ANDY BAGGOT Insider

BY ANDY BAGGOT

MADISON, Wis. — There's a tiny windowless room on the second level of Kellner Hall where centuries of Wisconsin Athletic Department records are stored. Newspaper clippings, pictures, media guides, programs and game summaries going back to the 1890s are stowed in steel file cabinets, on wooden book shelves and inside cardboard storage boxes.

I was in there doing some research Friday afternoon when, by total accident, I stumbled across a file for a well-known student-athlete from the 1960s. I was taken aback because I never knew Leo Burt was once a member of the UW men's crew team or that he aspired to row for the U.S. at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City.

Who knew that finding traces of a notorious fugitive like Burt would be the second-strangest development of my day.

It's been 52 years since Burt was indicted with three other men for detonating a car bomb that tore through Sterling Hall, an Army math research center, killing a physics researcher pulling an all-nighter on Aug. 24, 1970. Burt vanished and has never been found. The FBI is still offering a $150,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

But discovering the Burt file was not my oddest moment of the weekend.

The whole process of watching the No. 14 Badgers open the season hosting Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium was.

Night games in Madison have long been a festival for the senses. Thousands of people, smells, conversations, attractions and expectations. All sorts of colors and pageantry. Enough sustained energy to power Amherst Junction proper for a month.

But the coronavirus pandemic changed everything, creating images and realities that no one imagined. We're learning just how much we had taken for granted.

Wisconsin opened with a resounding 45-7 victory in a quiet, empty stadium that seats 80,321 and is renowned for its raucous vibe. No fans. No family. It was eerie.

The last time we saw anything remotely like it was in 2001 when dangerous weather conditions forced an evacuation of Camp Randall prior to the start of a season-opening victory over Virginia. The game resumed in front of thousands of empty seats.

The first hint that things were askew in the UW football universe was the late-afternoon traffic. The main arteries from the west side of Madison were filled with vehicles headed away from campus, not toward it.

Upon arrival at 4 p.m., the Regent-Monroe corridors on the south end of Camp Randall were almost pulseless. Same goes for University Avenue on the north end. Surrounding parking lots had ample spaces available.

As a chilly wind blew, a few students were seen near the Camp Randall Arch, the spot where Badgers players and coaches normally disembark from buses and walk amid cheering fans and families to the locker room entryway. There was no "Arch March" this time.

The journey to the press box was oddly jarring. Unused garbage cans were stacked near the student gate. Empty food carts were parked along the wall. Some of the video boards mounted in the concourse "welcomed" fans to Camp Randall, while some were covered in protective sleeves. Concession stands were closed. Seats on the west side of the stadium were empty outside of four TV cameramen.

The security guard at the elevator told me I needed to ascend alone, lest the COVID demons be tempted. Upon arrival at the eighth level of the press box, you couldn't help but notice how empty it was. For a normal opener, 90 seats would have been spoken for by members of the media. This time there were 23.

There were eight NFL scouts in attendance: Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Green Bay and the Los Angeles Chargers. To maintain proper social distancing, they were situated five seats apart. So were the local and visiting reporters.

Four photographers were allowed to shoot from the stands. A year ago, UW Athletics dispensed 42 season passes for photos or video.

In total, 145 credentials were issued for media, NFL scouts and home and visiting communication staffs, with about half that number going to the Big Ten Network crew required to broadcast a live game from Camp Randall for the first time in 11 months. A season ago, the smallest outlay of credentials was 279.

There were multiple hand-sanitizing stations in the press box, while attendants were seen cleaning handrails and high traffic areas.

At one point after the teams left the field following pregame warmups, you could easily count the number of people on both sidelines. During a normal game, there are all sorts of people — from recruits and their families to first responders, band members, spirit squaders and security — milling about and taking in the unique scenery.

There was no Wisconsin Marching Band, so, of course, there was no Fifth Quarter.

There was no "On, Wisconsin."

There were no cheerleaders or dance team members.

Of course, you can't have a Wisconsin football game at Camp Randall without "Jump Around." That coaxed shimmies and shakes from both sidelines. The historical video featuring the U2 hit "Where the Streets have No Name" also came to life as part of the pregame presentation.

There were numerous instances of canned crowd noise and numerous times where the real thing was desperately needed. When the Badgers exited the field after pregame warm-ups, it was as though someone hit a mute button.

Popular public address announcer Mike Mahnke had to feel somewhat unappreciated because there was no one to echo his "First and 10, Wisconsin!"

There were lots of familiar faces in the stands — Aaron Rodgers, the three Watt brothers and the 2020 Class of UW Hall of Famers to name a few of the cardboard cutouts — but their inability to make any noise fit the theme of the night.

Too bad that an impressive blowout and a record-setting starting debut by redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz didn't get the vocal love they deserved.

It was a strange night like no other.