Another Texas Tech shout out. Those fans insisted on handing me beers, finding common ground on disliking Baylor, OU, A&M, UT. They had zero hate left in the tank for CU. To the contrary, they relished telling me about how great their last fishing, camping, skiing, trip to Colorado was, and how they couldn’t wait to go back. The CU fans had EZ seats to ourselves, out earshot from any Tech student chatter. Pretty cool place to meet T-Wheat’s mom, Hugh Charles’s mom and GF, Misti Hawkins, and the few dozen other CU fans who bothered to venture into BF Texas. Didn’t hurt that CU beat Leach’s team that day.
Wazzou was a lot of fun. Also in the Styx of the Palouse. Never forget the tailgate group who fly in a bunch of Maine lobsters for every game and boil them up in a giant witch’s caldron. Also interesting to see their raptor club walking around the pregame festivities with a live falcon. Friendly beer sharing fans throughout the event. Didn’t hurt that CU beat Leach’s team that day.
Hawaii fans throw a mean tailgate. Poke, fire roasted pig, tropical fruit, Mai Tais. Warrior fans spread Aloha, talk football, and put a friendly human face on that rust bucket of a stadium. They know Brian Cabral and who played for the Buffs over the years. This is the only tailgate I’ve ever been to where a guy gave me his business card in case I’m ever in the market for a bonsai tree or a zen garden.
As far as locations, Berkeley is incredible. So many CU fans. Great place to catch up with Bay Area Buffs. And it super convenient to jump on BART and disappear into San Francisco to find distractions from the pain of losing. Cal fans don’t really tailgate, but congregate in bars or the Bear’s Lair on campus. Not much by way of beer offerings, though. And not much football chitter chatter to be found with the fog hippies I ran into. Next time, best to coordinate in advance with Liverflukes.
The UT pregame BBQ scene is wonderballs. The pit masters get the smokers going six hours before kickoff. There are hundreds of setups in the parking lots all over campus. And pregame socializing with beer and meat offerings come easy and often. But once inside the massive DKR Memorial stadium, the hospitality comes to a screeching halt. The visitor section is in a neighboring zip code. Nosebleed seats for guests catch maximum sunshine. Several UT fans insisted on being pricks all game long. **** that stadium. I’d just as well hang out at one of the hundreds of tailgate tents that have a big screen TV with satellite hookup, a bottomless keg, and a grill full of flame roasted meat.
The sailgating on Lake Washington is next level. Got swept up on a boat, drank purple margs, and jammed to some Jimmy Buffet on the poop deck. It sucked that CU lost, but it was cool to be welcomed onto a boat of Dawgs for some post game cheer.
Rudest fan encounter I experienced was in Lawrence. Some creeper behind me sniffed my ear and whispered that I smelled like pussy. Very random. An other group of frat guys directed a bunch of **** talk towards the CU band. The student section directly behind the CU bench were in full heckle mode all game long. More crass than clever. Don’t care to return to KU again. But Freestate Brewery was an upside, and a music teacher did give us an impromptu tour of the campanile. We were invited to ring the bells from the top. Man, I regret not knowing how to play the CU fight song.
Fond memories and some heartbreaks at A&M, Baylor, Okie Lite, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona, Nebraska, Kjuco, Norman, West Virginia, CSU, and Stanford, SMU, and TCU. It’s no surprise that the best trips involve CU actually winning. Unfortunately those occasions have been few and far between since the glory days. Regardless, college football weekends tend to be a lot of fun wherever the adventure happens to be. America is soooo much better with college football and it’s fans being available to enjoy.
Not a one of them hold a candle to Boulder in September, though. Proud to be a Buff. Can’t wait to check out more stadiums.
