One of best football traditions

Published 4:00 am Monday, September 21, 2026

My family will vacation at the drop of a hat.

We have bags packed and actually carry a change of clothes, three days of medication and everything that we need for an impromptu night away from the house.

This summer we didn’t really have a trip other than a couple of trips to Kansas City for Royals games and to experience World Cup excitement and a couple of trips to Tulsa for food.

We had to get a trip in before the magic day that the fifth grandson arrives.

Becky and I love a trip away to see the Hogs play an SEC game.

Those trips are filled with great experiences and friends that we have made along the way that we run into on those trips.

However, No. 5 is due in the middle of October. The trips that Becky and I wanted to take will be after that date. We had to have a Plan B.

Nothing is better than family and I am not going to waste money on watching the Razorbacks play Texas or any of the other schools that are away, especially since I will have a new born baby.

My immediate family means the world to me.

Looking at the volleyball schedule and my work schedule, we had five days to plan a mini get away.

Looking at college football schedules across the country in cities that we wouldn’t mind visiting, we landed in Madison, Wisconsin.

We absolutely love Madison.

It has a great downtown and one of the best farmers markets. The market is around the state capitol. Each side of the building is two blocks.

On the opposite side of the street is retail shops and restaurants.

However, Saturday belongs to the market.

Fresh flowers, fresh produce, fresh meats and lots of fresh cheese are available for purchase.

We have been around…at least I thought. But we learned of a new cheese this year on our trip. It may not be new, but it was new to us. It is called cooking cheese. The vendor had it on griddle and it was not melting. It was still in solid squares. After our toothpick samples, it was time to purchase said cheese.

But our trip was built around football and not buying the three pound tomatoes that were for sale.

We had tickets for the Wisconsin Badger football contest.

They were great seats. We were seven rows up on the 40-yard line. We were close enough that we could hear the cursing of the players or coaches of the Western Illinois team.

The crowd stayed for the game until the end of the third period. Between the third and fourth period it happens.

House of Pain is a pop group, but they sing a song called Jump Around.

Wisconsin plays this song and everyone in the stands jumps. They jump for about two minutes.

The student section is at the end of the end zone and they were dressed in all white. When the song came on and the lights went red, the students went wild.

It was not limited to just the Wisconsin fans. The visiting Leatherneck team was also showing their jumping skills on the field.

It is a great tradition and one that I am glad to have seen in life.

Jeff Brasel is the sports and managing editor and general manager of the Harrison Daily Times. E-mail him at jeffb@harrisondaily.com or follow him at X.com/jeffbrasel.