Strange times for Joel Stave, Badgers

Abdullah the Butcher

Abdullah the Butcher

Banned
So ... to sum up: Stave was hurt, but then he's not. Gordon was not hurt, but then he was. Coaches sometimes go to great lengths to protect their players when injuries or other issues are involved, and I can respect that. But by not being on the same page with either Gordon or Stave or his own earlier statements, Andersen -- remember his "I don't know" quote when asked why Gordon didn't get more carries? -- has opened himself up to criticism, and the team's overall credibility has suffered. This isn't Utah State; Wisconsin prides itself as a national program and needs to carry itself like one.

I don't believe there's any grand conspiracy going on behind the scenes. Andersen has always struck me as a pretty straight shooter who only wants what's best for his players and the team. But by crisscrossing messages and giving out conflicting information, he only gives the appearance that there's disarray in a program that's usually pretty drama-free.

Wisconsin looks pretty silly right now, though the good news is that the next few opponents appear to have little chance of beating the Badgers. The team has done a pretty good job of inflicting its own wounds the past 72 hours or so.
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http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=bigten&id=106585

 
I can't see Barry letting this drama continue on for much longer. And hell, he can always fire Andersen and install himself if it comes down to it.

Hell, now I'm hoping it *does* come down to it before we go up to Madison...cause I think we would hang 60 on this current Wisky team.

 
I agree, I always thought stave was a good qb, not elite, definitely not garbage. But for whatever reason Anderson doesn't seem to like or trust him.

Everyone was worried about gregory getting clownyitis I think Gordon might be coming down with it soon

 
About halfway through Wisconsin’s preseason camp, coaches noticed something wrong with quarterback Joel Stave, which was -- he could no longer throw a simple pass. He could uncork a 40-yard bomb, no problem, but time and again, he would short-hop a basic 10-yard pass in drills. Stave had suffered a shoulder injury in last January’s Capital One Bowl that slowed him in the spring, but this wasn’t that. Whether they knew it yet or not, his is an unfortunate case of what baseball players and golfers know as the Yips.


Stave had looked fine as recently as the Badgers’ Aug. 18 scrimmage and figured to retain the starting job he’d held for 19 games, but now, with their opener against LSU looming less than two weeks away, there was virtually no chance he’d be ready to play. But coach Gary Andersen was not about to let LSU know that. He would not even confirm an Aug. 22 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report that he’d named former safety Tanner McEvoy the starter. Thus, fans watching at home were baffled why Andersen didn’t turn to Stave with McEvoy struggling through a horrific 8-of-24, 50-yard performance last Saturday.

But a few attentive spectators in the Reliant Stadium stands and press box knew something was up. They couldn’t help notice Stave bouncing basic warm-up passes before the game. By early this week Andersen had no choice but to announce that Stave was being “shut down” for the foreseeable future; however, in a confusing sequence of events Tuesday, the school misleadingly announced at first that Stave was injured. Andersen was trying to save the quarterback from embarrassment. After practice that evening, though, Stave went before reporters and described his predicament.

“I'll be throwing it good, throwing it good and then all of a sudden I feel like I hang on to it too long,” he said. “One will sail, one will slip and then you start thinking, ‘Oh, I've got to hang on to it longer.’
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Mavric said:
After practice that evening, though, Stave went before reporters and described his predicament.

“I'll be throwing it good, throwing it good and then all of a sudden I feel like I hang on to it too long,” he said. “One will sail, one will slip and then you start thinking, ‘Oh, I've got to hang on to it longer.’
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It sounds like he's describing... the quarterback position.

 
Easy way to cure the 'yips'...Put all your change in your right pocket, tie your left shoelace in a double knot, turn your hat around backwards and put a blue tee behind your right ear.

 
Recovery time for a yips injury is apparently about a month.

Joel Stave delivered a deep out route during practice last Thursday that slipped from his right hand and sailed well out of bounds. In the mystifyingly difficult weeks before, the inner workings of his head would have sent him "into the toilet" from that poor throw, he said.


Stave would overthink the mistake, which only compounded the problem and left his quarterback skills in shambles. He had spent the end of August and much of September trying to internally overcome a mental block best known as the yips -- a sudden, unexplained loss of basic motor skills in athletes. And his inability to complete simple passes had become a national story, with Stave serving as the new poster boy for the affliction.

So here he was on Thursday, back under center after botching another pass. Only this time, Stave sensed the weight of the world had finally lifted.

"The very next throw, I was able to come back and hit a corner route to the boundary," Stave said. "Just seeing stuff like that, it's like every throw is not going to be perfect."

Stave met with reporters following Tuesday's practice for the first time since acknowledging his struggles four weeks ago. And he now believes he is symptom free, that one of the worst episodes of his football career is finally over. Now, the former starter can slowly go about the business of working his way back up Wisconsin's depth chart.
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