Before he was Madison’s top cop, Mike Koval delighted fans, young and old, as Bucky Badger.
The year is 1977 and it’s game day at Camp Randall. The Badgers are set to play Northern Illinois, a team that was considered then, and now, a bit of a doormat.
Suiting up as Bucky Badger that day was Mike Koval, today the city’s chief of police. Koval remembers hearing the Northern Illinois players in the locker room next to his “screaming like madmen about lack of respect and kicking lockers.” The display of passion worried Koval a little, but he had a job to do.
When the opposing team took the field, Koval’s fears were realized. “As Northern Illinois is coming out, I see one guy step out of line and make a beeline straight at me,” Koval says. “Before I know it, he shoulders me at a full sprint. The head goes flying off, like the Lone Ranger being unmasked. And the huge horde of 85 plus guys start kicking the head across the stadium as I scramble after it. It was, of course, an honor to be Bucky but it wasn’t all glitz and glamour.”
It was, actually, a lot of work. Today several Buckys share the duty of pumping up crowds at sporting events. But during Koval’s reign, he was the sole Bucky at football games, both home and away, as well as at every men’s basketball and hockey game. He also made appearances at charity functions and community events.
“The old uniform was like three snowsuit liners sewn back-to-back-to-back and you wore everything that a football player wore underneath it. Shoulder pads. Hip pads. Girdle pads. Knee pads. Everything,” Koval says. “You’d lose 10 to 12 pounds of water weight in a day. But nothing a few beers can’t cure afterwards.”
Koval landed the non-paying job during the spring semester of his freshman year and held it for three years.
“I wanted to find a niche and I always loved, loved, loved watching Bucky,” says Koval, who grew up in Madison. “But it’s a miracle I graduated. During a home football game, I’d zip up at 6 a.m. and wouldn’t zip out until well after dark.”
Koval loves what Bucky represents. “Bucky is a transcendent symbol of the university. Its mission. Its core values. Its commitment to good sportsmanship and fair play. And when you’re in that role, you are seeing people at their best,” Koval says. “And you understand the human condition is empowered to do good, to care about one another and to pursue worthy or noble causes. That’s what I really liked about being Bucky, to have represented that and to see the magic Bucky has with kids as well as the eldest of the elderly.”
As he rose up the ranks of the Madison police force, Koval says he’s tried to hold on to the ethos embodied by Bucky. But he knows he is in a much less endearing role now.
“Everyone embraces Bucky. But the chief of police, at times, is as embraceable as a cactus. Bucky is symbolic of everything that is good and unifying. He represents the solidarity of an institution, if not the state itself,” Koval says. “Bucky also doesn’t talk! So he’s a safe date. As chief of police, generally, my viewpoints are going to be highly scrutinized.”
Koval is one of dozens of what he calls “recovering Buckys.” But he did miss out on a modern day tradition among Bucky alums: Tattooing Wisconsin’s flying W logo on his posterior.
“Ha. I don’t know when that tradition started. I’d be willing to offer up a character witness in my defense — my wife, who I met when I was Bucky Badger and she was a cheerleader,” Koval says. “She will vouch for the fact that I have no tattoo on said appendage. I didn’t get the memo on that one.”
Koval’s debut as a mascot: Playing Reggie the Regent at Madison West High School
Bucky’s full name: Buckingham U. Badger. Before being formally named, he went by Benny, Buddy, Bernie, Bobby and Bouncey
Bucky’s first appearance at UW football game: Homecoming, 1949. Before a crowd of 45,000, Wisconsin defeated Iowa 35 - 13
Current number of Buckys needed to meet demand: 7
Hourly rate to have Bucky attend your private event: $300 for first hour, $150 each additional hour