By Eamonn Brennan
Some players pay lip service to the idea of playing for Team USA. Others ignore it altogether. But many do take it seriously. They treat it as the honor it is meant to be. Wearing a uniform that says "USA" on the front and your name on the back can't help but be meaningful. You're representing your country. What could be cooler than that?
Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor seems the type to understand the honor, which is why it's a bit of a shame to see him withdraw from tryouts for Team USA's 2011 World University Games squad this summer. Why the departure? Taylor needs to undergo minor surgery on his ankle next week, and he's decided that it's more important to take care of the surgery now and be ready to play with his Wisconsin teammates in the fall. From a Wisconsin athletics release:
Speaking of Taylor's teammates: While the point guard has been traveling this summer participating in Nike skills camps and preparing for Team USA tryouts, the rest of the Badgers have been executing what appears to be the most enjoyable offseason training regimen of all-time. That regimen? Ultimate Frisbee.
From Yahoo! Sport's Jeff Eisenberg:
While Taylor heals his ankle, his teammates will be executing sweet ultimate moves like the ones you see pictured here. Eventually, Wisconsin will get back to its brutal conditioning regimen, a portion of which includes repeated hill runs (which looked absolutely brutal on an episode of Big Ten Network documentary "The Journey" last fall). For now, though, it's all fun and games. I'm not a big frisbee guy, and I'm not sure I've seen people play Ultimate Frisbee since I was in college, but if I was a Division I basketball player, and you told me this was how I was supposed to get in shape, I'd take it. Anything but line-to-line gym sprints. Those are just the worst.
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Tommy Giglio/US PresswireWisconsin's Jordan Taylor needs to undergo minor surgery but should be ready to go in the fall.
“It’s the appropriate decision,’’ he said. “While it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to play for your country, I had to do what’s best for my team, theWisconsin Badgers. That’s the reality of it.’’
“I really wanted to play for USA Basketball; there’s no greater honor than that,’’ he said. “It’s definitely a bummer. But I have to get ready for our season and by having the surgery now it will give me a chance to get completely healthy. We have a lot of goals for our team this year. [...] My teammates are here at Wisconsin – these are my teammates for the entirety – it’s my family. I definitely owe it to them to be healthy going into my final year.’’
Speaking of Taylor's teammates: While the point guard has been traveling this summer participating in Nike skills camps and preparing for Team USA tryouts, the rest of the Badgers have been executing what appears to be the most enjoyable offseason training regimen of all-time. That regimen? Ultimate Frisbee.
From Yahoo! Sport's Jeff Eisenberg:
The first time Brian Butch heard about Wisconsin's unusual approach to offseason conditioning, the former Badgers big man admits he was baffled.
"I was happy we didn't have to run sprints, but I remember thinking, 'We must be the only basketball team in the country that plays ultimate Frisbee," Butch recalled. "I thought everybody was nuts."
[...] "It's a way for me to basically fool them into a great conditioning session that's specific to basketball," Wisconsin strength and conditioning coach Scott Hettenbach said. "We've had such incredible games over the years that guys talk about it all summer long. It's grown to be a pretty big deal. These guys really get competitive with it."
While Taylor heals his ankle, his teammates will be executing sweet ultimate moves like the ones you see pictured here. Eventually, Wisconsin will get back to its brutal conditioning regimen, a portion of which includes repeated hill runs (which looked absolutely brutal on an episode of Big Ten Network documentary "The Journey" last fall). For now, though, it's all fun and games. I'm not a big frisbee guy, and I'm not sure I've seen people play Ultimate Frisbee since I was in college, but if I was a Division I basketball player, and you told me this was how I was supposed to get in shape, I'd take it. Anything but line-to-line gym sprints. Those are just the worst.
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