Logan Myhre-
This issue’s Student-Athlete Spotlight is Ryan Connor, a junior from Fall Creek, Wis. He is a member of the University of Wisconsin–Stout’s baseball team and is a Business Administration major.
Why did you choose Stout?
“Well originally I actually didn’t. Out of high school I went to play baseball at Whitewater, and then after about a year and a half there I transferred into Stout. I just sent out an email to different WIAC [Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference] schools because I knew I wanted to stay in the area. Stout was the one that contacted me right away. The assistant coach here, who’s now the head coach, Ben Kincaid, had a relationship with the guy who helped me with recruiting. So through that I just ended up at Stout kind of by accident”
What do you like to do?
“I spend most of my time probably watching sports. For the downtime we get I don’t really want to go out and do much of anything because we’re so busy all the time. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit down on the couch and just watch games. I’m a huge Wisconsin sports fan, so Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Badgers and then also the United States Men’s National team…That or just hanging out with my friends; nothing too terribly exciting.”
Interesting facts about yourself?
“I got fired from a writing job for a blog because I was mad at the refs during a Badger game on Twitter…I sarcastically insinuated that the refs were betting on the game, which of course they weren’t. They dismissed me for that, which I thought was kind of silly, but you learn stuff from that…That’s probably the most interesting thing besides the fact that I read econ websites and really boring stuff like that because that’s part of my minor. That’s interesting to nerds but not to most people.”
Who is your favorite pro athlete?
“It probably has to be Ryan Braun…Ryan Braun was part of that final wave of players that made the Brewers not terrible for the first time in my life… He’s definitely my favorite athlete. He has a lot of weird ticks when he plays and I’m the same way… Parts of my routine, in the on-deck circle or between pitches, actually come explicitly from Ryan Braun…He has to be my favorite player just because of how influential he has been on my baseball career.”