Bielema ordered chop block on Mike Martin

Contact info for UW's office of the president and board of regents can be found on the web easily.  (I'm getting a spam warning try to post this, so I'm removing links.)

Here is most of the text I just sent to them:

Dear Mr. Reilly, Ms. Brady, and Regents of the University of Wisconsin:

I am compelled to write to you after Mr. Bielema’s public acknowledgment that he and his staff ordered Wisconsin players to engage in illegal chop blocks to take out Michigan players in yesterday’s game.  This is not a sportsmanship issue; this is a safety issue.  Mr. Bielema’s decision to authorize and encourage his players to engage in illegal tactics that have the potential to seriously injure opposing players is, at a minimum, revolting, and unbecoming of the University of Wisconsin.  My respect for your university has been diminished.  I would never have imagined that you would condone a coach who willfully orders his players to engage in such conduct.  (By the way, the possible injuries caused by such conduct are not hypothetical.  The Michigan player attacked, Michael Martin, was recovering from an ankle injury, and could not play the second half of the game.  Congratulations to Mr. Bielema, who, as he described it, “rectified the situation.”) 

I also find it ironic that UW Health Sports Medicine is currently conducting a study regarding ankle injuries in football.  I have copied the researchers, Dr. Alison Brooks, an assistant professor of sports medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, Tim McGuine, a UW sports medicine researcher, and Dr. John Wilson, a UW sports medicine physician, on this email.  I am sure they can inform you of the effects of coaches, including University-affiliated coaches, ordering their players to engage in illegal chop blocks to deliberately attack the ankles of engaged linemen from opposing teams. 

In this era where we hear of more and more programs willing to do anything to win games, I am saddened that Wisconsin-Madison has become one of those programs, willing to sacrifice the safety of student-athletes.

Yours truly,

[signed]

That's about a completely different comment.

I have a hard time believing the word "rectify" is in his vocabulary.

=

We're going to keep our cool.

would ask his players to resort to dirty tactics. I thought we agreed that is probably not ever the case. Dammit for our reasonable sensibilities. 

I agree, this happens.  However, in this particular case, Bielema admitted it to the press, and I think we'd be pissed about it even if we had won.  As we were in 2006.

This is Michigan. We do this after every game, win or lose.

we used to be talking Ohio State on this Sunday.  Now it's "Bielema sounded arrogant in his press conference."  Sigh.

Basically saying you ordered a chop block against a college kid really isn't something a grown man should be doing.  I would think the same way if the score had been reversed.  Plus, this is not new for him - point to Breaston in 2006, and I think there was a similar complaint by Minny or Illinois (I could be way off) a year or two ago about a similar tactic.  Plus, the guy ran up the score against IU last week, and did the same against Austin Peay earlier in the season.  Sure, it sucks to lose and that might fuel a bit of the rage, but identifying a jerk for what he is doesn't mean you are whining.

I'm not so preoccupied with losing that I'm indifferent about a head coach all but confessing to ordering a dirty hit on one of our players.  The last three years appears to have deadened your sense of moral outrage.  Mine, however, remains fully operational and intact.  Apologies.

good call jackass

I mean, it's all just tactics to Bielema, right?  Eventually the Big Ten needs to step in a send a message by suspending him for a game.  It is getting out of hand.

Yeah... and it comes across as too "matchy".

Not illegal?  That's funny, because they called a penalty for doing it.  And Bielema didn't seem too upset about the call.

I know ND hasn't played against Wisconsin under Bielema...but like, really?  Even Wisconsin fans admit that Bret is a classless dickhead that isn't above this kind of shit.

The play in question resulted in a touchdown, which was called back because of the penalty.