And so I awoke in the wee hours of the morning yesterday to watch stars fall from the sky. A 4:30 a.m. alarm clock somehow proved powerful enough to pull me from my warm, blanket-riddled bed and before I knew, it a faithful companion and I were wandering down Langdon Street in search of falling meteors.??
Our interest had been sparked by an article in this very paper promising us a \magnificent cascade of light.""?? It will be ""a wonder of nature,"" Dr. Jim Lattis prophesized in the very same article. Something to remind us ""we're part of the universe.""??
Almost immediately after departing my cozy three-bedroom apartment a small shooting star did in fact catch the corner of my eye. It was enough to quell the lingering doubts of my sanity for ever thinking of embarking on such a venture and to believe that maybe Dr. Lattis was on to something.??
As we moved on in search of a less-lighted vantage point, the frequency of meteors increased and at times we were even treated to some of the larger tail-leaving ones. These, however, seemed few and far between and as the night progressed, I think I become more cold than amazed.??
The free light show proved to be an impressive feat of nature and the experience was by and large an enjoyable one. The night's scene though was far from the Armageddon-like one I had envisioned or had seen before.
In many ways the whole situation can serve as a metaphor for the football team's season this year. While it has been a fun, and at times entertaining season, it has so far come far from living up to the expectations heaped upon it at the beginning of the year. It is a season that started out with success and one which in its early stages provided promise for what was to come. But as the season developed, these big ""tail-leaving"" wins, so to speak, proved to be somewhat elusive. Starting off the year with five straight wins, the Badgers managed to drop six of their last seven and currently stand at a very mediocre 6-6.
With one game still left to play in the regular season though, the hometown gridders still have a chance to accomplish something which evaded me during my night of stargazing. They still have a chance to resurrect a season of high hopes.??
A win this weekend against rival Minnesota will mean many things for the Badgers. It will allow this year's seniors to end their careers at Camp Randall on a high note, it will mark the difference between a winning and a losing record and it will qualify the Badgers for postseason play.??
I ended my night back in my bed happy to be home. Let's hope the Badgers season ends otherwise.
