Tag Archives: University of Wisconsin

Blue Cotton Candy Thursday Rundown

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How lucky am I? It is Thursday and that means the pleasure is mine to offer five random topics for your reading entertainment. Let’s get started…

Beautiful Anniversary – Tomorrow will mark the 4-year anniversary of when we brought Beau home from the NICU! What a joyous day it was. Thanks to all the doctors, nurses, and staff who gave our little guy the absolute best care while he was a patient at the McLeod Health NICU Unit in Florence, SC. To learn more about Beau’s birth, the challenges he faced, Sid’s emotional ride, and the role our faith played, tap here. Thanks be to God!

This was the incubator that Beau rode in to the NICU.

Daddy/Daughter Dance – This past Friday was the annual St. Mary Catholic School Daddy/Daughter Dance. I shared photos on my social media accounts and made this video of the incredible time I had with Sloan. I will have an official dance photo to share in the near future but I thought for tonight’s post I would include some photos from dinner. Is there any question about where we went? Of course it was Red Robin (for like the 97th time since 2021).

Red Robin for the win! We double-dated with Sloan’s classmate, Colie, and her dad.

Cotton Candy Mess – My wife may have threatened my sister when she saw the mess Beau made with the cotton candy portion of his Valentine’s Day gift. The threat went along the lines of, “Miranda, if you ever give my kids cotton candy again, you will die a slow and painful death.” Verdict is still out on whether she really meant it or not 😂.

Beau made a big ‘ol mess with his cotton candy.

National Wisconsin Day – I am sad (actually, I’m not) to say that I have never been to Wisconsin before. But even though I have never stepped foot inside the state, I still feel like I have a connection. This past fall I wrote about my history with the University of Wisconsin. On two different occasions, I saw the Badgers play in the NCAA Tournament. The first time was when I was working for the University of Montana and we played UW in Albuquerque. The second time was when I was working Coastal Carolina University and we played them in Omaha. Then, this past football season, WSU hosted Wisconsin in Pullman. I had the opportunity to produce a video of Badger fans trying our famous Cougar Gold cheese. So, to the whole state of Wisconsin…I salute you.

This is me at the 2012 NCAA Tournament when Montana played Wisconsin in Albuquerque.

Lenten Anecdote – After my Lenten blog posts this week (here and here), I wanted to offer one final observation. I had the pleasure of attending the school mass at St. Mary yesterday with Sloan. These services are always a treat because Fr. Jeff Lewis always preaches so genuinely to the students. During his homily he noted that sometimes we frame Lent as simply a sprint to Easter Sunday and then afterwards we go back to our old ways. He challenged us to use Lent as a “boot camp” to prepare us for Easter but to also get us in shape for life post-Easter as well. Basically, what we do during Lent should draw us closer to God on a permanent basis—not just during these 40 days.

Fr. Jeff Lewis distributes ashes to a St. Mary student (photo from 2020 and courtesy of St. Mary).

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Thank you for your interest in Don’t Blink. Wishing you a fabulous weekend with plenty of relaxation mixed in. Don’t Blink.

Wisconsin Is Anything But Cheesy

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It seems like wherever I have worked during my higher education professional career, there is one university and one fan base that I have crossed paths with the most: the University of Wisconsin.

Way back in 2012 when I was working at the University of Montana, I traveled to Albuquerque with the men’s basketball team for the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Griz opponent? The Wisconsin Badgers. I got to meet Bucky and see firsthand how passionately the Wisconsin fans show up for their team.

I took this photo of Bucky and Monte in the fitness area of The Pit prior to Wisconsin and Montana tipping off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Just a few years later I was working for Coastal Carolina University and I was once again bound for the NCAA tournament with the men’s basketball team. This time I was off to Omaha but while the city changed the opponent didn’t—our #16 seeded Chanticleers played #1 seed Wisconsin. This was the final year with Bo Ryan as head coach as the Badgers would make the NCAA championship game before falling to Duke. This particular experience exposed me to the digital fandom of the University of Wisconsin. I participated in a Twitter/X back-and-forth with the UW social media manager that generated rave reviews and endeared us to the Badger faithful.

A photo I took from the 2015 NCAA game between the Badgers and Chants. CCU player Badou Diagne goes up against Wisconsin’s big stud, Frank Kaminsky.

Fast forward eight years and this weekend I had yet another experience with the University of Wisconsin—this time as an employee of Washington State University. The Badger football team came to Pullman for a marquee non-conference showdown with the Cougs. Earlier in the summer I pitched a video idea centering on Wisconsin’s reputation as the “Cheese State” in relation to our university’s famous Cougar Gold white cheddar. The crux was to have Badger fans try our Cougar Gold and give their honest feedback. After all, who is more of a cheese authority than the “cheeseheads” themselves?

These gentlemen were the first Wisconsin fans to take the “Cougar Gold Challenge.”

The idea became reality on Saturday. I approached Wisconsin fans and offered them the opportunity to sample Cougar Gold as our video team filmed their reactions. Our videographers then turned around this fun video.

It was a lot of fun to engage with the Wisconsin fans on Saturday.

As with my prior interactions with Wisconsin fans, everyone was nice, gracious, and humble. When I approached them, they were more than willing to play along and most of them had nothing but genuinely complimentary things to say about Cougar Gold. It was a joy to work with them.

This couple was a lot of fun!

So if anyone from the University of Wisconsin community happens to see this blog post, please know this—I respect you! Thanks for making intercollegiate athletics so fun. Don’t Blink.