Its official, new parking plan has ruined.......

C

cropdusterengineer

Varsity Lurker
Joined
Jul 16, 2002
Messages
308
...tailgating in the Student Center Parking Deck. Sure we speculated and guessed it would for 2 months. Now we know for fact.

The deck was EMPTY! I'm guessing 20% full. Our group was in our "usual" spot on top and we didn't see the first sign of another living being up there until 3:00 pm.
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I guess the "reserved parking" ran off everyone who would have otherwise parked there and tailgated. GTAA got their money up front for all those spaces.....now that they aren't filling them up, I guess they can sell them again to the general public and make a killing.
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Great start to an exciting season though, and the stadium looked GREAT!

Go Jackets!
 
I'm going to have to strenuously disagree for a
few reasons...

1) Tailgating on a cement block isn't attractive
to alot of people. Given other alternatives, I
would bet they'd tailgate elsewhere.

2) The grass lot next to the instructional center
was hopping by mid afternoon. The tents were two
deep along the sidewalk and kids were everywhere.
It was great IMHO.

3) I caught up with GoldenTornado and the new gang
around noon. They'd been there since mid morning.

4) It was awesome being able to know in advance
where you were going to park and tailgate. I'm
looking forward to the rest of the season!
 
I have NEVER in the past had any doubt where I would be tailgating on gameday. I'm not sure how you could unless you arrive late.

O'Keefe is dead and the lot doesn't fill until an hour before kickoff. Terrible.

AMC is where i'm at now and there is a good group there, but the lot remained empty most of the day. This parking plan has sucked the "big time" tailgating atmosphere from campus with the exception of Peters and apparently MGMT. And "hopping at mid-afternoon" is nothing to be too excited about when you have 6:00 kickoff.

Not surprised to hear the student center lots and deck suffered the same fate as O'Keefe.

Not meaning to flame anyone, just my two cents.
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A have a friend who usually parks in the student center lot and showed up just like always, didn't know about the permit only!!! (he travels a lot)!!

Anyway they let him in anyway without paying!!! The outside lots at SC/M were full, but the deck was deserted.

Who do they save the EE lot for? It was deserted (only a few cars)45 minutes before game time when I went down the hill.

Talked to some student who had to park on the other side of 10th and walk all the way to the stadium!!!!
 
This may not be a popular sentiment but I'm going
to toss it out there...

Tailgating in the O'Keefe lot gets alot of press
and noise because some of the bigger fonts on the
Hive set up there and gave it a reputation. As a
tailgating area for the general public and GT fans
as a whole it quite simply SUCKED. If you were
not part of the O'Keefe group then there was no
place to set up that was worth a damn. It only
has a bit of corner space and some fringe area
with pinestraw. With the exception of those two
corners its quite likely the WORST tailgating lot
on campus. I (and others) had already made plans
to look elsewhere this season.

Tailgating on the top of the student center deck?
You have got to be kidding me! How can anyone who
preaches the merits of tailgating on a cement slab
complain about GT losing tailgating atmosphere? I
think about grass and tress and being on campus
when I think about tailgating. I'd rather not
tailgate at all than set up on the top of a deck
where there was no grass and no access to the
feel of campus and other fans wandering by.

So...At the risk of uttering a cardinal sin, I do
NOT feel that the loss of O'Keefe and parking deck
lots seriously impacts the perception of game day
tailgating at GT. I sympathize with the groups
who were relocated. But I don't think it reflects
poorly on GT atmosphere.

I'm curious to see what coldbeer and some of the
other new AMC folks thought about that area and
how it worked out. I'm sure we'll hear from them
after the holiday is over and everything settles
down.

On the flip side...I think scenes like we saw next
to the MGT building greatly increase the perception
of game day on campus. There were groups set up
and cooking shortly after noon and by an hour or
so before YJA there were kids running everywhere
tossing football and the tents were getting close
to two deep. And all this was on a dreary day for
a game against Vanderbilt. On a good clear day
against a good opponent that grassy area will be
packed. (I also predict some refugees from other
paved lots will discover it and migrate.)

Regardless...We were quite pleased with the crowd
at the inaugural day of our new tailgate spot. We
just have to get Axe down there earlier with his
tent for BYU. =]
 
Personally, I am glad to be rid of some of the rif-raf that had invaded O'Keefe. I don't need 1000 tailgaters around me to have the "tailgate experience", just as I don't have to go to an 80,000+ seat stadium to get a "collegiate game experience". Plus, I met a whole new group of Tech fans that I wouldn't have without the changes.

Now, if facilities will take care of the BB goals, weeds, and ants everything will be just fine.
 
More thoughts on tailgating...

We knew that we would not get there very early and in fact, after visiting Wisette's apartment we arrived late and made a battlefield decision to hoof it over to YJA, which we did. Then, no one else wanted to go all the way back to SC/M to tailgate!! Having left my beef there, I made the long trek back and nibbled a little before heading back in time to follow the band down the hill.

But with the game well in hand, Ladywise left at end of 3Q and setup the full spread and we tailgated after the game!!! Ended up well. No threat of rain by this time.

YJA was disappointing. There were a lot of folks there as shown in Goldtimers pics, but not a whole lot of high fiving or cheering when the players went by. Also, a lot of the players did not come from the bus. I don't know where they were, but I know I didn't see Kelly Rhino, or I don't think I saw him. Did a lot of the players come to the stadium early for whirlpool or such?
 
I was an O'keefer. I am now in AMC.
I admit to flying off the deep end when the news of the changes hit a couple of months ago. Quite simply put, I was wrong. This new setup wasn't as drastic as originally feared. My lone complaint is that some in our group still aren't allowed to park in AMC now despite the lot being on 70-75% full on Saturday. Luckily, another loyal fan had an extra pass for "loan" and helped our friend out.

For me and my party of 14, we actually enjoyed the layout Saturday (in front of Mr. James K Luck's name) moreso than O'Keefe.
 
Student deck is always a good time. Just because you don't tailgate there is no need to trash it. Plenty of space to set up the band and PA system and spread out the goods. You party in your place, I'll party in my mind. 8 Years partying in the deck, I'll stay put!

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Originally posted by TeamBuzz:
Student deck is always a good time. Just because you don't tailgate there is no need to trash it. Plenty of space to set up the band and PA system and spread out the goods. You party in your place, I'll party in my mind. 8 Years partying in the deck, I'll stay put!

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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">It probably sounded like I was bashing the deck
folks. I really didn't intend it that way. I
just disagreed with the perception that tailgating
in that area had been ruined.

Its starting to sound like folks had good times
all over campus and had a little more space to
set up than usual.

I expect things to get more crowded as the season
progresses, Tech wins more, and we have bigger
opponents in town.
 
The Physics lot was the place to be. At least I think that's what its called. I was in the area between the Chemistry building, Chem E and Management building. The place was packed with tents, TVs, etc from 1:00 on.

I imagine the "reserved" lots will be for folks who want to roll in 20 minutes before gametime. Why complain if you have room to spread out?
 
We tailgated behind Boggs, next to the mini-amphitheater. We had a couch, tapped into some power for TV, and grilled burgers, ribs and chicken. Was a good time.
 
You're probably right CJ about things picking up as the wins roll up and the season progresses (expect a great tailgate for BYU after we whoop the Tigers). I forgot about how dismal the Citadel game was last year even though the stadium was packed.

Even though I still don't like the plan, I can't deny that I had a great tailgate at AMC this past Saturday....

...and 2BT has gotta be the only poster here who looks just like his avatar.
 
Originally posted by CrackerJacket:
Tailgating in the O'Keefe lot gets alot of press and noise because some of the bigger fonts on the Hive set up there and gave it a reputation. As a tailgating area for the general public and GT fans as a whole it quite simply SUCKED. If you were not part of the O'Keefe group then there was no place to set up that was worth a damn. It only has a bit of corner space and some fringe area with pinestraw. With the exception of those two corners its quite likely the WORST tailgating lot on campus. I (and others) had already made plans to look elsewhere this season.

......

I'm curious to see what coldbeer and some of the other new AMC folks thought about that area and how it worked out. I'm sure we'll hear from them after the holiday is over and everything settles down.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Prior to this current season, I tailgated in OKeefe for about 4 years. Before that, I tailgated over in the MGT lot for a few seasons(which 90% of the time was dead). OKeefe was a dramatic change (& upgrade) over the MGT lot, IMHO. I haven't returned to "West" Campus since. I just like the feel of East Campus better. You are closer to everything (Stadium, YJA, RR parade, etc.). I also think the Student Center is mostly a morgue on Game Days.
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My initial reaction about tailgating at AMC is still very mixed after last Saturday. O'Keefe was virtually empty all day long and was about half full when we walked to the stadium 20 minutes prior to kickoff. (For the record: AMC was only about 2/3 all day long and took time to gather a decent crowd). It's disappointing to park that close to OKeefe and see it empty, when we enjoyed many good times there. (But alas, the GTAA made its parking bed, now we get to sleep in it!)

O'Keefe has much more grassy/pinestraw covered areas to spread out on than AMC. (Alot more than you claimed above CJ: Remember the area between the two OKeefe corners is not concrete and numerous folks set up shop there.) We are now left to fight for ~250 square feet of grass at AMC. We got a decent spot for the Vandy game and hopefully we can keep it all seasons long. Wonder how things will be when some others show up earlier for the "big" games.

Also note, the O'Keefe gym blocked the noise/background from the Interstate. We get to deal with that new found pleasure in AMC. One positive for AMC is that we are closer to some of the porta-johns and real bathrooms (inside Okeefe). We are also closer to some outside power outlets at Okeefe and AMC.

We were very lucky it was a cool, overcast day on Saturday. If it was 1000 degrees, the pavement at AMC (with zero tree cover) would feel even hotter.

I don't believe that O'Keefe is the end-all tailgate solution for everybody. Obviously, the lot can only handle a finite amount of tailgaters. If/when AMC gets more popular, we are going to have a fight for the desirable spots.
 
I got my own private parking deck! We parked on top of the Student Center Deck at ~ 3:15 pm, and it was completely deserted save for one tailgate party on the inside of the "L".

When we left after the game, the deck was still empty, and we drove right out. The usual 45 minute wait to get out of the deck vanished. I know alot of fans left early due to the 45-3 rout, but this was amazing.

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