The naked truth is that the streaker has an undeniable place in sports. Stripped down to only their birthday suits, these diehards (read: drunks) allow an entire stadium full of fans to see not only their raw fanaticism, but also how they… er, measure up against those who have so boldly gone before them.

Whether it be a mad dash from the left field bleachers to home plate or a juking romp past security guards and linemen with eyes glued on the end zone (only to be blindsided by that linebacker to the cheers and moans of thousands), a streaker always captures the attention of a crowd in that "Do I really want to look?" way. Nike even unveiled their Shox a few years back by using a free-ballin' football fan (of the Euro variety) wearing only the new shoe in order to give it some, uh, exposure. An unforgettable commercial, no doubt.

I could probably go on all day making streaker puns, but I should really get to the meat and potatoes of the column. (Fine, sorry. I'm done, I promise. Maybe.) In all honesty, streakers provide more than simply a diversion from the in-game action. A close look — no not that way — at one particular disrobed dasher can actually provide some real insight into the lifecycle of winning streaks.

His name is Frank Ricard, but you probably know him better as Frank the Tank. Most people will remember his story as outlined in "Old School." Frank went to Mitch-a-palooza with no intentions of letting the Tank side of him out. In fact, it isn't until being prodded that he takes a single beer bong. But that's it, he insists, only one. He won't look too far ahead and envision multiple bongs in a row.

Similarly, for a team to go on a winning streak, the focus has to be on the particular game in front of it. Teams don't accomplish something such as a long winning streak by doing anything other than focusing on one game at a time. If I have heard Bo Ryan say it one time, I have heard him say 100 times: His only focus is on the next game his team is playing.

As it turns out, once teams win one, they like that feeling. They don't want to stop; they have to keep winning. Frank couldn't stop at just one either. Taken back to his Tank days, he continued to impress party guests by taking successive beer bongs.

Eventually, fans and the media begin to take notice of teams or individuals on impressive winning streaks. Interest in those teams increases, and more people begin to watch and root for the streak to continue. At Mitch-a-palooza, college students began to recognize Frank, at this point well into Frank the Tank mode, but he kept going and going, and a crowd started to gather to cheer his every move.

It is at this point in a streak — when extra, previously nonexistent attention is accumulating — when it is in the most peril. The streak will take one of two courses from this point. If the streaking party is able to keep the focus that has allowed it to build the streak, then the streak is likely to continue.

If, however, the streaker lets all the attention and adoration to go to his head, he could very easily end up nude on stage with Snoop Dogg telling the crowd assembled before him to follow him through the quad and to the gymnasium. This is the path Frank followed to the more-than-slightly embarrassing end.

So before we take a look at three extremely impressive streaks, I would just like to leave these cautionary words for Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and the UW men's basketball team: As fun as it sounds, please, for decency's sake, don't follow Frank.

Now it would be remiss to hold a conversation about streaks and not mention the kings of streaking, the Phoenix Suns. Although the Suns' most recent streak of 17 games was metaphorically picked up by Frank's wife Marissa on Monday night against the Timberwolves (they lost), that streak is just one of two 15-plus, game-winning streaks this season for the Suns. To put it in perspective, Steve Nash and Co. have lost exactly twice since before Thanksgiving. That is hot.

Tiger has been streaking last July when he emotionally won the British Open after the death of his father, Earl. El Tigre hasn't lost on the PGA Tour since. (For the record, Tiger does not count winning seven straight PGA events as a winning streak, since he has played in several international tournaments without winning over the same stretch.) He hasn't been fattening up on cheapies, either; Tiger's seven wins have come against some of the best fields on Tour. Part of what makes Tiger so special is that when he was down by two against Andrew Buckle on the back nine this past Sunday, you absolutely knew he would still win. There is just no one in golf who can compete on his level, and he has an ability to will himself to victory.

Along that line of domination, Roger Federer just keeps rolling along. The same day Tiger won the Buick Invitational, Federer won the Australian Open — one of tennis' Grand Slams, no less — without losing a single set. Add three more straight-sets matches to that, and Federer has won 30 consecutive sets. For very rough comparison's sake, that would be like a basketball team winning every half it played for 15 straight games.

A little bit closer to home, you might have heard the UW men's basketball team has something of a winning streak going for them. It's a streak now long enough it can be measured in calendar months (three), school breaks (two), or consecutive games (17). By any measure, it is incredibly impressive. Luckily for everyone involved, Bo Ryan has done what Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was unable to do: fight the urge to join in the streaking ways in support of the women's basketball team.

All kidding aside, the streak is even more impressive when you consider that the Badgers have beaten three top-15 teams over that stretch and have won in the perennial Badger traps of Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston and Assembly Hall in Champaign. This team has incredible depth and wins with a different combination of scorers each night.

Who knows how long each streak will last? Naturally, all will one day come to an end. But one thing is for sure: Nothing gets folks talking like a good streak.

Ben is a sophomore majoring in political science and journalism. If you know a streak that deserves its day in the sun or want to discuss one of the above, e-mail him at [email protected].