If you haven't seen it already, there are new tailgating regulations out for North Campus -- and they're not pretty.
Essentially anything beyond a picnic blanket and an iPod will be off limits, and if you're hoping to bring a TV and a keg and a grill... you're going to have to move elsewhere.
Given the problems that occurred repeatedly last season, this really shouldn't come as much of a surprise. There were warnings, and while things improved marginally, it wasn't enough.
The general response thus far seems to be a cross between bewilderment and outrage -- directed both at the school for implementing the new regulations and at the tailgaters who ruined the fun for everyone else.
I can understand both opinions. After all, alumni and fans pay an awful lot of money to spend a Saturday in Athens, and this is a big blow to the game-day routines for many of them. At the same time, the state of North Campus after several home games last season was an absolute disgrace and a black eye for the school. (Seriously, why do you want to give Tech fans a reason to make fun of you?)
But here's my problem with this: The litter was not caused by tailgating. It was caused by morons.
The new rules essentially eliminate any serious tailgating, but the school can't ban being an idiot. And in the end, the idiots will still show up -- they'll just cause their damage elsewhere.
What seems to me to be a far more reasonable solution would be to charge a significant fee to tailgate on North Campus -- no different than a seat licensing fee in the stadium. This creates a sense of ownership of the area. You buy the spot, and it's yours on game day. It's one thing to watch someone trash a parking spot -- it's another to watch your neighbor trash his lawn. The sense of ownership will hopefully create more self-policing.
Of course, it would also generate revenue -- revenue that should be spent on additional trash cans, additional port-o-johns and additional security. This alone should have a marked effect on the number of people trashing the area.
Third, the school should have strict regulations about littering, public urination and destruction of property with hefty fines. The tailgate licensing fees could allow UGA to hire more security to patrol the area, and the fines will create additional revenue that can be used to clean up the area after game day while at the same time, hopefully discouraging the people who may have been inclined to leave a bunch of trash behind.
Again, not a foolproof plan, but certainly one that seems a more palatable plan for everyone and likely a more effective longterm solution. Because if all you're doing is moving the idiots elsewhere, you're going to find yourself cleaning up just as much of a mess, just spread out in more places.
Posts
18 comments:
Great suggestion Big D. Too bad the university didn't consult with anyone that possessed an iota of problem solving skills, not to mention a way to generate more revenue. This flat out sucks. I always thought that the majority of trashing was done during the game with idiots running around and tipping over all the trash cans and destroying people's tents, chairs, and coolers. Ive gotten my entire tailgate stash stolen while i was in the stadium at the game. If the campus beefed up security while the game is taking place, I'm willing to bet the trashing would go down big time.
"Because if all you're doing is moving the idiots elsewhere, you're going to find yourself cleaning up just as much of a mess, just spread out in more places."
True Statement.
I agree that something needs to be done but the new rules are WAY too extreme. Let's break it down:
No Tents: Do we really want gingers/elders to be sunburned/overheated and sue the University. The trees are not enough shade. Maybe limit the size of tents?
No Kegs: Ok, understandable. Crushes the grass, tailgaters are able to consume beer faster and it creates a greater need for more solo cups (I've gone through more than I can count)
No Generators: Ok. It doesn't help with the trash problem, but understandable. Maybe just electric?
TV: Can't watch it without a generator. Alabama has a system where you can pay for electricity at your tailgate.
Amplified music: Destroys the grass because people dance on it? Or they don’t want a rap song like "back that a** up" blaring at 7am while I drink my bourbon and coffee and eat a chick-fil-a chicken biscuit. Is it football season yet?
Grills or cookers of any type: At least not an open flame.
Tables larger than 4 ft. long: Wow, so now I have to take two steps back when I play beer pong on a 4 ft table. I want to know what they were thinking when they made this rule.
Household furniture (folding chairs not included): hahahahahahahaha. I've only seen this a couple times and it was genius because pledges were setting it up. Do chandeliers count?
Yes the trash was over the top and looked horrendous. But the steps taken by the University are a little extreme. There are other Universities that have the same problem and have created rules that have worked year after year. Ole Miss (The Grove) and Alabama (The Quad). Maybe we should follow some of their rules instead of deterring tailgating on North Campus all together.
http://www.olemiss.edu/gameday/tailgating.htm
http://uagameday.com/football/setting-up.php
I fail to see why folks need to bring EVERYTHING they've ever owned to a tailgate. Bring some chicken and beverages, and plenty of trash bags to haul off what you brought in.
Here's to hoping they ban amplified music all over campus...nothing like some wanna be rapper yelling all day long.
It's always gonna be something. How many members of law enforcement does it take to keep us from storming the field? Given our recent record at home in big games I'd say about zero. Let those guys bust heads outside the stadium.
I feel like Dr. Adams went with the nuclear option. Even after the South Cackalacky game, it didn't feel like there was true effort in getting more bins/recycling containers out.
@JADAMS, all great points, completely agree. However, no kegs means massive quantities of bottles/cans (more trash).
@DH, the one problem I have with the significant fee registration system is that it would put the campus again into another have/have not area. Just having simple roped-off zones where one person, at the end of the day, is fully responsible for it would change the culture significantly.
Great free market suggestion, David. I like your thinking. The U.S. has the same strategy for overfishing in the Atlantic.
David have you considered tackling the Health Care issue? So sane - so calm - so right.
David,
The timing on this sucks.
Why not announce before the donation deadline in February so people will have to donate more money to get an alumni parking spot?
My buddy and I talked about it this year, we were $500 short. If we would have known this we surely would have ponied up the extra $500 for a spot down across from Blind Pig.
Announcing this plan before the Feb donation deadline would make to much sense and only generate more revenue.
This also should boost the local economy forcing large masses of people to tailgate in downtown restaurants and bars.
I wished somoe of those places would rent out space on the roof of business down town....now that'd be a good exclusive tailgate...
Timing is just KRAPPY
This is awful. I'm an out of state graduate who loves tailgating on north campus when I can make it to a game. It was by far the best atmosphere for tailgating at UGA. I was not around for the trash problems last year, but I know in years past the problem was not enough trash cans and not enough portajohns (the damage done to the library bathrooms was disgusting). It seems having 2 campus police officers handing out hefty tickets for littering would have handled the problem without the nuclear. Undoubtedly, Adams just didn't like that many people being close to his office. Sad news
i can only imagine how many folks are gonna get arrested if the cops actually start paying attention to everyone. all the underage kids...and what about scalpers? is this the end of the world as we know it?
Just stay home and watch the game on TV or listen on the radio. Drink beer at home or at the lake. Ga football competes in the market place against other activities. If enough people stay home, Ga will figure out they have come up with a better solution. If these quarterbacks play like last year's and three years before that quarterbacks, Ga will have to actually try to get people to come back to the stadium in the following year.
There is a principle that I really like (especially in parenting) that states: with responsibility comes freedom. You show that you are responsible and you'll get more freedom. You show me you're not responsible and the freedoms get taken away. North Campus tail-gaters showed they were not a responsible group.
Would someone please explain to me how trash on the ground is a "not enough trash cans problem"?
What happened to personal responsibility?
I guess now folks just think, well, I don't see a trash can, I'll just throw this on the ground. I hope they all stay home.
PTC Dawg,
can you seriously not grasp that? OK, so if you are a tailgater, and you bag all your trash.... then what? Where are you going to put it? And don't give me "haul it out with you," because you know damned well you aren't going back to the car/truck before the game, and you aren't going to come back to it afterward. Without sufficient trash bins, there is nowhere for anyone to put their trash, and they are forced to just leave it there to be picked up later.
Now, how many times have you had just a little more trash than you had room in your trash bag? See how the problem is compounded now? Now you've got trashbags plus some extra trash sitting on the ground waiting to be picked up. People start walking by in the huge crowd that is exiting, it gets kicked around, and thus the photos you see online.
The simple logic that more trash cans = less trash on the ground is not even debatable. The fact is that Michael Adams made zero attempts to add more trash receptacles. The only attempt I saw were by STUDENTS (i'm looking at you, curmudgeons blaming the students) who were passing out trash bags and boxes. So instead of making an effort to reduce the trash by putting more bins out, he did nothing, and opted to wait for the season ticket holders to give him their money again, then pull this BS on everyone.
Every day he sits in that office is a slap in the face to every UGA student and alum.
And PTC Dawg,
please enlighten me as to what you are going to do with a 50 lb bag of trash if there is no trash can to put it in and you are on NC.
Michael F. Adam$ can go jump in a lake.
TV and amplified music are not allowed at a Tailgate for college football ?
Unheard of.
4 hours before game time. So, you drive from all The Deep South, get there and cannot eat breakfast. If you don’t like us eating breakfast, just say so Michael F. Adam$.
Tables larger than 4 feet not allowed.
Little Hitler.
No Golf carts.
No ATV.
He’s just still made because of the raucous boos for him and his wife at the Sugar Bowl Game when he had himself introduced at the Georgia Dome, that did not end until after the kickoff.
4 hours before game time, what a load of hogwash.
Every other school understands the Quarter of a Billion dollars the stadium generates.
Try spending some of that money Michael F. Adam$ on proper toilet facilities and proper dumpsters.
And, while you are at it, hire some off duty police for security.
Rules.
Unreasonable rules.
If we had known you were going to do this to us, we would have purchased the land near the stadium off-campus so that Game Day could be properly organized and properly designed to give you this
CASH COW.
And, this gibberish humbug hooey that the fans are behind your regulations and in fact like it, excuse me : Do not patronize me that we all wanted you to implement this nonsense.
The brand of football put on the field the last 4 years, and excuses for all the bad press we have to put up with on top of all the 14 losses the last 4 years mostly 10 in the SEC East alone, and instead of doing something about it like spending our monies on offensive coaching staff commensurate with our defensive coaching staff in NFL experience, and providing us a proper gym and proper indoor practice facility, all we get is unreasonable bad-tempered difficult to deal with regulations by a little man with a huge ego who has always been off-sides to football on his campus.
When you dry up the Quarter of a Billion dollar Game Day Experience with your over the top regulations, perhaps then you will be able to actually provide for the Services which you should have figured into the $2 billion dollar annual budget you preside over with no experience and no knowledge thereof. You built the 6th largest stadium on campus in the United States of America.
You must then therefore work on providing what you are legally obligated to provide to us, for it.
Here are your Obligations Michael F. Adam$ with regard to your 6th largest stadium on U.S. University Campus bringing in more than a Quarter of a Billion Dollars every Game Day :
Provide for Security to insure we are safe.
Provide for Toilets with sinks, soap and towels / hand dryers.
Provide for properly located dumpsters sufficient and convenient.
Provide for Sufficient Parking sufficiently convenient.
Provide for Electricity at a Fee for those persons who might need it.
Provide for a Forum of those who do Tailgate to input into our own regulations.
Provide trash bags.
You should be sued for what you are legally obligated to provide to us and are not Michael F. Adam$.
You are a horrible administrator and not one penny.
Not one.
Just leave Michael F. Adam$. You cannot implement regulations to mitigate your requirements. When you provide what you should have Michael F. Adam$, you will not need this listed rules, will you ?
I think the Administration knows the idiots will move elsewhere and that is exactly what they want. That way they can gradually move this policy across all the tailgate spots as the idiots move around. Eventually they will have tailgating restricted campus wide to 4 hours prior to kickoff with a bottle of water and a granola bar.
UGA needs to approach this problem in a more business like manner. Does litter suck? Yes, but it's a cost of doing the business of college football. I'm not condoning litter, but God's sake, the cost of paying people to clean it up is minuscule compared the the revenue these fans generate for the university.
How "un-fun" can UGA make tailgating before revenue starts to fall off?
Post a Comment