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It started as a joke text between longtime tailgaters. Following Miami quarterback Jaden Rashada’s reported $9.5 million name, image and likeness deal associated with booster John Ruiz, Mark Cupelo joked that “The Fine Mess” tailgating group should sell their naming rights. The 10 or so members said if they threw in a few hundred dollars, maybe they’d compete with the $9.5 million. Then someone else said they’d throw $100 into the pool, then another.
“We expanded it, and expanded it, and $15,000 later, it’s become this,” player representative Mike Lentini said.
Cupelo said the tailgate garnered tons of donations — upwards of $3,000 from its members and others on the Syracuse Fans online forum. The group wanted to find an “under the radar” player that wasn’t getting a massive NIL deal, one that “busts his butt” every day and gets nothing.
Through Syracuse University’s ACCELERATE Exchange platform on the INFLCR app — which allows potential NIL dealers to communicate directly with players — the group asked players to pitch themselves. They canvased 26 redshirt sophomores and freshmen, asking questions about their passion for SU as well as their community involvement at home and in central New York. The last player, Enrique Cruz, stood out the most and won the tailgaters’ sponsorship.
“He talked about the work he does back in Chicago with his family supporting breast cancer research, talked about whenever he’s back home working with disadvantaged kids in the community,” Cupelo said.
Cruz’s response was late because he wanted his answers looked over by his mother and grandmother.
The Enrique “SyraCRUZ” tailgate, situated in the back of Henry Lot, expected 175 people — all who had to RSVP — prior to the Orange’s home opener against Louisville. The once-small group now sells Cruz merchandise and each member wore orange shirts with Cruz’s No. 70 on the back.
Back when the group was a little less than two dozen members at Henry Lot, it was called “The Fine Lot.” Beginning with a member nicknamed Texan Mark and based off the Laurel and Hardy skit “Another Fine Mess,” the group changed its name to “The Fine Mess,” according to Jeremy Conners.
In the week before the Louisville game, Conners’ wife Nell ran between Costco, Aldi and Wegmans to purchase all of the food for “The Fine Mess.” Nell attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas, where she gained the knowledge to create food spreads that include everything from cheeseburgers and hotdogs to bacon corn casserole. Prep — which can sometimes include upwards of four hours of planning — started Tuesday night and continued until Thursday, when she and Jeremy began cooking.
“You keep thinking ‘oh, this is gonna be it,’” Jeremy said. “And then it just keeps growing more and more.”
J.R. Heeter, the head brewer at The North Brewery in Endicott, New York, is the beer guy for the SyraCRUZ tailgate. He used to make “The Fine Mess IPA” specifically for the tailgates — a 6% beer containing a touch of a stone fruit flavoring. On Saturday, he brought the Drift Pale Ale in a 16 oz. gray bottle with orange-red trimming.
To Cupelo, the tailgate has come a long way since 2005. Now, they feed the security guard at the top of Henry Lot in exchange for a coned-off section in the back. Six canopy tents spread next to one another, each housing a different purpose — the grill, merchandise, television and living room. Set up began around 2 p.m. on Saturday, with the expected group trickling in by 3:30 p.m.
They talk about everything from whiskey to why Carlos Del Rio-Wilson could be the real deal. “(Donovan) McNabb-like,” Lentini said. They get in trouble with the university sometimes, most memorably prior to the Clemson game in 2019, when Cupelo estimated they had 325 people at the tailgate.
“What I tell the others is that they can do this too,” Cupelo said. “Maybe we can take care of a dozen players.
They still have their traditions that they began years ago. Lentini still brings a 6 oz. can of nonalcoholic Heineken that Cupelo gave him a decade ago. The crowd gathers around a television set in the middle of the day to watch a specialized video made by Cruz and fullback Chris Elmore. There’s a 50-50 raffle for a Cruz-signed football where half of the money goes to Cruz — who also got $5,000 up front from the group.
He talked about the work he does back in Chicago with his family supporting breast cancer research, talked about whenever he's back home working with disadvantaged kids in the community.Mark Cupelo, organizer of The Fine Mess tailgate
The group also brings in players from “non-football teams” to promote other SU sports. Saturday’s guest speaker was SU women’s basketball player Olivia Owens, a transfer from Kentucky who was rooting hard against Louisville.
Cupelo said he’s only missed six games in the last 40 years. He knew Gary McAfee, who helped out with the merchandise table, from the West Genesee High School band. James Giacovelli, who now handles the audio and technology at the tailgate, has worked with Cupelo for 40 years. The ages at the tailgate range from 8-year-old kids tossing a foam football and playing corn hole to guys in their 70s sitting in lawn chairs donning Syracuse hats and polos.
Giacovelli thinks the tailgate can garner national attention, envisioning a world where tailgates from rivaling schools have competitions. Athletes that would’ve otherwise gone unnoticed in an NIL world would now have the chance for local recognition.
“What’s bad about this?” Giacovelli asks. “This is a grassroots effort, and people like grassroots things.”
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