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.