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A Day For TailGators

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By STEVE KORNACKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2007

Updated: 09/15/2007 11:45 pm

GAINESVILLE - John Rodda stood in the shadows of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on a hot, sunny football Saturday, sharing a cold drink and Gator talk with his friends before a game with a longtime rival. He was back in his element, enjoying the good times.

'This one is special. This one is different,' said Rodda, 51, a general contractor from Lakeland. 'I watched every game last year in a hospital bed at Lakeland Regional Hospital. I had pancreatic cancer.'

Rodda said his faith in God, family and friends got him through the ordeal. But making it back here to tailgate before the game and walk to the stadium with his buddies was a motivation to beat cancer, he said.

For many, tailgating is an important part of the college football experience. It's a chance for fans to gather in parking lots around the stadium to eat, drink, talk football and be merry.

The smell of burgers on portable grills, the sound of the school band in the distance and the sight of fans exhorting one another to 'go long' for a pass. Those are the things that make tailgating great.

Whoever said that anticipation is the greater joy certainly could have had tailgating in mind.

Many in Rodda's Lakeland group of nine have been tailgating and attending Gators games together for more than a quarter-century.

'We used to literally put down the tailgate of a truck and sit on it or set up a table with chairs to eat,' said Mark Miller, 58, a Lakeland lawyer. 'The spirit of it never changes because there is something special about college football.

'But it's become much more elaborate. Now we have tents, and some people have satellite dishes and watch other games on TV. Go visit those guys over there in the green tent and see what they have.'

That group, in the northeast corner outside the stadium, had two flat-screen TV sets hooked up to a satellite dish connected to an air-conditioned motor home. Dozens sat outside beneath tents, watching the early games and partying. Those who couldn't take the heat were inside the motor home.

Ryan Routh, 34, and his son, Taylor, 15, were part of that group along with Todd Williams, 34, of New Port Richey.

'This is pretty awesome,' said Taylor, who was attending his first game.

Williams said, 'I grew up sitting on the 45-yard line with my dad, then in the student section when I went to school here, and now I'm looking to scalp a ticket. But before we go looking for tickets, this is a great tailgate. It's a chance to renew what college football is all about with friends.

'This is paradise.'

Routh added, 'It's all about the hope before a game and tradition. My granddad and dad are Gators, and I've been coming to games since I was 12.'

It's about telling the tales of games and years gone by, as well as swapping stories about the weekend.

Greg Cochran, a 38-year-old Florida graduate from Raleigh, N.C., said he had to rent a car in Jacksonville and drive down after a connecting flight was canceled. It left 60 Gators fans stranded en route to the game, and he gave a lift to four others.

'I didn't discover until halfway down here that one of them was Coach Urban Meyer's sister from Ohio,' Cochran said.

The Lakeland group all wore blue Gators T-shirts or polos, heeding the request of Meyer to fill the stadium with blue to offset the University of Tennessee orange. Orange and blue are Florida's colors.

They shared cigars, beer, sodas, Cuban sandwiches, chicken wings, chips and dip beneath a Gator tent.

'We weren't sure we were going to share another tailgate party with John,' Miller said, 'and it wasn't the same without him.'

Ashlee Dominguez, the daughter of Rodda's best friend, George Merrell, gave him a hug. Tears filled her eyes.

'And now you've had two tests with positive results about the cancer,' she said.

Rodda nodded before pointing out that there are three rules to tailgating. Or, in the case of this school, tailGatoring:

'No. 1, you can't get here too early,' he said. 'No. 2, never run out of beer. And No. 3, you've got to have fun.'

Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (813) 731-8170 or skornacki@tampatrib.com.

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