There will be plenty of tailgating before and after University of Hawaii home football games this fall, as they are played on campus for the first time ever.
I should be very clear, though, about which kind of tailgating I mean. In this case, it is the bad kind, as in vehicles being bumper-to-bumper. Getting in and out of the entire area around campus will be slow going. The good news, however, is that UH has dealt with logistics for sellout crowds of more than 10,000 when the Stan Sheriff Center was packed for big volleyball or basketball games, and capacity for football will be 9,000 this fall.
Wow, just 9,000. Yeah, I still haven’t fully processed that myself yet, so if you need a moment …
The bad news (well, more bad news) is in regards to the good kind of tailgating, that wizardry that turns a three-hour game into an all-day funfest. The word is that it won’t be allowed, at least in anything close to the form that fans are used to.
When asked if no tailgating means no cooking of food by fans, athletic director David Matlin said that is correct. It’s a little fuzzy beyond that because policy on, say, bringing in your own ready-to-eat food is a work in progress.
I can’t see UH getting all TSA and confiscating plate lunches, or fans having to hide spam musubi from specially trained nori-sniffing dogs.
But where do you draw the line?
A football game becomes a party largely through fans arriving hours early and cooking and consuming and hanging out in the parking lot. And with our access to great food and drink from around the world, Hawaii tailgates are the best.
To grill Matlin on tailgating seems almost unfair, considering all the other challenges that come with turning a practice field into a Division I stadium in just a few months. Who thought getting into a UH football game would be like Studio 54 in the ’70s? And Matlin has to figure out a fair way to do it without upsetting loyal season-ticket holders and boosters.
But you can’t forget about tailgating. It is ingrained into Hawaii football culture.
“It’s something that everyone looks forward to and expects, like that invitation to keiki’s first birthday luau,” said longtime UH fan Merle Gornick. “And after the game we share in the excitement of a win and lick our wounds after a loss together.”
Some fans would rather have the first quarter of the game deleted than lose the opportunity to tailgate. I guess we’d have to say they’re fans of getting together with friends more than they are of football.
“When the sun goes down, you’ll know it’s time to hit the game. It’s tough to get motivated to leave the comforts of the tailgate but you gotta go support the team,” wrote David Chatsuthiphan at UnrealHawaii.com.
Many tailgate attendees are more likely to remember the name of someone they meet at the party than that of the visiting team’s quarterback. Then there are those who don’t remember any of it, but that’s a different story.
Yes, winning cures everything. But for casual fans a great tailgate leaves nothing to fix.
Matlin is working with Sodexo on a plan that includes food trucks. This will be different, but it has worked for spring games.
Everyone has ideas about nooks and crannies on campus where you could do this or that. One of mine is to sell the spaces at the top of the parking structure at a premium and let people grill up there in the open air.
Matlin’s countless meetings to do with this unprecedented move include advice from Colorado State AD Joe Parker; the Rams recently moved football to on campus.
Matlin knows he will have to adapt game by game as the unintended consequences appear.
“One of the good things about this year’s schedule is that there are two weeks between all of the home games,” he said.
Upper campus has been extremely cooperative and football coach Todd Graham has provided valuable input, Matlin added.
And, at the very least, there’s this: Unless COVID-19 decides otherwise, the Warriors will play in front of a full house every home game this fall — the complete opposite of last year at Aloha Stadium.
Matlin and others are working hard to give fans what he calls a game-day “experience.”
With the limited seating this fall, more fans will learn what it’s like to watch UH football from home. There are plenty of pros and cons to weigh for future seasons when there will be more tickets available.
For one thing, at home you can fire up that grill whenever you want.
