this school year when they were ranked NUMBER 1. That's something that doesn't happen a lot!

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After WIAA regional wrestling last Saturday, there will be some 33 area and local competitors going on to sectional action this Saturday, all wanting to earn a trip to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament the following Thursday through Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison. I had the chance to see some good matches last Saturday and expect to see plenty more of even better quality this coming Saturday. Dodgeville and River Valley (Division 2) go to Evansville while Iowa-Grant, Mineral Point and Pecatonica-Argyle (Division 3) travel to Westby. Good luck to all the competitors and hope to see a lot of you Saturday night in the finals in Madison!

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It's just a couple of weeks and the boys basketball tournaments begin, then the girls follow. That means spring is right around the corner and then it's boys soccer, baseball, softball and track & field. It'll be nice to get outdoors to cover some of those events!

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Speaking of getting outdoors - how about the great warm-up we got over the weekend and into this week? It was kind of nice to be able to walk around without gloves on and even my coat not zipped up all the time. I don't know the long range forecast, but it could continually get warmer and i don't think most people would care - as long as it does it gradually so we don't have floods!

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I was really impressed Sunday when I was crossing the main street to go to breakfast/lunch as twice people stopped for me when i was in the crosswalk. Usually on Sundays nobody bothers to stop as they probably think they only have to stop during the week on work days - but the are WWWRRROOONNNGGG - it's a state law seven days a week, 24 hours a day!

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At the top of my column you'll find a photo of the Iowa-Grant cheer squad assisting some "young cheerleaders" with a routine during halftime of a recent boys basketball game. I understand that more youngsters (with the cheer squad's assistance) also did a routine during halftime of a girls basketball game the next night. That's great experience for not only the youngsters, but the high school girls in helping them learn and maybe having an interest in being cheer squad members down the road!