On August 31, Rutgers announced they would open a new, school-sponsored tailgate area for students approximately 400 yards from High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. called “The Alley.” Rutgers opened the student tailgate zone this season in an attempt to boost attendance. It was a hit with students for the first two home games.
WOAH! That was fast. Must have been rampant underage drinking or rowdy brawls breaking out to shut down the Rutgers-sponsored tailgate party. Nope. The tailgate was permanently closed because the Rutgers AD drank a beer in front of students. Let me reiterate. The Rutgers athletic director drank one beer in front of a crowd of young adults who a majority were also drinking alcohol.
On Saturday, Pat Hobbs visited the official Rutgers student tailgate before the school’s game against New Mexico. As Hobbs spoke to the crowd, students started clamoring for him to drink a beer. At first, Hobbs declined the beer and said, “No, I can’t drink that right now.” However, the beer peer pressure got to the AD. After chants asking him to chug a beer, Hobbs finally gave in and drank a beer.
On Tuesday, Hobbs was forced to apologize for drinking a beer in front of students.
“My first concern is always for the safety and well-being of our students,” Hobbs said. “Anyone who was at the (student tailgate) Saturday knows that I was acting to ensure that.”
“I regret that any action on my part can be interpreted as promoting the use of alcohol,” Hobbs said.
Also on Tuesday, the university athletics department announced that it would be shutting down the student tailgate.
Regrettably, due to safety concerns, The Alley is no longer available
for student tailgating.— Rutgers Scarlet Knights (@RUAthletics) September 20, 2016
The school said they closed the tailgate for safety concerns. Rutgers University police chief, who has the appropriate name of Kenneth Cop, said that the environment was relatively calm and his department issued citations to four people in the hours leading up to the game. Not exactly an out of control mob that is wreaking havoc.
Did I miss something? All I saw was an adult sipping a beer.
Why is this even a thing?
It appears that Rutgers athletics once again drops the ball.
[NJ.com]