Hot Takes with Hinners

The art of tailgating is dead.

Tailgating used to be a right of passage for sporting events, but lately, I feel like tailgating is down across all avenues. What I don’t understand is why it would be down for college football, especially in a college town that has (at least heading into this past Saturday) the best team in the conference.

Who killed Middle Tennessee tailgating? I feel as though we need to start an inquisition.

Homecoming came and went last week. I was there, expecting to see a huge crowd of students, faculty and alumni. Why wouldn’t there be a crowd? Even bad teams have good turnouts for Homecoming. It’s Homecoming! That means something. Or, at least it used to.

Let me walk you through my day and we’ll see how it matched up with yours, shall we? The game had a 1:30PM kick off, so I show up 9AM. I expected the parking situation to be filling up already, so I don’t park by Walnut Grove because there won’t be any parking spots. I already know this. So, I park a little farther away and start walking to tailgate central. On my journey, I pass empty spot after empty spot, so I become confused and a bit bewildered. Maybe everyone just thought the same way I did and parked farther out?

I arrive at the mecca of tailgating – “The Grove”. My first course of action is to start surveying the landscape. People didn’t have the same idea as me. People weren’t there at all. There was so much open space. Now, I understand the Homecoming parade was getting kicked off around this same time, and a lot of folks partook in the festivities, but still, I asked someone, just to be safe, if the game had been canceled.

Usually, you would be crowded among a sea of people. You’d feel like you might drown if you left the safety of your tent. Eventually, you’d see a friend you had not spoken to in some time, or the bathroom would be calling, and you’d bravely venture out.

I decided it was because I was early-ish. People would come. They had to. This is tradition.

They did not.

Time passed and the marching band came over and started playing their routine for the tailgaters. A crowd formed around the band, but ithe was more dive-bar size than concert. I didn’t even focus on the band that much because I was so puzzled by this turnout. I just didn’t understand.

Even once the parade was over, fraternity and sorority members were scarce. So I begin to wonder if maybe people just decided to post up shop in the Murphy Center area. Surely that was the case, so I figured I'd still see a good crowd inside Floyd Stadium.

Kick-off arrived and we made our way to the stadium. As we get to our seats, shortly after the opening kick, I look around at the stadium and I see way too many open seats. It’s a better turnout than opening day, but it’s still so…empty.

There were open seats all around me. Across the stadium there were patches upon patches of open seats – about 8,000 to be exact.

The game turned out to be an absolute thriller. It was another overtime affair between bitter rivals. Shame on anyone who missed it. Neither fan base could have left upset. That’s what you want out of sports, out of football. But, so many missed it. So many missed the event of tailgating. So many missed the camaraderie. So many just missed it all.

Now, I know there are options out there to watch the game other ways. You can stream it off of the C-USA’s website, for instance. But you miss so much more than you gain. You miss the people, the drinks, the food, the activities - the game.

You’re missing it all.

If you have a 4-1 team with the best offense in the conference, it’s Homecoming, and you STILL cannot get the deserved turnout, then it’s not a school problem or an administration problem. It’s a you problem.

So, who killed tailgating? We did. Students, alumni, the city of Murfreesboro - everyone is an accessory to the crime.

Our laziness and apathy gets the better of us time and time again…

Our Town. Our Team. Our Lies. Their Dream.