With the kickoff of football season comes a special festivity for us Hungry Fans: Tailgating!! The first Saturday of September is a time-honored tradition where everyone believes this is the year. Especially if you are a Dawg Fan! Think FOOTBALL, think SEC, and the odds are you think tailgate PARTY. To the untrained eye, these game-day traditions appear to be just a wild party, a self-indulgent excuse to excessively drink and eat BBQ. However it is so much more. Tailgates in all their extravagance are true microcosms of society where organic neighborhoods foster inter-generational community, nurture tradition as well as build the university and team’s brand. It is a meeting place for rivals, alumni, students, staff, professors, journalists, photographers, parents, historians, and all walks of life to meet, greet, and share experiences. Given society’s current climate tailgates offer a dynamic and orchestrated effort in community building. Real people put forth effort to forget many differences while establishing a sense of community — of belonging. Having traveled to a multitude of campuses to tailgate I have been welcomed, feed, and of course given or recieved what I love most "competitive banter." The stadium parking lot is where people of all backgrounds come together in common rituals. People share the same spot for years, they tailgate across socio-econimic boundaries, they undoubtedly encounter strangers walking on campus and adopt them into the family connecting over food and competition. They create neighborhoods that are vibrant, robust and full of diversity. I have stated this as a sport administrator and certainly as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion advocate and consultant, “the 2 main staples in life that can bring any walk of life together is without question food and sports.” Sport isn’t just a game. It’s a useful tool to break down social and cultural barriers off the field. I challenge you to attend a tailgate at some point of your life in case you have been hiding under a sizable rock and do not just stay in 1 spot. Go wander, talk, and soak up the communities.
Without further ado here are the 5 finds as a TwinDad that made me smile as a parent waiting for Kick-Off!!
1. Tuesday I used my nightstand as a pillow when the twins crawled into bed, took all the space & pillows, with us at 3 a.m. So, parenting is literally fun, people!!
2. You must not have toddlers living in your house because your coasters are glass!!
3. Based on how much effort the twins put into finding anything before declaring it gone, a nursing home may be the safest place for Charlotte and myself in old age!!
4. Welcome to twinhood, where almost every conversation at somepoint goes…..I’m so tired.. what was I saying??
5. Dinner time also known as science project time at the table for twin brothers!!
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