I'm not really sure how I feel about this, but it was something I surely couldn't pass up posting about. I thought making a bus into a tailgating machine was an amazing idea, and still do. As a matter of fact, GatorTailgating.com is working on a partnership to have a bus for the 2009 season if everything falls into place.

But, only a group of Tennessee Volunteer fans would get the idea to convert a retired Garbage truck into a tailgating machine! Don't get me wrong. If you can get past the sherbert-like orange paint job that reminds me more of state prisoners than of football, it's an awesome rig. They've installed grills, a 52" flat screen Television, a DVD player, built in beer taps, slide out coolers, and more.....but I just can't get past the fact that it was a GARBAGE TRUCK. Especially the fact that Knoxville, TN is one of the hillbilly capitals of the world, it's just too steretypical in spite of the fact that it was done so professionally.

Honestly, I've seen tailgating buses that have had large sums of money invested into them and very few of them could even come close to the exceptional work put into this machine. The paint job is great (besides the previously mentioned color problem), the body work looks fantastic(considering what it must've looked like before-hand), the electronics are top of the line, and even the interior of the cab is done nicely! They really left no stone unturned when building this vehicle.

In conclusion, I think that if this were a Gator Tailgating vehicle, I could overlook the fact that it was/is a garbage truck. Being that it happens to be a Volunteer fans' tailgating creation, I cannot overlook the history of the vehicle and the stereotypical perfection in which it fits the fan base. That being said, I will be looking forward to going to see this tailgating group in Knoxville in September 2010. Maybe by then they'll have a coach that does more coaching than running his mouth....On second thought, probably not.

Rusty Thompson is one of the founders of GatorTailgating.com.