Jeremy Ervin is a sophomore journalism major and writes ‘No Sleep Till Muncie’ for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Write to Jeremy at jrervin@bsu.edu.
So Family Weekend coincides with a home football game. Convenient, right? Before you take your parents to see Ball State crush Toledo, you’ve got to take your parents tailgating. It’s an American football tradition, and they came out to come see you, so they deserve it. Some of you may be thinking, “God, this is going to be dumb.”
Let me tell you why you’re wrong.
GRILLING EXPERIENCE
Maybe it’s that all-American image of a parent behind a red top charcoal grill, but I like to think that parents can cook — better than me at least. It’s one thing to slap some meat on the grill, but proper temperature, seasoning and timing take it to the next level. Let some experienced hands take the spatula this time.
VEHICLE AVAILABILITY
It’s not much of a mystery that parents generally have nicer cars than their kids. While you’re rolling around in their hand-me-downs or a secondhand sedan, your parents have plenty of storage space to bring the party in their vans, SUVs or even better, full-size trucks. All the better to park in the green near the stadium and stake out your tailgating zone around it.
DRINKING
If you’re already 21, you may be envious of your friends who are getting blitzed on a keg on game day. But take a minute to think about this; your parents can pay for quality alcohol, and they can probably mix a better drink than Everclear and Kool-Aid. Remember, if your parents drink, they’ve probably been drinking for at least two decades, so think twice about trying to match them shot for shot. If being on the lawn with mom and dad means no alcohol, you can spend your time pointing and laughing at your wasted peers creating moments they will regret the next day.
MUSIC
Leave the keys in the ignition and turn the speakers up. Your parents are from a different time, and so is their music. It may not be your first choice to party to, but take it as an opportunity to explore different genres and learn about what your parents partied to. Even if classic rock, soul and R&B are never your jams for game day, you may realize why your parents like it so much.
SPORTS KNOWLEDGE
Your parents have been alive longer than you, so odds are they’ve seen a few more games than you have and have a larger wealth of sports knowledge. Let them regale you with their impressive array of sports trivia or boring stories of their high school athletic achievements. It’ll be an enlightening experience either way.
YOUR PARENTS
Odds are, you’re not going to have very many opportunities to do things like this in the future. Soon, you’ll be out of school with a job and possibly, many miles away. As sappy as it may seem, you’re going to miss your parents, and if they’ve driven any amount of time to see you this weekend, they miss you, too. So just enjoy the game.
