Bucky Badger
| Bucky Badger (Buckingham U. Badger) |
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Bucky Badger logo
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| University | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Description | Anthropomorphic badger |
| Origin of name | Winning entry in competition |
| First seen | 1940 |
| Related mascot(s) | Regdab Raccoon |
| Hall of Fame | 2006 |
Buckingham U. "Bucky" Badger is the official mascot of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He attends all major sporting events for the Wisconsin Badgers as well as hundreds of other events around Wisconsin every year.
The as-yet unnamed Wisconsin mascot appeared as a human-like cartoon figure in University of Wisconsin publications in the 1930s. The most familiar portrayal of Bucky Badger, wearing a "W" sweater and strutting forward with a fierce expression, was drawn by California-based commercial artist Art Evans in 1940, and first sold from Brown's Book Store in Madison. A popular version of Bucky sporting boxing gloves was first drawn by hometown Madison artist Thomas Spiece. An actual badger from Eau Claire was used at the first few football games that year, but proved to be too fierce to be controlled properly and was retired to the nearby Henry Vilas Zoo. After that, the school replaced the live badger with a live raccoon named Regdab ('badger' backwards). In 1948, a UW-Madison art student, Connie Conrad was asked to create a paper-mache Bucky head-piece. A UW-Madison Gymnast and cheerleader, Bill Sagal, wore the outfit at the homecoming game and a contest was started to properly name the mascot. The winning entry was Buckingham U. Badger. Bucky has been maintained over the years, even surviving a threat by the assistant attorney general, Howard Koop, who suggested that Bucky be replaced by Henrietta Holstein, a loveable cow.
In 2006, Bucky was inducted as a charter member of the Mascot Hall of Fame's College Division, joining YoUDee from Delaware, Sparty from the Michigan State University, and Aubie from Auburn.
Bucky wears a cardinal red and white Wisconsin sweater along with a gruff look on his face (the costumed-mascot version is decidedly cheerier, with a beaming smile).
During sporting events, he is generally seen interacting with the crowd, especially the rambunctious student section. For example, during football games Bucky often directs sections N, O, and P to dance along with the band's music or pretends to pick fights with certain students. He also has a history of playfully fighting other team's mascots like the University of Minnesota's Goldy Gopher or Purdue University's Purdue Pete. Although fighting is no longer allowed by NCAA mascots, Bucky still frequently interacts with other mascots through skits. Bucky also does pushups to match the score after each touchdown, field goal, or safety. At the Indiana game on November 13, 2010 Bucky did 573 consecutive pushups for the winning score of 83–20.
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