Bill King talks about the never ending saga of campus tailgating. The overall meaningless SGA is trying to petition University leadership to ease North Campus restrictions, while the administration apparently now has Meyers Quad in its crosshairs.
I doubt anyone in Terrell Hall has ever tailgated in The Grove, but let me tell you, the folks in Oxford have got it figured out.
When we went to the Ole Miss game in 2006, we stayed with a friend who had taken care of everything for us. We just showed up with our coolers. So I am not too sure on the restrictions first hand, but the above link has the updated rules. It is a simple, half page of rules.
I noticed a lot of police in the Grove, but the best part is the cops basically didn’t care. No way the Jimmy Williamson led gestapo that is UGA PD would be that laid back. In the Grove one could have a good time as long as they followed one rule: you kept your beverage in cup. Best of my knowledge, alcohol was not allowed, but if you poured your drink into a Solo cup, all was fine.
This would cut down on the trash problem instantly. If beer is “banned”, and you have to pour your drink into a cup, then you ain’t going to have empties around your tent area all day. The cops would say something about having “banned” items around. So you take your beer, pour it in a red Solo cup, and then throw the can/bottle away. This would limit the amount of trash on the ground.
The Grove bans kegs, generators, and grills. Yet people were still able to have a good time. I know I did.
Keep it in a cup. This would force folks to stash their trash soon after they use it.
Ahh, if it were only that simple.
Corbindawg
An influx of capital tends to take care of a lot of situations. What if the University created a fund dedicated to clean up, maintenance and beautification of various areas around campus used for tailgating? Perhaps $15 to $20 of every Hartman fund contribution could go to this fund? I don’t know. Extra dumpsters, trash cans and Port-A-Potties could be financed. A little public relations and perhaps education couldn’t hurt either. I don’t think we need cops so much but if there were some kind of presence on campus during games that might help. I realize I’m just talking off the top of my head here but surely there is a middle ground between last year and the years before. I agree we can’t continue to let the situation get out of hand like it did on North Campus. But we can have a fun, vibrant, even boisterous tailgate without all the garbage and ridiculous (sometimes dangerous) behavior. I’d even be willing to pay some sort of fee for a reserved spot as long as it were reasonable and those funds were used for clean up, maintenance and beautification.
Pay to play is a simply way to cut this down. Each week, as you arrive, you pay for a colored sticker which is placed on part of your tailgate. 5.00 should be more than plenty. Money goes to clean up crew and extra trash cans. Alternately they could do like PCB used to do and anyone receiving tickets for public intoxication or drinking underage can spend a Sunday morning picking up north campus in lieu of paying a fine.
Bob
Take everyone who is arrested or ticketed gameday weekend for minor offenses and force them to be there 7:30 Sunday A.M. for clean up duty until 12:00!! Anyone who decides to skip will be required to appear in court, get some use out of these out of control tailgaters and make them quit killing a good thing for the rest of us!
I was also at the Ole Miss game in 06. My wife was drinking a beer next to our car just after we arrived. A police officer passed by in his cruiser and stopped. I braced for a speech and a ticket, but all he said was “I am sure your wife is drinking sweet tea out of that Michelob bottle, but if you want to drink beer it must be in a cup.” He also said the nearest place to get cups was in the bookstore. He then got in his car and left. Our Athens and UGA police could take a lesson in civility and tact from the Oxford PD.
Keeping it in a cup is pure genius. Wow, The Rebel Bears (that hurts even to by God type) may have the lamest mascot in sports history but they are leading the way in tailgate ettiquette!
Have you all seen the actual campus after games?
The idea that simply pouring beer into cups would solve the issue is laughable if not completely comical.
We have people throwing layers of garbage onto other layers of garbage whether cups, plates, etc….
Our fans have nobody to blame but themselves
I would LOVE seeing UGA tell everyone at several locations to find a new place to tailgate during a big game if they screw up.
And no, this isn’t “1-2 people screwing it up for everyone else”…the trash is the majority hence the shocking pictures we see time and time again
Yes, I have seen the campus after the game. Yes, it will take more than putting beer in cups to prevent the certain parts of campus from looking like the infield of Taladega. However, there are measures to take without bringing the hammer down. Although it was dark, I don’t remember The Grove looking that bad. And Ole Miss fans know going in they don’t stand a chance. They are just there for the party.
But the quote from the story specifically mentions bottles jammed in the ground; if you don’t want bottles and cans around, then making sure those are put away is a good first step.