Column:

Balance fun with caution when tailgating

By Spencer Engel

Published Oct. 30, 2008

Tailgating is arguably one of the best traditions ever invented. What red-blooded American doesn't love drinking beer, eating hamburgers and hot dogs (or potato salad for you vegetarians) and playing washers before heading to a football game?

Game days are also one of the few times a year where you won't be called an alcoholic for drinking beer at 9 a.m. or called a pig for downing four hot dogs in one sitting, though you might become a pig if you believe in the mantra "you are what you eat." Of course there will always be the people out there who support moderation and warn about the health hazards of tailgating.

Until Saturday, I shooed away these people as buzzkills. But then I saw a little kid no older than 9 get his foot run over. I had just exited a Johnny On The Spot and was waiting for my friend when I saw a gigantic white truck driven by a large, middle-aged man try to pass two stopped cars on the road between Mizzou Arena and the Hearnes Center. I had to work the game for the MU media relations department so I watched with clarity as the man's mirror nearly brushed three people standing on the street near the yellow curb that separates the street from the tailgating lot.

The man didn't seem to realize how close these people were until he heard about 10 people shouting at him to back up. His truck had slowed down because his front left wheel was wedged against a little kid's foot. The man didn't seem to comprehend what he had done and when he attempted to back up, his engine revved and then the truck moved forward even more and completely trampled the kid's foot.

Finally, the driver realized what he had done and didn't move his truck anymore. The kid's dad, after glaring at the driver and mouthing a few choice words, was finally able to drag his son to a folding chair and get a look at his mangled foot. By this point, I was more shocked than the dumbfounded driver. I had never witnessed anything like that.

My friend and I headed back to our tailgate and I immediately relayed the shocking scene I had just witnessed to anyone who would listen. Soon after, a fire truck came and probably took the kid to the hospital. Now, I'm not sure about the background details and I'm not completely sure what the driver did before he got behind the wheel, but I know what I saw, and it was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen in person. Hearing a little kid scream bloody murder is never a pleasant experience and watching a clueless driver stare off into space after steamrolling a kid's foot with his gargantuan truck is downright scary. That kid could have been you or me.

I'm not asking people to change their tailgating traditions because of this incident, and I'm not completely sure the man was drunk, but I do ask that you don't get behind the wheel when you're drunk. It sounds cliché, but I know too many people who have died too young in drunken driving accidents. Thankfully, none of my close friends have been involved, but dozens of friends' friends have. Because of this, I've never had a drunken driving accident hit home before.

By all means, live it up at the final tailgate on Nov. 8, MU fans. Just know your limits. Don't drive and maybe stay away from the streets just to be safe.