Band Suspended? Perfect . . .

It's been a rough week for fans of Wisconsin sports. The Packers falling at Tampon Bay and losing player after player to injury, including the team's best d-lineman, and the starting QB. The Brewers making the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, only to get schooled by a dominant Hole Camels in the first game, and see their their rent-an-ace CC Sabathia run out of gas in the second. Plus, team ace Ben Sheets has returned to his eggshell plaintiff tendencies and isn't even on the playoff roster. The Brew Crew are now in a 2-0 hole. Has any NLDS team ever recovered from that deficit? Probably not with Dave Bush starting the third game. Plus, I live in Chicago, so the city is reeling from the embarrassment of the Cubs and the White Sox about to be swept.

And this doesn't include the Badger football horror show that was the second half of last weekend's game in Ann Arbor. With the Ohio A&M College coming into Madison tonight, the team needs to rally quickly. But one of the team's best receiving threats, tight end Garrett Graham, will miss the game. (Graham also missed the Michigan game, and look how awesome the passing game looked there.) In contrast, Ohio A&M is looking improved since their butt-kicking by USC, though not dominant. But we haven't seen them with star RB Beanie Wells back at full strength, which he apparently is. And even without Wells they still have more overall talent than Wisconsin. Also, they're starting last year's national #1 recruit, at QB-- the frighteningly talented Terrell Pryor. So tonight's game is a tough draw, to begin with. The Badgers are coming off one of their worst losses ever, are missing a key offensive playmaker, and are playing a talented team with a chip on its shoulder.

Now comes word that the UW band will not be at the game. At all. Completely gone. Suspended for another outbreak of the various shenanigans that we've heard about in previous school years. This directly affects the one advantage that UW had over Ohio State--- home atmosphere. The Band helps pump up the players, get the crowd and the students excited, in addition to being the best group of fans in the stadium. It's hard for me to imagine a UW football game without the Band being there. What the hell will they do at halftime? Really, it'll just be eerily bizarre. Not to mention it'll be a huge black eye for the university, during a nationally televised game, no less. Two huge embarrassments two weeks in a row-- the first on the field at Michigan, then this public flagellation of the school's beloved marching band. Think of how that'll play on television. Or how it'll play for the recruits visting for this game, and trying to decide between Ohio State and Wisconsin. Yeesh. It may sound bizarre, but I think this hurts UW's chances even further. I'm not optimistic about tonight.