This post will make more than a few Ole Miss and Mississippi State fans happy. The cratering of tailgating at LSU continues thanks to nothing more than good ole fashioned corporate greed. A harder-to-keep secret is the decline of tailgating down on the Bayou. Game-day atmosphere is dying as the boneheads in the LSU administration tries to push fans off-campus so it can make money off of you guess it, corporate tailgating. Check out these ads:
What LSU did was kick out the regular fans and reserve the former open spots on campus for catering companies that signed contracts with LSU. Yup. That means a good chunk of the Parade Grounds is now reserved for Block Party. So much for what was once the best tailgating experience in America. Needless to say, the fans haven't exactly taken to this new-fangled way of doing things as one can see around campus and in the stands during the games. Nothing like geniuses who think they are actually smart. Thanks, Alleva.
30 comments:
What is 'cratering'?
As usual, it boils down to Mo' money.
With a new crop of students every year, and gutless alumni associations, these schools can pretty much do what they want.
All under the heading of "higher education".
KF, the only reason this makes me happy is that I now feel like I MIGHT be able to go to a ballgame down there without risking my life. (I'm still not ever going to Tuscaloosa)
How many corndogs come with each package ?
Unfortunate BUT...after Jindal and his cronies drained university funding it’s hard to blame them.
What is 'cratering'?
September 22, 2018 at 5:39 PM
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As any Ole Miss football fan!
It's cool how fans are donating money in Cole Tracy's name to his Alma Mater.
Its Jindal's fault? You're a joke.
Jindal cut all the taxes and left the state penniless. Look it up. No one in Louisiana dare ever say his name again.
6:39 PM
Tuscaloosa doesn't begin to compare to Baton Rouge when you are discussing the safety of visiting fans. Always had a great experience there. Neyland Stadium in Knoxville would be 2nd on my list to Tiger Stadium for worst venues for visitors ... and it is a distant 2nd.
If they could renovate all the SEC stadiums so that there would be nothing but luxury boxes and deluxe seating they would do it. No need to accommodate the trash when the big money pays the bills. LSU is the trendsetter in tailgate history so expect the same thing everywhere. Its called supply and demand.
Y'all are naive if you don't realize that college football is big business.
Ask yourselves - why are many head coaches paid significantly more than their respective college president?
Why do head coaches have obscene golden parachute clauses in their contracts?
Oh, and how about those talented athletes who magically graduate in four years?
Follow the money and I'll bet you'll find a sweet "good ole boy" deal. Who's getting the invitation to deer hunt on our exclusive club, take the family to Disney, the possibilities are endless. Or it may be what the infamous Louisiana politicians are known for big cash kickbacks.
I am part of a tailgate group at Mississippi State. We pay a private company to rent our tents, televisions, generators, tables and chairs. We can bring our own food if we want, but most of ours is catered by local merchants, which seems to also be the case in other large tents. There are a few tents that seem to be owned by the people under them, but they're few and far between in the popular locations. How is this any different than what you have at LSU?
What the hell is the question here KF? If this is new to your beloved LSU, then they are behind the times more than we all thought. Rented tents, rented tvs, paying companies to set them up and take them down. Pat for the course at most major football programs where tailgating exists.
And no - Jindle's policies has nothing to do with this. Universities and their athletic budgets are pretty much funded by the TV packages and conference sharings. Money making operations, not taxpayer funded programs.
11:12, what you do is great thinking! Who wants to haul all that equipment around and spend hours setting it up? It helps the local economy and isn’t that what we need right now?
This is not news and it's nothing new. Give the money what it wants. That's the U.S. code. Give the money what it wants. Is LSU different?
If it keeps going like it was last night for MSU and the past few weeks for UM, tailgatin' ain't gonna be a big money maker in Oxford or Starkvegas! Let's hope it improves in both locations!
Big Government plus Big Corporate Business equals no room for the common people. Look what this marriage did to USM football experience.
1. LSU had the premier tailgating scene in college football. Why would it try to ruin it and lower itself to the other schools? Ah, money.
2. It is one thing for tailgate rental companies to offer their services. There is a place for what they provide, obviously. However, what the admin is doing is placing its thumbs on the scale. They are blocking off more and more of campus and forcing people to use only certain companies if they tailgate in those areas.
In case you haven't noticed, fewer people are going to games. Several reasons for that but this crap is one reason why.
ive been to alabama games as a visitor twice. not bad at all.
KF, you are delusional if you think LSU is, or was, the premier tailgating scene in the country. Maybe the amount of drinking and rowdiness is the premier, but there are many other equal, if not better, scenes throughout many of the other continental 47. You might have spent much of your time there, and thus have an affinity for the site, but that does not make it premier.
And, the fact that the University has 'put its thumb on the scale'is good business, not bad. Don't know if you have been to MSU's junction recently but the entire area in front of the frat houses in the triangle have been covered by one company's tents for the past several years. Other than their being black (which heat wise in September didn't seem to make any sense), it was a great operation. There were plenty of other areas where the sites were left to individual groups. Looks to me like that's what LSU is doing. Guess the problem is that they are putting the tents where you used to go.
Question - How often do you go to this premiere site to tailgate? Or even, when was the last time you actually attended a game at Baton Rouge and tailgated?
We(our tailgating group) tried the southern traditions gig last year. Everyone hated it. People are packed in like sardines in the black tent area. We gave up and will just drive up and back home for the games. The school made it very unaccomidating for fans not using the tailgate set up company, while they can pull up, park, and unload without any interference.
KF Perhaps there are fewer people at the games. So what? Are they making less money? They cater to the money, not the "people". If you can't tell the difference you should go back to your alma mater and take a course in basic economics. There's only so much room on a college campus. Supply and Demand. Overwhelm them with money, they'll find space for ya!
... but there are many other , scenes throughout many of the other continental 47.
Name the one's you've personally experienced that are "equal, if not better". Put up.
6:39pm.
My family has been to Tuspscaloosa several times to football games in the last few years. Never felt unsafe, and we always had a nice time. .
Have a friend that is upset with the Tailgaters at Alabama and the music they are blaring out being inappropriate to bring his family through to the stadium. Says it is full of cursing and he just does not want his children exposed to the tailgate area. It must be more like a nightclub than eating before a game.
Rather than tell us which venues, in the continental 47, has better tailgating than LSU, I want him to tell us which of the continental 48 states he eliminated to come up with that number.
And for those of you who are in college, who didn't know that, that's an even bigger problem.
1:53p
Funny, I had the same experience in the Grove recently. But I didn't make assumptions since it was one tent. Your friend must have been tailgating at a fraternity house, because this is not the case with most "Tailgaters at Alabama."
No place compares to The Grove. Not even close.
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