With another football season winding down, Badger faithful have seen the football team have its fair share of ups and downs.
As with much in life, sometimes you have up years and sometimes you have down years. But one thing has remained constant for Wisconsin football for much of the last decade: the fans.
With each passing year the reputation and the ferocity of Badgers fans has increased. Camp Randall has become one of the hardest places for opposing teams to come into and play. Badger tailgating and pre-game parties have become the stuff of legends. To put it quite simply, Badgers fans bleed Bucky red.
But it is not just the tailgating and parties that make Wisconsin football games what they are. It is simply the atmosphere that a home football game creates. The city essentially shuts down. Regent Street is crammed with people on home Saturdays and all you see is a sea of Badger red. And nothing compares to the electricity that good 'ole Camp Randall generates when filled to its gills at 76,000 plus.
While no Badger fan is more important than another, it is often the student section that turns crank to get Camp Randall going. Opposing fans have marveled at \Jump Around"" claiming to have seen nothing like it. Students are famous for their in-your-face-cheers and boisterous attitude that infects every fan in the stands.
UW senior Julie Crowe says that is what makes going to Badger games worthwhile.
""I guess I just like being in the crowd,"" Crowe said. ""I think its fun. I think you kind of get carried away with like the cheering and everything. I don't think I would go to the game if I wasn't in the student section.""
UW-Madison junior B.J. Ristow also loves the game day atmosphere created by Wisconsin fans.
""My favorite part is being able to see the game live and in action and the atmosphere with all the students going crazy,"" Ristow said. ""We just have cooler chants then everybody [else]. Our chants are just more fun.""
Even with the diehard loyalty and great enthusiasm, the student section has come under fire recently. A slew of e-mails and complaints have singled out students as being abusive, verbally and maybe even physically, to visiting fans.
One man even made an accusation that Wisconsin fans threw a trash receptacle at him and his son. Chancellor Wiley recently went on a door-to-door campaign to convince students to be more considerate of opposing fans.
But many students feel this criticism is unwarranted and places a bad light on the student section as a whole.
""I've never seen anything like [throwing trash cans] and I know my friends and I have never done anything like that,"" Ristow said. ""So I don't know where that's coming from and I hope that's not the case and I don't think it is.""
Many have criticized the prominent use of alcohol by students before games as a main cause to unruly fan behavior. The real cause is not alcohol, it is the fact that many fans, including students, love their football team that much and the alcohol just makes them a little more excited when the Badgers score a touchdown.
""I think the majority of the students are relatively calm,"" Crowe said. ""I mean, everybody likes to party and have a good time, but most people handle it responsibly just like they would if they were going out on a Friday or Saturday night.""
While the fans seem to remain constant, Camp Randall itself has been constantly evolving. All one needs to do is turn to the east side of the stadium to witness the new construction working to upgrade and improve Camp Randall.
With the new face-lift in progress many fans forget about the rich history of the stadium.
Camp Randall originally began as a training ground for Union soldiers during the Civil War. Following the war the land was purchased by the state and given to the University as a memorial athletic field. The stadium was built at its current site in 1913, but following a tragic wooden bleacher collapse in 1915, the University made plans to build concrete stands and in 1917, the current version of Camp Randall was built.
The stadium has been renovated numerous times, most recently in 1966 with the addition of the second deck on the west side. The student section was restructured in 1994 following the tragedy of the Michigan stampede, but Camp Randall has looked largely the same for the most of the past 40 years.
The renovations, set to be done by the start of the 2005 season, will only work to make Camp Randall a tougher stadium to play in as fans will become more excited and louder due to the enhanced game atmosphere.
All these things are the formula for great football Saturdays in Madison. Enthused fans, fun tailgating and a storied stadium all lead to why UW-Madison junior Jon Oiler feels game days at Camp Randall are like none other.
""You have the gathering of mass amounts of students for one reason,"" Oiler said. ""Everyone is excited and united. Then, after this party there's still a football game to take place!\
