Dear Shea Field,
I remember fondly the days of last year’s tailgating. For a noon-time football game, I would spend my mornings lazily sleeping in, only to frantically scramble to make the 11:30 entrance cutoff time. Yet still, as I strolled through the gates at 11:29, my ID would be swiped with ease, and I would be greeted by a seemingly endless field of rowdy college students, enthusiastic alumni, and incredible food and drinks. So what happened this year?
For this past football game against Clemson, I was warned I would have to be in line by 12:15 if I wanted to tailgate on Shea, despite the fact that the gates still wouldn’t open until 1:30. Of course, in my untimely manner, I eagerly arrived around 12:45, only to be denied entrance and cut off from my friends who got there just minutes before me.
At the USC game, I waited in line for an hour in the pouring rain only to have security guards close entry right before I was about to be let in. Unfortunately, my rejection from Shea has not been done politely either. The guards are aggressive and rude as they push us away from the gates, and while I understand it is their job, I believe as students paying for the Gold Pass (with the expectation upon purchase that it would get us in to Shea), we deserve a little more respect for these shortcomings.
I have watched as the people standing next to me make their pleas to the guards that they spent hundreds on plane tickets to fly in for the game and tailgate with friends and now can’t make it in. While tailgate spots are given ten wristbands to hand to family members and friends, I don’t believe this is a fair amount for what is paid. I don’t know exactly what the going-rate on a tailgate spot on Shea is, but I have heard it’s in the thousands. One would think that when a person is paying that much to park their car for a few hours, they could invite whomever they please. Instead, the wristband phenomenon has cause an uproar among students and an entire line of sneaky pass backs to get additional friends through.
So seriously Shea, what happened? How did I go from being able to comfortably wait until the last minute to walk on to tailgate to being turned away hours beforehand? It’s clear Boston College thoroughly needs to reevaluate the unfairness this is causing students, alumni, and fans, all paying the fair price but not receiving full reward.
Sincerely,
Another angry Superfan
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