I remember those years. Wasn't bad in 2003.
I used to think Auburn had an amazing tailgating scene. Lots of excited fans. Lots of alcohol. Some shit talking to other fans.
Now gameday feels empty around the campus. Just scattered preplanned areas with no real identity.
By far the biggest dropoff was between 01 & 02. Almost night & day.
On game day Fridays in 01, an 18 year old AUChizad would walk from a class in Haley Center down a concourse that was completely saturated with RVs, pick up a few free beers from the alums with kegs on their RV porches, on my way to my next class at Parker. It was awesome. Tailgating on literally every piece of lawn on the campus. All up and down Thach, in front of the Chem & Bio labs, all around Lowder. All that shit was given the boot in 02.