Last Updated on 08/19/2021 by Inside Tailgating
Amidst the thousands of expert tailgaters at LSU, Daniel “Day-Day” Ritter’s T.U.B. (“The Unsupervised Bus”) and corresponding Unsupervised Tailgating group stand out as truly original and fanatic Tigers supporters. Dating back to the mid-90s as students, Ritter and his friends began dubbing their guys-night-out crew as “Unsupervised” when they’d step away from their significant others. Unsupervised has since become “a lifestyle, not just a tailgating group,” says Ritter of him and his pals.
The crew has a fantasy football league, volleyball team, softball team, and has been discussing an Unsupervised bar. Their tailgating began with a small trailer that was later replaced by a larger trailer platform. When the group realized it was time to invest in a larger tailgating operation, they ended their last pre-T.U.B. tailgate by throwing their broken-down speakers, old couch and rusty BBQ pit into a small fire they’d built to keep warm. “Before you knew it, everything we owned was in the fire,” recalls Ritter. The flames leaped some 10-feet high and attracted local firemen and policemen to contain it. “I don’t know how anybody didn’t get in trouble that game.”
Unsupervised bought a 1982 Ford school bus for $600 and turned it into “the perfect mix of party bus and RV.” Thus, the T.U.B. was born. At the T.U.B.’s debut, Ritter and his crew tried to squeeze the giant purple vehicle into their former parking spot, but police and security quickly directed them to RV parking. Good for only five miles per gallon, Unsupervised has saved gas money by actually towing the T.U.B. to away games in recent years. Inside the T.U.B. you’ll find a gold and purple coffin, used by Unsupervised as an ice chest. The food offerings differ from game to game and are usually based on the opponent, for instance alligator meat for Florida games or a pig roast when Arkansas visits. For this year’s opener at Cowboys Stadium against Oregon, duck is on the menu, of course.
Unsupervised is constantly upgrading their equipment and improving their tailgate. Through sponsorships and memberships, they’ve been able to make thousands of dollars of improvements to the T.U.B. since its inception, and keep their tradition going strong. “We’re getting older, getting married, having kids,” Ritter says. “It’s hard to keep the group together, but somehow we always find a way to do it and keep the group going.”
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