We asked Bucky Badger what it takes to become him

UW-Madison has so many great campus traditions.  Our songs, our cheers, and our overall school spirit are always in the hearts of Badger fans, and no one brings more school spirit than our mascot.  Bucky Badger is one of the greatest mascots in the country, ranking in the top 15 best mascots every year at the UCA College Mascot National Championship for the past 13 years.

Bucky is at every home football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, wrestling and softball games.  Not to mention all the Bowl games, post-season events, and public relation events.  Getting a picture with him is always a blast, and he never fails to make us smile.

If you’re like me, you’ll wonder about how much it takes to be Bucky.  How does he travel?  What do try-outs look like?  How many hours a week must one be Bucky?  I chatted with a Bucky Badger to answer my questions.

Loving on Bucky since I was a Baby Badger

Are you considered an athlete?

According to the university, members of the Bucky Badger team are members of the UW Athletic Department.  Like any other athlete, they have to work within the rules set by the Big Ten and NCAA.  The team is made up of eight different Badgers, and they are part of the spirit squad.  “We are technically considered student athletes,” Bucky said. “We are not cheerleaders.  They are an entirely separate team.”

How do you travel, Bucky?

“If it is a home game in any sport, we travel by ourselves to get to the games.  If we have to fly, we fly with the team.  For the away games that are close, we take a bus with the band members that travel too.”

What does the physical try-out look like?  How many push-ups do you need to do?

Tryouts start on April 4th, and one has to complete all four sessions, the first being push-ups.  “You do as many push-ups as you can, simple as that,” Bucky told me. “This part factors in the least out of the four areas.  The rest of the three are solo.

“First, you have a dance station.  You have 90 seconds to dance to whatever music gets played.  It could be anything from 90s pop music to country to school fight songs.

“Next is props.  When you walk in, you get one minute to look at all the random items on the floor.  Then you have one minute to perform with the items in a way they are not normally used.  I think the judges all agree to not make any facial expressions, because this was the most awkward minute of my life both times I tried out.

“The last station is acting out a skit.  Someone reads a scripts and your job is to act it out as you would if you were Bucky.  This is where we get the most insight on how well someone can be Bucky Badger.”

How many hours a week would you say you spend being Bucky?

“It really depends on the season.  We spend upwards of 30 hours or more dedicated to everything that comes with being Bucky in the fall.  In the spring, it usually drops down to 20 or so after the nationals craze is over.  In the summer, the amount spent is however much you can afford to spend.”

Only 20 hours a week may not seem like much, but it’s not necessarily about the time.  “Even though the amount of time spent varies a lot, it is not a light responsibility at all.  It is an important part of our lives,” Bucky told me.

Do you have regular practices?

“We count our events as practices,” Bucky said.  “I would say we each roughly do two to three events a week.  Then we have scheduling meetings and meetings to prepare for nationals.  We also get to lift weights in the Kohl Center twice a week, just like an athletic team.”

The Tab loves Bucky so much, we made a logo with him in it

Do all Bucky Badgers represent all the sports?

“All eight of us do every sport except for hockey,” he told us.  “Those who know how to skate can do hockey.  Otherwise, everyone does everything.”

What is the UCA College Mascot National Championship like?

The Championship, which is held in Walt Disney World during January, is a time when the Bucky Badger team can get together and prepare a video for entry.  “In the summer and fall,” Bucky said, “we get the chance to create a 90 second skit.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it seems like that’s a short nationals, but the prep that goes into these two parts takes hundreds of hours for us.  The times we made the second part of nationals, we spent almost all of winter break, 12 hours a day, thinking of and building our skit.

“When we go to nationals in Florida, we compete on Friday and have the rest of the weekend until Monday to roam the parks of Disney World.  We make time to watch the dance team compete.”

What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you while in the Bucky suit?

“Just about every single wedding, you’ll have a lot of awkward dancing.  At that point, you just have to put your hands up and dance away.  There are several stories that involve things like that…I think that’s the point of the props station during tryouts.”