Herman Quispe tailgated for the Alabama-Texas national championship game last Thursday at the Rose Bowl. Even though our Bruins weren’t there, and even though the rest of us working stiffs were in the office, Herman and his brother Dorian wore their blue and gold and met some crazy Crimson Tiders.
Herman and Dorian arrived at 5:00 am, before most were even awake for Thursday’s work day, to get one of the first parking spaces. They set up their grill, made some soup, and waited for the SEC and Big 12 challengers to arrive.
Herman quickly made friends with B.U.T.T., that is the ‘Bama Ultimate Tailgating Team, and gained keen insight into throwing our Upsilon Tailgaters. The BUTT president was told he couldn’t bring a trailer and his grill to the game after towing it over 900 miles, so he was big-time hungry in the morning. Herman provided a heapin’ helpin’ of Bruin hospitality and filled the president up with some UCLA soup.
The BUTT president and his entourage initially wore Bear Bryant houndstooth boots, and later changed into crimson and white-striped overalls. He drank his beer (hopefully it was beer) from a hospital-grade urine collection bottle.
At the Alabama games, tailgated spaces are rented for the full year, and they come equipped with electrical and cable TV hookups. So much for the old days of transistor radios and charcoal grills!
Louisiana State games are considered some of the best tailgating parties in the country, with loads of jambalaya and gumbo. The jambalaya is made in huge pots, and when the it is ready, they put up a big sign that says, “Come and get it.” When it’s all gone, they put up another sign that says, “All gone.”
Herman built up good credit with our SEC compadres, so if the Bruins play Alabama again, we are all welcome to come between the holidays and share some ribs with the BUTT tailgaters in Tuscaloosa.
Herman also completed another successful year as a member of the Tournament of Roses. For this year’s parade, he was assigned to the Orange Grove Patrol, which entailed escorting floats to their parking spot in the formation area of the parade on New Years Eve. There were 42 floats total this year so this took most of the night. And then on New Years day he helped keep parade time, which basically means ensuring there no large gaps between entries before they get to Television Corner and are seen live around the world. Most entries were cooperative except the Ohio State Marching Band, which resulted in a stare down between Herman and the bandleader. And then there was the Kansai Honor Green Band, which decided to stop the parade and perform the Thriller video by Michael Jackson.