Roger Goodell, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL

January 17th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

There are plenty of people who like to tailgate. I am one of them. When you attend Indiana University, and your sole hope on Saturdays is just not to get blown out by +40, a little Burnett’s cherry goes a long way. Even when you have a “good” season — like 2007’s was — and make a bowl, and you still get blown out by screechy tool in a visor … well, you get what we’re talking about here. That sort of fandom doesn’t just promote alcohol, it requires it.

So I understand the tailgating jones. People want their beer and their stuffed meats and their camaraderie and to walk, bloated, into the concourse of their favorite football team’s stadium just as the crowd swells and the flyover soars by. What I don’t understand is formulating a petition to tailgate at the Super Bowl, as if that is some sort of sacred, God-given right conferred upon fans everywhere. Maybe I just don’t get it. But the dude from TailgaitingIdeas.com — he gets it, man:

As an avid tailgater who is also an NFL season ticket holder, I was shocked and appalled to learn that tailgating was forbidden on Super Bowl Sunday. You read that correctly, there is no tailgating at the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has gradually turned into an overcommercialized media event over the past few years but banning tailgating at the Super Bowl is just hypocritical and short sighted by the NFL. How can the NFL encourage millions of fans to tailgate prior to every game during the season but ban tailgating before the Super Bowl? In order to correct this, I have written a petition to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee insisting they abandon the policy of forbidding tailgating before the Super Bowl.

You can sign the petition here, if you like, though I’m not really sure that’ll get you anywhere. Roger Goodell not just listening to, but acting on a blogger’s petition sounds about as likely as Roger Goodell discovering the error of his punitive ways and reinstating Pacman Jones. It’s probably not going to happen.

Thanks to Vincent for the tip.