Tailgating Report

Saturday September 21

After the rains had stopped from Thursday and all of Friday, it set up for great tailgating weather, and for once, I didn’t have to set up my tailgate by myself. One of the positives of running a fraternity tailgate is that there are certain times of the year where guys who really want to be a part of the fraternity volunteer to help you out in really any way possible. They were a lot of help on Saturday, and a very big reason why we were ready to go by 10:00am.

Parent’s weekend always seems to be a bit of a hit or miss when it comes to tailgating. I’m sure students whose parents are alumni get to the game early, but those who have parents who went somewhere else may not be as inclined to get to the game, oh, four-five hours before the game begins. Especially because they would probably like to go out to breakfast or lunch (Or, brunch, I guess) with the son/daughter they have not seen at the regularity they are used to. So, really, I didn’t expect too much from last week’s tailgate, but I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout. My parents, by the way, both grew up in New York, and they were at the game at about 11:30.

With all that being said, I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout for last week’s game. It still was not the same showing that we had against Wofford week one, but I would say the turnout exceeded that of the Buffalo game. I’m not used to seeing sororities throw tailgates, but that was the case this past weekend. It’s one thing to have your tailgate catered by someone else, but if someone else also sets it up, and a good percentage of girls do not show up, I feel like you are kind of missing the point. Regardless though, I like the idea of it. This may be another reason that the numbers weren’t as great as they were in week one, because people are a lot more spread out. Also, at my tailgate, I can guarantee free food. The sororities can offer free food and very pretty girls. And, well, that is not a fair matchup.

I’m seeing less and less of the Baylor Line showing up to the student tailgate area. Maybe it is just my pride for my year’s Baylor Line, but I feel like we had a much better turnout last year at games. Don’t get me wrong though, there are still freshmen that show up and are dedicated, loyal fans, it just is not at the quantity that I had expected. I did not get to see the first running of the Baylor Line this year, actually I’ve yet to see any of them, but it is really discouraging when I am walking to my section, and I see kids in gold jerseys already inside the stadium. Meaning they either didn’t run, or are not welcoming the players out of the tunnel, which is just about as bad as not running.

All in all it was a good showing on the tailgate scene. I’m not too sure how it looked at the alumni tailgates, or how the George’s tailgate turned out, but I have heard good things. It’s also nice to see so many contributors/readers talk about going to games and tailgating. The buses drive right past the tailgating areas, and, to me, driving up to a game three hours early and seeing fans already there, that have been there for some time, would really pump me up and want to play for them and thank them for their support. Just like we, as fans, need to stay and cheer for the team for us to show support for them and all of the hours they have put in dating back to the end of last season.

To those students who don’t show up on game days, like the ones pbpope overheard at Chipotle, I don’t understand you. Football season is one of the more fun aspects of all of college. Students get into games for free. All of them. We go up, swipe a card, and get a ticket. Most other schools you either have to wait in line for days or preorder tickets in the summer. We have it very, very well here and Baylor makes it as easy as they can for us to go out and support their teams. Last week was the coolest game of the year temperature wise and there were still a lot of people that left very early. I’ll give a pass because of parent’s weekend, and because having the sun beat down on you in the stands, even when the thermometer only says 89, is still pretty hot. But, when we play West Virginia, I want everyone there and loud. TGCAB already tipped his hat about the chrome gold helmets making their debut. And it’s a night game. I’m excited just thinking about it.