I wanted to be respectful of Jon's announcement to the board and to this community he has so faithfully served for over the last 18 years before I chimed in with my two cents of gratitude to both Jon and to the members of this site, as well as my update.

Subscribers would assume that Jon and I have talked constantly between the time he asked me to fill in on a part-time basis in December 2019 through what will be a five-year partnership ending with Saturday's grand finale. While it is true that Jon and I have routinely messaged back and forth with all things site related, we have spoken on the phone just once (which occurred earlier this month) and never got together for a sit-down summit.

Unorthodox? Maybe, but it speaks to Jon's trust in me to cover the day-to-day grind of a beat reporter without hovering over me. He never asked me to write a specific feature, give me a deadline, travel to road games, or change something I was doing because he knew from my BadgerNation past that I would do what was best to deliver what we both wanted - inside access to Wisconsin Athletics. Because of this, I have never had a better boss.

Moreover, when balancing football, family, and my other job became too much after the COVID year, he gave me his blessing to focus solely on covering men's basketball full-time and drastically reduce my workload from May until October. I never had a contract with Rivals or Jon, just a handshake agreement between him and me based on the trust that I'd deliver quality content telling the story of Wisconsin Athletics (which I hope I did more often than not). I truly appreciate him for all of it, as it was much better working with him than against him.

That said, I am unclear about my role or if I have a future with this site as we move into the great unknown with this merger. I am hopeful that whoever comes along will want to have a seasoned reporter around to cover UW hoops, but I am a realist when I say that might not be a possibility.

So, while I still can, I want to thank all the great people associated with this site that I've either worked next to or worked with, especially my good friend and road trip co-pilot, Dan Sanger, and my co-hoops beat reporter, Donnie Slusher. I had a serious health scare the night of the Washington-Wisconsin game in February that prevented me from covering practices and games in person for the rest of the season. Donnie and Dan helped things move forward smoothly and seamlessly while I tried to do game stories from a hospital bed. They are two true professionals, and I'm glad I am associated with them.

Lastly, thank you all for reading, commenting, and welcoming me here. It truly is a fantastic community of diehard Wisconsin fans who have been great to be around.

Like Jon said, thank you for supporting this site over the years and supporting local journalism.

Hopefully you'll see my byline again.

With gratitude ~ Benjamin Worgull

With the news that Jon is going to be stepping down, we're going to do one last episode of BadgerBlitz TV - please leave any and all questions you have and we'll get to as many as we can when we record tomorrow.

Had some good things to say about the Badgers.

Any word on the Badger guard? Tomorrow night is the deadline to return to
college and maintain your eligibility.

How many commits from the first weekend?
Who surprises?
Who cancels?
Anyone coming that we didn't know about?
.
Should be fun to see what happens. We need some good news around here!

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Have to imagine he’ll be back.

#1 Party School in America.
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The Packers are trying to get the tush-push banned.

Give me a break. Unless there is some reason safety reason (which there isn't) - it's weak sauce. How about the Packers find a way to run or stop it better? It isn't the play - it's who runs it. Don't fault the play because the Eagles have a quarterback and running back who squat a combined 1200 lbs behind the best offensive line in the game. It's only unfair because the Eagles run it to perfection.

Welcome to “The Border Brawl,” a live, international wrestling super-spectacle streaming exclusively for free on Zone·ify, co-produced with TNA Wrestling. “The Border Brawl” will take place on May 25, at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre Rampage Jackson is missing his scheduled appearance at Sunday night's Border Brawl event. The show is set to take place in Niagara, Canada

WATCH NOW: Border Brawl Streaming LIVE & FREE Today​

This is a special event streamingly live from the Canada / USA border for free exclusively
It will be a point battle between Canada and USA with the following points system:
‭• Standard victory (pinfall, submission, count-out, DQ) - 1 pt
‭• Quick victory /match ends in under 5 minutes) - 2 pts
‭• Lightining victory (match ends in under 1 minute) - 3 pts
‭• Double DQ/No Contest/Draw - o pts

Below you can find the full match card and results of TNA The Border Brawl, and more information about the event.

TNA The Border Brawl Start Time & How To Watch:

The TNA The Border Brawl event airs on Sunday, May 25, 2025 and can be watched live on Zone·ify.
What time does TNA The Border Brawl start?

TNA The Border Brawl will start on May. 25 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM UK.

'The Border Brawl', co-produced with TNA Wrestling, has been set as a live wrestling event to stream exclusively for free on Zone·ify.

Welcome to “The Border Brawl,” a live, international wrestling super-spectacle streaming exclusively for free on Zone·ify, co-produced with TNA Wrestling. “The Border Brawl” will take place on May 25, at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre

.

WATCH NOW: Border Brawl Streaming LIVE & FREE Today​

This is a special event streamingly live from the Canada / USA border for free exclusively
It will be a point battle between Canada and USA with the following points system:
‭• Standard victory (pinfall, submission, count-out, DQ) - 1 pt
‭• Quick victory /match ends in under 5 minutes) - 2 pts
‭• Lightining victory (match ends in under 1 minute) - 3 pts
‭• Double DQ/No Contest/Draw - o pts

Below you can find the full match card and results of TNA The Border Brawl, and more information about the event.

TNA The Border Brawl Start Time & How To Watch:

The TNA The Border Brawl event airs on Sunday, May 25, 2025 and can be watched live on Zone·ify.
What time does TNA The Border Brawl start?

TNA The Border Brawl will start on May. 25 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM UK.

TNA The Border Brawl is an upcoming Special Event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which will take place on May 25, 2025 , at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Canada.

WATCH NOW: Border Brawl Streaming LIVE & FREE Today​

This is a special event streamingly live from the Canada / USA border for free exclusively
It will be a point battle between Canada and USA with the following points system:
‭• Standard victory (pinfall, submission, count-out, DQ) - 1 pt
‭• Quick victory /match ends in under 5 minutes) - 2 pts
‭• Lightining victory (match ends in under 1 minute) - 3 pts
‭• Double DQ/No Contest/Draw - o pts

Below you can find the full match card and results of TNA The Border Brawl, and more information about the event.

TNA The Border Brawl Start Time & How To Watch:

The TNA The Border Brawl event airs on Sunday, May 25, 2025 and can be watched live on Zone·ify.
What time does TNA The Border Brawl start?

TNA The Border Brawl will start on May. 25 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM UK.