Stocco? Never heard of him.

I've thought about how Stocco will be remembered at Wisconsin before and now I'm curious what others think. John Stocco's career culminated in the 2007-2008 season when the Badgers won the Capital One Bowl against Arkansas. Not to besmirch that team and that bowl win, but I've always thought that Stocco was cheated out of his legacy at Wisconsin by the BCS limit on conference representation. He will be remembered as a great Badger quarterback, but he will probably never be lumped with Bevel or Bollinger because of the notoriety of his final bowl game. Let us hypothesize that Michigan loses another conference game in 2007 and the Badgers go to the Rose Bowl to play USC. As good as that Badger team was, they were likely incapable of defeating USC. Say what you will about USC, but under Pete Carrol they have always performed in the Rose Bowl, even in the loss to Texas in 2007.
So what is a better outcome for John Stocco's legacy, a win in the Capital One Bowl over Arkansas, or a loss to USC in the Rose Bowl?

Thanks for the responses so far. However, the comparison I'm suggesting is strictly between and Cap One win or a competitive Rose loss. I think it's safe to assume we'd all prefer a Rose win.

Shoot him like a hor...oh crap, it's a badger

Farewell Travis Beckum. It wasn't until later on Saturday when I had a chance to see the replay the het that the extent of the injury became apparent. This is a terrible end to what was otherwise a magnificent career. We may disagree on many topics, but all sports fans can agree on the unjustness of a season-ending injury. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Travis. With any luck, this injury will not hinder Travis' NFL career. Travis, you were a Badger for the ages, and you will be missed.

Off the schnide

Got back from the game. We finally see senior level play from our defense. Great work and a strong finish from everybody. That's what it would have been great to see for the past 4 weeks, but late is better than never. I hope this marks the change that we've been waiting for. It was not by any means a return to a dominant offensive performance and special teams was better but not great. It's not fair to expect everything to be perfect. This was a win that required strong play across 4 quarters, and for us to accomplish that is fantastic and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Finally, Michigan is the most hated Big Ten team, and nobody cares about Michigan State. Sounds about right.

mea culpa

The poll is closed and probably one day too soon. I screwed up, but as everyone knows you have good weeks and bad weeks. Everyone just needs to relax and give me as much time as I need to turn the site around. To the results!
Yes - 539 - 55%
No - 280 - 28%
Not sure yet - 151 - 15%
The "yes" has won this week. The total number of votes is down significantly this week, so there may be a number of "no" voters who have not taken the time to vote. Shame on them, it's your duty as an American to vote in anything and everything as much as possible.
So, in the gambling world we are a 2.5 point dog. However, we are Adam Rittenberg's upset pick of the week, so we got that going for us. I agree with Adam on this one. We are back at home, it's homecoming week, and Illinois is a flawed team.
The next poll asks which Big Ten team you dislike the most. I want us to viciously and relentlessly destroy every other Big Ten team in every sport, but I truly and deeply loathe Michigan athletics. Everyone has one team that for whatever reason, stands above the rest as an object of disdain. For example, my former freshman roommate hates Purdue. In the comments to this post, please share why a certain team has earned your derision.

Wednesday, just trying to cope

Badgers now holding the #5 spot in espn's bottom 10. Check it out here. This is probably the only college football poll in which I don't want to reach #1.
Also on espn.com, according to Adam Rittenberg, Bret Bielema knows about the site. And when asked about it here, this transpired:

Despite Wisconsin's losing streak, Bielema maintains a sense of humor, as he showed when asked about the new Web site, www.firebretbielema.com.

"Someone in my hometown finally got the Internet," Bielema said.

My first response was relief. He's not angry and so I guess I can stop locking my bedroom door. Upon further thought, I'll admit that I don't get the joke. Is he suggesting that his hometown doesn't support him, or that I'm from his hometown? Maybe the reporter who asked the question was from his hometown. That would make sense. If anyone actually knows or has a theory, please share.

Adam Rittenberg is just reporting on the question, so he's clean, but what kind of reporter asks that question? What useful Badger football news is this question designed to collect. It doesn't matter what Bret thinks about the site because he has more important things to worry about. If Bret Bielema spends 1 second thinking about firebretbielema.com, it is 1 second too many. Asking him about the site is a lazy, gossipy question masquerading as sports journalism. Is the reporter hoping Bret gets angry? You're a professional journalist, ask a real question.

Homecoming Week

It's Homecoming week everybody! Time to celebrate the return of our team home from a tough Iowa loss. Homecoming is a week of celebration and that magic time of year when the more "historic" state street bars gather revenue for the year like a squirrel collecting nuts before winter. Jokes aside, it's a really fun week for students and alumni. One of my favorite college experiences was riding in the parade. It's too bad that this year's homecoming has to be under such dire circumstances for the team. Where is Indiana when we need them?
Speaking of Indiana, what is Northwestern doing at #22 in the BCS standings? Is there a smugness factor in the BCS standings that I don't know about?
We need to win this Saturday or it's going to ruin that night's Yael Naim concert. If anyone needs me I'll be in the front starting the mosh pit.

No! We lost the Heartland

The golden calf trophy is gone. We'll have to wait a year to admire its golden, blank nameplates. Maybe we'll care about it in 20 years when it starts to look old and meaningful.
We could start a pay-pal donation system on the site to buy a quarterback. It wouldn't work though, as was just pointed out to me, because real QB's require OSU coin. Is anyone else watching the Big Ten Network post-game? It's almost like they're sponsored by Hotels.com.
38 points and a fourth straight game without a 100 yard rusher. Total Domination. Fire Bret Bielema.

breakaway speed

Things are officially out of control thanks to Iowa's explosive offense. I never thought I would find myself describing the Iowa offense as anything other than sloth-like, but here I am. Another pick, and the booth team is calling for Evridge. Screw that, it's time to let a few others guys have a shot. On any given D.1 college team, half the players probably played QB in high school. Let's mix it up. We're now at that part of the game where the booth relentlessly praises the Iowa players. Did you know Shonn Greene is the strongest and fastest running back in the Big Ten? Keep the superlatives coming fellas. If someone doesn't call him a god amongst men by the end of the game, I'm going to be disappointed.
Ok, so Tolzien is in now and touchdown!

Halftime

Dustin Sherer is the choice with 44% of the vote. He hasn't thrown a pick so far, so I think the poll got this one right.
So it's 14-3 right now. This is dangerous territory against this Iowa team. With the exception of the Indiana game, the Iowa offense is strikingly similar to our own. They run the ball incessantly and grind the opponent down. Shonn Greene is a monster that I thought lived only in my nightmares. Although, I love the way he spells his name. It reminds of of Shawon Dunston. Our offense needs to continue the momentum from the end of the half and put up some points early on in the next half. If we keep giving Iowa the ball, we run the risk of Iowa having some 10 minute drive and not leaving us with enough time to tie the game or take the lead. Honestly, this game is like watching us play ourselves. They even have a cornerback named Fletcher. On the bright side, we are leading in passing yards, so take that Iowa fans.
Here we go, second half.

Talent is overrated

So we're watching the Big Ten Network. Of course it's fantastic that we can watch the games now, but otherwise, it's not exactly hard-hitting sports television. I guess Coaches Q&A isn't that bad. Minnesota and Tim Brewster are just oozing confidence right now. Studio analyst Chris Martin just told me they're winning because they play with heart and character. Of course! I'll never understand why coaches don't always start with the heart and character when trying to improve. That's going to be the next poll, what do the Badgers most need more of this season: heart, character, or maybe grit? You can always use more grit. I just asked one of my roommates that question and he responded with, "wins."
Next up, Michigan Football Memories.
I'm so excited we'll be appearing on this show in a few years.

The results are in

Mounting a late comeback, the No's have won.
Yes - 604 - 39%
No - 694 - 45%
Not Sure - 224 - 14%
Looking over the comments, both sides of the debate have made some strong arguments for firing or retaining Coach Bielema. Many were quick to point out that Wisconsin football is cyclical, and that a weak start to one season is hardly a pattern. On the other side, many fans pointed out the decline in success as we have moved further away from Barry's recruits and started watching teams composed of Bret's players. Overall, the employment of Bret Bielema is a subject over which reasonable minds can differ. Next up, we're putting up a poll for who should be starting at QB this Saturday. Of course, we're not watching practice so this is entirely a knee-jerk reaction, but who cares? It's just for fun. This is not the starting lineup in an all-star game and so we don't get a vote. I'll put up a new duplicate poll of the one that just finished after Saturday's game.

On a separate not, on the advice of some more experienced sports bloggers, I'm going to start moderating the comments with a heavier hand. Profanity, personal attacks, and advertising will no longer be tolerated. You can continue to call me and others "idiots", but "fu****g idiots" is going to get nixed.

Clearing things up

Hi everyone,
Just to make things perfectly clear, the creator of this site and the person(s) threatening to send letters to recruits and start a 10,000 name petition are not affiliated. We may share a common disapproval of Bret Bielema's performance as coach, but are otherwise separate. I do not support the mailing of recruits and I am also dismayed that this other Fire Bret Bielema group is trying to claim responsibility for this site.
To the other group, I would appreciate you putting contact information in a comment to this post so we can work out an agreement.
For everyone else, including members of the media, remember that comments do not equal content.

Badgers in the news

I'd like to say congratulations to Taylor Mehlhaff on a successful NFL debut. After missing a 31 yard field goal and booting his first kickoff out of bounds, he recovered by nailing field goals of 44 and 33 yards in the second and fourth quarters respectively. He was also 4/4 on extra-points.
I remember reffing some co-ed floor hockey for rec sports a couple years back when Mehlhaff had a team. He had a big shot and nearly checked a female player through the wall. The man's a competitor.

New week, enjoy your Monday

It's a new week badger fans, and hopefully 5 days from now we will be celebrating a badger victory. The site has really taken off in the past few days. Before the Penn State game, the poll had two votes and now after the game it has over 300. Let's all remember to be civil in the comments and promote meaningful debate over Bret Bielema's employment.
In my opinion, what many fans do not yet realize is that the Badger football program is dangerously close to a fall back into mediocrity. Before Donna Shalala told Pat Richter to get us a coach with some pedigree, the Badger program was a joke. We were the annual easy game for Ohio State and Michigan. In fact, on one road trip, the badgers were limited to 1/2 of the field for their pre-game practice because the opposition's band needed the other half. During this era, which lasted almost 30 years, on a good day Camp Randall would be filled to half capacity.
My point with the history lesson is to show that we have been incredibly lucky these past 18 years. As current students, we have lost the connection to the badger's ugly past. We are not a program with so much success or name recognition that we can safely assume 1 bad year will never turn into 3 or more. With every ugly loss, we risk the badger stars of tomorrow becoming suspicious of the program and looking elsewhere. Before Barry, Ohio State and Michigan would recruit the star Wisconsin high school players for the sole purpose of denying them to Wisconsin. They would ride the bench for 4 years, but that didn't matter because they were riding the bench in Columbus and not in Madison.
I honestly hope Bret turns things around this Saturday and hopefully for the rest of the season. Sometimes we all need a push, be it from an employer, a professor, or our supporters. We need to remind Bret that we are not the same fans that inhabited this campus from 1964-1990. We expect results or at a minimum progress, especially from Barry's highly paid, hand-picked successor.

Edit: Quick update; the half-capacity comment is an exaggeration. Badger fans have always been extremely supportive of the team. It was really only during the Morton tenure that the attendance numbers dropped significantly. Although, the consistent sell-outs we have now are a product of Alvarez and his success.

Good point, I'll grab the flexall 454

My roomate just told me, "Start stretching, we try out on Monday." Wow, and he just followed that up, "The only good thing, every game we win from now on will be an upset." The 2008-2009 Badgers! At least the band is currently the shame of the campus. I love the band, as they provide a key ingredient to every game, but all the stuff I've heard about the hazing is absurd. I could start a fire Leckrone site, but I'll stick to the more important issue, the employment of Bret Bielema. Fire Bret Bielema.

Soooo, new QB

Ok, there we go, we now have a new QB. God speed to Dustin Sherer. Now, when my friend asks me, "Why didn't you start a site called fireevridge.com?" I can give an answer other than a mystified stare. Bret Bielema can't fire Evridge, but he sure can bench him. It's a new age Badger fans, and all at the cost of slightly more than $1 million per year. Grandpa in the booth might even be asleep right now, and he's earned the rest. He just out-coached Bret Bielema.

Are you serious?

Honestly, is this game really happening? Is Penn State serving us this hard? The questions are piling up right now, and Bret does not seem to have the answers. When Evridge cannot be trusted to pass and our best offensive plays of the game are Evridge running, we have problems. Offense aside, the story of this game has been the Penn State special teams putting on a clinic for our special teams. For the badgers: terrible punting and bad coverage. Penn State has been kicking into the corners and has looked gorgeous the entire game on special teams. This is why they are a #6, and even though I do not believe they deserve to be that high, as Ohio State will beat them, they are a very good Big Ten team. And Evridge just threw another pick as I typed that last sentence. Ouch. Oh well, I just received notice that I won full season in the Annual Basketball Lottery! I'll be spending my time studying basketball lineups while our football team plays its way to cupcake status. Bret Bielema at $7.5 million for 5 years, that's what I call a discount.

Welcome Badger Fans

Hello all and welcome to firebretbielema.com We first conceived of this site after listening to the incredible level of fan disgust over coaching decisions following both the Michigan and Ohio State losses.
We here at Fire Bret Bielema do not think that Bielema is a bad coach or even that he currently deserves to be fired, but we do believe that he needs to start turning this season around. After two awful losses to the likes of Michigan and Ohio State, the season is on the fast track to the Motor City Bowl. This should not happen with the level of talent and experience on the 2008-2009 Badgers.
Everyone feel free to post your frustrations and thoughts on what needs to change.