[bright music]
- Announcer: The following program is a PBS Wisconsin
original production.
- Deb Nicolaus: There is not a better mascot
in the United States--
well, actually in the world-- than Buckingham U.
He's the best mascot.
Just watch him.
- Narrator: He is Bucky Badger.
- Brian Adam: Bucky Badger's on another level
when it comes to mascots.
- RoseAnn Donovan: Bucky is an icon.
Bucky has crossed generations.
Bucky has stood the test of time.
- Narrator: With a tale that stretches back to the origins
of the Badger State, from a wild animal on the sideline...
[badger growls]
- Doug Moe: That took off, and the rest is history. [laughs]
- Narrator: ...to a symbol of Wisconsin.
- Matt Lepay: Bucky is a mascot of the people.
Bucky is for everyone.
- Fan: He embodies what this state is about.
- Bill Sachse Jr.: We all wanna be like Bucky.
- Narrator: A big personality with an even bigger heart.
- Lucas Douglas: The things we get to do as Bucky
is unlike any other experience.
It's amazing.
- Josette Jaucian: Bucky is definitely larger than life.
[laughs]
[group chants "Bucky!"]
- Narrator: Bucky!
[crowd cheers]
[whistle blows]
- Announcer: Funding for Bucky! is provided by:
the Dancing Goat Distillery,
Robert J. Lenz,
Charles H. and Barb A. Merry,
Dr. Henry Anderson,
Lau and Bea Christensen,
Cynthia and David Shaw,
Elizabeth Olson,
the Alfred and June Kohlwey Family Foundation,
donors to the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs,
and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
[marching band cadence]
[crowd cheers]
[wind blows]
- Narrator: East of the mighty Mississippi,
a land of rolling hills,
lush prairies,
towering pines.
Wisconsin!
Home to a wild and majestic creature.
Bucky Badger!
[record scratching]
[upbeat polka music]
- Go, Bucky!
- RoseAnn: Bucky Badger is part of Wisconsin's identity.
It's who Wisconsinites are.
That perfect combo of fierce and inviting,
friendly, but not to be messed with.
- Go, Bucky!
- Mike Koval: Badgers are seriously
one of the most beloved institutions in our state.
- Narrator: Badgers pop up everywhere.
[popping]
We actually put one on top of the statue
on top of our capitol.
We even name badgers after other badgers.
- Beth Petersen: Right now, our two badgers
at the Henry Vilas Zoo are named Kaminsky and Dekker,
after some famous basketball Badgers.
- Matt: And a step back, three straight on.
Got it!
Ice cold-blooded!
Sam Dekker.
The badger represents toughness.
Like, don't mess with a badger.
[crowd cheers]
[whistle blows]
- Narrator: Yep, that checks out.
- Beth: On the other hand,
they can be really fun and sometimes a little bit silly.
Just like Bucky.
- Narrator: The old "work hard, play hard" Wisconsin mentality,
wrapped up in a lovable furry menace.
- Brian: Wisconsinites have a ton of pride in their state,
and Bucky represents the state of Wisconsin.
- Mike: We are the Badger State.
Bucky is literally a mission with us.
- Everybody loves Bucky.
- Bucky!
- He's royalty.
Wisconsin royalty. [crowd cheers]
- Go, Badgers!
[chiming sound]
- Narrator: Bucky's regal lineage began in the hills
of southwestern Wisconsin,
but not because of his cousin, the North American badger.
The Badger State took its name from something else underground.
[gentle music]
- Doug: Before statehood, lead ore miners
would burrow down for the lead.
And, of course, the badger with its claws
was really known as a digger.
Pretty soon, the miners started being referred to as badgers.
- Narrator: The name stuck.
The badger quickly became identified
with Wisconsin, and Wisconsin with the badger.
- Doug: Statehood comes in 1848.
The badger is seen on the state flag.
And we become known as the Badger State.
[bright music]
- Narrator: In 1889,
football came to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The early teams were known as the Fighting Badgers.
Coach Phil King took the helm in 1896
and became the first coaching legend at Wisconsin,
racking up a 65-11-1 record.
- Justin Doherty: He was the winningest football coach
at Wisconsin for a really long time,
until Barry Alvarez surpassed him roughly 100 years later.
Phil King set that tone for the grittiness, the toughness,
the Upper Midwest hardworking culture
that Wisconsin football became known for.
- Narrator: Blue-collared characteristics
defined the program, and also its namesake.
- Justin: The badger probably is the perfect mascot,
the perfect symbol for Wisconsin.
It's a smaller animal, but it's tough,
and it's not an animal
you're gonna wanna deal with.
[badger hisses]
- Narrator: Yeah, not everyone got the memo, though.
[playful music]
- Doug: A UW student named Lloyd "Babe" Spencer
was a well-known character on campus.
He would bring a badger on a leash to football games.
- Narrator: Babe Spencer and his badger Billy
were fan favorites during Coach King's era
at the turn of the century.
Before games, Spencer led his badger onto the field
with the marching band close behind.
- Doug: There's photographs of him, red sweater, white pants.
He's got a badger on his shoulder. [laughs]
He became very much a part of the atmosphere
and was beloved on campus.
- Narrator: Babe Spencer's tradition
carried on for decades.
A live badger would be brought into Camp Randall
at times to excite the crowd.
However, the wild animal could become,
you know, wild.
[badger hisses]
- Beth: A live badger as the mascot
is a pretty terrible idea. [chuckles]
- Doug: There's some news accounts of them getting loose
and creating havoc at Camp Randall.
- Beth: They can excavate a den within just a minute or two.
- Narrator: Pesky badger holes dug into the field
and reports of the occasionally bitten cheerleader
led to a pivot in the plan in 1948.
- Doug: They brought in a raccoon,
which that's not friendly either.
[laughs] But they brought in a raccoon
and claimed it was a badger in raccoon fur.
They even had a name for it, Regdab,
which, of course, was "badger" spelled backwards.
Brilliant, right?
- Narrator: Surprisingly, Regdab did not catch on.
The football team was also in a rut.
With school spirit at a low, it was time for a change.
[crowd groans]
[upbeat percussion music]
The athletic department hired Art Lentz
as its publicity director in 1946.
He took charge of changing the atmosphere and morale on campus.
- Doug: Lentz was an interesting guy.
He did the radio broadcasts of Badger sports.
- Art Lentz: From all over the state,
they come to cheer the Badgers.
People from Janesville, Park Falls,
from the Fox River to the Mississippi.
- Doug: And eventually, ended up becoming head
of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
He also came up with a phrase:
"Let's get that badger up off its belly."
- Narrator: Lentz wanted the football team back on their feet
and the team's mascot to join them,
standing proudly.
- Doug: Immediately, we began seeing
drawings of a badger upright in a black sweater,
looking a little bit like the Bucky we came to know
and love later, but not quite.
- Narrator: Lentz put his upright badger
on athletic department letterhead
and football publications.
But something was in the water.
Other upright badgers began popping up
in the school yearbook, newspaper,
and homecoming decorations.
By 1948, there was a big badger breakthrough.
- Doug: On the bottom-right corner
of an athletics department publication,
there was the badger that we all know now,
chest puffed up, in the red and white sweater,
and his fists clenched.
- Narrator: The star of our show: Bucky Badger.
[crowd cheers]
But we're gonna have to back up our story here, people.
That mascot still didn't have a name.
We'll get to that.
And it was actually drawn eight years earlier, in 1940.
[dreamy music]
- Doug: Arthur Evans was a California-based illustrator
who drew the first Bucky Badger as we know him today.
The company that Evans worked for
had a contract with Brown's Book Store in Madison
to design some decals with a badger on them,
and the store would use them for commercial purposes.
- Narrator: Evans also drew mascots for Michigan and Purdue.
But, look, don't blame him.
Not everyone can bat a thousand.
Anyhow, Evans' iconic badger
hibernated in obscurity for eight years
until Art Lentz made him a celebrity,
placing him on the cover
of the 1948 Football Facts and Centennial Sports Review.
- Doug: The first illustration took off
and the badger stood up, and the rest was history.
- Narrator: A hit on campus,
the drawing would soon come to life
with the help of a couple of UW students
from Sheboygan North High School:
Bill Sagal and Bill Sachse.
[groovy music]
- Bill Sachse: When I got out of the United States Navy in 1946,
I went down to Madison
and registered, and became an active student.
I rowed on the Wisconsin freshman crew
and on the varsity eight for the next three years.
- Bill Sachse Jr.: My dad enjoyed his time there
because it was a large class.
The country was starting to boom
and the future was looking bright for these kids.
- Narrator: Adding to the excitement,
the UW football team hired a new coach in 1949,
Ivy Williamson.
Hopes were high for Williamson to turn around the program.
[whistle blows]
At the center of Badger fever on campus was Bill Sachse,
who volunteered to organize the football team's pep rallies.
- The pep rallies drew big crowds.
A typical crowd was several thousand students
in front of the Memorial Union.
This thing was right up his alley.
He was a born salesman.
- Narrator: Sachse was always looking for a clever hook
to bring in the crowds.
And for homecoming that year,
he was cooking up an idea
that would change the course of Badger history.
- When he was walking through the Memorial Union,
he saw a display of African masks,
and he thought they were beautiful pieces of art.
Then he realized that he had the gimmick
for the homecoming of 1949.
- Bill Sachse: I thought to myself, boy,
if we could have a papier-mâché badger head made
and we could put that on one of the cheerleaders,
we would have a real live badger.
[crowd cheers]
- Narrator: Sachse was no artist,
so he enlisted the help of a friend, Connie Conrard.
- Sachse: Connie was an art major.
And I said to her, "Connie,
could you make a papier-mâché head of a badger?"
And she said, "Get me a picture, I'll make you a head."
- Narrator: The construction was underway,
but one thing was missing.
- Bill Sachse: I needed somebody to wear that head.
And the only guy was my classmate, Billy Sagal.
- Sagal was perfect to wear the head and become our new mascot.
[groovy music]
- Deb: Even though my dad was only 5'2"
and tiny in stature, he walked in the room,
he filled it.
He had a real mischievous side.
He was a bit of an imp. [chuckles]
He was born to be a mascot.
- Narrator: Bill Sagal grew up in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.
A son of Polish immigrants, he was one of six boys.
His father passed away when he was 16.
To help his family with money, Sagal left home.
- Deb: He jumped on a train with not a penny in his pocket,
and he joined the circus.
- Narrator: A gifted acrobat,
his specialty act was the teeterboard.
- Deb: My dad would stand on the low end,
and then somebody would jump on the high end,
and then he would do flips into the air and land into a chair.
[crowd cheers]
- Narrator: After enlisting and serving in World War II,
Bill Sagal enrolled at the University of Wisconsin.
There, as head of the cheerleading squad,
his athletic prowess became the stuff of legend.
- Even had a nickname, the jumping jack of Camp Randall.
- Narrator: And that brings our story back to the other Bill,
Bill Sachse, and his papier-mâché badger head.
He asked Bill Sagal to be the new mascot
at the homecoming pep rally.
What followed was a date with destiny.
- Bill Sachse: Connie had this magnificent
but rudimentary head, and it was painted red and white.
It was fantastic.
- A photo was taken of my dad kind of lowering the head.
Sagal kind of holding it as it was coming down,
and Connie holding a paintbrush
as though she's putting finishing touches on the head.
And that photograph of the three of them
was the birth of Bucky Badger.
- Narrator: Well, almost.
This new mascot didn't have a name,
so Sachse started a contest to come up with one.
[bright organ music]
There was just a little problem.
- Bill Sachse: The names started to come into The Daily Cardinal,
and they were wild.
Sylvester Badger or Wilhelm Badger.
There were some screwy names and they weren't gonna fit.
- Narrator: For inspiration,
Bill Sachse looked across the pond.
- Bill Sachse: There were a lot of stuff going on at that time
at Buckingham Palace, and I thought, boy, what a great name.
We would call him Buckingham U. Badger.
And his nickname would be Bucky.
- The middle name U. was just the letter.
It was really meant to be like the word you.
You are a Badger, this is your mascot.
- Narrator: Hang on a second.
But what about the naming competition?
- Well, he had fixed the contest, basically.
- Narrator: In hindsight, the right move.
Sachse ended up giving the Delta Gamma sorority credit
for the winning name:
Bucky Badger.
- This was gonna be a mascot for the people,
for the fans, the students, the alumni,
Badgers.
- Narrator: On November 11, 1949,
an enthusiastic crowd gathered for UW's homecoming pep rally.
- Bill Sachse: It was jammed!
Biggest crowd I ever saw.
- Narrator: Bill Sachse took center stage,
making the introduction of a lifetime.
- Sachse: "The big moment is here," I said.
"Our new mascot is Bucky," and a big cheer went up.
And down comes Sagal.
["On Wisconsin"]
- He comes out like a boxer doing,
you know, punches and fighting. [chuckles]
- And it was just a blast.
It was just a blast.
- Narrator: The celebration continued
with the homecoming football game.
There, Bucky Badger appeared at Camp Randall
for the very first time.
- Bill Sachse: It was serendipity.
Sagal wore the head for the rest of the game,
and from then on.
I don't think I saw his face for two more months.
- Narrator: The Badgers beat Iowa 35 to 13.
Just saying, facts matter.
But it was the Wisconsin fan base who really won out.
- What started out as a gimmick for homecoming
became Bucky Badger forever.
[upbeat music]
- Matt: Think of what Bucky has seen through the years.
He has seen great teams.
He's seen really not great teams and everything in between.
But Bucky perseveres.
- Lucas: It's a testament
just to how much Bucky's beloved by the entire state.
It's a pretty special honor that we get to embody this character
that people love.
- Narrator: Students have carried on Bucky's legacy
for decades, and it all starts with a little bit of belief.
- Timothy Reiss: When you believe that you're Bucky,
everyone believes you're Bucky.
- RoseAnn: The moment you put that costume on,
you are Bucky Badger.
It is go time.
- Mike: Boom, you're on.
- Timothy: And you're just locked in as Bucky.
- You're not a guy in a suit.
You have Bucky's personality
and you're just running around having fun.
[crowd cheers and applauds]
- Brian: When we walk into a wedding, the room goes nuts.
When you walk into a school, the kids cheer.
And when you run out the flag at Camp Randall,
the fans all get loud.
[crowd cheers]
But the coolest part about being Bucky
is you can make people smile and you can make people laugh.
- That ability to be uplifting is so important,
and Bucky can do that.
- Josette Jaucian: I am going to get you guys signed in
in a minute.
We are gonna all start out in here for station one,
and you're gonna max out on push ups.
The biggest thing is just making the judges laugh
and just have a good time.
All right, let's do it.
- Down!
- As the Spirit Squad director,
I'm in charge of the cheerleaders,
the dance team, and the Bucky Badger team.
- All: Bucky!
- Josette: Typically, we'll have six to eight students
playing Bucky Badger.
We try out for the new team every April.
- Cecil Powless: They put you through push ups.
They put you up in an elevator where the cheerleaders grab you
and lift you 20 feet into the air.
You're at dancing stations, at prop stations,
and they actually put you in the Bucky head.
- Timothy: A little intense, but it's a lot of fun.
It's a lot of fun.
- You're not gonna use it to--
- Narrator: Bucky alums help with those tryouts,
looking for the newest members to add to their pack.
- What do you do for fun?
- Narrator: Each year,
the new Bucky team works to embody a single character.
- Josette: It's really stressed at the beginning
that we are one team and we are one character.
- Timothy: That's one of the things we spend a lot of time,
especially with our new rookies on.
- Cecil: Be able to train them up ourselves
and pass on the traditions and pass on the mannerisms.
- Narrator: A belief in each other and in the magic
of Bucky Badger helps the team bring him to life.
- It's inexplainable, but you're just like,
you really just become Bucky.
- Lucas: You're seeing out of the mouth,
but it feels like you're seeing out of the eyes,
and you'll go and look in a mirror.
All you see is Bucky staring back.
It's just surreal.
- Photographer: All right, Bucky, right over here.
[whoo-hoo!] Bucky, big smile, big smile.
- Narrator: Now, to become the mascot,
the Bucky team must rely on more than just his movie star looks.
They need to exude an attitude that is larger than life.
- Brian: Bucky Badger is on another level
when it comes to mascots.
He's good looking, he's strong, great dancer, lots of persona,
and he's representing the greatest state
and greatest university in the country.
? Hey, hey, hey, hey ?
- Matt: Yeah, Bucky is the ultimate extrovert.
Whether Bucky knows you or not, will fist bump, high five,
put an arm around you.
Personality plus, plus.
- Narrator: Over the top
and always the life of the party.
- RoseAnn: Your personality has to be bigger than life.
You're covered in fur, so it has to be exaggerated.
[crowd exclaims]
- Sometimes I think about it, and I was like, "Man,
if I did this as a regular person, I'd look ridiculous."
But to Bucky, it looks normal.
That's just what Bucky does.
- Josette: I think there's a lot of people
that would describe Bucky Badger as cute.
- Brian: Best-looking mascot there is.
- Timothy: Suave. - Cecil: Very suave.
- Timothy: Very.
- That's a good word, a good word.
- Timothy: Bucky's got some swagger when he walks, a little,
you know, his shoulders are moving, his head's bobbing.
He's got the elbows up.
- Narrator: That ain't Bucky's only move.
Cue the oom-pah-pah.
[bright polka music]
- RoseAnn: Bucky knowing how to polka,
that's just being a Wisconsinite.
It's like going to a supper club.
It's drinking a beer, having a cheese curd.
If you're a Bucky, you know how to polka. [chuckles]
- Bucky can be a little mischievous.
He likes to have a little fun.
He likes to maybe poke fun at other mascots.
Steal an opposing team's cheerleader.
- Josette: Bucky is definitely very charming,
and the more mischievous he can be,
people will love it even more.
But he just needs to know where that line is
and not get in trouble. [chuckles]
- Narrator: Now, that line was pushed pretty far
during a football game in 1999
against Michigan State University.
- I noticed out of the corner of my eye,
the Michigan State cheer flag was sitting on the ground.
Grabbed the flag, sprinted down to our end zone,
threw the flag on the ground, stomped on it,
and then I was done with it.
- Narrator: Oh, but the Spartans weren't done.
Nope.
A Michigan State cheerleader,
this guy bolted right after Bucky.
- Brian: Didn't really see him until the last second,
and form tackle just laid me out.
I've never been hit that hard in my life.
- Narrator: The two of them were separated
and taken off the field.
But Bucky, [scoffs] he wasn't about to go out like that.
You kidding me?
- I came back on the field
wearing a boxing robe that read "Big Bad Bucky"
and two big boxing gloves ready to fight.
[ring bell chimes]
Bucky doesn't back down.
- Crowd: One, two, three, four!
- Narrator: It's not all fun and games for Bucky Badger.
There's a tough job to do here, people.
- Putting on a suit of fur and a carbon fiber head
on top of your shoulders is exhausting,
especially in the heat.
- Mike: Back in my day,
they were only going with the model of two Buckys.
It would not be untoward that I would do a basketball game,
two hockey games,
and a home football game against the Gophers
all within 72 hours.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
- Cecil: It's a million miles an hour.
You're doing anything and everything in between.
You kind of get caught up in the moment and it's a ton of fun.
- If Bucky's having fun, the fans are having fun.
[air horn] [crowd cheers]
- Narrator: That fun-loving attitude of both Bucky
and the Badger fan is a time-honored tradition.
- Hockey Announcer: And listen to this Badger crowd go wild.
- Narrator: And in the Bob Johnson hockey era,
the party was just getting started.
- Badger hockey fans in the 1970s
really embodied what we think of as Wisconsin sports fans today.
[hockey buzzer sounds] Back in those days,
the Dane County Coliseum was kind of a legendary venue.
And you walk in, and they're doing the sieve chant.
[crowd chants]
And Bucky's there, and the band and Mike Leckrone.
It was cool, it was,
it was just a cool experience for a hockey fan.
- Hockey Announcer: Takes another shot, scores!
- Mike: People wanna be a part of something positive.
People wanna be a part of something
bigger than themselves.
- Narrator: In Wisconsin, we call that the Badger spirit.
It's about tradition,
about celebrating both sports and life.
- RoseAnn: Bucky's role has exploded.
He's the photo op at the wedding.
He is at the parades, he's at fundraisers.
He's doing so many good things that aren't just tied to sports.
- This one has a clear and colorless liquid.
- Cecil: Bucky is a cultural symbol.
Wisconsin is just a very joyful place,
a place that's full of people that are very proud
of where they're from.
- Crowd: ? When you say Wisconsin ?
- Cecil: And to have that boil down into a mascot
is pretty cool.
- Crowd: ? You've said it all ? [marching band note]
- Narrator: The badger, the symbol of Wisconsin,
but for over a hundred years, only informally.
In 1956, a group of children from Jefferson, Wisconsin,
were learning about the state bird, state flower, state tree,
when siblings Leslie Smith, Greg,
Erik, and Kristin Gilbertson noticed a big furry oversight.
- Kristin Gilbertson: We discovered that the Badger State
did not have an official state animal.
[crowd exclaims]
We did not think that this was right.
So in our childish indignation,
we said, "We have to do something about this."
It was called the Bucky Badger Bill.
- Narrator: Assemblyman Byron Wackett agreed
to introduce a bill on behalf of the children
to make the badger Wisconsin's official state animal.
- Doug: There was some pushback.
Some folks up north wanted the white-tailed deer.
- Kristin: They introduced a competing bill.
Oh, we were angry. [laughs]
Outraged, you know, childhood outrage.
- Narrator: The legislature had a playful debate
over which animal should represent Wisconsin.
[crowd boos]
Leaving nothing to chance,
Kristin and her siblings summoned the courage
to make their case for Bucky,
testifying in front of the Wisconsin Assembly.
- I was eight years old.
I was a little sprout.
One by one, we had to go up and explain
why we thought the badger should be the state animal.
- Narrator: They pointed to the early history of the miners
and the badger on the state seal.
The kids even warned that the badger doorknobs in the capitol
would need to go,
and that the face of Wisconsin would be no more.
- Even back then, Bucky was everywhere.
It's very hard to change a mascot,
once a mascot is beloved by the people it represents.
- Narrator: Yep, those kids had a point.
And the state legislature agreed,
[gavel bangs] passing the Bucky Badger Bill.
[children cheer]
Heck, even a compromise left everyone with a win.
- The compromise was the white-tailed deer was named
the state wildlife animal, and the badger was the state animal.
- Narrator: In June of 1957,
Governor Vernon Thompson signed the Badger Bill into law.
- I think what happened was inevitable.
Wisconsin has been the Badger State forever.
I wouldn't say it was a wrong that was being righted.
It was just something being made official.
- Doug: How appropriate that it was some kids
who got the ball rolling.
Because of course, Bucky's beloved by kids.
- Kristin: I am really proud of what we did.
We stepped up for Bucky.
- Narrator: Oh, you betcha.
[funky music]
- Brian: Kids in Wisconsin have grown up loving Bucky.
- Josette: Kids see him just as a big, lovable stuffed animal.
They will mob him wherever he goes and follow him
and give him hugs, high fives.
- Narrator: Bucky knows how to draw a crowd,
but he also needs to keep his darn head on a swivel.
- Timothy: Kids will come up and hug your leg, and you're like,
"Oh, my gosh, there's a kid there."
And like, I had no clue that there was a kid there.
- Brian: Your vision in that suit is really limited.
Your vision is here.
So there's definitely been times
where you've kicked kids on accident
'cause they come running up to you
thinking you can see them.
- Literally, you feel like you're Turkish taffy
being thrown in 16 different directions,
and it's a great feeling to have.
It's a great feeling to have.
- Narrator: Bucky also has the ability to create little magic.
- Many kids are just in awe, just kind of a state of wonder.
Seeing Bucky was always something
uplifting and just joyful.
- Timothy: Bringing that joy and happiness into people's lives,
that's, like, our main job.
? That's right ?
[monitor beeps]
- Narrator: Sometimes, that job isn't all that easy.
- Kids can bring us down to earth
real quickly in terms of their vulnerabilities.
You're meeting with a kid at the children's hospital,
and you can see within all the other stuff
that this poor child's going through,
there's actually a light that sparkles in their eye.
There's a connection, if only for a moment or two,
to take the gloom and doom out of the air.
- Josette: We actually had a Bucky several years ago
that has pictures of when he was a child in UW Hospital,
and he remembers the joy that Bucky brought to him
when he was a kid.
So, he was always volunteering for those types of events
'cause he knew what that felt like.
- Hey, sweetheart.
- Mike: It's a great rally cry
when Bucky Badger can be so many things to so many people,
but especially those who are the most vulnerable in our midst.
- Hi, Bucky.
- Narrator: Old Bucky seems to have a knack for being there
when he's needed most.
- Matt: Ron Dayne from seven yards out,
and the Badgers take the lead again.
- Deb: In the state of Wisconsin,
so many family gatherings are around a television
with the Badgers on.
- Matt: The Wisconsin Badgers win it.
- It gives you an opportunity
to spend a little more time together.
- Narrator: A little more time together
was just what the family of Bill Sagal, the first Bucky Badger,
needed in the spring of 2000.
- Justin: The '99-2000 men's basketball team
just got on this incredible run
that Badger fans that were here at the time will never forget.
- Narrator: Dick Bennett's unlikely Badgers
captured the fans' imagination,
rallying at the end of the regular season
to sneak into the NCAA tournament.
- Matt: Part of the story line going in was,
could they win a game?
Could they win a game in the NCAA tournament?
Could they push through?
- Narrator: Oh, they won, all right,
even punching their ticket to the Sweet 16.
Badger fans had a reason to believe,
with their team sitting on the cusp of history.
But for the Sagal family, that moment was bittersweet.
- Deb: My last conversation with my father was
when we made it to the Sweet 16.
- Narrator: Bill Sagal, the original Bucky Badger,
passed away two days after the upset over number one Arizona.
Going into the Sweet 16,
the Bucky team carried a heavy heart.
- There's a special little bond between the other Bucky Badgers,
and I wanted to honor Bill at the Sweet 16
and Elite Eight games.
- Deb: Bucky walks out, and he has a black armband on
to mourn my father,
which, you know, there were no words at that time
about how that helped start the healing.
- Narrator: The Badgers took down powerhouse LSU
in the Sweet 16.
- Oh, the Badgers were important.
We were willing them to get us through this.
We really were.
- Matt: The Badgers and Purdue
will battle it out Saturday,
with the winner going to the Final Four.
- They're playing Purdue,
a team they matched up pretty well with.
- Matt: And Purdue takes the lead, 32-31.
- It was a nip and tuck game.
Wisconsin was behind, and John Bryant hit some shots.
Everybody just made plays.
- Matt: 13-footer in the lane, good.
Roy Boone with the jumper.
- Matt: And then when it got down to the final seconds,
to myself, it's like, "Oh, my God,
they're gonna, they're gonna actually do this."
- Matt: Four seconds.
Smith steps back, launches a three, off the back rim.
No good.
Kowski taps the rebound, Lewis is there, up right hand.
No good!
Wisconsin wins the game!
I can't believe I'm gonna say it,
but here it comes!
The Wisconsin Badgers are going to the Final Four!
- Everyone was just over the moon.
And you can't believe it.
Like, the Badgers, who snuck into the tournament,
are going to the Final Four.
- Narrator: It was the Badgers' first trip to the Final Four
in nearly 60 years.
- Matt: Hugs and kisses all around on the floor
of the Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- And the fans started chanting for Bucky.
- Crowd: Bucky, Bucky, Bucky!
- Brian: So I climbed up that ladder,
cut down a piece of the net,
squeezed that thing tightly inside my paw
until we left the arena.
- Matt: The wait was worth it.
Incredible.
[gentle piano music]
- To honor the original Bucky was pretty special.
- Deb: Bucky doesn't die,
but the person that decided to put the head on
for the first time did.
And so, they decided to honor the origin of who Bucky was.
- Brian: Bucky embodies everything
the state of Wisconsin is all about.
- Deb: He's a connection between people,
and I think that's what we all need.
And that's the essence of Bucky.
[upbeat music]
- Bill Sachse Jr.: Bucky was a student's gift to Wisconsin.
Buckingham U. Badger.
You are Badgers.
This mascot is one of you.
- RoseAnn: Bucky represents so much more than just sports.
Bucky is Wisconsin.
Young, old, rich, poor, whatever,
you are a Badger.
- Narrator: You don't need a furry suit or a giant melon
to see the world through the eyes of Bucky Badger.
[upbeat music]
- Anyone can be Bucky at heart.
- Go, Bucky!
Whoo!
- He can be a lightning rod of unity for people.
- You get 17,000 people in this building,
and you have 17,000 people who want the same thing.
[crowd cheers]
Where else can you get that?
- Narrator: They don't call Wisconsin the Badger State
for nothing.
- They know how to work hard.
They play hard, and love making people laugh and smile.
- And what is something that combines all of that?
[crowd cheers] - Fan: Bucky!
- It's Bucky.
[upbeat music]
- Kids: [chanting] Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky!
["If You Want to Be a Badger" by UW Marching Band]
- Narrator: Okay, Bucky, that's a wrap.
And watch out for deer out there.
They're still mad you beat 'em out as the state animal.
[crowd cheers] [whistle blows]
- Announcer: Funding for Bucky! is provided by:
the Dancing Goat Distillery,
Robert J. Lenz,
Charles H. and Barb A. Merry,
Dr. Henry Anderson,
Lau and Bea Christensen,
Cynthia and David Shaw,
Elizabeth Olson,
the Alfred and June Kohlwey Family Foundation,
donors to the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs,
and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
[marching band cadence] [crowd cheers]