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ASK THE BADGERS
COACHES EDITION
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What is the coolest venue that you
have ever seen a sporting event from?
BO RYAN // MEN'S BASKETBALL
"It's got to be either the Palestra or Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. I saw the Eagles beat
the Packers for the 1960 NFL championship and I saw Bill Bradley
and countless others play at the Palestra. Because of how old I
was when I went to them ― between age 8 and 16 ― Those two
venues definitely had the biggest impacts on me."
MICK BYRNE // TRACK AND CROSS COUNTRY
"I'm going to say Camp Randall Stadium. I'm a New Yorker, and
where I came from we didn't have big-time football. The stadiums
there held about 1,500 people. When you walk into Camp Randall
Stadium on a Saturday afternoon and see over 80,000 people, it is
amazing. Next to Camp Randall, I would say the SPIRE Institute
in Cleveland, where we competed last year at the Big Ten indoor
meet, reminds me of a European-style facility. It is an awesome,
300-meter oversized track that is fun to compete at."
MARK JOHNSON // WOMEN'S HOCKEY
"One of them was Stadio Olympica in Cortina, Italy, when I played over
there. The 1956 Olympics were held there, and the arena was all wood
and outdoors. We played under the moonlight and stars. It was pretty
historic, hosting the Olympics prior to that. There was a 60-yard wooden
plank walkway that we had to take from our locker room to the ice, it was
pretty memorable because it was outdoors."
PAULA WILKINS // WOMEN'S SOCCER
"When I was at Penn State, we played at Wembley Stadium in
London, England, which is where they have opening day for the
English Premier League. I got to watch Manchester United play
Chelsea. We played before the game and I got to be there to watch
them play after our game and it was a pretty cool experience."
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VARSITY October 24, 2013