By Kent Hatcher
Here it is, the last issue of The Beacon and the last time you will get to read my musings.
Ah, who will ever forget our fanciful jaunt into the world of golf, or our provocative yet informative talk about America's sport, Bocce Ball?
Or perhaps you are partial to our engaging coverage of our University's topnotch soccer program.
Rumor has it that our very own Nic LaPonte is up for some very prestigious awards for his dynamic coverage.
Well, technically he isn't. Sorry, but I guess the world is just not ready for his vivid, naturalistic, approach to sports reporting.
We sure have had some great articles and some great games, but life in the sports section is never that simple.
It has not just been stories about Bocce Ball and flowers and sunshine folks.
Here at The Beacon we were not afraid to go after the news and report about the sports stories that you, our readers, want.
We were not afraid to come out at the beginning of the year and point out our University's complete lack of a mascot and demand a change.
The radical anti-mascot faction within the Athletic Department and their letters did not intimidate us.
Well actually, as far as I know, there is not an anti-mascot faction and we did not receive any letters from anyone.
In all honesty, the Athletic Department, especially Jason Brough and his Sports Information team, have been invaluable to us this year.
We tackled controversial subjects, such as the deplorable steroid use among baseball players and the notorious comments of Don Imus.
However, notorious comments were not just limited to Imus. I, too, am guilty of instigating controversy with my infamous column, "Drugs are bad for you."
As I am sure all of you remember, this article brought about a rebuttal from Sound Off section regular, Julius Calasicas, and a slew of letters that followed thereafter.
We beamed with pride as our very own Stephanie Lopez stood out on the international stage with the US Women's team.
Most recently her admirable performance helped the US team to the 2007 Algarve Cup title, starting three games and playing in the fourth.
We grieved as a community when UP's sweetheart and All-American, Megan Rapinoe, went down with a season-ending knee injury.
Even though we are typically considered to be a soccer school, there are plenty of other first-rate teams at UP.
Take for example the Cross Country teams, the men winning their 28th straight WCC title and the women taking home their fifth in a row.
Things are even looking better for our men's basketball team which has a new coach and has entered into a promising rebuilding stage that will hopefully put us in a place to put Gonzaga in their place and give us bragging rights over the Bulldog fans that lurk about our campus.
I wish I had more room to talk about all the great things that our athletes did this year, but alas, The Beacon is already at 20 pages.
I will leave you all with the words of wisdom my father bestowed upon me four short years ago:
"If you mess this up, don't bother coming home."
