So we now know that 2012 won't top 2011 in terms of sports greatness here in Wisconsin. What had started out as a year with such promise ended with the barrage of miscues on the turf of Lambeau Field on Sunday.

With the Packers early exit from the NFL playoffs, there will be no magic carpet ride down to Indianapolis in two weeks. There will be no more long-form vignettes on Jordy Nelson's Kansas farm, or Pam Oliver sit-downs with three generations of Matthews NFL stars.

But that's okay.

What made 2011 so special was the unexpected journey that led to last February's Arlington coronation. No one expected the No. 6 seed Packers to win their Wild Card game in Philadelphia, much less their next three games against the Falcons, Bears, and Steelers.

In early 2011, little was expected, but much was delivered. The only thud of early 2011 was the Badgers Rose Bowl loss to TCU, but it had been 11 years since they had smelled the roses. For so many, even though the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, somehow watching the sun set over the San Gabriel Mountains for the first time in more than a decade made it all seem a little less painful.

Like the Packers, with the Badgers it was the journey that made it special. And while Wisconsin fans were bitterly disappointed in the outcome of a game that most here feel was won by an inferior team, we all celebrated having our boys back on the national spotlight rather than be relegated to another installment of the Champs Sports Bowl. After all, when the sign above the locker room door reads "The Road to the Rose Bowl begins here" and you don't make that journey in half a generation, you hunger for it.

Likewise, when Marquette advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2011, it marked the first time they got past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since their 2003 Final Four run. When Wisconsin joined them, it became only the second time in history that the two teams made it that far in the same season. While the Badgers have been regular Sweet Sixteen participants during the Bo Ryan era and surprised few as a No. 4 seed by making it that far, No. 11 seed Marquette had to knock off tournament tested Xavier, a No. 6 seed, and Big East foe Syracuse, a No. 3 seed.

It was viewed universally as a tremendous tournament run, despite the Golden Eagles getting routed in the third round by North Carolina, 81-63.

This season, both programs have had their struggles, but as we saw last year, things can turn around in a hurry in March. However, things are significantly amiss when Wisconsin loses back-to-back games at the Kohl Center (72-65 to Iowa on Dec. 31 and 63-60 to Michigan State on Jan. 3) and then gets blown out by Michigan (59-41 on Jan. 8).

As for the Golden Eagles, they struggled with early season losses to LSU and Vanderbilt from the SEC, and then fellow Big East rivals Georgetown and Syracuse.

Of course it is too early to tell where either team will finish the season, but the early returns have been mixed.

One team that could spike the punch is Rob Jeter's Milwaukee Panthers program. Last year's Horizon League regular season champions knocked off Butler (the NCAA runners-up) twice last year, but failed in the conference tournament against the Bulldogs. If they could find a way to win on the road, they might have a chance at another NCAA Tournament berth.

Then again, don't count on it considering that multiple teams rarely make it to the Big Dance from the Horizon League.

Like the Panthers in the NCAA's, it is a rare feat for the Brewers to make a postseason berth. And while 2011 was an amazing journey, they will miss the bat of Prince Fielder fiercely in 2012. In addition, the likelihood of Ryan Braun winning his appeal is slim, even if he did not "cheat" the game.

Certainly the subtraction of Albert Pujols in St. Louis will help the Brewers cause, as will the Theo Epstein rebuilding project in Chicago. Cincinnati underachieved in 2010, one season after advancing to the postseason for the first time in 15 years. The likelihood of the Brewers contending in 2011 certainly exists, but they will need to have solid production from both Mat Gamel at first base and Aramis Ramirez at third base to make up for the losses of Fielder and perhaps Braun for the first two months of the season.

Of course, it is statistically more difficult for the Brewers to make it to the postseason than it is the Bucks. In a league of 30 teams, 16 qualify for the playoffs. So far in this very young season, Scott Skiles' team has shown a complete inability to win on the road. Then again, leading up to tonight's contest, they have not lost at home, either. Extrapolating out that small sample size for the rest of this abbreviated 66-game schedule makes Milwaukee 33-33. In the Eastern Conference, that earns you a playoff berth.

The trick for the Bucks is to actually win a playoff series. The sad truth of our once-proud NBA franchise is that since the Bradley Center opened in 1988, they have only advanced past the first round just twice; 1989 and 2001.

Much has been said and written about the need for a new arena for the Bucks, and the certainty that without one they will leave for another city sooner rather than later. There are a large number of fans that have been ambivalent about losing the Bucks because "they never win anything anyway."

Because there is unfortunate truth in that statement, every loss the Bucks suffer loses them one more piece of goodwill towards keeping them here. Before shovel hits dirt, there has to be a groundswell of support for construction that currently just isn't there.

Every losing season is another nail in the coffin of the Milwaukee Bucks. If the Bucks cannot begin making inroads quickly, the memories of the "Fear the Deer" buzz will fade into the background along with Bambi's Bombers, the Majik Man, and Don Nelson's fish ties. All provided us with a great deal of excitement and sense of community. However, none of them were good enough to make it to that next, championship level.

One year from now we will be lamenting those that are no longer here, at least performing on our sports stages. Prince Fielder will certainly be gone; the same is already true of Russell Wilson. Donald Driver may leave us, and no one is safe from "Trader" John Hammond. Paul Chryst will not be back to direct the Badgers offense on the gridiron; Jordan Taylor will not be back to direct it on the hardwood. At Marquette, Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom are playing their final season with the Golden Eagles.

What other changes may take place we cannot possibly know without the benefit of a crystal ball. However, already, barely two weeks into 2012 we are seeing an annum that cannot possibly live up to the lofty expectations of its immediate predecessor.

And that's okay.

Of course we all want to see our teams win. That is why we are all fans after all, right? But the simple fact of the matter is, based primarily on the fact that it has never happened before and the economics of professional sports in the NBA and MLB put Milwaukee on a different plane than the Bostons and New Yorks of the world; our teams will not always win.

Even in football, there have been ten different teams that have represented the NFC in the Super Bowl in the last ten seasons. Not included in that list of teams advancing that far in the last decade are the Cowboys, Redskins and 49ers (although San Francisco can do so with a win over New York this Sunday). Don't think for one moment that these historical franchises and their fans are not reminded of this anomaly every single day.

In some cities, winning becomes boring. In Atlanta, they cannot sell out Braves playoff games. In Miami, even at their best, the Hurricanes football team plays to a sea of empty seats. One of the most famous home runs in baseball history came off the bat of Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series. The television camera catching the brake lights of cars leaving the Dodger Stadium parking lot punctuated how disinterested many Los Angelenos were to not even stick around for the end of a World Series game.

Can you ever envision that happening here?

2011 was so special because we all appreciated it so much. When our teams lose, we call the local sports talk radio shows and complain. Columnists and talking heads bemoan along with the masses. Not because we like to bellow, but rather because we know you care.

2012 will not live up to 2011. We know that now. There is no way for it to, considering the Packers early exit and the unlikelihood of the Brewers winning the World Series and the near-impossibility of the Bucks winning the NBA Championship. But the 2011 journey was so special that it should stand alone for to be admired from afar as every day passes. What we saw in 2011 would have been very difficult for 2012 to live up to anyway.

That isn't to say there won't ever be another 2011 again. Perhaps there will be a year even greater than the one that just ended. What we have learned here in Wisconsin, however, is that you can never take winning for granted - so we don't.

Having our teams dominate is a thrilling ride. But that's exactly what makes it fun - the ride. The highs of watching the Packers buck the odds in Arlington and witnessing Nyjer Morgan drive in Carlos Gomez from second base will live with us forever. We know better than to take those memories for granted.

But even after you reach the summit, you have to come down sometime. 2011 was our collective ride up the mountain. How long it will be before that journey begins again, I wish I could tell you. One thing I can promise you, however, is the ride back up will be a sweet one.

It just won't happen in 2012.