Thank you, Badgers

Last night was rough, no doubt about it. Even as one of the editors of this site, tasked with getting a recap up and things like that, I needed to just go to bed.

Waking up this morning, there is some clarity: this season was the absolute best, and the Badgers have nothing to be down about. Not Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, Bo Ryan or any of the 16 players on the roster. Not the fans, who took the opportunity provided by a national stage and proved themselves as a collection of people that, if you ask me, supported their team better than anyone else would have.

It's easy to get carried away with what-ifs, but let's remember: This team won 36 games and lost four, played much of the most important part of the season without a senior point guard, saw Kaminsky post double-doubles against Kentucky and Duke, saw Dekker set forth purely remarkable examples of taking over games and, perhaps greatest of all, become one of the most genuinely enjoyable teams we've ever seen. And I don't mean "we" to include just Wisconsin fans -- I think many college basketball fans around the country would agree.

A common thought will be that this team was so good and, again, so enjoyable that we'll never see another one like it. To that, I'd say, who cares? This season was amazing, this team was amazing and I'd venture that one of its greatest achievements was showing the world that being a Badger is so, so much damn fun, no matter if you went to school at UW, grew up in the state or just became a fan in March.

To the readers and commenters on this site: thank you. Our staff here is really a collection of hobbyists, and we do this for varying reasons. For fun, to scratch the writing itch, to build a portfolio for future endeavors in a budding career, to give us something to save us from our day jobs. Nobody here is what you'd call a "full-time employee," but the effort our writers put in -- especially this year -- is very much full-time. Especially this year, where we've set traffic records for the site and reached more people than ever.

Working on this site is a blast. Logging on and seeing dozens of comments on several different posts is the best part; to us, at least, it means people care and are willing to spend a few moments here instead of any other place to share their thoughts.

Moving forward, we'll try to process everything that happened last night. That includes the good and the bad, because some people will want to talk about everything. Before that, however, I wanted to thank the B5Q community for an unforgettable season, and for showing the country that Wisconsin truly is wonderful.

Maybe you're among the people that think this season will never be topped, and maybe you're right. But if there's a team I'd have to watch answer that question, it's this one. On Wisconsin!