Slate Voice

MIDDLETOWN, Conn.—Dave Bagatelle and a handful of his buddies sat in folding chairs on a Saturday morning this fall, chomping on thick cigars and sipping Sapporo beers. It was early, still a few hours before that afternoon’s game between the Wesleyan Cardinals and Bates Bobcats, but the party had already started. Bagatelle and his friends played football at Wesleyan in the 1980s and they’ve been tailgating at Andrus Field ever since.