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Topic: SI: College Football's Best Traditions

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MarqHusker

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #42 on: August 20, 2019, 01:47:12 PM »
I can't speak to Lincoln,  attended my first home game in 1985 (vs New Mexico) and then not until '91, both times I stayed in Omaha, and while people were tailgating, it wasn't a coordinated, branded, dedicated production, just all of the one offs with a grill and a few folding chairs.   For the record, I don't remember seeing any tailgating for my first ever college game, Nebraska at Hawaii in '82.

I still stress it was a big production at County Stadium for years and years, porta johns,  bands, stages and lots of beer tents, permanently installed grill facilities.  Not every single game mind you, but quite a few.  In many respects, not entirely though, that's why Miller Park was built where it is, and not downtown.   Tailgating was a big consideration.

utee94

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #43 on: August 20, 2019, 01:53:11 PM »
I can't speak to Lincoln,  attended my first home game in 1985 (vs New Mexico) and then not until '91, both times I stayed in Omaha, and while people were tailgating, it wasn't a coordinated, branded, dedicated production, just all of the one offs with a grill and a few folding chairs.  For the record, I don't remember seeing any tailgating for my first ever college game, Nebraska at Hawaii in '82.

I still stress it was a big production at County Stadium for years and years, porta johns,  bands, stages and lots of beer tents, permanently installed grill facilities.  Not every single game mind you, but quite a few.  In many respects, not entirely though, that's why Miller Park was built where it is, and not downtown.  Tailgating was a big consideration.

Yeah buy my point is, those are commercially constructed events at a pro stadium.  They're set up like a festival.  The fact that it didn't happen for every game serves to emphasize that difference.

That's not really the same thing as tailgate parties, which grew up organically and grass-roots, from the fans.  It wasn't until the mid 90s (in my perspective) that they started to become more coordinated-- or even corporate-- events.  Which is essentially my point. :)

Cincydawg

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #44 on: August 20, 2019, 01:53:40 PM »
I'm sure it didn't spring up one day from nothing.  The literal TGing was as I describe, pickup trucks with a cooler and sandwiches, really not much of a thing.  I don't know when the tents started to happen.  We can probably estimate when TVs started to happen because they'd have to be flat panel or little 13" battery powered jobs earlier than that.  I'm not lugging some 32 inch tube set very far at all.

One can imagine as pickup trucks got fancier, the better off fans bought nice ones and could hook up fans and small TVs and bring a small grill etc., then a foldable tent, and viola.

I was pondering if it's old enough to be a tradition, but it's so endemic now, I'd say yes.


FearlessF

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #45 on: August 20, 2019, 02:03:43 PM »
this season will mark my 18th Sharkwater party.  I know folks have been tailgating long before that at UNL.

I started taking my father's 5th-wheel camper to Lincoln for the weekend to avoid the hotel stays at a 2 night minimum and triple the normal rate.  Sleeping in the camper and bringing food and drink was much less expensive.

Before that there are plenty of bars within stumbling distance of Memorial Stadium...... obviously they are overcrowded, noisy, expensive.  If you have a large group it can be tough to arrange a big enough table to accommodate.

Tailgating is just like camping, it can be as much work or as little as you like.  How much crap do you want to haul in, set up to enjoy the experience

a cooler full of beverages is about the minimum, food??  Sammiches and chips or roast a whole hog??  it's up to you..  You want chairs, tables, awnings, big screen TVs, a stage for a live band.

if you think it's too much work, leave some of the crap at home in the garage.
"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport."

utee94

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #46 on: August 20, 2019, 02:04:07 PM »
I'm sure it didn't spring up one day from nothing.  The literal TGing was as I describe, pickup trucks with a cooler and sandwiches, really not much of a thing.  I don't know when the tents started to happen.  We can probably estimate when TVs started to happen because they'd have to be flat panel or little 13" battery powered jobs earlier than that.  I'm not lugging some 32 inch tube set very far at all.

One can imagine as pickup trucks got fancier, the better off fans bought nice ones and could hook up fans and small TVs and bring a small grill etc., then a foldable tent, and viola.

I was pondering if it's old enough to be a tradition, but it's so endemic now, I'd say yes.



No, they definitely evolved slowly, organically, over time.  As new technologies enabled us to do different things, we updated and evolved the experience.

We actually DID bring the 32" tube TVs, before flat panels were ubiquitous.  They were huge and heavy and impractical and didn't come with non-glare screens so they were extremely difficult to see during daylight hours.  But we did it anyway.  Originally we used OTA signals, but then when the prices on Dish/DirecTV came down enough, we switched over to that and opened up a much larger list of channel options.  We obviously had to have generators to run all of that, and so we also experimented with running "Cool Zone" type fans but they really didn't do enough to justify the hassle.

Eventually flat panel TVs came out and were lighter and easier to maneuver.  When the LCDs became prevalent, they were also low enough power that we could run them off marine batteries with inverters and skip the generators.  But once we got back up to running 3 TVs and various party lights and stuff, we brought back the generators.

I also mentioned the evolution of the shade structures-- we went from cheap tarps staked into the asphalt, to the large but unwieldy 10x20 temporary garages, and finally to the omnipresent 10x10 EZ-Ups.

Tons of other things we tried and evolved over the years.  I've thought about writing a book about it, to be honest.  Would be fun traveling to other places to see how tailgating evolved elsewhere.  But from what I see on TV, it all looks about the same nowadays.

MarqHusker

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #47 on: August 20, 2019, 02:14:33 PM »
I follow you Utee, but these were not sponsored by corps. or teams.  You paid the Brewers/County for the space you needed, and probably a tent permit and the public could do it.   Local taverns really started taking advantage of getting these, with little shuttle bus groups coming in, and eventually the Taverns got their own 'bus lot' for tavern tailgates.  You didn't take your kids over there.  In my early 20s, that's how I would choose to go to Opening Day, meet at the tavern at 7 am for a bloody mary and head out to the stadium by 8.   Yes, other dates in April and May didn't see a ton of groups, certainly not weeknights, but that was/is a common way people would do the tailgate during the season.   

 There were three large plots on the parking grounds where these large tailgates were told to set up.  This spawned over too many make-shift tents going up, which made getting in and out of spots a problem.  The grounds were run by the County, and they did permanently install the charcoal ash bins all over the lots so people wouldn't pour them into the trash cans and start fires.    People would hire and bring their own portable johns until the City/county started putting them out there, presumably to keep people from taking a knee behind the car.   It wasn't at all branded by the Brewers, they just made it easier for people to organize large groups, with the one offs doing their own thing in most of the rest of the parking lot.   For a year or two (much later) they threatened to only allow patrons with game tickets to buy parking passes on big dates,  like Opening Day, and certain weekend dates, as a lot of people wouldn't attend the game. (sounds familiar).

FearlessF

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #48 on: August 20, 2019, 02:21:53 PM »
I had the 13" battery powered TV

also started borrowing a portable Honda generator from work to run the TV and the Satellite dish and camper

So, are we talking about Bar/company/corporate sponsored areas, or private 5 -10 folks gathered near the stadium?
"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport."

utee94

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #49 on: August 20, 2019, 02:46:55 PM »
I follow you Utee, but these were not sponsored by corps. or teams.  You paid the Brewers/County for the space you needed, and probably a tent permit and the public could do it.  Local taverns really started taking advantage of getting these, with little shuttle bus groups coming in, and eventually the Taverns got their own 'bus lot' for tavern tailgates.  You didn't take your kids over there.  In my early 20s, that's how I would choose to go to Opening Day, meet at the tavern at 7 am for a bloody mary and head out to the stadium by 8.  Yes, other dates in April and May didn't see a ton of groups, certainly not weeknights, but that was/is a common way people would do the tailgate during the season. 

 There were three large plots on the parking grounds where these large tailgates were told to set up.  This spawned over too many make-shift tents going up, which made getting in and out of spots a problem.  The grounds were run by the County, and they did permanently install the charcoal ash bins all over the lots so people wouldn't pour them into the trash cans and start fires.    People would hire and bring their own portable johns until the City/county started putting them out there, presumably to keep people from taking a knee behind the car.  It wasn't at all branded by the Brewers, they just made it easier for people to organize large groups, with the one offs doing their own thing in most of the rest of the parking lot.  For a year or two (much later) they threatened to only allow patrons with game tickets to buy parking passes on big dates,  like Opening Day, and certain weekend dates, as a lot of people wouldn't attend the game. (sounds familiar).

Sounds nice.  And it also still sounds like a city/county sponsored festival event, not a tailgate party and once again, not really what we're talking about with respect to college football tailgate parties.  You have already agreed you didn't see anything like this in Lincoln. *shrug*

I'll add that I think the pro leagues/fans got started before college fans did, and I could guess at some of the reasons.  I attended Dallas Cowboys games with my folks in the early 80s and they had stuff that sounds similar to what you're describing.  But UT (and every other college football stadium I visited in the 80s and early 90s) did not.

I'd guess that one reason, is many schools either don't allow, or don't want to encourage, alcohol consumption on their campuses.  Pro organizations, on the other hand, have long embraced it.  The differences in amount of liability, and who exactly is liable, cause the business models to be quite different between the two.  I'm sure there are other reasons as well.

Regardless, tailgate parties grew up as a way to avoid traffic, spend some time with friends you might not see all that often, and maybe save some money on food/beer rather than buying it at the stadium or at expensive/crowded  bars and restaurants around campus.  It wasn't until quite recently in the grand scheme, that they became these large, corporate and/or charity sponsored, catering events.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2019, 02:52:17 PM by utee94 »

utee94

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #50 on: August 20, 2019, 02:48:32 PM »
I had the 13" battery powered TV

also started borrowing a portable Honda generator from work to run the TV and the Satellite dish and camper

So, are we talking about Bar/company/corporate sponsored areas, or private 5 -10 folks gathered near the stadium?

Well, could be both, since in many cases the latter evolved into the former.  

MarqHusker

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #51 on: August 20, 2019, 02:57:17 PM »
Smarty pants prof at UC Irvine says tailgating originates in the Civil War era.

https://www.wuwm.com/post/tailgatings-unusual-origin-story#stream/0

utee94

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #52 on: August 20, 2019, 02:59:52 PM »
I can only imagine the women and children camped out by the battleground at Fort Sumter, ladies sipping on their mint juleps before watching the men start slaughtering each other...

MarqHusker

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #53 on: August 20, 2019, 03:03:22 PM »
Her's a pic from 1978 at County Stadium.  I wouldn't call this a corporate tailgate.1978: Despite the rain, a brothers-and-sister act, Vicki and David Noll of Johnson Creek, and Leonard Noll of Waukesha (left to right), cook out in the County Stadium parking lot on what was supposed to be opening day of the 1978 baseball season on April 6, 1978. The game itself was postponed, but tailgating went on as scheduled. (The Brewers won the eventual home opener on April 7, 11-3 over the Baltimore Orioles.) This photo was on the front page of the April 7, 1978, Milwaukee Sentinel.

MarqHusker

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #54 on: August 20, 2019, 03:06:35 PM »
My personal My personal favorite, from 1983
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6)]1983: The Woolley's Bar and Grill Band of Pewaukee, with help from a gorilla or two, serenades tailgaters before opening day outside County Stadium on April 15, 1983. This photo was published in the April 16, 1983, Milwaukee Sentinel. The Brewers lost the home opener to the Kansas City Royals, 4-3.[/color]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6)]RONALD M. OVERDAHL/MILWAUKEE SENTINEL[/color]

1983: The Woolley's Bar and Grill Band of Pewaukee, with help from a gorilla or two, serenades tailgaters before opening day outside County Stadium on April 15, 1983. This photo was published in the April 16, 1983, Milwaukee Sentinel. The Brewers lost the home opener to the Kansas City Royals, 4-3.

utee94

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Re: SI: College Football's Best Traditions
« Reply #55 on: August 20, 2019, 03:07:03 PM »
Her's a pic from 1978 at County Stadium.  I wouldn't call this a corporate tailgate.1978: Despite the rain, a brothers-and-sister act, Vicki and David Noll of Johnson Creek, and Leonard Noll of Waukesha (left to right), cook out in the County Stadium parking lot on what was supposed to be opening day of the 1978 baseball season on April 6, 1978. The game itself was postponed, but tailgating went on as scheduled. (The Brewers won the eventual home opener on April 7, 11-3 over the Baltimore Orioles.) This photo was on the front page of the April 7, 1978, Milwaukee Sentinel.

Well that's an RV lot.  Not a tent or canopy.  


But that's certainly a great way to tailgate, we did it ourselves for almost a decade.  Show up Friday afternoon, set up the RV, maybe go out to dinner at a walkable restaurant nearby, then sleep in the lot.  Wake up Saturday morning and you're the first people down at the venue.  Drink all you want throughout the day and during the game, because you're not driving home that night.  

Plus down here, it meant having A/C all day long during the heat of August/September.  It was perfect when the kids were young, we'd line up 4-5 carriers and strollers and portable cribs full of babies, inside the RV all safe and sound. :)

 

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