Moe: No ashes scattered at Camp Randall, as far as we know

Doug Moe  —  10/03/2007 11:51 am

I WAS interested to read in Eric Zorn's column in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune that some of Steve Goodman's ashes were scattered years ago in Wrigley Field.

It got me wondering if any huge fan of the Badgers has ever had himself, or herself, scattered for eternity in Camp Randall Stadium.

Goodman was a wonderfully witty singer-songwriter from Chicago who died of leukemia, at 36, in 1984. He was a lifelong Cubs fan and among his songs were the Cub anthems "Go Cubs Go" and the less optimistic but hilarious "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request."

In the second song, Goodman actually envisions his ashes at Wrigley blowing out over the left field wall onto Waveland Avenue.

As Zorn noted Tuesday, in the actual event, Goodman's cremated remains, like many fly balls off Cub bats, failed to clear the wall, settling instead on the left field warning track.

Friends and family were forced to arrange a stealth visit to Wrigley to scatter Goodman's ashes, after the Cubs organization turned down the family's formal request.

On Tuesday I spoke with Alan Fish, the UW-Madison vice chancellor in charge of facilities, who said that as far as he knows, no one has ever asked to have themselves scattered in Camp Randall.

Fish said that he has his doubts permission would be given anywhere on campus property. "I think we would look at it skeptically," he said, citing potential legal and health issues.

Fish did recall an episode from the early 1990s, when a Badger fan's ashes were scattered on a football field, though not at Camp Randall.

You might call it "A Dying Badger Fan's Last Request," and it is recounted in Justin Doherty's book, "Tales from the Wisconsin Badgers."

The story was related to Doherty by legendary UW Band director Mike Leckrone. Leckrone got it from one of his assistants, Jim Tanner, who said that as the UW Band was entering the stadium for the 1994 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, a Badger fan approached Tanner and said that his late father had been cremated and had always wanted his ashes scattered in the Rose Bowl, if the Badgers ever got there. The man handed Tanner a plastic bag with the ashes and said, "Do you think it could be done?"

As Doherty notes in his book, Tanner agreed to try, but forgot about it until the band was taking the field after the game for the "Fifth Quarter." Feeling the bag in his pocket, Tanner went to the Wisconsin end zone and spread the ashes -- mission accomplished.

I recall addressing the question of whether your love for the Badgers has to die just because you do five years ago, when I learned that a company in Georgia called Collegiate Memorials had signed agreements with around 50 universities to produce coffins with university colors and insignias. UW had passed on the idea, though it does allow individuals to have a Badger coffin on a case by case basis. My old friend Jerry Hill, founder of Hill Electric and a big time Badger fan, purchased a red and white casket with a "Motion W" from Gunderson.

As for scattering cremated remains at Camp Randall, it would appear that any such ceremony will have to be surreptitious.

My field research indicates that anyone interested in trying would be well advised not to employ an airplane. I found a story from a few years ago in the San Francisco Chronicle in which a family had hired a small plane in order to scatter their loved one's remains in the Pacific Ocean.

Unfortunately, the attempt to toss the remains in the ocean proved unsuccessful when wind blew the ashes back inside the cockpit.

The pilot said, "We had to vacuum grandpa out of the airplane."

Heard something Moe should know? Call 252-6446, write P.O. Box 8060, Madison, WI 53708, or e-mail dmoe@madison.com

Doug Moe  —  10/03/2007 11:51 am