Posted by The Constable
The Wisconsin game holds special significance for me. Yeah, I know, it does for every Gopher
football (and basketball and hockey) fan.
But for me it’s a reminder of the past and what I crave in the present
each and every Fall.
You see, I was born in Illinois, raised in Wisconsin, and have spent
almost my entire adult life in Minnesota. The
way I see it now I was always on my northwesterly way here, but I just never knew it until I
arrived.
I am a child of two Badger fans, my dad having graduated
from UW-Madison and my mom having spent most of her academic career there
but eventually graduating from UW-La Crosse due to a family relocation. My aunt is a long-time UW employee and my
family has many deep roots in Wisconsin and especially Madison.
I remember attending a 30% full Camp Randall Stadium in the
Don Morton era and that my dad listened
to many games on the radio but I never paid much attention to the Badgers
growing up (they really were a terrible program once, Badger fans). As I finished high school I
had the desire to attend a smaller college than Wisconsin or Minnesota. I initially chose UW-Eau Claire and
eventually transferred to UMD to finish my degree. I followed the Badgers a little bit from
afar during those years, including the 1993-94 Rose Bowl season.
After graduation I began what is now my career as a staff
member at the University of Minnesota. A
short four months later, on October 9, 1999 I took my parents to the Metrodome
to watch the 20th ranked Badgers take on the 25th ranked
Gophers. Ugh...I was wearing a Wisconsin Rose
Bowl t-shirt from that 1993-94 season.
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| Ron Dayne was smothered by the Gopher Defense. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin State Journal. |
The game was close throughout with each team putting up 14
first half points. The Gophers scored on
two passes from Billy Cockerham to Arland Bruce (24 yards) and Thomas Hamner
(49 yards). Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne
punched in one rushing TD for the game from 3 yards out but for the most part
the Gopher defense held Wisconsin’s rushing game in check that day, with Dayne
carrying 25 times for just 80 yards. The
Badgers’ only other touchdown came on an 81-yard pass to Nick Davis. The teams traded field goals in the fourth
quarter and went to overtime.
I remember like it was yesterday that during the 3rd
quarter as the Gophers were mounting an incredible effort to stop the Badger
rushing game, my tepid loyalty to the Badgers started to ebb. Not wanting to offend my parents, I mostly
stopped cheering for the rest of the game but internally I started pulling for
the Gophers for the remainder of
regulation and overtime.
Over the course of a single 3 1/2 hour game, I converted. In what may have been a prelude to the rest of the Mason
years, I was disappointed that day with the Gophers unable to muster a matching
field goal in overtime and falling 20-17.
But despite the loss, that Gopher squad (the one that later beat #2 Penn
State in Happy Valley and won Floyd at Kinnick to end the season) won my heart
and I’ve been a diehard Gopher fan ever since. I suffered through Northwestern
2001, Michigan 2003, countless Purdue losses, Wisconsin 2005, and Tim Brewster. But through it all, I get optimistic every August and have kept coming back. Finally I'm starting to see my patience pay off.
That day in 1999 the Gophers gave out foam axes to
fans. One of those axes became a family
traveling trophy that I now haven’t laid my hands on since having to relinquish it in a ceremonial exchange in 2004. I want that foam axe back!
The situation this year is very parallel to the 1999 game. The team is turning around just as it was then. I believe Jerry Kill has brought the program back to at
least the 1999 level we saw that day under Mason. The rankings of both teams are similar and while the Gophers are even bigger underdogs this year than in '99, in both games the odds makers favored Wisconsin. I’m banking on another heroic effort to
contain the Wisconsin running game on Saturday…but I’m also banking on Jerry’s
team to be able to finish the job that Mason’s squad could not the day I became
a Gopher fan.
Final Note: My dad
was the classiest college football fan I’ve ever met. He never said a negative word about the
Gophers (or really any team for that matter) or faulted me for switching allegiances and he always rooted for Minnesota in bowl games.
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| Classy Badger Fan Bill Butler |
Trust me, I want that axe back as much as any Gopher fan and I will be yelling hard counts from section 117 to throw off the Badgers timing louder than ever. But there will be something missing for me. Do me one favor this Saturday. Pay a little closer attention than usual to whatever family connections you have that are strengthened (or strained for that matter) by this game and enjoy those shared experiences. Opportunities to make great memories are fleeting and "next time" isn't always possible.
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