Metro Pulse/Cover/UT Sports Issue

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Field Generals
In a year of great QBs, the Vols should come out on top

Walking?
UT's most notorious physical-education class is not just a stroll in the park

Try 5,000 Pizzas

Football Season, Dammit!
Confessions of a Vanderbilt fan

The Real Rules of the Game
What do those funny little men in stripes mean by those funny little gestures?

Win or lose, the Neyland crowd has to eat and drink

by Joe Tarr

Worried about how much food to prepare for your Vols season opener bash? Will your guests prefer Coke, ginger ale, or Sprite more? Do you have enough for your vegetarian guests? Just how many hotdogs do most people eat, anyway? Will you have enough salsa and humus?

As troubling as these questions might seem, you can rest assured that your planning worries are nothing compared to what the folks at Neyland Stadium will be going through.

"We're the fifth-largest city in the state on game day," says Jim Bletner, who is in charge of concessions at Neyland. "It's not unusual for us to go through 180,000 pounds of ice. Hotdogs would be around two tons. We'll go through maybe 5,000 pizzas." Depending on how hot it is, they could sell anywhere from 40,000 to 200,000 sodas.

Although they deal in volumes surreal to most of us, the food services for Neyland Stadium and its skyboxes have one advantage. They do this so often, it's all become a routine. But for some, it's a grueling routine, nonetheless.

Aramark Corp. contracts with the university to provide buffet service in the skyboxes. Steven Lundberg worked his way up from a single buffet manager to his current job as human resource director. His wife overseas the food production.

"The actual production will begin as early as 12 hours before kickoff," Lundberg says. "So if it's a 3:30 kickoff or a 1:30 kickoff, folks are in there pretty early in the morning."

Aramark, which also provides service at all of UT's dining halls and restaurants, prepares the food at the University Center's kitchen. The food has to be at the stadium four hours before kickoff. Each skybox level has a small kitchen where some more prep work can be done.

Food safety issues limit the type of dishes they can prepare. The buffets are fairly simple—a carved meat item like ham or turkey, a second entree such as chicken breast, vegetables, a starch like rice or potatoes, two salads, bread, and a dessert.

For the 2,400 people (including 500 press) in the skyboxes, that adds up to about 600 pounds of meat. The food is served two hours before kickoff and removed at kickoff.

The early lead time is a necessity of Vol crowds. "If we've underestimated something, there's a headache of getting it over to the stadium as a sea of orange descends on it," Lundberg says.

At halftime, hotdogs are served—1-1/2 per person or a total of about 3,600 are prepared, Lundberg says. They try to get these estimates down to as close as possible. "It's not something that bodes well for either party if there's leftovers," he says.

There are about 14 to 16 people in the University Center preparing the food, 45 to 50 serving it in the skyboxes, and truck drivers to move the food back and forth from the kitchen to the stadium. But, because attendance at UT's dining halls and restaurants also jumps, employees are needed everywhere. "Really, it's an all hands on deck operation," Lundberg says.

Outside the skyboxes, there are about 1,500 people serving fans, including student and community groups that have booths, as well as venders who squeezing through the bleachers, Bletner says.

As the game winds down, most of the staff from the skyboxes gets a chance to watch the rest of the action, says Lundberg. "It's a good place to see the game," he says. "My personal preference would be outside with everybody else. It's more electric being in with the crowd."

Although he admits that the meals are not extravagant, Lundberg says a lot of attention is put on the details. The skyboxes are decorated the day before each game and the meals usually reflect a theme.

"If we're playing LSU, there may be some kind of Cajun cooking. Thanksgiving we'll usually have some kind of holiday flair."

Of course, they also see their share of celebrities in the boxes—actors David Keith and Patricia Neal have been to several games, as have several ex-Vols.