The tailgating scene in Tuscaloosa has come a long way, particularly in the last 20 years or so. The Tide stopped playing half of their home games in Birmingham’s Legion Field around 1994, when the team went from playing up to four games a year in the Old Gray Lady down to three, then two, then one. The team hasn’t returned to the relic on Graymont Avenue since the 2003 opener.
For many years fans flocked to the West Side of Birmingham for most of the big games on the Tide’s schedule. Tailgating was literally that, open the trunk of your car or the tailgate of your truck and bring your spread out.