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Disney Making Movie on Story of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Family

By Adam Roberts – 10/29/2020

We’re still waiting on the July 2021 release of Space Jam 2 starring LeBron James, plus we just were spoiled with content in The Last Dance documentary. And now it appears another NBA superstar is getting their story told.

Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo tweeted today that Walt Disney Studios is making a movie based on the Antetokounmpo family story. The film will recount the rise of Giannis and his brother Thanasis, as well as the path of their family from living as undocumented immigrants from Nigeria in Greece to sending the Antetokounm-bros to the states to play basketball.

There’s an open casting call at the moment for actors to play Giannis between 13-15 years old and 15-18 years old, which you can access here.

BREAKING: Wisconsin Football Game at Nebraska Cancelled

By Adam Roberts – 10/28/2020

A full-on COVID-19 outbreak has stricken the Wisconsin Badger football program, and now the unfortunate reality has set in.

The school announced a few moments ago that their game against Nebraska scheduled for this Saturday afternoon has been cancelled, and the team is pausing all football activities for the next seven days. The second part of that means that the team’s game against Purdue on November 7th could be in jeopardy as well based solely on limited prep time.

According to Josh Schafer of the 247Sports Network, head coach Paul Chryst is one of the 12 people within the program to have tested positive; there were also a number of false positives, but the damage has been done. Remember that any games cancelled due to COVID are to be ruled “no contest”. To compete for the Big Ten Championship, a team must play at least six games; assuming Wisconsin plays out the remainder of their season after this weekend without interruption, they would have seven games under their belt including last week’s win over Illinois.

We’ll continue to follow this story and provide updates as they become available.

Wisconsin Men’s Basketball To Face Marquette December 4th

By Adam Roberts – 10/28/2020

While the status of Saturday’s Badger football game at Nebraska remains uncertain, we have at least one more tentative date for Badger basketball.

Wisconsin still doesn’t have a complete 2020 schedule despite the season starting in less than a month, but now we know that on December 4th, the team will travel to Milwaukee to play their annual non-conference rivalry game against Marquette. Head coach Greg Gard is still piecing together a complete schedule for Wisconsin, and has said previously that the non-conference portion is the most difficult to figure out. As of today, the Badgers are slated to begin the season in the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida against Butler and South Florida; Colorado has backed out of the event, and it is uncertain what date the event would begin.

The NCAA has reduced the maximum number of games a team can have on their schedule to 27, and Wisconsin likely won’t have any fans in attendance at the Kohl Center for any games played at home. In any case, with the scheduled start of the mens basketball season on November 25th, the schedule will need to be out sooner rather than later. UW also normally plays both UW Milwaukee and UW Green Bay as part of their non-conference schedule, but both schools’ basketball programs are on indefinite pause.

Packers Sign WR Seth Roberts to Practice Squad

By Adam Roberts – 10/27/2020

The Green Bay Packers have added a veteran receiver to their practice squad.

The team is signing former Carolina Panther Seth Roberts, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

Roberts could be brought up to the active roster like is expected for Dez Bryant in Baltimore, but he’ll start with the practice unit for the time being. This is Roberts’ fourth NFL team, having caught 183 receptions and 15 touchdowns in stints with the Raiders, Ravens, and most recently Panthers. Roberts had been released by Carolina earlier this week after starting in all seven games and recording just four catches for 31 yards.

Davante Adams rebounded in a big way in Sunday’s win over Houston, but the Packers are clearly still trying to find a secondary wideout target for Aaron Rodgers.

Badgers QB Graham Mertz Out For 21 Days (COVID-19)

By Adam Roberts – 10/27/2020

The Wisconsin Badgers have confirmed that quarterback Graham Mertz has tested positive for COVID-19 a second time. His PCR test was positive a few days after an initial antigen test reported the virus in his system. Mertz will need to miss 21 days per the strict Big Ten COVID-19 policy.

#9 Wisconsin will likely turn to redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom this Saturday against Nebraska, with third-stringer Chase Wolf also testing positive. His PCR test has still not been made publicly available, but the feeling in the clubhouse is that Vanden Boom will be starting this week. He completed his lone pass in 2018 for a touchdown in three games played for the Badgers that year.

Coverage from Nebraska will begin at 12:30 pm Saturday on ESPN La Crosse 105.5 and streaming here at espnlacrosse.com!

Badgers QB Chase Wolf Also Tests Positive; Danny Vanden Boom Up Next

By Adam Roberts – 10/27/2020

Next man up is the mantra du jur for the Wisconsin Badgers, who are now dealing with a lack or resources at the quarterback position due to COVID-19.

Over the weekend, Graham Mertz tested positive for the virus, and now according to ESPN, backup QB Chase Wolf has also tested positive. While the results of both players PCR tests have still not been made public, it would appear that neither one will be available for this Saturday against Nebraska given the general vibe coming from the Badgers staff.

Head coach Paul Chryst has remained mum on the subject, saying at his Zoom conference yesterday he could not, and would not, comment on the team’s test results. However, he did offer his support for the Big Ten’s very strict COVID-19 protocols, which require the 21 days away and also say that any game not played due to the virus is a “no contest”.

“Admittedly, they told us it was more conservative, and if that helps one person, then that’s a good thing for us.” Chryst said yesterday afternoon. “We’ve known that there was a lot of work that went through this. For us to play, if that is something that’s in the best interest of everyone involved, then I completely support it.”

Vanden Boom’s in-game experience is about as minimal as possible; he last appeared on the field for Wisconsin in 2018, playing in three games and completing his lone pass attempt for a 3-yard score.

ESPN La Crosse 105.5 will have coverage from Lincoln, Nebraska this Sunday at 12:30pm. You can catch the game over the air, or right here at espnlacrosse.com!

MVC’s Herlitzke, Kelsey Run 4.53 40 Times at WFCA Combine

By Adam Roberts – 10/26/2020

In a football season unlike any other, high school athletes still need the opportunity to showcase their skills to those making recruiting decisions at the next level. Over the weekend, the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association held their annual Fall Combine, and while there are usually decent performances from Coulee Region athletes, this year featured some insane 40 yard dash times from a couple of our up and coming football players.

Despite both of their seasons on hold until spring, La Crosse Central junior running back Mason Herlitzke and Sparta sophomore wide receiver Carson Kelsey each ran 4.53 40s on Saturday. To put that into perspective, that’s the same average speed for an NFL free safety at the combine! On average, a high school football player will usually finish somewhere between 4.9 and 5.6, so this young men definitely deserve some respect! They weren’t the only Coulee Region speedsters, however; Sparta senior wideout Corbin Hauser ran is own blistering 40 at 4.59.

Elsewhere, Spartan senior Abram Edie hit a 35.3 inch vertical jump and also ran the third fastest L-drill at 6.78. Herlitzke and Edie tied for the best Coulee Region broad jumpers at 9’9″ while Quinn Servais and Ethan Shepard of Central also had good broad jumps at 9’5″ and 9’4″ respectively, and teammate Cole Lapp and Hauser hit 9 feet even.

Congrats to all the area athletes who had the honor of getting to test their athletic abilities!

Davante Adams Goes 13-16 For 196 Yards, 2 TDs in Packers’ Win

By Adam Roberts – 10/26/2020

Some people leading up to the Packers’ road trip to Houston this week looked back to last season’s two games immediately following the bye for hope of a repeat. If you recall, Green Bay came out of the Week 11 bye with an embarrassing 37-8 defeat in San Francisco, then traveled to the Meadowlands and got a nice rebound win over the Giants 31-13.

This year, the script played out the same way, just a slightly different time window and with different opponents; Green Bay came out of their Week Five bye and lost embarrassingly 38-10 to Tampa Bay, then responded yesterday with a 35-20 win at a bad Houston team, and in honesty it was really a 35-13 win if you don’t count the garbage time TD.

The star of the game was also someone who needed a big rebound game. Wide receiver Davante Adams didn’t have an awful game against the Bucs, catching six Rodgers passes for 61 yards, but it was far from the performance required of a WR1 to push a team to victory. This week was the total opposite; 13 catches for 196 yards and two scores. He also was the recipient of a throwback Rodgers moment on an absolute dime of a toss over Adams’ shoulder.

Apparently, that first quarter grab was even more difficult than we realized. “When you get in some of these domes, [the] ball’s in the light line for awhile” Adams said on his beaut of a snag. “Could not see the ball until it basically touched my hands…you know that’s just credit to Aaron for throwing [a] ball that I can catch without seeing.” Adams also noted that the Houston secondary was not instructed by defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver to double him up throughout the game, and that helped open up his game even more.

Green Bay is back home this week to host the 1-5 Minnesota Vikings, who had a bye this weekend.

INJURY REPORT

Green Bay was without both left tackle David Bakhtiari and starting running back Aaron Jones this week, but you would’ve hardly noticed watching the game. Rodgers was only hit once and not sacked at all, while Jamaal Williams handled things fine running the ball for 77 yards and a score on a day that the Rodgers-Adams connection was handling things just fine. Tight end Robert Tonyan did play yesterday, as did linebacker Preston Smith and defensive lineman Montravius Adams.

Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz Tests Positive for COVID-19; Awaiting Second Test Result (Updated 10/26 @ 10:30am)

By Adam Roberts – 10/26/2020

Graham Mertz was the talk of college football social media after the Badgers’ 45-7 win over Illinois. He was surgical in the first half, completing 14 of 14 passes for four touchdowns in the first half, and other than a Garrett Groshek drop he would have been a perfect 21-21 on the day. He had one more touchdown pass, and further proved why the biggest quarterback prospect in school history should be under center.

Unfortunately, just about 48 hours from his electric debut, he may be unavailable for the next three weeks.

After his shining debut over the weekend, the redshirt freshman quarterback has tested positive for COVID-19. According to reports, the positive test came after Saturday’s game. If Mertz tests positive a second time, he will have to sit out at least 21 days, which would bench him for the ninth-ranked Badgers’ games at Nebraska, versus Purdue at home, and at #13 Michigan November 14th.

It should be noted that the Badgers have had a number of false positives so far this year from the rapid antigen test. Whatever the result, it should serve as another reminder that in the COVID era, nothing is guaranteed and sports are truly a week-to-week ordeal.

Should Mertz be unavailable, backup Chase Wolf would get the start against the Cornhuskers on Saturday; assumed Week One starter Jack Coan is still recovering from a leg injury he suffered in practice. Wolf has completed just one pass for the Badgers.

*UPDATE* Head coach Paul Chryst speaking with media this morning says: “Obviously there’s a lot of talk right now about what’s going on within our team and I will not, cannot, and should not comment on anything dealing with our testing and coronavirus.”

We’ll follow this story and provide more updates as they become available. It’s important to remember that sources need to be confirmed, and we will only report on this when we’re comfortable that initial sources have the story correct. Either way, we’ll have coverage from Lincoln on Saturday beginning at 12:30pm.

Packers RB Aaron Jones Added to Injury Report

By Adam Roberts – 10/23/2020

While the news earlier this week seemed optimistic on Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari regarding his chest injury from the Buccaneers loss, he still was not on the practice field today for Green Bay. And he wasn’t alone.

Running back Aaron Jones was held off the practice field today and is listed on the team’s injury report. Jones is expected to speak to media members today with the likely goal of addressing the injury and its severity or lack thereof.

In addition, Kevin King, Darnell Savage, Tyler Ervin, Tyler Lancaster, and Montravius Adams were not on the field today for the Packers, though both tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis were practicing today, and seem likely to go to a certain extent against the Texans this Sunday.