Itend to take things for granted. It's just in my nature. Usually I don't realize how good I've got things until I experience the opposite end of the spectrum.
Here's an example. For the longest time, I took showering for granted. That is, until I spent a power lecture sitting next to a guy who hadn't bathed since the Millard Fillmore administration. I ended up spending the better part of the 75-minute class fighting back my wholesome breakfast of milk and yogurt. And ever since, I've really valued my shower time in the morning.
I had another, less repulsive, epiphany this past weekend when I realized just how great student tickets are for Badger football games. You see, through a terrible scheduling blunder, I had to be at home for what we'll just call a family engagement and, as such, I had to forgo the final home game of the 2004 season.
For the first time in my college career, I had to miss a Badger game. Initially, when the decision had to be made, it didn't really bother me that much. My friends, however, couldn't believe it.
\You're missing the Minnesota game?"" they'd say. ""That stinks, but at least you can sell your ticket for an exorbitantly high price and scam some kid from Minnesota who invited his entire graduating class to the game.""
But as much as I would have loved to, I couldn't even do that. Instead I orchestrated a very complex barter deal with a friend that may or may not have involved some combination of Pizza Pit pizza, tickets to a Wilco concert, wampum and a player to be named later. If you've ever had Pit pizza, you know who got the better side of that deal.
It was not me.
All that considered, I found myself back in Reedsburg watching the Badgers take on Minnesota in the comfort of my house. Don't get me wrong; watching the game on TV can definitely have its advantages. I've got two words that would make any live spectator trade his ticket for a spot on the couch in a second-sideline reporter.
And, yes, thanks to the tireless reporting of ABC's Jack Arute I learned some really amazing things. Did you know former Nebraska coach Frank Solich was on the sideline Saturday? Didn't think so. And I bet you were all wondering what was with the red wristbands all the players were wearing. Well, according to Jack's report, all the wristbands say, ""Impossible is nothing.""
There was also the telephone conversation with Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr during which broadcasters Brent Musberger and Gary Danielson continuously slurped all things maize and blue for twenty minutes.
With the clicker in my hands, I literally had the whole world at my fingertips. I was clicking between games on no fewer than 78 different channels. But with the good comes the bad. On no fewer than four occasions, I found myself fleeing from the incessant ads for ""Desperate Housewives"" on ABC only to get completely immersed in a rerun of ""Laguna Beach."" Not my finest hour, I know, but LC is definitely better looking than Jack Arute, so can you blame me?
Then, there's my dad. He almost makes coming home worth it every time. He's a UW alumnus, but he won't go near a TV until the Badgers have built a huge lead and the game is no longer in question. When there is a game on, I'm not even allowed to say the score out loud for fear of jinxing the outcome.
But once the lead is sufficient, he'll come out of exile to say something like, ""You guys are so lucky. When I was in school we were lucky to see the Badgers score 31 points all season.""
Sure, you could just chalk this statement up to curmudgeonly nostalgia but, if you think about it, we really are lucky. No matter what happens in the final weeks of the season, we've been fortunate to see a truly special team play in an equally extraordinary stadium. So value that student voucher. It may not seem like much, but it's certainly better than an afternoon with the kids from ""Laguna Beach.""
Joe is a sophomore planning to major in journalism. He can be reached at jphasler.wisc.edu.
