With sports journalism comes the throwing aside of fan-hood. Impartiality is the name of the game.
Choose no sides, give the facts - who, what, where, when and why the heck should anyone care - and go on your merry way. That's a little too straight-laced for me, and most of the time sports give us zero enjoyment unless we have a rooting interest.
Obviously, I always had a rooting interest when it came to Otterbein sports. I wore my Cardinal heart on my sleeve for four years.
Easily, though (with all due respect to all other athletes, I love you guys too), my favorite players to watch and cover the past few years have been Sara Fee, Chelsea Callif, Ana Gamble and Katie Homan.
On a campus so small that a sneeze by the Campus Center gets a "Bless you" from Roush Hall, it's hard not to become dear friends with more than half the people we come across here. I watched four of the best people I've ever met play their final basketball game against - well, I'm not even going to say against who - this past week.
It would be impossible to say everything that I would like to about these girls in the space the Tan and Cardinal is gracious enough to give me. All four epitomize what it means to be a Cardinal.
Sara Fee, who has made the Dean's List all 10 quarters and was named in "ESPN The Magazine"'s All-Academic First Team in District IV, became a consistent staple in the lady Cardinals' arsenal for four solid years.
One thousand points and a three-time selection to the all-OAC team, Fee was the definition of consistency. More importantly, she was the definition of a great person.
Ana Gamble made the game look so easy, Chelsea Callif played her role better than anyone, and Katie Homan worked harder than probably all Otterbein athletes combined.
Their skills aside, I'm thrilled that the majority of my four years was spent with four of the nicest, funniest (show me someone funnier than Ana and Chelsea please) and easygoing people I'll ever have the privilege of meeting.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you four for four of the greatest years of my life. Impartiality? Mission: Impossible with these four personalities. Thanks for the memories!
You smell that? Sounds like brats are broiling in the air and it's only a matter of time before this horrible weather breaks and we play some baseball.
This is the second-to-last article that I will ever write for the Tan and Cardinal. I'll get more mushy next week but, in the meantime, someone toss me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Let's play some baseball! t&c;
