Bucky Badger does it all. He revs up the student section at home games, he does push-ups for each point scored at home football games and he even...well...abuses opposing mascots. Bucky is the life of the game, the rallying point behind the clean cheers the student section occasionally performs and the heart of the student body. But who is UW's beloved Bucky and why is he so popular?
According to seniors Daryl Austin and Tom Hoban, both of whom suit up as Bucky Badger, he is loved for multiple reasons, ranging from the tradition to the costume itself.
\It's just his facial expression. It's kind of everything,"" Austin said. ""He can look mean or he can look really happy or he can just look really cute.""
""There's so much tradition with him, too,"" Hoban added. ""One of my friends said that Bucky is the most beloved institution in all of Wisconsin behind [Green Bay Packers quarterback] Brett Favre.""
Students agree that there is a mystique about Bucky, but they can not quite agree on what exactly makes him so special.
""I don't know what it is,"" UW-Madison junior Andy Smith said. ""Ever since I was growing up, it's like Barry Alvarez is the king badger and then Bucky is just underneath him. ... I think it's the big head, honestly. ... I love the sweater, too.""
""I think it has a lot to do with his name, too,"" junior Kari Obma added. ""There's no other mascot that has a name like 'Bucky'.""
Bucky, officially Buckingham U. Badger, was ""born"" in 1940 when professional illustrator Art Evans drew what Badger fans know and cherish, although several pictures of the badger existed long before Evans picked up his pencil. In 1949, one student donned a papier-m??ch?? head and a red and white sweater at the homecoming game, based on that 1940 drawing. The university then held a pep rally to choose a name for this mascot and ""Bucky"" Badger became a Wisconsin tradition.
So that answers the question of the mascot's origin, but who is he? This year, it takes six costumes and seven people to play Bucky, allowing him to show up at several events during a typical weekend. Bucky hangs out mostly at football, basketball, hockey, volleyball and soccer games, although he sometimes cheers at track meets and other events. He's especially popular during Homecoming week and he appears at more than 300 events throughout the year. Buckingham also appears at charity events, Brewers games and even wedding receptions. He's a popular figure statewide, from Lake Superior to Lake Geneva, as demonstrated by the Badger memorabilia seen everywhere in Wisconsin.
Actually suiting up as Bucky Badger, a task students perform as often as four to five times a week, has its high points and its low points. For Hoban and Austin, one of those payoffs actually comes before the bells ring in September. All of the Buckys, along with the cheerleaders and the dancers, attend a spirit camp in August at UW-Milwaukee designed to prepare them for the upcoming season and to meet mascots from other schools, including Minnesota, Michigan State and sometimes Ohio State. They practice most of their routines and compete with more than 10 other schools for performance awards.
""You just kind of get to be a huge idiot for three days straight,"" Hoban said. ""The more of a moron you are, the better you are. This year, the Buckys got camp champs; we got a big trophy. That was pretty huge for us.""
Then there is the mascot abuse Bucky receives. Already a hot topic thanks to numerous incidents in recent years, Hoban and Austin say they have received some abuse but have also ""tortured"" mascots as well. Prior to most games, mascots from both teams prearrange fights, a device they learn during mascot camp. For the most part, the fights go smoothly with the home mascot defeating the opponent, but sometimes, not everything goes according to plan. Austin, who played Bucky at the Alamo Bowl, had a run-in with Chip, Colorado's mascot.
""Chip came up to me without even discussing a fight scene and we were at this dinner where all of the alumni were there,"" Austin said. ""Chip keeps on punching me and I didn't know what was going on so I just kind of shoved him away and pretended to fight but I guess I hit him. Later, when the actual game was, Chip came up to me out of costume and it was a girl and she was like, 'Can you please not hit me?' I felt bad but you've got to plan that stuff.""
Mascot abuse comes not only from other mascots but also from children, who can be a blessing in disguise. While kids can be fun to entertain, they sometimes get too passionate over Bucky, wreaking havoc on the person inside the Badger costume.
""One event, I did Grandparents' Day at the Kohl Center, and literally I had to dead sprint down the stairs. They all followed me and I had to juke them, go around this corner and totally fake them out and lock myself in my locker. They still found it five minutes later and they were trying to get in. They get bloodthirsty,"" Hoban said.
The heat inside the costume is another negative factor, as temperatures can be 30-40 degrees hotter inside Bucky's head with little ventilation. Hoban and Austin say they lose as much as 12 pounds in water weight during a typical event and during certain events, such as parades, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to stop for water. So why do student mascots perform such feats?
""I think there's a lot of really good traditions with Bucky, like running the flag out on the field, ... doing the pushups after every score,"" Austin said.
""It's Bucky,"" Hoban said. ""It's the greatest thing there is. After being maybe [senior wide receiver] Lee Evans or something, I think I'd rather be Bucky than anybody else. He's a big, furry badass.""
