In 1980 at the Louisiana Super Dome, Roberto Duran had enough. With 17 seconds remaining in the eighth round of his bout with Sugar Ray Leonard—their second of three memorable fights—Duran put up his glove in a sign of admitting defeat. ""A¡No MA¡s! A¡No MA¡s!"" he screamed.
After two years of gracing the back of your Daily Cardinal with this creepy mug shot, and after four years of attending this university and somehow finding a way to graduate—knock on wood—there is ""no mA¡s"" left for me. And while I did not cause disgrace to the entire country of PanamA¡ or any country (I hope), Duran's words ring true.
There are no more columns, no more recaps and no more analyses to write. Much like Roger Clemens and Brett Favre have pretended to do a couple of times, I am walking away from the game I love.
When talking to a graduate of UW who left school in 2001, I was stricken with immediate jealousy. He had not only seen two Rose Bowl victories ('99 and '00), but a Final Four appearance in 2000, one of the most magical runs this state has ever seen. Such an abundance of firsthand experiences success in just four years is simply unfair.
So it got me thinking of what I've seen over the past four years here—much of which as prompted the scribbles that make up these written soliloquies ever week. And I came to the conclusion that being able to see some of the lows allowed me to cherish those peaks that much more.
The lows are obvious. There was the 9-0 start to the 2004 football season with Erasmus James headlining one of the best defensive lines college football has seen in years. But it all came crashing down in East Lansing, Mich., and Iowa City. And hopes for an NCAA basketball championship this past March fell apart along with Brian Butch's.
But the highs are countless. Little did I know that Lee Evans' 99-yard touchdown reception from Jim Sorgi in the Badgers first home game of 2003 would be a magical predecessor to the field-storming, failed field goal post toppling, rampage that ensued after Evans' touchdown reception helped knock off Ohio State.
Little did the country know that Bo Ryan's team in 2005, after breezing through the first few rounds of the NCAA tournament against Northern Iowa, Bucknell and North Carolina State, was actually exceptional—playing UNC in the Elite 8 harder than any team had in the entire bracket.
There was a profusion of emotions throughout these four years. There were feelings of reluctance having to let go of seeing Devin Harris in Cardinal and White. His decision to bolt after his junior season was hard to accept, knowing full-well that the Elite 8 run could have been so much more. Feelings of emptiness upon seeing Brian Calhoun turn his spectacular one-year homecoming with the Badgers into an NFL contract. Feelings of pride upon seeing the national media salivate over the family-oriented Joe Thomas, Madison's resident nice guy, and his decision to skip New York City and spend draft day with his dad on a fishing boat.
Having the opportunity to write has afforded me the chance to see some terrific players. Whether it was the hustle of Jimmy Leonhard or the sweet stroke of Clayton Hanson. With clear-as-day memories of Alando Tucker's runner against Iowa, Scott Starks' fumble return against Purdue, Jonathan Casillas' punt block against Minnesota or Matt Bernstein's Yom Kippur miracle against Penn State, I can't really complain.
But also for the first time in my life, writing this column helped me to understand that not everyone likes or agrees with me. While growing up in New York certainly helps one to understand diversity, it also provides a homogenous liberal opinion base. As silly as this column sometimes is, touching on issues like religion or race fueled tons of responses, an eye opener for me for sure, that it's possible that groups of people sometimes find my opinions pretty insulting—sometimes entire team's worth.
But with that said, writing this column has been the most liberating and freeing experience I've ever had. The fact that I have the ability to connect to you on a weekly basis, whether you care about what I say or not, is exciting.
I want to thank everyone for reading before you flip over to the Sudoku or crossword in class. It's been a blast spewing my beliefs at you for the past couple of years.
Let's go Red.
Wish Sam a fond farewell at sepepper@wisc.edu.
