Wisconsin
Like Wisconsin-OSU hockey, these are state’s best postseason rivalries
Wisconsin hockey coach Mark Johnson reflects on 9th national title
The Badgers’ 3-2 victory over Ohio State Sunday March 22 gave coach Mark Johnson his ninth national title. Here is what he said afterward.
It’s hard to match what the University of Wisconsin and Ohio State women’s hockey teams have accomplished – meeting four consecutive years for the NCAA championship. With a 3-2 win Sunday, March 22, the Badgers are back-to-back champs and winners in three of the four battles, all separated by one goal.
Similar to USA-Canada in the Olympic finals – a meeting this year that featured players from both UW and OSU – the programs simply seem destined to meet with the season on the line.
These are the other best postseason rivalries in Wisconsin sports:
UW-Whitewater vs. Mount Union football
This is perhaps the most obvious Wisconsin sports postseason rivalry, the battle for the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl and the NCAA Division III football championship.
UW-Whitewater first met Mount Union in 2005 for all the marbles, and then the program met a staggering seven consecutive seasons, with Whitewater winning four times (2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011).
They met again in 2013 and 2014, with Whitewater winning both. But, Mount Union still has 13 titles in program history, while Whitewater has six.
Since 1996, the two powerhouse NFL franchises have met 10 times in the postseason, and though the Packers had the early success, with wins in four of the first five playoff meetings, San Francisco has won the last five games, all since 2013.
For Packers fans, that includes many memorable highs and lows, including an NFC championship win in early 1998 en route to a second straight Super Bowl and a franchise-affirming road win in the divisional round in early 1996, even with Dallas awaiting to eliminate the Packers in the NFC title game one week later.
The more recent games included a heartbreaking divisional loss in Santa Clara after the 2023 season, a snow-aided special-teams debacle after the 2021 season and a double dose of Colin Kaepernick after the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Marquette men’s basketball vs. Kentucky
If we merge Wisconsin and Marquette together, we get a rich tapestry of battles with Kentucky in the men’s NCAA Tournament, though Marquette has the greater volume.
For Wisconsin, the battles include a stellar high (beating undefeated Kentucky in 2015) and an agonizing loss (in the 2014 Final Four), not to mention a 2003 loss in the Sweet 16.
Marquette, of course, has its own recent thrill against UK, smashing the top-ranked Wildcats in the Elite Eight of the 2003 tournament behind Dwyane Wade’s triple-double. An upset win in the Sweet 16 of the 1994 tournament can’t be forgotten, either, with point guard Tony Miller and his nine assists helping MU stage a 75-63 victory.
MU also met Kentucky in 2008 (a 74-66 win in the first round), with the other entrants in the rivalry dating to the 1970s and earlier.
Kentucky won in 1975 (second round), 1972 (Sweet 16), 1968 (Sweet 16) and 1959 (regional third-place game) but Marquette won in 1971 (regional third-place game), 1969 (Sweet 16) and 1955 (Sweet 16).
Technically, the Bucks have faced Philadelphia (nine times) more than Boston (eight times) in the postseason, but the Celtics provide some recent history and some tense battles over the years that weren’t always restricted to the floor.
Milwaukee got the best of Boston in 2019 during the Eastern Conference semis – the series when Paul Pierce said he thought the series was over after Boston’s Game 1 victory; Milwaukee won the next four – but Boston also defeated the Bucks in 2022 in seven games without an injured Khris Middleton, and the Celtics got Milwaukee in a seven-game opening-round series in 2018, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and his team on the cusp of an ascent.
There’s plenty of history to go with those recent meetings, too, not the least of which was the 1974 NBA Finals, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson played their last game together at the Arena in a heartbreaking seventh-game loss to the Celts.
Boston twice eliminated the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals (1986 and 1984), in addition to a seven-game series win over the Bucks in the 1987 Eastern semis, a series that featured a fight between Boston’s Kevin McHale and a Milwaukee fan in Game 3, part of a litany of wild events in that series.
Milwaukee did get a sweep over the 1983 Celtics in the Eastern semis, but it’s just 2-6 all time against Boston.
Arrowhead vs. Homestead football
There are a number of combinations in the high school football (or basketball) sphere that could apply here. For example, Catholic Memorial has met Notre Dame in Green Bay for the state football title three times. So have fellow state powerhouses St. Mary’s Springs and Stratford. Edgar met Black Hawk in 2018, then met the Black Hawk/Warren co-op in 2019 and 2023.
But Arrowhead and Homestead met three years in a row for the Division 1 state title from 2006 through 2008, with legendary coaches Dave Keel and Tom Taraska at the helm. Homestead won the first meeting between the Milwaukee-area behemoths, 35-0, and Arrowhead answered with a 31-7 win the following year. That set up the 2008 rubber match, a 13-11 win for Homestead.
Wisconsin
Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars
The Wisconsin stepmother from hell accused of abusing her 35-pound 14-year-old daughter by depriving her of food and water has entered a no-contest plea in the twisted case.
Melissa Goodman, 52, now faces up to 46 years in prison if she’s handed the maximum sentence for charges of chronic neglect causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect causing emotional damage and false imprisonment.
She’s set to be sentenced on July 1.
Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, has been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter.
Goodman’s daughter Savanna Goodman and her girlfriend Kayla Stemler were also charged over the alleged abuse, People reported.
The family is accused of locking the teen in a bedroom without a mattress, restricting her to only her room for years and depriving her of food and water, according to Wisconsin prosecutors.
The mobile home they lived in became a house of horrors for the teenager, who was mistaken for a 6-year-old when she was found by cops in August 2025 and rushed to the hospital.
Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill.
Responding officers found her weighing just 35 pounds; she was hospitalized with multi-organ dysfunction, including respiratory failure and pancreatitis.

From 2020 until August 2025, the victim, whose name is not disclosed because she is a minor, was allegedly isolated in a trailer on Hattie Lane, in Oneida, Wisconsin.
Extended family members were told she was away on vacation or with other relatives to explain her absence.
Wisconsin
‘Song Sung Blue’ subject Claire Sardina playing Wisconsin State Fair
When “Song Sung Blue” – the biopic about Milwaukee Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder – had a premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee last December, star Hugh Jackman gave Claire Sardina (played in the film by Kate Hudson) an engraved bench honoring Lighting & Thunder to be installed at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
In August, Sardina will get to have a seat on that bench – and sing again on a State Fair stage.
Sardina will perform with tribute act So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience Aug. 9 at the Bank Five Nine Amphitheater, the largest stage at the fair featuring free concerts with admission.
For Sardina, it will be a return to a place central to Lighting & Thunder. The band performed in the Milwaukee area from 1989 until Mike Sardina, aka Lightning, passed away in 2006. The State Fair was one of their favorite places to play, and the couple got married there in 1994.
The couple’s wild story – from a performance at a Pearl Jam Summerfest concert to major health issues – was the subject of the documentary “Song Sung Blue” that inspired the biopic, and earned Hudson an Oscar nomination for portraying Claire Sardina.
Fair officials May 8 revealed the full headliner lineup for the stage, which includes:
- Aug. 6: Sixteen Candles
- Aug. 7 and 8: Here Come The Mummies
- Aug. 10 and 11: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
- Aug. 12: Hairbangers Ball
- Aug. 13: Too Hype Crew
- Aug. 14: The Gufs
- Aug. 15: Let’s Sing Taylor – An Unofficial Live Tribute Show
- Aug. 16: Pat McCurdy
All Bank Five Nine Amphitheater concerts are included with fair admission.
The lineup is also nearly complete for the Bank Five Nine Main Stage, with just a show on Aug. 11 to be announced.
Tickets are on sale for these shows at wistatefair.com and include same-day fair admission:
- Aug. 6: Hairball
- Aug. 7: Nelly
- Aug. 8: Bailey Zimmerman with Chandler Walters
- Aug. 9: Wynonna Judd and Melissa Etheridge
- Aug. 10: For King + Country with Rachel Lampa
- Aug. 12: John Mulaney
- Aug. 13: The All-American Rejects with Joyce Manor
- Aug. 14: Lindsey Stirling with PVRIS
- Aug. 15: AJR with Em Beihold
- Aug. 16: The Beach Boys
Wisconsin
Wisconsin universities and schools impacted by Canvas data breach
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/GRAY NEWS) – A ransomware group has claimed to have breached the learning management system Canvas, possibly exposing the personal information of students, teachers and staff across the country.
According to a statement from the Universities of Wisconsin website, they were notified of a nationwide security breach experienced by Instructure, the provider of Canvas. Universities of Wisconsin schools use the cloud-based management system.
UW-Stevens Point tells NewsChannel 7 they have not confirmed UWSP was involved in the breach, but did send communication that Canvas was down and students should not perform any asked actions if prompted, as it may not be legitimate while Canvas is down.
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, posted on May 1 about a cybersecurity incident that had been reported and was under investigation.
The next day, Chief Information Security Officer Steve Proud wrote that the information involved in the attack included names, student ID numbers, messages between users and email addresses.
“At this time, we have found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were involved. If that changes, we will notify any impacted institutions,” he wrote.
The Wausau School District sent a letter to parents Wednesday regarding the cybersecurity incident. They said there is no evidence that passwords, single-sign-on credentials, financial information or social security numbers were impacted. They stressed that type of information is not stored in Canvas.
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