BCS Championship Game Tailgating Thread

I’ve seen a couple of folks on the other threads mention the possibility of large TV screens outside the stadium during the game. Does anybody have any verification on this? We don’t have tickets (yet!) but we’re going, and if we wind up without any tickets, we’ll be meeting some friends out there to watch it. But nobody seems to know if there’s any sports bar/restaurant/other establishment within a reasonable distance where we can watch. If these temporary screens do exist, then our problem is solved.

Is there going to be an official RBR tailgate party? Maybe there should be.

I read on a thread that the only people allowed to tailgate are those with tickets to the game. Is this true? I am going, but don’t have tickets and unless some kind soul wants to give them to me, I will not be spending $1,000 to buy one.

That being said, does anyone know what the deal with tailgaiting is? Are they all for ticket holders, or will there be tents, etc set up for everyone to hang out like the SEC championship game?

There isn’t really much driveway/yard parking close to the stadium. You can try the neighborhoods up in the hills to the west, but everything is a hike and I can’t tell you what the cost would be. Nobody parks on their grass. It’s too fancy. The workers will most likely make you show your tickets to the game before they allow you to park on the golf course to the north of the Rose Bowl. If you don’t have tix, hitch with somebody from your hotel if they have room in their car. When you’re driving to the game, the last mile of your trip will take you an hour to get into the lot if you don’t get there by 10am or earlier. The easiest option would be to park in Pasadena and take the free shuttle to the stadium. It will likely still cost you $40 to park at that lot though. If your hotel is within 5-8 miles of Pasadena it might be cheaper to take a cab from your hotel to the free shuttle site. The tournament web site will link you to this parking option. Cabs won’t go directly up to the stadium as game time approaches. There aren’t a lot of tailgating options close by. All the bars are at least 1.5 miles away and Pasadena isn’t generally “rowdy.” At the Rose Bowl game I went to three years ago people just packed a cooler in their car and sat on the golf course or milled around closer to the stadium. The public tailgate option was free in 2007, but it looks like this option has been taken over by the espn tailgate. I’m not sold on paying $30 just to overpay for food and beer in this area. There really aren’t any other high quality options I’m seeing unless you know someone throwing a party by their car. I haven’t heard anything about an alumni tailgate or something similar yet though. If you park on the golf course bring a little flashlight or laser pointer to attach it to your keyring. The course is huge and very very dark after the game. It look almost an hour just to find my car after the 2007 game. I will not be parking on site again. I’m going the cab to free shuttle route, even it ends up costing me a bit more. If your intention is to pound large amounts of bourbon or beer leading up to the game, park on the course and bring your own. Just get there real early and remember to bring food. Also, get in line to enter the stadium an hour before kickoff if you want to actually be seated in time. Just my two cents, hope it helps. Roll Tide!

Is anyone planning on tailgating (BIG) for this thing? It’ll definitely be different given we won’t have all of our normal gear with us…