Barry Alvarez says that Badger fans are, “SPOILED ROTTEN” when asked about the booing at Camp Randall last weekend.

The Godfather! So this was going viral on Wisconsin sports Twitter yesterday. Barry Alvarez basically giving a “GET OFF MY LAWN” speech on his weekly radio show in response to students at last Saturday’s game booing the team and chanting, “FIRE FICKELL!”

A few things on this:

I am in no way, shape, or form surprised that Barry would carry water for the Badger football program. That’s his baby. It was a nothing burger when he got to campus in 1990, and he turned it into a national powerhouse. Then he passed the coaching baton to Brett Bielema and became a very successful AD for the school until he retired in 2021. The current AD, who is also under fire with what the football program has turned into, Chris McIntosh, is his hand picked successor.

So, yes, I would expect the Godfather to defend the program, and defend a fellow coach* when fan sentiment starts to turn against them. Nothing about this is shocking in the slightest.

That said, Barry is VERY out of touch as it relates to what happened on Saturday. Football is entertainment! And the product that the Badgers have been putting on the field since the end of the Chryst Era (2022) had not been a good product. Fans are paying their hard earned money on a product that they feel has been going downhill for a few years now. So yes, they’re going to boo. And yes, they’re going to want the head coach fired. That’s how it works in a world where players are making 5-6 figures, and coaches are getting paid millions of dollars. Barry wants you to pay for your $100 ticket, drink a few $16 Varsity Ales at the game, donate to the program, and either cheer or sit silently. For sure not, my man.

And he should be happy they still have the passion to boo! The old saying goes, the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s apathy. And if the program continues to slide like it has been, less and less people are going to want to spend a beautiful Saturday at Camp Randall, and that’s not a good thing. Barry wants the fans that booed to leave the stadium and go, “boo at a bar**.” Well, you’re assuming that there’s a long line of fans behind those fans that would take their seat at Camp Randall. That might not be the case.

Anyway, I love Barry, we all love Barry, but this is a miss from him. Not an unexpected miss given his stature in the program and state, but a miss nonetheless.

*People are always going to defend other people in their profession for the most part. Like if I read another radio station’s Facebook page and a DJ is under fire for something he/she said, or played on the air, I would probably defend them, even if I thought the criticism might be justified. Same deal here. I can’t imagine Barry thinks Luke Fickell is doing a great job, but as a fellow (former) college football coach, he’s going to defend him even if the criticism is justified.

**If a Madison area bar doesn’t host a “Boo at our Bar!” viewing party for the Michigan game, it is a MAJOR misstep.

PS: After what happened on Saturday against Maryland, I think it’s a tough ask to find another win on their schedule this season. There’s a real chance they go 2-10 or 3-9. I don’t think it’s ALL on Fickell, I think the program in general was unprepared for the NIL/Transfer Portal Era and the new look of the Big Ten (18 teams, no divisions), but it feels pretty likely that the Fickell Era is reaching its conclusion.