ROSE BOWL / WISCONSIN BADGERS 21, UCLA BRUINS 16 : Pasadena Is Their Pasture : Cheeseheads Ham It Up and Make Wisconsin Really Feel at Home as Cowed Bruins Give Them Reasons to Cheer by the Bucketful

“ Wisconsin 6 Iowa 0 right there on there own gridiron and on there own snow. What more could be fairer? “ --ROUNDY COUGHLIN, Wisconsin State Journal, 1925.

The late Mr. Coughlin, a character-newspaperman who never let spelling, grammar or punctuation mess up a good story, would have related very well to Wisconsin’s Rose Bowl victory Saturday, would have remarked about the Badgers beating the Bruins right their in their own stadium, their own January sunshine.

But there is no way UCLA’s Coach Terry Donahue and his Bruins could have known beforehand what they were up against. There is no way they could have anticipated being the visiting team in the stadium where they play their home games. No way they could have predicted a crowd that was at least 60% Wisconsin’s. No way they could have expected to be engulfed by the red sea in the stands.

And most certainly, there is no way they could have known they were standing between a victory-starved state--not a team, a state--and one of the sporting world’s juiciest ham--and cheese, of course--sandwiches.

Winning is not exactly new to Wisconsin. The 1957 Milwaukee Braves won the World Series. Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers of the ‘60s were the scourge of the NFL. Heck, they won the first two Super Bowls. Wisconsin and Marquette have won NCAA basketball championships. The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA title in ’71.

But, my, it has been a terribly long time since Wisconsin really has had something to crow about. The Brewers were in the World Series in ‘82, but they couldn’t beat the Cardinals. And then, of course, there was that old Rose Bowl bugaboo for the Badgers--three trips, three defeats.

So when the Badgers became surprise winners this season, they found an eager, appreciative fan base. Badgermania was back, with a vengeance.

And so, today in Wisconsin, Badgers are celebrating--not just at the Brathaus in Madison, but all over the state. From the Holler House and the Polka Palace in Milwaukee to the Silver Dollar in far northern Hurley. From Footsie’s in Sheboygan on Lake Michigan to Sloopie’s in La Crosse on the Mississippi River. They’re humming the Budweiser song, then yelling at the top of their lungs when they get to the right place in that little ditty, “When you say WISCONSIN, you’ve said it all!”

How in heaven’s name could Donahue and the Bruins have expected that? How could they have guessed that they weren’t playing just a football team?

The Bruins, their chivalry showing, chose to make light of the obvious and vocal enthusiasm of Badger fans. But they couldn’t deny that it was at least slightly unsettling.

Suggested quarterback Wayne Cook, who came close to pulling it out for the Bruins in the closing minutes, “I think the reason why it looked like there was so much red out there today was they were always standing up, ‘cause we were giving them something to cheer about. They had something to cheer about all the way up to the end of the game. We needed to take their fans out early and we couldn’t do it.”

The Bruins certainly had a chance, driving to the Wisconsin 10 in the first quarter, then having to settle for a field goal. A touchdown might have quieted some in the Badger entourage, but a field goal?

Donahue said he had not anticipated so many and such vociferous Badger fans.

“I felt like there was certainly not a home-field advantage (for UCLA). It was a little bit surprising that it was so one-sided so early.”

If UCLA was unnerved by the show of red, Wisconsin was energized by it.

“I thought we were in Camp Randall (the Badgers’ home stadium),” offensive tackle Joe Panos said. “That just shows what kind of fans we have.”

Quarterback Darrell Bevell added: “This was a home game for us.”

And a victory, too, as it turned out. Not necessarily a pretty one, considering that it was achieved in a game of flags, fumbles and fisticuffs, but a victory, just the same, where before there had never been one.

And proud Wisconsinites figured they had one coming. No way Donahue and the Bruins could have figured that into the equation. Roundy would have liked it. What more could be fairer?