‘225’: The game-day masters talk tailgate grub

When the University of South Carolina plays LSU on Oct. 13, tailgate masters Robert “R.C.” Cannon and Don “Big Don” Pearce will fire up fried chicken near the LSU Aircraft Memorial. Meanwhile, pit master John Richardson will grill his award-winning hot wings at the 30-year-old tailgate he puts on with friends on the Parade Grounds. Chicken, of course, is a nod to the Gamecocks’ mascot. Consuming the enemy before kickoff is an established good luck tradition. “We do fried or grilled gator when Florida plays, and we do a whole hog in a Cajun microwave when it’s Arkansas,” says LSU tailgater Chad Cole, whose CBT crew gathers for a 300-person fęte near Lockett Hall and the College of Design. LSU fans plan and prepare what are arguably the most elaborate tailgate menus in the country. Prosaic picnic fare is overshadowed by Cajun and Creole classics, wild game and low-and-slow barbecue. No dish is too difficult to pull off in a parking lot, and no one balks when guests arrive en masse. Read the full feature in this month’s issue of 225 by Maggie Heyn Richardson here.