Just one more for the road

IC Photo File

I consider myself selectively sentimental.

Show me a baby picture of yours truly and I won’t shed a tear. Finding one of my old yearbooks probably won’t generate waves of nostalgia. And you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think I’d get choked up over my first bicycle.

But I carry a binder full of notes written for me by my fiancée. An old family pocketknife is one of my prized possessions. And I still have a busted up plastic Detroit Lions football helmet that was a part of one of my earliest Halloween costumes. It might be hard to see a difference, but for me it’s about what resonates.

My time at the University of Toledo has certainly resonated.

I’ve spent three years at UT and at The Independent Collegian, where I’ve had the privilege of covering the Rockets’ various athletic programs. My opinions are based on a pretty small sample size of games when you consider the university’s long history.

But since when has a small sample size ever stopped a sports writer from voicing an opinion?

For me, everything started with men’s basketball. It was my first beat when I began as a writer at the IC, and the team I followed the longest and got to know the best. Rockets Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk has elevated the UT program from one bogged down by a former regime’s mistakes to one that consistently expects victory.

Players like Rian Pearson and Juice Brown are gone now, but will be back before you know it to accept their spots in the Varsity ‘T’ Hall of Fame. Juice may return even sooner than that to take a spot on Toledo’s bench as an assistant head coach.

As for the players still wearing the midnight blue and gold, things ended on a sour note this past season. But Kowalczyk has proved he has a knack for surviving adversity.

I see a third-straight trip to Cleveland for the late rounds of the Mid-American Conference Tournament next year. After all, the Rockets’ NCAA Tournament drought has to end eventually, right?

UT’s other basketball team, the women’s squad headed by coach Tricia Cullop, is a perfect example for the men’s team to look at. Cullop’s squad has been bleeding great players in recent years, losing stars such as Naama Shafir and Inma Zanoguera within a mere couple years of each other.

And yet the Rockets are constantly one of the MAC’s most dangerous teams, especially when people assume they’re down and out. Expect nothing less next winter from Cullop’s players.

But before either Toledo basketball team hits the hardwood, UT’s Glass Bowl will be the place to be on campus.

The Rockets football team came within a few untimely injuries of a MAC Championship last season. This offseason, much of the talk will be focused on the departed offensive line, the rebuilding of the defense and yet another quarterback competition.

Fortunately for Toledo, Kareem Hunt will be lining up at running back for at least one more year.

Hunt’s junior year will firmly cement his place in UT history, and his numbers will catch the attention of the National Football League. Who knows if he will return for his senior season, but you can bet that you won’t want to miss his junior campaign.

And as for Campbell’s QB conundrum, there may not be a wrong choice. Senior Phillip Ely has the arm and the calm demeanor to take the Rockets far next year, while junior Logan Woodside has the experience, not to mention a bowl victory under his belt.

This may be a battle that stretches into the regular season next year, but that might be the only way to truly pick the best player available.

My guess? If Ely is 100 percent recovered from his ACL tear, I see Woodside’s turnover issues forcing Campbell to go with the senior next season. Ely and Hunt will finally carry the Rockets over Northern Illinois before bringing a MAC Championship title back to the Glass City.

No matter which way the competition shakes out, Toledo’s depth at the signal caller spot will be the deciding factor in 2015.

So this is it, the end of my last column and I believe the spot where I am supposed to say something snappy to wrap it all up. I don’t have any catchphrases, at least none I’m willing to admit to, but I do have a lot of memories and lessons that will definitely serve me into the future.

College has been a wild ride — and a fun one too. I don’t know what’s next for the Rockets, and I don’t know what’s next for me, but I do know at least one thing.

I can’t wait to find out.