You jolt awake to the sound of your hall mates stampeding through your dorm, pounding on the doors and screaming at you to wake up. After a few brief moments of confusion as to why your heard your neighbor scream, “Jello shots in my room!” at 7:00 am, it dawns on you: it is game day. And it’s not just any game day, but it’s your first game day wearing red as part of the 14,000 screaming Badgers in the student section of Camp Randall Stadium. Whether it was years or just a few weeks ago, here’s a glimpse back in time to your first Badger football game day and the procession of events that ensued.
First things first: you break out the red. New tank, bandana, bibs, striped socks, converse, and face tattoos. You even paid the girl a few doors down to paint your nails with a fancy red and white design, because you can NEVER have too much school spirit! You are on top of your game in hopes that the team will be on top of theirs when you cheer them on later. You snap endless pictures with your new neighbors to show all of Instagram your Badger pride, while waiting in an endless line for the elevator, you finally make it out the door.
As you walk down the streets of Madison, all you see is red. You can literally feel the excitement in the air as you approach the center of it all: Camp Randall. Thousands of fans line up and wait for what is anticipated to be a great game. You make your way to gate 5, student ticket in hand, and after a beep you’re in! You aren’t really sure what line to go through or what section is best. Whether you follow in the long line for section O or opt for a shorter one, you and your friends (hopefully) funnel into the same line and get your ticket stub. You make your way up the concrete stairs and down to the closest open bleachers as On Wisconsin! blasts throughout the stadium. Packed and standing on the bleachers, you clap along and get ready to fight, fight, fight to win this game!
Oh man, what is everyone doing? Are those… keys? Yep, everyone is jingling his or her keys, so you furiously dig yours out just in time to get a few good shakes in before kickoff! The sheer athletic ability of the players is simply amazing. Some of us know everything there is to know about football and some of us know little to nothing, but no matter what your level of expertise is you can follow the rest of ‘em and try to keep up with the cheers. WE! WANT! MORE! BEER! and “First and ten, Wisconsin!” fills the stadium as you awkwardly try to do the foreign motions with everyone else, and before you know it you are reaching for your keys again.
Pretty soon halftime is here, with the band making a grand appearance and performing some spectacular number. Finally, you are able to sit, and you feel the mistake of wearing extremely low-support shoes. When the first pretzel appears near you and the aroma drifts your way, you remember just how hungry and dehydrated you are. You decide to venture to the pretzel stand, only to discover a line that will keep you waiting well into the third quarter to receive a warm bottle of BadgerMaxx and what seems like the best six dollar snack you have ever bought.
In the end, we won! Even if we didn’t win, the awesome fans keep the cheering and energy coming. Jump Around was every bit as amazing as you expected it to be. The question is whether or not to stay for the 5th quarter, which you do. Soon enough, you realize that the pretzel you ate just over an hour ago left your stomach as quickly as you gobbled it down, and you leave the festivities early because, well, food.
After all is said and done, you make your way back to your room to realize that, oh yeah, you forgot to bring sunscreen. After removing your shirt and face tattoos, you discover that you have truly embraced the Badger spirit when you see the stark difference between your fried red shoulders and white tank top tan lines. This is not to mention the white outlines of the Bucky Badger and signature “W” face tattoos you had on, which will stay with you for the next week until you have a chance to even out the burn. But even then, win or lose, it was a great day, and you take a short afternoon snooze in order to recharge for what will be another amazing night in Madison.