Some fans take tailgating to the next level
Is there such a thing as a professional tailgater? At CU there is. Families and friends have been congregating before Buff football games for 10, 20, some even 40 years.
“We’re professional tailgaters,” said tailgater Rick Mues about himself and his pal, David Blackbird.
Mues moved to Colorado almost 30 years ago and has tailgated before the games ever since, he said.
“We’ve been doing this (since) 1990,” Blackbird said.
Joyce McDaniel, Mike McDaniel, Dan Hersh, Judy Hersh, Bill Porter and Debbie Porter live in Boulder and have been tailgating next to the Sewall dormitory before football games for about 25 years.
“I got my masters (at CU),” Joyce McDaniel said. “My daughter went here, so we’ve paid a lot of money to the University of Colorado. We have a lot of fun.”
Ingrid Parsons has been tailgating before Buff games for about 25 years.
“Actually, my husband went to CSU, but he has always liked CU football,” Parsons said.
Kelly Kline, a CU alumna, is a former Buff football player from the 1970s and has been tailgating ever since.
“I drive up from Basalt every week and it’s a long way to go. I see old coaches and players,” Kline said.
Ron Scott, a CU alumnus and former Buff football player, has been tailgating for 40 years and prefers to do it in a non-alcoholic way, he said.
“CU tailgating is so different than any other team,” said Parsons. Before the CU vs. ASU game began, her family enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, homemade French onion dip, homemade spinach dip, brownies and pumpkin bars.
“I vary the menu by request,” Parsons said.
Mues does more of a gourmet tailgate carte du jour.
“I’ve got a great garden salad, we have hot wings from the Wing Hut up in Longmont, we have shrimp and scallops, which I made myself from scratch, and we have lasagna. Sometimes we do breakfast burritos,” he said. “This was a big (tailgate party). We figured with the 5 o’clock start and all, it would be perfect for it. We’ve been here since about a quarter after 2:00.”
The McDaniels and Hersch families bring a trunk full of Tostitos, salsa, hot dogs, fruit, iced tea and beer.
Alcohol is the trendiest beverage at tailgating parties. Mues and Blackbird drink vodka, while the Parsons family carries a wet bar in their trunk.
“We have a variety of things. The hot thing was Corona, vodka and rum and margarita mix,” Parsons said.
Drinking, eating and socializing are all big parts of tailgating, and go on for hours. Mues, Parsons and Joyce McDaniels all said the same thing: the parties are over before Ralphie runs.
“You gotta watch Ralphie run,” said Mues.