Sylvan - I don’t know where you live, so I don’t know what you mean by “our” stadium.
I didn’t go to too many pro games growing up, had the honor of going to a Jets game at the end of November at Shame Stadium when it was at its most decrepid, and while there were people drinking and some people were yahoos, it wasn’t like this. The stadiums have tried to restrain it, I think they still don’t serve alcohol after halftime (or is it the third quarter, I don’t drink so don’t pay attention), they also from what I have been told serve lower alcohol content beer.
I think there are two problems, I think people have come to see Stadiums as this big, anonymous place where they can do what they want, ‘unwind’ and so forth, but I think the biggest change was in the tailgating culture. I can’t speak for other teams, I know tailgating was big with some teams (Green Bay comes to mind) a long time ago, but tailgating at the NY teams as a big thing is fairly recent if my memory holds, it kind of looked like it started with certain teams, and then it spread to become this big deal among many fans. Nothing wrong with that, it is a lot of fun, but the real problem to me looking at other people at the games is the tailgating became associated with heavy drinking, I am not talking a few beers, I am talking drinking heavier stuff as well, and in quantity, and when you drink for 4 hours before a game even starts, that is a recipe for disaster, it makes it even worse. Instead of having fun, having some kind of spread or grilling with friends and chilling out, it became more like a fraternity kegger or bunch of ‘average joes’ getting together and getting blotto, whether at a house, a bar, wherever, same kind of attitude. Not to mention that given a lot of the games are day games at 1, who the hell wants to sit in the cold at 9am drinking?
On a related note, how is Lambeau field in terms of fan behavior? I would hate to think that has become like other places, from everything I have heard it was a great place to see a game, someday I’ll get there. I ask because tailgating is often traced to Green Bay, was wondering if the same thing happened there.
The poppunk band “The Offspring” satirized the deplorable behavior of sports fans recounted by some on this thread at games in the following song:
“One Fine Day”
DH is a fan of many sports, and our family lore is full of stories of drunks we have encountered at MLB, NHL, MLS, and FIFA events. My kids can choreograph the fan ejections, which they know is coming when the imposingly large security guard approaches. “Sir, it’s time to go. We can go my way or we can go your way, but it’s time to go.”
I credit this front row view of human intoxication for the fact that DS doesn’t drink at all, and DD only very seldom.
Can’t recall any offensive behavior at games from sober people.
I’ve decided to be ready if it happens again. I put the stadium Guest Services text # in my cell, and if I can record some of it, I can text it immediately to them in real time.
I will agree that tailgating in the North is as elaborate as you can get. And Michigan is as far north as you can get. People tailgate for hours beforehand and some have been doing it for generations. I used to park cars at UMich stadium in the 70’s and even then there were unbelievable spreads. Although I did not get the impression that the purpose was to get drunk. Although I was not in the student section.
Oh, ok. The only tailgating I’ve ever been to in my life is Northwestern (have never been to a pro football game) and I’m certainly willing to admit it might fall on the lame side of the scale :-). I never got the appeal, other than visiting with friends.
My experience with Packer games is that while the fans definitely are drinkers, the crowd has always been reasonably family friendly. Viking fans are raunchy and you never know whether it will be appropriate to bring a kid.
I’m just glad the only game I’m going to this year is the Army Navy game.
Out of curiosity, who will you be cheering for?
There was letter to the editor in this morning’s paper complaining that so many people without tickets to the game are tailgating at our NFL stadium there is nowhere for ticket holders to park. And parking is $40!
I’m a Badger. The tailgating at Camp Randall and Lambeau runs the gamut: obviously you have your beer, brats and burgers, but there are options well outside those well-travelled paths. It makes sense: Lambeau is probably the #1 shrine in all of footballdom and Camp Randall is a top-20 college stadium. We know what we’re doing.
The South has nothing on Midwestern – or at least Wisconsin – tailgating. And I also lived in Nashville for a decade.
@Cobrat I will most likely cheer for Army since they’re the underdog.
I did say that Wisconsin was possibly one of the few places where they could properly handle LSU fans and be on their level as far as tailgating.
Obviously, the team could handle LSU as well.
My husband has season tickets to the Bears. When my son was little, he’d come home and tell me all about the new words he learned that afternoon from “the loud guys.” Some of them were even new to me. %-(
I’ve never been to an NFL game, and the only college game I’ve ever been to was the Harvard Yale game, when I was about 6.
But I find the idea of tailgating very appealing. Any excuse to put together a great picnic and hang with friends!
The closest I’ve gotten is picnicking at Shakespeare in the Park (NYC) or concerts at Millenium Park (Chicago).
I will admit to having hoisted a few at some baseball games, though. 
I hear the picnicking at Shakespeare in the Park can get pretty rowdy and out of hand. I heard someone say, “Methink’st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee.” 
^^ =))
But I want to assure you that I drink my ballpark beers with lifted pinkie. ;
If I had had a drink in my hand, I’d have spewed it on my computer at that line. I haven’t been in years, but, yeah, that Shakespeare crowd is a bunch of ruffians.
Years ago, I defended a law suit on behalf of a food vendor at a sports venue. The game involved two home town rival teams and the visitors trounced the home team. On the way out, the plaintiff, a fan of the visiting team attired in full regalia of his team, saw a compatriot and high fived him. This enraged a home town fan to such a degree that he allegedly handed off his red cup of liquid (remember those!) to someone and charged the plaintiff. He delivered a beating so bad that there was doubt the plaintiff could ever father a child. I won the case for my client, although the attorney representing the venue lost. Since that time, I have never attended a game in that sport and have not permitted my children to do so, either.
I used to go to a lot of Yankee games, growing up in NYC. In the 70s, Yankees fans were always rowdy and could be more entertaining than the game at times. There was always plenty of beer and at one particular game an already tipsy fan was trying to make it back to his seat holding four large beers plus hot dogs when he tripped and all the beers plus the food rained down on the couple one row below him. The guy who was drenched, turned around throwing hot dogs and punches as fast and as hard as he could, other people joined in and it all went downhill from there…All you current New Yorkers, is people watching at the games still fun?
One other time, we had some relatives from the midwest visiting and my Dad decided the men should go to a Yankees game. Off they went, and when they came back all they could talk about was the woman in the fishnet halter, sitting a couple of rows in front of them. My mother, very irritated at their descriptions, especially in front of the younger kids, kept trying to deflect the conversation, “But the game, how was the game?” Blank looks all around, “Uhhhhhhhhh…” They were all in the dog house for quite a while after that…