Tailgating

[jakejc795]

Re: Tailgating

You just don’t get it. Sorry. Families tailgate too. The SDSU athletic department can’t make the fans show up. They need to allow people to enjoy themselves and create a day long event.

There has to be some common ground between the chaos of what happened a few years ago and what they do now.

Never said families don't tailgate. What I am saying is solving whatever tailgate problems there are/there are perceived to be is not a panacea.

Saying someone doesn't get it also won't solve the problems. Apparently a freshman has an issue with the tailgate policies, so I would like to know what changes they advocate making because hopefully even the avid tailgaters can agree that the university is going to balk at allowing underage students unfettered access to alcohol. Yes, I know; "they'll drink anyway," but underage drinking on university property opens a host of liability issues that are going to need to be acknowledged for any discussion to proceed.

[jakejc795]

Re: Tailgating

Personally, I have been to nearly every Jacks game since I was about 8 years old, and I don’t plan to change that. Of course, mostly everyone knows the reason why underage college kids want to tailgate: to drink. I know it’s sort of a political issue, but underage drinking is part of the college experience for many kids... Taking it away from tailgating isn’t going to make them not drink, it’s just going to make them drink somewhere else (at a house for example), which in turn decreases student attendance.

I won't ask whether you drink or not, because it's none of my business, but I would say if you don't, your assertion that you plan to attend Jacks games could represent fairly compelling support for other teetotaling students who might be contemplating attending games.

I've mentioned Athletics trying to support student "ambassadors" who would advocate student attendance, like the Barnyard Cadets, as a strategy to bolster student attendance. That could also be a method to stimulate the brainstorming you mentioned in your other post.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: Tailgating

Never said families don't tailgate. What I am saying is solving whatever tailgate problems there are/there are perceived to be is not a panacea.

Saying someone doesn't get it also won't solve the problems. Apparently a freshman has an issue with the tailgate policies, so I would like to know what changes they advocate making because hopefully even the avid tailgaters can agree that the university is going to balk at allowing underage students unfettered access to alcohol. Yes, I know; "they'll drink anyway," but underage drinking on university property opens a host of liability issues that are going to need to be acknowledged for any discussion to proceed.

Sorry that was harsh. I just think this is a huge issue that needs to be solved.

[Nidaros]

Re: Tailgating

BINGO. There are about 1,000 people, most of whom used to tailgate, filling up Club 71 every game. Little doubt about that. There is no doubt also that tailgating has spread out...quite a lot of it over by the Alumni Association tent.

I never was into tailgating but paying $750 for my ticket, I feel like I should eat every crumb that Club 71 has to offer. I am not alone of this issue. If a guy loves tailgating, God Bless you. Enjoy.

[Nidaros]

Re: Tailgating

Personally, I have been to nearly every Jacks game since I was about 8 years old, and I don’t plan to change that. Of course, mostly everyone knows the reason why underage college kids want to tailgate: to drink. I know it’s sort of a political issue, but underage drinking is part of the college experience for many kids... Taking it away from tailgating isn’t going to make them not drink, it’s just going to make them drink somewhere else (at a house for example), which in turn decreases student attendance.

Some truth here. Drinking has been going on a long time. I recall when Brookings did not have a liquor store and the students all journeyed to Aurora for their merchandise. The Aurora liquor store nearly went out of business when Brookings opened their municipal liquor store about 1954. As far as underage drinking, been there done that. College life has to be so different from the days of most of us on this board. This week's Collegian front page deals with the rising student loan debt. It may be the tailgating policy that is keeping students away, but also part time jobs sometimes get the way too. Loan debt for a rational student can not be something to sluff off, but I suppose in most cases it is.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Tailgating

Sorry that was harsh. I just think this is a huge issue that needs to be solved.

Never saw any students throwing full cans of beer in the air at the ISU tailgate. Was impressed with number of ISU students who stayed in the stands waiting out the storm. Cant see that happening in Brookings.

[jakejc795]

Re: Tailgating

Sorry that was harsh. I just think this is a huge issue that needs to be solved.

Nah, not harsh.

I just think we have varying experiences and interests. For instance, I struggle to believe that considerable numbers of families with children between the ages 3yrs to 10yrs would be able to remain multiple hours at tailgating on the hotter and colder days without the kids getting restless, thereby increasing the likelihood they opt to skip the game.

If this is a valid concern, I would be interested in SDSU exploring innovations like offering supervision for the children (perhaps with work study students from the HDFS or Nursing programs). It could be a win-win in that the kids could get out of the elements, the parents would be able to tailgate without rambunctious kids, and the students get to add an item to their resumes. I've also posted about having more activities for kids and families in the SJAC, like skills competitions for prizes, etc.

[JackJD]

Re: Tailgating

I like the fact the tailgating has spread out more thru the lots as it adds to the atmosphere. I've been to all the away P5 games and the one thing that always grabs my attention is the off campus tailgating. Just gives you the presence the whole town is involved. I've always thought it would be cool and great for advertising if people could get started tailgating along 6th street or Medary, etc. But that's just me.

I think Justwin's post from July points out what some may be missing: tailgating is spreading out. SDSU's Backyard is still a work-in-progress as the fans figure out their own tailgating traditions. There are games at which I do not enter the backyard because I'm in a different area, an area where there was little to no tailgating just a couple years ago. That's true for the others who are tailgating in places other than the backyard.

I was in Ames Saturday and thought the Cyclones have a good tailgating atmosphere. Notice ISU's tailgating is spread out all over the place and once people are at their place, they're not moving around much. Thinking about tailgating at ISU, it's my observation its overall a friendly atmosphere because its spread out. That's the direction the SDSU game day experience it going.

08, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with your conclusion about tailgating being a huge problem. None of the other posters have referred to the tailgating as a huge problem. I think SDSU's tailgating is ever-changing and I had a lot of fun last year and didn't experience any negatives. I plan on having a similar experience this year.

Following this weekend's non-starter, we want to open the season with a big statement against Montana State. I've heard more talk this year among football fans who are not alums, about making Saturdays in Brookings a habit.

[JackJD]

Re: Tailgating

A bigger concern is declining interest in college football -- Wall Street Journal article: https://drudgenow.com/article/?n=0&s...ats-1535634001

Our attendance trendline since moving up to D1 is still going in the right direction. Even so, student attendance can be improved at State and most other programs. The Iowa State student section was ready for a big game and doing a great job -- but I also read in this morning's Ames newspaper a coach's comments about that being the best student crowd for an opener in many years.

[Theee Catrabbit]

Re: Tailgating

Tailgating seems to be down significantly in the North area. They have removed the students, barred liquor and made it significantly worse. We need to find ways to improve this experience or there will be more empty spaces in the North side.

Strippers?

[thumper_76]

Re: Tailgating

If the goal is to entice families and college students, hopefully Athletics is thinking bigger than just tailgating.

This is wrong IMO, especially growing up in WI with the Packers and living in Fargo by the cows. A vibrant tailgate is what draws in students before the game, making them more likely to enter than if they’re drinking at someone’s house or in their dorm. I don’t think we should encourage underage drinking, but checking every persons ID who is holding a beer isn’t the best strategy IMO. Doesn’t create a very welcoming environment. I didn’t have any issues last year, but I think we would be OK from the liability standpoint if UPD just checked people who were getting out of hand instead of making everyone have a wristband. If wristbands are the only way we can have alcohol in tailgating then it’s certainly better than nothing, we gotta do what we gotta do I guess.

As for the family standpoint, I would argue that for many families tailgating is what starts growing a kids fandom. You walk around the bison tailgate and there’s kids everywhere. You go to Green Bay games and there’s kids all over playing catch or having games of football. It’s part of what starts growing the culture with the next generations. And guess where most of the family friendly attractions or things to entice students to come to the game would likely be set up? Around or in tailgate areas. Most every part of making the game an event bigger than just a game centers around tailgating, whether everyone tailgates or not.


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[jakejc795]

Re: Tailgating

This is wrong IMO, especially growing up in WI with the Packers and living in Fargo by the cows. A vibrant tailgate is what draws in students before the game, making them more likely to enter than if they’re drinking at someone’s house or in their dorm. I don’t think we should encourage underage drinking, but checking every persons ID who is holding a beer isn’t the best strategy IMO. Doesn’t create a very welcoming environment. I didn’t have any issues last year, but I think we would be OK from the liability standpoint if UPD just checked people who were getting out of hand instead of making everyone have a wristband. If wristbands are the only way we can have alcohol in tailgating then it’s certainly better than nothing, we gotta do what we gotta do I guess.

As for the family standpoint, I would argue that for many families tailgating is what starts growing a kids fandom. You walk around the bison tailgate and there’s kids everywhere. You go to Green Bay games and there’s kids all over playing catch or having games of football. It’s part of what starts growing the culture with the next generations. And guess where most of the family friendly attractions or things to entice students to come to the game would likely be set up? Around or in tailgate areas. Most every part of making the game an event bigger than just a game centers around tailgating, whether everyone tailgates or not.


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So, "bigger than tailgating" is interpreted as "restricted tailgating"? I don't understand how anything you mentioned would be excluded if anyone at SDSU were to consider events/activities encompassing more than tailgating. Moreover, I've mentioned ideas re. how Athletics could include families who might not be avid tailgaters.

As I mentioned before, I realize that not everyone is like me and primarily goes to enjoy the game, get there early and watch both teams warming up, and attempting to get "swag;" tailgating die hards should consider that not everyone goes to tailgate, drink before the game, or hang out in the tailgate lots. Just so there is no misunderstanding, I am not anti-tailgating; however, I am opposed to anyone asserting that their values should undoubtedly be generalized to current or prospective fans, particularly when the latter group represents the ones we are trying to get to the games.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: Tailgating

Last year I had a group of friends show up for the game. Only a couple Jackrabbit fans were in the bunch but the rest tagged along. We were tailgating and hadn’t made the walk over to the wristband area yet. We had a UPD officer come up to us and he was very rude about it and checked everyone’s IDs. He actually threatened to make us dump out our drinks until we got wristbands. This is the kind of crap people shouldn’t have to deal with. Yes, we should have got our wristbands, but we all look older and we were just standing around. People don’t want to deal with that when they’re just sitting there enjoying themselves. Same goes for the students.

This tailgating issue is my hill and I’m going to die on it.

[jakejc795]

Re: Tailgating

Last year I had a group of friends show up for the game. Only a couple Jackrabbit fans were in the bunch but the rest tagged along. We were tailgating and hadn’t made the walk over to the wristband area yet. We had a UPD officer come up to us and he was very rude about it and checked everyone’s IDs. He actually threatened to make us dump out our drinks until we got wristbands. This is the kind of crap people shouldn’t have to deal with. Yes, we should have got our wristbands, but we all look older and we were just standing around. People don’t want to deal with that when they’re just sitting there enjoying themselves. Same goes for the students.

This tailgating issue is my hill and I’m going to die on it.

Ok, so you admit that you should have worn wristbands per the policy they released, and which posters on here lamented, but also state it's not what people want? It's the current tradeoff for tailgating on someone else's property. I could understand it being an issue if SDSU implemented the policy without sharing it with fans beforehand, but it sure seems like you and your group were aware of it. Plus, if you're trying to get them to consider less stringent wristband/alcohol policies, making it difficult to enforce the current policy probably isn't going to convince SDSU officials to rush to the table with a very open mind.

I guess I would ask how much a person is interested in enjoying tailgating versus making the wristbands an issue if they choose to drink before getting the wristband, when the tailgating policy clearly states "All persons consuming alcohol must be 21 years of age, have valid ID, and receive and wear a wristband from designated University agents. Tailgate activities, including consumption of alcohol, outside designated areas and times are prohibited."

Just get the wristband, minimize the chance of an adverse UPD interaction, and then "drink away"

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: Tailgating

It was my first time tailgating with the new policy. I understand that we should have known but we forgot. That doesn’t mean we should be treated like crap should it? There’s a reason these guys haven’t came back.

It is my understanding that they have relaxed this rule though, but some damage was already done.

Did you know last year that a UPD officer went up into the suites and made someone (I was told a large donor) pour out their drink because it was liquor? That’s an issue they need to take up with Justin Sell and the athletic staff. They shouldn’t be running around the suites with their badge out looking for trouble.

Let me also add that I hardly drink much anymore. My work and schedule just doesn’t allow it so I’m not trying to get into a huge drinking vs non-drinking debate.