When I first made my decision to come to the University of Wisconsin?Madison midway through my senior year of high school, I was constantly bombarded with a stern warning from my friends and family back in St. Paul, Minn.

“You better not come back here a Packer fan,” they would all caution me with a look of malice in their eyes.

I responded by telling them that I would drink a gallon of paint thinner before ever putting on a cheese head, but quickly recanted my statement when it occurred to me that drinking a gallon of paint thinner would probably put me in the rankings of the most diehard of Packer fans.

Needless to say, I hate Brett Favre even more now that I live in Wisconsin, and I’ve laughed with hysteria at each of the nine interceptions he has thrown in the two pathetic Green Bay playoff games that the Packers have played since I moved to this fair city of Madison.

Anyway, becoming a fan of the Wisconsin Badgers was a different story. Growing up I never really developed this deep sense of animosity for the University of Wisconsin. In fact, I never really paid much attention to the Badgers at all.

I remember watching Michael Finley light up the Big Ten some years ago, and had a blurry memory of some guy named Sam Okey explode onto the scene in his freshman season. I certainly recalled UW’s Cinderella run to the Final Four just three short years ago but couldn’t even name a guy on their roster that year.

I watched Wisconsin win back-to-back Rose Bowls, and I can call to mind the Heisman Trophy season of Ron Dayne, but never expressed any interest or enthusiasm in their efforts.

And so when I finally came to this campus in the fall of 2001, I wasn’t too sure what my reaction would be to UW’s athletic teams. Naturally, I didn’t really care at first. I went to all the football games my freshman year, but never with a sense of passion for the outcome. It didn’t make a difference to me if they won or lost, as long as it wasn’t too cold and I didn’t have to sit in section ‘O’ and do all those stupid cheers the entire game.

The first time I actually found myself with any enthusiasm for a Badger game was at the Michigan game two years ago. It was the only game with a 2:30 start time, so the November sky was getting dark as the fourth quarter rolled around.

The sold-out Camp Randall that evening was on its feet the entire fourth quarter in an absolute frenzy as the Badgers seemed poised to finally knock of the Wolverines. As the stadium lights illuminated the field for the final 10 minutes of play, the sight of 70,000 spectators laden in cardinal and white going absolutely ballistic was like something I had never seen before. It occurred to me then that football in this city was something special.

The Badgers ended up losing that game on a botched punt return in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, and I still wasn’t that heartbroken over it, but something inside of me was starting to change.

I never got into the basketball team as much as most people did last year, either, other than noting how good a season they were having. I watched most of their games and felt maybe a trace of pride with their success, but the passion for the team was still lacking.

I actually picked St. John’s to beat them in the first round of the NCAA tournament that year just to spite a few of the hardcore fans in our March Madness pool.

When their season ended against Maryland two days later, I wasn’t too disappointed, either.

Even covering the hockey team that year, I was never really fully immersed in the obsession that so many of my friends and classmates had poured themselves into throughout the course of their freshman year. To me, the Badgers were still just another team in the Big Ten.

It was not until last fall that the tables really began to turn for me. Being an editor for the sports page here, I really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, but was much obliged when the opportunity presented itself.

While artificially creating the hype that the 5-0 Wisconsin football team actually had a chance to win the Big Ten and go on to maybe a BCS bowl game, I guess I sort of fooled myself in some senses.

The games on Saturdays began meaning a little more to me, and I even, reluctantly, found myself in section ‘O’ at times. I grew a little frustrated when I saw the likes of Illinois quarterback Jon Beutjer grill the Badgers at home on a sunny Saturday afternoon, and I shared in everyone’s disappointment when the Badgers just missed upsetting the eventual national champion Buckeyes.

The team had a terrible season, but for some reason there was still some enthusiasm.

I officially became a Wisconsin Badger fan throughout this past basketball season. Now I always pulled for them, so don’t think I just jumped on the bandwagon. But this year was a little different.

It occurred to me just how serious of a fan I had become when the Badgers traveled to Penn State toward the end of the conference schedule. They had the game all but locked up until a last-minute meltdown handed the win to Penn State. I was furious not only about the outcome, but I also found myself complaining about a foul called on Kirk Penney that paved the way for the game-winning free throw.

Looking at the replay, it certainly was a foul, but here I was, whining like a ‘homer’ traditionally does after a loss and feeling sick about it in my stomach. That’s when it hit me. I was a Badger fan.

And I took every other success of the team the rest of the year in stride. Beating Illinois for the Big Ten title, amazing. Freddie Owens’ buzzer beater in the second round of the NCAA tournament, unforgettable. Watching an undersized team of underclassmen climb their way up the national rankings, overachieving.

But the most exciting, pride-filled moment in my two short years in Madison came when Wisconsin traveled to the Metrodome to play the No. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Thirteen-point underdogs and outmatched in nearly every aspect of the game, the Badgers traded blows with the best team in the land for 39 minutes of the game. In the end it wasn’t enough, but playing in front of a Wisconsin-dominated crowd, they gave their most valiant effort of the season in one of the most electrifying environments I’ve ever experienced.

Looking around the Metrodome bleachers throughout the second half of that game, watching the Badgers inspire just about each of the 30,000 in attendance, proving on national television that they were for real that season and nearly pulling out the most improbable of upsets, I got chills down my back.

And sitting there that night, in my home state of Minnesota, I had never been more proud to be a Wisconsin Badger.