Opinion: Editorial
Quit playing games
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The first two home games of the Badger football season have stirred more controversy than usual. Luckily, the performance of the team is not in question. Rather, it seems the performance of just about everybody else involved in the game day process is under increasing scrutiny, including the University of Wisconsin administration, the UW Athletic Department, the UW Police Department and of course, the UW student body.
As displayed by several impassioned letters from our readers, the treatment of fans in the student section at Camp Randall has been — at the very least — disappointing. While many students’ claims of complete punctuality were exaggerated, many of them were nonetheless stuck in line after receiving wristbands, missing precious minutes from an expensive sporting event as police officers escorted them single-file to their seats.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney told The Badger Herald that this mistake resulted from an attempt to ensure all seats were filled, lest students be forced to leave the game because they could not find a spot on the bleachers. This concern for overcrowding stems from an unfortunate incident in 1993 in which some bleachers collapsed and several fans were injured.
The good news is the Athletic Department acknowledged the mistake and has announced its intention to correct it. The bad news is these ad hoc responses to an “overcrowded” student section are likely indicative of deeper flaws in the ticket policy.
For the time being, all we can do is appeal to the student section’s alcohol-induced sense of camaraderie and encourage fans to make room for everyone on the bleachers. A football game is one of the few times a year when that creepy guy from your chem class has a right to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you — savor it.
At the same time, students have plenty of room for improvement. Many continue to show up well after kickoff, as evidenced by the fact that only 5,000 of the 13,600 student tickets had been scanned by game time. This reflects poorly on the Badger spirit and frustrates students who lost out in the controversial ticket lottery. While the Athletic Department has committed to altering its seating policy, students meet them halfway by showing up on time.
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Every time an article like this is written someone has to focus on the fact that only x number of tickets were scanned before kick off. What they always fail to report is the fact that while this may be true the reason for it is because some people didn’t want to go in the one or two sections they were handing out wristbands for. So, instead of having their ticket scanned and being forced to take one of the sections currently being offered they wait outside the gate until a more favorable section is opened up.
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When I was a student we had vouchers and exchanged them for actual tickets either the week of the game or at the gate. I don’t know why they don’t go back to that system. This new one sounds ridiculous to me. Hang in there students while you support the team! -UW Alumnae ‘00
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Sing it Nick Carter!