The big game
Tailgates and concerts and rain, oh my!
By Catherine Pillsbury
Staff Reporter

Jim Vanderslice, a 1970 TCU graduate, drove from Dallas to watch the Horned Frogs play Louisville Wednesday night at Amon Carter Stadium.

All he wanted to do was watch the “big game,” and he wasn’t going to let the rain and cold stop him.
“This is great football weather,” Vanderslice said, sporting his TCU jacket.

Vanderslice wasn’t alone.

More than 33,000 fans packed the stadium, but many of them were there long before kickoff.

Despite the weather, children wore TCU football jerseys, tailgates filled the parking lots and alumni barbecued and celebrated like they were back in school.

“Everyone’s acting so young again, talking and hanging out with people they just met,” Ron Zentner, a TCU alumnus said. “It’s like one big party.”

Jason Anderson, a 1992 graduate and season ticket holder, brought his 4-year-old son to share in the festivities of their tailgating ritual.

“We’re so excited,” he said. “This is the biggest game in 50 years.”

Fifteen minutes before kickoff, only extra-large shirts were left from the free shirts given to the first 2,000 students through the gates as freshmen Natalie Christie, an international communication major, and Stephanie Yeargan, an education major, were left with shirts that hung to their knees.

Nokia set up seven tents to advertise everything from their new picture phone to video games, Sherry Blades, a Nokia employee, said.

The Nokia spokespeople encouraged passersby to use the phones for free calls and to enter contests to win tickets to the Nokia Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Texas Motor Speedway had cars on display, and despite the sales representatives’ loyalties to different alma maters, they had tickets to the game and planned to root for TCU.

Children jumped around in two inflatable moon walks, played video games and shot basketballs through a huge inflatable Nokia phone.

The real noise, however, came from Riddlin Kids, a punk band who had music on the “Orange County” soundtrack. People stayed to dance until the band started packing up.

“We just have a lot of energy,” said Kaity Volpe, a sophomore psychology major.

Hot dogs, foam fingers and even catered food made a football game a huge event.

“Do you want a prediction?” Vanderslice asked before the game. “It’s gonna be 38-24 ... Frogs, of course.”
He was close.

The Frogs won the game 31-28. And despite the cold and rain, one thing was for sure — it was perfect football weather.