When the over seven-hour experiment of hockey in Camp Randall finally came to a close, the waves of praise came as quickly as the Badger forwards chasing dumped pucks into the corner.
Terms like ""overwhelming success"" were thrown around while commentators felt the need to wax poetic about the beauty of the game outdoors, saying it was the way it was meant to be (which is untrue if you ever want people to watch it live).
This all too gleaming, goofy, doe-eyed view of the Camp Randall Hockey Classic, however, just shouldn't fly. It may seem like a haterade bath on that frigid night, but the student section just did not deliver like it should have. Instead of bringing the more sophisticated Kohl Center atmosphere, with its choreographed dances and more intricate chants, the Wisconsin students lapsed into the chaotic, profane squalor of a football game.
There is no slow wave at hockey, there is no ""Eat Shit, Fuck You"" chant at hockey. It just is not done.
So many of the fans seemed unbearably ignorant of how the sport worked and when to cheer. They were just disinterested. As the temperature dropped, the northern sections thinned out like a freshman party after the beer runs out, and perhaps half of the students saw Brendan Smith's pair of dramatic third period goals.
The Crease Creatures excel at channeling the rampant drunkenness that pervades UW sports, coming up with creative ways to needle the opposition. Saturday saw the football style of fanhood, in which morons spend games calling friends too loudly and freak out because they are A) drunk and B) at a Badger game.
Hockey crowds have a special bond with the band, specifically Mike Leckrone. Songs like ""Tequila,"" ""Space Badger"" and ""Time Warp"" are standard for Kohl Center. Leckrone, in his red blazer, darts around the aisles like a bee, finding students who are not dancing and literally pulling them out of their seats.
That band, and thus part of the experience, was hardly audible. Dances like the Time Warp, which could have been cool if whole sections could do it, instead bewildered the vast majority of students present.
It's disappointing, really.
This was a chance for hockey to take center stage, and alongside it the elements that make Badger games special could have shared the spotlight. But instead, that bright glare revealed fans who showed up because it was the thing to do, and once they arrived, displayed little inclination toward actually getting involved.
They appeared to just sit and observe as if the event before them was some kind of fourth grade science project. All you people came in as fans dammit, act like it.
Now the Kohl Center students are not exactly skate blade-sharp. They don't always show up on time and have the bad habit of unleashing ooh's and ahhh's when a less-skilled forward flies up the wing with the puck and a scoring chance before completely mishandling it (yes, opponents give those forwards space because they know it won't hurt them, figure it out).
But when compared to the disorganized and oft-disinterested football fans, hockey is miles ahead.
Too bad it was not on display for Saturday's ""celebration"" of the game.
Did you go to the outdoor game and just have an awesome time? Was that because you spent the afternoon pounding Miller Lite and vodka shots before leaving after the second period? If you think this line of questioning is just aimed at belittling you, let Ben know at breiner@wisc.edu.
