MARK MY WORD: WHEN IT COMES TO TAILGATE PARTIES, RAMS FANS ARE COOKIN'

Forget the cold. Rams fans are a hardy lot, particularly when they're consuming large quantities of food and beverages at tailgate parties.

I managed to get a ticket to the Rams-Vikings playoff game in St. Louis last weekend, courtesy of my brother-in-law who has season tickets.

We ended up spending Saturday night in a 20-foot camper outside the TWA Dome so we'd be ready for Sunday's grilling gourmets. A few other Rams fans spent the night camped out in equipped-for-everything mobile homes.

My brother-in-law's camper was clearly a poor cousin to those homes-away-from-home. But that didn't bother us. We had an outdoor grill and plenty of steaks and potatoes to eat, as well as ice-cold beverages.

But nothing prepared me for Sunday morning when I awoke to parking lots crowded with all manner of vehicles and outdoor grills. Overnight, the parking lots had been transformed into one big cookout.

Many of the tailgaters had Rams flags which they hoisted on portable flagpoles like some long-ago explorers taking possession of the New World.

Some of the fans set up elaborate tents, complete with portable heaters. Music blared from Boom Boxes.

Fans painted their faces blue and yellow. One man's bald pate was painted like a Rams helmet. Others covered their heads in blue-and-yellow balloon hats.

A man in a tuxedo walked a ram through the crowd of tailgaters. I'm not talking about football players. This ram was of the four-legged, petting zoo variety.

The creature seemed to take all the festivities in stride as a news-crew helicopter circled above, capturing the antics of the happy crowd.

The aroma of smoke hung in the air. Charcoal- and wood-fueled grills were everywhere.

I've never seen so many outdoor grills in one place. It was the Environmental Protection Agency's worst nightmare: All those unregulated fires smoking up the place and creating global warming.

Actually, it wasn't that warm, except when we stood in front of those portable heaters. But none of us were worried about the climate just as long as the food got done.

Guys, who would never think about cooking any other time, jumped at the chance to grill chicken kabobs and bratwurst over an open fire.

Everywhere you looked, people were eating and drinking beverages or setting up their portable kitchens so they could eat and drink beverages. Nobody was going hungry.

From time to time, a few Vikings fans would walk through the sea of Rams fans, provoking good-natured kidding.

One Vikings fan even left us with a plastic, horned Vikings helmet to kick around.

Many of the tailgaters didn't have tickets to the playoff game. That didn't matter. They were there to root on their favorite team and, more importantly, eat a lot.

You can't help but like a sport that gives adults and whole families an excuse to use the grill in the dead of winter.

Some tailgaters brought along television sets so they could watch the pre-game show while huddled out in the cold. One fan sought to improve TV reception by sticking beer cans on the antenna. As far as I could tell, it didn't help.

Some fans brought props with them. A cardboard cutout of Rams tackle Orlando Pace guarded one tent.

Even President Clinton was on hand for the occasion in the form of a cardboard cutout. Nobody paid him much attention. After all, it's tough to turn away from all that food.

We finally pulled ourselves away from the parking-lot party and headed into the TWA Dome where the Rams crushed the Vikings before a sellout crowd of frenzied fans.

After the game, the tailgate party resumed in full force. There seemed to be plenty of food still left to cook.

But my brother-in-law's camper isn't lit for night driving. So we hooked it up to his pickup and headed home.

The victory was sweet, but our clothes smelled of smoke. All that grilling has a way of rubbing off on you.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.