The UW-Madison game day tradition of Jump Around"" will celebrate its 10-year anniversary at the homecoming football game Saturday against Illinois.
The tradition began at the low-scoring 1998 homecoming game against Purdue when athletic officials played the House of Pain song ""Jump Around"" between the third and fourth quarters in an effort to pump up the fans.
""The students have a tremendous amount of fun, and even those who aren't jumping enjoy watching it,"" former chancellor John Wiley said. ""I can tell you from experience that standing up in the UW Foundation's box, it really shakes. It feels like an earthquake up there and people who experience that for the first time get really scared because you can feel it go back and forth.""
When ""Jump Around"" was banned briefly in 2003 for safety reasons, Wiley prevented the tradition from disappearing. With the help of the civil and environmental engineering program, he ensured the tradition's safety and reinstated ""Jump Around"" in September of the same year.
""[Camp Randall] is now the best studied stadium in the world probably,"" he said, ""It's very safe and a great tradition.""
As the Badger football team struggles to end its current losing streak, the UW Homecoming Committee hopes to improve the students' spirits Saturday and at other university-related events throughout the week.
""Obviously homecoming is based on the football game, but we try to focus our attention more on being proud to be Badgers rather than winning or losing,"" Megan Halverson, co-chair of the UW Homecoming Committee, said.
According to Halverson, the ""Jump Around"" tradition is a great way to show school spirit at the game.
""Its fun because its something so simple but everyone loves it,"" she said. ""It brings people together because we all know what's going on.""
Regardless of the football team's record, UW-Madison students are looking forward to the homecoming game Saturday.
""Every game is huge here, so I'm looking forward to see how big homecoming will be,"" UW-Madison freshman Maarja Anderson said. ""I love 'Jump Around.' It always gets everyone pumped up even if we are losing.""
According to Vince Sweeney, senior associate athletic director for external relations, the football team is looking forward to playing at Camp Randall again this weekend.
""We are gearing up for homecoming as normal with all the festivities surrounding the week,"" Sweeney said. ""We are just excited to be back at home.""
