Last night the Syracuse Orange opened their ACC football season with a nationally televised Friday night game. On the first day of autumn, upstate New York can be remarkably lovely and inviting. At game time, just before dusk, it was partly cloudy and 73 degrees. From personal experience, I can assure you there may not be quite as many days quite as idyllic ahead in the coming months.
I bring up these details on the off chance you happen to be an alumnus or fan of the Stanford Cardinal, who served as the Orange’s opposition last night. And if you are, you’re probably quite content this morning, unlike, say, SYRACUSE.COM’s Brent Axe:
Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown has emphasized his DART mentality over and over and over again since taking over the position. The “relentless” and “tough” parts of that acronym were challenged in a 26-24 loss to Stanford on Friday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Stanford was clearly the more physical team, especially in how it defensive line pushed past the Orange offensive line to harass SU QB Kyle McCord into four sacks and limit the SU ground game to minus 13 yards at halftime and less than 30 yards total for the game.
Well, a game-winning field goal at the gun will do that to anyone looking ahead to the kind of weather that awaits Orange faithful not too long from now. But you, you lucky Bay Area folk, you have a much more temperate time ahead and, frankly, given what we’ve endured of late, it’s a relief.
And it’s all the more likely than ever that even the most ardent and auspiced Cardinal faithful likely watched this game on ESPN and didn’t make the 2429-mile trek to view it in person. And even if you did, I highly doubt you drove. That’s way too far for even a Cybertruck to go on a charge.
Cross-country travel isn’t new to major college sports. But in the new world order that has created the Power Four, the dissolution of the de facto Pac 12 has created what are now conference rivalries that make the concept of driving to such a showdown nay impossible.
Last week UCLA opened its Big Ten schedule at the Rose Bowl against Indiana. Just their luck, the one group of folks I know with Indiana ties just happened to be in Bloomington for Parents’ Weekend. How ironic they watched their Hoosiers obliterate the Bruins via NBC when had the school had the foresight to consider their conflict they could have driven a mere 18 1/2 miles. And I know darn well they would have tailgated.
Tonight their big brother Bears from Berkeley, which sits mere minutes from the Pacific Coast, start their own Atlantic Coast Conference existence in Tallahassee against the underachieving Florida State Seminoles. Earlier in the day, USC goes to Ann Arbor for a key conference matchup with defending NCAA champion Michigan. Even the “Southeastern” Conference will see Tennessee schlepping 868 miles for a conference matchup with Oklahoma. And trust me, scant few are motoring–not without at least one designated driver.
And to me, that’s a shame. Tailgating is one of the unique and storied traditions of rivalry college football, especially for visiting teams. They’re usually relegated to the backs of parking lots or routed to adjacent lots or picnic areas, but their fans still have the opportunity to congregate, get their game day faces on and prepare their cheers. And with the comfort of their own vehicles, they can make the experience as comfortable and homey as if they were on their couch. In the New World order, that’s not gonna be an option.
So allow me to suggest to some entrepreneurs in these outposts who hope to attract visiting supporters–and their money–you might want to consider partnering with a local rental car outlet and offer a turnkey tailgating kit. Gas grill, tanks, local meats and fixings, picnic benches and chairs and, of course, beverages. Sure, their alumni associations might have a tent for the truly well heeled. But you want the masses–just like you used to get for the closer rivals that now won’t be showing up every year because of conference expansion.
I can assure you that a lot of Stanford alums have the resources to do all of this. Same for Cal. And I know they could use some tips on where to get quality pulled pork and grits. I’m even more certain those USC and UCLA faithful wouldn’t mind experiencing some top-notch Midwestern brews.
If nothing else, it might take out some of the bitterness of actually losing these conference games to these carpetbaggers. Right, Orange fans?
Courage…