Badgers Linebacker's Big Ten Honor Prompts Dugout Tavern's 'Multi-Screen Defense Strategy'

WAUKESHA — Wisconsin linebacker Derek Bowers was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after Saturday's performance, and the news had reached the Dugout Tavern by 9:15 a.m., where bar manager Denise Okafor was already standing on a step stool in the northeast corner with a tape measure.

"We're in the early stages of a full defensive deployment," Okafor said, not looking down from the stool. "You get an honor like that, momentum-wise, you don't want to be the bar that didn't respond."

The bar added its fourth 55-inch monitor eight days ago during the volleyball upset over Iowa and brought on a part-time audio engineer, 18-year-old Kyle Dorff, three days after that. Okafor said Monday's award effectively settles the question of whether that investment was premature.

A fifth screen, if it comes to that

Okafor said she has not yet ordered a fifth monitor but has priced three models and narrowed the mounting location to either the northeast corner, 14 inches to the left of the dartboard, or a spot above the second bathroom door that would require patrons to turn fully around to see it. She said she is leaning toward the corner.

"The bathroom one gets you a better angle for the people at the pool table, but it's a commitment," she said. "Once you drill into that wall, there's no taking it back."

Owner Carl Resh said he has approved the expenditure in principle but asked that Okafor wait until Wednesday to confirm an order, in case the honor turns out to be a one-week thing. Okafor said she found that framing unlikely, citing what she described as a pattern now three screens and one conference award deep.

Illinois arrives at 11 a.m.

Saturday's kickoff against Illinois is set for 11 a.m., and Okafor said she is budgeting for a crowd of 40 to 60, slightly below the volleyball turnout but still enough to strain the current rotation of four screens if even a third of the room wants a dedicated angle on the linebacker position. She said the bar has not settled on whether the fifth screen, if purchased, would show a tight shot of the defense specifically or simply add a fourth camera angle to the existing broadcast split.

"You get an honor like that, momentum-wise, you don't want to be the bar that didn't respond."

— Denise Okafor, Dugout Tavern manager

Dorff, the audio engineer, said he has been asked to prepare a secondary sound zone for the new screen location but has not been told whether it will run the main broadcast audio or a separate feed focused on crowd noise from the section of the stadium nearest the Wisconsin bench. He said he is treating it as a planning exercise regardless of whether the monitor is purchased by game time.

A regular weighs in

Councilman Gary Puchalski, a bar regular who was present for both the third-screen and fourth-screen additions earlier this month, said he has not taken a formal position on the fifth screen but noted that the bar's seating has not expanded at the same rate as its screen count.

"At some point you have more television than table," Puchalski said. "I'm not against it. I'm just saying somebody should measure."

Okafor said she has, in fact, measured, and that the step stool was part of that process. She said a final decision on the fifth monitor would come no later than Thursday evening, which she described as "the last responsible day" to install anything before Saturday's crowd arrives.

Bowers finished Saturday's game with 11 tackles and two sacks, according to the conference announcement.

Okafor said she was unaware of either number when asked Monday but added that it tracks with the vibe.