To paraphrase Ben Franklin, only three things are inevitable: Death, taxes and the American League winning the All-Star Game.

Over the past 13 seasons the AL has dominated its MLB counterpart in the exhibition that is supposed to determine which league is better than the other. Say what you will about the way the game is played and whether players take it seriously, but one thing is clear: Over the past 13 years, the best players from the AL have been better than those of the NL.

Now, I’m supposed to somehow relate this to college and UW, telling you that us Badgers are like the American League. We have the best fans, we’re loaded with talent, and most importantly, we never lose, right?

Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m from Los Angeles, and that means I’m a Dodger fan — that makes me a National League supporter.

So if I like the NL, then I support the losers, and if I support the losers, then I’m not a fan of consistency, at least in the good sense. So if I like a team that seems to always lose, then I can’t be a Badger fan, can I?

Anyone who watched the UW football team last season knows that simply can’t be true. Two years removed from one of the best seasons in Badger football, head coach Bret Bielema, his coaching staff and most importantly the student athletes came out with perhaps the most disappointing season in recent Wisconsin history, posting a 7-6 record to go along with an embarrassing 42-13 loss to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl.

But nevertheless, here I am less than a year later talking about UW football. You know why? Because I, like nearly every other Badger fan in the world, like consistency.

Not the consistent weak arm that Dustin Sherer displays on Saturdays, or John Clay’s overpowering of smaller defensive players on a weekly basis. I’m talking about the fans that, for one reason or another, continue to come back to support this team through the thick and thin.

Clearly, if you’ve been a Badger fan all your life, these morals have been implanted into your life since you were a young child. For me, like many of the new students coming to the UW, this was the first time in my life that I realized what being a fan really meant.

We aren’t the Indiana Hoosiers, where more people go to a tailgate than the actual football game. This isn’t Michigan or Ohio State, where football recruits go simply because of a tradition. At Wisconsin, the tradition is still being built, and that is why Badger fans are so uncompromising when it comes to athletics.

Usually, a team that has a winning record 12 out of 13 seasons can call itself a success. But with one mishap, you end up with the head coach on the hot seat and a beleaguered athletic department.

I too have the flaw of being too demanding at times. I have called for Bielema’s firing, just as I have questioned his, as well as other UW coaches’ actions. But at the end of the day, I still have that one word in mind — consistency.

So as much as I hate to say it, let’s be like the American League. For the players in the AL, winning the All-Star Game has begun to turn away from a friendly exhibition and into an annual tradition.

Continuing that tradition doesn’t mean winning every game or even the Big Ten for that matter (both would be remarkable feats). But like the American League, if we stay consistent, the tradition will be completed. Continue to be critical. Hate the coaching staff. Demand success. Without that pressure, this program won’t go anywhere

But when it’s all said and done, why do we rally wake up at 8 a.m. to “get ready” for a football game? To stay consistent, and to bring the biggest amount of support we can to the team that needs us the most.

And yeah, the winning is nice too.

Jonah Braun is a junior majoring in journalism and Hebrew and Semitic studies. If you have any questions about sports reporting or just want to share your thoughts about Wisconsin athletics, email him at [email protected].