You don’t just need good grades to be a Florida Gator. What makes us so special? The ability to still get good grades while throwing good parties. You can’t truly call yourself a Gator without completing everything listed below.
Our tailgates get pretty wild sometimes and you will probably forget them.
So, I present to you, a scavenger hunt that you can check off as you frat hop your way to a Gator victory.
1. Dennis Means Drink
If you visit Gainesville and you missed out on an encounter with the greatest man of all time, have you truly visited Gainesville? This blond fellow will always party it up and keep the hype. He has the most school spirit on campus. You know Dennis when you see him — the spectacular dancing to a boom box in shinny spandex might give him away.
2. The Piano Man
Not a single house doesn’t blast this Billie Joel masterpiece. However, one particular house carries a tradition. During ever Chi Phi Saturday tailgate boys and girls come together for a reunion of love at exactly 1 p.m. Honestly, who knows how long this song has been a tradition here. However, we love sitting on top of the boy’s shoulders, wrapping arm and arm while we all sing in a drunken slur together.
3. Table Destruction
Boys like destruction. Boys drinking = destruction. Sigma Nu = boys drinking then breaking tables. How does this happen you ask? Well, every tailgate the brothers somehow purposely break a table. The number of drinks they had changes the way they break it. The first time, an SNU drank too much and he fell on it. However, now it serves as a challenge. Who can break the table in the most creative way? Some will jump on it, dance on it or even try to destroy it using a beer pong ball. However, without SNU’s tradition of breaking tables, your list isn’t complete.
4. Man in a Stripped Jumpsuit
You won’t truly know you stand in Gator country until you see the shirtless redneck in an outfit that looks like overalls. Yep, orange and blue striped jumpsuit overalls stay easy to find. They won’t flood the stadium though. Think of it this way — you basically play a real-life game of “Where’s Waldo?”
5. Two Lip Colors?
This one counts as a bonus because it tends to get a little more challenging. It doesn’t matter how you find the lips: top lip blue and bottom orange or even split right down the middle. Girls tend to carry the crazy gene around here to do it, so maybe you won’t take on such a hard challenge after all.
6. Good Luck Finding a Drink for this One… Because They Ran Out
Around 30 minutes before tailgating ends all the fraternities magically run out of Natty Lights or White Claws. Shockingly, they don’t stock an infinite cooler of beer like Mary Poppins’ purse. You don’t find a drink in sight unless you look at the empty cup in your hand. However, a UF tailgate isn’t complete without maxing out on the alcohol provided.
7. Roof Climbing at Theta Chi
At this fraternity, the roof remains a popular location. Very dangerous, yes. I am not encouraging this action however; every tailgator loves this sport. Windows overlook their back courtyard so you feel like jumping, but please don’t. However, going to Theta Chi and not seeing someone on top of the roof means no one drank enough. So, get drinking!
8. Champagne Shower
Yep, just like snowflakes falling from the sky you can catch alcohol instead. In this hot Florida weather, we only find one way to cool off…champagne showers. This brings a collection of confusion, excitement and screams — lots and lots of screams when the champagne begins to rain from the sky. You get even drunker while cooling off. However, some girls aren’t as amused by this as others.
9. Where Can I Find the Bathroom?
I can answer that. The line starts here, then follow it into the living room, through the kitchen and through the hall. Seriously, this happens. I would not dare to step into a fraternity house bathroom. However, other girls seem desperate enough to risk it. The line turns into a maze throughout the house as it winds around the corners. Meanwhile, the line for the bar rarely has more than five people waiting.
10. The Flying Beer
Truly, it isn’t a proper tailgate unless you get hit by a flying beer can. The story behind the flying beer can does not matter. Only that the can remains full and heading toward your face. Soon enough you will learn not to stand by windows, under the deck, near tables or elevated surfaces.
11. The Bumble Takeover
Here at UF, we like to keep it classy. Meeting people in person means way too much work. Us hard-working Gators rely on technology to do the work and effort for us. Around other schools, Tinder leads the charts. However, at the University of Florida, Bumble has taken over the college students through sponsorship. 50 percent of the fraternities have had a Bumble sponsored tailgate providing visors to keep out the shady guys, cups to make them look more attractive and even fans to help keep your cool around the hot ones.
12. The Lion
The good old fashioned lion statue that sits in from of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house has been a tourist site to see in Gainesville, but it also helps you keep track of how far you have gone. Every game day, SAE paints their lion statue a different color. Rumor has it, the color represents the last girl’s underwear they slept with…ew.
13. You Can’t Hang…
This one lays right in the middle of Fraternity row — somewhere between Theta Chi and Pi Kapp. Sometimes these types of people can put a slouch in your day. Other times these kids just help you pass the time. Still unsure about the kid I am talking about? Look at the couch. Yep, that poor kid who lies passed out on the couch will consist of your next 15 minutes of entertainment. For every passed out kid you see, take a sip.
14. Midtown or Downtown
Game over? The Gator celebration doesn’t end until after 2 a.m. Post-tailgates exist. Typically, students like to head to Midtown because it stands right next to the stadium and drinks are cheap. However, the clubs Simons or Bricks ends up being the move downtown. We like to drink to celebrate the win or drink to forget the loss.
15. R.I.P. the Shoes
One simple tip to add in here, wear your worst sneakers. “Tailgating is lit, but expect to get dirty,” University of Florida sophomore Priya Larson said. If you tailgated the proper way, your white shoes turn forever a tannish/brown. Your toe should in fact stick out the front and your feet should ache. If you can’t check all three of these off your list, the tailgate scavenger hunt cannot feel complete.
16. Behold the Chocolate Fountain
While tailgating, you might get a little sweet tooth. Welcome to Sig Ep, where you can satisfy all the sweet cravings. Here they supply a constant waterfall of chocolate dripping from a fountain. Foods created to fulfill your every pleasure. If you aren’t on the sweet tooth vibe, then you can just grab a beer and stand on the bar top. I always preferred elevated surfaces over the ground anyway.
17. Slushy Time
Yes, Gainesville does get cold in the wintertime. However, let me tell you in the summer it gets steamy. Thus, Lambda Chi invented the best drink ever, slushies. Well, they may not have invented this type of drink, but they did make the best drinks for tailgating. With your selection of orange and blue, you can chill off a bit with a slushy.
18. “I will walk 500 miles and I will walk 500 more…”
Okay, maybe not 500 miles. But it sure feels like it after a few drinks. Honestly, that dreadful walk to the stadium doesn’t always feel worth it. You end up segregating yourself away from all the other houses and ending up alone on the side of the street not willing to walk back. But if you want to become a true tail-Gator you must learn to suffer like the rest of us. If you ask anyone on the street, they will all say they have done it, so welcome to the family.
19. Have a Drink for Every Frat Dad and Mom You See
At this point in time, you will probably become so drunk that you just don’t know the difference. The weirdest thing I always thought, why do old people like to party with college kids? Some parents can keep it cool, but others are just too old to party with and it gets weird. Fraternity boys love to include their parents on the mayhem for some reason. I guess they take pride in watching their house get destroyed. Just watch out for an old man might checking you out from behind while his wife stays standing right next to him.
20. Gator Attire
Maybe only girls do this one…have you ever looked in your closet and saw a bunch of clothes, yet nothing to wear? This problem arises every tailgate Saturday. Eventually, you will figure out that tailgating costs an additional $100 to buy orange clothes specifically for tailgating. Next stop, the Gator shop.
