TomDace

The Bielema stuff is amusing... Yes, Barry developed the identity of the program and his presence looms large but you can't just look at Bielema's success in Madison as only a result of Barry's influence. Bielema came on board as defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. By the time he took over for Barry, Wisconsin's roster was packed full of guys that came in under Bielema in the recruiting coordinator role. Mike Hankwitz was the DC during his first two seasons. Paul Chryst was already on the staff during Barry's last year and was retained when Bielema took over. Within 2 years UW started to slip a bit and some staffing changes were made. Hankwitz was out and Dave Doeren replaced him. So the coordinators were Chryst and Doeren. The first year of that duo was a bit shaky but then things took off. Bielema worked closely with the special teams units and they were shaky. It wasn't a "Bielema offense that ran over teams," it was a Paul Chryst offense that ran over teams. Then when Chryst left Matt Canada came in and dialed up the 70-21 beat down in Indy. Canada is currently the OC at LSU. Wisconsin's current coaching staff is one of two in FBS where the head coach and both coordinators are alumni. The other being Air Force. They understand the program, the recruiting limitations, and what it takes to be successful at a place like that. Barry is probably less meddlesome now than he ever was before simply because Chryst, Jim Leonhard, and Joe Rudolph understand the formula. Bielema can be successful but he needs to put together one heck of a staff. He inherited Chryst and struck gold with Doeren. At Arkansas he wasn't as lucky. The irony about his time at UW was that there were plenty of situations where he made poor decisions away from football but yet he continually brought in top notch players who excelled on and off the field. There were exceptions and every program has a guy here and there who mess up off of the field but for the most part when compared to other programs Wisconsin rarely had off the field issues under Bielema.

What was Bielema supposed to do? Start kneeling in the third quarter? That would've been more embarrassing than what happened last night. On second thought....if Wisconsin would've thrown a pass in the second half that might've been taking the foot off the gas. They threw 10 passes in the entire game.

this........they are famous for running up the score, that will bite them in the ass someday. Take a ride in the way back machine and go to the Don Morton era of Wisconsin football. They were usually on the receiving end of this type of thing. The last time PSU played in Madison PSU won 48-7. It's a bit hypocritical to complain about running up the score when your own team put up big numbers for many years. Congrats to Nebraska. They came the closest (32 points) to knocking of Big Bad Bret Bielema at Camp Randall.

Welcome to the Big 10. Everyone has those "wtf was that crap" type of losses to Northwestern from time to time. Next week they might go out and get whipped by Rice by 50 and you'll be more confused. It's what they do because they are a pesky gnat that you think you should beat but they jump up and bite you where it hurts.

This is the chairleg story I referenced a page or two ago. If you read this entire thing you'd realize that it's not possible. Now imagine if you will a whole slew of people buying this nonsense completely. That's what happened by a fair number of East Dakotans. Stories like this one are simply unbelievable and a huge reason why Badger fans in general are going to be skeptical about certain things we read on threads like this one. Instead we'll do an interrogation, make jokes about it, and hopefully figure out how legit it is or is not.

A few things here... Huskerzoo, I am curious as to what you (or anyone else who was there) specifically thought about the stuff that happened in the stadium that doesn't get talked about. Jump Around is what gets the publicity but the singing, the interplay between sections, the wave, etc. I've had friends come to games there from all over the country....SEC and Pac12 schools is what they know and they've scratched their heads, laughed, scratched their heads some more and still talk about it. I don't condone the vulgarity and as others have said don't let that give you a bad impression of UW fans. Most thing the ES-FU stuff is childish and you should ignore it but it's become so ingrained in the students carrying it on year after year that it's something that won't go away so you have to live with. With that said, I am going to call out anyone who was shocked by the ES-FU and the a-hole chants because all you had to do was just a little bit of homework. Ask on the UW boards what a game is like for a visiting fan and you would've heard about this stuff. I know I saw it on here in the past few days and maybe months ago also. You'll find threads upon threads and mentions about how this is stupid. As UW fans a reason why we might be skeptical of the horror stories is because of the chairleg thing I referenced earlier. A few years ago there was a ridiculous claim made by a Minnesota fan about an incident where a Badger fan was harassing a guy's wife and they got into a fight. If I remember this right this Gopher fan then fought off the perp by breaking apart a chairleg in a restaurant and jamming it into the eye socket of this Badger fan. This was posted on the gopherhole and others bought it hook line and sinker. It was quickly shown to be spawned from the delusional mind and it has become a running joke. I'm pretty sure that thread is archived on Buckyville somewhere and will give you a peek into the minds who you have to deal with when you face Minnesota. Anyway....it's unfortunate that there were some bad things that happened and I'm not going to defend the actions of a few. Crappy stuff happens everywhere. A bunch of years ago a Tennessee fan was killed in a fight in Gainesville. That's not an indictment on all Gator fans, it's just proof that there are jerks wherever you go. I have two related theories as to why the ugliest of the ugly things might have happened. 1) Nebraska wears red. Some of these younger Badger fans might have been too lubricated or haven't been paying attention to know that this was a red team not from Columbus, Ohio. Revisit this thread after you go there to compare. You'll think your time interacting with us was mild. and 2) Nebraska is west of Wisconsin. We are new to this whole "when visitors come from the west we should get along with them" idea. It's impossible to take Minnesota seriously as they try to tell us that they have the better program because they won games during the Great Depression and the Wisconsin-Iowa thing is a result of both programs being mirror images of each other and it feels like a sibling rivalry with the brother you absolutely despise.

Were there any chairlegs that were shoved into anyone's eye sockets involved? If not, what are you bitching about?

I'm not surprised by this. UW has been consistently good for almost two decades and many fans of other programs were used to pushing Bucky around. They can't do that anymore. We are a fun group but you have to be able to roll with the punches. If you are walking by the stadium wearing a Nebraska shirt don't be offended to hear an "a-hole, a-hole" chant coming your way. Smile, laugh it off, talk a little fun smack back and introduce yourself. You'll be fed brats and beer and have a good time. If you take offense or go on a nasty defensive then you'll be asking for it. We don't take ourselves too seriously and when guests come in and show that they can laugh at themselves and at us the same way we do we get along just fine. If you waltz in thinking you're God's gift to the world with a chip on your shoulder you'll be miserable. Or in Minnesota's case, God's gift to college football that was played before the Berlin Wall was built thinking that this type of tradition means something to the kids playing today who were born in the 90's. Have fun with those idiots. Anyway, have a good time, enjoy our city, our state, and if you lose stick around and enjoy the post game stuff. You might catch some flack but respect is given and shown to fans of other teams who still have pride after a big win or a crushing loss. Wisconsin and Nebraska...in the words of Rick Blaine; "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship" (but for starters prepare to get your tails whipped on Saturday...hehehehehe)