Second thoughts

Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin’s interim football coach, said he did not put any restrictions on how much the Badgers could eat during the Lawry’s Beef Bowl, an annual tradition at the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin won the contest for a second consecutive year, eating 619 pounds of prime rib to Stanford’s 602.
Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin’s interim football coach, said he did not put any restrictions on how much the Badgers could eat during the Lawry’s Beef Bowl, an annual tradition at the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin won the contest for a second consecutive year, eating 619 pounds of prime rib to Stanford’s 602.

— Badgers beef up for bowl

They came. They ate. They conquered.

Again.

For the second consecutive year, Wisconsin’s football team devoured its opponent - not literally, thankfully - on Friday night at the Lawry’s Beef Bowl, an annual tradition between the two teams competing in the Rose Bowl. Much like years past, the carnage was colossal.

According to official scorers, Wisconsin’s bulky bunch bellied up and ate 619 pounds of prime rib as a team to edge Stanford, which ate 602 pounds of meat.

Unlike the odds for this year’s Rose Bowl, Wisconsin entered the Beef Bowl at Lawry’s Prime Rib Restaurant as a considerable favorite.

Last year, Wisconsin put away Oregon by eating 723 pounds of prime rib compared to the Ducks’ 612. In 2010, TCU edged Wisconsin 670-650.

You can call the Badgers the princes of prime rib or the masters of meat, but recent history suggests their reign may not necessarily translate to a victory on the field.

In the past two Rose Bowls, Wisconsin has lost 21-19 to TCU in 2011 and 45-38 to Oregon in 2012. For what it’s worth, the mythical Beef Bowl champion has gone on to win the Rose Bowl 39 times in the past 56 years (.696 winning percentage).

Wisconsin interim coach Barry Alvarez, who has coached the Badgers in three other Rose Bowls (and Beef Bowls), noted that he didn’t put a limit on the amount of prime rib his players could eat.

“I didn’t tell them anything,” Alvarez said. “I was going to say something, but these guys are smart enough, especially the starters. If we want somebody to eat a lot of beef to set a record, they’ve got to be a scout squad guy, somebody that’s not going to play in the game.”

Mix up

Brandon McCarthy, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ newest pitcher, apparently took care of getting his license renewed over the holiday break. There was just one problem: The local DMV got its letters all mixed up.

While McCarthy’s license correctly states that he is 6-7 and has hazel eyes, the easy part - male or female - appears to have gotten adjusted during the renewal process.

At least the new license did not have him pitching for the Houston Astros.

End of the world

“Forget the Mayan calendar,” wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com. “The Los Angeles Clippers winning 16 in a row? Now, there’s a sign of the apocalypse.”

Foul play

LeBron James has scored 20 or more points in every game this season, but he also has enjoyed another less noticeable streak that ended Christmas Day - a string of six consecutive games where he committed no personal fouls.

“The foul thing is more impressive to me,” James told reporters last week. “I don’t care about scoring as much.”

His streak, which covered six entire games and encompassed 254 minutes, 7 seconds on the court over the course of eight games, ended when he fouled the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka on a dunk attempt.

Quote of the day “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I bought my first pair of spikes.” Michael Tinsley on competing in the 2012 Olympics where he won a silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles

Sports, Pages 22 on 12/30/2012

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