The Showdown
Two weeks ago there was a schism in the family. The reason: Badgers vs. Hoosiers. The UW football team was set to take on the IU team at Camp Randall. Being the good son that I am, I secured four tickets to game. The last time the Hoosiers were in town I had also gotten tickets for my parents and myself. This time around my sister wanted to come, so it was a full family affair. In addition to this, my friends Alex and Lauren were coming up from Chicago for the game. It made for a busy weekend.
My parents had a wedding reception immediately after the football game, so they drove up separately from my sister. We all went out to breakfast at the Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton. Following this we convoyed down to Monroe Street. Tempers flared as I was attempting to guide my sister and my mother over to a parking place where I knew my parents could leave right after the game. While I was trying to figure out how to get over to Monroe Street, my father kept calling me to ask about just parking in someone's lawn - no guarantees on getting out of those spots early. Despite this, we eventually arrived and made our way to the game. Alex and Lauren had gotten student tickets, so they sat on the other side of the stadium from us. We missed the first part of the first quarter. UW was already up on IU 7-0. From this point the Badgers kept on dominating. During the Michigan State game I had really hoped to get a picture of the Badgers scoring a touchdown when driving toward my end of the field. However the Spartans conspired otherwise and made a goal-line stand. This time I managed to get not one, but two pictures:
This was the last play of the third quarter - perfect timing.
My parents left shortly after "Jump Around." My mother wasn't in the best of spirits; it had been a less-than exciting game, especially for a Hoosier. The Badgers scored one last time after my parents left, making the final score 33-3.
My sister and I stayed for the Fifth Quarter, when the UW Marching Band comes out and does a 20 minute post-game show, win or lose. The crowd had thinned out a good deal by this time, but it was still fun to watch. The band pulled off two "Fake Varsities" - where they play the opening of the alma mater, then break into the Bud Song. From my years as a student I'm fairly adept at sniffing out the first Fake Varsity, but they got me on the second. I should have known: they hadn't played "Swingtown" yet and the student section was calling for it. After the Fifth Quarter the band marched off the field and my sister and I met up with Alex and Lauren for a few post-game drinks and then dinner. Here's a picture of my sister in the stands as the band marches off.
My parents had a wedding reception immediately after the football game, so they drove up separately from my sister. We all went out to breakfast at the Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton. Following this we convoyed down to Monroe Street. Tempers flared as I was attempting to guide my sister and my mother over to a parking place where I knew my parents could leave right after the game. While I was trying to figure out how to get over to Monroe Street, my father kept calling me to ask about just parking in someone's lawn - no guarantees on getting out of those spots early. Despite this, we eventually arrived and made our way to the game. Alex and Lauren had gotten student tickets, so they sat on the other side of the stadium from us. We missed the first part of the first quarter. UW was already up on IU 7-0. From this point the Badgers kept on dominating. During the Michigan State game I had really hoped to get a picture of the Badgers scoring a touchdown when driving toward my end of the field. However the Spartans conspired otherwise and made a goal-line stand. This time I managed to get not one, but two pictures:
This was the last play of the third quarter - perfect timing.
My parents left shortly after "Jump Around." My mother wasn't in the best of spirits; it had been a less-than exciting game, especially for a Hoosier. The Badgers scored one last time after my parents left, making the final score 33-3.
My sister and I stayed for the Fifth Quarter, when the UW Marching Band comes out and does a 20 minute post-game show, win or lose. The crowd had thinned out a good deal by this time, but it was still fun to watch. The band pulled off two "Fake Varsities" - where they play the opening of the alma mater, then break into the Bud Song. From my years as a student I'm fairly adept at sniffing out the first Fake Varsity, but they got me on the second. I should have known: they hadn't played "Swingtown" yet and the student section was calling for it. After the Fifth Quarter the band marched off the field and my sister and I met up with Alex and Lauren for a few post-game drinks and then dinner. Here's a picture of my sister in the stands as the band marches off.
posted by wallrock at 1:04 PM
2 Comments:
LOL- "Tempers flared..." I've never been to a game, is the point of the fake-out that they always play the alma mater as their last song?
Yeah - they play "Varsity" early on in the show, then they end with it. Part of the tradition of "Varsity" is you stand up and put your arms around the persons next to you and sway. So when they "fake" it, they play the opening strains and everyone stands and puts their arms around each other. Hence the joke. I never missed a home game for six years running as a student, so I considered myself beyond fooling when it came to the Fifth Quarter.
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