Bye Week Tailgate Crashing
May 8, 2010 in Featured, Videos
Just like any football season, every good tailgate needs a bye week. Not only to help you recharge your batteries, but also to get a sampling of what goes on at the tailgates around your stadium.
When do you schedule a tailgating bye week? Sometimes the schedule makes it all too obvious.
Three back-to-back-back’s is too much. Texas A&M opens with three consecutive home games. During the middle week we are going to check out the other tailgates in and around Kyle Field.
After determining your bye week, the movie Wedding Crashers can help to get a game plan together. Here’s a list of five things to do to help enhance your tailgate crashing experience.
#5 – Bring your charisma and energy. Wedding Crashers–as a movie–was okay, but Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson carried the show. You and your team of tailgate crashers must bring your A-Game.
#4 – Determine the size of the tailgate crashing crew. Just two people? Easy. Bring four or more, then you better bring some great stories OR alternatively some cash. More and more, I’ve noticed big groups that understand the importance of donations. One of the best tailgates comes from the Aggie Spirit where you can donate to “Help Keep the Spirit Alive”. Check out their website here — http://www.ag-spirit.com/.
# 3 – Determine the goal. This keeps it interesting and gives you a reason to strike up the conversation. I can’t tell you how many people have asked me about our TV and tailgate set-up. Reverse the idea and you have the perfect segway into a conversation with anyone at another tailgate. People take pride in what they do well and in a tailgating environment it’s easy to find out about their area of expertise:
- What their favorite tailgating game is?
- What type of BBQ they have?
- Where they found that cool inflatable mascot or flag, etc, etc, etc.
#2 – Pick a side. In Wedding Crashers you pick a side of the family to sit on. In tailgate crashing you pick the color of your team. If it’s your home school tailgate then don’t go AWOL on your guys—no matter how bad they may be. Primarily, the pick a side rule of thumb, applies to out of town tailgate crashing when you don’t have a vested interest in who wins the game. See this post for a list of the best out of town tailgates in the nation in 2010.
There’s a Warning with this rule in Baton Rouge though: Wearing anything but purple or gold at an LSU game can be hazardous to your health. Neutral colors mean you’ve insulted them. Wearing the OTHER school’s colors means you’ve insulted their entire family. Watch out and be sure to travel in packs. Best bet is to Geaux Gold when in Baton Rouge.
Check out this video from an LSU tailgater in Knoxville. He gives you an idea of how fine the line is. One second he’s thinking about killing someone and the next he’s inviting you to his tailgate. Seriously, it’s crazy.
#1 - Don’t stay in one place too long. There are so many tailgates and so little time. You will inevitably meet some very cool people and with the mix of good food, good drink and great times it’s easy to get caught up in one place. Don’t do it though.
All season long you’re in one place. On your bye week make sure you keep moving so you can bring the best tailgating ideas back to your tailgate in the future. To make a smooth transition to your next destination, just invite the people from the spot you’re currently at over to your tailgate at the next home game and keep charging ahead.
Look ahead, plan your tailgating bye week now and you’ll be sure to make it a great one.
To read other posts by Foster “Jim” Flint click here.
Tailgating has a lifestyle and culture all its own. It’s hard to find T-shirts and apparel that are specifically designed around tailgating. Sure there are other T-shirts floating around that promote beer pong and flip cup but hardly do you see T-shirts about tailgating. That last statement was true until I found out about 
Ranking The SEC Tailgates
October 27, 2011 in Commentary, Featured
Sundresses, tailgate tents, and fried food have an all too common theme at tailgate parties down South. This conference is very top heavy and there are a lot of similarities between each school (which made it tougher to sort schools that were close). Hopefully one can get a taste of every school from this article. Happy tailgating!
1. LSU: Known for their exciting atmosphere and a huge array of craw fish, gumbo, jambalaya, alligator, frog, chicken, beef…all with a Cajun twist. LSU has huge parking lots right outside the stadium with massive RVs and converted trucks. A lot of LSU fans setup the night before and a lot really get decked out in LSU gear, body paint, etc. A unique twist to Saturdays is the ability to visit their mascot, a live white Bengal tiger! LSU fans love to party all day long and they have plenty of unique vehicles, grills, outfits and food to make your head spin right off.
2. Mississippi: Has the grove and Oxford square (which is beautif
ul). There is Hotty Toddy and plenty of folks dressed in sundresses and suits sitting down at mixed tailgates. The Rebels M-O is the Grove and it doesn’t disappoint. It can blow one away when they first see it as the amount of people and tents is massive. The Grove is known to be several different tailgate parties rolled into one. The Rebels do a great job of tailgating and can stretch their parties from Friday night to Sunday morning.
3. Tennessee: Has the “Vol Navy”, a bunch of tailgaters who tailgate on the Tennessee River surrounding the stadium. During the warm part of the season people are even swimming in the river as tailgates are going on inside the boats. Don’t think that the impressive school spirit stops with “sailgating”. The river next to the stadium makes parking very limited so people tend to get there early. There is usually a sea of orange and besides party boats, I’ve also seen a converted garbage truck – that is insane.
4. Florida: The mecca for converted buses, heck they even convert golf carts. Florida is known as one of the top party schools in the country but they have a strict policy on open containers. There is RV parking all over campus. Orange and blue seem to be on every car, truck, tent, cup, plate and shirt that you see. There is lots of school spirit with how the fans dress up, also a lot of” jorts”. Women are very good looking and everyone of course loves to do the Gator chomp. The Gators bring a mix of beautiful women but also some strange folks.
5. Alabama: Alabama sweet tea, ribs and “roll-tide-roll” are a fixture at Tuscaloosa tailgates. Alabama is another SEC tailgating scene that goes all out with tents, catering, you name it. Lots of rich traditions go on at Alabama, and I emphasize the word rich. Dreamland BBQ is one of those old style hole in the wall BBQ places down south that is definitely worth a visit. One can also visit the Bear Bryant museum to checkout some Bama’ history to kill some time before the game.
6. South Carolina: Parking for th
e regulars can be a mixed bag. The one impressive thing they have is “cockaboose’s surrounding the stadium. Cockaboose’s are old train caboose’s that are reconstructed and fully loaded with folks tailgating in before the game. That might be the most unique thing in college football tailgating.
7. Auburn: Known for War Eagle flying before the game and the celebration at Toomers Corner afterwards. It’s a little creepy but I saw a picture of an Auburn grill made out of a casket! Apparently there was a new rule put in place a few years ago that got rid of a lot of free tailgate spots for the Tigers. Lots of fans like to setup tents and TVs and will party all day and watch the game outside if they don’t have a ticket.
8. Arkansas: The Razorbacks like to specialize in BBQ and pig roasts. Platforms built on pickup trucks, decks on bus roofs also make appearances on Saturdays. I didn’t know that the Razorbacks sometimes play in two different places in Arkansas and that leaves the fans split on which location is better. Fayetteville has really improved their tailgating though. “The pit” is the place to go as a lot of tailgaters congregate there.
9. Georgia: A legendary music scene with a beautiful campus backdrop. The Bulldogs have some weird tailgating restrictions though that really hinders how successful tailgating could be. Sure they have the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail party, but that’s in an off-campus location and doesn’t count for their on campus atmosphere. Georgia has a nice combo of relaxed and upbeat tailgating but nothing really unique.
10. Mississippi State: The Cowbells are a staple with Mississippi State (even though they’ve been ruled illegal for at least 25 years) The downtown bars have a cozy feel to them but the place to tailgate at is “the Junction” a historic landmark at MSU that is the epicenter of every home game.
11. Kentucky: Some of the locals call it LexVegas. One of the neat things to do is to take in a football and game and then go to the race track and bet on some horse racing if that’s your thing. There is plenty of parking and very prideful tailgating. They have a chant that is a pure carbon copy of Fireman Ed’s J-E-T-S chant, but that’s okay.
12. Vanderbilt: Traditional tailgating is tough because of the urban atmosphere so if you’re lucky enough to draw a noon game make a stop at Pancake Pantry. Most of the tailgating is done in parking decks. However, there is “Vandyville” which is a growing tailgating spot. The school recently started enforcing a rule to Greek life that they had to fold up their tailgates 30 minutes early and head to the stadium, so it’ll take a few years to see how that changes things.
Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Football, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, SEC, South Carolina, tailgating, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
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