This column started Sept. 6, 2006, without an introduction. So I've been thinking, why end it with a conclusion?
All great sagas have great endings. That's why.
So to all my readers and subjects, I bid you farewell:
To Ryan Howard: I apologize for writing my first column about your quest for 62 legitimate"" home runs in 2006 and subsequently jinxing the whole thing (he finished with 58).
To Patrick ""The Sports Fan out of New England"" who wrote, ""I (expletive) HATE Skip Bayless and have for years. I can't believe ESPN has him on a damn payroll and wants to call themselves legit. He is unwatchable and an (expletive)."" You are a true inspiration to a great anti-Skip Bayless fan base, I will not start a campaign with you to kick Bayless off ESPN because, quite frankly, I don't have that kind of power or time.
To Thomas, who witnessed the Badgers stunning win over the Gophers at the Metrodome in 2006: your 8-year-old grandson is well on his way to becoming the future head coach of the Minnesota football team because he was right in saying that the Gophers should have ""run out of the end zone (in the event of a bad snap), and then make the Badgers go the length of the field to beat them 'cause the safety and the field goal would not be enough to beat them."" I guess that's all the evidence you need to see why Minnesota fired Glen Mason. He could be out-coached by an 8-year-old.
To Indiana Hoosiers fans everywhere: I am sorry we did not get along, and thank you for teaching me that it's ""Kelvin"" Sampson and not ""Calvin."" Turns out, he didn't deserve to have his name spelled correctly.
To Nancy the Hoosier Fan who wrote: ""You are not welcome in Indiana, so forget about grad school and walking on the basketball team."" While my comment in that early April column about walking on at Indiana was not supposed to be taken literally, I now agree with you that it should be taken literally and I urge you to reconsider with only three scholarship players returning.
To Bret Bielema: I'm sorry about all the Erin Andrews and the ""1-0"" jokes. And I'm sorry about the joke about going 1-0 with Erin Andrews. I should have realized that those were just too easy.
Finally, to John the Brewers Fan who wrote: ""White Sox fans should not be allowed to go to UW-Madison, and they sure as heck shouldn't be allowed to write a column in the university newspaper. I'll definitely have to re-evaluate my donations to this institution.""
John, I'm still not sure what being a White Sox fan has to do with going to school here or writing for a school newspaper but I'm sure at some point in time that comment made some resemblance of sense in your head before you sent it to me. Oh, and if you are throwing out cash, I'm sure The Daily Cardinal would take some.
So to all those who read this column in the past two years I thank you for your comments and feedback. I hope I was able to give something back to you in return.
To end this great journey, I leave you with these words that David Dreifuss from WSUM once told me: ""Life is like a football game. In order to attempt the extra point, you first need to score a touchdown. Take risks, aim high and trust your abilities or else you'll be punting the rest of your life.""
After losing kicker Taylor Mehlhaff, that's probably good advice for whoever quarterbacks the Badger offense this fall.
Adam graduates May 18 and is joining WGN Radio 720 in Chicago as an intern. He can be reached one last time at hoge@wisc.edu.
