It's always fun, not to mention educational, when Wisconsin coaches from the lesser-heralded sports make appearances at the weekly joint press conference.

 The final press conference of the 2007-08 school year took place Monday and included relative newbies like men's rowing coach Chris Clark, women's openweight rowing coach Bebe Bryan and women's lightweight rowing coach Erik Miller.

 Clark has a ready sense of humor and it showed from the moment he sat down at the podium next to Justin Doherty, the UW assistant athletic director for communication.

 Clark said the nametag in front of his seat served two purposes: identifying him to the media, but also reminding him of who he is.

 Heading into the prestigious Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass., Clark talked about the fact that no team in the nation has been tested like his has. The No. 3 Badgers went to the West Coast in April to outwork No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 California. Then they went to the East Coast last week and won the Cochrane and Jablonic cups in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, respectively.

 Clark made a point of thanking those who asked questions, feigning concern that no one would be interested in doing so.

 Bryans previewed her rowers taking part in the NCAA Central/South Sprints, which is a qualifier for the 12-boat NCAA Championships.

 Bryans talked in forceful tones about the hard-edged mentality her athletes will need to advance past the regional level. She said crews are peaking at the right time, but that the coaching staff is still in the process of trying to mix and match each boat with the proper personnel.

 Miller, meanwhile, previewed the Eastern Sprints for his lightweight rowers. He patiently, succienctly answered questions, even the most basic: What's the difference between openweight and lightweight crew?

 Lightweight rowers must be 130 pounds or lighter, although there are rowers that size capable of working in the openweight boats.

 Joining the trio were men's track coach Ed Nuttycombe and women's track coach Jim Stintzi in advance of the Big Ten Conference outdoor meet at Illinois.

 Nuttycombe's outfit is looking to win a record fifth straight outdoor title and fifth consecutive Triple Crown: conference cross country, indoor track and outdoor track titles in the same season.

 Stintzi is looking for more improvement from his evolving program, saying he has enough multi-event scorers that a long-awaited breakthrough might come this weekend.