It has begun

Tomorrow begins yet another year of college football and tailgating. It's something that I've done half of my life, in the same spot. When my younger brother was in college and got student tickets, I'd go in and sit with my dad while my mom sat in the parking lot the whole game. She loved it. She had the whole parking lot to stretch her legs and didn't need to be squashed into 5 inch wide slots on a bench watching the game. We tailgate close enough that the announcer can be heard or one could listen to the game over the radio. If it's a really big game, a small TV could even be plugged into one of the outlets in the van and watched that way. She would bring reading material and just sit and read and watch people. It's always a good people watching time especially the first game before classes actually start. The crime blotter section of the newspaper on Sunday usually has a tally of how many people get ticketed for underage drinking.

The past handful of years, I usually come for the a.m. tailgate and then leave once the game begins and the traffic settles down. With my brother and nephew in town (and not to mention the threat of a Sage sighting), I will be hanging out in the parking lot all day. I have a stack of reading material ready to go and the local police programmed into my cell phone. O.k, that's a bit of an exaggeration but the people you run into while sitting in the parking lot always makes me uneasy. It's strange to think that my mother was that much more fearless than I. Last year, two trash can divers almost got into a fight over a bag of bottles (here, one can return pop and beer bottles and cans for 10 cents each. It made for a great Seinfeld episode). Another time, I got to watch over a grocery cart full of returnables when the guy asked me if I could as he 'hit the head'. I learned from my mother's tenure that a cart like this is like finding $100 bill on the ground for everyone else. As he headed to the port-o-potty, I slowly moved it around the van so it was more out of sight, the story of the two men fighting over the trash bag of returnables vivid still.

Over the years, a few things have remained the same: the van used to tailgating has been used since 1990, the offering of soft German pretzels. Some aspects have changed. Back in the day when my dad was the organizer, there would be cold fried chicken, macaroni salad, Blow Pops and for some reason, Fig Newtons always appeared. Friday night was always a big night of prepping and at the crack of dawn the day of the game, the alpha male would trek 30 minutes west to the bakery for the fresh pretzels which are only served Saturday mornings. After my dad died and my younger brother took over, it stayed the same until it became more of a group thing with some of his college friends. Now, they bring the grill and some sort of protein to cook on it while we supply the fruit tray, cold beverages, soft German pretzels, dessert and sometimes the stray bag of Fig Newtons will show up again. Along with that, we supply the chairs, the van to store everything during the game and for the first time last year...a canopy. The unveiling of it last fall was an exciting time. Since I will be out all day, my brother is excited about being able to leave it up while I'm excited to be in shade. My diehard mom sat in the parking lot with the sun beating down on her which, in October when it's 50 degrees out, isn't bad. This time of year, it's not so enjoyable. It will make the viewing of drunk 18 year olds, carts full of returnable bottles and cans and people who have beautiful voices but support a team whose mascot is a mountain man named Yosef oh so much more enjoyable.