SPORTS
Illini faithful lack creative flair
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Also by Tom Schalmo:
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- Badgers to Host Western Kentucky Sept. 29 (September 15, 2001)
- UW set for date with No. 25 Illini (November 5, 2004)
by Tom Schalmo
Friday, October 12, 2007
There’s just something special about going home: seeing the family, going grocery shopping, doing laundry, sleeping in your own room.
But there’s a different home Badger fans are looking forward to returning to next weekend: sections J through P.
After a pretty shaky effort last week in Champaign against the Illinois "I-L-L-I-N-I!" coming back to Camp Randall Stadium can’t come soon enough for the one-time fifth-best team in the nation.
And while members of Bret Bielema’s squad surely need to come back to their sea of red, it’s those of us who went to watch them play the Illini who can’t wait to jump around once again.
Seven friends and I were among the delegation of Badger faithful to drive the most boring stretch of highway down Interstate 39 through the Land of Lincoln consisting of fields of nothing. We blasted “On Wisconsin” upon entering Champaign in hopes of intimidating the enemies as much as possible.
The next morning, we got up and made our way to a Memorial Stadium under renovation. With sleepy, quiet Illinois fans surrounding us, we naturally high-fived every Badger fan we saw, sharing pride in our team.
But there was just something about these Illini fans that was a real downer. With high expectations over the rowdiness of Camp Randall, I expected to hear some of the best Illinois had to offer.
And it wasn’t much.
The big sea of bright orange started off on Wisconsin’s first third down of the game by clapping in syncopation with their hands over their heads. This continued on every Badger third down of the game.
Mildly amusing.
Then, during the 4th quarter, the student section jumped to the left and right — not around — to the tune of Rocky and Bullwinkle’s Dudley Do-Right. They might have done it a second time, but I was too busy watching Tyler Donovan throw his second interception that I wasn’t paying attention.
Finally, throughout the game, the student section would yell “I-L-L” and the rest of the crowd would respond “I-N-I.”
“Hey, you can spell!” my friends and I yelled.
And that was it. Unless I missed something — which is entirely possible — there were three cheers the entire game.
Thank God I go to Wisconsin.
The trip to Illinois made me and my friends appreciate what being a Wisconsin Badger is all about. I know this might warrant a big Full House "awww" after saying it, but it’s the truth.
While profanity has caused UW a bit of trouble in the past and some unruly fans can be an embarrassment, the passion of Wisconsin’s student section is something to be proud of. Between jumping around, singing “Build Me Up Buttercup,” rowing, doing the wave and counting Bucky’s push-ups for every point we score, the Badger enthusiasm is clear.
“Hey, you can count!” an I-L-L-I-N-I fan yelled after we finished counting in Champaign. “Between our reading and your counting, we’ve got everything covered.”
And that was as much wit as Champaign had to offer.
The joy of being in Wisconsin’s student section is enough proof of Wisconsin’s pride, but Badger fans have also historically traveled with their team in the masses. Between dedicated students and passionate alumni, thousands of people traveled to Pasadena for the Rose Bowls in 1994, 1999 and 2000, to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl the past two years and even this year, to Las Vegas for the UNLV game.
And with today’s generation, the sea of red always means a full sea of red. The attendance at last Saturday’s game at Illinois was about 58,000, which was the “second sellout in a row,” the announcer proclaimed. I can’t remember the last time Camp Randall wasn’t sold out for a football game.
The passion for Badger athletics isn’t limited to football, either. The Athletic Department announced that Wisconsin’s hockey attendance last year was the most in the NCAA and even beat out several NHL teams.
At the end of the day, fans of Wisconsin athletics have been, are and always will be passionate about their teams.
So next Saturday, I’ll throw on my Bucky T-shirt, go into the stadium, listen to Gary Cannalte’s game day forecast, watch “Ask the Badgers” and witness the Badgers get another win on the season.
The best part, though: Next week I get to walk down Regent Street to get to the game instead of driving through fields of nothing.
Tom is a junior majoring in journalism. If you would like to complain to him about the Illini, he can be reached at tschalmo@badgerherald.com
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 10:02am):
hallelujah brother! couldn't agree with you more.
Rex Beaber (October 12, 2007 @ 10:18am):
It's almost as if us badgers share a collective mind. A group of four of us took the same dull journey to Champaign as you did, and in similar fasion we went expecting well, a bit more. The mood from our perspective can be characterized perfectly by the stretch of 4-block-by-6-block land adjacent to the stadium... a cemetary. The fans were equally dismal after upsetting the #5 team in the nation as they were heading into the stadium. The only smiles we saw when leaving the stadium came, ironically enough, from badger fans. I can only speculate their thoughts, same as yours, same as mine, "Thank God we go to Wisconsin". Thank you for this article, it's good to know that myself and the three I took the trip with were not the only ones dissapointed with what the I-L-L I-N-I had to offer. Atleast Minnesota spells out their entire state, and you know it's bad when I can find something good to say about Minnesota.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 10:35am):
"Fans of Wisconsin have ben, are and always will be passionate about their teams?" The Wisconsin fans near me must have missed the memo. They sat glumly through the entire game, cursing under their breath occasionally, woofing incoherantly to the crowd at large for a brief period of time in the 4th quarter, and exiting ignominiously after the last interception.
Make no mistake, I love the atmosphere at Camp Randall (aside from the thrown beer and insults outside the stadium), and I applaud the enthusiasm shown by our young, partisan journalism major, but I don't see much evidence that Badger fans are more passionate than other fans, at least when their team is losing.
Clint (October 12, 2007 @ 10:39am):
Finally, throughout the game, the student section would yell "I-L-L" and the rest of the crowd would respond "I-N-I."
"Hey, you can spell!" my friends and I yelled.
--
Yeah... other schools have said the same thing about Illinois. Its a pretty common theme...
"O-H-I-O" and "I-O-W-A." That along with "WE ARE PENN STATE!"
Everyone has their own cheers. Stupid or not, I guess I would be thinking more of the loss than the shot I could take about the "fields of nothing."
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 10:46am):
Tom,
Being an Illinois fan, it pains me to say this, but you are right...ouch that hurt. For whatever reason, the Illinois faithful just don't seem to get up for the football team like they do for the basketball team. I'm sure some of it has to do with the lackluster state of the football program over the past several years. But that can't be an excuse, as there are lots of terrible teams out there that still fill the stadium each week. I hope that once Illinois shows some consistency in winning football games, the crowd will realize that the louder they are, the more the home team will feed off of that energy. However, Badger fans sure seem to be sore losers over the Illinois game. I can't believe how many posts I've read about how Illinois got lucky and coach Zook must be crooked in order to get the players he has gotten, etc... Just compliment us on the win and get on with your season.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 11:17am):
This is the article you write after a loss.
Nice running game last week. Pshh.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 11:20am):
This is what you write about when you lose.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 11:26am):
I live in Champaign right now, but my fiance's family is from Wisconsin. I can personally verify that Tom has accurately portrayed the difference between these two schools. I detect a sense of entitlement among the Illini faithful--my only expectation is because they come from Oak Park, they think the world revolves around them.
It sucks that the Badgers outplayed the Illini, but still lost. At least that Chief Illiniwek wasn't there. The respect that Wisconsinites have for the Native American culture is absent in Illinois.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 12:10pm):
You're an idiot if you don't think Illinois fans are passionate. 31-26
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 1:07pm):
I can't say much about Illinois' crowd support (or lack thereof), but I will say that its tough for other schools to match our enthusiasm. For better or worse, we Badger fans are a loony bunch. While at football games, this often comes at the expense of taste (or in the students' case, even noticing the fact that there's a football game being played), it makes Camp Randall a very intimidating place.
Gotta give props to Schalmo for bringing up another bastion of Badger Pride: our men's hockey program. There was once a day when the only thing you could be proud of in Badger athletics were our crew program, our defunct boxing team and our hockey team. That sense of a tradition of excellence (one that goes well beyond the Alvarez Era) gives a hockey game in the Kohl Center quite an impressive feel.
The cheers are more unified (and often relate to the game... who'da thunk it?), the entire arena gets into it, and the student section is incredibly organized and together. You can't find a better Badger experience than in the Kohl Center on cold winter weekends.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 1:20pm):
I firmly believe this column would have been written whether Wisconsin won or lost. That has nothing to do with the points Tom is making.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 1:48pm):
Let me be emphatically clear. Luck had nothing to do with the win Illinois had over Wisconsin. Illinois dominated the game from kickoff to the end. There was no last second play or miracle kick, it was a complete game effort on all sides of the ball. Luck most often occurs when hard work and preparation meet opportunity. We seized our opportunity and used the historic success of your program to boost our national attention. You comment on the "fields of nothing" in IL. I would rather have our endless fields of corn than be a state built upon the reputation on churning cheese any day. Yes some of our fans (not the student sections) were a little lackluster. We are working on that and they will all come around eventually once they start believing. However, instead of knocking our fans you should be concerned with how your team, ranked fifth in the nation, got dominated in a stadium filled with "polite" and somewhat hesitant fans. Your effort was pathetic. We are the Land of Lincoln, we are the up and coming embodiment of football passion and success in the BIG TEN, we are going to be national contenders over the next few years, and we are the spirit behind I-L-L-I-N-I, and you...you're just Wisconsin and you just had your butts handed to you by a superior team. Suck it up, stop making excuses, and start getting used to the idea of finishing behind us in the years to come. I suggest you come to terms with that and counsel each other over a slice of cheese while talking about how "well" you cheer you team on to defeat.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 1:58pm):
What a sore loser! Do you always deal with losses by trying to insult the other team's fans? Grow up.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 2:25pm):
Where were the Wisconsin faithful in the '80s? The whole Wisconsin athletic department almost went belly-up because of lack of fan support.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 3:32pm):
Hey, smart guy...How old are you? I'd like to think that you're at least 12 years old because it was only that long ago that Wisconsin was a bottom feeder in the B11 for YEARS and the crowd at Camp Randall was just as sad. So while I agree that the atmosphere was a little lacking last week, I challenge you to take your elitist rear end off your high horse and realize that your "elite" program isnt a perenial super power like you think it is. Rant off.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 4:54pm):
I love the insight of this article. Wisconsin fans are great. They have neat radio programs, super duper gear they can wear to the game, nice rah rah cheers, and fans that smile after a loss. All I can say is wow. That was a powerful article.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 5:29pm):
For those of us who graduated BEFORE 1993 (in my case 1992) who never got to see a winning season while we were there, it has a lot to do with winning. If Coache Zook continues to build Illinois into a team like this every year, I imagine that their student section will come up with some better cheers and more audience participation. Give them a few years. And while I love the fact that my alma mater is sold out every home game and provides a rollicking atmosphere, there is nothing like the ability to roam the stands and sit wherever you wanted to during a game back in the first three years of Alavarez's tenure... (sigh)
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 6:20pm):
If being rude mullet-wearing drunks that curse all over the place make you passionate fans, then congrats! Wisconsin fans take the cake.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 6:27pm):
I just don't get the reason for the article. I grew up in a family that was (and is still) half Wisconsin / half Illinois and I celebrate both states and both schools and cherish their differences. Trying to claim the "we're better fans" title is ridiculous. I love the rivalry between the schools especially on the hoop court. I am a die-hard Badger fan but I am also a "Big 10" fan - meaning that like many true Badger fans on Saturdays I root for my team and everyone else in the conference (except of course Michigan).
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 8:06pm):
"it sucks that the Badgers outplayed the Illini but still lost." Yep, that's a badger fan alright -- firm grasp of reality entirely optional. That must be what makes for the chaotic (did I say cuckoo) atmosphere on Badger game days.
Seriously. I love Badger fans and sports, but c'mon, a little humility is always becoming, especially if you might be a little short in the knowledge department.
BTW, those passionate badger fans were noticeably lacking back in the 60's and 70's. Just sayin.
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 9:43pm):
Wow! What a sore loser.
Everyone know that Illinois is mostly flat and agricultural. It's home and I love it, and I will take it over more frigid Wisconsin any day. I am sure that drive was worse leaving Champaign that coming, and because you don't have the intellect or strength to blame your overated team for bringing you down. You blame the other teams' fans and surrounding scenery?
Such a sore loser!
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 9:46pm):
Tom is correct. As an Illini fan and having visited 9 of the 11 big ten stadiums, another outside of the conference, we need help.
However, we have not experienced much success recently. I believe creativity and an understanding of a great game day atmosphere will come with new winning ways.
Izzy Hopkins (October 13, 2007 @ 12:46pm):
I have gone to away games,in both the Big Ten and non-conference, and I have to say Champaign was by far the worst atmosphere I have encountered. I'm not sure how Illini fans can say they take the cake with stadium location as it is in the middle of not one, but two graveyards. I saw no academic buildings in at least a six block radius of the stadium (which can't be seen from anywhere in the city mind you), nor did I see any students pre-gaming by the frats except for a pair of guys playing catch. I also noticed that most of the Illini "fans" were wearing apparel for the Bears and Cubs. How hard is it to buy a $10 t-shirt and show some school pride? At least this November when I head to Minnesota (albeit at the Dome) I know I will be harassed by students and other fans supporting their team and tailgating hours before the game. That's what college football is all about and I expect no less. Maybe my expectations are too high for Illinois.
Anonymous (October 13, 2007 @ 3:40pm):
who cares!?!?
even if illini fans were "lacking enthusiasm".......
31-26!!!!!!!
at least we play football better
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