In case you missed it

I have a few items from the past several days that we haven't linked here on the blog yet. You may already have seen these items, but I just thought I'd post the links just in case.

• Uwbadgers.com has the second installment of the 2008 Men's Hockey Preview Videos: The 2008 Recruiting Class. I won't bore you with my thoughts, but I wouldn't be surprised if Gandalf and/or Chuck share some thoughts about this at some point. (Thankfully, their thoughts tend to be more interesting than mine.)

• WCH has a fun post on the NHL draft combine, and HIW has a bit on how Badgers at the combine performed. I gotta tell ya, I'm pretty fired-up to see Jake Gardiner play and also to see how Goloubef's play progesses his sophomore season.

• Baggot had a follow-up article in Saturday's WSJ about recent commits Simonellis and Mersch.

• Apparently Mike Eaves was one of the more entertaining coaches at the recent Badger Days stops. Or more accurately, on the bus rides to and from the Badger Days stops.

Eau Claire: We won’t leave till all the coaches are on the bus. Coach Eaves, attending to his always-busy schedule, was the last one on the bus as we loaded in front of Camp Randall Stadium. There was talk of fining him or making him sing, but he served his “punishment” by grabbing the mic telling some really good jokes on the bus on the way home.

Green Bay: I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Coach Eaves an “A” for effort on our return trips home. His seemingly endless array of jokes (most of them good) has kept us all entertained, but women’s soccer coach Paula Wilkins made a serious run at Eaves’ title last night on the way home from Lambeau. Good times.

Wausau: We had been a little pressed for time prior to the start of our Badger Days events in Milwaukee and Green Bay, so we moved up our departure for Wausau on Thursday to 1 p.m., which meant we left around 1:10 p.m. By 1:12, men’s hockey Coach Mike Eaves was deadpanning: “I wonder what they’ll have for us to eat tonight?” Laughter filled the bus. Each of the four Badger Days events featured identical meals: brats, chicken, hot dogs, potato salad and cookies.

Funniest UW coaches: Eaves (for his four days of jokes and commentary; he’s as relentless as the team he coaches) and women’s soccer coach Paula Wilkins (her comedic performance on the way back from Green Bay has already attained
mythic status)