TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Brats And Beer And The Outback Bowl

Rick Harmon/Tampa Tribune

Early rain couldn't stop tailgaters from getting cranked up at the Outback Bowl.

ADVERTISEMENT

By PHILIP MORGAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 1, 2008

Updated: 01/01/2008 01:18 pm

TAMPA - It was a peaceful gathering, reminiscent of the Pilgrims and the Indians. A man in University of Tennessee colors leaned over a grill, cooking brats for red-bedecked University of Wisconsin fans.

''We haven't started drinking enough to fight,'' Vince Tullo, 49, deadpanned.

Misty rain fell about 7:30 a.m., shortly after the tailgating crowd started arriving outside Raymond James Stadium for the 11 a.m. Outback Bowl game today. But it stopped in a minutes, and the party cranked up.

The familiar strains of ''Rocky Top,'' the Tennessee Volunteers' theme, blared from boom boxes in the parking lot south of the stadium. Wisconsin's presence loomed large in the form of a tanker trunk from Johnsonville Brats called The Big Taste Grill. The ''tanker'' part of the truck opened to form a giant grill capable of grilling 2,500 brats an hour. People were lined up 20 deep to buy one.

Wisconsin Badgers fan Fred Segel, 55, wearing a tri-cornered cheese, hoped he wouldn't have to sing ''Rocky Top'' at the top of his lungs while in his distinctive headgear. That's the bet the Dubuque, Iowa, man made with Midge Goeth, a Tennessee fan from Bradenton. If Wisconsin wins, Goeth, 65, has to dance the polka.

The crowd swelled steadily as cars pulled in, tents went up and charcoal ignited. The bands marched by, drum sections pounding out the cadence.

Joel Silverthorn, 22, and his crowd of Volunteers fans from Fort Myers arrived shortly after the gates opened at 7. ''The gas station didn't sell beer till 7.''

They thought about grilling brats, ''but that's their thing,'' he said, gesturing toward nearby Badgers. So where's the barbecue?

''Too much work'' he said.

''He has problems lighting the charcoal grill,'' said pal Abi Hamblin, 21.

Next door, under the blue tent, fans were breakfasting on brats, cheese, and Miller Lite, another Wisconsin product. They also had venison beer sticks and jalapeno poppers – pheasant and jalepeno wrapped in bacon.

After the game, they planned to continue the party, said Diane Marks-Risse, 61, a Wisconsin transplant living in Ocala.

''I look forward to the fifth quarter!''

Reporter Philip Morgan can be reached at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT