Rose Bowl 2020 was a cool way to start the new year. My oldest son’s university team, the Oregon Ducks, played the Wisconsin Badgers. My neighbor told me we’d be in for a good time given the fan base.

“You gotta tailgate,” he advised us.

“How do you tailgate?” I asked.

“Well, you get some drinks and some food.” He really spelled it out.

The vague but helpful recommendation was spot on, but we didn’t follow all of it. We packed two six-packs of beer, six bags of chips and a case of Le Croix. We could buy burgers there and skip the grilling fuss.

Nice and neutral. No team names.

We arrived to Lot 1 by 9 a.m. Parking could fill up, a silly rumor. There’s A LOT of parking on a golf course, like on the fairway, right up to the greens—eighteen times over. The upside, we were with the cool people, the serious tailgaters. Hubby and I walked around with a lime Le Croix in hand, taking note of the beer pong tables with cut-outs for solo cups; deep fryer for French fries, grills, corn hole games, big screen TVs and a smoker! It didn’t matter the fan, Ducks or Badgers, they were equally serious.

Tailgaters choice!

Our parking lot neighbors, cute Badger fans in red and white striped overalls and tank tops were like the Martha Stewart of tailgaters. One table had homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies, three kinds of chips and chocolate covered nuts—all on separate plates. Another table hosted the tequila, margarita mix, OJ and vodka. And another was stacked with hamburgers and all the fixings.

Wow did we under-perform.

We escaped to the area for purchased food, selecting teriyaki chicken and rice for me and pulled pork sandwich for Hubby. We ate at a community table with Badgers.

“Ok if we share the space?” We asked.

“Sure. Welcome.” The older Badger fan said. His two grown sons smiled and nodded.  And for the next twenty minutes we bonded over college football, the Packers and the expensive $14 meals and $15 beers. We were kind of sad to leave them when our younger son came to retrieve us after napping in the car.

“Man, our section of the parking lot is lit!” he informed us. I wanted to hurry back, even if we only had a few beers and some chips for our tailgate. We said our goodbyes to our Badger pals, shaking hands and wishing each other well. No smack or taunts, just well-wishes.

Our cute Badger fans had taken over some of our space with their dessert and snacks table. They apologized. Then we apologized back because, well, we really didn’t have much to tailgate. We couldn’t even leave the trunk open for a seat because the internal light wouldn’t shut off and we’d run down the battery.

“Help yourself to anything,” the head Badger girl offered.

“We have chips! They’re for sharing!” I said pointing to the words on my big bag of salt and pepper Kettle chips I held in one arm and my beer in the other.

We stood there, looking forlorn but friendly. Our other neighbors were Ducks from southern California.

“Wow, Deschutes beer!” the Big Duck fan commented.

“Yeah, Oregon all the way,” I joked.

“Oh, are you from Oregon?”

“No, our son goes to school there and we like the beer. And the Ducks.”

“Hey, my mom went to Oregon so we always followed the Ducks. My middle name is Eugene.” He rolled his eyes.

Two beers later, it was time to walk over to the stadium, all civil like, whether you wore Badger Red or Duck Yellow. The national anthem was all coordinated by the Rose Bowl staff. We held up cards with the American flag on it and then flipped them over to a red, white or blue square at the rockets’ red glare lyrics. From the air, the whole stadium was stars and stripes. We were one nation on top and red or yellow underneath.

The cheers went back and forth, as predicted. And there was a lot of back and forth because the teams were pretty equal. By the end of third quarter, all the fans were growing tired. Just like a home game, the Badgers got to play their team song, “Jump Around” and then it was the Duck’s turn with “Shout.” The whole stadium was revved up, because how can you not if you are pumped with jumps and shouts.

The final score was a nail-biter right down to the final minute: Ducks over the Badgers, 28-27.

Nobody could feel bad about that score. “A” for effort, right?

All the throughout the day, I kept thinking how nice everyone was, truly united by an American tradition. Happy to be there. Happy to be in sunshine. Happy to grill burgers on a golf course. Happy to drink beers or lime Le Croix.  Happy to be a Badger. Happy to be a Duck.

Happy to party together.

Yay!  Happy New Year!