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TCU 360

TCU 360

All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

Students discuss religious topics in a small group. (Photo courtesy of tcuwesley.org)
Wednesday nights at TCU’s Methodist campus ministry provide religious exploration and fellowship
By Boots Giblin, Staff Writer
Published Mar 27, 2024
Students at the Wesley said they found community on Wednesday nights.

Get your pregame face on: Things to do before hitting the field

Get your pregame face on: Things to do before hitting the field

What to do on game day? From food and drink specials off campus to family-friendly fun in Frog Alley, TCU and the surrounding area has plenty to offer fans before a Horned Frog football game.

On Campus

The on-campus tailgate will move to yet another location, making it the third location in three years. The Student Government Association helped bring alcohol back to the student tailgate on campus this year.

All beers will cost $2.25 and there will be a limit of four beers per person. SGA plans to spread the tailgate out between four dormitories on the north side of campus: Colby, Sherley, Waits and Foster.

However, Fosters will not be among the beer sold at the tailgate; those that would be sold are Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors Lite, according to the article.

For more of a family oriented atmosphere, Frog Alley would be the place to go, said Jason Byrne, director of athletics marketing. He said Frog Alley would feature a live band, a big screen TV for fans to watch other games before the TCU game, inflatable games and face painters.

“Every year we try to expand and evaluate Frog Alley and make that even more fun for our fan base,” Byrne said.

Off Campus

A number of the restaurants within walking distance of campus said business will increase on game days. It is not just the Frog faithful that make up the business, but the opposing fans as well, said Steve Piland, the general manager of Fuzzy’s.

He said business is normally up 10 to 20 percent, but if the opposing fans are familiar with the area business could go up even more.

The Aardvark

Manager Ryan Harvey said the bar would offer all-day happy hours and the full menu all day on game day weekends. The Aardvark will also feature new menu items like its Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwich. The highlight might be the bucket of beer for $15 that comes with a free appetizer, and if you can’t find a ticket to the game, the Aardvark has 5 HDTVs and a big screen projector.

Dutch’s

Drink specials, particularly pints of beer, should be the name of the game at Dutch’s, said supervisor Jennifer Land.

“Some of it depends on the crowd,” she said. “If it’s a lot parents we might do something a little different, but if it’s a lot of students or alumni here, like younger people, we’ll do pint specials.”

If Dutch’s is part of your game day lunch plan, make sure you get there early. Land said the line can reach University Drive at times.

Red Cactus

The drink specials will be $2.50 drafts and $3.75 margaritas on the rocks, said Mario Calera, manager at Red Cactus. As far as food goes, beef and chicken fajita platters and sauteed tilapia will be the specials, each for $8.99.

Others

Staffers at Buffalo Bros. and Potbelly’s said their restaurants would not offer anything different on game days, but said that business normally increases on game day.

Fans would be advised not to stay outside Amon Carter Stadium for too long, because pregame festivities will start 20 minutes before kickoff, Byrne said. The marching band will take the field and perform for the home crowd at that point.

Before the first home game the marketing department and the Air Force ROTC plan on organizing a pregame ceremony in observance of Friday’s Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day, said Byrne. For the first home game, the freshman class, along with the children’s pep group the Bleacher Creatures, will have the opportunity to form part of the tunnel that the players run through to take the field.

One of the more anticipated pregame elements among fans is to watch the team’s new pregame video. Byrne said the marketing department plans to take advantage of that by holding screenings of the video on Friday in the Brown-Lupton University Union auditorium.

Byrne said the screenings would be at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

For fans that are still in the mood to benefit from a football weekend after a game, a couple businesses plan to offer discounts following Horned Frog wins. Frogberry has a plan to offer a discount depending on how many points TCU wins by, said Chad Estes, who owns the establishment.

For example, if the Frogs crush their opponent by 30 points, then students will receive a 30 percent discount with their TCU ID. Frogberry is still deciding on when to make this offer available, Estes said.

The TCU Barnes & Noble will offer a similar discount on Mondays following Frog victories, Llisa Lewis, the store’s general manager, said. The bookstore will give students up to 20 percent off of their total clothing purchase.

When asked how many students the discount brings into the store, Lewis laughed and asked, “How many students are there?”

The Frogs open their home season on Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. game against Texas State.

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