Didn’t see this one coming.
Bielema’s got a good track record – three 11-win seasons and a bunch of Rose Bowl trips. Good pick up for Arky.
I like the hire for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a nice knee to the balls of Jim Delany (you know Slive is smirking as you read this). Second, this was one of my favorite dick moves of the past decade. Nothing wrong with making JoePa apoplectic during a game.
Hope somebody gives him the low down on cell phone usage, though.
Get The Picture 
Wow, extremely surprised to read that. I thought Barry Alvarez would hold onto him for a while. Bielema is an Iowa man, though, not Wisconsin.
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I read something yesterday linking him with the Tennessee job but as Vol fans tend to link anyone to their job who has ever taken a dump in their state I didn’t think anything of it, now I hope they were courting him also and got outbid by Arkansas. A nice knee to Little Urnge’s groin is also nice too.
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He’ll keep things interesting, too. Can’t wait to see what happens when he tries to put 83 on James Franklin.
http://www.examiner.com/article/was-wisconsin-s-83-20-win-over-indiana-uncalled-for
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He can’t put up that many on Vanderbilt under Franklin. Now, Kentucky… we’ll see what Coach Stoops comes up with….
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Yes, but he’ll TRY. 🙂
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I almost cruised straight off the two-lane today as I listened, nearly in awe, at a Vanderbilt expose broadcast on “The World” radio show on N.P.R. The august broadcast journo described Jimmy Franklin as “charismatic” and rolled through two or three fans, taking their respective temperatures re: back-to-back bowls. He even interviewed the President who was heard to be somewhat leading a raucous cheer.
Apparently, Vandy is serious. They are plowing multi-millions into facility overhauls and imagine this two-year binge as something of a rising trend.
I am convinced now — everything we have come to know ends Dec. 21.
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So the coach of the Big Ten champion bolts to coach a mid level school in the SEC. Satisfying.
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No joke. Tough day to be a Wisconsin fan.
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Word on the street is Malzhan to the Barn.
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Confirmed. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8709919/gus-malzahn-accepts-auburn-tigers-coaching-job
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Surprised – by this coaching move/change.
Sad – haven’t the slightest idea what “apoplectic” means.
Lazy – not gonna google it.
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It means google eyed crazy.
You are welcome.
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Wrong! It’s a soda bottle made into a lightbulb.
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Nice catch by the Hogs. And I agree….satisfying to see the coach of the Big Televelve champions jump to a mid-level SEC school. Though I suspect Arky will soon be competitive with him at the helm.
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I like this move on several levels. First, as the good Senator notes, it’s a knee to Delany’s balls, swiping the Big Ten’s three straight champion coach from one of the 2-3 best programs in that league over the last 15 years. Second, he’s a good coach, but not a very good recruiter. Thus, while he adds to the coaching chops of the league and will have his share of success, he isn’t likely to have that program at the level Petrino had it, meaning the league isn’t quite as hard as it was. I see him as running the program somewhere between the level of Houston Dale and Petrino. Maybe he’s a poor man’s Tuberville.
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I guess the only one left is UT. Wonder…..
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As I alluded to earlier Bill Bellichek is rumored to have once used a restroom at a Quick Stop just outside of Knoxville, had a good experience, and is therefore interested in the Little Urnge opening.
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Had a good experience? We can clearly see this rumor is an outright lie.
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Just as credible as a lot of other refuse coming out of Knoxville these days, lol.
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I dunno … I can imagine Bellichek having an allright time by himelf in a filling station bathroom.
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Put it in KnoxVegas and you got all kinna crazy fun.
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Sho ’nuff!
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A bolt for $$$. Now he will find out if he can coach.
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apparently, Bielma is also a douche who voted UGA number 14 or 16 in the last coaches poll (I’m too lazy to look it up, but apparently Sarkisian at Washington is a douche, too). I hope everyone remembers that when we play Arkansas next, if his fat ass is still there when we get there.
Not impressed.
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Think it was 11th.
In any case, he’ll feel the error of his ways soon enough. Git After That Ar-kansas!
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Imagine a Bielema offense with some of the RBs Arkie has produced over the past decade. If he can bring a few O-linemen down south to go along with that, that might be an interesting mix. On the flip side, Fayetteville’s in another universe from Madison, WI, in just about every way imaginable.
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rivals.com Wisconsin recruiting rankings
2008 #41
2009 #43
2010 #87
2011 #40
2012 #56
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Wisconsin’s opposition over same span: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue. I suppose recruiting, like all else, is relative.
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On a dark and stormy night, “Bret Bielema was playing blackjack at the Wynn Las Vegas three years ago in the early evening when he spotted a smiling blonde, brown-eyed woman wearing a teal tank top, blue jeans and black flip-flops. He was so intrigued he got up from the table without his chips to walk over and introduce himself.”
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/wisconsin-badgers-football-coach-bret-bielema-finds-love-in-las-vegas-nebraska-cornhuskers-092911
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Wow. Family man through and through. Newlywed bliss sounds like a great insurance policy against any voluptuous AD employees too
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Damn…Was gonna say, ain’t this where this Arkansas movie started??
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Thanks DIF. Great story and makes you really like the guy- until we play them. Old fashioned sense of love always seems to make the best couples. My mistake in my first marriage was saying,”How would you like to do this every night?” Only when she jumped up and down so happy did I know she took it as a proposal!
Talking about a marriage made in Heaven; A pig farmer’s son is now the coach of the Porkers. Man, that’s lining up your planets.
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Bielema looks strong – just not sure of the fit? Is Arky ready to go from the spread to the power I? It just might work vs LSU and Bama.
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I wonder how soon he’ll bring up the “gentlemen’s agreement” thing when he loses a commitment again…
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Right on with the recall! He just stepped into the OK Corral of recruiting, and would be well advised to keep his gun drawn at all times.
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Where would everyone be without Mitch Mustain? ….
I wonder if Mustain knows about the impact he had in the SEC and college football even though he played about 4 total games in snaps….
So what’s he doin’ these days?? He’s a pitcher in the White Sox organization…
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Could be he’s at that gas station where Alshon Jeffrey was bound.
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This is pretty good hire in my book. Arky out did Auburn for sure.
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Money must have been good for a guy to give up a Rose Bowl trip to go do something he doesn’t seem to like (recruit) in the tony neighborhoods of Ar-Kansas.
Checked a couple of Barner sites, and aside from the handful who (like the Vol fans) were deluded enough to think that people happy where they were would drop everything to take the gig, most of the controversy was over the firing and hiring of assistants. Not much support for keeping Trooper around, it seems.
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My best friend (a fellow Dawg) live in Stevens Point, WI and I asked him to gauge the reaction from Badger Nation.
It was overwhelmingly “Buh-bye. Good riddance.” Not a popular man in Madtown. Many felt like he won with Alvarez’s players and he has had little success finding a bigtime QB. Almost all his QBs have been game managers and the home run he hit was a one year transfer.
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Add to that he is catching tOSU and Penn State in turmoil and many in WI feel Bielema is/was due for a slide.
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Before he enrolled in his PhD program, I remember seeing Badgers saying they should try and poach Murray away from us as a one and done deal.
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That entire football program has struck me for some time now as unregenerate opportunists and throw in illegitimately crass for good measure. Stanford will beat them about the head.
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Point Beer! Traveled up from Chicago in late 70s to buy several cases there. Surprised that it was so small (the brewery). Great tasting beer known throughout Wi and Chicagoland.
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Barry Alvarez hasn’t coached the Badgers since 2005 and Bielema has gone 12-1, 9-4, 7-6, 10-3, 11-2, 11-3, and 8-5 since then and has won the Big Ten the last 3 years (Alvarez won it 3 times in 16 years). The QB criticism may be valid but, then again, it’s also valid on Nick Saban.
Nothing against your friends but they sound like they don’t have a clue.
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Let’s break those records down.
Alvarez’s players for the first two seasons, a slide in year 3, Penn State in turmoil in 2009 and 2010 (admittedly behind the scenes), tOSU down in 2011 and ineligible this year. The guy is not well regarded as a recruiter.
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Nice try. Penn State won 11 games in 2009.
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By the way, so did Ohio State and Iowa.
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Welcome to the sausage grinder, Mr. Bielema. Let’s have a look at that conference schedule. A&M, Florida, USCe and Bama in consecutive weeks, then an open date before having the Barn over for a play-date and going to Oxford to see what women look like without all that cheese in their diet. Another open date, well done, before the MSU cowbells come to town, and finish it off by getting spit on with a Cajun accent in the annual day-after-Thanksgiving fun.
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Chalk it up to childish ignorange, maybe, but early on and even on into the 2000’s I rather liked the Hogs. Something about that goofy swine on their helmet and generally playing the underdog role against Tejas and the rest of those scofflaws in the SWC. Anymore though they are straining the limits of good taste. First Petrino, now this! Make no mistake, Bielema is one Grade-A dickweed. (Hard to console myself that the beautiful old Wishbone look and Ken Hatfield are never coming back)
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That kickoff thing against Paterno was absolutely a thing of beauty.
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AU + Gus = Trooper stays and truth remains buried.
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Oops…belongs in next post re: Trooper.
/stumbles back to kitchen for more coffee….
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