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.
<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.
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.