Kelli Anne & her Husker Tailgating by the NUMBERS
By Kelli Anne
So tailgating supposedly started in 1869 – a coincidence as to when the University of Nebraska began???? Probably not but the Rutgers v Princeton game is allegedly the place where horse drawn carriages brought fans to the game and they grilled sausages.
Husker tailgating (Photo Credit Kelli Anne)
According to the article 95% of the tailgaters cook at the stadium. I’m a HUGE fan of cooking it there, the sights, the sounds, and the SMELL of the grill and food is awesome. Even the cooking of the food has evolved from Charcoal grills, gas grills, folding grills, and now people can use generators to power crock pots, blenders and roasters.
In 1904 a train of private railcars brought fans to the games but only took them to the stadium. Because there was no food or beverage service on the train they started packing a picnic basket. In South Carolina they still tailgate out of train cars but you pay to own a railcar they call the Cockaboose.
30% of all tailgaters don’t make it into the stadium. I think this number is a little low. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the people whom I call “tailgate watchers.” There is a lot of expense that goes into a proper tailgate and you want to know that your goodies are still going to be there after the game. For instance, the good quiet generators are around $1000. That handle makes them easier to carry so I say THANK YOU to the watchers. I also think this number is low because some people just come to participate in the tailgate and go home to watch the game. This avoids nasty traffic and if it’s cold you will never know from sitting in your man cave.
Tailgate Gear (Photo Kelli Anne)
79% of tailgaters are men so THANK goodness for the other 21% of the women that do all the planning and preparation of the goodies because guys really only know how to grill.
6-packs were produced by Pabst Brewery in the 1940s. Beer cans were first produced in 1935. Most of you are too young to remember pull top cans but trust me, it’s how it worked.
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49% travel less than an hour to the stadium. I think it would be interesting to find out which percentage of season ticket holders are from outside the Lincoln/Omaha circle. When you’re talking about 91,500 + people I’m guessing that about 60% travel from farther away than an hour.
Lagniappe: (that’s LSU for a lil something extra) THANKS to the very nice Minnesota fans. It took the sting out of the loss a little. “Big Pat Sexy” was the leader of this gang that hired a bus to bring them to Huskerland. They LOVE our fans and we ALL have an invite up there next year!
Regardless of all those stats all you really need to know is the HUSKERS are #1 in our book! See you at the tailgate & GO BIG RED!