Still, if a team played poorly, it is a sportswriter's duty to tell the truth. And while I tried to spare individuals, I had to let the public know when and why their teams were playing below their capabilities.

Through the four years, so many things--both good and forgettable--have happened. There was one coach who told me where I could shove my tape recorder after his team had played poorly in an important match, and a soccer linesman once physically removed me away from a referee whom I was interviewing after a controversial game. But those are two of the few lowlights of my years here.

Rather, most of my time here has been a pleasure. If nothing else, I'll remember the friends I've made at The Crimson and the time I've spent here more than anything else at Harvard. Sure, Harvard has given me other good times, but those at The Crimson were easily the best.

And with that, I'll leave you with my 11 most memorable moments. There were certainly many more than 11, but the ones included here are only ones I've either covered or observed, so great feats such as the men's lacrosse and both tennis teams' successes in the NCAAs this year aren't on the list.

And remember--I'm no Dave Letterman (feel free to insert a derogatory joke here), but here goes:

11. September 23, 1995--Buffy, the Dieter Ficken Slayer. Stay with me here on this one. The men's soccer team was playing highly-ranked Columbia at Ohiri Field in its Ivy League opener. As Harvard was seizing more and more control of the play in its 3-0 win, Columbia coach Dieter Ficken was just plain losing it.

Ficken yelled at the ball boys (they're only little kids) for not getting the balls returned quickly enough after the Lions seemed to kick them all to Storrow Drive. He then started screaming at the scorer's table for not stopping the game clock on an injury even though the ref hadn't asked for it to be stopped.

Ficken had overstepped his bounds, and there was only one person who could stop him--Buffy Clifford, Harvard's Assistant Director of Sports Information. She blew the foghorn right in his face, got the referee's attention and had Mr. Ficken relocated to another part of the sidelines. The Crimson was a winner, then, both on and off the field that day.

10. March 15, 1996--men's hockey vs. Vermont in the ECAC Tournament semifinals. The sixth-seeded Crimson, which had lost nine straight games entering the playoffs, first knocked off third-ranked St. Lawrence in a best-of-three series the previous weekend.

Cast aside as an also-ran at the ECAC awards banquet the night before, Harvard produced the biggest upset of the tournament, knocking off top-seeded Vermont, 4-3.

The Crimson, which had battled serious injuries to its key players at the end of the regular season, pulled together when it counted most, completely shutting down the Catamounts in the final period. Harvard would fall to Cornell on a couple of fluke goals the next day, 2-1, but it salvaged what had been turning into a disappointing season.

9. May 13-14, 1995--softball in the ECAC Tournament. There's nothing like two days of softball excitement in Piscataway, N.J. The Crimson, seeded last, surprised almost everyone by advancing to the finals.

Then-freshman Tasha Cupp pitched her heart out, allowing only one earned run in a 24-inning stretch. Harvard ultimately lost to Providence in extra innings in the championship, but the event marked the Crimson's first-ever postseason appearance.

8. Cabot House wins the Straus Cup, twice. Something had to be mentioned about this feat, even though this is only intramurals. That "fishy" house up in the Quad shocked the river jocks by winning its first-ever Straus Cup in 1995.

This year, the other houses--especially Leverett--wanted revenge. Instead, Cabot absolutely slaughtered the competition, practically wrapping up the cup before the spring season even started. They approximately doubled the all-time gap between first and second place. Not bad for a house for which people used to give you their condolences when you told them you live there.