MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin is heading for its second straight Rose Bowl appearance Jan. 1, and coach Barry Alvarez will be pacing the sidelines in Pasadena on a new right knee.Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., will try again Tuesday to give Alvarez a new knee after unsuccessful efforts last spring to smooth burrs on the bones, said Wisconsin spokesman Steve Malchow.
The pain of osteoarthritis has left the 52-year-old Alvarez with no choice other than knee replacement surgery, Malchow said. If there is no infection, Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon Michael Stuart will open Alvarez's knee and insert an artificial joint behind the kneecap.
Doctors attempted last spring to ease pain in Alvarez's knee by minor surgery, hoping his knee would last another few years, Malchow said. But the coach reinjured the joint while attending an Aug. 23 exhibition game in Madison between the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos.
