This sports weekend in Wisconsin started as an idea 6 days before departure. I follow a Wisconsin sports page on Facebook and one of the members was selling 2 tickets to the Badgers football season opener vs. Penn St. Then, we looked at the Brewers schedule and realized they were home vs. the Cardinals. And bonus, Sunday was Ryan Braun Bobblehead Day! As luck would have it, the Badger game started at 11am CST, and the Brewers game started at 6pm CST that night. So, as crazy as we are, we bought tickets to the Badger game in Madison, and the 2 Brewers games on Saturday and Sunday! It was going to be a fun time!
It had been since I was a junior in high school that I attended a Badgers football game at Camp Randall, and Robbie wanted to experience it as well, along with the Wisconsin traditions, which I will get into more later. We drove up to Madison on Friday, and were on campus by 8:30am on Saturday morning. We wanted to park and see the Kohl Center (where the basketball team plays) first before we went to Camp Randall. We ended up parking in a driveway of what looked like a frat house. We were the last ones in the driveway, so everyone else leaving was parked in until we left! It reminded me of my first time at Wrigley Field when we parked in a car wash and had to wait until everyone else left so we could go!
The area around the Kohl Center was pretty cool, and directly in front of us we could see the state capitol!! We tried to get in the doors, but they were locked (we knew they would be, but we had to try)! Robbie told me that last season, one of the residents in the dorms right across the street from the Kohl Center hung up a "Fire Gard" sheet out their window, which coach Gard had to look at every time he left! Ha!
After the Kohl Center, we made our way toward Camp Randall, hoping to find a spot where we could stop and eat breakfast. As we got closer, it became more apparent to us that the only food we would be eating that morning were brats, hot dogs, or burgers! I swear, each block had pop-up vendors in almost every other parking lot of a business. So, we experienced a Wisconsin tailgate experience first hand of brats and burgers at 9 o'clock in the morning. I was not mad at it! The atmosphere was also pretty cool. On each side of the street, all we could see was red! I love college towns!
As we approached Camp Randall, it was close to gate times, which was awesome! That morning, the weather was cool and overcast, but a little humid with a threat of rain, so we dressed for the weather. What we didn't take into account for was all the walking we would be doing before the game! So when we got to the gates, luckily there was a vendor selling t-shirts. Robbie was dripping with sweat through his double layer t-shirts, and he was cursing himself for wearing jeans. I was in a long sleeved tee with a t-shirt over it and I was sweating too. Robbie bought a shirt, and the first thing we did when we got through the gate was find a bathroom and change! It felt so good to be cool!
We bought tickets one section over from the student section. I knew this was the spot we wanted to be, as the student section gets really into the game, and gets really rowdy! The last time I was at Camp Randall, I was actually sitting IN the student section, so this was the next best thing!
As we settled in, a handful of players were on the field, but they eventually gave way to the Badger Band. Now, the Badger Band is known for its precision, notably when marching. For as long as I can remember, and even maybe 2 generations before me, when the Badger Band moves, they high-step! And it is so cool! And when they change directions, they juke the other way, then make the full turn in the opposite direction. How they do that AND play is beyond me. As much of a band nerd that I am, I know I wouldn't be able to do that. I could barely walk and play at the same time.
The band played for a good 15 minutes before the game started, then introductions of the players were made. As Penn State was being introduced, a lullaby was playing over the PA system, which I thought was funny! The Badgers were then introduced to the delight of the crowd, who missed all last season as fans weren't allowed due to the pandemic. It was nice to have Badger football back!
After the coin flip, the Badgers deferred, which is always my favorite. No matter what we do in the first half, we come away knowing the ball is ours to start the 2nd!
Each team was slow to start, so much so that the game was scoreless going into halftime.
At halftime, the band graced us with their high-stepping presence again for nearly the full halftime. We were sitting on the opposite side of the field as they were playing, but the band did turn to do the song "I Will Survive." It was obviously a great halftime show!
Wisconsin and Penn State traded punts to start the 3rd quarter, but Penn St. was the first on the board, scoring a touchdown. The Badgers quickly answered with a touchdown of their own, and finally the crowd had something to cheer about. After each touchdown, the Badgers mascot, Bucky, gets on a platform and does push-ups for however many points are on the board. For example, after one touchdown, he will do 7 push-ups. After 2 touchdowns he will do 14, etc. I was at a game once where the Badgers scored like, 48 points. That's a lot of cumulative push-ups!
Now to talk about Wisconsin football traditions. In addition to the mascot doing push-ups, there are 2 more traditions that are widely known. One being 'Jump Around' and two being the 5th Quarter. For 'Jump Around', in between the 3rd and 4th quarters, the song Jump Around is played, and literally everyone jumps around to the point of the stadium shaking! Even the visiting team gets into it! This tradition has been going on for decades, and I don't see it ending! The other widely-known tradition is the 5th Quarter where the band comes on the field and play 15 straight minutes of music. For the band geek in me, this is one of the big reasons I come to games! A lesser known is the "Build Me Up Buttercup" tradition. At some point in the stoppage of the game, the P.A. system plays that song. And when it cuts out because of play resuming on the field, the crowd continues to sing until the end of the phrase. I love this tradition too! Unfortunately we did not stay for the 5th quarter, but I did capture "Jump Around" pretty well!
The Badgers were flat the rest of the game, and ended up losing 16-10. We left with around 3 minutes remaining to beat the crowds and traffic. Although the Badgers lost, it was still a super fun experience, and I would totally do it again! Living in Ohio, we are in the middle of Big Ten Country, so we will probably be going to away stadium's as the Badgers travel, which is alright by me!
It didn't take us long to navigate out of the city, and soon enough we were headed toward Milwaukee for the nightcap of the Brewers game! The last time we were in Milwaukee, we stayed at an Embassy Suites in Brookfield, about 10 minutes west of downtown. We really liked that hotel, so we stayed there again. It was perfect too because we were coming from the west, so we quickly checked into our hotel, changed our clothes from red and white to blue and yellow, and were out the door within 10 minutes!
We got to our seats Miller Park (it's now called American Family Field, but I still call it Miller Park. Just like I still call the White Sox's home Comisky Park, even though it's gone through like, 4 other name changes since then) with about 15 minutes left before first pitch. We were cutting it close, but that was by design, as we were coming from Madison earlier that day! Our tickets for both days were in the Club level, level 300. We did this by design too because we didn't want to be in the sun. This weekend also happened to be "2010's weekend", so on the jumbotron, they had the old logo and were playing clips from big games in that decade. It brought back memories!
The Brewers did all their scoring in the first 2 innings, but it proved to be enough. Our pitcher, Adrian Houser, threw a complete-game shut out, which is almost unheard of in today's Era of baseball! The Brewers were dominant the whole game, which was even better because we were playing the hated Cardinals! The Brewers won with a score of 4-0! One of my theories as to why the Cardinals were so bad can be summed up in 3 words: hideous blue jerseys!
We got to the stadium earlier than normal on Sunday morning for 2 reasons. One, it was Ryan Braun bobblehead day, and two, we wanted to explore Helfaer Field. Helfaer Field is in the parking lot of Miller Park, and its home plate is where home plate used to be at the old County Stadium (the Brewers' first home). In all the times we have been to games at Miller Park, we've never taken the time for Helfaer Field. It's a cool area but unfortunately the fid isn't open to the public. However, there are picnic tables outside the field for fans to enjoy!
Another thing we wanted to see is the spot where Hank Aaron hit his last homerun as a Brewer. This took some research as the exact spot is in the middle of the parking lot. We ran into a guy who knew exactly where it was, and led us right to it! There is a big plaque on the ground commemorating Aaron's homerun, and there is no way we ever would've found it amongst all the tailgaters! If you're ever at Miller Park, try finding this!
As the crowds were filing in, we got in line for the bobblehead. We had to be one of the first 100 people in the stadium! After we got the bobblehead and got to our seats, I did a photoshoot with it. One picture is depicting him hitting a homerun, and the other is him rounding the bases after said homerun!
On a more serious note, just in the last few weeks, Ryan Braun officially retired from baseball. He had become a free agent after the end of the 2020 season, but until the day he retired, he hadn't signed anywhere. Being last season was played without any fans, I thought for sure he would sign a 1-year contract with the Brewers so all the fans could bid him farewell. But when the season started, no Ryan Braun. Then I thought he would sign at the trade deadline in July to help us into the postseason. But still no Ryan Braun. And then on September 14th, he officially retired as a Brewer, spending his whole career in Milwaukee! He wasn't called "Mr. Clutch" for no reason! His career was filled with big moments, and I will forever be grateful that I was able to cheer for him throughout his whole tenure! The Brewers held a ceremony for him on September 26th, and it did not disappoint! He is a true class act and he will be missed.
Anyways, back to Sunday's game. The Brewers got off to a quick start on a home run by the least likeliest of players, Pablo Reyes. I joked to Robbie before the game started that he was going to hit a homerun in that game. And he did! Then in the 4th inning, the Cardinals ran into their own damn Cardinal luck and somehow scored 4 runs. They added to their lead with a homerun in the 7th. We were super frustrated because this is what the Cardinals do, and they were doing it again. In the 9th, we had our best opportunity yet. After an RBI to bring the score to 5-2, another unlikely, Daniel Vogelbach came to the plate with the bases loaded and 1 out. On a 1-0 pitch, he launched one to right field for a freaking GRAND SLAM! I couldn't believe what I just saw! It was the perfect way to end the weekend, especially vs the Cardinals!
We were lucky to have seen a complete game shut out on Saturday, and then a walk-off Grand Slam on Sunday! Can't get much better than that!
Our hotel was right next to a Chammps restaurant, and my dad and stepmom would go there every Saturday to the point where they were regulars and they even had a customer spotlight written up for them. Well, that location near them in MN closed, and to honor them, we went for dinner that night. It was the perfect way to end the day! Being that weekend was Labor Day, we were able to stay 1 more night and came home on Monday.
