Today, I curiously joined hundreds of Wisconsin students in a march to the doorway of Scott Walker’s office. During the march, I had some time to reflect on the problems facing our state.
My conclusion was this: The right person to solve our state’s growing deficit problem is not Scott Walker. The right person is UW men’s basketball coach, Bo Ryan.
Need proof? Let us examine some of the controversial issues facing the state today.
1) On competitiveness with neighboring states
In the past ten seasons, Bo Ryan has a proven record of bringing in talent from other states (Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer included) and putting them to work for Wisconsin. Bo’s ability to lure (no pun intended) talent away from neighboring states continues to encourage new talent to come to Wisconsin.
To incoming talent, Walker offers corporate tax breaks. Bo offers championships and the reality that his teams will always outperform bordering states. Advantage Coach Ryan.
2) On collective bargaining issues
Bo Ryan has demonstrated a commitment to negotiating with officials of all stripes – from courtside officials to the schedulers of the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. He truly has Wisconsin’s best interests in mind, and in the end, he always wins.
Walker refuses to negotiate, holding closed-door meetings instead of taking up the issues with the people. Bo tackles the issues with the demeanor, tenacity and facial expressions of a wild Badger. Advantage Coach Ryan.
3) On facing adversity
When the Badgers are underperforming, Ryan sticks to the same swing offense and man-to-man schemes that are proven to work in the long run. As a result, Ryan’s teams are the hallmark of efficient basketball, consistently leading the league in offensive efficiency, assist to turnover ratio and free throw percentage.
When events take a turn for the worse for the state, Walker tries to overhaul state agencies, break up unions, and slash benefits. Bo Ryan simply sticks to what he knows works – and in the end, it always does. Walker’s approach shows less potential. Advantage, once again, Coach Ryan.
The list of issues and Bo Ryan advantages could go on.
Education: Bo’s players have one of the highest graduation rates in the entire NCAA; Scott Walker doesn’t have a college degree.
Job creation: Bo routinely depends on boosts from bench players in times of need. As shown by his impending budget cuts, Scott Walker would rather have those who are not regular contributors to the state go elsewhere.
Ultimately, we don’t need to rally on the capital steps to fix the problems in the state of Wisconsin. Instead, we need to place a call to the Kohl Center, to a silver haired Pennsylvanian that holds the answers to our state’s most pressing questions.
Next time: How Aaron Rodgers would fix the federal budget deficit.
Ryan Panzer ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and psychology
