By Chad Courrier

The chili was hot, the non-alcoholic drinks were being cooled.

The attendant at the parking lot across the road from Blakeslee Stadium delivered the first puzzling message: You can tailgate in this lot, but you can’t park in it.

For the last few years, this enclosed area has hosted the few tailgaters attracted by a Minnesota State football game. It was mostly families of players or students, but there were usually a handful of grills and folding tables set up for outdoor lunch to enhance the atmosphere.

But on this beautiful, sunny day, there would be no tailgating at this most-convenient lot, so the focus shifted one lot farther from the field, unhappy with this slight inconvenience but more interested in finding a spot for nine people to enjoy a pregame picnic.

Up went a couple of tables, and out came the already heated chili and prepackaged fixins’. The gas grill assembly was a little more complicated, but with no charcoal to light, it was just minutes before those first hot dogs would begin to sizzle.

It didn’t take long for a campus security official to visit us, which is hardly ever a good sign.

No grills, that was the first message. Remember that lot that was roped off, where you could tailgate but not park? Where a couple of homecoming floats were parked, and a local band was playing in front of no one?

You can grill over there, the campus security official said. We weren’t going to allow any grilling in these lots, that person said, but we decided to allow grilling in the designated area.

The grumbling began, the snide remarks certainly weren’t heard. You’ve got to be kidding, a tailgating area where you can cook but not park? Another area where you can park but not cook?

Then came the most preposterous statement of the day. The anti-grilling stance had nothing to do with the act of grilling or the disposing of hot coals or the fire danger or the chance of burning innocent people. Those would have been plausible, yet mostly lame, explanations.

The reason given for no grilling was it leads to alcohol use.

What? Seriously?

Lighting a grill means you must be popping a beer? Or mixing a cocktail?

You know what leads to alcohol use? Going to college or turning 21 can lead to it, yet there seemed to be no attempt to ban students or adults from the tailgating area.

There was plenty of grumbling from others who had hoped to fire up a grill Saturday, some of whom carried their equipment to the designated area and others who gave up. Sure hope they come back, and the university should hope they come back.

Minnesota State has tried hard over the last five years or so to create a little game-day atmosphere for football, hoping to get students and the community to spend a little more time on Saturdays to celebrate Mavericks’ athletics.

And the atmosphere has improved. But if you can’t have a picnic, enhanced by grilled delights, there’s no reason to get to the stadium until the first football is about to be kicked.

Hopefully, things will change by next weekend, when the Mavericks host Concordia-St. Paul. Perhaps that designated tailgate area will once again be available for the reckless combination of parking and grilling. Maybe the fear of alcohol consumption, which is obviously brought on by the fumes and flames of the grill, will be reduced now that another homecoming day has passed without riots.

It’s tough to predict how Minnesota State will react, but plans are being made for another tailgate gathering at the next home game. It would be nice to have a burger or brat, but it would be even nicer if the day could go by without ridiculous interference from overzealous micromanagement. It’s already understood that alcohol is not allowed on campus.

Just not sure how that got tied up with grilling.

Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.