ARE YOU READY?
On Saturdays in the fall, Kinnick Stadium becomes one of the biggest “cities” in Iowa. Lots of fans, lots of tailgating. Everyone does it different. These are few of their stories …
THE VETERAN
Let’s see … three or four folding tables, six or seven chairs, turkey fryer, small grill with skillet for breakfast, big grill for lunch, stereo and speakers and a few coolers. The TV finally came when he realized he needed a generator for more power. A DVD/VCR combo became handy for analyzing last week’s game before popping in some classic games related to that particular week’s matchup. Satellite dish capability is new for 2010.
It’s pretty simple, says Roman Terrill, a 1994 University of Iowa graduate who added a law degree from the university in 1998. Overkill is the way of the world.
“The spirit of the tailgate is always to cook more food than you need and give it to other tailgates. Never take money … always make a point to try to clean up every last cigarette butt and wrappers and everything … kind of be a steward of the tailgating environment.”
Terrill’s tailgater — he can more often than not be found in the UI dental school lot — has been a destination spot for years. He is known for theme tailgaters, a result of trying to spice things up in food preparation.
“After a while, you can only cook so many brats and so many cheeseburgers … it starts to get a little bit, you know, lame,” he says.
Some highlights: Everything was orange for Syracuse week in 2007 — orange chicken, Orange Julius, a delightful “orange-and-black” thing for dessert (“It looked good. It didn’t taste very good”); Buffalo burgers and Buffalo wings for who else — Buffalo — in 2003; and a classic Greek theme of gyros, pitas and Uzo in honor of wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, who, “while having a Greekish name, is really not terribly Greek,” Terrill says.
The most memorable might have been Mexican week in honor of wide receiver Ramon Ochoa and fullback Edgar Cervantes, who both came up huge in a classic 2003 upset of Michigan. For the next game, sombreros were worn, quesadillas and tortilla soup were served, and a CD of mariachi music purchased at Walmart at 2 a.m. before that morning’s game was loudly heard throughout the dental lot.
“We were doing such a good job that … a rival fan came up and saw our tailgate and offered to do the Macarena for us, which she did and she looked good doing it,” he says.
Terrill believes his true claim to fame might be organizing the annual dental lot kicking contest, open to friends and random passing strangers alike. Two guys join hands to form the crossbar and then hold up canoe paddles with their outside hands for the goal posts. Want to kick? Throw a buck into the football helmet. If you make it, you move on to the next round until a winner is crowned.
“Hundreds of people show up for that and the winner one year was a guy from Belgium,” Terrill says.
Then there’s the tuba. Opposing teams often park their marching bands in the dental lot before they march to the stadium. Terrill, who owns and can play a sousaphone, would often line up with the opposition’s tuba line and try to march with them. Sometimes he succeeded. Sometimes not.
“Did that at the Iowa State game and, man, were they not happy about that,” he says.
What makes Terrill’s spot a must-see is that it’s open to everyone, not just friends and family. He often doesn’t know many of the people. Sure, there are friends and regulars, but the spot is usually jumping so much that friends of friends and random passers-by stop to get a look at the loud, live scenery.
“I’ve never invited anyone to my tailgate,” Terrill says.
THE ROAD WARRIOR
Living in Chicago has not slowed 2006 UI graduate Brandon O’Hare even a little bit. He has his season tickets. He has a group of fellow Hawkeyes who make the trek to Iowa City for every home game and as many road games as possible.
“When you see the sign for the world’s largest truck stop in Davenport going into Iowa City, it’s a big rush from then on in when it’s gameday Friday,” O’Hare says.
It helps having friend Alex Andrade live within walking distance of their preferred tailgating spot in the Myrtle Avenue lot. O’Hare and five or six companions typically arrive in Iowa City about midnight or 1 a.m. Rolling in that late, O’Hare and the gang park overnight in the Myrtle lot and head back to crash. Then they wake up with the Hawkeye fight song blaring in their ears at 6 a.m. and head over to Myrtle.
Most of O’Hare’s partners are native Iowans or Iowa grads. But they try to bring a taste of Chicago with them, stopping at Paulina Meat Market on the way out of town (“just an old-school Chicago butcher that has the best meat around,” he says). O’Hare and his friends usually take up two spots and have about 25 regulars for mornings full of Chicago burgers and brats, beer pong and bags.
He prefers to head back Sunday after some victorious night life in Iowa City. It’s a routine he and his friends don’t see changing anytime soon, especially since he’s bringing his girlfriend of two years, Sally, to her first game this Saturday.
“We’ll keep doing it as long as we can, I guess, as long as it’s still doable,” O’Hare says. “Most of my friends don’t have families yet, so it’s a good way to spend the weekends.”
THE DUTIFUL HOSTS
For more than 10 years, Jerod and Becky Lyons of Iowa City have been giving their friends a place to crash on game weekends. It’s even the reason for their latest home improvement venture.
The couple recently put the finishing touches on a summer project — a downstairs bathroom and guest room for visiting friends.
The Lyonses put up four of married friends for every game, but the number of people milling in and out over the course of the weekend can number as high as 20 or more.
“Somebody different has always got somebody different with them for the games,” Jerod says. “We’ve just always been like that. The more the merrier, you know.”
The two rarely go to games, just play the host and join in for the tailgating action. Come kickoff, they head home and watch the game on TV and wait for the gang to return for postgame party time.
The location doesn’t hurt, either. After living on the east side of Iowa City for five years, the couple bought a house in 2005 just blocks from Kinnick Stadium on the edge of University Heights. At first, the now-vacated lot at Olive Court could easily be accessed at the end of their street. Nowadays, Jerod and Becky join their relocated friends by the “Red Barn” at 711 Melrose Ave., still just a few short blocks away.
“I would never say that it had any bearing on buying this house, but it was sure a huge bonus when we realized the location and how close it was going to be to Kinnick, no doubt about it,” Jerod says. “Instead of getting up and driving over here for tailgating, now we’re just walking down the block.”
With that many people around, one might think the Lyonses would grow weary. On the contrary, they say. They love playing the hosts.
“You’ve got six or seven weekends a year where everyone’s getting together and you know what’s going to happen,” Jerod says. “I look forward to it.”
What’s different this year? Well, they finally decided to get some tickets.
“I want to be there for the national championship,” Jerod says
— SAM
