Barry Alvarez, AD who reshaped Wisconsin sports, to officially retire

As he announced his retirement, longtime Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez summed up his career by referencing the advice he often gives students.

“Find something that you love to do, do it well enough that someone will pay you to do it, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” Alvarez said Tuesday. “That’s what I believe that I’ve been able to do. I love going to work. I love going to the office. It was never a chore for me to get there. I enjoyed every minute.”

Alvarez is ending a three-decade run in which he transformed the university’s football team and later guided the Badgers to their greatest all-around sports success in school history.

The 74-year-old Alvarez said his retirement would take effect at the beginning of July. Alvarez indicated he initially planned to step down earlier, but wanted to remain in charge while the athletic department dealt with the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

“I’ve had a good run,” Alvarez said. “It’s just time to pass the baton. I’m healthy. I have some things that I want to do. My wife and I want to travel. I have grandkids I want to follow and support. It was just time.”

He was honored Tuesday at a ceremony featuring Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who called Alvarez “a man whose name is synonymous with Wisconsin athletics.”

Alvarez arrived at Wisconsin in 1990 as football coach and turned one of the Big Ten’s weakest programs into one of its strongest. He became athletic director in 2004 and briefly served in a dual role before stepping down as football coach after the 2005 season.

OLYMPICS

US CONSIDERING 2022 BOYCOTT >> The State Department said Tuesday the Biden administration is consulting with allies about a joint approach to China and its human rights record, including how to handle the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.

The department initially suggested that an Olympic boycott to protest China’s rights abuses was among the possibilities but a senior official said later that a boycott has not yet been discussed.

The official said the U.S. position on the 2022 Games had not changed but that the administration is in frequent contact with allies and partners about their common concerns about China. Department spokesman Ned Price said earlier the consultations were being held in order to present a united front.

NORTH KOREA PULLS

OUT OF TOKYO OLYMPICS >> North Korea became the first country to drop out of the Tokyo Olympics because of coronavirus fears, a decision that underscores the challenges facing Japan as it struggles to stage a global sporting event amid a raging pandemic.

A website run by North Korea’s Sports Ministry said its national Olympic Committee during a meeting on March 25 decided not to participate in the Games to protect athletes from the “world public health crisis caused by COVID-19.”