By LORI GRANNIS of the Missoulian
For most of the year, the term tailgating conjures images of a car following a trifle too close to the bumper in traffic ahead.
But come autumn, tailgating is a whole other ball game. Football, mainly.
Pregame tailgate parties across America are an autumn rite of passage for staunch gridiron fans that most consider essential to the pigskin season.
At University of Montana’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium, it’s a cavalcade of folks strewn across lush green lawns, representing places like Helena and Augusta and Havre.
Some people even fly in from big cities like San Francisco and Seattle.
Point is, a home turf kick-off without a bratwurst in one hand, and a pregame beverage in the other, can make even the staunchest of fans feel downright incomplete.
In Missoula’s Grizzly country, tailgate parties are especially abundant.
Parties spread from the Van Buren footbridge along the Kim Williams Trail, to as far as the University Center.
Less-than-fanatic fans joke that diehards might even love their UM Grizzly football team more than their second or third child, or their well-weathered Barcalounger.
Fanatics admit that they would sooner scramble for a place in line on April 1 to reserve RV space along the curb leading to the stadium than take a much-needed Hawaiian vacation.
Bitter-enders even admit to purchasing their RVs for the sole purpose of hosting friends for breakfast and lunch before a game.
But as much as gatherings over grills and tables of food sound like good clean fun, even tailgating requires a few rules.
“They’re silly rules though,” said a maroon-bedecked June Hodges. “We should be able to start eating when the sun rises.”
University rules forbid cooking before 10 a.m. The two-hour rule is but one that university tailgating personnel try hard to enforce.
“The other silly thing is the sign size rule,” she said.
Signs should be no higher than 10 feet above ground level and can only identify location, according to the university.
“She was hoping for a billboard to announce her presence,” joked one man in Hodges’ party.
At least Griz fans aren’t subjected to the recent heartbreaking rules change instituted by the University of Georgia for all of its future pregame tailgating:
No grilling.
Last year, that school began to regulate tailgating by prohibiting parking in stadium zones, forbidding early set-up, and creating family-friendly no-alcohol zones that many said families haven’t used yet.
It’s a lot more relaxed at Grizzly stadium, according to Kurt Wambaugh, who works as a parking lot guard.
“Don’t be disruptive - just get along,” the two-year enforcer suggests.
Parking permits regulate RV parking, but Wambaugh is on hand to make sure people don’t slip into the wrong lot.
“There usually isn’t much trouble,” he said. “And I?get to eat some pretty good food.”
Some of the grills that fire in unison about two hours before game time don’t quit until well into the first half of the game.
Serious cooks don aprons and hats, and wield all manner of sharp implements for gouging and stabbing freshly cooked meats.
Pacific Steel owner Wayne Lundberg even fabricated his own 6-foot-long gleaming stainless grill as a practical showpiece for tailgate mixers a few years ago.
The back of the mammoth brushed-steel unit features signature UM Grizzly paws in steel relief.
Lundberg and his friends typically arrive in a loaded RV the night before, and fire up the grill with racks of ribs fit for a small army.
Friend Steve Dykeman said they are usually the last to leave.
Some chefs, like Bill Perrin of Farmer’s State Bank, have custom meats created just for their parties. Perrin proudly proclaimed that Bitterroot Community Market grinds a custom blend of meats that end up as the “brats” that he first grills, then finishes in a luxurious bath of furiously boiling beer.
And make no mistake, it’s always the beer that no one in their party will drink.
From private fenced parties to business school fetes that feature genuine Louisiana jambalaya, to real estate agents such as Judy Wahlberg of ReMax who hire Fuddrucker’s to do the dirty work, tailgating comes in all shapes and sizes.
Wahlberg said she pays around $800 for each culinary outing, and hosts a variety of clients and friends. It’s an enjoyable way to do business, she said, and a great way to show support for the Griz.
In the end, tailgating is an undercard affair n maybe even a sport unto itself. Fare may span from hot to cold. Hosts mya run the gamut from pot-bellied dad to executive chef. But when food, booze and football converge, the world is right.
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