Badgers and Chanticleers - Tale of the Tape (sorta)

Buckingham U. Badger, Bucky for short, came to life in 1940 while the mascot was named for the University of Wisconsin football team in 1889. 

The badger is one fierce animal.  One that ought not be messed with.  Especially ferocious when backed into a corner - the compact fighter cuts a swath through his home territory and those who seem him first give way.

Bucky is much friendlier, especially to those wearing Cardinal and White, and is loved by fans of all ages.  He's good at all sports and excels in the classroom.

The Badger State, as Wisconsin is known, isn't named for the furry mammal.  The name came from an observer who saw lead miners in southwest Wisconsin and thought they looked like badgers coming out of their burrows.

We do have some actual badgers here.  I saw one in the county forest north of where we lived in Augusta, Wisconsin.  It's a serious looking creature.

Tonight's opponent for Bucky's boys is from the beautiful area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Eight miles, to be exact, in the community of Conway.  An attractive and popular tourist destination, Coastal Carolina University has one distinct advantage over Wisconsin - warm winters.

The Chanticleer is a proud rooster originally found in the Nun's Tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  His pride gets the better of him and a predatory fox persuades him to close his eyes, lift his head and crow.  As the rooster does, the fox grabs him around the neck and takes him home for dinner.

The Chanticleer (pronounced Shawn ta clear), however, fools the fox to stop and release him so he can tell his would-be rescuers to halt their pursuit.  The fox lets the bird from his jaws and it flies away.

On the court tonight, the champions of the Big South Conference Tournament with a 24 - 9 record seeded #16 in the West will find the 31 - 3 Big Ten regular season and tournament champion and top seed waiting in his burrow.

And, while winter in Madison may present a different type of beauty than South Carolina... when it comes to delights for tourists the state of Wisconsin has a lot to offer (Coach Bo knows Wisconsin.)

While rooster are known to be fighters - in this matchup I'll take Bucky.

You can watch the Badger - Chanticleer game on TBS, tip expected around 8:20pm CDT.

**Note:  Spring starts at 5:45 Central Daylight Time and as usual, there will be a special blog to welcome the season.