Dear Coach Ryan and Badgers,
Thank you for a wonderful season. Just a week ago tonight, you had Madison and the entire state of Wisconsin excited and nervous over the prospect of playing in the National Final.
As a long - time fan, I want to thank you for how the team played game in and game out. You represented yourselves, the school, and the state very well. And, we learned some lessons along the way.
We learned to enjoy the victories. Even though the team had one ultimate goal, it was valuable to see them enjoy the journey. Too many times in life we get focused on the destination and miss the sights along the way. If we don't pay attention to the path, it's difficult to appreciate where we started.
The Badgers learned from their losses. The few times you experienced setbacks, you obviously figured out what went wrong, made corrections, and moved ahead while leaving the result behind.
The team set a good example of making steady progress toward a goal. Certainly Frank Kaminsky was a prime example of a strong will, good coaching, and practice helped him achieve a result only a very few could have predicted his freshman year.
Maybe one of the biggest lessons came from Frank, Nigel and the team. Take the job seriously, not yourself. There were moments of high pressure throughout the season, yet your team was prepared but not uptight.
Just a game. That's what everybody says. Until it's time to play. But they can be more than a game; the Badgers lifted up spirits and offered a diversion in the many players functioning as one. We fans wanted that win last Monday. I don't know if we could want it as much as you, but we wanted it for you, for us, and for Wisconsin. In a state as politically divided as we seem to be lately, gathering us all under a Big Red tent is an accomplishment as well.
It wasn't to be. We did achieve something. A second consecutive moment on the big stage where you and we proved we belong. That's not nothing.
Laser focus and attention to detail has a cost. We felt it with you. We saw it on the faces and heard it in the voices of the team after the game.
You make us proud.
Over the course of 40 games, we reveled in the journey. We found ourselves coaching and watching "your" team until it became "our" team and we wondered how "we" were going to do in the B1G tournament and the NCAA. We watched while your team did the work - we loved every step.
Thank you. On Wisconsin!
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