space for RENT

Football Obelisk????

Yet, another fine trip to Madison and I see or learn something new every time.

Donald Lipski, an internationally renowned sculpture, was asked to design a work of art that emulated the spirit of Wisconsin Badgerites. Being a University of Wisconsin Alumni, he was overjoyed when they asked him to come back to town and make this creation.

He came up with the first ever football obelisk. It looks more phalic than anything else or possibly corn on the cob from a distance. But, you can partially see how he was trying to make it resemble the outline of the Washington Monument from its base aside the sporadic crumbling away of concrete to reveal a core of footballs.

In his head, he wanted it to be a meeting place that you could join forces with your fellow spectators outside and continue your energy into the arena. It is, in fact, an easy place to find and you could tell your friends that you would meet them at "Nail's Tales"....and if they didn't understand that, for some inane reason, you could say, "Okay, let's meet at that ugly and strange looking football obelisk on Breese Terrace and Regent Street."

Another odd thing about the statue is the name..."Nail's Tales". Sounds fun and has some sort of potential, and I'm sure there is some symbolic meaning behind the name. The fact that only he and/or maybe people from Wisconsin are the only ones to understand it, doesn't make it any more attractive.