With the year nearing its unavoidable conclusion and seniors nearly ready (or for some far beyond ready) to end their stay in Madison, it only seems appropriate to reflect on the athletic feats and disappointments which the class of '09 has borne witness to.
It all began on a sunny Saturday in 2005. Fresh off welcome week and the challenge of meeting so many new people, students were introduced to another new face: Brian Calhoun.
The junior back ran for over 250 yards against Bowling Green in his first game as a Badger. The performance was spectacular but served only as a precursor to one of the more magnificent games in the last four years when Michigan came to town.
Fans stood for hours, getting drenched in the rain, but it was all worth it when John Stocco, a maligned quarterback few expected to run, scampered past and then off defenders for the game-winning score.
There were also games that left fans asking what went wrong, like Barry's last game against Iowa, but the success kept rolling in. The men's hockey team was dominant, marching to a national title, leading to Alvarez's boisterous statement, ""We own college hockey."" Even the football team closed its season in stunning fashion with a complete drubbing of No. 7 Auburn.
The next year was more of the same. Men's Hockey could not repeat the success of their title season, but Bret Bielema's squad more than made up for it. Each time the gates of Camp Randall opened, UW fans left the sweet sounds of victory. The team finished its year with only one loss, but that was only a prelude to the dominant performance men's basketball was about to put on.
Bo's crew collected 30 wins on their way to a No. 1 ranking (for about two days) and boasted Alando Tucker, one of the country's best players. Even an early tournament exit could not dampen the enthusiasm surrounding the program.
The junior season for class of '09 was still successful, but in a somewhat subdued, muted manner.
Hockey nearly made the frozen four, but was so inconsistent down the stretch it hardly seemed worthy of the tournament appearance. Men's basketball earned 31 victories and a Big Ten title, but always seemed to be more than the sum of its parts, and in that way less exciting.
But it was the football team where the cracks started appearing. The final 9-4 record looked fine, but the team showed its flaws, letting bad teams hang with them and falling short of its lofty expectations.
Overall, however, those three years were filled with success. There was always one team doing very well, and the other teams could at least pull their weight. There was a certain confidence that each of the big three teams would be better than competitive, an expectation of being good and maybe great.
So where did it all go?
That same class of '09, which came in with Calhoun, a national championship on ice and Stocco's sneak, has closed its UW career with a troublingly sub-par year. The football team began with promise but then collapsed. Men's hockey squandered every single one of the many chances it had to go to the postseason and make the year a success.
Even the men's basketball team, which ended its year with an exhilarating upset, still struggled all season and was right on the edge of the tournament bubble.
Why did all these teams fall on hard times? It's hard to tell.
What is clear is that the last year has tarnished the energy and excitement that had become synonymous with Badger sports for the seniors now ready to depart Madison.
Did this column make you nostalgic, or perhaps just confused? Share you best memory of the last four years with Ben at breiner@wisc.edu
