Has the university sold out? It's a question that we need to ask ourselves with the new monstrosity that is Camp Randall Stadium. All I've heard is glowing praise for the new jumbotron, luxury suites, more toilets and concessions and a new office for Barry Alvarez.
I, on the other hand, continually find myself feeling disgusted when I look up at the jumbotron for a replay or to watch the game when the ball is near the other endzone. Really, we as a student body should feel ashamed of ourselves. The stadium has lost its charm. It now looks even more like a big slab of concrete from the south to the north endzone.
We have given up our connection with history by first leaving the Field House for the soulless Kohl Center, and now covering up the Field House with all the new seating on that side of the field. Finally, we've given up probably the greatest part of our history: the trough. What's a game at Camp Randall (at least for a guy) without a trip there? Is there a more fitting place to converse with your fellow classmates than over what amounts to a urine bin?
What's even worse is we've lost the wonderful ritual of throwing things over the stadium. Instead, we now have to contend with luxury boxes. What made Camp Randall and most college stadiums great was that we never went corporate. We left it up to the pros to worry about making money and paying the bills. I guess that's just how it is: Everyone sells out sooner or later, and we were just able to hold out a little longer than the others.
Everything has become unglued. Now we have a football coach who also serves as the athletic director making over a million dollars. Doesn't anybody see any conflict of interests there? And whatever happened to enjoying the football game by amusing ourselves with what happened in the stands-not on the jumbotron. I'm sure much camaraderie still occurs there, but it seems we spend more time watching the huge flat screen TV in our own stadium. We might as well just go home and watch the game at our house.
The ineptitude of the Badgers was a badge of pride, but now (I guess) we have to worship at the feet of our football monarch. If you didn't see the television coverage of the first game, you missed a nice tour of Barry's new office. It's right in Camp Randall in the new addition. If you look up, you'll see the balcony that leads to Barry's office where he can come out and survey all of his domain; including us, the student body, who have sold our souls for a trip to the Sun Bowl.
