In a gross overreaction to the throngs of tailgaters that turned out for the Houston Texans-Dallas Cowboys regular season game (an intrastate mega event that happens in Houston once every eight years) the Texans have imposed a new, more exclusive tailgating policy to keep out scores of would-be fans.

Officials declared that only fans who have gameday tickets or have purchased "Paid Admission" tailgating tickets will now be permitted to tailgate on Reliant lots. Yeah, you read that right.

If you're not a ticket holder but want to root for your team? That'll be $10, please and thank you. Oh, and there are only 2,000 of these additional "Paid Admission" tailgating passes per game, meaning that, according to the Texans, had the policy been implemented last week, 18,000 fans would've been turned away.

Thousands of ticket-less fans aren't the only losers here. The new policy does much to punish devoted long-time fans by dampening the game-day energy, and it screws the season ticket holders. Tailgating tickets are limited because they're distributed in conjunction with season ticket-holders — only four extra tickets per account per game.

Many tailgaters (such as myself) are devoted, weekly attendants with an organized group, generators in tow, TVs broadcasting the game, trash bags at the ready and plenty of extra food to hand off to security and parking attendants. People like us have an emotional and monetary investment in the tradition. When I'm not with that group, I'm with a season ticket-holder who's had her tickets since 1999.

But the stadium didn't open until 2002, you say? That's right, she bought her season tickets in the bullpen when Reliant wasn't anything more than paper plans, and she's the one getting hurt, now that she can't guarantee all her friends access to judge barbecue competitions, get the group amped up and gladly man the tent when she's inside.

We were out tailgating (ticket-less) last weekend, and didn't see any worse-than-usual behavior that would justify such a drastic new policy. According to Texans officials, it's both a security issue and about preserving a good gameday environment for those who are actually going to the game.

It sounds like it has a lot to do with us plebes using up all the porta-potty paper and hogging the EMTs though.

Tailgating is part of what built the Texans up — to the point where they are now clearly the most popular team in the city. Forbes named Houston one of the Top 10 tailgating towns in the NFL, noting, "When the Texans began playing here, team management openly encouraged tailgating as a value added to the ticket price. Fan enthusiasm was immediate, and huge. The parking is big — there's tons of room around Reliant Stadium and the adjacent Reliant Astrodome, allowing for numerous big vehicles and large tailgater groups."

Now, the team is turning away from that tradition just as it establishes itself as a legitimate playoff contender.

We'll close with a quote from the Texans website: "The Houston Texans not only allow tailgating, we encourage it!" For some people; for a fee.

The new policy begins with the Texans-Giants game one week from Sunday.