on juniorgrrl's quasi-reply question:
I don't know about the rest of the state, but I know that at the University of Texas we tailgate like CRAZY. Here are some examples of the weekly behavior of my friends:
1) The state parking lots which border the stadium and university grounds are not available until Friday at 6:00 PM. So, for prime parking at the tailgate spot, everyone will go directly there after work, and leave various vehicles overnight, and then catch rides home.
2) I just heard about a friend of a friend who spent $6,000... on a smoker! It's cast-iron and sits on a big trailer that he can tow behind his truck, and it also has a place for two kegs, and a picnic table folds out. The smoker or grill, as tailgaters know, is required in some form -- from the over-the-top version I just mentioned to the little hibachi that you toss in the backseat. This is for the cooking of sausages and burgers on game day.
3) Texas kicks off tomorrow at 11:30 am. That means that the tailgate party will begin at 8:30 for the diehards in our group, 9:30 for the semi-diehards, and 10 am for all the girls.
For a 2:30 kickoff we will go down to the stadium at 11 or noon. For a 6:00 kickoff we go at 2:00 at the latest.
Now, when I was IN college, we never tailgated. We pre-partied before games at someone's apartment or a fraternity house, usually with barbecue, etc. But now that I am alum, it is required. The entire weekend's plans revolve around home football games.
I have heard that Oklahoma is the same way about the tailgating...
more on this: I don't want to give the impression that this is just my friends! There are literally thousands of people packed into all the parking lots around the stadium going through the exact same rituals. It is like one HUGE party spread out over twenty blocks.
And, one of the reasons that it is so much fun - the OTHER team's fans are never there! You are always with your own school's fans, so you can celebrate or commiserate together.
[This message has been edited by Texas Alum (edited October 27, 2000).]
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