Former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit told a story about college football that is a must-watch.
Herbstreit described how when the Buckeyes visited the Wisconsin Badgers and Camp Randall in 1992, the place resembled a war zone or a gladiator’s coliseum.
The former OSU gunslinger told the Big Ten Network in part:
I laugh about this story now, but the student section at that time at Camp Randall had this tunnel that had this chain link fence on top of the tunnel. When Steve Tovar and I – we were the captain at the time – came out for the coin toss, I’ll never forget, he had state troopers on both sides of the tunnel before you got to the tunnel, and they had riot gear. Like the shields, and he (Barry Alvarez) says to us, ‘Gentlemen, I suggest you put your helmets on.’
…
People are smacking the fence, and I look over at Tovar and think are we about to go into a gladiator pit? What are we doing here?
The only problem for Herbstreit and his teammates? The whole entire thing was a facade. The state troopers weren’t there to protect the opposing team. They existed solely to intimidate them, and it obviously worked because the Badgers walked away with the win.
WATCH:
“I’ll never forget walking into the stadium…”@KirkHerbstreit laughs about the time Barry Alvarez psyched him out https://t.co/6PBkR4zXIx
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) August 17, 2017
That is one of the greatest ideas I’ve ever heard. Forget state troopers at this point. I want an armed military unit right outside of the tunnel where opposing team is coming out of. I want them on pins and needles from the moment their plane touches down until the moment they leave. I guess this is why Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez built a powerhouse. Absolute genius move.
On a slightly different note, I’ve spent a lot of time at Camp Randall. Anybody who is a football fan has to go for a game at least once in their lives, and preferably under the lights. It is one of the most electric atmospheres on the planet. There are few things better than 80,000 drunk Wisconsin fans mowing down brats and burgers watching their football team play. It’s well worth the cost of admission.