In the late stages of the Stamps' recent Thanksgiving Day game, Calgary Police found a man in the N.W. corner of the stands beaten worse than the Roughriders.
With a compressed skull fracture and broken orbital bone, EMS identified the bloodied man's injuries as life threatening.
"If he had died, we're talking a homicide," said staff Sgt. Brett Marklund. "That's serious. That turns a fun afternoon at the ballpark into a potentially life-altering injury. Was he cheering for the other team? Or did he spill beer on someone? Who knows why. But you can pretty much guess alcohol had something to do with it."
And that, in a nutshell, is why one of the last great traditions in Canadian sport may soon go the way of the stubby.
Tailgating, as this city has so affectionately known it for the last few decades, is on the verge of being radically changed.
Not just because someone almost died or because a cop was caught on YouTube aggressively extracting Riders fans. But because the number of alcohol-related incidents inside McMahon Stadium over the last few years has turned larger portions of the crowd from g-rated to downright ugly.
"It's generally assumed all the problems are in the cheap seats but I heard from a woman in section D who said she watched a fan stand up and pee in a can," said Marklund, one of two incident commanders for Stamps games. "Because of a small number of individuals, it's becoming less than family friendly. It was unsafe for my guys in some cases."
It got to the point where police officers were refusing to volunteer for the games.
So, after several off-season meetings with the Stampeders and McMahon Stadium officials, the Calgary Police Service made it known to the club they were going to start staffing the parking lot and clamping down on tailgaters with open alcohol. And there are thousands of them.
"It's not a push -- the law says you can't," said Marklund. "That's what baffles us: You wouldn't pull up in the parking lot at Chinook Centre and tailgate but you'll do it at a game because the 'tradition' is part of it? At the end of the day, if people want to celebrate their allegiance to the game and team they need to do it lawfully. The bottom line is people are consuming alcohol illegally and some of them are causing fights in the stands later on."
Sadly, that means everyone in the parking lot with alcohol -- no matter how discreetly they carry it -- is subject to newfound scrutiny. The previously unheard of $115 tickets for open alcohol in public now being doled out with regularity are a product of having more than 30 police officers roaming the lots. In past years only a few police "patrolled" the lot before heading inside, turning a blind eye to most drinkers.
However, now officers are going as far as to inspect people's coolers.
Based on the club's issuance of a few new season-ticket holder rules at the beginning of the season -- like shutting down tailgate parties an hour after kickoff -- the perception is the Stamps are pushing for this crackdown.
Nothing could be further from the truth given how unique and integral tailgating is for most Stamps fans.
"We work together with Calgary Police but at no time did we ask them to crack down on our season-ticket holders -- it doesn't make any sense," said Stamps president Scott Ackles, who has fielded many complaints from season-tickets holders who essentially feel it's their right to tailgate as they have for years.
"It's something completely beyond our control. Laws are made and the police enforce them -- there has been a lot of discretion on the enforcement of those laws. We have something truly unique to Canadians and the CFL and we do not want to disturb that. However, we do need to make sure our fans are responsible and 98% of our season-ticket and parking-pass holders are. It's the 2% of yahoos that probably raised the flag to the CPS and you see a lot more CPS in the parking lot."
So, does he see a day when there's zero tolerance tailgating, which would likely cost the Stamps a good chunk of their 22,000 season-ticket holders?
"That's a question for the police," said Ackles. "Every other game we get together and talk about past games and future games and after the season we'll do it to discuss how we'll work together next year."
Assistant stadium manager Don Phelps is one of them.
"Personally, I think it's a huge improvement -- the ambiance in our stadium since the police presence is far improved," said Phelps, whose staff is in charge of security at the games.
"That parking lot was at a point where to walk through it you were almost threatened. The response I've been getting is that the hardcore tailgaters are pleased with some enforcement. I have found the stands to be a much more positive environment and we're seeing more families in the parking lot."
Phelps, like many, thinks tailgating in Calgary is the envy of the league. It's certainly something no other city practices. As he points out, it can be done without alcohol.
Others aren't so sure.
"It's a real shame that a bunch of idiots ruin it for everybody else," said longtime tailgater Tammy Truman.
Another measure the stadium has taken includes not just pouring out alcohol fans try smuggling into the game, but throwing out the fan carrying it as well.
"The simple answer is come tailgate, have fun and leave alcohol at home, or buy it in stadium," said Marklund.
"We had a meeting (recently) and nobody in that meeting is moving towards moving away from tailgating -- nor is it the goal next season. But the problems caused by a small number of people are impacting a large number. It is a concern so we're kind of problem solving. At the end of the day, it's illegal to drink alcohol in a public place. All we're doing is enforcing the law. The reason is to preserve public peace."
And make sure nobody dies at a game.
