Athletics

September 26, 2016 | Amanda Falcone

For UConn Football Fans, Tailgating Steeped in Tradition

Some select the menu based on the guest team, others buy local. Some ask friends to contribute dishes, others serve old family recipes. All gather to tailgate hours before the start of each home game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, Rentschler Field.

Nick Zecchino operated the grill for friends and family at Saturdays tailgate for the Syracuse game. Sept. 24, 2016. (Garrett Spahn '18 (CLAS)/UConn Photo)

Some select the menu based on the guest team, others buy local. Some ask friends to contribute dishes, others serve old family game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, Rentschler Field. Here, Nick Zecchino operates the grill for friends and family at Saturday's tailgate before the Syracuse game on Sept. 24. (Garrett Spahn '18 (CLAS)/UConn Photo)

A group of 10 loyal Husky fans started their Saturday morning with breakfast burritos, mixing the eggs and chopping the peppers and onions finely before they arrived to cook the feast while tailgating at the UConn football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.

Mark Stevens, East Hampton, explains what he had prepared for Saturday's tailgating prior to the game against Syracuse. (Garrett Spahn '18 (CLAS)/UConn Photo)
Mark Stevens of East Hampton explains what he had prepared for Saturday’s tailgating prior to the game against Syracuse. (Garrett Spahn ’18 (CLAS)/UConn Photo)

The group also enjoyed bratwurst and Italian sausage before biting into their burgers topped with Italian dressing. It reminded them of Syracuse, home of several packaged-meat companies, and the team UConn was set to face on the field just a few hours time.

Tailgating is a tradition for this group of UConn football season ticket holders. After 11 years of it, the group has developed a system that makes food preparation much easier. It doesn’t take them long to setup, and two cooks are assigned for each game, said Mark Stevens, of East Hampton, Conn.

On Saturday, the Rentschler Field parking lot opened four hours before the UConn vs. Syracuse matchup, and Stevens and his friends weren’t the only ones who pulled in at 9 a.m. Throughout the parking lot, colorful tents appeared and portable grills were lit. Music, laughter, and savory aromas came from all directions.

Like Stevens, Glen Davis, of Stonington, Conn., has many years of tailgating experience and the team that UConn is playing impacts his group’s menu.

“We try to plan according to the game,” Davis said. They served pork when UConn played Virginia, and a deep fried turkey is always devoured around Thanksgiving.

On Saturday, Davis pitched his tent, raised both American and UConn flags, setup his UConn-themed cornhole game, and turned on his radio and grill. Both were decorated with worn UConn stickers – a testament to his many years as a dedicated fan.

Davis tailgates with his son and a friend, and they started Saturday with breakfast sandwiches. Bratwurst and onions and chicken wings dripping with sauce followed, in a nod to the Orange. After the game, there was Philly cheese steak.

As fans tossed a football nearby, Kevin Huber, of Wolcott, Conn., also spoke about the benefit of being a longtime tailgater.

“It’s years in the making,” he said of his menu, which includes coleslaw with apples made in a Crockpot with ribs.

For Melissa Migliaccio ’90 (CLAS), of Granby, Conn., a grill wasn’t necessary. The mother of Andrew Migliaccio, a UConn freshman defensive lineman, prefers to eat fresh food made locally, and her group enjoyed chickpea salad from The Sweet Beet, a local store, and potato salad with Jamaican yams. Rosemary ham and turkey sandwiches, rare roast beef, and tomatoes grown in Suffield, Conn., also made the menu.

“These are the best tomatoes in the world,” she said.

In another section of the Rentschler Field parking lot was Dave Dumaine. Dumaine, a Manchester, Conn., resident always tailgates with a group. As many as 21 people have joined him.  Saturday, he enjoyed clam dip, wings, and filet mignon. In a gesture of goodwill, he often shares leftover food with UConn students who attend the game.

“We’ve been doing this a long time,” Dumaine said. “We’re all good cooks. They’re all secret recipes.”

While there are many loyal Husky fans, such as Dumaine, who have ample tailgating experience, not everyone is a regular. The Zecchino and Leone families – relatives of two freshman football players – are novice tailgaters.

“We’re just adjusting,” said Nick Zecchino III, father of Nick Zecchino IV, a long snapper from Cedar Grove, N.J.

The families appeared to be doing fine Saturday as they made bacon, eggs, and cheese, and enjoyed sweets from a New Jersey bakery. Most of their food comes with an “Italian flair,”  Zecchino said as he watched his father place more meat on the grill.

Betty Leone, mother of offensive lineman Nino Leone from Southampton, Mass., contributed a special dish for the pre-game breakfast – her pistachio nut swirl cake, a family recipe that has been handed down through generations.

And for those who didn’t remember to pack something sweet, there was no need to worry. The UConn Dairy Bar Ice Cream Truck was parked at Rentschler Field, offering scoops of chocolate, vanilla, and Husky Tracks to tailgaters who needed an extra treat before they headed into the stadium.

For more about Saturday’s game, to uconnhuskies.com .