My experience at the Kohl Center

[shaquilvaine]

1st time there:  
I was embarrassed for Bo after Buzz genuinely ran over to congratulate the 9 year old girl who killed the national anthem.  Buzz was being Buzz and Bo was probably thinking " that hillbilly is trying to show me up in my own home.". Very awkward and forced reciprocation by Bo.

Prior to the game we went to Buckinghams bar right by the Kohl center.  After waiting for a beer for 10 minutes and watching people next to me get beers, I asked the bartender who looked like Turtle + 150 lbs " Can I get a beer?" I was told "no".   Keep in mind I wasn't doing anything to warrant discontent other than wearing yellow.  Are you fing kidding me?

At halftime my 27 yo brother empties our flask into two large cokes in the stall.  He exits the Stall and the 40 yo badger fan with a tucked in red tshirt and jeans with white high tops says to him, "is there booze in there?  There better not be or I'm calling security.".  I realize the players for UW look like they are from 1970, but maybe the fans are too.  Pathetic! The sense of entitlement and arrogance is mind boggling.  We laughed at this poor b@st&rd for a long time.

One final note,  is there anything more embarassing than that UW student dance competition during a timeout.  

[muhoosier260]

Thats too bad about the poor service at a bar. No way that would happen at an MU bar/bar near the BC. I can't imagine what it would've been like AFTER the game. Sounds like you bumped into a real tool in the bathroom too; an MU fan would've posed the same question but rather would've called security if there WASN'T booze in the drink.  Good work though, way to represent.

[mubb34]

I sat by Vander Blues 4th grade teacher.....And then it was my friend and myself as  the only Marquette fans in section 305. First, 2 people in front of me moved because I was being "to loud for cheering for my team". I also had 2 guys that probably graduated from UW a couple years ago sitting behind me that were complete tools...I stood up when Jordan Taylor got his 4th foul and said "thats four baby"! When I did that, the two guys were like, " Im glad you can count to four. I have a real education from Madison.Marquette is just pure trash." Real classy right? I just laughed at him and when the WE ARE MARQUETTE chant went throughout the Kohl Center, i looked him straight in the eyes and smiled

[cheebs09]

With about two minutes left in the game, there was the play where we scored a basket and then when Taylor bumped into Crowder and it looked like the called a foul on Crowder, but it was an MU time out. I said "S***" as a reaction thinking they called a foul on Crowder for his fifth. This is the first and only time I swore all game. The lady in front of us turned around and told me to watch my language because there are kids around and she would get an usher if I swore again. At first I was like ok whatever, but then informed her that the student section isn't exactly G-rated. She responded by saying that those students get kicked out and she would get an usher. We just kind of dropped it.

I am guessing that she wouldn't have cared much if they were up 7 at that point instead of down 7, but I (along with the Badger fans that I told what happened) couldn't believe it. Otherwise, the Badger fans were pretty good around us and saw a lot of gold in the crowd. Nice venue, and even better since we won.

[94Warrior]

I was shocked at how silent a sellout crowd could actually be.  Badger fans stood and cheered for a grand total of about 10 seconds in the second half.  Then a timeout was called, and you would've thought there was a huge game of musical chairs going on as everyone in red scrambled for their seats.  I was in the 5th row of sect 108, and myself and a few MU fans were literally the only ones cheering in our section.  

Embarrassing performance by Badger fans.  Although, after the game I was impressed by how civil UW fans were to me on State Street.  Not one person said how fortunate UW was to get Gasser and not Blue.  Prior to Saturday, I couldn't even go to a neighborhood party without hearing that nonsense.

I can still hear "We Are Marquette" ringing in my ears.  Great effort by the MU-partisan crowd.  Good times.  

[mubb34]

I was shocked at how silent a sellout crowd could actually be.  Badger fans stood and cheered for a grand total of about 10 seconds in the second half.  Then a timeout was called, and you would've thought there was a huge game of musical chairs going on as everyone in red scrambled for their seats.  I was in the 5th row of sect 108, and myself and a few MU fans were literally the only ones cheering in our section.  

Embarrassing performance by Badger fans.  Although, after the game I was impressed by how civil UW fans were to me on State Street.  Not one person said how fortunate UW was to get Gasser and not Blue.  Prior to Saturday, I couldn't even go to a neighborhood party without hearing that nonsense.

I can still hear "We Are Marquette" ringing in my ears.  Great effort by the MU-partisan crowd.  Good times.  

I still have chills from hearing that throughout the Kohl Center!!!!

[LeftyWarrior]

This was my first MU-UW game at the Kohl center and the experience was great.  I sat in section 222 with my wife, both decked out in MU colors.  The Badger fans on each side of us were very nice and knew alot about the MU team, even the freshmen. 

We went to the Nitty Gritty before and after the game and were treated well.  After the game there were a couple of We Are Marquette chants in the bar the got some dirty looks from the Badger fans. 

The We Are Marquette chants in the Kohl center were awesome!!  All in all, I think the MU games at the Bradley center are a much better experience for the fans and players.  The alternating introductions at the Kohl center alone tip it in favor of MU.  The band was missing, which did not help.

[TallTitan34]

Most of the Badger fans in our row left with about 45 seconds to go. They were very nice on the way out saying the better team won and good luck in the future.

My wife and I went to "The Stadium" bar after the game to join our fellow MU friends who had been there since two.  We were the only ones wearing gold in a sea of red.  We had no problems getting served by the waitress.

We cheered for MSU in the football game and an angry badger fan called us Norwestern rejects.  I was a big fan of that insult.  Hadn't heard that one before. 

[GGGG]

This was my first MU-UW game at the Kohl center and the experience was great.  I sat in section 222 with my wife, both decked out in MU colors.  The Badger fans on each side of us were very nice and knew alot about the MU team, even the freshmen. 

We went to the Nitty Gritty before and after the game and were treated well.  After the game there were a couple of We Are Marquette chants in the bar the got some dirty looks from the Badger fans. 

The We Are Marquette chants in the Kohl center were awesome!!  All in all, I think the MU games at the Bradley center are a much better experience for the fans and players.  The alternating introductions at the Kohl center alone tip it in favor of MU.  The band was missing, which did not help.

This mirrors my experience.  I was decked out in my MU gear and in bars both before and after the game.  Fans were great.  Some good natured ribbing but that's about it.  I sat in a sea of red and we all agreed that the refs sucked.  I'm not real vocal during games so I didn't really say anything that would get people around me going.

[robmufan]

Most of the Badger fans in our row left with about 45 seconds to go. They were very nice on the way out saying the better team won and good luck in the future.

My wife and I went to "The Stadium" bar after the game to join our fellow MU friends who had been there since two.  We were the only ones wearing gold in a sea of red.  We had no problems getting served by the waitress.

We cheered for MSU in the football game and an angry badger fan called us Norwestern rejects.  I was a big fan of that insult.  Hadn't heard that one before. 

For the bball game there were about 10 people in the bar.  Being part of the "Northwestern Rejects" at the table, I decided to engage in a dialogue with the distraught badger fan. He seemed to be a sour apple out of the bunch as anyone else i talked to Saturday night was quite pleasant.

[GGGG]

We cheered for MSU in the football game and an angry badger fan called us Norwestern rejects.  I was a big fan of that insult.  Hadn't heard that one before. 

No offense, but unless you are a MSU football fan, that is kind of a dickish thing to do.  You just basically said that people were nice to you most of the day, and then you openly root for their football team to lose?

[jficke13]

If you don't like UW, why root for their minor league football team?

[NotAnAlum]

This was my third MU game at the KC, second in seats in 227 where I'm now 2-0.  I actually think the Badger fans were as civil as I would be to them in MKE.  I don't think anybody "likes" having opposing fans sitting around them.  That said the couple I talked to were knowledgeable and reasonable about their teams strength's and weaknesses.
One thing I was surprised about.  With something like 30 seconds left and MU up by 5 or 6 the Badgers foul.  As we go to the line 3/4 of the fans just get up and leave.  Now I don't know about you but it is certainly possible for us to miss the free throw, them come down and hit a 3 and they have a fighting chance.  I didn't feel like it was really in the bag until the ball went out of bounds with 8 seconds left.  Just surprised they would give up like that.
Of course that last 30 seconds with mostly MU fans staying on gave us a chance to celebrate and the chants of "We are Marquette" were great.  Great win, now lets follow it up with a win in NYC.

[APieperFan3]

Went to the game with 1 MU fan and 2 UW fans.

There were a few idiots running their mouths - both nothing that we couldnt handle. Mind you, there were also a few MU fans that probably didn't put us in best light - per say. You're going to get it everywhere, so just expect it.

I got a bunch of texts saying how you could hear the "We Are Marquette" cheer at the end of the game LOUD AND CLEAR. That made me very happy....

....and so did the 30% of Badger fans that left with 1:30 left....what were they thinking?...They missed Todd's DUNK!!  

[MUMac]

Early on, I was cheering and the woman in front of me sort of turns and gives me a strange look.  I told her I cheer for my team, but will not cheer against the other team.  She smiled and said that she could not say the same thing.  We were all good then!

The section I was in was better than past KC experiences.  The fans did not cry and whine at every call or no call.  My son had a different experience in the seats that he sat in, though.  He texted me early in the 2nd half and asked "Badger fans cry a lot".  After the game he said that people in his section whined and complained about MU's defense.  They felt it was too physical.  I laughed.  I thought the Big 10 took pride in being physical.  In fact, when bo cooled on Diener, wasn't it because he was not strong enough to handle the big, bad, physical Big 10?  

[GGGG]

If you don't like UW, why root for their minor league football team?

Rooting for, and openly rooting against, are two different things.

[MerrittsMustache]

I was shocked at how silent a sellout crowd could actually be.  Badger fans stood and cheered for a grand total of about 10 seconds in the second half.  Then a timeout was called, and you would've thought there was a huge game of musical chairs going on as everyone in red scrambled for their seats.  I was in the 5th row of sect 108, and myself and a few MU fans were literally the only ones cheering in our section.  

Embarrassing performance by Badger fans.  Although, after the game I was impressed by how civil UW fans were to me on State Street.  Not one person said how fortunate UW was to get Gasser and not Blue.  Prior to Saturday, I couldn't even go to a neighborhood party without hearing that nonsense.

I can still hear "We Are Marquette" ringing in my ears.  Great effort by the MU-partisan crowd.  Good times.  

Was not at the game but just from watching it on TV, I was also shocked at how quiet the KC was for much of the afternoon. Even when Wisco made a run, it didn't seem all that loud. Maybe the loudest of the Bucky fans headed to Indy for the weekend...or maybe the fans realized that their team was simply outmanned.

The quoted post mentioned Gasser which reminded me: When did he become so whiny? Admittedly I didn't watch many UW games, but was he like that last season? He seemed beside himself at every call, no matter how blatantly obvious, that went against UW. I bet there were 4-5 times where he threw his arms up in the air with disgust after a whistle. I was surprised by that.

[jficke13]

Was not at the game but just from watching it on TV, I was also shocked at how quiet the KC was for much of the afternoon. Even when Wisco made a run, it didn't seem all that loud. Maybe the loudest of the Bucky fans headed to Indy for the weekend...or maybe the fans realized that their team was simply outmanned.

The quoted post mentioned Gasser which reminded me: When did he become so whiny? Admittedly I didn't watch many UW games, but was he like that last season? He seemed beside himself at every call, no matter how blatantly obvious, that went against UW. I bet there were 4-5 times where he threw his arms up in the air with disgust after a whistle. I was surprised by that.

didn't you hear the announcers say teams take on the attributes of their coach? the apple doesn't fall to far from the bo-tree.

[GGGG]

Was not at the game but just from watching it on TV, I was also shocked at how quiet the KC was for much of the afternoon. Even when Wisco made a run, it didn't seem all that loud. Maybe the loudest of the Bucky fans headed to Indy for the weekend...or maybe the fans realized that their team was simply outmanned.

The quoted post mentioned Gasser which reminded me: When did he become so whiny? Admittedly I didn't watch many UW games, but was he like that last season? He seemed beside himself at every call, no matter how blatantly obvious, that went against UW. I bet there were 4-5 times where he threw his arms up in the air with disgust after a whistle. I was surprised by that.

Taylor was the same.  I attribute that in part on the fact that MU got in their heads a bit. 

BTW, when JJ picked up that stupid hand check foul at half court, Buzz's reaction was priceless.  He fell to the floor so loud that I could hear it on the other side of the KC.

[MUMac]

Taylor was the same.  I attribute that in part on the fact that MU got in their heads a bit. 

BTW, when JJ picked up that stupid hand check foul at half court, Buzz's reaction was priceless.  He fell to the floor so loud that I could hear it on the other side of the KC.

Buzz was really PO'd on that call.  I thought he was going to get a T.  The Assistant Coaches did a good job of getting him out of there.  Fortunately, the official did not see it when he was making his way to his throne, er, I mean, the scorers table.

[Dr. Blackheart]

.. we all agreed that the refs sucked. 

Says the ref (and rightly their defender)...wow though.  Can we now agree that Hightower anticipates calls and is way past his prime?  Some fun facts:  Hightower has officiated three of the last four MU vs. UW games at the Kohl, and Driscoll has done the last three there. So much for the "random" assignment of refs. I assume the two schools stipulate one B1G, one BE and one from elsewhere in their contract.

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

It was my first trip to the Kohl and my first trip to Madison in general.

On the whole, I was pretty impressed. People were for the most part civil. We were in the last row of the upper deck in 327, which was nice because then we could stand whenever we wanted. Our group of 3 was then joined by three other MU fans sitting next to us. On the other side, two Badger fans, who for inexplicable reasons, left at half time.

As the We Are Marquette chants began ringing out loud and clear, on the way out, one old Badger lady snidely made a reference to football (whatever you need to feel better, lady.) said, "Well at least we have somewhere to go after this. You don't." My friend quickly retorted wishing them the best in the Capital One Bowl.

It was a pretty pathetic showing from the crowd. I've been to Valpo, UWM, SLU, and DePaul games that got louder than the Kohl Center on Saturday. It was pretty sad. To be fair, it's not like UW has a style of play that has you jumping out of your seat, and UW really didn't give them anything to cheer about as aside from a few dodgy runs in the second half, Marquette was in control for most of the game.

[Litehouse]

Just curious, but for those saying they were surprised how quiet the crowd was, was that your first time there?  The Kohler Center crowd is never really loud, and Sat. was about normal.

[JTBMU7]

A few thoughts from my day in Madison...

- MU's Defense reminded me a lot of how they played against Xavier last year. They continually forced the ball out past the perimeter and got the ball out of their guards hands. I commented to my buddies every time one of their forwards had the ball between the circles with 10 left on the shot clock. Not to brag, but I also said "first team to 60 wins", right before the game...
- Nice to see full court pressure to keep Jordan Taylor out of sync, he never could get going and often couldn't even initiate the offense due to the pressure. This might be the key to stopping UW, I hope they do well the rest of the way out, but if all you need to do is press Taylor and see if the other guys can beat you, then the Badgers may lose a lot of games this season.
- Todd Mayo has a nose for the rim. He just has that knack for getting shots to fall, and it never seems like he is working all that hard to get them.
- Winning on the road without a point guard? Not sure how I would feel about that if I was Junior... On the other hand, he was dressed and being very supportive, despite the suspension, seemed like he was doing everything he could to be a good cheerleader.
- 10-man rotations are tough to play against for 40 minutes, this is a really good, talented, deep team.
- Great to see DJO step up as a leader and take the tough shots in crunch time, especially with Jae struggling.
- UW must have scouted DJO's pump fake all week, very few times did anyone leave their feet and commit a foul, which usually happens 2-3 times per game.
- Awful officiating on both sides. Tim Hightower is very aware that he is on television. That charge on Blue was BS, but you could see it coming a mile away. My friend said it best, "the ref was just dying to make that call".
- A little disappointed with the Kohl Center crowd, I was expecting a bit more from the student section. Assuming they were all at the game in Indy, but still, the basketball IQ of the people sitting near me was almost non-existent. I heard a few people request a "challenge" or "review" on a few bad calls that went against UW.... Also, a large number of folks walked out with over a minute to go, I was shocked.
- Madison is a cool town and most the UW fans we encountered were gracious/clever. Had a few pitchers bought for us at more than one bar.
- Can we now put to bed any discussion of the Baby Blue's being cursed?
- Speaking of Blue, nice to see Vander giving it back to the student section on his way off the court. I'm sure he enjoyed the bus ride back to Milwaukee.
- the constant "We Are, Marquette" chants were outstanding. My parents were watching on TV and said they could hear it loud and clear...
- Great win, but it's still early in December, need to build on this and continue to roll through Dec... lots to look forward to with this team!

[jaybilaswho?]

This was my first time going to the Kohl Hole for a game.

I sat in the lower level of the student section with a group of 7 (5 of us were MU fans and 2 were Badger fans). I was surprised with how little ribbing we received. Mostly just got a few expected, "look at these a$$holes" comments as we got to our seats. For the most part the Students werent bad and actually rather intelligent (although sometimes delusional) when it came to basketball speak. Many of them, in the second half, accepted the fact that MU was gonna win the game so there wasnt much coming out of their mouths except when they would all gang up on one MU fan and point and chant "a$$hole" at them. They picked out one sole MU fan in the row ahead of us, who was at the game with his Badger fan friend, and chanted at him. Other than that, they were rather civil.

I think that should the Badgers not have been playing in the B1? Championship game, my weekend- and that of many other MU fans in Madison- would have been completely different.

One other thing--- This was the second time in my life that I have been to a college basketball game 'on campus' and therefore dry... god it su#ks.