- Curb Magazine - http://curbarchive.journalism.wisc.edu/2009 -

The Last Great American Neighborhood

It’s 6:30 a.m. on a crisp, Sunday morning in October, and Larry Primeau is reading through his pregame checklist. Extension cords? Check. Charcoal? Check. Thermos of hot cider? Check. Ten-point deer rack mounted to a vintage Packer helmet? Check.

Primeau is preparing for his favorite day of the week: football Sunday. A devout Green Bay Packers’ fan and season-ticket holder, Primeau created his signature helmet in 1990, when he mounted a six-point deer rack to a vintage Packers’ helmet.

Six years later, when the Green Bay Packers competed in Super Bowl XXXI, Primeau upgraded to a ten-point deer rack. He also added an artificial cheese wedge and Mardi Gras beads to the helmet.

In January 1999, after just three years of wearing the updated version of the helmet, Primeau was selected by the “Visa Hall of Fans” as the Green Bay Packers’ Ultimate Fan and was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, for life.

“I still have the same helmet and go to all the games,” says Primeau, who became known to many fellow Packers’ fans as the “Packalope.”

In addition to recognition by other Packers’ fans, the media quickly took notice of the “Packalope.” Both newspapers and television broadcasts nationwide, including the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, have featured Primeau and his iconic helmet.

Although Primeau is a season-ticket holder, his favorite part of football Sunday is not the game, but the tailgating that occurs before each game.

For games beginning at noon, Primeau leaves his house at 7 a.m. and enters the Lambeau Field parking lot by 8 a.m.

“I have a pretty elaborate tailgate setup,” Primeau says. “It’s been a great time; I enjoy myself there.”

Primeau enjoys the camaraderie of the people he tailgates with like many Wisconsin sports fans.

“We all tailgate in the same area, so I’ve developed a lot of friendships,” he says. “We’re like one big family basically.”

Primeau says each tailgate adds new people to that family.

“I meet so many different people from all over the country that have either seen me on TV or in newspaper articles,” Primeau says. “I actually met a couple from Okinawa, Japan. I noticed them because they were wearing green and gold kimonos … I’ve been getting Christmas cards from them for the past ten years!”

Joe Cahn, the self-proclaimed “Commissioner of Tailgating,” is quick to note tailgating is not just a group of people getting drunk in a parking lot.

“Tailgating is the new community social,” Cahn says. “It’s the last great American neighborhood.”

A group of Wisconsin fans enjoy a Saturday afternoon tailgate outside of Camp Randall.

A group of Wisconsin fans enjoy a Saturday afternoon tailgate outside of Camp Randall.

In 1996, Cahn sold his house and his business, the New Orleans School of Cooking, and bought a motorhome and set out to explore what he calls “the new American community.” Now, in his 12th season, Cahn has traveled over 500,000 miles to more than 500 tailgate parties.

However, Cahn rarely attends the actual games.

“Too busy tailgating,” he says. “It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.”

Cahn regularly visits Camp Randall, Lambeau Field and Miller Park and admires the uniqueness of each stadium, specifically Camp Randall.

“The fun part about Wisconsin is that it’s one of the few major universities that doesn’t really have a parking lot, so all the tailgating is done on the street,” Cahn says. “People just tailgate wherever they can.”

Jeff Wendorf, the vice president of programs and outreach for the Wisconsin Alumni Association, organizes tailgate parties for UW-Madison alumni each year and appreciates the inventiveness of UW tailgates.

“I think there’s a lot of creativity on our campus, and I think people reflect their creativity in their tailgate parties,” Wendorf says. “The way people come dressed, the way people behave, the way they act, their spirit. It really personifies our tailgate parties.”

Wendorf has tailgated at each of the Big Ten Conference stadiums and remains loyal to his alma mater.

“The unique thing about our tailgate parties, whether it’s our organized tailgate parties we have here at the WAA or the tailgate parties that individuals are throwing, I think there’s a sense that we’re all in this together. This community of Badgers,” Wendorf says.

The camaraderie of tailgating serves as the fundamental concept behind “Tailgating America,” the official name of the website documenting Cahn’s nationwide tailgating journey.

“You aren’t judged by your economic status, your ethnic background, your race or the car you drive,” Cahn says. “You’re judged by one criteria and that’s what color jersey you have on. And as long as you have that color jersey, you’re part of this incredible collective.”

“There’s nothing like it really in this country,” Cahn adds. “Where 70,000 [to] 80,000 people gather on a Saturday or Sunday and talk to each other and realize that we have more in common than we have differences.”

In a world governed by the Internet and the latest social media fad, Cahn believes the community involvement factor of tailgating is more important than ever before.

“I am in the reality Facebook. … When somebody says, I want to be your friend, you’re looking at them in the eye instead of getting this little ‘Bing!’ notification,” Cahn says. “[Tailgating] is being a participant in your community rather than just being an observer.”

As a former chef and owner of a cooking school, Cahn also enjoys sampling the “food of America.”

“When we travel, we know the greatest compliment you can ever get is being invited into somebody’s home and eating a home-cooked meal,” Cahn says. “And that’s what tailgating is about.”

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From juicy, marinated chicken breast to tender flank steak, the food Cahn has sampled extends far beyond traditional tailgate food. Grilling is a versatile and simple cooking technique, Cahn says, which infuses food with an unparalleled unique, smoky flavor.

While many people enjoy grilling in the privacy of their own backyards, Cahn notes such privacy does not exist in the tailgating world. The velvety aroma of charcoal that once lingered at your patio door now reaches over an entire parking lot of sports fans. But a true tailgate is more than just a crowded mass of fans in a parking lot. It’s an inviting, massively oversized kitchen.

“The difference between friends and acquaintances is that acquaintances stay in the living room and friends come into our kitchen,” Cahn says. “I get to go into thousands of kitchens.”

Both Cahn’s website (www.tailgating.com [1]) and Primeau’s website (www.packalope.com [2]) offer an extensive list of recipes, each according to tailgating conditions.

Cahn also notes the unique opportunity that both tailgating and sports in general grant to the younger population of sports fans.

“We don’t allow young people personal opinion in politics … or in the venue of religion,” Cahn says. “In sports, we allow young people this great venue of having a personal opinion.”

Kevin Seifert, an ESPN blogger who covers the NFC North Division, credits the dismal state of the economy for the increasing popularity of tailgating.

“It costs so much money to go to an NFL game, and people want to get more than three hours out of their buck,” Seifert says. “If it costs you $75 just to get into a stadium for an NFL game and it’s a three hour game, you might as well figure out how to make it your entire day.”

Both Seifert and Cahn did not grow up in the Midwest. Year after year, they are repeatedly amazed by Wisconsinites’ willingness to tailgate despite harsh weather conditions.

“I’m always amazed at, no matter how cold it is, people are still out there,” Seifert says. “Obviously it’s pretty important to a lot of people.”

“Fans will come out in any weather to tailgate … whether it be raining or snowing or in zero-degree weather,” Cahn adds.

Although Primeau waited 30 years for his highly coveted Packers’ season tickets, his devotion to tailgating does not waver.

“If you’ve never been to Lambeau Field, get there. If only for the tailgate parties,” Primeau says.

The fact tailgating can stand alone as its own social event and may even be deemed superior to the actual game is a testament to its popularity. Like Primeau, Cahn encourages people to, at the very least, come experience the last great American neighborhood firsthand.

“For people who think tailgating is frivolous and don’t understand it and don’t understand sports in general or think football is a silly waste of time, I always say, ‘Don’t go to the game, come to the community social.’”