Each half, each match, each quarter, each period, each game, there are moments. And for all the moments, there are athletes behind them. Orlando Mendez-Valdez Speaking at Monday’s post-season men’s basketball banquet, Western athletics director Wood Selig said that during the Toppers’ NCAA tournament second round game against Gonzaga, he received a text message from a colleague – it contained just six letters: OMG, OMV.

If finals week and an economic recession have you bummed out, then allow the Herald staff to re-ignite that light at the end of the tunnel for you. It’s the end of the school year, and between our last-minute projects and all-night cram sessions, we’ve come together to bring you the 2008-2009 Marsupial Awards.

Every spring, whether for giddy kindergartner’s, hormonal eighth-graders, anxious high school seniors or terrified college graduates, sappy songs provide the soundtrack for family celebrations and video yearbooks.

In nine days, Western graduates will flip their tassels and move on to forever.

Baymont Inn & Suites 165 Three Springs Road (270) 843-3200 Nightly rates: About $74 to $84 during the week and about $84 to $89 during the weekend. Holiday Inn University Plaza-Bowling Green 1021 Wilkinson Trace (270) 745-0088 Nightly rates: About $119. Courtyard by Marriott Bowling Green Convention Center 1010 Wilkinson Trace (270) 783-8569 Nightly rates: About $109.