TR: Gopher-Badger Non-Game Thoughts, 10/14/06

There is enough venom floating around on this board today to kill an elephant, and it is justifiable after the fifth straight dismembering of the Gophs at Camp Randall. What this thread is about is some of my non-gameplay thoughts about my weekend in Madison.

I drove down Friday afternoon, and got stuck in the work zone near Black River Falls. Arrived at my buddy’s house in Madison around 8:30, and was toasted within an hour. Had a hard time cheering for either team in the hockey game that someone had on TV (Bucky was hosting Boys Named Sue).

State Street Brats does not serve brats after 9 or 10 PM. I found this out Friday night, much to the disappointment of my stomach, as I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. However, Toppers Pizza on Regent and Randall is open until 3 AM. Their pizza tasted pretty darn good, although I put that down to the fact that I was drunk and half-starved.

UW students are late risers. Camp Minnesota had the beer flowing by 7 AM, and it was almost 9 before we saw anyone under the age of 35 out in the street in front of the house. Also, there was plenty of empty seating in the student section, and a portion of is under the second deck stayed open throughout the slaughter.

The only ticket I could get for less than an arm and a leg was a student ticket. Being that I am a referee, I can give and take verbal punishment with the best of them. That said, you would think the UW student section would be more creative in what they taunt opposing fans with, other than “A$$hole! A$$hole!” Jump Around wasn’t all that exciting, although I write that one off due to the fact that I was near the very top of the student section.

The Badger band makes the Gopher band look bush league. Relative to the Badger band, the Gopher band is also asleep standing up in their spats. I know it takes a lot more energy to sustain the high-step throughout the halftime show, but it looks a LOT better than the shuffle-stepping the Gopher band does. I was impressed with the Fifth Quarter, and the fact that more than a few token people hung around the whole duration. I hope that someday, the Gopher faithful can sing “Hail Minnesota” with the same gusto Badger faithful sing “Varsity.”

UW fans sure trash that city on game day. On Saturday around sundown, I’ve never seen so much garbage, stale beer, and other crap lying around in the streets. And that was just in the streets. The big bar compounds on Regent (Big 10, Lucky’s, the Stadium, et al.) had their outside fenced-in areas turned into a massive pile of empty beer cans. I found it disgusting.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Anyone who is complaining about how big the U of M campus is should be sent to Madison immediately to walk the campus.

Just like Iowa City was clearly Budweiser territory out of St. Louis, Madison is definitely Miller territory.

When eating breakfast at Mickey’s Dairy Bar (Regent and Monroe, across from Camp Randall Stadium), unless you can eat a massive pile of pancakes, just order 1. The pancakes are a foot across and 3/8 of an inch thick. They are tasty, but at some point your stomach absolutely refuses to take any more. The rolls are very good too, and there are two of them sitting on my counter waiting to be eaten for breakfast tomorrow.

The more we rely on ethanol, the less fuel efficiency we’ll have. My car, a 1991 Buick Park Avenue, got about 26 MPG on the freeway run to Madison on Minnesota gas, which is either 10% or 15% corn liquor. While this certainly isn’t bad, I filled up in Madison on Wisconsin gas (0 ethanol), and got 31 MPG on the run home. Explain to me how my gas mileage can go up 20% without doing anything significant to the car, aside from putting in 0 ethanol gas.

The fall colors, while a little after the peak, made the drive back this morning a little more palatable. Highlight spots included the downhill on 90/94 going down to the Wisconsin River, the tree tunnel north of the Dells, the Black River Falls area, just east of Eau Claire, and the uphill grade west of Menomonie.

So those are my random, non-gameplay thoughts about a weekend in Mad-town. Overall, I thought Iowa was slightly better than Madison, but that could go either way, depending on the crowd you’re with.