EVEN IF IT'S TOO LATE FOR THE TEAM...

Rumor has it that IU tailgates don't live up to those found on other Big Ten campuses like Purdue or Michigan. A close friend from high school might tell you, "Man, we had the most out of control tailgate last weekend! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun at the game!"\nThen you think to yourself, "Yeah, tailgating's fun, but I don't remember going to any football games."\nThe truth is, tailgating at other schools is not necessarily crazier, it just involves more people that actually care about the game. At IU, the talent of the team seems meaningless to students. But regardless of the team's performance, IU has a solid tradition of beer guzzling, barbequing and wasting tickets (often for fear of getting arrested for vomiting on neighboring patrons).\nIU tailgating has seen some fun times in the past. Who can forget Homecoming 2001? The heavy morning rain created a "mudfest" comparable to that of Woodstock '94. The students, along with many alumni, were covering their beers as they jumped, swam and seemingly bathed in the mud puddles.\nIU football opened their home schedule Sept. 13 against Indiana State University and the tailgate crowd, while not exactly wall-to-wall, managed to maintain plenty of craziness and Hoosier pride.\nOn this particular game day, trucks and SUVs start filing into the tailgating area across the street from Memorial Stadium around 9 a.m. By noon, there's a noticeable crowd, and by game time, all one sees is a sea of crimson and cream.\n"As soon as I woke up this morning I was on my way over here (to the tailgating fields) with everything I needed. It's cool to see the crowd grow as the day moves on," says senior Kevin Fitzgerald.\nAs the not-so-calm early afternoon turns into evening, the students become a bit rowdy. The tables, originally set up to hold food and condiments, are now being drenched in beer and converted to slip-n-sides as people stand around and cheer. Several tackle football games ensue, and just minutes after the IU Police Department comes by to break them up, the games fire back up all over again.\n"I'm having a blast out here," says junior John Kretchmar, sporting IU colors and aviator sunglasses. "I make it to as many of these (tailgates) as I can. I've been doing this since I was a freshman."\nEven Pizza Express gets into the mix. Around 2 p.m. that afternoon, the notorious Pizza Express Man comes cruising through the fields in the company van. Everybody cheers and fights for position as he drives by throwing out plastic cups containing colored condoms.\nIU tailgates are regulated by the IUPD. Before the season started, no new rules or regulations were implemented by campus police or the IU Athletic Department -- but that isn't to say officers aren't hard at work.\n"We made several arrests on Saturday (Sept. 13)," says IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger. "Tailgating has really become a derogatory term here at IU. It used to be only positive. Ever since the grass fields have opened, tailgates have been invaded by TVs, kegs and people urinating openly."\nThe athletic department, however, is optimistic about the tailgating situation after the season's opening day.\n"Any problems at the tailgate were internal," says Kit Klingelhoffer, associate athletic director. Regarding the tailgating procedures, Klingelhoffer says "we don't have set rules. However, one rule that we do enforce is that no kegs are allowed anywhere at the tailgate."\nYet after exploring the tailgating methods of other Big Ten schools like Purdue, Michigan and Ohio State, a similar set of rules or regulations that must be followed simply aren't evident.\n"There are no 'guidelines' for what should or shouldn't happen at a tailgate," says Bruce Madej, director of media relations for the University of Michigan's athletic department. When asked about students and alumni getting too out of control before and during the game, Madej says Michigan tailgaters "treat their parking areas as they would their home."\nStudents at other Big Ten schools admit that their tailgates aren't as crazy as they're cracked up to be.\nBob Miller, a senior at the University of Wisconsin, claims that UW's tailgates are fun, but not the biggest thing on campus. \n"Yeah, I have a great time at our tailgates, but it's not like people are running around naked or tipping over the port-a-lets," Miller says.\nWhile many believe that tailgating at IU is as cool as rearranging your sock drawer and believe Indiana's tradition has no business being compared to other Big Ten schools, the fact is that it's not as bad as many believe. The first home football game proved, with a respectable tailgating crowd, Hoosiers know how to have a good time. The only football they may care about, however, is the unruly pick-up game that stays close to the beer.