Lit up like a national monument, shining bright on a winter’s night, the smell of the crisp cool air as I cross the street, the anticipation within; it is like entering sanctity on this campus. The Kohl Center offers me a refuge from the real world.
This Valentine’s Day I do not find myself in love with another, but instead I am in love with the experiences I have had on this campus. It is the joy of entering the Kohl Center and seeing thousands of people cheering on their team, or walking down to the Camp Randall area and soaking up its rich history that makes me grin.
On game days I sit in press row, a huge smile across my face, and I take pleasure in the fact that I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get paid to watch sporting events.
The greatest pleasures however may come when the teams have there off days. On my way to conduct interviews I am given the opportunity to enjoy the silence of these buildings. I walk through the cold, quiet basements and appreciate the buildings for what they are. The Kohl Center brings together people of all ages and at this time of year it acts as the body for the soul of Badger athletics.
Sitting alone in the Kohl Center with 17,141 empty seats allows me to think more clearly than at any other point in my day. It allows me to forget about classes and the assignment that’s due in two hours. It allows me to feel completely relaxed.
I get that same relaxed feeling as I walk down Dayton Street toward Camp Randall. The freshness of the cold air, the smell of fall, the taste of a single snowflake on my tongue as I pull up to my destination. I have arrived at a place where so many historic players have taken the field. Everyone should go into Camp Randall on an off day if you get the chance. Just stand there and listen to the silence.
Look towards the student section and imagine what it looks like full. Turn around in a circle and picture the wave flowing through the stands. When you’re alone you will remember the time you saw Ron Dayne play, or the time your friends made fun of you for thinking that someone was going to throw a battery at you. When you’re alone in a place so big it helps put things into some sort of perspective.
People often say that you have to endure the bad times to truly appreciate the good ones, and this is true at UW as well. Once you have tasted the silence, you become overwhelmed with the noise.
When the Badgers score a spectacular touchdown, or hit a big three, I get chills down my spine listening to the crowd’s roar. The experience is so intensified and yet so beautiful.
Silence often adorns the Fieldhouse as students seldom visit anymore, but when I walk into it I am in a solitary state of euphoria. My mind is allowed to wonder as my heart beats faster and faster. I can imagine what it was like when those banners hanging from the rafters where men and women competing for their school. I can feel the power of the crowd cheering them on.
One of the biggest perks of being a sports writer is having access to these great facilities when no one else is around. I can’t tell you how many game winning shots I’ve made, or fourth quarter touchdowns I’ve scored. I can’t describe accurately describe in words the feeling of standing in an empty building hours before it will be filled to capacity.
Today my world is filled with the love of these moments and so on this Valentine’s Day I will tell my friends to keep the candy, don’t buy the flowers and just give me five minutes to stare out the window, and imagine what it’s like inside the Kohl Center right now.
