It has come to this. One last battle between the tailgaters and the university hierarchy. A final contest to save the one solid tradition that State has - other than bricks. Tailgating is NC State. Sure, ECU boasts about their tailgating, but guys passed out on the Hill from a Friday night at the bars do not count. State tailgating is the product of locating the football stadium miles away from most dorms, and having a student population that hails from the hollers of the state. It breathes enthusiasm into the fans and holds them together. Sometimes it seems tailgating is the only thing that keeps the Greeks and the Good Ole Boys from going at each other full out. In the "backyard," no one is better than anyone else is. It is a kind of solidarity between Pack fans, and sheer intimidation for visitors.

However, the administration seems hell-bent on destroying tailgating and discouraging attendance altogether. Of course, while they crack down on drinking in tailgating zones they allow the "wine and cheese" crowd to bring in fifths of vodka and anything else they want into Vaughn Towers. By the way, I am sorry, but I have not seen where Vaughn Towers has made much of a difference in our program. After all, we still lose to UNC-CH and get humiliated by the likes of Clemson while being insulted by ESPN analysts sitting in that very structure. This is just another example of our administration spending money to have padded seats for their asses, while the boat crumbles underneath them and our traditions are committed to the flames.

To go along with the gracious allowance they give to Vaughn Towers spectators (they can not be fans if they want to sit that high up), the administration is proposing new regulations for this upcoming football season. First is the prohibition of kegs. Does this not bring up images of that guy in the 1920s busting open barrels of whiskey? I can let this slide.

The restrictions that I cannot let slide are the noise restrictions and the search policy. Yes, you read that right. In all their infinite wisdom, our leadership wants you to do that Chapel Hill golf clap in the excitement of seeing Tony Baker or Andre Brown stiff arm some hapless cornerback. There is no need for noise restrictions at the game or in the tailgating sections. The closest apartments are Trinity Park and they are half a mile down the road from the stadium. It is not like we each have our own jet engine that we keep locked up for tailgating to make the neighbors mad.

People go to games to have fun. One way to demonstrate that you are having fun is to laugh, yell (rebel yell preferred), and scream.

Of all the regulations, the most egregious is the mandatory pat down of all attendees. With this policy in place not only will students have to wait in quite possibly the longest lines in the ACC to have our IDs checked and to have our tickets scanned to get into Carter-Finley Stadium, but you my friend will be subjected to a full fledged police pat down. Since when does passionately supporting your school justify treating us as criminal suspects?

I think we can all raise a brew to the words of Thomas Paine: "These are the times that try men's souls." I would rather not go this year than sacrifice our dignity. That is why, if passed, I will not attend a single football game. It just does not seem worth it after the administration has regulated the fun out of attending football games. And unless we fight back – quickly, loud, and proud – that is exactly what will happen to tailgating tradition as we watch it die a slow, cruel death on the altar of a police state. Ã

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