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.
