The science (or is it an art?) of deciding whether things are over- or underrated is as much a part of sports as ESPN cross-promotion and complaining about officiating. This rigorous and time-tested methodology must now be turned on some of the traditions of Badger sports.
Overrated: Jump Around and The Wave
It's not that either is not fun, or really cool to see from the rest of the stadium, but both have picked up bad characteristics.
Jump Around has become the de facto end of the game for many. Who hasn't heard someone say, or said themselves, ""Well, I stayed for Jump Around and then left""? The fourth quarter still exists, damnit!
And the wave is meant to distract opposing offenses, but instead everyone ignores the game at some point in the second quarter to get The Wave started no matter who has the ball.
Underrated: ""When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all""
Simple, catchy and delivering important sentiment. It tells the world the Badgers are all that matters, and opponents just don't.
Overrated: Basketball Student Section
During big games, the Grateful Red are rocking. During mid-sized smaller games or many mid-week games, not so much. Considering the fact that the Kohl Center fans are expected to provide a fearsome homecourt advantage, they have fallen short of late. The section is also incredibly bloated by opportunistic scalpers who never attend games and can only hock the good tickets.
Underrated: Volleyball Student Section
Considering how small the sport is, they bring a lot of noise, decent cheers and an oppressive atmosphere for opponents. The fans also get extra credit for showing up during the prime drinking time of Friday nights.
Oddly properly rated: Men's Hockey student section
They should blow every other student section out of the water. They get the best cheers, the most animated and engaged Mike Leckrone and often have a rowdiness powered by gallons and gallons of Friday after-class booze. But despite all those good traits, too many fans miss puck drop, dawdling with those last few drinks, leaving one end of the Kohl Center miserably sparse.
Overrated: The end of section P
There was outrage when the all-upperclassmen section was opened to the general student body. But it didn't really matter because...
Underrated: How pathetic Section P had become near the end
The fans in Section K were supposed to lead the student section. They don't row. They start the Wave. They carried knowledge of traditions, and were ideally some of the best Badger fans in the student body.
But by the end they were awful. Too many underclassmen bought tickets in K and a majority of the older fans simply knew nothing about Badger football. In 2007 it was hard to find a spot where you couldn't hear some jackass explaining how stupid the coaches were for not starting Allan Evridge and Lance Smith. It was just pathetic.
The most underrated element of Badger sports: The now defunct hockey and basketball lines
Few on campus will remember this simple, brilliant system: You bought tickets and then stood in line for the best seats to both sports (each got its own line). You could get there a week before the seats were distributed, had to form groups of four and one member of the group had to be in line at any given time.
Yes, it made the Kohl Center lawn look like a refugee camp and, yes, it hurt students academically since they were sleeping outside in lawn chairs for up to a week. But it made far greater student sections, because those who had the best seats went through a seven-day trial to earn them.
What do you think are Wisconsin's most over- and underrated traditions? E-mail Ben at breiner@wisc.edu.
