Tweet
NFL killing the infamous red pinto tailgate!
No longer feeling welcome in the Buffalo Bills' main parking lot, a tailgating institution is on the move as the NFL draws a line between what's considered family friendly and R-rated entertainment.
After 21 years of tailgating in the same lot outside Ralph Wilson Stadium, Ken Johnson plans to take his party across the street starting with the next home game in two weeks.
And with him, Johnson's bringing along his wildly colorful and popular traditions: from the red 1980 Pinto on which he grills meat on the hood to the pizza oven made out of a filing cabinet to a chicken wing-cooking mailbox and, yes, even the long-established ceremony of drinking shots of Polish cherry liqueur out of the thumbhole of a bowling ball.
"It disappoints me that I have to move away from a lot where I've been for about 20 years, but I saw it coming a long time ago," said Johnson, who's tailgate has attracted international recognition as he's been featured in newspapers, on The Food Network and even profiled in a German magazine. "I have known for a long time that they want to sanitize Lot 1 and turn it into a family lot."
The reality of that shift became apparent Sunday when, Johnson said, a league official threatened to shut down his party before the Bills' season opener. Aside from his tailgate creating a potential crowd control issue, Johnson was informed by security that the league official frowned on the bowling ball shots he provides to passers-by who line up at his site.
Johnson complied by plugging the bowling ball and started informing his regulars he was moving.
After 21 years of tailgating in the same lot outside Ralph Wilson Stadium, Ken Johnson plans to take his party across the street starting with the next home game in two weeks.
And with him, Johnson's bringing along his wildly colorful and popular traditions: from the red 1980 Pinto on which he grills meat on the hood to the pizza oven made out of a filing cabinet to a chicken wing-cooking mailbox and, yes, even the long-established ceremony of drinking shots of Polish cherry liqueur out of the thumbhole of a bowling ball.
"It disappoints me that I have to move away from a lot where I've been for about 20 years, but I saw it coming a long time ago," said Johnson, who's tailgate has attracted international recognition as he's been featured in newspapers, on The Food Network and even profiled in a German magazine. "I have known for a long time that they want to sanitize Lot 1 and turn it into a family lot."
The reality of that shift became apparent Sunday when, Johnson said, a league official threatened to shut down his party before the Bills' season opener. Aside from his tailgate creating a potential crowd control issue, Johnson was informed by security that the league official frowned on the bowling ball shots he provides to passers-by who line up at his site.
Johnson complied by plugging the bowling ball and started informing his regulars he was moving.
Comment