Pasadena Star – News, Jan 6, 2010 by Emma Gallegos
PASADENA – ESPN’s Tailgating Party wasn’t set to open until 9 a.m. Thursday morning, but Texans were throwing brisket on the grill and Alabamans were doing drinks before noon Wednesday at their RVs just outside the Rose Bowl.
Jody Ornelas, a Longhorn fan from San Antonio, drove into Pasadena with plastic horns attached to the sides of his car. But unlike most of the Crimson Tide fans, it hadn’t been long since he’d made his last trip to the Rose Bowl.
Ornelas came out when Texas played USC a few years ago, but he said he was excited to see “two traditional teams that have been powerhouses as long as there has been college football.”
“If we were in the national championship for tiddlywinks, we’d be here,” joked Rick Turpin, a Crimson Tide fan in town for today’s big game.
Police also were gearing up for the BCS. Security was already in full effect Wednesday, said acting Pasadena police Chief Christopher Vicino.
“We have officers there, along with private security, that have a continuous security net in and around the Rose Bowl area,” he said.
Precautions included bomb-sniffing dogs. They were already sniffing around the Rose Bowl on Wednesday. Beginning at 5 a.m. Thursday morning, 165 Pasadena police officers will be at the stadium, Vicino said.
His department is receiving help from the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard and neighboring agencies, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the South Pasadena Police Department, said the acting chief.
Darryl Dunn, general manager of the Rose Bowl, said fans with tickets for the game should arrive by 1 p.m.
“We encourage people to get in the stadium early to enjoy the pageantry and color and the best of college football,” he said.
After the game, Pasadena police will increase patrols throughout Old Pasadena, the Lake Avenue business district and the Playhouse District, where officials expect parties to occur tonight, Vicino said.
Don Sims of Hartselle, Ala., parked his deluxe recreational vehicle, decked out with several flat-screens and a full-sized and fully stocked refrigerator, just outside the Rose Bowl loop Wednesday.
It was the farthest he’s ever driven for a football game, he said, but he was ready to celebrate and feed whoever came by. Once, he said, he and his wife Rita fed the tuba section of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band biscuits, gravy, pancakes, pear preserves and 15 pounds of bacon.
On Wednesday morning, his RV was filled with life-long Crimson Tide fans.
“(My mom) said she sang ‘Yay Alabama’ to us as a lullaby in the crib,” said Susan Shanlever, a Crimson Tide fan from Arkansas hanging out in the Sims’ RV. “It’s a way of life.”
emma.gallegos@sgvn.com
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