Back when I was young and full of it, I would hear these words on a regular basis and regard them as some sort of an insult.

"You should be more like Tom Butler."

If you knew Butler, either personally or vicariously during his distinguished career as a sportswriter and columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal, then you can't think of a nobler pursuit.

He was an amalgam of patience, dignity, sincerity, curiosity, honesty, perception and humor.

He was industrious, quiet and humble almost to a fault.

He wrote with an understated flair that left you believing he'd turned the story inside-out before presenting his views on it.

He was the kind of journalist — heck, person — we should all aspire to be.

I must admit I didn't always see it that way, a shameful reality owed to youth and naivete.

I was a 20-something kid, desperate to make my way in this business, back in the early 1980s when major college athletics started to lose track of its innocence.

This was when the University of Wisconsin football and men's basketball programs were first getting in serious trouble with the NCAA; when there was great discord between UW chancellor Irving Shain and UW athletic director Elroy Hirsch; when UW Athletic Board chairman David Tarr was becoming a household name with his forays into controversy.

It was a time of utter craziness (UW-Eau Claire legend Ken Anderson accepting, then turning down the job of men's basketball coach); subtle dramas (UW women's basketball coach Edwina Qualls disciplining five players who ignored her order to walk off the court during a game to protest a referee's call); and epic sadness (football coach Dave McClain suffering a fatal offseason heart attack).

In other words, there were a ton of great stories to investigate and dissect, and I somehow finagled my way into the middle of most of them.

Those are projects that require reporters to be annoyingly persistent, ask a lot of invasive questions and do so as tactfully as possible.

It was probably that last item that prompted those in the UW Athletic Department, as well as many Badgers fans, to admonish me with a simple refrain.

"You should be more like Tom Butler."

I foolishly took it to mean that only Butler should be writing these stories and would do a much better job than I was.

In truth, while some simply didn't like the negative tone these stories brought to the sports section, many no doubt felt I needed lessons in decorum from Butler.

They were right.

When Butler died Monday of a heart attack at the age of 84 — his funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 2116 Hollister Ave. in Madison — memories of a colleague who embodied grace and civility came flooding back to me.

His adoration of college football. His knowledge of all things Madison.

His voice that I never heard raised in anger. His humble, if misguided, belief that he wasn't worthy of induction into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame.

To be more like Tom Butler is no insult. It's a prayer.

Contact Andy Baggot at abaggot@madison.com or 608-252-6175.