Article

Tailgating on the Horizon?

MSU’s head football coach, athletic director and fans are all making a push for the authorization of pre-game get-toghethers in the Blakeslee Stadium parking lot.

by Joey Burns
October 20, 2005

Tailgating. Minnesota State football fans may have imagined what the ideal situation would look like. Some envision a time to relax with their family before the game and play catch. Other fans (of-age) salivate at the opportunity of washing down some finely grilled meats with a couple of cold beers. Others see games for people of all ages, along with face painting, live music and possibly even autograph sessions.

MSU students and fans may not need to imagine for much longer, as talks to begin working on a tailgating policy continue despite tailgating set-backs at St. Cloud State.

Three separate movements toward the tailgating discussion originated relatively unbeknownst of each other.

MSU Director of Athletics Kevin Buisman has heard fans calling for the inclusion of tailgating since he was hired at MSU in 2002.

“It’s all about game atmosphere and the whole game experience,” Buisman said. “And when you go somewhere else and experience [tailgating], it only makes you want it at your own institution more.”

What fueled Buisman’s recent interest was his discovery of a tailgating policy on St. Cloud State’s Web site by happenstance.

The original plan at St. Cloud State made for the allowance of one lot near Husky Stadium to be used for the sole purpose of tailgating.

Jeff Jamrog, MSU Head Football Coach
SCSU had a long tradition of tailgating, but with the opening of Husky Stadium — which is on-campus — in September 2004 that tradition was halted.

So the policy was drafted with specificity in mind — only canned beer and wine was allowed and had to be immediately transferred to a plastic cup. The policy states that only propane and small charcoal grills are allowed and that tailgating lasts from three hours prior to the start of the game until 15 minutes before kickoff.

SCSU’s biggest problem was trying to figure out the best way to get fans from the tailgate area to the stadium in the best manner, according to SCSU Public Safety Security Coordinator Jennifer Furan.

Furan said that there had not been many students utilizing the tailgate area, which consisted of mostly members of the community and families of the players.

SCSU’s main setback came last Friday — the day before its Homecoming — when the school was pressured by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (Minnesota State) to remove alcohol from the events.

There were no major tailgating-related violations or arrests in the first two games of the season in St. Cloud, although many people took advantage of the tailgating opportunity.

“People still participated [at Homecoming],” said Tracy Dill, Associate Athletic Director for SCSU. “It provides a good family atmosphere before the games. We’ll do it either way.”

This setback left a feeling of uncertainty in many involved with the start of the dialogue at MSU, since they were observing the SCSU Homecoming as a trial run to see how well the policy would work.

So where does the process at MSU go now?

MSU Director of Security Suzanne Dugan said that now all the parties need to get together and discuss the situation. Everyone, from people in the Athletic Department to Security to Facilities Management and even Mankato city officials, should meet to see where the process leads next.

“I don’t know if St. Cloud jumped through all the right hoops,” said Benjamin Nelson, a senior Sports Marketing major. “[I’d like MSU] to do it legally and hopefully set the standard for the rest of the Minnesota State system if they would like to tailgate in the future.”

Nelson, president of the MSU Superfans, may have been heard by fans at Maverick football games this season with his sporadic chants of “Let us tailgate.” Nelson has been organizing support from the students and spreading the word about the possibilities.

Using a popular student networking Web site (thefacebook.com), Nelson started an online petition group titled “Let us Tailgate,” which, in only two weeks has accumulated 575 members.

According to Nelson, most students he has spoken with were content with the policy St. Cloud State put into place, although some would like to see more lenient standards. He also believes that although it would work without alcohol, tailgating and the football games would not be as popular if consumption weren’t allowed on site.

“With alcohol, any problems that arise will fall on Minnesota State and not Minnesota State” Nelson said. “So if we feel we can take the responsibility into our own hands and not need to have [Minnesota State] play big brother over [MSU], the chances are much higher of having tailgating.”

The Minnesota State policy states that alcohol is not allowed on any Minnesota State campus except for by the approval of that university's president or chancellor for specific on or off-campus university sponsored events, according to the Minnesota State Web site.

The only other regulation that would prohibit the consumption of alcohol in a tailgating situation is a City of Mankato ordinance that prohibits open containers of alcohol. This ordinance can be changed by a vote from the City Council.

“I do see this causing problems,” said Deputy Director of Public Safety Matt Westermayer. “In areas where they have [tailgating], they wish they could get rid of it.”

Westermayer is most concerned with underage consumption and the ability to prevent it in such a large environment.

The Mankato City Council added a portion to their Web site last Wednesday (www.ci.mankato.mn.us/yourtake.php) asking people to post their thoughts on allowing alcohol consumption at tailgating.

City Council President Mike Laven said there are many different shapes a policy at Minnesota State could take, but he believes it is something that would benefit the city and university greatly.

Laven also does not understand why some people can drink in given circumstances on campus —like with the Touchdown Tent for football program boosters — but everybody else of legal drinking age is not allowed to.

And although the ability to tailgate might not create an instant influx of interest in MSU athletics, over time it may be quite beneficial in creating school spirit amongst the community and student body alike.

“What you will see is a transition in the next three to five years that we’ll see more students coming to games and enjoying the atmosphere of college football.” Laven said. “It’s worked successfully on almost every Division I campus in the country as well several Division II schools.”

Among those Division II schools are North Central Conference opponents North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha, where tailgating — with alcohol included — is an integral part of the college sports experience. Both Nelson and Laven said that the legitimate next step is to find out where Minnesota State stands on the alcohol and if it is able to work. If it isn’t feasible to get alcohol on campus, then the planning can be done for a non-alcoholic tailgating experience.

MSU head football coach Jeff Jamrog has coached at both Division I and II schools prior to coming to Minnesota State and believes that tailgating, whether involving alcohol or not, is a key to creating the college football atmosphere.

“To me, [tailgating is] part of college and pro football and you would like to see Minnesota State get to that level,” Jamrog said.

Will Maverick football fans’ dreams be realized sometime in the near future? Only time, hard work and the voices of people in the school and community will determine that.

Pat Christman

Minnesota State Football Head Coach Jeff Jamrog