Right now is a BRUTAL time to be a Wisconsin sports fan

Jordan Hagedorn |

"Oh dear."
"Gasp."

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the Wisconsin Badgers lost Monday night's NCAA Basketball Championship.

It still hurts. It still stings. The collective Badger Nation's soul has been crushed. Again.

After a heart breaking loss in last year's Final Four against Kentucky, Wisconsin's big man Frank Kaminsky announced that he would return for his senior season with the mission of coming back to win it all.

"Frank the Tank" led the Badgers to an incredible 36-4 record this season and the Badgers' first ever #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He also won Player of the Year and raised his NBA Draft stock. He should he a mid-first round pick, which will bank him anywhere from $1.2-$2 million bucks in his first year. Way to go Frank.

Long story short, the Badgers went on an incredible 2015 run, including knocking off the heavy tournament favorite, the undefeated 38-0 Kentucky Wildcats in the Final Four. Frank, Dekker, Nigel and Koenig played out of their minds in the tourney.

It was all great, until the Championship game Monday night. Bucky came out flat and couldn't seem to get anything going, eventually losing to Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils.

Failure. Disappointment. Heartbreak.

Knowing that the ride was over and it didn't end like we'd all hope crushed us. We all wanted them to win SO BAD. We all EXPECTED to win. Our hopes and dreams were all shattered in one fell swoop.

A win would have meant mayhem. Pandemonium even. We were all ready to go crazy. After so many Badger tournament teams falling short over the years, this would be THE time. OUR time. If they'd won, we would've celebrated for years to come. Always clanking glasses when mentioning the 2015 Wisconsin Hoops team.

But, the Wisconsin sports gods ran out of gas. It was the wildest tournament run in the history of Wisconsin basketball and it all came to what seemed an abrupt end.

Now we sulk. We hang our heads for a minute. We text and post and call and write about how it COULD have played out, how it SHOULD have played out and what we would do differently.

The Badger loss stings even more since our hearts were broken when the Packers lost back on January 18th against the Seahawks in mind-blowing fashion.

The Pack had that game all but won, until somehow they lost, in what I still think is the most devastating loss in Green Bay Packer history, just due to the nature of events.

These two season ending losses in such high profile games make it a BRUTAL time to be a Wisconsin sports fan.

But it's over. Time to heal. Time to move forward. Time to take a step back and appreciate the journey, the ride, the memories we've all gained by watching the most amazing college basketball team Badger fans have seen since 1941 and Rodgers' incredible MVP season, leading an awesome Packer squad.

In fact, it's not REALLY a brutal time to be a Wisconsin sports fan. It's actually still an awesome time to be a Wisconsin sports fan, as always.

The Badger basketball team took us all on an incredible journey, the Packers gave us all something to cheer for, barring disaster the Bucks will make the Playoffs this season, despite their star rookie being injured early on and Brewers baseball is back!

Time to crack open an ice cold beverage this weekend and clank your glass to everything Wisconsin sports, especially the 2015 Badger Hoops team!

We love you Bucky! Thanks for the memories.

#onwisconsin

And don't forget ... football season is just four months away!

#gopackgo