Tailgaters find a home at Mississippi State

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, February 16, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Mississippi State Bulldogs
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It's not always easy being a college football tailgater. All too often, the only place to gather before a game is in the parking lot where your vehicle is parked. Thus, the smell of cooking meat mingles with the pungent odor of exhaust fumes, and the closest bathroom facilities might be half a mile away.

Moreover, some schools treat the pre-game party as if it was a gathering of Hell's Angels, fretting about alcohol use and general rowdiness. It probably didn't help matters when a fatal shooting occurred in a parking lot before a North Carolina State game a couple of years ago.

Now though, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are giving tailgaters their due. According to an article by Robbie Ward in the Northeast Mississippi Journal, the school has allocated $500,000 to create a tailgating park known as The Junction.

It was the idea of MSU engineering major Jeff Ellis, who told Ward: "My dream was to bring everybody together."

Previously, students and alums partied all over campus before games, including the grassy patch between two streets where the park will be located. Ellis sees The Junction (named in homage to Starkville's railroad history) as a place where present and former students can mingle.

Certainly, it will have more ambiance than three acres of asphalt, although the article was unclear about where tailgaters would actually park their cars.

At other times of the year, the Junction will serve as a recreation park, as well as a way to connect the campus with Starkville proper. Right now, it's basically a muddy bog, but work is scheduled to begin on it soon.

One unique aspect of The Junction will be the fact that it is bisected by the Dog Walk -- not a place to exercise your pet, but the path the Mississippi State Bulldogs' players take when walking to Davis Wade Stadium. You might even be able to offer one of them a hot dog.

Best of all, on the evening of Aug. 31, The Junction will have the honor of welcoming in the college season, as Sylvester Croom's team hosts Steve Spurrier's University of South Carolina Gamecocks in a televised ESPN contest.

The school's student association is even trying to raise money to add trees to the proposed park. You never know -- they might come in handy in case the Port-O-Jon concession deal falls through.
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