The Facts You Never Know About Tailgating

By David White

A tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating, which originated in the United States, often involves consuming alcoholic beverages and grilling food1. grilling food: 烧烤食物。Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas2. arena: 竞技场。,before and occasionally after games and concerts. People attending such a party are said to be tailgating. Many people participate even if their vehicles do not have tailgates.

Tailgate parties have spread to the pre-game festivities at sporting events besides football, such as basketball, hockey3. hockey: 曲棍球，冰球。, soccer, and baseball, and also occur at non-sporting events such as weddings and barbecues.

In schools and communities throughout the United States, there are athletic departments, coaches and parents of student athletes who rely on post-game tailgating parties to build community and support for their program and team. Smaller, underfunded programs are assisted by the voluntary participation of parents and friends to feed the team and coaching staff post-competition, which establishes a strong core of support year after year.

There are lots of reasons to tailgate!

这是一种不分男女老少的聚会。Tailgate是指卡车的后挡板，它可以翻下来当桌子用。一些球迷在比赛开始前几小时就聚在一起，把酒类、三明治、热狗或者烘烤肉类放在这张临时桌子上举行野餐，用这种方式为自己支持的球队加油。这就是风靡美国的车尾派对！

For many, tailgating is as much as part of the game day experience as the game itself.

While millions will tailgate around the U.S. in 2014 for everything from college football games to Jimmy Buffet concerts, many know little about the history, demographics, and economics of this popular tradition.4. Jimmy Buffet: 吉米·巴菲特（1946— ），美国乡村摇滚乐的老牌传奇歌星、成功的商人和畅销书作家；demographics:人口统计资料。Read on to learn some interesting facts you can share with other fans at your next tailgating meet up. Some may seriously surprise you and make you see tailgating in a whole new light.5. in a whole new light: 以全新的角度。

Caesar6. Caesar: 恺撒大帝，罗马共和国末期杰出的军事统帅、政治家。 may have been history’s first recorded tailgater.

The Romans were good at a lot of things: building amazing monuments, conquering distant lands, political intrigue, and knowing how to throw a really awesome (and toga- filled) party.7. intrigue: 阴谋；toga:（古罗马的）宽外袍。Some credit Caesar with being the first to tailgate, right out of the back of a chariot.8. credit sb. with sth:把……归功于；chariot:双轮战车。The story goes that after a particularly crazy chariot race, the leader opened up the coliseum9. coliseum: 竞技场。, inviting people in to enjoy food, drink, and various types of entertainment. Wine, wild fowl, and fights to the death may have been a bit more of the standard fare at these early gettogethers than it is today, but the spirit of the events is quite similar,leading to some giving Caesar credit for getting the tailgating ball rolling, though it wouldn’t really take off for another couple of millennia.10. 相较如今的车尾派对，早前聚会上的那些必不可少的酒类、野味和生死决斗要更多一些，但是聚会的主旨是相似的，这使得一些人认为恺撒是车尾派对的开先河之人，然而实际上，车尾派对直到几千年后才正式登上历史舞台。wild fowl: 野味；get the ball rolling: 开始某种活动，使发展；take off: 开始；millennia: 一千年。

People actually tailgated at Civil War battles.

A battle field probably isn’t the place that most of us would want to hang out on the sidelines of (even to cheer on our side),but early tailgaters didn’t let a little thing like stray bullets11. on the sidelines: 在场外；stray bullet:流弹。get in their way. At the Battle of Bull Run in 1861, Union Army supporters showed up with some food and drinks and loudly cheered on the soldiers while hanging out in their carriages.12. 在1861年的马纳萨斯战役中，联邦军的支持者们带着食品和饮料出现在战场上，一边乘坐四轮马车闲逛，一边大声地为联邦军战士们呐喊。Battle of Bull Run:（美国内战中的）马纳萨斯战役（又称牛奔战役）；cheer on: 鼓励，为某人打气；hang out: 闲逛。They sang fight songs, took bets on13. take bet on: 打赌。how long the battle would take, and even caused a traf fic jam when the battle was over — all classic tailgating practices.

Standard tailgate fare differs depending on where you live.

What people consider essentials for tailgating spreads isn’t the same across the board14. across the board: 遍及（某个地区、国家等）。. Different areas of the country have their own favorites and traditions. While fare like burgers and chips may be common everywhere, some regions have specialties. For instance, those in Louisiana may consider jambalaya a tailgating must, while those in the Midwest simply can’t go without brats.15. Louisiana: 路易斯安那州，美国南部的一个州；jambalaya: 什锦饭（用米、贝类和鸡肉做成）；brats: 香肠。And the West Coast? Don’t be surprised to see grilled fish or pasta16. pasta: 意大利面。. While dishes may differ from region to region, one thing is the same across the board: beer.

The idea for eating out of the back of a car may have started in 1866 with Charles Goodnight.

This Texas rancher and entrepreneur noticed that the cowboys he employed needed a way to eat on the road, so he transformed a U.S. Army wagon into a mobile kitchen.17. rancher: 牧场主；wagon:四轮马车。There, hungry ranch hands could get their chow18. chow: 食物。, relax,and socialize after a long day of working.

Most tailgaters are men.

While many women enjoy tailgating, the stats show that it is largely a male pastime.19. stats: 即statistics，统计数字（资料）；pastime:消遣，娱乐。A survey found that 79% percent of tailgaters are men, making women a serious minority in stadium parking lots.

Sporting events aren’t the only places people tailgate.

Tailgating may have begun at football games, but the trend is now expanding to include other stadium events. One of the biggest nonsports-related events people tailgate for is concerts. Some, like fans of musician Jimmy Buffet, have extremely elaborate20. elaborate: 精心计划的。and large tailgating parties before the concert begins (and sometimes afterwards, too).

Many fans watch the game from the parking lot with the help of modern technologies.

Why sit in uncomfortable bleachers21. bleacher: 露天看台。and pay for a ticket when you can catch the game right in your car while tailgating? A growing number of tailgaters are taking advantage of technologies that let them watch pre-game coverage, other match-ups,22. pre-game coverage: 赛前新闻报道；matchup: 比赛。or the game itself from their cars.