Right now, being a sports columnist is like being Anttaj Hawthorne at Nate Newton's house. It's like being Marv Albert at Victoria's Secret. It's even like being Razor Ramon at a toothpick store.
There's a lot to choose from.
There's the subject of Larry Coker's downward spiral and the tale of Jimmy Leyland's upward one. The New Orleans Saints are quickly becoming America's darling and the Oakland Raiders are rapidly developing into the country's college dropout-turned gang member.
Corey Lidle's crash captivated the country for approximately two days and Indiana Pacer Stephen Jackson is doing his best Billy the Kid impression. The Chicago Bears are bringing back memories of 1985, the Mets are bringing back recollections of 1986 and Lou Piniella is going to try to make Wrigley recall the glory days of 1908.
Even here in Madison, two hockey teams are set to defend their national titles and P.J. ""King of the"" Hill has the Badgers plowing their way to a second straight bowl game in Orlando.
Oh yeah, and there's the NHL, too.
But this sports columnist, resisting his urge to bore you with rants about Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Oliver Perez, has his mind set on something else.
Maybe it's the way Alando Tucker has been working on his 3-point shooting, maybe it's the pure excitement he gets out of hearing the names Greg Stiemsma and Marcus Landry again, or maybe it's the fact that in his heart of hearts he knows the underachieving Brian Butch is finally going to become the versatile big man Badger fans have been waiting for.
Maybe he's just excited because with Tucker, Kammron Taylor and Jason Chappell, UW has the leadership it needs. And with Joe Krabbenhoft, Kevin Gullickson and Michael Flowers playing big minutes in big games, the so-called inexperienced players are essentially veterans.
Maybe it's because of the defensive presence of Stiemsma, and the fact that he was leading the conference in blocked shots before he was ruled academically ineligible. Or maybe because he's seen Stiemsma swish that beautiful jumper of his in practice.
Another possibility stems from the fact that he gets to see the future. Not just Krabbenhoft, Gullickson and the next star in Landry, but redshirt freshman Mickey Perry will finally get to showcase his talent and Mr. Iowa Basketball Jason Bohannon will be counted on for his shooting touch.
Perhaps it's because the bench is stacked, or maybe because the starting lineup is too. Maybe he just wants to see an Alando slam, a Kammron rainmaker and a classic Bo Ryan press conference all in one night.
Maybe he wants to see the Kohl Center just forget about North Dakota State and show that the Grateful Red can put the Cameron Crazies to shame. Maybe he's just pumped for Florida State, UW-Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Pacific, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa and Michigan State to feel said wrath of the Badgers' home court advantage.
But it's probably just because he knows that this season, above every other season of UW basketball he's witnessed, is the year that Bo's boys can win it all.
To chat with Sam about the intricacies of Bo Ryan's defensive strategy, e-mail him at sepepper@wisc.edu.
