We Three Fans Have Traveled Afar
December 25, 2002 | Women's Basketball
The Wisconsin women's basketball team has three devoted fans that have shown up to support BadgerBall in some of the most far-flung venues. Nancy Livingston, Jim Kennedy (M) and Tom Schuldt are welcome fans in the stands when the Badgers travel.
'We love seeing their bright shining faces whenever they travel,' said Badger Coach Jane Albright. 'They arrange their own trips. Sometimes we don't even know they are coming. But it's always nice to have fans close by, especially in some of those hostile arenas.'
Season ticket holders for several years, the three have specialized in traveling to the `exotic' places where the UW team typically plays its Thanksgiving tournaments. Nancy and Tom were in the Virgin Islands last year, and all three attended the Arizona Tournament in 2001. Tom attended this year's Pepperdine Tournament in Malibu, Calif., and also flew to Seattle for the game with the University of Washington.
None of them can even imagine how many miles each has logged in support of BadgerBall, but asking them for the list of places they've traveled makes one appreciate the internet site, `MapQuest'.
Nancy, who works as a research assistant at the Waisman Center on the UW-Madison campus, has gone the furthest accompanying the team on its foreign tour to Australia in 1999. When asked if she has gone to extremes with her travel she replied, 'I guess I believe in extremes, and I believe in this BadgerBall team. '
Livingston, who has followed the team since Albright's arrival or a little before, has also visited 'NC State, Knoxville, Florida, Nebraska when we won the tournament out there, and two years ago I went to every single away game.'
Jim, a comptroller for the Menomonie Falls school district, has been following women's basketball for over 20 years. He has gone to Florida, Vanderbilt, five or six (NCAA Women's) Final Fours, Tennessee, Atlanta, Arizona, and all the Big Ten (away) games.
When asked why he is a FANatic, Kennedy replied, 'It is probably the best team sport of any that I watch; more competitive than a lot of sports. (It's) very much about sport and not about people or egos. And I enjoy watching the kids play, I really do. I watch the emotions of the game. I think that's why I like following women's basketball versus the men's because of the emotional part of the game.'
Tom has followed the team the shortest amount of time since 1997. But he has logged quite a miles in that time traveling to both coasts several times for tournaments. A coach of high school girls' softball for 17 years, Schuldt has also coached high school girls' JV basketball. When asked why he follows the team he said, 'They have a good product on the floor. They market it well. It's exciting.'
All three are regulars at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, and even traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich. the year it was held there. In another Michigan adventure, Jim and Nancy drove together. After the game at Michigan, they slid home from Ann Arbor in an ice storm while the team remained stranded in Michigan two days waiting for a flight.
Why take the risks of travel in the winter months to other cold weather places' These three fans love their BadgerBall, and the team looks forward to having them behind the Wisconsin bench. But perhaps Nancy summed it up the best for all three voyagers. 'The most important thing is these young women have the opportunity to grow and you see them improve all the time. And you have coaches like Jane who have such a wonderful ethic. I could go on and on''
And the Badger team hopes they do.
