Madison Experience

[mjmdds]

Made it to Madison yesterday, not impressed with our showing, but gameday is always fun at Camp Randall (grad school in Milwaukee). Wisconsin enjoys their beer, as do I, so I was fully prepared to see more trash talking, etc. Gameday in town & a huge night game after drinking all day? Didn't have a single problem though. Yeah, students are vulgar & there was the guy throwing food on people & yelling profanity, but you'll find that everywhere/anywhere so it wasn't unexpected. Sorry to hear that people had a bad experience. We're the new kid in the conference so I would expect all Big 10 teams ready to "welcome" us. Starting a whole bunch of new rivalries so I am excited!

 

I'm hoping Bo & co can get back on track, would like the opportunity to have another chance at Bucky!!

 

Matt

[Bdgrfan]

Here is my experience. Friday night we went down to State St for some bar hopping. Nothing unusual about the night. We had the usual idiots who told us to F'n leave and that Nebraska sucked, but we also had some very good conversation and found the majority of the people there to be friendly. We even shared a van back to our hotel with Wisconsin fans and laughed and had a good time...Then was post game...

 

I am not kidding. I bet that 6 out of 10 people we passed on the walk back to our hotel were incredibly rude, classless, vulgar, and downright angry. I can't say most of what was told to us because I'd get banned, but some of the nicer things were, "Go f'n kill yourselves" or "I hope you die in a car crash on the way back to Nebraska". I think I heard Nebraska sucked about 100 times.

 

Now, every fan base has classless jerks, but this was unbelievable. Young, old, didn't matter. 1 person. ONE, told us good game and that he can't wait to visit Lincoln next year and good luck the rest of the way. I have witnessed first hand when someone is saying similar things to a visitor in Lincoln and other Huskers jump in and tell that person to shut up, not join in like Wisconsin.

 

I used to root for Wisconsin as an outsider because of what I thought they embodied was similar to Nebraska. No longer will I root for them. When 60% of the fans we encountered after the game treated us the way they did, I realized they are no different then Colorado, Missery, or K-State fans. I would hate to be a visitor from a team that has been a rival for 100 yrs with Wisconsin.

 

Recap. Friday night was pleasant. Saturday night's post game experience offset that by an infinite amount. That is how bad it was.

 

Frankly, I just don't buy this. I was there from about 3 pm to 1 am, and I heard maybe one or two things said to Nebraska fans that were over the line, and I also heard another UW fan tell that person to dial it down. Unless, of course, it was you being obnoxious and other fans responding to that. And I talked with a lot of Nebraska fans and every one of them was fun to talk to. There was some trash-talking, but that usually ended with the two people laughing and telling each other to enjoy the game. And after the game every UW fan I saw was so thrilled about the game they were far more interested in celebrating than abusing opposing fans.

[Husker66]

I gotta say that i was kinda scratching my head hearing all the singing in the 4th quarter. neil diamond, buttercup, tuba march thing, etc.i was kinda thinking wtf?...but the more i think about it, what a great environment. we have the longest home sell out streak in the universe, selling out like 4,000,000 games since the 60s and no way is our environment that fun. we are a great venue but different. i am just an old big 8 guy(45-not a gray hair) trying to get used to this big ten stuff. i think i read somewhere some guy came up with that to keep people interested and around for the 4th quarter in the leaner years when winning was a little harder. but i gotta say, atleast at this point from what i saw on TV, those badgers are kinda growing on me.

 

yeah they whoopped our ass yesterday, we all knew it could be coming and we had it coming, and over the years we will dish out some ass whoopins of our own, but i think i could get used to the cheese graters. its cool seeing some new places and fans.

[HuskerFowler]

Here is my experience. Friday night we went down to State St for some bar hopping. Nothing unusual about the night. We had the usual idiots who told us to F'n leave and that Nebraska sucked, but we also had some very good conversation and found the majority of the people there to be friendly. We even shared a van back to our hotel with Wisconsin fans and laughed and had a good time...Then was post game...

 

I am not kidding. I bet that 6 out of 10 people we passed on the walk back to our hotel were incredibly rude, classless, vulgar, and downright angry. I can't say most of what was told to us because I'd get banned, but some of the nicer things were, "Go f'n kill yourselves" or "I hope you die in a car crash on the way back to Nebraska". I think I heard Nebraska sucked about 100 times.

 

Now, every fan base has classless jerks, but this was unbelievable. Young, old, didn't matter. 1 person. ONE, told us good game and that he can't wait to visit Lincoln next year and good luck the rest of the way. I have witnessed first hand when someone is saying similar things to a visitor in Lincoln and other Huskers jump in and tell that person to shut up, not join in like Wisconsin.

 

I used to root for Wisconsin as an outsider because of what I thought they embodied was similar to Nebraska. No longer will I root for them. When 60% of the fans we encountered after the game treated us the way they did, I realized they are no different then Colorado, Missery, or K-State fans. I would hate to be a visitor from a team that has been a rival for 100 yrs with Wisconsin.

 

Recap. Friday night was pleasant. Saturday night's post game experience offset that by an infinite amount. That is how bad it was.

 

 

I had the same experience to the point where i left early post game because i couldnt even drink and enjoy time with friends. The older crowd was nice with some usual good natured trash talk in the stands. My game experience was good because i sat with an older crowd that were season ticket holders, one guy actually asked me who wisconsins QB was and if he was so good why he didnt play last year. So that was kind of strange.

 

Pre game was fun talked with alot of nice fans that were good midwest style people, and all older (not college kids) Closer to game time i was standing on Regent Street waiting to meet the rest of the guys with the tickets is when it started to get bad. All the drunk kids started heading to the game, and i got called every name in the book by everyone walking by. Constantly harassed, calling my wife a F'n whore, telling us the get the F out of here, a hole, guys walking right up to me and yelling f****t right in my face, or walking up and flipping my off right in front of my face. It took everything i had to control myself, maybe its because im younger (29) and was just standing there, so i was an easy target, but i have NEVER been treated that bad anywhere else. It was pathetic. I did noting to provoke it, and i knew if i did i would probably get jumped by 100 guys and beaten. Im not really a small dude either.

 

Needless to say post game was the same crap, so much so that we just left because we couldnt even sit down and have a good time. The worst part was all the trash on Regent St. i could not believe how much trash their was on the streets and sidewalks. I wanted to take some pictures, but my phone was dead. It was absolutely pathetic and Madison should be ashamed. It looked like the floor of a concert everywhere, trash piled up in the gutters of the street. I couldnt believe it. And yes we have a tailgate spot in Lincoln and tailgate every home game, have for years, and i have never seen Lincoln look anywhere close to this. Horrible.

 

The streets filled with trash were about par for the course for the fans and it all comes down to respect. All the fans that were doing those things are the same fans throwing their cups and cans and beer bottles in the streets. No respect for anyone or anything. Not saying all fans were like that, i met alot of nice ones, but the bad ones were more plentiful then anywhere ive ever been. I wont waste my money and go back there. And it has nothing to do with how we played or im mad we lost, i dont really care that we lost, i went for the atmosphere, which was great, but those "few" bad fans made it hard to enjoy myself outside of the stadium.

 

As for the stadium, it was great, you guys did alot of things to keep the crowd interested and the jump around and the whole stadium singing was really cool. I am glad that i made the trip (6 1/2hr drive from omaha) but im not sure if i would go back. Madison is a beautiful town, and i can see why its one of the healthiest citys in the country. Lots of people running, biking, kyaking and familes out walking by the lakes. Looked like a wonderfull place to live. Just would have like to see some respect from the younger crowd.

[Badger_HB]

Needless to say post game was the same crap, so much so that we just left because we couldnt even sit down and have a good time. The worst part was all the trash on Regent St. i could not believe how much trash their was on the streets and sidewalks. I wanted to take some pictures, but my phone was dead. It was absolutely pathetic and Madison should be ashamed. It looked like the floor of a concert everywhere, trash piled up in the gutters of the street. I couldnt believe it. And yes we have a tailgate spot in Lincoln and tailgate every home game, have for years, and i have never seen Lincoln look anywhere close to this. Horrible.

I can comment on this in particular. Regent Street is kind of the "boundary" of campus, if you will. And yes, it's kind of sketchy, particularly at night. I don't make my way over there much (I prefer the Breese Terrace neighborhood myself), but I can see why you would say that.

 

With that being said, there are some very pretty parts of the city that you might not of hit? Regent Street is an exception to the rule IMO.

[Husker66]

Ill probably get flamed for this, but ill say it. i was not in madison but i have been to every venue in the big 12, bowl games, etc. . i was at columbia in 07 when we got whooped. that night, walked by myself across the campus at 10 at night to the power plant to my car in full red, and while i would hear the occasional comment, when i played along with it, everybody laughed and wanted to buy me beers. i was at other venues when we whooped buts and walked out just fine.. i can't really remember a time ever when i felt i was abused by fans. now i am bigger than most and i dont ever take anything personally . i also dont go looking for any problems. i stay quiet when we win and play along with the ribbing when we lose. i am not passing judgement on those who have had problems because i know it happens..and we all know we have some real winners in lincoln who arent always that nice to visiting fans as well...

 

sometimes i wonder if maybe its just what you make of it? or i have just been luckier than some.

[hopittome]

Oh, the "If we're not nice to Nebraska you'll hold our economy hostage" card. Most people don't care, including myself. You're better off appealing to my sense of human decency than my pocketbook. that's just me.

 

I'm holding no one hostage. But as a small business manager, I can tell you that I'll take every penny I can get. And driving any customer away is never something I would do. But to each his own I guess.

 

Eh, whatever. Madison has one of the healthiest economies in the nation, which is impressive considering how things are going elsewhere. Like I said earlier--we were courteous to the Nebraska fans, drank with them, made sure they were eating (cheese and brats are pretty big here). The first bit of true hostility I actually saw was on Regent Street, and it was a douchey NU fan who was unrepresentative of the overall fan base.

 

Students will be students. It's just something you should expect. I'm guessing the older crowd was super hospitable and really nice. I expect the same from the grad students (like me!), too.

[gotchman]

Here is my experience. Friday night we went down to State St for some bar hopping. Nothing unusual about the night. We had the usual idiots who told us to F'n leave and that Nebraska sucked, but we also had some very good conversation and found the majority of the people there to be friendly. We even shared a van back to our hotel with Wisconsin fans and laughed and had a good time...Then was post game...

 

I am not kidding. I bet that 6 out of 10 people we passed on the walk back to our hotel were incredibly rude, classless, vulgar, and downright angry. I can't say most of what was told to us because I'd get banned, but some of the nicer things were, "Go f'n kill yourselves" or "I hope you die in a car crash on the way back to Nebraska". I think I heard Nebraska sucked about 100 times.

 

Now, every fan base has classless jerks, but this was unbelievable. Young, old, didn't matter. 1 person. ONE, told us good game and that he can't wait to visit Lincoln next year and good luck the rest of the way. I have witnessed first hand when someone is saying similar things to a visitor in Lincoln and other Huskers jump in and tell that person to shut up, not join in like Wisconsin.

 

I used to root for Wisconsin as an outsider because of what I thought they embodied was similar to Nebraska. No longer will I root for them. When 60% of the fans we encountered after the game treated us the way they did, I realized they are no different then Colorado, Missery, or K-State fans. I would hate to be a visitor from a team that has been a rival for 100 yrs with Wisconsin.

 

Recap. Friday night was pleasant. Saturday night's post game experience offset that by an infinite amount. That is how bad it was.

 

Frankly, I just don't buy this. I was there from about 3 pm to 1 am, and I heard maybe one or two things said to Nebraska fans that were over the line, and I also heard another UW fan tell that person to dial it down. Unless, of course, it was you being obnoxious and other fans responding to that. And I talked with a lot of Nebraska fans and every one of them was fun to talk to. There was some trash-talking, but that usually ended with the two people laughing and telling each other to enjoy the game. And after the game every UW fan I saw was so thrilled about the game they were far more interested in celebrating than abusing opposing fans.

 

Yes. I just completely made this entire thing up. It was me and 3 friends walking back. We weren't even talking to each other. I would look down every time some Badger fans walked by after the 54th time someone yelled profanities at me. Just because you didn't witness it doesn't mean it didn't happen. What do I have to gain by making up some story? If you read my OP on the matter, I stated I actually rooted for UW prior to this game. If they would have beaten us by 100, I would have still been rooting for them to win every game here on out (except any potential rematch w/Neb), but being harassed by almost every passer by is amazing to me and made me have zero respect for UW. It was that bad IMO.

[Excel]

Oh the whining, good god the whining. I've found something UNL beats UW in.

[Bdgrfan]

Here is my experience. Friday night we went down to State St for some bar hopping. Nothing unusual about the night. We had the usual idiots who told us to F'n leave and that Nebraska sucked, but we also had some very good conversation and found the majority of the people there to be friendly. We even shared a van back to our hotel with Wisconsin fans and laughed and had a good time...Then was post game...

 

I am not kidding. I bet that 6 out of 10 people we passed on the walk back to our hotel were incredibly rude, classless, vulgar, and downright angry. I can't say most of what was told to us because I'd get banned, but some of the nicer things were, "Go f'n kill yourselves" or "I hope you die in a car crash on the way back to Nebraska". I think I heard Nebraska sucked about 100 times.

 

Now, every fan base has classless jerks, but this was unbelievable. Young, old, didn't matter. 1 person. ONE, told us good game and that he can't wait to visit Lincoln next year and good luck the rest of the way. I have witnessed first hand when someone is saying similar things to a visitor in Lincoln and other Huskers jump in and tell that person to shut up, not join in like Wisconsin.

 

I used to root for Wisconsin as an outsider because of what I thought they embodied was similar to Nebraska. No longer will I root for them. When 60% of the fans we encountered after the game treated us the way they did, I realized they are no different then Colorado, Missery, or K-State fans. I would hate to be a visitor from a team that has been a rival for 100 yrs with Wisconsin.

 

Recap. Friday night was pleasant. Saturday night's post game experience offset that by an infinite amount. That is how bad it was.

 

Frankly, I just don't buy this. I was there from about 3 pm to 1 am, and I heard maybe one or two things said to Nebraska fans that were over the line, and I also heard another UW fan tell that person to dial it down. Unless, of course, it was you being obnoxious and other fans responding to that. And I talked with a lot of Nebraska fans and every one of them was fun to talk to. There was some trash-talking, but that usually ended with the two people laughing and telling each other to enjoy the game. And after the game every UW fan I saw was so thrilled about the game they were far more interested in celebrating than abusing opposing fans.

 

Yes. I just completely made this entire thing up. It was me and 3 friends walking back. We weren't even talking to each other. I would look down every time some Badger fans walked by after the 54th time someone yelled profanities at me. Just because you didn't witness it doesn't mean it didn't happen. What do I have to gain by making up some story? If you read my OP on the matter, I stated I actually rooted for UW prior to this game. If they would have beaten us by 100, I would have still been rooting for them to win every game here on out (except any potential rematch w/Neb), but being harassed by almost every passer by is amazing to me and made me have zero respect for UW. It was that bad IMO.

 

Well, I'm sorry if you had a bad experience, and I say that because I genuinely enjoy interacting with opposing fans. I'm just saying I saw little bad behavior before, during or after. I was mostly on the monroe street side though, and reading some of these other posts it sounds like things may have been a bit different on the regent street side where the students are. And I rarely will defend them because they p*ss me off too (though generally for other reasons). If you ever do come back for a game, I'd suggest hanging out on that side with the adults and I'd bet its a much better experience.

[beanman]

Fortunately for me I didn't waste my money to see us get slaughtered, but I lived in Wisconsin for a few years and worked with a bunch of engineering grads from Madison. I was told lots of stories of people getting full cans of beer thrown at their heads, etc. just walking down the street. I was seriously considering going but decided not to based on the fact that I felt we had a good chance of losing and I didn't feel like having people in my face all night. Take it for what it's worth... I had some friends that went up there but I haven't talked to them since they got back. If I hear anything interesting I'll be sure to pass it along. The Wisky fans just need to understand that as a whole our fans are very very friendly and believe in good sportsmanship. Hell, even I clapped for the sCUm back in 2004 when they beat us at home as they walked off the field. Just seemed like the right thing to do. Not sure a lot of fanbases are like that.

[sd'sker]

Oh the whining, good god the whining. I've found something UNL beats UW in.

here's something else NU beats UW at, having more good cholesterol.

[Bromontana]

Oh the whining, good god the whining. I've found something UNL beats UW in.

here's something else NU beats UW at, having more good cholesterol.

not exactly.... http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20100629/obesity-rate-swells-in-28-states

[Badger_HB]

Oh snap.

[sd'sker]

Oh the whining, good god the whining. I've found something UNL beats UW in.

here's something else NU beats UW at, having more good cholesterol.

not exactly.... http://www.webmd.com...ls-in-28-states

i didn't say anything about obesity.