Helicopters are difficult to fly and generally pretty dangerous. And not as stupid as flying cars (for the reasons noted above).
From BadgerWire:
https://badgerswire.usatoday.com/lists/wisconsin-ad-barry-alvarez-lists-his-five-favorite-badger-football-moments-of-all-time/?fbclid=IwAR3Tej4X3FjmKn3wZkVjoGKfRffV-ssuMaeRQRmk2gip6JK6St1fqlemcdkTwo things--I appreciate that all of these are against teams that you recognize immediately--mostly Ohio State and Michigan. I couldn't agree more; the biggest and best moments for the Badgers come against this big names of college football.
Second, curiously, the Ron Dayne thing has never been on my list. I know from people who were there that it was an amazing moment in the stadium, but from me perspective, although the run itself was a good one, we all knew it would happen (barring injury)--and Iowa, while always a worthy adversary, wasn't an especially tough out in 1999 (final score: 41-3). So what are my top five? This isn't top 5 Badger moments, this is top 5 SFBadger96's Badger moments.
I did a top ten list way back when, but it's out of date now, though number 1 hasn't changed.
#5: October 16, 2010, #18 Wisconsin 31, #1 Ohio State 18. This one is on Barry's list. But I didn't see the game. I was supposed to be there, but work got in the way, so I saw the beat down over Austin Peay instead. Life isn't fair. To this day, my friends and I joke that, really, I was there, damn it. Michigan friends sent emails (not texts--wow, this was a while ago) telling me the outcome. Leave it to a Michigan fan to ruin my media blackout. Doesn't matter that I missed it: this was the return to glory for the Badgers, and it's one that has, more or less, stuck. Wisconsin has been the team to beat in the "Why is Wisconsin Here" then the West division ever since. And I remember it like I
was there...almost.
#4: December 30, 2017: Orange Bowl, #6 Wisconsin vs. #11 Miami: typical script for great Wisconsin teams, underappreciated by national media, playing Miami in its home, listening to weeks of chatter about the turnover chain and Miami's talent and speed vs. Wisconsin's slow, disciplined fellas. Well, about that. Great win--the only Big Four bowl victory since the 2000 Rose Bowl, capping a solid season, somewhat tarnished by the close loss to OSU in the B1G championship game.
My top three haven't changed:
#3: January 1, 1999, #9 Wisconsin 38, #6 UCLA 31, Rose Bowl."The worst team ever to play in the Rose Bowl." That was, at least according to Craig James, your 1998 Wisconsin Badgers. It was Ron Dayne's junior year. Mike Samuel was under center. Chris Chambers was an unpolished deep threat. 11-1 notwithstanding, with only a single win over a ranked team (#14 Penn State), Wisconsin wasn't supposed to be in Pasadena. But there we were. Across the field from a legitimate national title contender with Heisman hopeful Cade McKnown and playing in their home stadium. Wisconsin was a 10-point dog.It wasn't pretty -- the defense gave up 538 yards and 31 points -- but it was enough. The Bruins had no answer for Ron Dayne, who averaged over 9 yards per carry and scored all 4 offensive touchdowns (seen here, here, here, here, and here). Late in the game, with a slight 31-28 lead, Freshman Jamar Fletcher stepped in front of DeShaun Foster on a deep route to midfield. Fletcher made the pick and followed a convoy of blockers to the house, to give the Badgers a 10-point lead with 14 minutes to play. The Badgers held on for the win. Suck it, Craig James.#2, January 1, 1994, #9 Wisconsin 21, #13 UCLA 16, Rose BowlIt had been 31 years since our last trip. Wisconsin had never won the Granddaddy of them all. Barry told us he could do it in 5 years, but the Badgers hadn't had a winning season since 1984. This was Barry's fourth year. We were 9-1-1. We partied on State Street when we saw the Badgers beat Sparty in Japan (a home game we gave up for the travel opportunity) after Michigan upset Ohio State (28-0, if I recall). We were going to the Rose Bowl.I waited in line in the early morning in freezing weather under Camp Randall to get my tickets. One of my buddies got on a plane for the first time to fly out and stay with me in California and to make the 6-hour drive down to Pasadena (ha, back when it was only a six-hour drive). We saw friends there we didn't know were going. The Rose Bowl, UCLA's home, was 70% red. It was 80 degrees in Pasadena and -60 in Madison (with the windchill). That's a 140 degree difference, for those of you counting at home. It was just meant to be.Brent Moss up the middle. You cheered when he got the ball, it didn't matter if it was stopped for no gain. You just knew it was right (158 yards and two touchdowns later, it sure was). Terrell Fletcher changed things up. Lee DeRamus was a deep threat. Joe Panos. Darell Bevell. Jeff Messenger. Ugly beauty in cardinal red.UCLA's JJ Stokes tore off large chunks of yardage in the middle of the field setting a record for receiving yards, but just as they had all season, the Badgers' lunch-pail defense forced 6 turnovers to hold the Bruins in check.We were up 14-3 going into the 4th quarter, but a UCLA touchdown pulled them within 4. Then Darrell Bevell rolled out and ran -- for crying out loud, he never ran! -- for a 21-yard touchdown to give us an 11-point lead. UCLA made us sweat with a final push, but the Badgers held at midfield, and the party was on. Wisconsin Badgers, Rose Bowl Champions. Unbelievable.So what can top that?#1: October 30, 1993, #21 Wisconsin 13, #24 Michigan 10. Wisconsin football: for real.Is this really the top game? Better than Rose Bowl wins? Better than upsets of top 5 teams? For me it is. There we were, 6-1, heading to Camp Randall for the first real, big test, just a week after a devastating loss to a terrible Minnesota in the Metrodome. We were better than we had been, but after nine years of losing records, were we much better? Big Blue would tell us. And on the night Madison would celebrate Halloween. Always a good party, that night was EPIC.My memory of the game isn't great. I remember we scored a touchdown and all the students in my area of Camp Randall dog piled. It was amazing. When it happened it just felt like we had finally arrived. That score had been huge. I remember it was tense at the end, but we were confident. Then it ended, and "we" had done it. The Badgers were on the football map. We weren't a mediocre team beating other mediocre teams, we were good. Maybe really good. Maybe, just maybe, Rose Bowl good.Unfortunately, either the Badger Herald or the Daily Cardinal, I don't remember which, published a big ad, or something of the sort, saying that the students should do what Michigan's Tyrone Wheatley wouldn't do: run all over Camp Randall. After the game, we tried. For one bad reason after another, that caused the Crush. 5 pulseless non-breathers (thank God they all recovered). A dorm-mate of mine from freshman year on the cover of Sports Illustrated crying out for help. We made it down to the field, but came from way over and high up in section L or so. We went around the big mass of people, without any idea what had happened. That night we knew. It seems callous now, but at the time we toasted the injured (75 of them, it turns out) and continued on with our epic party, live band, kegs draining in a hurry. Basically, how teenagers and young-20-somethings respond to that sort of thing.In the dog pile, my best friend lost his wallet with about $200 in cash in it. Someone turned it into the UW police, who called him on Sunday to let him know they had it. Would you believe the money was still there?So there it is. I don't really even remember my top game, but I know it was the best. That was the day we arrived. The Alvarez Era to be. Still my #1.
