ManicNole's Page

I thought I knew how to party. I thought I knew how to have fun. Then I started tailgating, and realized I knew nothing.

In college, and afterwards, we really didn't tailgate for games. Hell, I lived closer to the stadium than some of the lots! Gameday would pretty much involve getting up, getting another keg, turning on the tv, and calling to wake everyone up to tell them to get moving. There was no NEED to tailgate, or so we thought.

Now I had done some partying before football games and concerts. It was basically show up about an hour or so before a show, break out a cooler, and start having a couple of drinks. If we got really fancy, we'd bring a couple of chairs. That was it. Looking back on it, it feels like I was living in the stone age.

More and more we started going to bowl or other away games and noticed this thing we called tailgating. Our first real attempt was at a bowl game where we had chairs, and tables loaded with food, and well...that was about it. Oh, we had a really nice spread, but we noticed how much more of a set-up many had.

Then it started. We needed a tent. We found a Fire and Ice cooler/grill and found it would be PERFECT for tailgating. More chairs, tables, tents, TV's kept getting added. Although not the camping sort, I started going to camping stores just for tailgating ideas. On a vacation trip to Tennessee, our friends took us to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. It was like freakin' Disney World for a tailgater!!! That's when we ended up buying a flushing camping toilet and Port-a-Privy tent. That's been one of the biggest hits of our tailgates. "Piss, pump, pull...and NO NUMBER 2!" This year, we've added the Cruzin' Cooler. Man, that thing is a blast. I've already hit a pot hole in the dark and done a face plant off the front. That wasn't fun.

Anyway, I know we aren't the fanciest, or most advanced tailgaters out there, but we do have fun. We had a blast when it was just us and a 3-7 friends. I have since come into contact with several people on one of FSU's sports websites. (www.warchant.com) Their off-topic board is a blast, and definitely filled with tailgatin' fools. Now our tailgates can literally number in the hundreds. In the cases of a lot where you can buy reserved spaces, (i.e. The Tailgater's Lot in Jacksonville), we all end up coordinating to get all of our spots together. Other times if it's a deal where they just parade you in and line you up, we'll caravan in either in a big group, or several smaller groups. We still always find a rallying point to hang out, or wander from group to group. People are also often posting to the message board from the tailgate and turning it into a virtual tailgate. We've even had some discussion about doing a webcam from one.

It's even come to the point that some of our message board tailgaters will get together in the offseason for a night out or other event. It really seems like we've been brought into one giant family...and we LOVE IT!