A trip to the ol’ alma mater

M USINGS AND G

RUMBLINGS

It was another hectic couple of days here at the offices of the TP Printing Company. I found myself running around for multiple stories, including the first Colby girls basketball game of the season.

Hard to believe winter sports is already upon us, considering the state football games were just last week. Of course, with the latest blizzard we had on Tuesday night, it’s readily apparent that winter is here, and it’s probably sticking around for a few months.

Oh well, such is life. We live in Wisconsin, and if you live here for any extended length of time, you’re just going to have to get used to the weather.

Although, it is amazing how much variation in weather even a state famous for its cold can have in a winter. For example, this thick blanket of snow that central Wisconsin received on Tuesday night was nothing more than a bunch of rain in our state’s capitol.

That’s right, just two hours away in Madison it was raining rather than snowing. How lucky are they?

Speaking of Madison, I found myself travelling back to the familiar sights and sounds of our state capitol and was back on my alma mater’s campus.

I was helping my co-worker Casey Krautkramer from The Record-Review cover the state championship games last week Thursday. Two of his teams - Edgar and Stratford - were playing for state titles for the second year in a row.

I was hoping they’d get the wins as I cover quite a lot of those teams’ sporting exploits, but alas, it was not to be. I did enjoy the experience for the most part, with the exception of the drizzle and steady downpour during the first half of the Edgar versus Black Hawk/Warren game.

Casey and I got out of the rain and I had a chance to take him upstairs to the skybox overlooking Camp Randall Stadium and the home of the Wisconsin Badgers. Casey had never been up to the skybox before, while it has been years since I have done the same. It was nice to have a bird’s eye view of a football game, and the free soda and brats and hotdogs were very welcome after being out in the cold on the field.

After the games Casey and I toured a bit of UW-Madison’s campus. Every time I am down there I marvel at how much has changed and how many new buildings are gracing the campus and skyline. I miss my old campus, but the new buildings give the campus a grandeur and excitement that I also enjoyed seeing. It also helps that juxtaposed in between all the new buildings were remnants of the old campus and buildings that go back well over a century.

It’s funny how the things we think will last seldom do, even on a place like a college campus. No matter how Madison looks, I do love it, and it’s always nice to visit and to take a trip down Memory Lane.

ROSS PATTERMANN REPORTER