Campus News - Sports
Badger Jake
Via words sent from here and abroad, one soldier’s story speaks to many.
People from all over the country are rooting for Jake Wood ‘05 these days, but it’s not because of anything he did on the football field.
Wood, a backup on the Badger offensive line for four years, started a blog called Jake’s Life to keep in touch with friends and family after he joined the United States Marine Corps following graduation. Since then, he has completed a tour of duty in Iraq and is now serving a seven-month stint in Afghanistan, expecting to return home in November.
“It was my way of letting people know where I was,” Wood wrote in March. “When I got to Iraq, it became a way for me to vent about what was going on around me.”
Wood’s blog posts are candid, funny, poignant, and harrowing as he details his life during training, combat, and everything in between. Always present is his intense love for Wisconsin sports and his anticipation of the next big game — his gear in Afghanistan includes a Motion W camouflage hat.
He shares his fear of large camel spiders found in Iraq, the thrill of learning wilderness survival techniques that he describes as “Castaway meets Robinson Crusoe,” and his struggle for the right words to say to the mother of a fallen comrade. Wood has lost friends, and he has friends who have lost arms, legs, and fingers in the line of duty. He is telling just one soldier’s story, but it resonates with readers looking for a real account of the war they can’t find on the nightly news.
“Today was vehicle breakdown,” Wood wrote from Iraq in April 2007. “Apparently the humvee I was in decided it didn’t want to make righthand turns anymore. I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s kind of mission essential. … Humvees like to break a lot. Simple things too. Like doors. I’m not sure there is a humvee in the Marine Corps that has four working doors. The U.S. can put a man on the moon but they can’t give me a simple door that will unlatch and swing open.”
Sometimes Wood ruminates on the pleasures and comforts of home that are familiar to his readers. “I filled an entire six-hour block of post talking with Cartwright about how good a Qdoba burrito would be right now. Chicken, rice, cheese (no beans), hot salsa ... that conversation also included Miller Lites.”
When Wood’s blog took off in readership — fueled in part by being featured in an article by New York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica — Wood initially didn’t know how to respond. “I decided that, after reading e-mails I was getting from random people around the country, my writings were helping people connect to the war,” Wood wrote.
Readers have posted comments describing his blog as a “must-read,” and their feedback has become an unexpected network of support for Wood and his family. “Thank you for doing what you do, and Jake, come back safely to your Mom,” wrote one anonymous reader whose sentiment is echoed by dozens of other comments posted to the blog.
Wood’s mother, Chris, who lives in Bettendorf, Iowa, marvels at how strangers from coast to coast follow her son’s life so closely. Some, including a group of women from a Madison assisted-living community, have even mailed Wood and his unit items that they need, such as protein powder packets, gum, books, and magazines.
“I think he has thousands upon thousands of followers on his blog, and they are so anxious to read every update,” she says. “They are just looking for the next chapter in his life, and now that he doesn’t get to post as often, I think there’s anxiety, because they’re wondering, ‘What’s Jake doing now?’ ”
Because of a new role in Afghanistan as a scout sniper, Wood decided he could not safely write about operations there — as he did when in Iraq — without putting himself and his unit at risk. But, he promised readers, he will continue to write about “my personal life and antics as I always have.
“That being said,” he added in a blog post, “I expect the number of readers I have to drop by about ninety-nine percent. If you are in the other one percent … well … God bless you …”
After he returned home from Iraq, Wood wrote that the seven months he spent there were “a lesson in psychology, in culture, a firsthand look at the best and worst qualities that can be found in society. Iraq aged me by decades while simultaneously revealing my youth and insignificance to the grand ‘scheme.’ ”
Wood, a former Academic All-Big Ten player, who graduated with degrees in political science and real estate/urban land economics, plans to pursue an MBA when he leaves the marines in October 2009.
Barry Alvarez, Wood’s former football coach, recalls the moment when the former offensive lineman came to discuss his plans to enlist. “I think he’s a guy that really — when he believes in something — really puts his heart and soul into it,” Alvarez says.
As he prepared to leave for Afghanistan in April of this year, Wood reflected on how hard it was to say good-bye once again. “It’s difficult in those awkward moments with your family when they are asking you if you are scared or nervous or any one of the other million emotions you could be feeling on the verge of heading back,” Wood wrote. “To be truthful, it’s a cocktail of everything. I could quite honestly put any name on the gut feeling I have sitting in my stomach. The fact is that I’m going back and that’s why I signed up in the first place, so there aren’t any complaints on my end.”
— Jenny Price ’96
To read Jake’s Life, see http://badgerjake.blogspot.com/.
People from all over the country are rooting for Jake Wood ‘05 these days, but it’s not because of anything he did on the football field.
Wood, a backup on the Badger offensive line for four years, started a blog called Jake’s Life to keep in touch with friends and family after he joined the United States Marine Corps following graduation. Since then, he has completed a tour of duty in Iraq and is now serving a seven-month stint in Afghanistan, expecting to return home in November.
“It was my way of letting people know where I was,” Wood wrote in March. “When I got to Iraq, it became a way for me to vent about what was going on around me.”
Wood’s blog posts are candid, funny, poignant, and harrowing as he details his life during training, combat, and everything in between. Always present is his intense love for Wisconsin sports and his anticipation of the next big game — his gear in Afghanistan includes a Motion W camouflage hat.
He shares his fear of large camel spiders found in Iraq, the thrill of learning wilderness survival techniques that he describes as “Castaway meets Robinson Crusoe,” and his struggle for the right words to say to the mother of a fallen comrade. Wood has lost friends, and he has friends who have lost arms, legs, and fingers in the line of duty. He is telling just one soldier’s story, but it resonates with readers looking for a real account of the war they can’t find on the nightly news.
“Today was vehicle breakdown,” Wood wrote from Iraq in April 2007. “Apparently the humvee I was in decided it didn’t want to make righthand turns anymore. I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s kind of mission essential. … Humvees like to break a lot. Simple things too. Like doors. I’m not sure there is a humvee in the Marine Corps that has four working doors. The U.S. can put a man on the moon but they can’t give me a simple door that will unlatch and swing open.”
Sometimes Wood ruminates on the pleasures and comforts of home that are familiar to his readers. “I filled an entire six-hour block of post talking with Cartwright about how good a Qdoba burrito would be right now. Chicken, rice, cheese (no beans), hot salsa ... that conversation also included Miller Lites.”
When Wood’s blog took off in readership — fueled in part by being featured in an article by New York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica — Wood initially didn’t know how to respond. “I decided that, after reading e-mails I was getting from random people around the country, my writings were helping people connect to the war,” Wood wrote.
Readers have posted comments describing his blog as a “must-read,” and their feedback has become an unexpected network of support for Wood and his family. “Thank you for doing what you do, and Jake, come back safely to your Mom,” wrote one anonymous reader whose sentiment is echoed by dozens of other comments posted to the blog.
Wood’s mother, Chris, who lives in Bettendorf, Iowa, marvels at how strangers from coast to coast follow her son’s life so closely. Some, including a group of women from a Madison assisted-living community, have even mailed Wood and his unit items that they need, such as protein powder packets, gum, books, and magazines.
“I think he has thousands upon thousands of followers on his blog, and they are so anxious to read every update,” she says. “They are just looking for the next chapter in his life, and now that he doesn’t get to post as often, I think there’s anxiety, because they’re wondering, ‘What’s Jake doing now?’ ”
Because of a new role in Afghanistan as a scout sniper, Wood decided he could not safely write about operations there — as he did when in Iraq — without putting himself and his unit at risk. But, he promised readers, he will continue to write about “my personal life and antics as I always have.
“That being said,” he added in a blog post, “I expect the number of readers I have to drop by about ninety-nine percent. If you are in the other one percent … well … God bless you …”
After he returned home from Iraq, Wood wrote that the seven months he spent there were “a lesson in psychology, in culture, a firsthand look at the best and worst qualities that can be found in society. Iraq aged me by decades while simultaneously revealing my youth and insignificance to the grand ‘scheme.’ ”
Wood, a former Academic All-Big Ten player, who graduated with degrees in political science and real estate/urban land economics, plans to pursue an MBA when he leaves the marines in October 2009.
Barry Alvarez, Wood’s former football coach, recalls the moment when the former offensive lineman came to discuss his plans to enlist. “I think he’s a guy that really — when he believes in something — really puts his heart and soul into it,” Alvarez says.
As he prepared to leave for Afghanistan in April of this year, Wood reflected on how hard it was to say good-bye once again. “It’s difficult in those awkward moments with your family when they are asking you if you are scared or nervous or any one of the other million emotions you could be feeling on the verge of heading back,” Wood wrote. “To be truthful, it’s a cocktail of everything. I could quite honestly put any name on the gut feeling I have sitting in my stomach. The fact is that I’m going back and that’s why I signed up in the first place, so there aren’t any complaints on my end.”
— Jenny Price ’96
To read Jake’s Life, see http://badgerjake.blogspot.com/.
- Ruetz is one of three captains on this year’s squad. The other two, Katie Brown x’10 and Alyssa Johnson x’10, are her roommates. “We all work together on choreography,” Ruetz says.
- She was born to cheer for the Badgers. Her father, Howard Ruetz ’91, was a member of the football team, and her mother, Julie Ziehm Ruetz ’81, was on the pompon squad — forerunner to today’s dance team.
- Ruetz has studied dance for ten years, covering ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop. Of the team’s routines, jazz is her favorite.
- Ruetz was accepted into the School of Education, where she’ll major in elementary education, and she hopes to draw on her dance experience in her career. “I’d love to coach,” she says. “It’s probably one of the main reasons I got into teaching.”
- Dance may not be a varsity sport, but it’s certainly competitive. Ruetz and her co-captains will lead a young team, with no seniors, through the spirit squad tournaments. These include the Universal Dance Association camp in Milwaukee in August and nationals in Orlando in January.
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- Around the World by Private Jet - November 1
- Maui Invitational Basketball Tour - November 21
- Maui Invitational Basketball Tour - November 21
- Maui/Oahu Football Tour - November 29
