Why Wisconsin-Marquette Rivalry Isn't There For Me

It's too bad I do not have a tape recorder on me at all times. I told people months ago that this could be the year Bo Ryan finally gets into a Final Four. Weird that a statement such as this would come from my mouth because if you've known me for sometime, I despised the Badger basketball team growing up. The reason had more to do with being a minority at my high school where most people loved the Badgers, and found every reason to make fun of Marquette.

It's also what made it a fun rivalry for me because I knew most days during the college basketball season, one side was going to give the other shit for something that happened the night before. Every loss Marquette had in those four years were painful because I knew the next day, my Badger fan friends would be waiting with snarky comments in the halls of Wauwatosa West. Likewise, it made me happy when the Badgers lost especially those ones to Northwestern. I hated Wisconsin more because of my friends more so than other influences. The other thing that bothered me was the slow, deliberate style the Badgers used for most of my life compared to Marquette's fun, transition style.



Let's fast forward to today. Most of you know I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for most of the year, and the rivalry for me is not what it used to be. The simple reason is because I do not go to Marquette or Wisconsin. Those two schools and the people who go/went there have all the right reasons to hate each other. They are contrasting schools in many different ways, and I feel like they do not have much to agree upon. If I went to Marquette, I would hate the Badgers just as much as I did in high school. But since I do not, the hateful feelings are not nearly as strong. In Northwest Wisconsin, a herd of people do not make fun me when MU loses to Seton Hall, nor do I make fun of Wisconsin fans for losing to UNLV. Sure, my roommates tell me 'Marquette sucks', but it's just playful banter. I actually don't give Wisconsin that hard of a time, but felt the need to when they set basketball back about 60 years ago a couple Fridays ago.

Another reason why the rivalry does not have the momentum to outsiders who did not go to either universities is neither team has cost the other a chance to play in the postseason, or ended their season.  Not being in the same conference also hurts the rivalry. If the Badgers had beat Kentucky, then lost to Marquette in 2003, the rivalry would be ten times bigger because that is a stomach punch loss. Every Marquette fan could hold that over Wisconsin fans' heads for a long time. To say something is a rivalry for outsiders for a single game in December is pretty difficult to do.

I wrote in my live blog, I yelled out a 'Let's go Bucky' during the Belmont game, and said 'Now I will run through ongoing traffic' because the 16 year old me would have kicked the living shit out of me for saying something like that. But, I wanted the Badgers win just like I did on Saturday because they are in my Elite Eight. An unbiased view of college basketball would see that the Badgers have a lot intangibles a team needs to succeed in the month of March.  If I can notice that, being a fan of the rival school, I feel most people saw the potential of this Badger team.

Wisconsin and their fans still irk me somewhat, but not as much as they did five years ago. I hope Wisconsin and Florida win on Thursday so I have the chance to cheer against the Badgers for the sake of my bracket, just because it would be fun to bring back those feelings for one night.

-Charlie.