Photoessay #51 - Softball tailgate

This past spring was my daughter (or DD in softball talk)'s fourth season as a collegiate softball player at the University of Oregon. The parents are often without a voice. They are to write checks, cheer in the stands and keep their opinions to themselves. This year, my husband and I, decided to help raise the parents' profile and have a little fun in the process. Certainly, Dennis and I do not usually entertain or go to many parties. Nor do we attend many sporting events (other than softball games) and have never participated in tailgating.

But other sports tailgate (picnic before and after the game). Why not softball? We have one party organized by Doris the year before on the last weekend of the season. She asked permission and finally got clearance to have a gathering inside the Howe Field gates in the parking lot between the Field and Mac Court.

But we wanted to take it further. Let's have more than one picnic? There are so few home conference games. After talking with some parents at the Cal/Stanford weekend, we decided to have a tailgate for the three remaining dates including a breakfast tailgate for Senior Day. Actually, the plans didn't come together at once, they evolved over the weeks.

A bulwark of the tailgate effort was the equipment and performance by Grant. In his big SUV, he has a custom made grill and all of the equipment and supplies for a great tailgate. Plus he and Lovena provided the bulk of the fixings to make burgers, sausages and, on the last weekend, omelettes. He is a tailgate maCHINE! We would meet him early in the morning in the street in front of the field and work on setting up and Grant would cheerfully, generously and skillfully serve up the food to everybody in attendance.

We chose the site on University Avenue, a wide street with diagonal parking on both sides which runs between Howe Field/Mac Court and the Pioneer Cemetery. It's not officially part of the University, it's a city street. We were concerned about being thrown out either by the University, Athletic Department or the City of Eugene. Several people told us that they had suggested, through personal connections, to the City to leave us alone. If we held the tailgate on a weekend, blocking traffic would not be a serious issue. Sometimes we had a nice pavilion/awning provided by one of the local Oregon ASA guys. Generally we put out the tables, set up the grill and went to it.

We co-opted the official staffs with generosity. If the event people came out to see what we were doing, we offered them a burger. Same with the field maintenance crew. Pretty soon, everybody was on our side. Once we were low on tables and we 'borrowed' one that was generally used by the marketing staff. Surely they wouldn't notice. But they did. The operations guys came out to see what happened to their table. We handed them a muffin and they decided to leave the table for the duration. However, one time an officer of some type walked by all dressed up in his fancy uniform to preside over the Youth United Nations that was going on in Mac Court. "Wait" said Grant with alarm "is that guy armed?"

After the games, the players and the coaches came out and shared a meal with the parents and fans. Generally a relaxed time and beneficial for Oregon softball. You know you are doing good when the Associate Head Coach is cooking omelettes right with you.

My part in this? Dennis and I built the email list which gave the parents a way to communicate and make plans. When in Eugene, I started telling everybody that we were going to tailgate and sought suggestions for the best time. Then I sent out an email saying we were going to do it and that everybody should 'bring stuff'. How's that for meticulous event planning? I sent out reminders until it became a done deal.

At least once, Grant would catch me in the stands.....

"You know, I'm just too tired and it might rain, so maybe we should just forget it"

"Grant" I countered "I've told everybody we're tailgating at the UCLA game, so we've got to show up. We can't just not do it. Besides it won't rain"

"It won't rain?" he presses. He wants to flake and I'm not letting him.

"No, it's not going to rain" I say confidently. I know nothing of the forecast, I just want Grant to come through. I might add that it rains a LOT in the Willamette Valley in the spring.

We spend a few seconds staring at each other. I don't blink.

"Oh, oKAY, I guess", he says exasperated, glaring at me.

But he came all prepared to make burgers. I think his family and friends stay up all night preparing all the ingredients.

The top picture shows Coach J shoulder to shoulder with Grant turning out omelettes on Senior Day. The other pictures show the whole event with Coach J in the center and Coach A on the left facing away and a view down the curb with many players enjoying their free meal. Grant's at his post at the end of the curb serving up burgers. The last picture shows the picnic behind the bleachers from 2006.