The Utah Pig Bus: How One Man Became the Face of Utes Tailgating | Ryan Lufkin

Most people don't think of Utah when they think of tailgating. That's exactly the problem Ryan Lufkin is fixing — one spectacular tailgate at the base of the Wasatch Mountains at a time. The Utah Pig Bus has been one of the most distinctive tailgate setups in the Mountain West for years, with scratch food, a dedicated fan community, and one of the most underrated game day atmospheres in college football.

Ryan joins Luke to talk about tailgating assumptions vs tailgating reality in Salt Lake City, the evolution from a parking lot setup to a full traveling operation, and his best attempts to get Post Malone — a self-proclaimed Utah resident who once wore a University of Utah hat — to finally come to a tailgate.

What we cover: Why Utah tailgating surprises everyone who visits · The Utah Pig Bus origin story and the full setup · What it means to host fans from across the country in SLC · The view of the Wasatch Mountains from Gardensman lot · Post Malone's open invitation (he lives there, he has the hat) · Alex Smith and his wife's famous photo at Fan Fest · Dream guest: Post Malone (the manifesting is real)

Transcript

Intro

Luke 0:00

All right, welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast. I'm your host, Luke Lorc with Tailgating Challenge. I love all things tailgating. And tonight we're going to talk to a guy that also loves tailgating, Ryan with the Utah Pig Bus. We're going to talk about why he has the best tailgate and the best view in all of Utah. And we're going to get behind the scenes with his ESPN College Game Day and meeting former coach Urban Meyer. Stay tuned to find out more.

Music 0:48

Let's have a fall across the states from college to NFL. Tailgate Connect.

Luke 1:06

And today we have a special and friend of the show, Mr. Ryan Lufkin with the Utah Pig Bus. Ryan, what up? What's going on, Luke? Thanks for having me on. Yeah, no, for sure, for sure. So I remember like Ryan, like I feel like last time we were tailgating, you came down for the Baylor, Utah game. And I remember the last things we were doing, we were fishing for beers out of a cool.

Ryan 1:29

We were, in fact, yes. Which is, I actually love that. There was a what was that cool tool that we were using? Like actually, like uh it was like a little uh toy uh toy fishing rod and a little like uh magnet. It was it was cool. Yeah.

Luke 1:43

Yeah, no, it was it was it was a lot of fun. So I was like, you know, next time, because again, I think I'm gonna see you again. Are you coming for the uh the Utah Baylor game this year?

Ryan 1:51

Uh I it's to be determined. I'm traveling a lot for work, which is throwing wrenches into my plans, but it's on the uh it's on the potential list. West Virginia is also one of the potential away games. So trying to figure out that uh where it will be in the world at that day.

Luke 2:06

I'm assuming at some point we need a rematch of who can catch the biggest runk or aka biggest beer out of the cooler.

Ryan 2:12

Yes, exactly. Those tall boys get away from you. No doubt.

Origin — first time Utah played Michigan at the Big House 2022

Luke 2:17

All right, so Ryan, like you said, we're here to chop it up with like all things tailgating. And so from what I know about you, like I haven't been to your tailgating spot yet. We're gonna talk about that. Yeah, yeah. But the first thing, so you have is Utah Pig Bus. And first thing I want to know is when did this start?

Ryan 2:34

So it was funny. We went uh the first time University of Utah played Michigan in the big house uh in Michigan, it was 2002. Uh, and we went out to the game, and every square inch of grass for miles around had a tent and a grill, and it wasn't just to show up for the game, it was a like make a day of it and like you know, have six extra holidays a year, right? And so we were like, why are we not doing this? And at the time there was a uh, you know, a small contingent of tailgators who've been doing it for a while. Uh, and we were like, no, we're gonna we're jumping on board. And so we I think we list our official start date as 2004. Um, but that's I think really when we got the bus. But before that, we had we bought a trailer and said, okay, we're just gonna we're just gonna go on campus and set up. Uh and we wrote went up and roasted a pig. And uh, you know, we had uh the university call us and say, can you please move over to the official tailgate lot? Your party is too big. And so Hey, that's a good call to ask. If you'll give us a pass, and they said yeah, and so we went, okay, we'll move on over. So that's that's kind of where it all started.

New Yorker article about people who haul pigs to games

Luke 3:40

Heard you were you were cooking a pig, so and it's called the Utah Pig Butt. So I feel like tell me more about the pig.

Ryan 3:47

So it's so funny. I had a I had a a coworker send me this article, uh, for I think it was in the New Yorker, and it was on uh the La Caja China, which you may be familiar with, which is a pig roasting box, uh, a company out of Florida, and it's a it's a Cuban-style cooking box. And she sent me this and then was like, you need this, right? Because I was already really into barbecue, um, doing a lot. And I said, Okay, and it was 150 bucks, I think, at the time. So we said, Yeah, buy one. Bought one, and we and I think the we roasted one in my backyard, and then we roasted one at that, you know, at our first tailgate. Um, and then Welby Evangelista, who's my my partner from the very beginning in all this, uh, he sent Urban Meyer every version of his email that he could think of. He sent a note and said, Hey, we want to cook a uh pig for all of the Polynesian members of the team. If you don't know, Utah's got the polypipeline, we've got a lot of Tongan, uh, Fijian, Samoan, Hawaiian uh members of the team. And he got a he got an email back from Urban Meyer that said, Yeah, let's do it. Next thing you know, we're we're roasting a pig in Urban Meyer's backyard for the team, and it was the pig buzz from thereafter. It was, it just became kind of what we were known for. And so every year for one game, uh, you know, usually it's the rivalry game or, you know, one of the big ones towards the end of the season when it's cooler, uh, we roast a big pig, and and uh it's a bit of a spectacle.

Shelly Meyer still follows them and comments

Luke 5:06

So I I didn't know I was gonna go this direction, but I feel like tell me more about Urban Meyer off camera and off screen. Do you have any stories for the cookouts?

Did Ryan go to Utah? Born in Las Vegas, lived in Minneapolis

Ryan 5:15

I mean, we were we hung out. I mean, Shelly Meyer still follows us on Instagram and likes our posts and comments every once in a while. Urban, Urban was one of those, one of those guys that you walk into a room and he just has a presence. He is he's the coach. Like you, you know, we walked into his house and you know, he made us feel at home, but he was also like very clearly the boss. And so it was, you know, just welcoming. He had such a, you know, for the University of Utah, we'd been a Mountain West conference team, right? And and uh, you know, kind of mediocre seasons, and he came on board and he took the University of Utah to the next level. He pulled all of the the workout equipment out of the out of the workout room, put it on the side of the field, subside of the practice field, and he had those guys doing practices and then going hitting the weights and back practices and throwing up on the sideline. And when he was our coach, we were the number one fourth quarter team in the country. We scored more in the fourth quarter than any other team because we just had more juice. Um, when he left and when and and when Coach Whitney Ham came in, a lot of the players were like, uh, that's too much. We're gonna quit if you keep doing that, right? And so they they dialed it back to a more reasonable level. But it was funny how much of an impact that had on the ability to, you know, uh for our team to just go full throttle. And and you saw that in the the Fiesta Bowl win and the sugar bowl win against Alabama. I'd like to remind everybody that Utah beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. I see you called that out pretty soon. People like people forget about that. I've actually had people say, You never beat Mama, and we're like, oh yes, we did. I was there. I was in New Orleans for it. So I ring it up whenever I can.

Pick a side — you defend your side

Luke 6:45

Now, Ryan, let me ask you this question. So I I'm a Suey, but I hate to assume anything. Are you always pulled for Utah? That has that been your like school growing up?

Ryan 6:54

Did you go there? Yeah, I went to the University of Utah. So, you know, I was I was born in Las Vegas, lived in Minneapolis as a kid, moved to Utah, went to junior high and high school uh here, and then eventually college. Uh and so Utah's really always been my team, you know. Um I I've always had a soft spot for UNLV. My my dad loved Coach Tark, Jerry Tarkadian down at UNLV back in the Run and Rebels days. And um, you know, so I've got a little soft spot for UNLV, but you really Utah's Utah's been my team. I I went to the University of Utah, I met my wife there. My daughter is now uh uh entering her junior year uh at the University of Utah. So it's a family, you know, my my whole family on both sides really goes back uh a bit uh with with being Utah fans. And you know, we're part of a big holy war. Uh and in Utah, it's really divided. You are a Utah fan or you're a BYU fan. Uh and the people that try to straddle both lines uh don't get a lot of love from either side.

Luke 7:47

You gotta pick one if you live in the five.

Ryan 7:48

Pick a side and you defend your side. That's how it is.

Earliest tailgating memory

First tailgate — Minnesota Vikings game in Minneapolis

Luke 7:52

Fair enough, fair enough. What what do you remember your earliest tailgating memory? How old were you at your first tailgate you ever went to?

Ryan 8:00

Oh, geez. You know what? I actually it was it was not a uh it was not a university tailgate. I was I was in uh Minnesota and we went to a Vikings Packers game when they still had their first outdoor stadium. Like we're we're two domes in now, right? So this is ages me quite a bit. And it was it was the coldest. I remember walking through this this parking lot and seeing these people grilling Brattwurst. I remember specifically this one guy grilling Brattwurst, and I'm like, what are they doing? It's so cold, this is terrible. And you know, but I was like, like, there's something to this, like these people are having so much fun standing out in this bitter cold before this football game. That was the first tailgate night experience I ever had. And and you know, then when I was in college, you like we'd tailgate a little bit, and but it was not, I think what's so interesting is you know, Utah has a lot of of weird reputations because of the the predominant religion here. Uh, and what people don't understand is we don't have a dry county, we don't have a dry city in in Utah. And there is a there's a drinking culture. We have some weird laws that they change every once in a while. Uh, but the University of Utah has been an amazing partner in in tailgating, right? They really want to want to foster that that um game day experience. And and Mark Harlan is our current athletic director, uh, is has been, I mean, he comes to the bus. We got pictures of him up on top of the roof deck with you know, throwing up the U. Um, they're just great partners in it. And so it it Utah gets a little bit of a weird rap, but you know, it was funny we had we had the you know, the team folks from Florida uh here, and I'm gonna I'm gonna throw some some shade at the Vandy fans, but the Florida fans were like, You guys know how to tailgate. How do we kick Vanderbilt out of the SEC and get you uh you guys in here? And we're like, we'll hold our own. We know how to tailgate, right? So people I think that's the what people are most surprised by. They show up at the that we have the what's called the Guardsman Tailgate Lot. Uh, and the it is a it is a huge parking lot, and it's it's uh buses and RVs and smokers, and you know, people show up and go, I had no idea that that Utah actually tailgated like this. And and we're also incredibly welcoming. That's one thing we always I think you and I talked about that a lot. It's something that right off the bat, you and I bonded over is we want to make sure that when you come to our house, you have a good time. And and so that when we come to your house, you treat us right, right? That's something from the very beginning. So it's funny, you invite we'll invite people in for a I'm like, grab a beer, grab some food. And they're like, Why? You know, like we don't fully trust, yeah, yeah. We don't fully trust you. We're like, we want to make sure you have a good time, come on in. And so we've got fans that like end up hanging out with us the whole time, and they'll send us emails and just be like, hey, when you're when you come visit us, like let us know. We'd love to take you. And like, so it's just that's the kind of like fun cabardery we want to foster. And I think that's something that you know you have always done a great job of. You know, the the folks at Tailgate Connect do a great job of that as well. It's just it's it's making it a uh a truly fun experience with food and drinks, and and everybody leaves going, wow, that was a great day.

Over-the-top food — bacon explosions, whole hogs

Luke 10:56

That's that's my favorite kind of day, right? It is a tailgate day out there. Sorry, so let's say so somebody goes on to tailgateconnect.com, they they buy a couple of tickets to come out to uh the Utah pig bus tailgate. What can they expect when they show up?

Ryan 11:11

Yeah, we're we're known for doing uh kind of over-the-top food, uh everything from bacon explosions to the whole hogs that we talked about to legs of lamb. We did we've done fry everything, you know, like we we we really want to make really good food. I don't I don't really trust anybody else to do the food. So it's it's me and and Steve Kirk, who's uh who's uh like my little brother. He you'll hear us bickering over the prep for food. My wife does a lot of the stuff behind the scenes. Amanda Lufkin does not get enough credit for her work uh that we do. Um, but we we do, you know, just amazing setup from a food standpoint. We always have, you know, if as long as you're not there an hour before the game, we may be out of food by then. Uh but we do a lot of food. Um, you know, we're we're sponsored by or you know, we're not sponsored. We're not sponsored. We have good friends at Traeger. Uh, we've got good friends at the Bohemian Brewing and a couple of the other, you know, uh local brewers and a great cider place. And so there's always plenty to drink and eat. And and our goal, you know, we take donations that help fund the bus, but like it's it's one of those uh you know pieces of of we just want to have a good time and make sure everybody else has a good time. Last year, I I think you saw we added a a roof deck to the bus. So now we're like we officially have the best view in the tailgate lot. And if you've seen the Utah Mountains, you know that that's saying something. Uh and it's it's one of those climb upstairs, listen to some great music, eat some food, and you know, enjoy enjoy the day.

Big crowds sometimes — hundreds

Luke 12:35

So, how many people on average are at one of your tailgate parties?

Ryan 12:38

We average about we feed about 60 to 100, right? Um there's the crowds get big sometimes, right? Like it's it's I've seen some videos after that. We sometimes feel crowded people. Yes, but um, yeah, we usually should like serve about 60 to 100. And the cool thing about our tailgate too is that you know, the the people ran across from us. We Albert Gamboa has a great tailgate. This just ran across from us on one side. Uh, you know, Ed Cable has one on the other side. So we've got a neighborhood. It's not just a tailgate in and of itself, even better. It's a neighborhood, right? And so we'll have live bands. Uh, we'll have DJs up on top. We had a we had our first live band on the roof deck last year, and uh, you know, everything from like Johnny Cash cover bands to Hudson Roses cover bands to local bands. Like it's it's actually really fun. Um, you know, and it's something that takes you know cooperation with your neighbors because it's gonna get a little loud, gets a little crowded, and your neighbors, our neighbors all partake in that, you know. Uh and then we do like uh we do uh one game a year, we do a Chili Verde cook-off, Chili Verde battle. There's a spot over there on my wall that my plaque is not currently because uh I won the first two years and then uh came in second last year. I'm hoping to regain my my uh crown this year. Uh, but it's you know, just finding those opportunities to build camaraderie with the neighbors as well.

Luke 13:58

For sure. So uh I mean now that you said that, like have you been have you been training? Have you been pulling out some unique tips and tricks to try to take the crown back?

Ryan 14:07

Uh I've I would say um because I've I've I've been traveling a lot for work lately. So I was just in Australia. I was in uh Columbia before that. So I'm collecting spices from around the world to, you know, bring a little more exotic flavor uh this year to my my chili bronet. So we'll see how that goes.

Luke 14:25

Excellent, excellent. Well, again, I at the time of this recording, I have not had dinner yet, so I'm already getting humping bits on all the food uh selections you have put out there with it. And you kind of alluded to this, but just to reinforce it one more time, because I think this is important for because there's probably fans that might be tuning into this episode, be like, you know, I I don't have on the Utah colors. I'm coming as an opposing fan. Like, am I gonna get put in the corner of the roof bus and just like they'll throw me a beer and say, you stay over here? Or like how like, are we making everybody feel like welcome regardless of colors or or whoever they're pulling for?

Ryan 15:01

Yeah, honestly, it's one of those things where we had we had um TCU in uh last year, and I remember talking to some other fans, and I said, you know, people are gonna be like disconcertingly nice to you. You're gonna be like kind of freaked out by it, but realize it's genuine and they actually want to like get to know you and hang out with you. And then later on, right before the game started, everyone guys come down and he's like, Oh my god, you were like so spot on. Like, people are so nice, and like when you when you like don't uh aren't mistrusting of it, it really makes for a good opportunity. So everybody'll you'll get to know you. Um honestly, you'll you'll leave with friends, uh, emails and and phone numbers because you know, people want to want to connect beyond that. And it's just a good group of people, you know. We've it's kind of we've done it for now for over 20 years, crazy, but like the the the people that that or you know have stuck with us and are are you know we've kept around are the ones that are they're just great folks. They're people we've known for years and and it's easy to kind of jump in and be part of the family pretty quickly. We hear that a lot.

Luke 16:02

No doubt, no doubt. All right. So with that, tell me, like, we talked about food, and obviously food and a little bit of drinks is part of that, but like talk to us like when it's cold, when it's hot, is there televisions, or there are yard games? Like, what what does that look like for the complete tailgate experience?

All home games — some scheduling conflicts this year

Ryan 16:21

Yep, we're in the process of adding a television. I don't know if we'll have it done by this season, um, but our neighbors on both sides do. And like I said, it's a neighborhood, so that everybody's always welcome there. Uh, we've got we've always got cornhole, uh, we've always got uh uh you know different games out there that that uh you know we get introduced by you and other members of the stelgate community. And so it's um trying to think what else is there to do. There's a there's we have a very stocked bar. Uh and then just, you know, the like I said, it's it's not just us with that are that are that welcoming. You know, like as you walk around the tailgate lot, we we encourage everybody to go do a loop. You'll get handed shots, you'll get people, you know, unless you're wearing BYU uh gear. That's the one thing they're less, they are less welcoming if you're wearing, especially every once in a while you have people that show up in like BYU gear when we're playing someone completely different, and you're like, you will not get a good reception that way. That is not one that will go well for you. So don't recommend that. But yeah, there's there's always, you know, the the shot ski because we are uh a ski town. You'll always have the shot ski out there somewhere. Um, there's there's a lot to do. It's it's fun.

Chef difficulties for the first game

Luke 17:26

Excellent, excellent. All right. So tell me the so for do are are you do you do all home games? Is it pretty pretty fair to say you're out there for the home games that people want to know?

Featured on ESPN Game Day twice

Ryan 17:34

We're there for every home game. Yeah, I think this one, uh we're having some chef difficulties on the first game against Cal Poly this year. So uh that might be a pizza game. You must might not be as inventive for that one, but we'll make up for the other the next five games for sure. And yeah, I mean, and depending on where the games are, you know, we we we get there pretty early. If we're cooking a pig, we're there awful early, we're there the night before, and and you know, we have people come by and visit us as we're sitting in the parking lot by ourselves roasting our pig. And uh, you know, that might be me, right? I'd be like, but it's and it's fun, you know. Like we always do the the pig like when uh one of the later games in the year when it's cold because you know it becomes the fire pit as well. It smells delicious and it keeps you warm at the same time. But yeah, yeah. And then my buddies, you know, I've got I've got a buddy who's actually a professional DJ uh who who swings by and does, you know, a couple games a year as well. So, you know, it's it's always there's always something.

Can go to YouTube — served food on Game Day

Luke 18:29

Excellent. Now, right, I remember I feel it was like a couple of years ago. Did what were you featured on ESPN with the pig bus? Is that a fair statement?

Luke wants to get to a Power Five game — Nevada is next

Ryan 18:38

We have actually done game day twice. We've served the food on game day twice. Um and I mean you can go to you can go to utapigbus.com or or our our Instagram page, um, and we got photos of it. But we were actually the first tailgate to ever take a whole pig on stage, uh, which pissed off a lot of people in the south. We got a lot of we got a lot of uh from you know folks from Louisiana and and uh North Carolina who uh challenged us at that point. Uh and then the next year we made uh bacon bulls. We were playing in Washington, so we made bacon bowls with funeral potatoes, which is a Utah uh delicacy, uh, and then scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and smoked asparagus and served that on stage. So yeah, we've been we've been on the on the show twice. It was, you know, it was really fun. We, you know, I think it's something that hopefully we have a chance to do again in the future. We get a lot of TV interviews, a lot of of local and and ESPN interviews. When you have the best view in the Tailgate lot, they tend to want to come visit you and you know, take some pictures.

Used to cook pigs for the athletic department

Luke 19:41

Yeah, so I I know like one of the things is still like I've I've done a lot of fun things in the tailgate and journey, but still like ESPN College Game Day is still one of my bucket list items to do something with. Yeah. So what does that what does that look like? Like, where did you just get an email out of the blue? Or like how did that come to fruition? I think it's such a cool thing to know, like, what's the background behind it?

Ryan 20:00

Well, I mean, so we used to we used to cook pigs for the team. So we we know a lot of folks in the athletic department, and and we're very reliable, right? And so they know that that we'll show up, we'll do what we're supposed to do, and and you know, we like this, we know how to talk, we speak to the media and give sound bites and do that kind of thing. And so we we would get a call and they're like, Hey, do you want to do this? And the first time I was like, Well, you're you're lying to me, you're pulling my leg. And I was fly, I was flying back, and I'm like, Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure. And then uh Jeff Rudy, who works for the analytics department, called me and was like, No, it's real. And I was like, Oh, oh, oh, I guess we have to figure out what we're gonna do. Um, the second time I was like, No, you're totally lying. Like, this, there's no way they'd have us do it again. Uh, but you know, it's one of those things, it's only there's there's no energy like that game day energy, right? The people are up the night before, camping out overnight. There's a there's a whole group of people, uh, you know, all of a sudden before the sun comes up, people are getting in line and and there's there's just so much excitement, so much energy. Um, and even you know, we had we didn't serve uh they didn't have a local uh food provider this last uh time we played, we had game day. Um, but we went up all night and cooked uh a pig and a bunch of other stuff and fed everybody in the morning. And it's just it it's crazy the energy and how many people at polls, and you know, it and again, it's it's just that like camaraderie and excitement at a kind of a next level, and and they do a great job of pulling people in, and you know, the cameras are flying overhead over the bus and doing cool stuff. Uh so they're always doing something like to to keep the audience and engaged and fired up. So yeah, if you have a chance to go to game day if you're school, don't do not miss it. Get up there early. Make every effort to be part of it because it really is just it's an awesome time.

Michigan game was great despite the heat

Luke 21:44

Excellent, excellent. All right, so we know when you're at Utah, you're having a good time, and it's probably one of the best destinations, in your opinion. But I also know you travel for some games and go to those. So I'm gonna say, Ryan, what are the top maybe three? Places you've been outside of Utah, you say, you know, this was an amazing tailgate and experience.

Ryan 22:05

Yeah, I mean, I have to give I have to give Michigan props for just the sheer volume and also friendliness, right? Really welcoming people in. Um, they're fantastic. We had a great time at Baylor, honestly. I mean, it was it was so hot. I thought we were gonna melt.

Luke 22:18

Was there, right?

Ryan 22:19

Yeah, yeah. I mean, but it was it was so hot, but it was also like it was a fun experience, you know, like great food. Uh that was that was a fun one. Um who would I give third place to? Uh honestly, uh University of Washington and their sailgate is pretty hard to beat. Like that's pretty, it's pretty cool up there. Just kind of a different experience that was, you know, was was fun. I think it very welcoming and and cool to to you know the pig bus crew.

Luke 22:51

No doubt, no doubt. Now, if I flip the script and say, is there a stadium or tailgate in event that you would never go back to again? What would you tell me?

Ryan 23:02

Well, they happened to be our our first game of the season, but I I I was not treated well by our fans at UCLA. And as much as I love the Rose Bowl, the Rose Bowl when we played Ohio State uh a couple of years ago was a fantastic experience. Uh the first time I went to UCLA, uh, it was not. And I I I, you know, as much as that is a historic stadium and amazing, the fans were not my my favorite by any means. And so uh, you know, maybe, maybe we just cut them on a bad day, but not not as not as welcoming as I generally like. Which is funny because you know, they had thrown so much shade at USC fans, and by and large, I've had a good experience at USC. So, but you know, kind of the opposite there. So I was you know, there's it's hard to say though, because you know, the some people take the rivalry stuff a little too far, or that you know, take the take the the the talking a little too far. Um but yeah, I I'd go back to to um the Coliseum probably before I'd go back to the the you know the Rose Bowl.

Beautiful area, would love to go back with better treatment

Luke 24:04

So so basically, if anybody from UCLA ever listens to this podcast, they need to roll out the red carpet and bring you back and show you what it's all about there.

Ryan 24:12

I would be happy for them to show me uh, you know, to prove me wrong and and show me a good time. It's a beautiful area, it's a beautiful campus. It just, you know, the fans just weren't the kindest. And that's we always look for people that are like, you know, there's no reason to to treat visiting fans poorly. It's just a silly, a silly way to go.

Luke 24:32

All right, what's her what's do you have a bucket list tailgate that you haven't been to, but you're like, man, I really, really want to go to that particular school.

Utah is bone dry — LSU is the opposite

Ryan 24:39

Yeah, I've been talking to my my my niece's uh her boyfriend's from uh from New Orleans, and uh he's a big LSU fan. Uh so I would love to go to Baton Rouge and actually experience uh uh an LSU tailgate. I've been on LSU's campus and and in their stadium when uh during the offseason, but I've never actually been there for the tailgate experience. And we recently did a you know uh uh crawfish boil in my backyard uh for the family. He wanted to show the family some, you know, some Creole uh love, and so uh so we did one, and it would just be it'd be fun to do that in game day. In Florida, we went to Florida, you know, a couple of years ago, and it was that was a fun experience by and large. Those fans were great. Um, it was so moist. I don't know how else to describe it. We got rain on going in, and we're sitting in that stadium, and that stadium is so huge, and people are packed in, and you could see the steam rising. Like, so it was a great time, but it was like we came home and we were just everybody was just like, I've got prune fingers and I've only been standing outside, you know. Maybe it's the Utah fans don't, you know, we have no humidity, we're not used to any sort of moisture at all.

What's the local food/drink when visiting LSU?

Try something local — Abita Beer

Luke 25:48

No, it's total night and day. I've been to Utah, it is it is bone dry out there. You go to the swamp, they call it the swamp for a reason why swampy down there. All right, so let's uh let's let's pick your brain with what you personally, personally enjoyed. If I said, Ryan, you can have any food on your plate at a tailgate, you don't have to worry about cost, making it anything. It's just gonna show up on your plate. What would that tailgating food be for you personally?

Ryan 26:20

Ooh, you know, okay, I I I always like to try something local, right? Like some sort of something local if that's an option, right? So if you're if you're going to North Carolina, you want to try some pulled pork, you want to, you know, Texas, you want brisket, um, that kind of thing. You want to try the like the locals' take on something. I like kind of weird things too. But you can't go wrong with brisket. I just think a good, a well-cooked brisket is about the best thing you can have. Like when it falls apart and you can just, oh, it's fantastic. Brisket and like uh, yeah. I mean, honestly, I would say our funeral potatoes, which is funny. Funeral potatoes are like a casserole where it's like shredded potatoes and like a bechamel sauce, and if you put uh uh potato chips on top, like crispy potato chips.

What are funeral potatoes?

Luke 27:08

I don't know if I've ever had that or heard of that dish before.

You bring them to someone's family when there's a death

Ryan 27:10

It is a Utah thing. It's like what you you you bring a bowl of this to like uh somebody's somebody's family when when somebody dies, right? And they and it's it is it's a delicious thing. So I would put like brisket and a side of funeral potatoes are about the best thing I could I can imagine.

Eat them once and your perception changes

Luke 27:25

I mean, I feel like not to get too far off track here, I'm like, funeral potatoes is your favorite. I feel like I would have such a negative connotation that if I if that was something that was part of it, I'd just be like, I would think of those every time I saw it.

Funeral potatoes + brisket at Utah + cider

Ryan 27:38

You eat them once and you'll be like, it just the perception changes. Funeral potatoes are fantastic. And they're you know, my wife, you know, I think you can make it with canned stuff. My wife makes them from scratch, and like we will there's day, there's times when you know we make giant trays of this stuff and it's all gone. And I'm like, who? Who ate all of that? Like, I mean, it was there's so much of it, and people just love it. So yeah, it's uh it's a go-to. It's one of those, you know, Utah's not known for a lot, like jello and ice cream and funeral potatoes. Fry sauce, fry sauce. We got fry sauce too.

Local cider company — a few beers ago it would have been that

Luke 28:08

Learn something new every day. Learn something new every day. All right, so you got your you got your brisket, you got your funeral potatoes over there. What's in your cup?

Ryan 28:18

Oh, I I lately I've been drinking, there's a we've got a great cider company here, uh, that is, although I I drank a few too many of them last time, and before I realized they were 8% uh alcohol, and I was like, I thought I was being good at drinking low point ciders. And so if uh if uh you know if you saw me at that game, I apologize. Uh but you know, I honestly there's I'll I'll I like a lot of different stuff, you know. Like our neighbors always have a have a tradition of bringing us over a shot of moonshine, and you know, there's a there's another place that melts Neapolitan ice cream and mixes it with vodka and which is remarkably good. Um I love that there's a guy that um that brings around uh he soaks uh gummy worms in some sort of alcohol and then brings them around all the tailgates. It's a fun tradition.

Go-to beer — Bohemian Brewing Heritage Lager

Luke 29:09

That's not terrible.

After food and drink — what game to play?

Ryan 29:10

No, no, it's a fun tradition. But honestly, I'm I'm the like if I had a go-to uh beer, it's the the Bohemian brewing here in Salt Lake does a Czech Pilsner, which is just a nice drinkable beer that I keep it ice cold and it's ready. Yeah, yeah. And if I, you know, I like a good Blenymary in the morning, I like uh, you know, or a mimosa, not a not a bad way to start the day either.

Cornhole is the tradition

Luke 29:32

For sure, for sure. All right, so you got your drink, you got your food. Uh after that, you want to get into the competitive spirit of some uh tailgating yard games, which is your favorite game to play.

Big differences between boards and bags

Ryan 29:43

Honestly, cornhole is the like the tradition, right? Like it is just it's one of those, there's there's a lot of of you know, letters and different different fun games, but you just everybody thinks they're good at cornhole. And so you're like, you're like, okay, let's go. Yeah, and they and then you get those people that get so pissed because they're like, you know, I'm usually so good. Something's wrong with your cornhole boards. You're like, uh-huh, it's the boards.

Luke 30:04

That's totally that the more I've learned about this, like there are big differences between boards and bags, but also too that like people like have started to take this core like super, super serious. It's a point of like it's not fun sometimes to play.

Ryan 30:20

As soon as it showed up on on ESPN, right? Bush's baked beans was sponsoring all these teams, like it became a legit, legit competitive sport, right? And so, but uh honestly, I I think it's hard to beat that game just because it's so much fun to everybody knows how to play. Everybody, you know, uh, you know, we have we have fans from Europe that come over and you don't have to explain the rules, they know. So it's great. One on the board, three in the hole, toss them back, switch them feet. It's exactly it.

La Cachine — great tool, doesn't cook everything

Blackstone griddle — the real answer

Luke 30:48

What's the one piece? Because I'm sure you probably have a lot of tailgating gear. Yeah. What's the one piece of gear you're like, man? This is my favorite. I use it the most. Like, I gotta have it at the tailgate. What piece of tailgating gear is that?

You never know — shoot your shot

Ryan 31:01

I like I mentioned the La Caachina, because that is a that is a just a great tool, but it doesn't cook everything. The Blackstone flat top is the single most used, you know, it's just one of those. The flat top is is you can put a pot on it, you can you can do grilled cheese on it, you can do eggs, you know, like it's just so versatile, it's hard to beat that one. And you know, our Blackstone is held up pretty well. Blackstone, if you're listening, it's getting a little dated, and we can absolutely use a new one. Shameless plug, and I love it. Shameless plug, which works, you know, more than you think. So I don't know.

Whatever brand — Blackstone makes a great one

Luke 31:34

You never know, shoot your shot, right?

Tip for first-time Blackstone users — maintain the surface

Ryan 31:36

But yeah, honestly, it's one of those, you know, and whether whatever brand it is, but like Blackstone makes a really great one, and it's you know, we just use we use the heck out of it. I think we have it out for every game.

Luke 31:47

Give give us one tip for those that maybe have never utilized that grilling or cooking service before, that you would say, you do this one thing, you're gonna get a better cook.

Ryan 31:57

Geez, like you've got to maintain your cooking surface, right? They get bitty, pretty beat up over time, but like oiling in it and seizing it and making sure that it's clean and and try to keep this, you know, the the because they'll rust if you leave them outside, you gotta you gotta take care of these tools. And so uh that one, as long as you you, you know, keep your surface clean, you're gonna have a good result. And then, you know, like anything else, you the the they things get that's the only problem with tailgating, you know, you're moving stuff in, you're moving stuff out, stuff gets pretty beat up, right? And that's why yeah, and so that's why, you know, being a little cautious with it and trying to try to treat it, you know. It's got ours has a special place in the bus where we put it against the wall and strap it in, right? To try to keep it from bouncing around. Like, yeah, so the the more you can kind of, you know, I think a lot of people don't understand that. A lot of the like you've got a grill in your backyard, you've got a smoker in your backyard. It's another level when you're tailgating and you're loading that stuff into the back of a vehicle and hauling it around and and gets beaten up. I mean, we tailgators go through equipment faster than than uh you know any other kind of I can't imagine. I even like professional, professional barbecue folks. Like, I don't think it gets beaten up as much as the tailgate stuff does, because you know probably not it's it's not always being loaded by the people that you know are supposed to be loading it and things like that.

They were trying to help — that's not where it goes

Luke 33:13

Yeah, or they might have had a couple ciders before they load it, right?

Ryan 33:15

Exactly. And I know they were trying to be helpful, but that's not where that goes, right? Oh, you took that apart. That doesn't come apart. You should not take that apart, right? Things like that. So whenever that's one thing too. I think whenever uh whenever people make products for tailgating, the like it's hard to over-engineer something, make it strong, but also light enough to be movable and that kind of thing. So I'm I I've been a little overwhelmed or underwhelmed by some of like the the tailgate figure quotes, like smokers and stuff. They're just too fragile. They don't they don't hold up under the the abuse we give them.

Happy to field test any smokers or cooking equipment

Luke 33:51

Fair enough. That's what you need to put that on your channel. It's like honestly, here are our grill reviews, our smoker reviews.

Utah has lots of guns — people at tailgates

Ryan 33:57

I am happy to uh give you, you know, test, field test any of these smokers that you want, or you know, cooking equipment in general, and give you feedback on on how to make them more bulletproof.

Luke 34:08

Boom. Hopefully, people are actually shooting them at the tailgate.

Ryan 34:13

It's Utah, you know, we got a lot of guns out here. I don't know.

Luke 34:17

Oh boy. That that goes into my next question is so one of one of the terms that I utilize like during tailgating season, instead of tailgating, is called failgating, where basically something horrible went wrong at the tailgate. Do you have a failgating moment, whether it was you or just somebody at the tailgate, that it happened and it still sticks out in your memory today?

Tailgate watch — people police their own space

Ryan 34:41

There's two. One is I I was using the lacchina to cook potatoes, uh, to do a baked potato bar, and I undercooked potatoes, so I just ended up serving chili. How do you undercook potatoes? I'm a I'm a professional. Like this is that was like truly the spail. Yes, and then and then the other one is a more serious story, but uh we had a actually involves a couple of fans wearing BYU gear. Um but we actually had a a a friend of the the pig bus um who was assaulted outside of you know, he came out of the the the restrooms and out in the tailgate lot and had words with a couple of guys, and a guy walked up behind him and sucker punched him, and and he actually had a uh suffered a traumatic brain injury. But the the the good aspect of it is his dad reached out to me and said, Hey, you know, this happened at the tail towards the end of the tailgate yesterday. I don't think a lot of people saw it, uh, but we need help finding these folks. Can you help us? And we posted out on social media, uh, and within 30 minutes, we knew exactly who it was. We had witnesses, and uh, they were arrested and and charged with assault the next day. And it's one of those things where you're like, that's I love that aspect about tailgating, that that community aspect of it where you come into our neighborhood and you do something bad, it doesn't fly, right? Like we we're gonna hold you accountable. And I so that was one of those like terrible story, and he's he's fine, by the way. He's he's fully. Okay, that's my next question is like he's fully recovered, and you know, uh doing quite well. I think he's they had their their second or third child recently, right? Uh so so it definitely like a uh you know scary experience, and and uh, but but the fact that we were able to come together that way is is is really incredible. Like in 30 minutes, 30 minutes we had him, we had him. That one we actually got on the news for that one because they were like, that's a really great story. I'm like, it was a good story.

Luke 36:26

Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. The uh what instead of neighborhood watch, the tailgate watch, right?

Favorite Utah player of all time — Alex Smith

Ryan 36:32

Honestly, it is and I and the funny part is you every once in a while you see troublemakers come in and people like we will we look at our neighbors, our neighbors look at us, and we all have eyes on everybody. Like that doesn't, it doesn't fly. And and it's you know, I'm I'm not a small kid, I'm I'm 6'4, 280, and so I've met you out of looking up to you. Stuff done, you know, people don't get out of hand much at our tailgate because we just don't let it fly. And and that's you know, like that's the other thing too. The the university is really great. The police officers that uh you know on campus there are amazing and they work with us and and we feed them. I I'm I always tell them we're gonna eat it. We're eating it at four o'clock, we're doing brisket, we're doing whatever, come by four. And you know, they'll come over and eat. And it's a it's a it's a kind of that mutual respect piece that you know uh we police our area, we make sure we don't have problems, and they they are our friends because of it. So good stuff.

Luke 37:24

Good stuff. All right, uh, let me ask you this favorite Utah player of all time.

Ryan 37:31

Oh that's an easy one. Alex Smith. So Alex Smith.

Amazing person — Mahomes had great things to say

Luke 37:36

Courtney Adder's fans. I love him too.

Ryan 37:38

He was amazing, and I and I wish he would have found his footing at uh the you know at San Francisco, but he ended up finding his footing in in uh in Kansas City and you know famously handing the reins to to Patrick Mahomes, and you know, Patrick Mahomes had nothing but amazing things to say about Alex, you know, after he had his really traumatic leg injury. Uh and and uh you know, it it when when somebody has that much good to say about their mentor, you know he's a good guy. But it's funny because I have a I have a picture of of my wife like nine months pregnant with my daughter, uh with Alex Smith down on the field at Ricycle Stadium during Fan Fest. And, you know, I think my wife said she he's the one man she probably would have left me for, and I was like, well, you're a little old for him, but you know. But I'll give you the pass on that one because he's a he's a pretty stand-up guy.

Post Malone — trying to get him to come

Luke 38:28

So has Alex ever come to one of your tailgating parties?

Post Malone likes tailgating — has a tailgating shirt

Ryan 38:31

He is not. He is not. Uh he has an open invitation, absolutely. Uh, the one the one we keep trying to get uh post Malone. Uh, Post Malone is kind of famously called Utah Home now. Uh he lives just at the mouth of Big Cutwood Canyon. We keep putting it out there. I'm like, Post Malone, you need to come just hang out with us and have a beer. You don't have to you don't have to play music or anything. For him or anything, just chill. Yeah. So it's funny. We get a lot of local celebrities, we get a lot of like, you know, local politicians and things like that that come by, but um, we need some we need some A-listers. Yeah, but post Malone will probably be an A-lister for sure. He would definitely be an A-lister. That would be one to one to hang our hats on for sure.

He lives in Utah, follows the Utes

Luke 39:12

And I think he I think he likes tailgating because like some one of my friends went to his concert and brought me a shirt back, and it's a post below tailgating shirt.

Manifesting Post Malone, Alex Smith, and a new Blackstone

Ryan 39:20

Oh no, I know, but he's that I have no doubt that he would enjoy himself. I have no doubt that he, you know, he loves Utah. There's like, you know, and he's actually there's a page photo with a Utah hat on, University of Utah hat on. And uh he'd really enjoy himself if we could just get him to come out. So I'd also probably be mobbed, right? I mean, he's he's such a although, you know, it's funny because he lives here and my friends will see him at the grocery store. I've yet to run into him. They have a they have a Keynes chicken place that has his truck out front and is painted pink and is all has all the post-balone memorabilia in it too. So he's become kind of a Utah, a Utah staple. Uh, we just need to get him to make him a Utah tailgang staple as well.

Completely reasonable list of requests

Luke 39:59

So if nothing else, during our podcast time today, we got to get uh posting and we gotta get Alex Smith and we gotta get you a new a new Grendel from Blackstyle. Exactly.

Ryan 40:10

This seems like a completely reasonable list of requests, is it not? It'd be a really good 2025 if all that happens. If that happens, I will fly you out for if any if any one of those three things happen, I will fly you out for a Utah game. How about that? I got Sky Miles.

Final pitch — don't sleep on Utah tailgating

Luke 40:28

There we go. All right. So so speaking of your tailgate as we uh wrap up here, like tell for the people at home that are like, you know, like Ryan seems like a like a stand-up guy that got a good like tailgate watch out there, really good food and all that. Sell them one more time if they're on the fence about coming out to visit you and get some get some tailgating tickets.

Luke is ready for Ryan to buy that flight

Ryan 40:45

Yeah, I mean, I think the the the biggest piece is I think there's a lot of assumptions about Utah, and and people are like, I just don't know. Do they don't drink? Do they but we absolutely throw some of the best tailgates in the country? Um, the view from from the Gardensman lot of the of the Wasatch Mountains is spectacular. Uh, we have amazing weather the vast majority of the time. Like the sunshine here is is crazy. Uh, and so if you have a chance, if your team's coming to Utah, uh come on out and join us. And you know, you can follow us on Utah Pig Bus uh on the Instagram or uh or I won't tell you how to follow Twitter well be well we well we get a little unhinged on Twitter sometimes, but check out our website and and use Telgate Connect. Telgate Connect is just an amazing tool to to link up with us. And we've already actually had a couple come in uh this season, and and we're still two weeks out from uh the first game of the season. So yeah, uh it's it's you'll you won't regret it. You'll enjoy yourself. Good food, good uh good drinks, and just a just a just a fun, fun experience, you know, for the whole family.

Luke 41:48

Yeah, no, again, I'm already excited to get actually I'm ready for you to get my flight out there, like you said a minute ago. So hopefully some of that comes to fruition.

Outro

Ryan 41:59

No, I I love it. Well, thanks, Lou. Thanks for doing this. This is a this is always fun to like, you know. I think people don't understand how how much fun this is. Or honestly, I think a lot of people don't understand that we take it really seriously, and it's uh it we put a lot of work into it, and I think people come up and enjoy the parties and they don't always understand all the everything that goes into it. And so just being able to to create that network of other people doing the same thing is really fun.

Luke 42:22

No, I mean that's one of the reasons that we started this podcast in 2025, is just that I feel like the there's not really a tailgating podcast out there. So it's kind of an underrepresented market, like millions and millions of people tailgate. Yeah, but I don't think everyone there there's some people that really take it seriously, like yourself, been doing it since 2004. The amount of work and passion and dedication and the stories that go behind that, I feel like just need to be heard, right? So I appreciate you being on the on the show today. No, it's great. Thanks for having me. Excellent. All right, for everybody that stayed to the end of the show this evening, thanks so much for hanging out with uh myself and Ryan. And if you're ready to get those tailgating tickets for Utah or any of the other hosts we have out there in college or NFL markets, hit up tailgateconnect.com. Let us be your easy button tailgating solution. And as always, we hope to see you at a tailgate soon. Have a good one.

Music 43:15

Tailgate connect. It's all here for you for drinking friends on the sky so blue.