Disgruntled Wisconsin Football Fan Groans Over “Modern Music”

This summer, Wisconsin Athletics hired an independent consultant to enhance the game day experience at Camp Randall Stadium. There were noticeable changes when Wisconsin Badgers football took the field to begin a new era under head coach Luke Fickell.

The pre-game video no longer features “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2. Other music choices at Badgers football games have, apparently, ground the gears of at least one fan.

Wisconsin Football Fan Writes Letter to the Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: There Is No Need for ‘Modern Music’ Blaring at Badgers Games

It all started with some Wisconsin football fans complaining about the volume of music. In a letter to the editor published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, one fan expressed displeasure with the songs themselves. The complaint over “‘modern music'” is written throughout, despite failing to define what that means.

Although I have a suspicion about what is left unsaid by “modern music,” I will take it at face value.

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I have been to more Wisconsin football games than I care to count. Truthfully, I am unsure what the complaint here is about. Is the occasional playing of “Fireflies” by Owl City (released 14 years ago in 2009) too “modern?” What about when the tradition of “Jump Around” began in 1998 when the song was a mere six years from its release? I would hope that writer Daniel Edelstein voiced displeasure then.

Wisconsin Football Should Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition

Our dear writer admits that “several generations of spectators’ tastes occur at the stadium” but seemingly casts this caveat aside. After ensuring those darn kids stay off the lawn, they argue, “a University of Wisconsin-Madison game is and should be a special experience — one that is different than the ordinary world.” Apparently, music from the 2000s and beyond is for the mere mortals. True enlightenment exists only in the form of songs by Neil Diamond and The Foundations.

Oh man. God forbid a stadium plays “modern music” for YOUNG ADULTS… on a COLLEGE CAMPUS.

This is just silly. https://t.co/CguZzZ1rsH

— Jake Maier (@JakeJMaier) September 22, 2023

I cannot imagine the response by this fan to Wisconsin football hiring offensive coordinator Phil Longo and implementing the Air Raid. I am certain the invention of the forward pass itself was blasphemous. Embrace tradition – run the damn ball.

All of this begs the question, where does tradition come from? Tradition is not established without it being done the first time. Frankly, I struggle to think of a tradition more human than blaring out the lyrics to the most popular song of the year in a crowded basement, bar, or football stadium.

University of Wisconsin Football Is for University of Wisconsin Students

Every player that suits up for Wisconsin football is a University of Wisconsin student. With an influx of television money, name-image-and-likeness endorsements, and a facilities arms race making college football a tradition more and more for the elite class every day, why can students not have one thing?

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Almost nothing beats spending 28-ish Saturdays over four years making unforgettable memories with friends. We should celebrate students on and off the field for finding camaraderie by singing “Mo Bamba” or “Paint the Town Red.” Regardless of which song it is, that event, that special moment when you see all of sections K through J singing as one – that is tradition.

I am not one to tell you how to fan. I will tell you, however, that you do not gain respect in my eyes by complaining that an event that only exists because of the unpaid labor of young people, is spectated by young people, and is slowly getting stripped away from young people, is too oriented towards those young people.

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