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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2006 > March > 23
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Do we need Tailgate Nazis?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I have mixed feelings about the vote by President Michael Adams’ Cabinet to severely curtail game-day tailgating on the UGA campus.
On the one hand, the prohibition against parking on sidewalks makes sense. A few years ago when Athens banned sidewalk parking on city streets like Lumpkin, I welcomed the change. Anyone who’d ever had to dodge speeding cars with semi-drunken drivers while walking in the street because the sidewalk was blocked could appreciate just how dangerous that was.
And I have to admit I’ve cursed more than a few oversized SUVs and vans blocking the sidewalks as I’ve walked through campus to Sanford Stadium. Pedestrians and moving vehicles shouldn’t have to share a roadway.
I also think limiting on-campus tailgaters to only one parking space is a great idea. Parking spaces are for cars, not for tables and chairs. And setting up nonalcohol areas has merit (I park in a church lot that doesn’t allow alcohol and find it a much nicer environment than those lots that do). But I wonder how much demand there’ll be for these family-friendly zones. I’ve never noticed that much action at the family fun zone set up on the practice field near Stegeman Coliseum the past couple of years.
As for keeping tailgaters from parking on the grass, that seems unnecessary. Supposedly last year’s night game against Auburn saw some (presumably drunken) fans trashing campus lawns. But that seems a minor price to pay for the bucks the games bring in. UGA has a grounds maintenance staff; seems like they can take time off from keeping the gardens at the President’s Mansion and outside his office to put some new sod down.
Let’s face it, tailgating on a campus lawn on a beautiful fall afternoon is a big part of what college football has always been about. As long as the sidewalks are kept clear, why worry about a little damage to the grass? People want to eat where they park when they tailgate (that’s why it’s called tailgating). And tailgating definitely loses a large measure of its charm on asphalt (especially early in the season)!
But as a friend pointed out, the biggest problem with the new rules is the domino effect on game-day parking, forcing more fans to park off campus, where the lots already are full. After the city started ticketing cars parking on certain neighborhood streets a few years ago, those lots open to fans on game Saturdays had a seller’s market, with the price of parking within walking distance of the stadium now generally at $20 or more a car. With a flood of new parkers ousted from the campus sidewalks, that situation is likely to get worse.
But more than that, will the time and personnel (and cost) required to enforce these rules — and the ill will they will create among alumni — be worth the effort?
Still, if the University administration really wants to go down this slippery slope of rulemaking, they shouldn’t stop here. Make those fatcats that pay to park in the shadow of the stadium wait until the pedestrians have cleared the roadway after a game before they try to leave. As it is, all it takes is one slightly tipsy driver’s foot slipping off the brake and you could have fans run over and maybe killed. And, hey, how about enforcing the city’s open-container law on campus?
I’m not serious, of course. That’s about as likely as Big Brother Mike getting a standing ovation at Sanford Stadium.
