\Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.""
I embark on a journey next semester that will be far different from the way of life here in Madison, and along the way I will encounter a different kind of sports world. It will no longer be one where overweight men are allowed to make millions of dollars (see Cecil Fielder or Gilbert Brown). Instead, it will be a culture where athletes play for pride and honor.
But as I eagerly await my departure for the Emerald Isle, I will also be leaving behind a newspaper and a group of co-workers who have brought me more joy than I could have ever anticipated. I took a job at the Cardinal not knowing what to expect. Yet as I look back I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work alongside.
In my time overseas the memories of the past four months will certainly provide a great recollection of home. In the same way, many of the sporting events that transpired during my tenure at the Cardinal will not soon leave my thoughts. For Badger fans, there were moments over the past two years that left an everlasting imprint on us, moments many of us will reminisce about forever.
""So take the photographs and still frames in your mind.""
It's the moments that are so ingrained in our memory, that they could never escape, and it is these moments that we as students on the greatest sports campus in America must never forget. It's scrambling for a restaurant in Montgomery, Ala. on the way back from Spring Break and turning a crowd of casual observers into Badger fans as Freddie Owens drilled a three-pointer that sent the Badgers to the Sweet Sixteen. It's standing outside in the freezing rain with more than 6,000 fellow UW students, watching the Badgers dethrone the defending National Champs and put an end to Ohio State's nation-leading win streak.
""So make the best of this test and don't ask why. It's not a question but a lesson ... learned in time.""
Certainly the Badgers could do just the opposite and ask why the 2003 football season turned out the way it did, especially after the hope and anticipation that followed the Oct. 11 contest against OSU. Perhaps it was nothing more than a lesson for these athletes in overcoming struggles and adjusting to adversity. Jim Leonhard's punt return against Purdue and Lee Evans' explosion against Michigan State proved that the disappointing 7-5 record could still have its highlights.
For me, there are too many highlights to pinpoint, but I leave being able to say that if nothing else I tried to pour every ounce of energy I had into the paper and learned more than I could have ever asked. Hopefully, you, as a reader appreciated the work of the Cardinal sports page this semester. Thank you for all the many responses as well as the countless ""hate mails"" sent my way in response to my anti-Wisconsin columns.
I leave now from this paper able to say that my time at the Cardinal was an experience I will never forget. And I can certainly leave saying that I had the time of my life.
Cary Dohman is a junior majoring in journalism and history. He can be reached for comment at ccdohman@wisc.edu.
