LSU may boast the No. 1-ranked football team in the nation, but the criteria – or lack thereof – by which the schools permits tailgating is deplorable and, in many respects, bush league.

The encouraging news, however, is that the university may finally implement policies to instill much-needed dignity to this practice.

For the last several years, the LSU Athletic Department has been considering a fee for tailgaters along the LSU campus on game day. I feel it’s a brilliant idea.

Aside from generating added revenue for the university, it would ensure a far more upscale environment for movers and shakers such as myself on Game Day.

As an esteemed member of the corporate community, I cannot fully express the disdain that the elite crowd, including myself, feels when we stroll on to campus. On a given Saturday, the streets built through academic excellence become a typical blue-collar nightmare, with as much beer-drinking and other indignities in these so-called hick-town honky-tonk bars.

And the food! It pains and embarrasses me when others from more esteemed and upscale backgrounds are greeted to the aroma of fat-filled pork sausage, burgers and other rubbish typically consumed by the common man.

I eagerly anticipate the day when so-called tailgating will instead form the setting for myself, along with other members of the upscale community to fraternize with other movers and shakers. We can enjoy fine wine and exquisite edibles, while discussing far more success in the corporate world – and we can do so without disturbance from the working class.
 
Roger Barnsworth
Prairieville