When did tailgating start at Rich/the Ralph?

[May Day 10]

I know we tailgated as early as 75...don't remember the first couple of years. And as mentioned, tailgate was strictly hot dogs, hamburgers and beer.

 

Late 80 's is when I think it started to become more of an event with planning, salads etc.

You know what they say. Its not a tailgate party without planning and salads

[Saxum]

 

There's still a Beerball you can throw from the upper deck ...

 

They disallowed catapults in stadium just for that reason; they did not mind the throwing so much as the complaining about the catapult breaking from too much weight.

[Best Player Available]

Back in the 70's , I remember bringing a beverage cooler into the stadium. It was crazy what you were able to do in the stadium in those days.

never brought a cooler in. But early on before a security pat down was even thought of. A lot of fans

Would be so weighted down in beer and bottles of CR coming through the gates it was comical.

 

Then to help out at one game the Bills gave away free six pack coolers with the team logo on it. I still

Have ours.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Best Player Available

[Saxum]

never brought a cooler in. But early on before a security pat down was even thought of. A lot of fans

Would be so weighted down in beer and bottles of CR coming through the gates it was comical.

 

Then to help out at one game the Bills gave away free six pack coolers with the team logo on it. I still

Have ours.

 

Yeah I went to one of the games where they made me return my soft sided cooler bag to car and then went in and they gave me one free. Weird.

[plenzmd1]

You know what they say. Its not a tailgate party without planning and salads

[I'm Spartacus]

Back in the 70's , I remember bringing a beverage cooler into the stadium. It was crazy what you were able to do in the stadium in those days.

I remember Mid-70's, bringing in a giant Igloo Cooler with Vodka & Cider.

We actually brought a ticket & placed the damn thing in it's seat.

Can't believe they let you do that stuff back in the day!

[Dave in Avon Lake now]

OK, so I missed the early tailgaters, but I do remember people with jugs of amaretto on the cold days. I think they still sold drinks til the game ended. Oh for the good old days!

[Ronin]

 

 

I thought there was tailgating during the Knox years, Acording to Fred Smerlas in his book "by the nose", the Bills used to party with the fans while waiting for traffic to clear after home games in the early 80's.

 

During the early '90s, the SB years, after games it wasn't uncommon to see Bruce, Talley, Hull or a number of other players over at the Tree.

That brings up another question for people who have tailgated elsewhere. Who does it best. I've done it at Gillette, but I think its only popular since it is so hard to leave the stadium on RT 1 after the games.

 

Who does it best is whomever does it right, doesn't really matter where you are.

 

I've always thought that the open lots, the big gravel ones w/o parking lines were the best. During our heyday we went to see games in San Fran (the punt-less game), NE, and a couple of other places. Always hooked up with other Bills fans we found. But those two are open lots and a lot of fun.

 

Contrast that with the Skins where unless you have a $100 parking pass you park about a mile away in corporate parking lots and take a shuttle, or walk, to the stadium. Tailgating there sucks.

 

OK in Baltimore too but there IMO it's better to find a private parking lot for your tailgating.

 

I remember the fires at Rich after games in the '90s, they were huge. People would bring pallets to burn, sometimes the stack of fodder was taller than us and you could feel the heat from 20' away easily. It was great because it was usually very cold.

 

Sometimes we'd linger two or three hours after the game and then head over to Duff's or the Tree.

never brought a cooler in. But early on before a security pat down was even thought of. A lot of fans

Would be so weighted down in beer and bottles of CR coming through the gates it was comical.

 

Then to help out at one game the Bills gave away free six pack coolers with the team logo on it. I still

Have ours.

 

It was comical. One time my buddy asks me where I'm going as he's holding most of a case of beer. (cans)

 

I take off my Bills coat, stuff cans of beer into my sleeves, slung it over my shoulder, put a couple into each cargo pocket in my fatigues, and walked in with like 18 beers for us all. No one cared unless you got rip-roarin' drunk, which we didn't do.

Edited July 6, 2016 by TaskersGhost

[Gugny]

 

During the early '90s, the SB years, after games it wasn't uncommon to see Bruce, Talley, Hull or a number of other players over at the Tree.

 

Who does it best is whomever does it right, doesn't really matter where you are.

 

I've always thought that the open lots, the big gravel ones w/o parking lines were the best. During our heyday we went to see games in San Fran (the punt-less game), NE, and a couple of other places. Always hooked up with other Bills fans we found. But those two are open lots and a lot of fun.

 

Contrast that with the Skins where unless you have a $100 parking pass you park about a mile away in corporate parking lots and take a shuttle, or walk, to the stadium. Tailgating there sucks.

 

OK in Baltimore too but there IMO it's better to find a private parking lot for your tailgating.

 

I remember the fires at Rich after games in the '90s, they were huge. People would bring pallets to burn, sometimes the stack of fodder was taller than us and you could feel the heat from 20' away easily. It was great because it was usually very cold.

 

Sometimes we'd linger two or three hours after the game and then head over to Duff's or the Tree.

 

It was comical. One time my buddy asks me where I'm going as he's holding most of a case of beer. (cans)

 

I take off my Bills coat, stuff cans of beer into my sleeves, slung it over my shoulder, put a couple into each cargo pocket in my fatigues, and walked in with like 18 beers for us all. No one cared unless you got rip-roarin' drunk, which we didn't do.

 

 

Man .. .the punt-less game. There's a blast from the past.

[Ronin]

I remember Mid-70's, bringing in a giant Igloo Cooler with Vodka & Cider.

We actually brought a ticket & placed the damn thing in it's seat.

Can't believe they let you do that stuff back in the day!

 

LOL, the good ole days!

 

I remember people would have 1.75 liter bottles of liquor, bota bags, etc. Again, as long as you didn't cause problems no one cared.

 

People take the game way too seriously these days that problems are almost guaranteed with alcohol. It's a real shame.

 

 

Man .. .the punt-less game. There's a blast from the past.

 

LOL

 

Yeah, we went out there w/o tickets and scored a pair on the 50 about 20 rows off the field, surrounded by Niner ST holders. It was great, we razzed them and they razzed us in a very friendly fashion.

 

It was hilarious after the game, Young played a great game for Niners but they lost. After the game the fans on the radio were talking about how he sucked and would never amount to anything. We were just laughing at it. All we could say was dang, he leads them to 31, not against some schlep team either, and they're ready to throw the guy under the bus.

[Beerball]

They disallowed catapults in stadium just for that reason; they did not mind the throwing so much as the complaining about the catapult breaking from too much weight.

What is it that you're trying to say?

[jimmy10]

You know what they say. Its not a tailgate party without planning and salads

Vodka and whiskey used to be potatoes and corn. I say it counts as salad!

[Saxum]

What is it that you're trying to say?

 

Poor quality of ropes; all of the good ropes being used for hangings.

[KollegeStudnet]

Here's my totally made-up answer. Bills fans who tried to bring their kegs into the new Rich Stadium were turned away at the gate and were forced to drink them in the parking lot.

There's a video in the Hall of Fame in Canton of Paul Maguire talking about War Memorial Stadium. He talked of a game where the team watched a guy in the stands, who was by himself, have his own keg and grill in the section behind them. Typical Bills fans.

Edited July 6, 2016 by KollegeStudnet

[chaccof]

1960

That's what I thought - I swear I remember my dad and his buddy's tailgating at the Rock Pile...but maybe what they were doing was actually bringing their own beer into the stadium....does that count as tailgating? Doesn't Paul Maguire tell a story on one of those NFL Films shows about people bringing charcoal grills into the Rock Pile and cooking hot dogs?

[plenzmd1]

 

Who does it best is whomever does it right, doesn't really matter where you are.

 

 

 

Contrast that with the Skins where unless you have a $100 parking pass you park about a mile away in corporate parking lots and take a shuttle, or walk, to the stadium. Tailgating there sucks.

 

OK in Baltimore too but there IMO it's better to find a private parking lot for your tailgating.

 

I remember the fires at Rich after games in the '90s, they were huge. People would bring pallets to burn, sometimes the stack of fodder was taller than us and you could feel the heat from 20' away easily. It was great because it was usually very cold.

 

Sometimes we'd linger two or three hours after the game and then head over to Duff's or the Tree.

 

 

Skins tailgating sucks cause everybody hates the stadium, the owner, the team etc.. Bunch of angry drunks is no fun.

 

BMore has great tailgates!

 

In terms of after games, cent remember the last time we left earlier than 2 hours after game.

 

The best after tailgates were the ones when it was post Bills/ Pre Sabre tailgate. Those Sunday double headers used to put a wallop on me in the mid 80's.

Edited July 6, 2016 by plenzmd1

[hondo in seattle]

Over the years, I've twice seen articles written by guys who tailgated in all 32 cities ranking Buffalo #1 in tailgating.

 

Then again, I've also seen articles rating the Bills game day experience poorly because of drunken fans.

[SF Bills Fan]

I recall tailgating in 1978- I know the exact year because it was Bengals-Bills and we lost 5-0. We tailgated with several families and cooked out . I was 8 but recall it well. I remember other parties going on. This was in a main lot near the stadium.

[machine gun kelly]

As a little kid in the 70's, I remember people partying left and right. We just threw the football around and our dads would throw a few back. In the late 80's I would come back from Oswego in colege, and always wear the rain slicker on top of everything else to load up on the beers in very pocket possible.

 

It was a joke. The story of the kegs in the 60's in the rock pile is over the top. Typical Buffalo. Love it.

[Beerball]

Poor quality of ropes; all of the good ropes being used for hangings.

so you aren't disparaging my weight?