... you really missed out on a wonderful experience.
Those people flat out know how to put on a football game up there. Night before ... pre-game ... game ... post-game ... all impressive.
Even their alumni band put on a heckuva show!
I've been to some "big time" football stops (Oklahoma, Texas, etc.), but I have never seen a total football experience close to the one I saw this weekend.
Edited by: tarheeltailgater at: 9/22/03 2:28:37 pm
TarHeelicious
Woody Durham said Madison is ranked as the #1 college town in America and that Chapel Hill is about #14.
I've been to many of the big-time atmospheres and it's a shame that we can't have something similar in Chapel Hill. Of course it would help to have a decent football program on par with the facilities.
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Jersey Heel in VA
I was there too. Absolutely the best football atmosphere I have ever experienced. The people are incredibly hospitable too.
Tarheeltaigater: Of course, I posted this on Saturday after the game but the ninnies shot back at me "of course they treated us well...home fans are always nice to us when we play on the road".
Naturally, I asked the ninny who he meant by us since he didn't make the trip. It was also clear that some people are so bitter that it is difficult to post anything positive...anything at all.
I intend to post something more comprehensive about the Madison trip on the Premium page. Perhaps that page will be ninny - free.
*******
Realistic Tar Heel football fans have patience: Think 2004. Go Tar Heels!!! Support Carolina Athletics: Join the Rams Club!
www.ramsclub.org
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eldog
"Jump Around" came across great on tv. They also played some great bumper music. Not the least of which was Machinehead
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TarHeelicious
And now, taking the field for your viewing excitement, the Pride of the ACC, the Marching Tar Heels!!!!!
How can anybody top that except for maybe the player introductions on the jumbotron that can never be heard?
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remheel
wish I could've witnessed the general atmosphere; a whole student section singing "build me up buttercup"? I've heard Wisconsin is flat out a cool place....
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DoctorXXX
Re: For those who didn't make it to Madison ....
After going to the Wisconsion game and to the OSU-NCSU game a week before, one thing is for sure the Wisconsin Students are the most organized and loud group around with great traditions. Also, it didn't look like many Heel fans showed up. OSU overall had a louder crowd than the Wisconsin crowd.
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bornheel
Did anyone visit the Capital Brewery? the place rocks, good suds too
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P1967
Saturday's game was tough for me since I attended both schools (UNC-undergrad and UW-masters), but I ended up cheering, as usual, for the Heels.
When I was a student in Madison, the football team was woefully inept. The Badgers went two entire seasons without a win, IIRC, during my time there. Yet you'd have never known that was the case . . . huge crowds at the game, tremendous student attendance (even in howling blizzards) and just a whole lot of fun.
UW is a great state university, and Madison is a wonderful college town. Where else but in Madison could you be walking by the state Capitol and come across a small gathering of folks listening politely to the Prime Minister of Norway giving a speech . . . which I witnessed one brisk day in 1969 or 70.
But it is a cold, cold place, with the campus situated between two lakes. After reading Jon Krakuer's "Into Thin Air," I was reminded of trying to reconnoiter UW's campus in a blizzard trying to get to campus, but turning back when I could no longer feel my feet and hands . . .
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RaleighWolves
Freshman
Re: For those who didn't make it to Madison ....
What a breathtaking football atmosphere. The UW football atmosphere is not just a whole another level above UNC's.....I'd say it's more about four levels above. First and foremost, there is the giant student section producing synchronized cheers....similar to Dook bball, but more clever and more impressive due to the immense size of the student body (40000, I think). The UW band was actually good...not annoying and cliche. The alumni band (picture 15 guys in their 50s-60s walking around with tubas) shows the lifelong commitment. The music played on the sound system rocked and they actually played songs from the past decade. The new tradition of the whole stadium jumping up and down to House of Pain's Jump Around to start the 4th quarter is the coolest thing ever.
Then there's the simple things.....people show up on time (actually early...and this was an 11am game) and stay the whole game, everyone in the stadium is wearing the team colors (UNC's crowd is somewhat good about this, but there's way more fashion statement crap going on at UNC than team color flashing).
I still love my Heels and I do think Kenan is a nicer facility, but wow.....we gotta long way to go.
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Heelfire
Reply Re: For those who didn't make it to Madison ....
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Oops...I posted that last post under my Wolfpacker brother's name. Argh!
I still had a blast in Madison, though.
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dmitchell
I was very impressed how the public address announcer gave scores of the other athletic events that UW was participating in over the week-end. They were promoting the minor sporting events as well as football. The fans around us kept telling us to stay for the 5th quarter. Very few fans in our section left when the game was over, they stayed for the 5th quater and watched the band. The student section was great. UNC has a long way to go to have this on a football week-end. It all boils down to support.
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jrholl
i arrived at 8:30 am and the streets around the stadium were nothing but red---best atmosphere i have experienced---they have no rules against open alcohol containers and i observed nothing but courteous and respectful behavior---not sure unc can get to this level even if we were to be a top ten football team----hope i am wrong ----the announcer was easy to understand and i was so close to the speakers that the usher offered my wife and i ear plugs---the tar heels will be back---count on it---go heels
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BillyRed
I'm glad to hear everyone enjoyed their trip to Camp Randall. We think we have a pretty special place to watch a college football game. Yeah the students can get a little vulgar with their chants, but they truely are having a good time and are into the game.
I would love to see the Badger hoops team hook up with UNC sometime in the ACC-Big Ten challenge. When you talk college basketball UNC, along with IU, UCLA, and Kentucky immediately come to mind. Finally the Badgers have a team that we can go to war with.
I look forward to coming to Chapel Hill in 2005 when the Tarheels will host the Badgers. I hear Chapel Hill is a very good college town as well.
ON WISCONSIN!
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Jersey Heel in VA
Re: For those who didn't make it to Madison ....
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The Madison experience was absolutely unbelievable! Sure, I would like to have had a win, but for this post, I will just talk about the atmosphere.
Around 9:30am, we arrived at a place on campus near the stadium called Union South. This is the equivalent of "The Pit" on UNC's campus. Union South was mobbed. On one end they had ESPN Gameday piping through loudspeakers. On the other end they were piping the Wisconsin pre-game radio show. In between they were grilling brats, burgers & chicken and yes, they had beer for sale. Lots and lots of beer.
At 10am the Wisconsin band marched in and sat in a seated area. At Wisconsin, the band is a big, big deal and they absolutely adore this guy Mike, the band director. This guy Mike has been running the band since the 1970s and everywhere he goes people yell his name.
"Hey Mike!"
"Mike, how's the band doing today?"
"Mike, will you pose for a picture with my baby girl?"
"Mike, whose gonna win the game today?" (He said Wisconsin)
And they make sure to interview him on the pre-game show before the band starts playing. Want more proof about how much they love their band director? Check this out:
This is a friggin' bobblehead doll of Mike, the band director!!! When the band director gets this kind of attention, you can only imagine how much they love their football team.
OK, so the band starts playing their fight song and everyone goes nuts. Cheerleaders are dancing, the fans are singing, everyone is in a pretty jolly mood.
Then the band played Here Comes Carolina!. That was pretty neat. The band then finished up with two or three more numbers before playing The Budweiser Song where they all shout out "When You Say WIS-CON-SIN! -- YOU'VE SAID IT ALL!". And finally, the band concluded with another round of their Fight Song sending a few thousand red-clad Badger fans across the street charging into Camp Randall absolutely pumped for the game. This was one heck of a pep-rally!!!
(one side note: even though our band did not make the trip, our band director was on hand at Union South observing the UW band. I guess if you want an example of how to do things right, the UW band is the one to emulate. I was actually happy that our band director was there b/c it shows me he is interested in improving our band)
Now, let's talk about the student section which is absolutely massive. I'd estimate that it is at least twice the size of what we have in Kenan. And they were all in their seats by kickoff....and remember, this was an 11am local time start. And, as also mentioned above, they are kind of like a football version of the Cameron Crazies, only these guys are better (of course!) because of their size. They have lots or scripted cheers and love to dance around during the game.
During a break in the action in the first quarter, the PA announcer asked all fans "to rise and join in our time-honored tradition of singing "Varsity". I am pretty sure this is their alma-mater and by the end 80,000 folks less a few blue Tar Heel fans were slowly waving their hands back and forth....one gigantic moment of "kumbaya".
Back to the students....at the end of the third quarter, the song Jump Around gets blasted over the sound system....and naturally the students were jumping up and down while the band was doing the same in the end zone. Talk about a way to get the crown fired up heading into the fourth quarter....yowza!
And finally, the UW band performs on the field after all games in an act they call The 5th Quarter, and I'd say about 40,000 fans remained to watch this peformance.
Outside of the stadium after the game, fans were tailgating into the night and their were plenty of bars within a few blocks of the stadium. Again, grilled brats, burgers & chicken and lots and lots of beer. And all of this continued well into the night. I got the feeling that even if Wisonsin lost the mood would still be quite festive.
As someone walking around wearing blue in a sea of red, I was constantly approached by all sorts asking about our football team, our basketball team, Chapel Hill, how we're doing after Hurricane Isabel, etc. At most away games, wearing your school's color makes you a target for hostility. In Madison, I was a target for hospitality before, during and after the game. I hope as Tar Heel fans we can step up and return the hospitality to the Badger fans when they visit Kenan in September 2005.
AREN'T WHINING ABOUT THIS , I find it odd that OSU would be our only target. It's only OSU, which probably has the BIGGEST jerks for fans which are complaining. I know not all OSU fans are that bad, but many are ticked off about the fact that UW has whupped them pretty good lately. 
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I just get mad every time that I hear that crap! I was a student at UW from 1989-1993 and things have not changed much other than some of the stuff we used to do getting banned, like the marshmallows. I live in Madtown and I still love going to the games. Most of this talk is overblown by people who want to stir up trouble (ie OSU fans.) 
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