Alvarez Works Way Through Knee Pain Down to the Sideline

Call him Citizen Cane.

Despite being hobbled by the knee-replacement surgery he underwent in November, Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez patrolled the sidelines Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

He had coached seven of the Badgers’ last eight games from the press box because he had little mobility and was dependent on crutches or a cane, but his diligent rehabilitation efforts paid off Saturday in a knee that felt strong enough for him to be on the field.

“As of [Friday] I felt like I could control the swelling,” he said. “I just felt like I needed to be down there. I really didn’t have any problems.

“My biggest concern was so many guys trying to protect me.”

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Wisconsin kicker Vitaly Pisetsky, who successfully appealed the NCAA’s decision to deny him a year of eligibility because he hadn’t completed four years of English, said he will return next season.

Pisetsky was born in Russia and emigrated to the United States with his family seven years ago to escape anti-Semitism in their homeland.

He took only three years of English at a New York City high school before enrolling at Wisconsin, but he later scored a 96% on an English placement test at Madison. That impressive test result helped him win his NCAA appeal.

“I don’t want to end my career now,” said Pisetsky, whose missed field goal in the fourth quarter against Stanford was only his second miss in 43 attempts.

“It was a pretty important kick. I’m happy we won, but I wish I could have contributed a little more and made that last field goal.”

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The Stanford band, unlike any other and proud of it, did a few routines before the game that were indecipherable and one that was easy to figure out and quite appropriate: a champagne bottle with a few band members bubbling (wandering around) inside.

Soon, the bubbly band members popped up through the cork and into a champagne glass.

Nice, but just a sidelight to the national anthem, which ended with a nice rocket show, a la bombs bursting in air.

But things weren’t quite in sync with the traditional jet-formation fly-by by the Air Force Thunderbirds. Either the Stanford band ended too early or the planes arrived too late.

It wasn’t much of a glitch, just something that usually goes like clockwork here. But then, this was the Stanford band, after all . . .

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Wisconsin had won its second straight Rose Bowl only moments before, but already Badger players were being asked if a third straight triumph is within the realm of possibility.

“There’s still a lot of good players left,” said strong safety Bobby Meyers, a senior. “We’ll lose only me and two linebackers [Chris Ghidorzi and Donnel Thompson].”

Free safety Jason Doering is also a senior but has another year of eligibility left.

Defensive end Wendell Bryant, a sophomore, wasn’t ready to think about a third straight Rose Bowl victory quite yet.

“I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is this feels good right not and I’m tired.”

Winning two in a row was almost more than Ghidorzi could grasp.

“It means so much to us right now,” he said. “I can’t even imagine five years from now, when we look back, how much more it will mean.”

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Wisconsin cornerback Jamar Fletcher prepared for the Rose Bowl with the idea he would have Troy Walters, one-on-one.

When Walters injured his wrist and looked as if he’d miss the game, Fletcher admitted a tinge of disappointment he wouldn’t face the Biletnikoff Award winner.

When did he realize it would happen after all?

“When he ran on the field,” Fletcher said. “I just smiled at him, and he smiled back.”

As for Walters’ performance: “He looked pretty good,” Fletcher said. “He’s a great route-runner. Good hands.”

Walters’ three catches for 52 yards, though, were well off his average of 6.73 a game for 132.36 yards.

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Center Mike McLaughlin of Stanford started for the 46th consecutive game, but it was only a ceremonial appearance. He played one play, then left the field to ice his injured right knee.

Zack Quaccia, who usually plays offensive guard, filled in for McLaughlin.

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Coach Tyrone Willingham of Stanford praised the media for helping motivate his team’s defense.

“I always warn the media that you guys do a great job of providing motivation for one group,” he said. “And this time you provided great motivation for our defense to really improve themselves and show they are a much better team than people had written.”

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John Sigmund has a golden state of mind.

His only catch--and touchdown--as a freshman at Wisconsin came at San Jose State.

His only two catches as a sophomore came in the Rose Bowl upset of UCLA.

Then, his two biggest catches as a junior came Saturday, the seven-yard bobble-and-recovery on fourth and two in the critical fourth-quarter drive and the 22-yard reception on the next play that set up the final Badger score.

“California has been great to me,” Sigmund said.

No such luck for his senior season--barring a third consecutive Rose Bowl berth.

The closest the Badgers are scheduled to get is Hawaii in the west and Iowa in the east.

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While Wisconsin is the first Big Ten team to win consecutive Rose Bowl championships, several other Big Ten schools have won in consecutive appearances--many in the era between 1946-60, when the conference had a no-repeat rule.

Michigan won in 1902, 1948, 1951, 1965, and then in 1993 and 1998, and Michigan State won in 1954 and 1956. Ohio State won in 1950, 1955, 1958 and 1969, Iowa won in 1957 and 1959 and Illinois won in 1952 and 1964.

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In three career games in California, Dayne rushed for 700 yards. He had 254 yards at San Jose State in 1997, 246 in the 1999 Rose Bowl against UCLA and 200 Saturday.

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Wisconsin is 3-3 in the Rose Bowl and has won its last three games. Stanford is 5-6-1. . . . The 26 combined points were the fewest in the Rose Bowl since USC beat Michigan, 14-6, in 1977. Stanford was sixth in the nation in scoring, averaging 37.2 points a game, and Wisconsin was No. 10 at 35.6.

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Staff writers Bill Dwyre, Helene Elliott, Scott Howard-Cooper, Robyn Norwood and Eric Sondheimer contributed to this story.