Can you root for Wisconsin football?

[TomW1365]

As I'm writing this email, I'm wearing a white long sleeve Bucky Badger Wisconsin shirt under my Marquette zipper hoody... I root for N.D. and Wisconsin football. 

[akmarq]

I root for N.D. and Wisconsin football. 

uh...yuck.

[MUsoxfan]

I love Wisconsin football.   If you don't cheer for them and live in Wisconsin which team do you cheer for Illinois?, MI, MN. ?  I would much rather support my state than another and not to support a team is not to support college football.   My Dad went to Wis and my mom went to Marquette as did I.   I went to school in Milwaukee and many of my good high school friends went to Wisconsin and we had great times at Badger games football and basketball.   Some of the fellows that played with me on the State championship team went and started at MU and other went and started at Wisconsin.   We all cheered for each other except when we played against each other.

I don't know that a strong rivalry means you shouldn't like them after the game.  I go out with my Wisconsin buddies after the games win or lose and the winner has bragging rights which is lots of fun.   Can't imagine not supporting my friends and enjoying watching their sports.   One of my sons is like me.  The other is a huge UW football fan and hates them in basketball no matter what because is that strong an MU fan.   I agree that Duke and UNC can never like each other but it seems to me that in Wisconsin, both fan bases can have a beer together and give the loser S**t

I live in Illinois.   I'd rather die than cheer for that team that wears orange.   I adopted LSU as my football team about 8 years ago after having a wonderful experience at a game down there.  There are very few more excruciatingly boring things to watch than Big Televen athletics

[GGGG]

He'll sit there.  Quietly. And he'll like it
Are there other state schools that do this? As an out of stater it's always seemed slightly creepy the way everyone in WI clings to the Badgers regardless of what college they went to.

Yes.  My understanding is that there are many fans of programs...such as Nebraska, Oklahoma and many of the SEC schools, where their fan-base goes well beyond their alumni. 

[akmarq]

Yes.  My understanding is that there are many fans of programs...such as Nebraska, Oklahoma and many of the SEC schools, where their fan-base goes well beyond their alumni. 

Good point on Nebraska.  I would think that OU would be somewhat diluted by OSU's recent success but your point on the SEC is also probably largely correct (with the exception of FL and maybe Ole Miss v. MSU)

I guess it just seems weird to me to identify that strongly with a school you've never attended, but that's what you get for living closer to Canada than the rest of the US.

[warthog-driver]

He'll sit there.  Quietly. And he'll like it

MU-Madison is just a particularly strange case because they are two heated basketball rivals where MU doesn't have a football team and Madison is the major football program in the state.  I can't think of many other schools who fall into that category. 

Zags - U Dub. I asked a couple Zags if they root for the Dawgs football team and the answer was HELL NO!

[warthog-driver]

they went to UW-Stout

I was in ASMU and I went to a convention for members of student govt in WI and MN. There was a party at the hotel we were all staying and I remember speaking with a guy who was from UW-Stout. He told us he was majoring in "Welding Technology." I was dumbfounded that this was a legitimate major but he wasn't BSing - evidently they have an industrial arts degree and Welding Technology is a major there.

[akmarq]

That's because no one who doesn't have to roots for the UW football team...0-11 will drive off a lot of fans.

My friends at 'Zaga (great school that doesn't get enough credit as an awesome place to watch basketball) don't seem to really care a WHOLE lot about football.  I would say that Big 11 football following is stronger that most Pac-10 schools (USC the obvious exception).  Also, in Washington there is a pretty good split between UW and WSU.  With Gonzaga being on the E. half of the state, I would venture that the Cougars have a better following.

[TallTitan34]

I root for N.D. and Wisconsin football. 

When Syracuse beat Notre Dame a few years ago in football, Caffrey's had SportsCenter on and when highlights of the game were shown the entire bar (aside from 3 or 4 ND fans) erupted into a "F*ck the Irish" chant.  It was beautiful.

[chapman]

He'll sit there.  Quietly. And he'll like it

MU-Madison is just a particularly strange case because they are two heated basketball rivals where MU doesn't have a football team and Madison is the major football program in the state.  I can't think of many other schools who fall into that category.  You bring up a good point though about the way the Badgers seem to claim fans from every UW school in the state.  Are there other state schools that do this? As an out of stater it's always seemed slightly creepy the way everyone in WI clings to the Badgers regardless of what college they went to.

It's just the lack of options.  No other DI football team in the state.  The people who went there can root for UW-River Falls or UW-Steven's Point, but they can't even get a game on the radio much less TV if they move to a different part of the state, and it's hard to be much of a DIII football fan.  The whole state kind of gets behind UW-Whitewater the one time they see them on TV each year (fifth year in a row...lame!) for the DIII title game in which they lose to Mount Union, but that's it and it's still DIII.  If it was like Michigan where you have UM, MSU, Eastern/Western/Central, and in the lower divisions GVSU/Northern/Ferris instead of 20 small time UW-insertname schools there's a healthy split between UM and MSU with plenty of alumni of the other schools who can be proud of their school because the team wouldn't get beat by a lot of high school teams.  In Wisconsin you're left with a monopoly and UW-Madison has to love it...even though UW-Shorewood is the size of the directional Michigan schools they don't even have a football team much less a competitive DI team.

[warthog-driver]

Ouch.  Man you gotta hand it to the kid.  Playing for WSU and not getting a scholarship to do so...

He played for Issaquah HS and they are a perrenial power here in WA State. A couple of the guys from Issaquah got invited to walk-on, our son included. He got into MU, Gonzaga, Middlebury (his Mom's alma mater,) Pomona, and Oregon but he took the Wazzou gig. He's majoring in their sports med program which is to become a Bob Weingart (I understand they spend a lot of time learning to properly tape with ace wraps, the benefits of a robust listerine gargle, and increased flexibility from ballet.)

As for this season, he's only suited up a couple times, never on the road. I told him last spring, when he was making his decision, that he needed to be realistic about being a part of the Wazzou team. I told him it would be at least one year of being a tackling dummy on the p-field and that is exactly what has transpired. As a freshman walk-on he is certainly at the bottom of the food chain but, as he likes to point out, he part of the team. I knew he had a good head on his shoulders when, as a junior right guard in HS, he had a spectacular pancake of a guy on a play. I mentioned this afterward and he thought about it and replied, that wasn't such a big deal. I asked why and he said, "we only got a couple yards on the play." Team player and a great kid.

Wazzou is having a tough go these days but we are hopeful Coach Wulff will turn it around.

[GGGG]

It's just the lack of options.  No other DI football team in the state.  The people who went there can root for UW-River Falls or UW-Steven's Point, but they can't even get a game on the radio much less TV if they move to a different part of the state, and it's hard to be much of a DIII football fan.  The whole state kind of gets behind UW-Whitewater the one time they see them on TV each year (fifth year in a row...lame!) for the DIII title game in which they lose to Mount Union,

Didn't they win one of those?

[akmarq]

Wazzou is having a tough go these days but we are hopeful Coach Wulff will turn it around.

+1

Basically my whole extended family went to WSU and my uncle who used to teach at MU (the only reason I applied) now teaches there.  I always root for the Cougars.

[GGGG]

Awesome.  Hope it works out for him.

My friend's brother was a walk on during the Don Morton years in Madison.  He was the only walk-on that stuck it out when Barry Alvarez came to campus.  He slowly descended down the depth chart as better talent was recruited each year, but stuck it out.  During his senior year, Alvarez called him in just before the season and gave him a scholarship.  That was the year they won their first Rose Bowl.  There is a picture of him on the field with his parents just after the game.  His jersey is perfectly clean...but at least he's wearing one!

[TomW1365]

I'm a south side of Chicago, Cubs fan.  Needless to say, I get some sh*t from alot of people.  I wouldn't hate the Sox if it weren't for all the annoying idiots that are constantly ridiculing Cubs fans.  I think I can borrow that example for this question.  Can you root for Wisconsin Football?  Yes you can... but it could become very annoying if I lived in Wisconsin and was constantly getting sh*t from Wisconsin fans while rooting for MU.  The farther removed you are from the rivalry area, the easier it is to root for anyone you choose.

[akmarq]

I'm a south side of Chicago, Cubs fan.  Needless to say, I get some sh*t from alot of people.  I wouldn't hate the Sox if it weren't for all the annoying idiots that are constantly ridiculing Cubs fans.

I don't like either team...but two years on campus had led me to believe that Sox fans are NOT the ones who should be being called "annoying"

Plus, I'd almost rather have people make fun of me for my sports team than deal with the complete apathy that people have toward the Mariners and AL West in general.

[warthog-driver]

He's a great kid and he loves being on the team and being in Pullman. What I noticed is that when we took him over there in July he immediately had 100 buddies who were going to be there for him. Now, those guys extract their pound of flesh, too, but they have taken him under their wing and made him feel at home.

One observation about WSU, it is a very close knit community and doesn't have that faceless, anonymous feel that you get in a place like Madison or Ann Arbor. The team is struggling but that is a very tight group of guys.

[chapman]

Didn't they win one of those?

Yep.