Worst. Tailgate. Ever.

Fans General NCS Football33

Just a little something to prepare you for the impressive pre-game atmosphere in Chapel Hill, this was taken with my phone from a parking deck (surprise, surprise) before the 06 game.

But they’ve got those pine trees going for them. Which is nice.

About WV Wolf

Graduated from NCSU in 1996 with a degree in statistics. Born and inbred in West "By God" Virginia and now live in Raleigh where I spend my time watching the Wolfpack, the Mountaineers and the Carolina Hurricanes as well as making bar graphs for SFN. I'm @wvncsu on the Twitter machine.

Fans General NCS Football

33 Responses to Worst. Tailgate. Ever.

  1. Daily Update 11/21/2008 at 11:35 AM #

    Manning lot this year folks. No parking decks.

  2. ruffles31 11/21/2008 at 11:43 AM #

    haha. Is that cheese on the table there? That picture is so funny, yet so sad.

  3. ChiefJoJo 11/21/2008 at 11:52 AM #

    I enjoy playing devils advocate, so here goes…

    In attending the (disastrous) games at UNC in ’04 & ’06, I found that there’s actually a lot to enjoy about the experience in CH. For one, you can grab a coffee and breakfast on Franklin St (if it’s a noon start), head over to one of the bars for a while, and then stumble over to the game, and back to the street afterwards. For pure, traditional tailgating, C-F is tough to beat in the ACC. But if you are open to a different kind of (more urban) gameday experience that can be nearly as good, then Chapel Hill begins to look like a fun alternative to the traditional tailgate. JMO.

  4. swedish 11/21/2008 at 12:28 PM #

    ^ not

  5. FrankManor 11/21/2008 at 12:37 PM #

    it does suck when the tailgate is the high point of the day, instead of the game.

    Why even wait for a football game to sit in a parking lot and get drunk?

    raise hell.

  6. Packman02 11/21/2008 at 12:50 PM #

    I’m constantly told that the main difference is that CF is located off-campus, with ample room for proper tail gating.

    The ‘stadium in the middle of campus’ aspect of Chapel Hill’s scene is a poor excuse for their paltry tailgating ‘efforts’. I’m sure many of us have witnessed tailgating at other schools that have the same ‘stadium in the middle of campus’ dynamic, and found them to be at least 1000 times greater than that what goes on in Orange County.

    After having been to a few UF games – BHG is located right in the middle of UF’s campus with very limited parking near the stadium – I can confirm that this ‘problem’ hasn’t affected UF’s tailgating prowess one bit – they get it done in a big way!

  7. choppack1 11/21/2008 at 12:59 PM #

    Chief – I see your point. But you can get that experience virtually any weekend day during the school year in Chapel Hill. And let’s face it, the ability to hit a bar before and after the game shouldn’t be an issue in most college towns.

    However, you’ve outlined why I always rate Clemson tops in the ACC for tailgating atmosphere. Not only can you enjoy the traditional tailgate. But you can also enjoy hitting the best gameday bars in the conference before or after the game @ the Esso Club (I’m a huge fan of this establishment), TDs or Tiger Town Tavern.

    I also rate VaTech highly for their great tailgating and cool bars afterwards.

    I’d also say that UVa is what UNC markets itself as…the biggest difference is that while UVA has the bars, they also have places you can tailgate too.

    My experience at BC was somewhat similar to what you described in Chapel Hill.

    But the bottom line is this: It’s a Saturday, you’re enjoying a few cold beverages and you’re getting ready to watch college football – how bad can it be??

  8. CarnifeX 11/21/2008 at 1:00 PM #

    FSU can do it too (tailgate on campus)

    It’s always weak out at UNC. I don’t think you can claim Franklin St as a viable alternative to ‘traditional tailgating’, if it was less than 1.5 miles away I’d buy it (see Wisconsin).

  9. spnee 11/21/2008 at 1:18 PM #

    Here is what kids from NCSU did in retaliation to the Free Expression Tunnel…

    Definitely my new background image…

    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/3047826481_5b798a3fcb_o.jpg

  10. wolf2003 11/21/2008 at 1:27 PM #

    To go along with spnee point, I have got information that someone from NCSU has gotten ahead of UNC’s mascot. Take it for what its worth.

  11. FrankManor 11/21/2008 at 1:31 PM #

    i disagree…it makes the current crop of students at State look lame and uncreative.

    surely we could have done much better back in the day.

  12. wolf2003 11/21/2008 at 1:44 PM #

    What I meant to say was the “head” of Rameses the Ram.

  13. Noah 11/21/2008 at 2:00 PM #

    I like tailgating. I like dragging my gear out to the stadium and setting up and cooking and relaxing with the friends and family. I like throwing a football around and talking some junk and endlessly speculating. I like seeing how overboard people get with THEIR tailgates and the flatscreen TVs and the satellite dishes. I like wandering into the stadium and watching the warmups and seeing the crowd come in and getting amped for kickoff.

    None of that is part of the gameday experience at Chapel Hill. You go to Chapel Hill for a game when it’s not on TV and you still want to see it.

    It’s an enormous hassle getting in. It’s an enormous hassle to park. It’s always a hike to get to the stadium. Getting out is even worse.

    Bleah.

    You can make all sorts of arguments pro and con about on-campus vs. off-campus venues. But Carolina doesn’t get to participate. They have the worst of both worlds. They have an on-campus stadium with a terrible atmosphere.

  14. 66pack 11/21/2008 at 2:03 PM #

    I do not understand why ncsu fans care about game day atmosphere on the hill.please explain.

  15. phillypacker 11/21/2008 at 2:18 PM #

    This is vandalism against the town of chapel hill. Speaks poorly of the university. Do something creative. This is just hit and run paint throwing.

  16. timswar 11/21/2008 at 2:28 PM #

    Agreed, the paint balling of a sign is not an appropriate retaliation. If only because it’s lazy. If you’re going to vandalize Chapel Hill then take the time to get it right, paint the entire sign red (preferably with a water-based paint which can be removed without causing some poor city worker more hassle than the prank is worth).

    As for the tailgating/parking, I’m just going to skip the whole thing, park at the mall and use their bus service. I’d rather not worry about the whole thing AND I can get some DECENT coffee before and after the game from A Southern Season.

  17. Otis 11/21/2008 at 2:31 PM #

    ^^Which is very dangerous in a town with more cops per capita than any other town in NC, and have less to do. Such a crime in Chapel Hell would warrant a half dozen patrol cars.

  18. GAWolf 11/21/2008 at 3:24 PM #

    Sanford Stadium is in downtown Athens on the UGA campus and their tailgating is spectacular. That’s a lame excuse…

  19. Alpha Wolf 11/21/2008 at 3:31 PM #

    There’s nothing sweeter than sipping a beer (in a plastic cup, don’t want to rile up the law) in Chapel Hill after a Wolfpack win over there.

    On the other hand, there’s not much worse than being taunted by the UNC frat boys on the way out of campus after a loss to them. And nothing against fraternities — it’s just that the ones in Chapel Hill have the most loathesome pledges of any place I have ever been.

    I am hoping for the former tomorrow and crossing fingers, toes and everything else that we are the ones who can smile. I go back and forth between confidence and dread with this one.

  20. Greywolf 11/21/2008 at 3:32 PM #

    There was a rumor about putting grass killer on their turf that spelled out NCSU. The idea was to use something that would take effect slowly, only coming to full death-brown at half-time. Aggie boys didn’t come thru with the product and the cross walk bandit and his crew got too drunk and made too much noise trying to get in. There were a lot of questions asked but no arrests.

  21. Alpha Wolf 11/21/2008 at 3:35 PM #

    We used to stop by Kenan to relieve ourselves of used colebeers on the way back to Raleigh after any night in Chapel Hill.

    It gave meaning to the twist on their fight song

    “I’m a bast__d born and a bast__d bred,
    And when I die I’ll be a bast__d dead!
    So p__s on Care-lina lina, p__s on Care-lina lina,
    On to victory, NC State!”

  22. SuperStuff 11/21/2008 at 3:37 PM #

    I think tailgating is half the game for fans and probably why NCSU has good attendance. Folks want to tailgate before the game. Maybe the lousy tailgating at UNC-CH contributed to the low attendance in the past for their program.

  23. wufpaxno1 11/21/2008 at 3:55 PM #

    I’m not impressed at all with the paint balling of the sign, it lacks creativity and reeks of vandalism. I think something along the lines of painting Rameses Horns red or maybe changing the lenses or bulbs of the lights that shine on the bell tower to red.

    Building on AG’s show on 850 The Buzz this morning DG is asking for suggestions on a name for the game. Someone just suggested that it should be named after the female representation of each schools mascots and called the “Ewe-Bitch” Bowl, now that is creative, even if a female ram is an actually an “Awe” and the female wolf is actually a She-wolf!

  24. SEAT.5.F.2 11/21/2008 at 4:15 PM #

    That is a great picture of some simple fun loving guys getting excited for the big game. If you have ever wondered what comes between “kickin ass…and takin names” there you are.

  25. choppack1 11/21/2008 at 4:18 PM #

    It’s funny hearing this tailgating discussion – we should be thankful that UNC hasn’t made this a priority. I hope that our administration realizes the importance that tailgating has to the overall NC State experience.

    Superstuff – I agree w/ you that the tailgating is one of the reasons why NC State football has remained fairly well-attended even in these last 4 fairly lean years. Now, I wish they’d stop w/ this assinine paving of the grounds.

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