Tailgate tribe mourns a lost party tradition

The mayor's order ends years of party tradition and reunions for Buccaneers fans.

By LINDA GIBSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 5, 2000

TAMPA -- The first shock came when tailgaters approaching Al Lopez Park got a look at the corner of Himes and King.

Where barbecue smoke and Buccaneers flags once wafted over an army of camper tops, SUVs, family cars and travel trailers, there now was an empty field of overgrown weeds.

On the orders of Mayor Dick Greco, the tailgating tribe of Al Lopez Park has dispersed.

Friendships and traditions built up over years of meeting the same people at the same tailgating spot at every Bucs game, year after year, have been turned head over heels.

"It's not just parking, it's tailgating," said Holly Huth, 22, of Tampa.

Last year, Greco decreed that tailgating in the park would be limited to paved areas. No more parking on the grass under the trees. Football fans did too much damage, he said.

So on Friday, for the first Bucs preseason game, just 450 vehicles bent on tailgating were allowed in the park at Himes Avenue north of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. Last year, and the years before that, you could find 2,000 or so vehicles among the grills, tables, coolers and lawn chairs before the game.

Huth and her friend, David Garafalo, both season ticket holders, were among the displaced who managed to get into the park, though not to their old spot.

"It was a tradition," she said, sporting a Bucs shirt, beads in team colors and Bucs earrings. "We had the same spot every year. Everybody knew everybody. It seems like half the fun is being turned into a pain."

Season ticket holder Littleton Long, 65, tailgated at the park for 15 years. He and his group of 10 didn't even try to get in this year.

He'll miss the camaraderie.

"The same people were there every year. It kind of got to be a neighborly thing, an opportunity to swap ketchup and lighter fluid and things you forgot to bring," he said.

Tailgaters in other locations will find competition for spots tougher this year.

"We've been coming two or three hours ahead, but after seeing the crowd today, we'll start earlier," said Jack Goodwin, 58. He, wife Nancy and a group of 13 others occupied a four-tree island in the Tampa Bay Center parking lot for Bucs games the past three years. All are season ticket holders.

Goodwin's Dodge Ram pickup truck is painted Bucs red, with the skull logo painted on the doors.

Not everyone thought limiting parking in the park was a bad idea.

"It's probably a good thing," said tailgater Robby Blumer, 47, of Dunedin. He had been displaced from his spot on the grass to a paved space. "People were tearing the place up with their RVs."

Blumer had no trouble getting one of the limited park spots. But once the regular season starts, he'll arrive much earlier -- say, 8 a.m. for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Early enough for eggs with the bratwurst.

- Linda Gibson can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or at gibson@sptimes.com.

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