Trip to Madison

[Warrior10]

Had a great time. Here are my thoughts:

 

Had the typical half dozen people say "F*ck Nebraska or Nebraska sucks", but had many welcome us and try to give us suggestions. Never was scared or worried, definitely wasn't like what most tried to portray. There were A LOT of Neb fans. Good people up there for the most part.

 

Bar scene before the game was great. Bars/downtown had more of an older feel. State Street Brats and Big 10 pub were outstanding. Post game was terrible. I guess there is a city law of no outside beer gardens after like 10? Terrible lines everywhere and bars very spread out. Finally paid the $$ to go into "Freakfest". Had a good concert going on, but same line/bar story in there. Was pretty disappointed. Haymarket/O street are way better, imo.

 

Game was good, fans around us were fun/fine. Got some good husker chants in. Stadium/seats set up good.

 

I was disappointed in their crowd atmosphere, wasn't anything special. Only time it really got loud loud was last two plays. Jump Around was not what I was expecting, especially given the circumstances. Be thankful for what we have in Memorial Stadium and our crowd.

 

Overall was a decent trip. Decent bar scene, good game on the field, good people, disappointing atmosphere. Not sure I'd go back, probably try a different venue.

 

Gbr.

[Huskinator]

I was shocked at how hard it was to leave the stadium. Appreciate memorial stadium so much more

[krc1995]

I agree with the atmosphere. 10000 students showed up at least a quarter late. Nothing special. Jump around was for the students.

 

Town was ultra clean but didn't seem authentic. The players themselves seemed like good natured fun kids. Based on nothing but just watching them on the sidelines and their big screen interviews. They had a good aura.

 

We got in Thursday night at midnight and went out until 2. We were treated well and had fun. The only "freaks" we found were after the game and not from the festival. Really found a few middle aged wack jobs over a couple of locations. I guess everyone has them. The memories that will make me smile the most is the Husker fan I found in the hotel elevator Friday night about 1am. He was about 60 and was stuck in the elevator clutching the handrail and in an all out giggle fest. He was having the time of his life. After trial and error I think we got him home. And by error I mean knocking on doors he thought were his. About four rooms on two different floors. I can't believe people would actually answer. After one said they had no idea who he was he, the man started giggling uncontrollably. It was hard not to like him.

 

Also fell out Great Danes and may have done some significant damage to my ankle. We'll see when the swelling goes down.

[Atbone95]

Had an amazing trip this year. Nothing like my horror story two years ago. I think it could have had something to do with Wisconsin not having much to talk trash on this time (cough, 50+ points and 400+ yds...)

 

Ended up scalping tickets in the lower level for $50, right on the 40. They were a total steal. Go to sit down and realize we are in the grey-hair Wisconsin season ticket holder section. The fans were great, and very welcoming to us. When Farmer went down and I turned to look at my buddy to ask "Who the f#*k are we sending in now...", the guy in front of me kind of laughed. He gets up and is gone for 5 minutes, and comes back with the $2 game programs. He had bought two for me and my friend, and said he didn't want to hear us not knowing who our own players were again.

 

Older gentleman in front of us turned around to wish us good luck before the game, and let us know that Madison was a great town and we would have a blast. He went around to face the field briefly before doing a quick about face to look back at us. "Well, except for the fact that it is full of f'ing Democrats. And I don't care who you are, that's a bad thing."

 

At one point, we had the opportunity to bond with the group of people sitting next to us. With two minutes left, as Nebraska was driving to go ahead while the game was at 17-17, the group of 4-5 people to our right were standing. Some rather grumpy folks behind them started yelling about paying good money for their tickets and demanded they sit down. They were embarrassed, and took their seats to avoid the trouble. I lost it laughing, and demanded the fans stand back up and cheer their team on if they wanted to stop us. I looked at the grumpy fans and told them they had a nice couch at home if they'd like to sit, and they shouldn't criticize other fans who like to be invested in the game. I think I was the section hero for a moment.

 

I do think it is important to note: Memorial Stadium is much, much louder. For as much as I heard reporters hyping crowd noise all week, it was loud - but not close to us playing at home.

 

The fans were intelligent and polite, and no one gave us sh#t when we cheered when Nebraska did well. They offered suggestions on going up versus down in the stadium to exit faster, which bathrooms would have the shortest line, the works. As soon as the OT ended, they gave their high fives and immediately turned to us to offer a handshake and kind words on a game well played.

 

I still received several of the stereotypical "f#*k Nebraska" thrown around, but I'm not naive enough to say that doesn't happen here either. I was very impressed by Wisconsin in general, and regret speaking poorly of the fan base as a whole after last time.

[teachercd]

Uh oh...Wait for it...

[GidGBR]

Had a great time. Here are my thoughts:

 

Had the typical half dozen people say "F*ck Nebraska or Nebraska sucks", but had many welcome us and try to give us suggestions. Never was scared or worried, definitely wasn't like what most tried to portray. There were A LOT of Neb fans. Good people up there for the most part.

 

Bar scene before the game was great. Bars/downtown had more of an older feel. State Street Brats and Big 10 pub were outstanding. Post game was terrible. I guess there is a city law of no outside beer gardens after like 10? Terrible lines everywhere and bars very spread out. Finally paid the $$ to go into "Freakfest". Had a good concert going on, but same line/bar story in there. Was pretty disappointed. Haymarket/O street are way better, imo.

 

Game was good, fans around us were fun/fine. Got some good husker chants in. Stadium/seats set up good.

 

I was disappointed in their crowd atmosphere, wasn't anything special. Only time it really got loud loud was last two plays. Jump Around was not what I was expecting, especially given the circumstances. Be thankful for what we have in Memorial Stadium and our crowd.

 

Overall was a decent trip. Decent bar scene, good game on the field, good people, disappointing atmosphere. Not sure I'd go back, probably try a different venue.

 

Gbr.

Agreed with pretty much everything here. Bar scene before the game was cool. After the game it was absolutely crazy. We ended up going back to our hotel 20 mins away to try and get some drinks at Hooters or TGIF's and we couldn't even get a table there because they were short staffed. Freakfest is probably fun, but it made things crazy Saturday night.

 

Camp Randall was cool, but I expected a bit more I guess. Hostility was not terrible, just the occasional fan that would say something.

 

Now on to next week! GBR

[HuskerExpat]

Was my best trip to Madison in terms of the opposing fans. Had a good conversation in a bar with local some fans. The bar was named O.S.S., and when you enter you find out it stands for Ohio State Sucks. (As an aside, met Mick Stoltenberg's family here as well.)

 

At the game we were in row 13 at the 45 yard line on the Nebraska side. There were a lot of Nebraska fans in the area. The Wisconsin fans were tolerant (except one) and the people next to us were good natured. As we left we heard a lot of "good game" and "you guys are a lot better."

 

As others have said, the stadium atmosphere is fine, but not among the loudest I've been to. Probably no more than the fourth best home field advantage in the B1G.

[teachercd]

Mind Blown!

[BIGREDIOWAN]

We get it teachercd, you've been saying it when you get a chance in your sarcastic way, you need to learn to move on so you don't drag things out for months and months.

 

Good to hear, all I had ever heard was mostly negative things. Good to see you folks had a good time while you were there. I was guessing the environment of the stadium couldn't be louder than Memorial's.

[Warrior10]

We get it teachercd, you've been saying it when you get a chance in your sarcastic way, you need to learn to move on so you don't drag things out for months and months.

 

Good to hear, all I had ever heard was mostly negative things. Good to see you folks had a good time while you were there. I was guessing the environment of the stadium couldn't be louder than Memorial's.

It's not even that is wasn't louder...it wasn't even comparable.

[teachercd]

We get it teachercd, you've been saying it when you get a chance in your sarcastic way, you need to learn to move on so you don't drag things out for months and months.

 

Good to hear, all I had ever heard was mostly negative things. Good to see you folks had a good time while you were there. I was guessing the environment of the stadium couldn't be louder than Memorial's.

Other way around

[BIGREDIOWAN]

 

We get it teachercd, you've been saying it when you get a chance in your sarcastic way, you need to learn to move on so you don't drag things out for months and months.

 

Good to hear, all I had ever heard was mostly negative things. Good to see you folks had a good time while you were there. I was guessing the environment of the stadium couldn't be louder than Memorial's.

It's not even that is wasn't louder...it wasn't even comparable.

 

I guess that's a good thing for us because over the years Memorial had gotten pretty quiet except for a game here or there. I suppose there is a reason we were voted #1 for most hostile environment for visiting teams to play it or loudest stadium.

[RunMickeyRun02]

You guys are all more brave than I. Watching the game on tv I could hear Husker fans making noise when Wisky was on O. I expect that at NW and Indy but not Wisky. Seemed like every shot of the crowd had a few Husker fans in it.

 

 

I agree with the atmosphere. 10000 students showed up at least a quarter late. Nothing special. Jump around was for the students.

Town was ultra clean but didn't seem authentic. The players themselves seemed like good natured fun kids. Based on nothing but just watching them on the sidelines and their big screen interviews. They had a good aura.

We got in Thursday night at midnight and went out until 2. We were treated well and had fun. The only "freaks" we found were after the game and not from the festival. Really found a few middle aged wack jobs over a couple of locations. I guess everyone has them. The memories that will make me smile the most is the Husker fan I found in the hotel elevator Friday night about 1am. He was about 60 and was stuck in the elevator clutching the handrail and in an all out giggle fest. He was having the time of his life. After trial and error I think we got him home. And by error I mean knocking on doors he thought were his. About four rooms on two different floors. I can't believe people would actually answer. After one said they had no idea who he was he, the man started giggling uncontrollably. It was hard not to like him.

Also fell out Great Danes and may have done some significant damage to my ankle. We'll see when the swelling goes down.

That's a wild story! Hope your ankle is okay.

[teachercd]

Did any of you tailgate or mostly just hit the bars?

[Michiganball]

Had an amazing trip this year. Nothing like my horror story two years ago. I think it could have had something to do with Wisconsin not having much to talk trash on this time (cough, 50+ points and 400+ yds...)

 

Ended up scalping tickets in the lower level for $50, right on the 40. They were a total steal. Go to sit down and realize we are in the grey-hair Wisconsin season ticket holder section. The fans were great, and very welcoming to us. When Farmer went down and I turned to look at my buddy to ask "Who the f#*k are we sending in now...", the guy in front of me kind of laughed. He gets up and is gone for 5 minutes, and comes back with the $2 game programs. He had bought two for me and my friend, and said he didn't want to hear us not knowing who our own players were again.

 

Older gentleman in front of us turned around to wish us good luck before the game, and let us know that Madison was a great town and we would have a blast. He went around to face the field briefly before doing a quick about face to look back at us. "Well, except for the fact that it is full of f'ing Democrats. And I don't care who you are, that's a bad thing."

 

At one point, we had the opportunity to bond with the group of people sitting next to us. With two minutes left, as Nebraska was driving to go ahead while the game was at 17-17, the group of 4-5 people to our right were standing. Some rather grumpy folks behind them started yelling about paying good money for their tickets and demanded they sit down. They were embarrassed, and took their seats to avoid the trouble. I lost it laughing, and demanded the fans stand back up and cheer their team on if they wanted to stop us. I looked at the grumpy fans and told them they had a nice couch at home if they'd like to sit, and they shouldn't criticize other fans who like to be invested in the game. I think I was the section hero for a moment.

 

The fans were intelligent and polite, and no one gave us sh#t when we cheered when Nebraska did well. They offered suggestions on going up versus down in the stadium to exit faster, which bathrooms would have the shortest line, the works. As soon as the OT ended, they gave their high fives and immediately turned to us to offer a handshake and kind words on a game well played.

 

I still received several of the stereotypical "f#*k Nebraska" thrown around, but I'm not naive enough to say that doesn't happen here either. I was very impressed by Wisconsin in general, and regret speaking poorly of the fan base as a whole after last time.