COLLEGE FOOTBALL PACKAGE: At Washington, tailgating on the back of a
boat is tradition
By TIM BOOTH,AP Sports
Posted: 2007-10-10 15:55:30
SEATTLE (AP) -Brandie Hassing calls it her ballet, a choreographed
symphony of boats being methodically maneuvered to create a floating
community unlike any other in college football.

On Saturday's in the fall, the waters of Lake Washington on the
southeastern edge of the University of Washington campus get morphed
into a tailgating phenomena like no other.

"For me, it's almost addicting," said Hassing, who organizes the boat
program that brings thousands of fans to each of Washington's home
football games.

"It's an adrenaline rush when the boats start to come in."

Every school has it's own unique tailgating traditions, from lounging
on The Grove at Mississippi to the Fifth Quarter at Wisconsin.

But Washington is one of only two venues in the country - along with
Tennessee - where fans can take to the water and boatgate.

"I think it's pretty awesome," said Ginger Colburn, who takes a
commercial charter boat to games. "It's a beautiful sight."

The landscape surrounding Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon's isn't
much different from tailgating elsewhere.

Grills smolder with the aroma of charcoal and fresh meat. Beers idly
sit chilling inside coolers of ice.

Sure, there's a little Northwest flare - wild salmon is liable to be
on the grill and handcrafted microbrews or a Chardonnay are often
sipped.

But the drinks are being consumed at the stern of luxury boats. So,
maybe it is a little different from brews and brats next to the
Winnebago.

"It has always been popular," said Ken Winstead, who oversees the boat
program for the Washington athletic department. "It grows as interest
in the team grows."

About 250 boats have rights to a spot on the docks just outside the
east entrance of Husky Stadium. Some make a weekend out of it, camping
out overnight, then walking off their boats, over the wooden planks
and into the stadium.

Others anchor farther out in the lake and take a university-run
shuttle boat to shore.

The largest share of fans arriving by water come on of 10-15 boats
chartered by various groups or companies.

And it's Hassing's job to oversee the operation, when she's not busy
working as a full-time real estate agent or caring for her two kids.

"It's really hard to get the timing of the arrival of all the boats
and the sizes and the boats keep getting bigger and bigger," Hassing
said. "But the people work really well with us."

For Lane Hoss, vice president of marketing for Anthony's Restaurants,
arriving at Husky Stadium by water is second nature.

Game days for her begin five hours before kickoff, helping decorate
and prepare a rented charter boat the restaurant company uses to
shuttle fans from its eatery at Seattle's Fisherman's Terminal.

"If I didn't work for (the company) I would ride this boat," she said.

Anthony's started running its boat in 1990. Owner Budd Gould was so
intent on taking a boat to games that he purchased a defunct
restaurant just to obtain a cruise boat permit that school officials
said would be a 20-year wait. Gould never opened the restaurant.

The trip from Fisherman's Terminal lasts about an hour. It's a welcome
option for fans who refuse to sit in the driving gridlock that engulfs
the campus on game days, and those who want to enjoy the opportunity
to relax on a self-proclaimed "floating bar."

It also gives fans a unique perspective of Seattle.

The trip starts at the home of the Washington commercial fishing fleet
- with some of the Alaska crabbing boats made famous on television
docked nearby - before heading out into the waterway that connects
Puget Sound and Lake Washington.

Once in Lake Union, the boat passes many of the houseboats made famous
by the movie "Sleepless in Seattle," before joining private boats
coming from area marinas with Seattle skyscrapers as a backdrop. A
flotilla of boats starts to form coming through the Montlake Cut near
the university before joining the full community of vessels at the
stadium.

"On beautiful days you have this whole lake full of private boats
being shuttled in and you look up and see the stadium and start to
hear the noise coming from the stadium. You get into the stadium and
you look out and you see Lake Washington and you see the mountains and
you see all the boats and it's a spectacular view," Hoss said.

Last month, when Ohio State visited, the boat was packed with 440
riders, many donning the scarlet and gray of the Buckeyes. That's
typical. The novelty of boating to games draws a large number of out-
of-town fans. Fans of Pac-10 schools that regularly make the trip to
Seattle use the commercial boats as an opportunity to reconnect.

Of course, that leads to plenty of good-natured ribbing from the
overwhelmingly Husky crowd.

"We're nice to the opposing teams to an extent," Hoss said.

Washington's boat tradition may be on the verge of exponential growth.
The university is looking at possible ways to expand the current docks
to make more boat slips available and increase the number of charters
that could transport fans. With a large transit project about to slash
some parking options at the stadium, Hassing said they could see
upward of 12,000 fans attending games by water. Winstead says the
demand is there and the school want to oblige.

"I don't know another stadium like it," Hoss said. "I know other teams
are proud of their stadiums too, but there's not one like coming here."