The Wisconsin Badger cheerleaders were pelted with snowballs by their own student fans during Saturday's game in Madison as the team lost to nationally-ranked Northwestern.
The question is, was it just college student hijinx in snow-covered Camp Randall Stadium or a reflection of what fans thought of the Badgers, ranked No. 25 in the country, as they dropped a heartbreaking 13-7 game to No. 20 Northwestern.
ESPN's Jesse Temple watched as the students more than just played in the eight inches of snow that fell covered most of the stadium.
Temple said a snowball fight started between students in the stands before they turned on the cheerleaders.
"You're understandably pumped and there's snow on the ground," said
Deadspin's Patrick Redford, addressing the Wisconsin fans. "You should throw a snowball! But no Northwestern fans are in range. Should you throw it at the nearby cheerleaders? No of course not. That is rude as hell."
Jerry Hinnen of
CBS Sports said while throwing snowballs can be fun, he questioned the wisdom of the student section at zeroing in on its own cheerleaders.
"But here's a question, college students: Is it really necessary to take it this far?" asked Hinnen. "And now look what you've done. We know you're college students and prone to things like 'throwing snowballs at cheerleaders.' But still. Who's going to lead your cheers now, huh, Wisconsin students?"
Temple said referees were targeted, too, as they left the stadium after the game.
The university issued its own Twitter message about the incident, threatening ejection.
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