Royal Purple

Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Kevin Hoffman UW-Whitewater football players Luke Nelson (left) and Lane Olsen (right) celebrate with teammates after their 31-21 victory against Mount Union in the NCAA Divison III National Championship game.

In case you forgot or somehow didn't hear, the UW-Whitewater football team won a national championship. Their accomplishment was an unpredicted, wildly convincing icing on the cake that was Warhawk athletics in 2007.

The football team battled the criticism following their reach of the NCAA Division III national championship game two years in a row and losing to the same team (Mount Union) each time.

It's safe to say every UW-Whitewater fan couldn't help but grimace after beating Mary Hardin-Baylor and noticing that the next week's opponent at the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl would once again be Mount Union.

The outlook to the 2007 championship game was probably the bleakest yet. Prior to the national championship game, Mount Union was the juggernaut of NCAA Division III football in 2007.

The Royal Purple gave you the in-your-face look at the evidence, and it was disconcerting.

The Dec. 12, 2007 sports section of the Royal Purple featured a graphic on its front page displaying the side-by-side regular season statistics of both Mount Union and UW-Whitewater.

The Warhawk football team was the underdog in every category: offense, defense, passing and rushing. It seemed as if Mount Union was unstoppable. The Warhawk football team proved that to be false. Mount Union's defense was giving up an average of 4.5 points per game; UW-Whitewater scored 31.

The football team added the exclamation point to the thought every member of this small community has long been thinking: "UW-Whitewater athletics is a force to be reckoned with."

A football national championship, a volleyball national championship berth, a fourth-place finish for the gymnastics team at nationals, a sixth-place finish at nationals for the men's outdoor track and field team, a sweet sixteen berth for men's tennis and a nationally televised commercial featuring wheelchair basketball player Matt Scott.

The accolades don't end there. Everywhere you look, UW-Whitewater athletics is striving ahead.

Continued...

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