Heart and Character Builds Championships!

I recently viewed the 2006 recruiting class for the Wisconsin Badger football team from Rivals.com and Scout.com with a fellow fanatical Badger fan. As we looked down the list, I was impressed with some of the names the Badgers were able to get. My friend kept saying to look at the number of stars they had next to their name. (The number of stars indicate how good the scouts seem to think the player will be.) "Look at this one" he says, "he only is a 2 star." "He can't be that good." I have to say I disagreed. For example: look at Barry Alvarez's first recruiting class. Although not highly touted as a recruiting class, it was able to win the Rose Bowl. It ended up producing seven All -Big Ten players-the highest in any of Barry Alvarez's classes. 1992 produced four Pardade All-Americans and was ranked in the top 10 in the nation. It happened to be one of Alvarez's worst. The group only produced a 6-9-1 record in Big Ten play in their junior and senior seasons. Although Wisconsin farm boys and blue-collar players may not fit in at a school such as Miami, they ultimately work at Wisconsin. We won the Rose Bowl with that recipe. In 1992 Barry thought now that we had national recognition, it was time to get some big time recruits. As a result the Badgers went on a three year bender which didn't produce any Rose Bowls. A few years later Barry went back to the old recipe and we won 2 Rose Bowls. It's nice to see Brett isn't straying to far from Barry's winning recipe. He believes 2 stars with heart will always outweigh a five star with a one star attitude and work ethic. Like they say, if it's not broke, don't fix it.