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For Fans At Outback Tailgate, It's Brats, Beer And Bowl

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By PHILIP MORGAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2008

Updated: 01/01/2008 11:45 pm

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

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

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 Tuesday. It stopped in minutes, though, and the party cranked up.

The familiar strains of "Rocky Top," the Tennessee Volunteers' theme song, blared from boomboxes in the parking lot south of the stadium. Wisconsin's presence loomed large in the form of a tanker truck from Johnsonville Brats called The Big Taste Grill. The "tanker" part of the truck opened to form a giant grill capable of cooking 2,500 brats an hour. People were lined up 20 deep to buy one. "It's brots - not brats!" exclaimed Sharon Ingles, correcting a Floridian's pronunciation.

Ingles, 58, and friends from Racine, Wis., stood near The Big Taste Grill, waiting for the game to begin. The Wisconsin Badgers alum among them, Jan Glaub, felt good about her team's chances, considering the Outback Bowl-related contests of the past few days.

"We beat them in the tug of war. We beat them in the war of the bands. And we really looked much better in the parade," said Glaub, 70.

Badgers fan Fred Segel, 55, wearing a tricorn cheese, hoped he wouldn't have to sing "Rocky Top" at the top of his lungs in his distinctive headgear. That's the bet the Dubuque, Iowa, man made with Midge Goeth, a Tennessee fan from Bradenton.

As it turned out, Goeth, 65, didn't have to dance the polka. But Segel did have to sing.

At the Tullo tailgate party, love was in the air - or at least tolerance. Tullo's son, Aaron, 19, of St. Petersburg, is bound for the University of Tennessee in the fall on a baseball scholarship. His girlfriend, Alexandra Stephan, 20, of St. Pete Beach, is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin. They met at St. Petersburg High School.

"We're in a fight today," Stephan joked. "But it's OK, 'cause we're going to win."

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

At another grill, Joel Silverthorn and his crowd of Volunteers from Fort Myers waited for hot dogs to roast. They thought of doing brats, said the 22-year-old Silverthorn, "but that's their thing." He gestured toward nearby Badgers. So where's the barbecue?

"Too much work," he said.

Next door, fans in red breakfasted on brats, cheese and Miller Lite, another Wisconsin product. They also had venison beer sticks and jalapeno poppers - grilled 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.

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