The year is 2054. A gray, balding, elderly gentleman is touring the Madison campus with his 13-year-old grandson...
\Grandpappy?""
""Yes, Lil' Leon?""
""What was Wisconsin like when you were here?""
""Well, it was a lot different back then.""
""How?""
""Well, you see Camp Randall Stadium over there?""
""Don't you mean ALVAREZ Stadium, Grandpappy?""
""Uh ... no, kiddo. It was Camp Randall Stadium when I was here, and it will always be Camp Randall to me. Alvarez was the football coach when I was a student here. Then the school added all of those buildings on top of the stadium. Those luxury boxes got the school more money.""
""That's good right?""
""Well, yes and no. Good, because the university got more money. Bad, because it became more and more obvious that the players were getting booster perks. You know something is up when the kicker has an Escalade.""
""Seems kind of stupid to me.""
""I'll say. You know, when I got here, a bunch of players were caught receiving free shoes from a shoe store? Then one was caught stealing a television? And another one wrecked a police cruiser? And even after all of that, two guys were arrested when I was a senior. One for beating his girlfriend TWICE! And another for doing something too horrible to mention.""
""Sounds like they were all criminals.""
""Now just one minute now! Most of them were decent enough guys who were students just like us. You can't judge an entire group based on the actions of a few guys. Lord knows you wouldn't want to be made fun of just because I did something stupid.""
""Did you ever do anything stupid in college Grandpappy?""
""Uh, that's for another day, when you are older and the statutes of limitations have run their course.""
""What DO you remember that you CAN tell me?""
""Well, I remember the whole stadium shook whenever Lee Evans caught a touchdown pass. Especially this one time, when he juked this sucker, Chris Gamble, out of his pants and caught a game-winning touchdown ... IN THE RAIN NO LESS!""
""You mean THE Lee Evans? The Hall of Fame wide receiver?
""The very same.""
""What else do you remember, Grandpappy?""
""I remember a lot of things kiddo. I remember when we filled State Street after the basketball team won its second Big Ten title. It was like a riot without the broken glass! I remember watching in awe as Dany Heatley slashed through the defense time after time after time. I remember screaming in disbelief and jubilation when Freddie Owens hit that three from the corner versus Tulsa. I remember calling every clutch shot that Devin Harris made before he shot the ball. I just wish he had stayed for the Badgers' national title year in '05.""
""What were his stats like, Grandpappy?""
""Damned if I remember.""
""I thought you said you remember watching those guys back in the day?""
""Well kiddo, when it's all said and done, the stats don't matter. The score doesn't matter. The defensive schemes didn't matter. What matters in sports is what matters in our everyday lives: It's not the final score. It's the emotions! The laughter, the screams, the tears, the fits of rage, the helplessness and the hope. The hope my boy! Do you remember reading about September 11th in school?""
""Yeah?""
""Well, I was here when it happened. And the whole damn country shut down. And every day, you saw too many people saddened by what was going on. But on those football Saturdays and Sundays it seemed like for a couple of hours, we forgot about the sadness. That's what's great about sports. Let them talk about stats until their faces turn blue! It's about the people who play sports, watch sports, live by sports, die by sports. It's about you and me, kiddo. Not William's .400 or Ripken's 2,632 or even Bonds' 786.""
""I see what you mean, Grandpappy.""
""Good. Now let's meet your parents by the Wade-Mason-Davis-Smith Memorial Women's Studies building.""
