Life is different in Wisconsin though, depending where you are. There are fields of wheat and an abundance of corn. There are cows and horses everywhere when there isn’t snow on the ground and it’s guaranteed there’s a place that sells homemade cheese curds nearby.
The season of fall also holds a different meaning in Wisconsin.While Alabama is blessed with beautiful weather for a majority of the football season, save for scorching heat at the beginning of the season, Wisconsin turns into a tundra half way in as winter starts to approach.
Imagine attending a football game when there’s snow on the field. One should not lose feeling in their toes within the first half of a football game, but the weather won’t deter the Badger faithful, much like the scorching heat won’t deter Crimson Tide supporters from filling the sauna that is Bryant-Denny in early fall.
In Wisconsin, whether you are five minutes or five hours away from the campus, you’ll easily find a die-hard University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers fan. But in reality, Alabama is the same way with its university.
Apart from the uncontrollable variables, such as the weather and the landscaping, Alabama and Wisconsin share many common grounds. Football isn’t just a sport, it’s a way of life. Where there’s red–regardless of the shade–there’s white, and fans of their respective university are represented everywhere.
The intensity of Alabama and Wisconsin fans is something each state should be proud of. They don’t mess around, especially during football season. Whether or not someone personally graduated from the University, they are fan of their state university, plain and simple–for the sake of the argument, ignore the Alabama population that roots for Auburn.
Both sides of this story make up my reality. With a majority of my extended family born and raised in Wisconsin, Sept. 5 will be an interesting day full of tension between the many Waack family members. My immediate family will be supporting Alabama–partly because they have no choice in the matter–but it pains me to say I already know my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents will be cheering for Wisconsin. Funny thing is, no one from our family attended or currently attends school there.
So why are they Badgers fans? The same reason anyone in Alabama is a Crimson Tide fan. It’s how these two states just happen to work. It’s how captivating college football is to so many people. But mainly, it’s how people come together for a single cause.
Come Saturday night, it can be expected the city of Arlington will be overwhelmed by the amount of both Alabama and Wisconsin fans. It’ll be a sea of red and white, Alabama fans dressed in crimson and houndstooth, Wisconsin fans dressed in their notorious pinstriped overalls and body painting.
Football analysts can say whatever they want in regards to who they think is going to win and what they think is going to happen, but unless it’s in favor of their team, fans won’t listen. They want to–have to–believe there is always hope for their team to prosper.
Not only will there be a battle on the football field, but in the stands, it’ll be a battle of the fans and only one team can emerge victorious.
