Just Got Home, Madtown Could Be Best USA College Town

Donate To GopherHole
A

akgopher

Active member
Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
1,689
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Alvarez just woke up the lion that is Madison. I've been to Madison in the past, but never on game day. Parties in yards and full bars a mile deep in each direction. The next time Tubby whines about The Barn being too old to recruit to, just point to Camp Randall. Bottom line, it's going to be tough to get a kid with a Wisconsin offer, even if he is a local kid.

I was impressed with Iowa City and felt it was a level ahead of Dinkeytown, well Madison is two levels ahead of us. At least you can argue that Iowa City is isolated and not very diverse to recruits. There is nothing other than their coach being a total tool going against Wisconsin.

The campus is as close to perfect as I've experienced. The housing around Dinkeytown requires an up to date tetanus shot, and even though the new apartment buildings have saved the campus from being the glorified University of Phoenix it was during the 80's, 90's, and early 00's- they are still pretty stale. Not to mention the sparse bar scene- other than the 2 standouts.

I'm thinking Northwestern is the proper aspiration for Teague and Kill at this point. Madison just isn't going to happen. They have too many built in advantages. 16-2 in the last 18 match-ups speaks for itself. Not a rip on the U, but more of being in awe of Madison. It is what it is.
 




but, but, but...

"We've got all sorts of Fortune 500 companies. What do you do for a living, sir?"
 


akgopher said:
Alvarez just woke up the lion that is Madison. I've been to Madison in the past, but never on game day. Parties in yards and full bars a mile deep in each direction. The next time Tubby whines about The Barn being too old to recruit to, just point to Camp Randall. Bottom line, it's going to be tough to get a kid with a Wisconsin offer, even if he is a local kid.

I was impressed with Iowa City and felt it was a level ahead of Dinkeytown, well Madison is two levels ahead of us. At least you can argue that Iowa City is isolated and not very diverse to recruits. There is nothing other than their coach being a total tool going against Wisconsin.

The campus is as close to perfect as I've experienced. The housing around Dinkeytown requires an up to date tetanus shot, and even though the new apartment buildings have saved the campus from being the glorified University of Phoenix it was during the 80's, 90's, and early 00's- they are still pretty stale. Not to mention the sparse bar scene- other than the 2 standouts.

I'm thinking Northwestern is the proper aspiration for Teague and Kill at this point. Madison just isn't going to happen. They have too many built in advantages. 16-2 in the last 18 match-ups speaks for itself. Not a rip on the U, but more of being in awe of Madison. It is what it is.
Click to expand...
Pretty tough to disagree with, I hate The Badgers but Madison is terrific. If Dinkytown was at least 3x bigger it might be different.
 

There's no reason that can't happen at the U. But here's the thing. It's gonna take time. In fact, in the few years of TCF Bank Stadium, the atmosphere has improved. Stadium village is changing all the time. The fact that the light rail is under construction doesn't help, but in time, that's going to be pretty cool. How many more bars have popped up around the stadium? Hell, even a brewery will be within walking distance of the stadium in a few years. Patience Gophers fans.
 

Gophs said:
There's no reason that can't happen at the U. But here's the thing. It's gonna take time. In fact, in the few years of TCF Bank Stadium, the atmosphere has improved. Stadium village is changing all the time. The fact that the light rail is under construction doesn't help, but in time, that's going to be pretty cool. How many more bars have popped up around the stadium? Hell, even a brewery will be within walking distance of the stadium in a few years. Patience Gophers fans.
Click to expand...
Surly could really help.
FanSinceTheFifties said:
How would Badgers gameday be if Madison were the Packers' home?
Click to expand...
Go back to bed.
 

Iowa City and Madison have something special going on. They were 'cold Omahas' as Sid would say, before their teams ran off a decade of stable winning which then created the culture. I want this same culture at the U bad. I do hope I live long enough to see it. Jerry...Jerry....Jerry! We all were hoping for 5-6 wins this year. We're still on pace but the task is beginning to look tougher after Purdue's showing yesterday.
 



Gophs said:
There's no reason that can't happen at the U. But here's the thing. It's gonna take time. In fact, in the few years of TCF Bank Stadium, the atmosphere has improved. Stadium village is changing all the time. The fact that the light rail is under construction doesn't help, but in time, that's going to be pretty cool. How many more bars have popped up around the stadium? Hell, even a brewery will be within walking distance of the stadium in a few years. Patience Gophers fans.
Click to expand...

I'll give you Surly, that is going to be really big 7 days a week, especially for the over 30 crowd who will be able to afford to eat and drink there.

But let me say this, there are actual neighborhoods of college houses right next to Camp Randall and there were cars parked all over the lawns people 40 and 50 years old partying with college kids in the yards. Forget about getting into a bar. The Twin Cities campus doesn't have that infrastructure and never will. Where there are grain elevators, railroad tracks, and industrial buildings around TCF, Madison has blocks of neighborhoods inhabited by college students. Bars? Buffalo Wild Wings, Stubbs, Big Ten what else? I've hit a few tailgates at TCF, but I was in a college house yesterday, kids from Minnesota, pre-game and post-game with people of all ages. That doesn't happen here. I couldn't believe Mickie's Dairy Bar. Imagine Al's Breakfast on steroids right across from TCF.
 

Right, people drive in on their a John Deere's from a 50 mile radius and the town is hopping 6-7 weekends a year. The rest of the time it is " The Night of the Living Dead" Trust me, I traveled the
State for two decades and opt to stay in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and sometimes make the 100 mile
from Madison to Milwaukee to get out of staying in Madison. All Madison is without football is a college town with average restaurants and good bars. The bar scene on a non- football weekend
Is filled with students getting drunk and looking for fights. Cue up the Montee Ball incident for reference
 

akgopher, I've enjoyed reading your experiences about attending the game at Madison yesterday and the previous one at Iowa. Found them to be really interesting. Thanks for posting them.
 




cfb120 said:
How would the Badger gameday be if they had 3.3 million people in the metro area instead of 560,000?
Click to expand...

Worse. Much worse. If you can't see that, I can't help you. Close-knit communities that revolve around campus life is what make college towns great. With 3.3M people, the city would be too big to have it revlolve around the university.
 

People have to accept that the Twin Cities is not a college town. I went to school in St Cloud and while it is not a college football town, it is similar in the sense that it gives you that smaller feel while still having all/most of the amenities that people want. Part of college football cities are that they all pretty much shut down for the game. The TC area is never going to shut down for the Gophers game, for obvious reasons.

So if that is the standard, then MN will never have it.
 

josh087 said:
Worse. Much worse. If you can't see that, I can't help you. Close-knit communities that revolve around campus life is what make college towns great. With 3.3M people, the city would be too big to have it revlolve around the university.
Click to expand...

Josh is back to discuss his favorite pet topic.
 

There is a thread on buckyville complaining about how their fans & students show up late (even to the axe game this week). I guess no one is ever happy, huh?
 

Looks like the students didn't show until midway in the second quarter Of course the resident racist
over on Beckyville (Myles Long) who considers himself " Mr Kodak" with a camera and gets his jollies taking pictures of Gopher agony would "Never" flash his little disposable toward the empty Badger student.
section.
 

Madison is a great college town, there is no doubt about that.

However, I always find it odd when I hear from people in MN and WI and they've been to three or four campuses and they proclaim "Madison is the best campus in the US". I love the U, but I hope you're not comparing it with the U. The atmosphere at the U is atrocious and Iowa City is decent (at best).

Madison is a great time, I'm not taking anything away from it. There are also places like Columbus and Austin. However, for me, no one does it like they do in the SEC. Football in the South is a different animal. Every game has the build up coverage and like excitement of an NFL playoff game. If you think people in MN hate people from WI, you should see Auburn / Alabama. It's a unique experience and as great as Madison is, the entire culture in the South is built around college football.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
Madison is a great college town, there is no doubt about that.

However, I always find it odd when I hear from people in MN and WI and they've been to three or four campuses and they proclaim "Madison is the best campus in the US". I love the U, but I hope you're not comparing it with the U. The atmosphere at the U is atrocious and Iowa City is decent (at best).

Madison is a great time, I'm not taking anything away from it. There are also places like Columbus and Austin. However, for me, no one does it like they do in the SEC. Football in the South is a different animal. Every game has the build up coverage and like excitement of an NFL playoff game. If you think people in MN hate people from WI, you should see Auburn / Alabama. It's a unique experience and as great as Madison is, the entire culture in the South is built around college football.
Click to expand...

My gushing over Madison went past the football experience. No doubt, the football experience is not that of an SEC school. I've been on campuses in the north, south, and both coasts, Ivy League to Notre Dame- and there is something special about Madison. The size of the city, the cleanliness, the lake, rolling hills, the neighborhoods that all seem to look like Pill Hill in Rochester, the capitol, all the bars near campus and The Great Dane and The Old Fashioned by the capitol, close to Chicago, the activist-minded student body, and most important to me the progressive vibe on campus and around the city. It is just a happy place!
 

akgopher said:
My gushing over Madison went past the football experience. No doubt, the football experience is not that of an SEC school. I've been on campuses in the north, south, and both coasts, Ivy League to Notre Dame- and there is something special about Madison. The size of the city, the cleanliness, the lake, rolling hills, the neighborhoods that all seem to look like Pill Hill in Rochester, the capitol, all the bars near campus and The Great Dane and The Old Fashioned by the capitol, close to Chicago, the activist-minded student body, and most important to me the progressive vibe on campus and around the city. It is just a happy place!
Click to expand...

I fell in love with it for the same reasons, then I moved here and fell even more in love. While Madison is known as a college town, there is certainly much, much more to it than just football on Fall Saturday as you alluded to. It is a cultural, progressive, artful engine in the heart of a breathtaking landscape. Iowa City and many other college towns lack this dimension, and Madison is as wonderful, diverse and exciting in the Winter, Spring and especially Summer as it is in the Fall. The Left Coast of Wisconsin, The People's Republic or 78 miles surrounded by reality... whatever you know it as, Madison is special and there are few US cities that match up to it's charm.
 

Count me in the minority I guess. I was at the game and while I did enjoy seeing lots of parties and tailgating, etc. I thought the town was a dump. The stadium is very very average too. You just have to win --- it's that simple. If we were 7-0 right now, there would be a packed house against Purdue and it would be rocking. Instead...
 

MorningCalmBadger said:
I fell in love with it for the same reasons, then I moved here and fell even more in love. While Madison is known as a college town, there is certainly much, much more to it than just football on Fall Saturday as you alluded to. It is a cultural, progressive, artful engine in the heart of a breathtaking landscape. Iowa City and many other college towns lack this dimension, and Madison is as wonderful, diverse and exciting in the Winter, Spring and especially Summer as it is in the Fall. The Left Coast of Wisconsin, The People's Republic or 78 miles surrounded by reality... whatever you know it as, Madison is special and there are few US cities that match up to it's charm.
Click to expand...

As much as I enjoyed college and visiting college towns like Madison, I have no desire to live in one as an adult. I've traveled all over the country and really enjoy coming home. Minneapolis/St.Paul is cosmopolitan, easy to navigate around, clean, safe, progressive, and my favorite aspect is how for the most part the people are grounded. Hopefully, recruits and parents can see that when visiting campus.
 

akgopher said:
As much as I enjoyed college and visiting college towns like Madison, I have no desire to live in one as an adult. I've traveled all over the country and really enjoy coming home. Minneapolis/St.Paul is cosmopolitan, easy to navigate around, clean, safe, progressive, and my favorite aspect is how for the most part the people are grounded. Hopefully, recruits and parents can see that when visiting campus.
Click to expand...

Hopefully 18 year olds looking to party and play football see the same draw to Minneapolis that an adult in the working world does?

That's not the way this works, I'm afraid.
 

josh087 said:
Worse. Much worse. If you can't see that, I can't help you. Close-knit communities that revolve around campus life is what make college towns great. With 3.3M people, the city would be too big to have it revlolve around the university.
Click to expand...

Well told, Brother.
 

I'm in my second year at the U of M, and I've grown up a huge Gophers fan, but I was SO close to going to Madison for school just because of how much better of an atmosphere and feel the campus had. I don't regret my decision, but their campus is phenomenal.
 

I don't drink or go to the bars so I really don't care. I care what goes on inside the stadium, that is where the gameday experience is for me. We have lots of work to do. I really don't understand this obsession with alcohol. I care about wins and losses.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!
 

Madison is great for college kids-not so great for adults imo. The town is a dump for sure.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom