[colt45]

Shot down!

UW takes issue with Mountaineer's musket

By JEFF POTRYKUS
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Sept. 4, 2002


Madison - As college football rivalries go, West Virginia vs. Wisconsin doesn't conjure images of heated battles between proud teams on the field and passionate fans in the stands.
After all, the teams have met just twice and it is safe to say most of the current students weren't even around to see the last meeting, on Oct. 5, 1957, in Madison.

Yet Mountaineers fans have learned quickly to detest the Badgers and, it appears, the city of Madison. And it has nothing to do with the fact that Wisconsin leads the series, 2-0.

"This institution is one of the most liberal schools in the country," one West Virginia fan wrote Tuesday on wvsports.com. "This school borders extreme left-wing radicalism."

Why the fuss?

Because UW officials recently informed officials from West Virginia that the school's mascot will not be allowed to bring his antique musket into Camp Randall Stadium when the Mountaineers meet the Badgers at 11:10 a.m. Saturday.

"They asked if they could bring in a musket and shoot it off in the stadium," UW associate athletic director Jamie Pollard said Tuesday. "And there is a UW System policy that prohibits weapons on the campus.

"When I first was asked (by West Virginia officials) about it I didn't even want to (pursue) it. But they pushed and we checked. But quite frankly even if it wasn't prohibited, we didn't want them to come in with it.

"First of all, it is our game. And we don't need a gun going off in front of 80,000 people. In the big spirit of it all I understand why they want to do it. But it is our home game."

According to a West Virginia official, the musket is akin to a starter's pistol and fires powder. The mascot has been asked in recent years not to fire the gun inside basketball arenas and even once at a football stadium, but until now no school has banned the musket.

"We always ask the question when we go somewhere we haven't been before," the official said. "The musket is one of the traditions of our state and that guy represents us. The mascot is a very prestigious position."

The Mountaineer mascot first appeared at athletic events during the 1936-'37 school year and has become a beloved figure on campus. The Mountaineer is selected each year by the Mountain, the school's senior honorary. Each costume is custom tailored to fit the winner and the male Mountaineers generally grow a beard to complement the coonskin cap and musket.

The passion the school's mascot inspires among West Virginia fans is obvious from their comments on the Internet.

"We need to be loud and vocal right away about this and get it fixed before the weekend," another fan wrote Tuesday. "This is a load of PC crap. We need to contact the papers, local stations and anyone we think of to help.

"It might not get the musket at the game but hopefully it will embarrass Wisconsin so bad that it won't happen again with them or any other school."

Contacting the National Rifle Association sounded like a good bit of strategy to several West Virginia fans.

"The NRA has no jurisdiction," another poster wrote, "but they certainly could poke some national fun at Wisconsin for failing to allow the rifle on campus. It smells of an attempt to deflate our spirit at the game."

When some Wisconsin fans decided to enter the fray, a West Virginia fan hinted at payback.

"How would you feel if we told you to leave Bucky at home?" the fan wrote.

Remember that Wisconsin opens the 2003 season at West Virginia.

However, at least one UW fan seemed sympathetic to the Mountaineers' plight.

"Didn't you know that Madison is now the capital of communism now that Moscow has gone democratic?" the UW fan asked.

That fan even suggested that Bucky Badger help break the rules and soothe the Mountaineers' ire.

"I think you should give the musket to Bucky and have him smuggle it in," the fan wrote. "I'm sure he would be happy to.

"As long as he could chase that Buckskin Mountaineer around the stadium with it."

Even if the battle on the field Saturday isn't entertaining, the battle of the mascots should be.




Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 4, 2002

[Oxford]

The gun won't pose any more danger to spectators than other antics which commonly occur...one being the setting off of fireworks after touchdowns.

There's more real chance of getting hurt at football games from players who've been chased out of bounds and run into spectators on the sidelines.

Some little punk in administration has been given too much power and it's gone to his head. The publicity of this situation has given that administrator more attention than he deserved.

Play ball and shoot off a few M80 fireworks when the proper occasion arises. That will make the wimp wish he'd allowed the cannon to be used instead.

Oxford:nod:

[Sniper[MI]]

Howdy,

Madison Wi, is the Midwest HQ for the Kremlin. There are more tree huggers than trees there. You should see the whining and stupidity that goes on there every year around deer hunting and Thanksgiving. Eat tofu, save a turkey was last years battle cry. I say eat the turkey and stuff the tree hugger with the tofu.

This kind of idiocy is rampant and an everyday occurance at UW Iraq, er Madison. This does not surprise me, nor should it surprise you. Donna Chelaila (sp) one of heir Clintlers henchwomen used to be chancellor there.

Now ask me one of the reasons why I moved out of the state.....