Capital One Bowl Diary: Day 2
December 27, 2006 | Football
Follow the University of Wisconsin football team each day as it prepares for the Capital One Bowl. From practices to leisure time, uwbadgers.com will cover it all. Make sure to check out the typeid=5&deptID=111&eventid=26"> --> photo gallery for each day as well.
Rain, rain go away!
The team began the day by heading to Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports. This is a gigantic complex (220 acres) that plays host to almost 200 sporting events each year and is where MLB's Atlanta Braves have their spring training.
The Badgers met up with the football teams from Arkansas, Purdue and Maryland (the latter two are in town for the Champs Sports Bowl) and all the players were paired with an underprivileged child and spent a few hours hanging out, eating lunch and playing games.
'It was fun,' sophomore TE Travis Beckum said. 'I thought it was great getting to know the kids, and some of us have been in similar situations so it was nice to hang out with the kids.'
During the time there, ABC filmed each team for a commercial; head coach Bret Bielema, LB DeAndre Levy and DL Mike Newkirk represented Wisconsin. The commercial introduces them as representatives of the Badger football team and will be shown during the Florida Citrus Parade.
There also was a D.J. playing some remixed Disney movie songs, and he came up with the idea that Arkansas and Wisconsin should have a dance off. UW linebacker Elijah Hodge ended up winning against his Razorback counterpart, both of whom danced to N*Sync's 'Bye Bye Bye.'
From there it was off to practice, and the rain, which began while the team was at the Wide World of Sports, continued into the first half of practice. Fortunately, it wasn 't a heavy rain, but it did make the temperature a lot cooler.
Former head coach and current director of athletics Barry Alvarez came to practice, and he was accompanied by his former assistant coach, Dan McCarney.
After a few interviews, the team went back to the hotel and quickly changed, then they headed to dinner at a restaurant called Texas de Brazil. It's a Brazilian steakhouse that serves all types of meat on swords and they are brought out to you as long as you keep your 'coin' green-side up; otherwise, red-side up means 'No thanks, I've had enough' ('N'o obrigado ' in Portuguese).
The meat selections included items such as top sirloin, garlic tenderloin, bacon-wrapped chicken, roast lamb, Brazilian sausage, BBQ pork ribs and much, much more. There also was a buffet that had soup, salad and other side items.
'I ate nothing but meat,' sophomore OL Andy Kemp said. 'I may have eaten an entire cow. Everything was so good, and now I have to get a new belt. '
Surprisingly, the restaurant had enough food left to serve Arkansas' team, which came as the Badgers left. The consensus was that the food, besides being all-you-can-eat, was excellent, and the key lime pie was stellar.
The team then went back to the hotel to take some time to digest and nap. And with another curfew-free night, some of the players headed out to check out the city.
