Kirsten Schmitt/Milwaukee Brewer
With players like Corey Knebel, the Brewers came within one game of the playoffs.
In a year when politics and culture crashed into each other with dispiriting frequency, not even sports was immune. Locally, though, plenty of teams helped distract us in 2017.
Arguably, the biggest and most welcome distraction was the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year. The names on that roster — Bronson Koenig, Nigel Hayes, Zak Showalter, Vitto Brown — sound ancient today, as Wisconsin’s current young team struggles to fill big shoes. But those joyous days in late March proved you don’t have to be a sports fan to get excited about sports.
The UW football team posted a 12-0 regular-season record for the first time and flirted with a spot in the four-team College Football Playoff. A six-point loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game ended that dream, but the No. 6 Badgers are still enroute to Miami Gardens, Florida, for a Capital One Orange Bowl date with No. 11 Miami on Dec. 30. Here’s hoping enough Badger faithful converge on Hard Rock Stadium to dilute the Hurricanes’ home-field advantage.
Badger women are making national headlines, too. The 21-1 hockey team has been ranked No. 1 all season and is skating toward another Women’s Collegiate Hockey Association title and NCAA tournament berth.
The Badgers’ volleyball team experienced a case of déjà vu again this season by dropping a heartbreaker to Stanford for the second consecutive year in the NCAA Sweet 16. With National Freshman of the Year Dana Rettke on the roster, though, they’ll be back.
After the Green Bay Packers’ 31-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 17, the Pack — without injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers for half the season — missed the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2008. It’s a harsh reminder of how one player can make or break a team.
But the Milwaukee Bucks, led by NBA MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, could bring the playoffs to the Bradley Center one final time before it closes next year. After a fast start, they’re likely to remain in postseason contention for the season’s duration.
The Milwaukee Brewers were supposed to spend another year far out of contention, but the Crew came within one victory of making the playoffs for the first time since 2011, finishing with an 86-76 record. Another team in the close-but-not quite category was the Madison Radicals, which lost to the San Francisco Flame Throwers in the semifinals of the American Ultimate Disc League’s Championship Weekend.
Meanwhile, several area high school teams brought home state titles, reinforcing the belief that this region is home to some of Wisconsin’s finest young athletes. Waunakee and Lodi both won state football championships with undefeated seasons, and Madison Edgewood racked up three Division 2 state championships: girls’ basketball, girls’ swimming and diving, and boys’ golf.
Middleton won the Division 1 boys’ cross country and girls’ swimming titles, Sun Prairie captured the Division 1 girls’ cross country crown for the second year in a row, Monona Grove won the Division 2 boys’ swimming and diving championship for the third consecutive year, Mount Horeb won the Division 3 boys’ soccer tournament and Madison La Follette topped the Wheelchair Division at the girls’ state track and field meet, thanks to Audrey Kleiss-Garcia, who as a freshman won all four events. She, along with fellow freshman Paul Natzke from Verona Area-Mount Horeb, were the only area athletes to compete in the state’s Wheelchair Division.
