Joe Cahn
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To the citizens of the Tailgate Nation, Joe Cahn is a lot of things. Sure, he has appointed himself Commissioner of Tailgating, and is in the midst of his 2nd Presidential Campaign as the candidate for the Tailgate Party. But in a way, he's so much more. He is the voice of a vast and diverse community that stretches from coast to coast. He is an idol, an inspiration, and to many, a puzzle.
Who can really understand what causes a middle-aged man to trade his life as the head of a successful cooking school in New Orleans for a nomadic existence as a full-time professional tailgater?
Wearing a home team jersey and a twinkling smile, Joe has tailgated with fans of the NFL, NCAA, and NASCAR, and that's just the beginning. He has frequent requests from high schoolers to attend their pre-game parties, and just last February tailgated the shuttle launch in Jacksonville. His stats are staggering. And there's no sign he's slowing down.
Rolling from town to town in the "JoeMobile" with his faithful cat "Sophie" for company, the man is head-over-heels in love with this country - you can see it in his eyes when he talks about the towns and the people he meets along the way, and what has called "the last great American neighborhood."
We caught up with Joe (no easy task!) at Infineon Raceway in June to find out what he's been up to and what's in store for the upcoming football season.
Q: So I understand you've been doing some tailgating at NASCAR?
A: Since '98 I've been doing about 4-5 tracks every year. But yeah, this year I'll do 19 tracks and 47 stadiums.
Q: Tell me what you think the main difference is between NASCAR and football tailgating.
A: You're really comparing a camping experience with a sporting event. At a typical NASCAR race you could have 20-30,000 RV's out here. You don't get those numbers in an NFL lot. These people have brought their house out here.
It's interesting. You walk through the parking lot in Kansas City and you smell barbeque. At a NASCAR race, you smell bacon. Breakfast is the big meal. People think of tailgating, they think of beer. But here there's actually more coffee.
The food is simpler. It's more than a race, it's the festivities, an all day event. NASCAR is the only sporting event where you can take your food inside. There are a lot more families because they can do the camping experience together without having to go into the race.
Football is more adversarial. Everyone is wearing the same colors, and they are part of something. There's that home team pride that you don't get out here. Everyone has their favorite driver, and if they lose, they might pick another. You don't find that in football.
Q: Sounds like you've been enjoying the racing world, but football is coming up quick. What do you look forward to about the return of football?
A: I look forward to football season mostly for all the friends I've made along the way. I look forward to getting all my jerseys out of storage and seeing which players have been traded and need to be replaced. And the fall foliage. I look forward to Thanksgiving in Detroit.
I'm going to visit some new colleges, and some high school games. I look forward to being on the road and just seeing America.
Q: After 13 years and 500,000 miles, are there still parts of America that you haven't seen?
A: I haven't seen a lot of the backroads, because of the size of the RV. But I've been to the entire SEC, and most of the Big 10 and the Pac 10. I've been inside all the NFL stadiums, but I typically don't go because I am a fan and I yell and get hoarse. Emotionally, I can't handle a loss.
Q: So you really do get wrapped up in that home team pride!
A: Every time. When you go to an NFL game, you are a part of the group. You are one of 70,000, part of something bigger. And when I park my house there, I am a homer.
For more on Joe and his tailgating tours, or to read the platform for his 2008 Presidential Campaign, visit www.tailgating.com.
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