Tailgating At The Smu Game

[Dfish]

A buddy of mine is organizing all our tailgate stuff this year. We had planned on our first tailgate to be at the SMU game down in Dallas. He called and asked where you can tailgate and basically it sounded like they had something that was about the equivalent of the mean green village. It was something like $125 for a covered table with 8 chairs or some such nonsense. Is there any normal parking lot tailgating at SMU or are they too good to have people drink and bbq in their parking lots?

What gives?

[UNTflyer]

A buddy of mine is organizing all our tailgate stuff this year. We had planned on our first tailgate to be at the SMU game down in Dallas. He called and asked where you can tailgate and basically it sounded like they had something that was about the equivalent of the mean green village. It was something like $125 for a covered table with 8 chairs or some such nonsense. Is there any normal parking lot tailgating at SMU or are they too good to have people drink and bbq in their parking lots?

What gives?

They don't have a parking lot.

[Dfish]

They don't have a parking lot.

booooo

[UNTflyer]

booooo

Yeah, they don't tailgate at SMU, they "Boulevard"

[NT80]

This is an article from the DMN ...

.....................................................................................

"If you tailgate at SMU in Dallas the place where the crowds - and the best parties - are is the Boulevard. This past season for $80 you got a spot in the center median and were in the middle of the action.

Well, this season things are changing. That $80 spot for 2007 will be (are you sitting?) $480. If you want a spot north of Binkley you'll shell out $675 - $725, the latter if you want an adjacent parking spot.

Why the 600% increase? Well, according to the SMU Daily Campus:

Associate athletic director for Marketing and Public Relations, Richard Sweet, said the cost to have a "highly coveted spot on the Boulevard was ridiculously undervalued."

"Like any business, you don't provide a winning production on the field without paying for it," Sweet said of the price increase."

...............................................................

Parking is very scarce around Ford Stadium/SMUt. I'm sure the NT Athletic Dept will have a tailgating tent somewhere there; but there is no giant parking lot next to the stadium like Fouts (they don't have a need for it normally!!).

Edited August 8, 2007 by NT80

[SouthernMustang]

Thought y'all might enjoy this read... pretty fun, and pretty spot-on...

An Outside Perspective of the SMU Boulevard Tailgating Scene ...

Ricky Nelson couldn't have imagined the garden party that was the SMU " tailgate experience" of "The Boulevard." Tailgating was more like a sea of pastel at an outdoor wedding reception. Ties, Croakied-Sunglasses, Dress shirts, Khakis, and top-siders constituted the official dress-code for the men. Sundresses, pearls, Paris Hilton-like sunglasses, fake breasts, Chanel make-up, and Luis-Vutton purses with sorority pins seemed to be the ladies dress-code. Our fans kept wondering if the students were going to a football game or a semiformal.. or perhaps the Kentucky Derby. Everyone there was in a fraternity or sorority. On the flip-side of being stuck up Southern debutantes, most of the girls looked like barbie dolls and glamorous celebrities -- in essence, the eye candy was amazing. We decided that money makes you pretty, you can buy everything you are not born with. Maybe the ladies would have liked it better if the school put a modeling runway in front of the tailgate with some lights, and had someone announcing each one as they passed. ANNOUNCER: "And here is Vicky from the Pi Beta Phi House ... she will stay at the game for 2 minutes and 34 seconds, she is wearing the latest designer sundress from <insert fashion icon here>... "

The campus was beautiful and extremely impressive, resembling The University of Virginia in many aspects. The tailgate lawn reminded those of us who had been to "The Grove" of Ole Miss. Instead of parking lots and old fields, SMU students and alums and fans preferred a scenic, shaded grassy area in the middle of campus -- perhaps the students wanted postcard-like pictures taken to send home to mommy and daddy. There was a rampant group of photographers running around taking pictures of perfectly dressed and posed students. All of the photographers had the same name, "Flash," and the students screamed it often and loudly. Moreover, instead of pick-up trucks with beer in the back, they used pledges to move the beer and wine from their Z71 Tahoes or Range Rovers to shaded tents complete with tableclothes. Each student tent hired bartenders to serve memosas to the ladies, and beer to the frat boys when not taking swigs from their flasks of Bourbon. Evidently Park Cities cops don't recognize alcohol if it's in a red "Solo" cup.

The alumni tents proved to be even more impressive as they were way over the top with all the silver trays, candle fixtures, champagne, catered foods, and generated air conditioners. But despite the decadence, it was still cool to stroll down The Boulevard under all the trees amidst the beautiful campus and see that many people hanging out before the game. Many SMU fans even gave us a couple of drinks, as the students and alums both proved to be hospitable creatures. One of the most decadent things we saw was a tent with 3 TV's (one of them a big flat, plasma screen), 3 DIRECTV receivers, air conditioning, and catered fine-dining food...it was pretty plush. I found out Aaron Spelling was an alum of SMU, this must be where he gets his material for his shows.

The Boulevard, SMU's hub for pre-game tailgating was an extraordinary sight. But when we stepped into the stadium we had a question. Where were all the fans?

To top the whole game off, besides the easy victory and broken NCAA record, was SMU's version of Punt, Pass and Kick. They call it Punt, Pass and Pitch. Matching two of the worlds greatest contact sports, Football and Golf. They might as well have taken out the punt and put in a tennis serve, and taken out the pass and whacked a polo ball from their mustang mascot. The combination just seemed to fit the whole aura of the SMU game. The sponsors were Infinity, Land Rover, Mercedes, and expensive jewelry and clothing stores. I believe the fans thought they had to wear and drive those who sponsored their team as the parking lot and gameday apparrel seemed to prove that was the case.

All in all, the SMU game was an educational experience, one that proved to me you don't have to make sense to have too many dollars.

Better luck next season Ponies!

[UNTflyer]

What's sad is that $MU fans will never know the joy of planning your tailgate party, setting up your tent, cooking your food, inviting real FRIENDS over to eat ribs and brats and watching early games on the tube (yes, even us middle manager types can afford a satellite dish) while eagerly counting down the minutes to kickoff.

What a bunch of phonies.

[greenminer]

Thought y'all might enjoy this read... pretty fun, and pretty spot-on...

Are you serious? Might there even be a hint of exaggeration in there?

I have no idea and would love to see this with my own eyes.

[SouthernMustang]

Are you serious? Might there even be a hint of exaggeration in there?

I have no idea and would love to see this with my own eyes.

Well, while I was there, everyone was dressed up. Girls in sundresses, we wore ties and khakis. It's pretty pastel and dressy, but that's not just an SMU thing, most SEC schools do the same thing. At least the Greeks do, and since SMU is like 70% greek... it looks like the whole student body. Same reason Ole Miss is "dressier" than Bama. Less students, more dense Greek population. But the same amount of people at Bama dress up, just more non-Greek students so it's not the "norm." The tablecloths/tents/bartender thing is true.. but that's b/c the school made it so that you had to card people (b/c HP/UP are dry and strict and would call TABC) at the tents and provide wristbands, and the way to get liability off the fraternities is to use a bartending service. So when you order your tent, you have to pay for the bartender if you're a student org.. which since SMU is all-greek, it's all fraternity tents. So it works out nicely for liability, plus b/c there are wristbands, you don't have to worry about HP high school kids walking over and stealing your beer.

Pledges do all the unloading of beer for the bartenders. I'd say that 1/2 the fraternities grill their own food, the other half order it in from places lik Chipotle, Pluckers (wings), etc. Some of the alumni do have awesome spreads with pork or brisket, mashed potatoes, and the like. Not unusual to see silver platters at their tents and champagne. But that's pretty reminiscent of The Grove (Ole Miss). Our President came from there, and once Ford opened up, he did The Boulevard along the same lines - so many of the traditions are the same at both.

Flash is a photography company (Party Pics). They show up to everything: parties, tailgates, etc. You just have to yell FLASH really loud and a photographer comes over and takes your picture, then they put it on this website and you can order them. If you go down to the student tents you'll hear it yelled a lot. I know TCU has this, other schools have it and its called something different. I don't know about the perfectly posed stuff, I was always calling Flash to ask them to take down pictures of me... haha.

Most places you tailgate at have satellite dishes and TV's. Maybe when we played Oklahoma State that wasn't the norm yet or something. But any school I've gone to people have TV's and dishes out there.

I don't know if they still do the pitch, but they used to... I never really thought anything of it b/c I think Hank Haney sponsored that part of the game so it seemed like a natural fit. And yes, Land Rover did sponsor that game and had 2 Range Rovers sitting in the grassy knoll area and in the Doak Walker plaza area. But if they're going to fork over $ and support SMU, let them put their cars there.

I don't think it's really THAT over the top, it's just the way it's written in the article that makes it sound that way.

[Eagle1855]

Well, while I was there, everyone was dressed up. Girls in sundresses, we wore ties and khakis. It's pretty pastel and dressy, but that's not just an SMU thing, most SEC schools do the same thing. At least the Greeks do, and since SMU is like 70% greek... it looks like the whole student body. Same reason Ole Miss is "dressier" than Bama. Less students, more dense Greek population. But the same amount of people at Bama dress up, just more non-Greek students so it's not the "norm." The tablecloths/tents/bartender thing is true.. but that's b/c the school made it so that you had to card people (b/c HP/UP are dry and strict and would call TABC) at the tents and provide wristbands, and the way to get liability off the fraternities is to use a bartending service. So when you order your tent, you have to pay for the bartender if you're a student org.. which since SMU is all-greek, it's all fraternity tents. So it works out nicely for liability, plus b/c there are wristbands, you don't have to worry about HP high school kids walking over and stealing your beer.

Pledges do all the unloading of beer for the bartenders. I'd say that 1/2 the fraternities grill their own food, the other half order it in from places lik Chipotle, Pluckers (wings), etc. Some of the alumni do have awesome spreads with pork or brisket, mashed potatoes, and the like. Not unusual to see silver platters at their tents and champagne. But that's pretty reminiscent of The Grove (Ole Miss). Our President came from there, and once Ford opened up, he did The Boulevard along the same lines - so many of the traditions are the same at both.

Flash is a photography company (Party Pics). They show up to everything: parties, tailgates, etc. You just have to yell FLASH really loud and a photographer comes over and takes your picture, then they put it on this website and you can order them. If you go down to the student tents you'll hear it yelled a lot. I know TCU has this, other schools have it and its called something different. I don't know about the perfectly posed stuff, I was always calling Flash to ask them to take down pictures of me... haha.

Most places you tailgate at have satellite dishes and TV's. Maybe when we played Oklahoma State that wasn't the norm yet or something. But any school I've gone to people have TV's and dishes out there.

I don't know if they still do the pitch, but they used to... I never really thought anything of it b/c I think Hank Haney sponsored that part of the game so it seemed like a natural fit. And yes, Land Rover did sponsor that game and had 2 Range Rovers sitting in the grassy knoll area and in the Doak Walker plaza area. But if they're going to fork over $ and support SMU, let them put their cars there.

I don't think it's really THAT over the top, it's just the way it's written in the article that makes it sound that way.

sounds like a hell of a time. My brother has told me stories of how fun the Boulevard can be. Heard GREAT things about the Grove from friends and family that attended school out there in Oxford.

We've got (or at least HAD) Flash at NT as well. They took pictures at all the Greek functions when I was in school.

Would I/we be better off getting on touch with our fraternity chapter there at SMU and working out something with them, or trying to set up our own thing somewhere on the Boulevard (assuming this is even possible)? What has worked when yall had other local schools come in in the past?

[SouthernMustang]

sounds like a hell of a time. My brother has told me stories of how fun the Boulevard can be. Heard GREAT things about the Grove from friends and family that attended school out there in Oxford.

We've got (or at least HAD) Flash at NT as well. They took pictures at all the Greek functions when I was in school.

Would I/we be better off getting on touch with our fraternity chapter there at SMU and working out something with them, or trying to set up our own thing somewhere on the Boulevard (assuming this is even possible)? What has worked when yall had other local schools come in in the past?

The Grove is outstanding. SMU was smart to try and replicate it. Now they just need to get everyone from The Boulevard to the game and the stadium would be full every week (no lie).

As far as tailgating spots.. Depends on the fraternity quite honestly. If you have a good relationship with them and think they'd be open to hosting, call them and ask. If you're cold calling, that would depend on what fraternity you're talking about. Some will be more inviting than others. Same as any school in that regard. The tents aren't really far apart down in the student area, and every week we'd host a sorority, so sometimes it can just get too crowded to host a whole new group of people. Phi Delt being the exception, they rent out a huge space on the quad in front of Dallas Hall rather than on the main Blvd area. I know you can get spots, and they have some designated for visitors. They're not on the main Bishop Blvd, but they're close where you can see it, still feel in on the action, and can walk through there to check it out (not that walking anywhere on SMU's campus is really far). I think these are less than the $500-$700 spots. I want to say around $250... if you're in a fraternity, it'd probly be better to just book your own tent and charge it to dues, take it out of your budget, etc.

DO NOT... and I repeat... DO NOT try to tailgate in the parking garages or in the parking lots. The SMU police will hunt you down. The only way you'd get in trouble faster with them is if you put on SMU gear. If TABC would just go away, it'd be fine. The whole dry county thing in the Park Cities is a big reason why the SMU tailgate scene is so organized.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

--I am beginning to see why very few people goes to SMU games... It appears to be a no-fun group... besides being outside means you might have to sweat a little and heaven knows that is so "red-neckish".

[Eagle1855]

As far as tailgating spots.. Depends on the fraternity quite honestly. If you have a good relationship with them and think they'd be open to hosting, call them and ask. If you're cold calling, that would depend on what fraternity you're talking about. Some will be more inviting than others. Same as any school in that regard. The tents aren't really far apart down in the student area, and every week we'd host a sorority, so sometimes it can just get too crowded to host a whole new group of people. Phi Delt being the exception, they rent out a huge space on the quad in front of Dallas Hall rather than on the main Blvd area. I know you can get spots, and they have some designated for visitors. They're not on the main Bishop Blvd, but they're close where you can see it, still feel in on the action, and can walk through there to check it out (not that walking anywhere on SMU's campus is really far). I think these are less than the $500-$700 spots. I want to say around $250... if you're in a fraternity, it'd probly be better to just book your own tent and charge it to dues, take it out of your budget, etc.

Absolutely. I know a few of the older guys of our fraternity (guys that were around when I was in school), may try to get in touch with them. Otherwise, have to do our own thing. Good info, appreciated! Looking forward to round 2...

[pollock]

Thought y'all might enjoy this read... pretty fun, and pretty spot-on...

An Outside Perspective of the SMU Boulevard Tailgating Scene ...

On the flip-side of being stuck up Southern debutantes, most of the girls looked like barbie dolls and glamorous celebrities -- in essence, the eye candy was amazing.

Instead of parking lots and old fields, SMU students and alums and fans preferred a scenic, shaded grassy area in the middle of campus -- perhaps the students wanted postcard-like pictures taken to send home to mommy and daddy. Each student tent hired bartenders to serve memosas to the ladies, and beer to the frat boys when not taking swigs from their flasks of Bourbon.

The alumni tents proved to be even more impressive as they were way over the top with all the silver trays, candle fixtures, champagne, catered foods, and generated air conditioners.

The sponsors were Infinity, Land Rover, Mercedes, and expensive jewelry and clothing stores. I believe the fans thought they had to wear and drive those who sponsored their team as the parking lot and gameday apparrel seemed to prove that was the case.

Pfffffffft. Talk to me when you have the Beerman and free cold ones from Bud and Miller.

[Stan R]

This reminds me of the Miller High life commercial where they guys show up in the truck to take the beer away from the 20 dollar cover bar.

[Censored by Laurie]

Pfffffffft. Talk to me when you have the Beerman and free cold ones from Bud and Miller.

One seems to cancel out the other.

[Eagle1855]

One seems to cancel out the other.

[SouthernMustang]

--I am beginning to see why very few people goes to SMU games... It appears to be a no-fun group... besides being outside means you might have to sweat a little and heaven knows that is so "red-neckish".

Actually, most people didnt' go to the games because we just sucked. haha.. Last year's attendance was around the same as normal years, piss poor, the encouraging thing was that we played no marquee home games or teams that brought lots of fans. Homecoming was a lefit 20k and it was b/c a bowl berth was on the line. I think if they start having more games that mean something, more people will come. It may only be crowds of 20k, but that beast the 10k (probly more like 5.5k there, not including the behind-the-glass'ers) to watch them lose 45-3 to Boise.

I promise y'all, The Boulevard is fun. People are friendly. Most students do not have the same hostility found on PonyFans... they may jibe in fun, and of course you'll have your section of drunk guys just yelling stuff out to be rude. But they do that to every opponent. The Oklahoma State people who came told by our tent said they were really surprised by how friendly everyone was to them. If you're of age, go show a bar tender and get a wristband. Then just talk to some folks at the tent if you want a beer.