(Pre-Game) Food For Thought

[DFW HOYA]

From the Stanford Daily:

"First, there must be tailgating. Football games should not be considered a study break for the burned out student. They should be marketed as all-day affairs and treated as such. Therefore, don’t just hand the students a hot dog and a soda on their way into games — teach the student how to fish, as the saying goes. Supply dorms, clubs and draw groups with tailgating equipment. Have charcoal, lighter fluid, burger patties, hot dog franks and soda behind the stadium, but make the students cook it themselves on grills paid for by Stanford. Create the culture by planting the seeds."

daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=17461&repository=0001_article

[TigerHoya]

DFW said:

From the Stanford Daily:

"First, there must be tailgating. Football games should not be considered a study break for the burned out student. They should be marketed as all-day affairs and treated as such. Therefore, don�t just hand the students a hot dog and a soda on their way into games � teach the student how to fish, as the saying goes. Supply dorms, clubs and draw groups with tailgating equipment. Have charcoal, lighter fluid, burger patties, hot dog franks and soda behind the stadium, but make the students cook it themselves on grills paid for by Stanford. Create the culture by planting the seeds."

daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=17461&repository=0001_article

The fact that someone has to "learn" how to tailgate is baffling to me. I know people who are in their 30s now who tailgate in groups that are so organized that they have to organize things by spreadsheet to make sure there's no duplication and that nothing is left out.

I guess I'm just lucky in growing up where I did in that regard. I got the feeling at GU that a lot of people had no grasp of the concept either and they didn't go to football games much except homecoming, and then it was just for booze not food (also known to others in the ACC as how Maryland fans tailgate.)

[DFW HOYA]

Agreed. Tailgating is foreign to Georgetown because it lacks the three necessary ingredients:

1. Parking lots. Hard to tailgate without, well, a tailgate. And a parking lot presupposes visitors driving in to campus, which is logistically impossible these days. (And when was the last RV you saw in the District?)

2. Families. Tailgating works better when their are husbands, wives and kids at the game, not just some older guys sitting around drinking beer--the choice of food is usually better, too. There are no families to speak of at Georgetown games and very few children.

3. Pageantry. There isn't enough to get people to go to the games. People need to wear the school colors and get there early. Music would help, too. Cornell had a neat deal where their marching band paraded past the tailgate lots and stopped for a few songs before marching into Schoellkopf Field. The GU band (or some other band) needs to do this.

The best tailgate I ever went to was, of all place, Air Force. The lot was a veritable political convention, with banners, signs and poles with the names of half the states of the Union out there, on top of cars, RV's, and tethered balloons. Whether you were from Wyoming, Alaska, Texas, Ohio, etc, there was a warm handshake and a cold drink waiting for you somewhere in that lot.

They also had the benefit of a couple nearby F-15's that shook the doors off of Falcon Stadium and the crowd loved it.

[FLHoya]

DFW said:

Agreed. Tailgating is foreign to Georgetown because it lacks the three necessary ingredients:

1. Parking lots. Hard to tailgate without, well, a tailgate. And a parking lot presupposes visitors driving in to campus, which is logistically impossible these days. (And when was the last RV you saw in the District?)

2. Families. Tailgating works better when their are husbands, wives and kids at the game, not just some older guys sitting around drinking beer--the choice of food is usually better, too. There are no families to speak of at Georgetown games and very few children.

3. Pageantry. There isn't enough to get people to go to the games. People need to wear the school colors and get there early. Music would help, too. Cornell had a neat deal where their marching band paraded past the tailgate lots and stopped for a few songs before marching into Schoellkopf Field. The GU band (or some other band) needs to do this.

The best tailgate I ever went to was, of all place, Air Force. The lot was a veritable political convention, with banners, signs and poles with the names of half the states of the Union out there, on top of cars, RV's, and tethered balloons. Whether you were from Wyoming, Alaska, Texas, Ohio, etc, there was a warm handshake and a cold drink waiting for you somewhere in that lot.

They also had the benefit of a couple nearby F-15's that shook the doors off of Falcon Stadium and the crowd loved it.

1. The lack of parking lots is the troubling thing, and somehow tailgating loses its romanticism if done in a parking garage. When we were having that thread on the Hoya Blue board about setting up a tailgate before games, one of the big stumbling blocks/questions was where you'd have such a thing. That G.U.T.S. gets by with that tiny corner by the baseball scoreboard behind the north end zone is a miracle in itself. Problem is--if you wanted a true tailgate (read: adult beverages), I don't think the school would sanction an official group doing it on any part of the real campus (like the Harbin Patio or SWQ for example). To even do Saxapalooza or events where beer is served, there's a ton of logistical loopholes and beer gardens and added security, etc.

That would leave it to our enterprising individual tailgaters. And you're right--not a lot of cars around. GU doesn't let you bring your car and keep it on campus, and DC parking fees would suck anyone dry. And the profile of the average GU student DOES NOT include a pickup truck. Eddie Bauer edition Explorer, German luxury SUV, yeah...so I guess that'd have to do.

So what's frustrating is that the OPPOSING fans out-tailgate us...because they have to drive to DC by necessity and they have their cars.

And I'll tell you when the last RV I saw on campus was--it belonged to an opposing football team's fan. I want to say Lehigh one of the years they played us, but i could be wrong. But even these people are now jammed into that weird sliver of a lot above Lot T and below the Yates Road.

2. Families--can we rent the lacrosse fans?

Yeah, I can see how families would increase the quality of food/experience at the tailgate. Hopefully it wouldn't go too far in a certain direction...it's not like we want the scene in "School Ties" where the families are eating on fine china, linens, and picnic baskets outside their little expensive station wagons and in general the game becomes a means to a conversation starter at the fancy restaurant after the game and Matt Damon finds out Brendan Fraser's...what I'm saying is there's a happy middle ground I think DFW's going for. On the scale of ACC-tailgating, we don't want to be MARYLAND, but then again we don't want to be VIRGINIA. I loved during the Miami-UVA game last year the announcers gushed over how Al Groh transformed the student section--see, they don't wear ties as much anymore! And they seem to sort of halfway care about the team! YEEHAW!!

Of course, I'd take VIRGINIA if that meant something more for tailgating than GEORGETOWN is right now.

3. Pagentry--well yeah. A million times yeah. Trust me, Hoya Blue will try this year. Although I should say--the band DOES play at games, and I like them. If you asked nicely, I'm sure they'd march buy your vehicle and play a song. But watch out--the way they go after those Booey's sandwiches and pizza at halftime, they might rip off your ribs and pulled pork.

And finally..."make the students cook it themselves on grills paid for by Stanford"?? Okay, I'm all for "planting the seeds" and I love writing about it and trying to do it at GU, but at the point when we're holding people's hands...it just smacks too much of those schools (or maybe it's just Harvard) hiring those "coordinators" to get people to have fun...just STOP IT!! I think if you hold some rallies and give out shirts and put up signs, the students will take care of putting mustard on their own hot dog, thanks.

[LBPop]

FLHoya said:

I think if you hold some rallies and give out shirts and put up signs, the students will take care of putting mustard on their own hot dog, thanks.

I really like the sentiment being expressed on this topic. As a "newbie" to the Hoya fan base, I have just a few observations. First, I think that there is a significant number of serious fans who want the program to flourish. That is evidenced by much of what appears on this board. The problem is that to attract the marginal fans and turn them into real fans, football games and tailgates need to become fashionable. I don't think I'm out of line by saying that once something becomes fashionable, that will get the attention of a large segment of the Georgetown population. Once we get 'em there, getting them back will be a whole lot easier. But, that's where the team comes in.

As I and others have said, this team has to win for the support to build. This season presents a terrific opportunity--they start off with two winnable away games (yes, I believe that they CAN beat Bucknell). Then they open at home against a respected Ivy League team with an advantage. The Hoyas will have played twice, while this is the Brown opener. If the Hoyas can open no worse than 1 & 1 they should draw a big crowd for that game. Then, if they can pull out a win vs. Brown, things could get really exciting.

My other observation has to do with tradition. With the various stoppages of football and the rebuilding of the program from the club days, there appears to have been a lack of continuity among the former players. I don't see that now. One of the real positive aspects of Coach Benson's tenure is that there is now a large number of former players who can and do come back to see their former coach (whom they respect and genuinely like) and to support the team. That encourages me to believe that with a new facility and a few more wins per season, Georgetown can really build some momentum. I will continue to do what I can (send in a few dollars to the Gridiron Club and more than a few dollars for tuition, etc.) and get to as many games (home & away) as my scheduled allows. I've got a hunch about this season...