

Dual Views: Kegs and Eggs



Ethan Kaiser:

I had never heard of the Kegs and Eggs phenomena until around this time last year when I was a freshman. Before you get angry at me for my opinion, understand that while I’m not a major proponent of the whole party scene, I’m far from someone who hates everyone that is involved in underage drinking.

My reaction to Kegs and Eggs now is exactly the same as it was last year: “What the heck is the point??”

Now, I’m not someone to despise people for drinking. This is college (+1 for using the blog title!), and I get that everyone wants to have fun. Great, go have fun, do your thing. I just absolutely will never see the need to go to sleep early just to wake up to get intoxicated. That’s just idiotic to me for so many reasons.

Is the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day really a legitimate excuse we can come up with for drinking even more? I’m not even Irish… most people aren’t. Is there really nothing better to be done on weekends? If you want to follow the crowd and get drunk at five in the morning, go for it. I (and I’m sure plenty of others) will find other things to do.

Maybe all of us will just drink at night as per the usual Friday night. But please don’t knock on my door trying to sell me a stupid green t-shirt for 15 bucks. I have better places to spend my money and sleep to catch up on tonight.

Dan Veet:


As a graduating senior, I look back on the last few years only to conclude that Kegs and Eggs is an event worth experiencing.

If not year after year, it’s something to witness at least once!

Why? You might ask.

Well… every year on the weekend before Saint Patrick’s Day, college students and drunkards alike will wake at the crack of dawn (sometimes earlier) in an effort to consume as many alcoholic beverages as possible before heading downtown to Albany’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. And while every weekend in Albany is an opportunity to hit the bars and various house parties, the Kegs and Eggs weekend consistently maintains its position as the city’s #1 party.

IT IS PURE INSANITY! Even if you’re not going to partake in the drinking, you have to be crazy to stay in and miss the massive amounts of people stumbling through the streets like a pack of leprechaun zombies. It’s a post-apocalyptic event painted green!

Some will carry on through the night and into the day, while others will wake in the morning, drinks prepared by the bedside. Despite whether you’re and early riser or an all nighter, intentions are all the same. Drink your worries away and celebrate!

I know Kegs and Eggs might not be an event for everyone… but I have to say… if you plan on staying home, you really have no idea what you’re missing. For those of you that will be staying home in bed catching up on some sleep, the rest of us will be saving sleep for the other 364 days of the year.

Stealing a little gem from the amazing Charlie Sheen, on this outrageous weekend before Saint Patrick’s Day, the city of Albany has one speed, one gear, GO!

What’s your opinion on Kegs and Eggs? Comments are encouraged below!

Dan V

50 Responses

  1. Jacob Fischler says:

    Van Deet!

  2. Alex Jackson says:

    It makes the Irish look like the stereotype just so people have an excuse to look like assholes. Don’t use a culture as a reason to drink, its offensive, and you don’t need an excuse to drink, god knows its going to happen anyway.

  3. Sara says:

    I agree with Ethan. It’s absurd that people need to start drinking so early just to commemorate a holiday which means nothing to most people. I’ll drink to celebrate the holiday, but I don’t find it necessary. I would much rather sleep in late then wake up at five am to start drinking. I feel like kegs and eggs is just an excuse to celebrate a holiday that isn’t relative to most people, and I’m pretty sure most of them have no idea what St. Patrick’s Day is really about.

  4. Dan Veet says:

    Alex and Sara –

    While I respect your opinion on the matter of Kegs and Eggs, I think you kind of missed the point. We’re all at our midterm point in the semester and most of us need to blow of some steam and have a good time. For a lot of college students, getting together and drinking is a good way to remedy that stress.

    It’s likely true that most students don’t know what St Patrick’s Day is really about… the fact of the matter is that most people don’t really know what its about either. Ultimately St. Patrick’s Day is no longer a day to celebrate St. Patrick but more or less a day to celebrate something a lot Irish people like to do… drink.

    You don’t need to be Irish to enjoy these festivities, thats like saying you HAVE to be Christian to enjoy Christmas…

  5. Andrew says:

    And besides, St. Patty’s Day is relative to most people in Albany, Irish make up the largest ancestry group at 18%. And even if you’re not, the saying goes, everyone’s Irish on St. Patty’s Day. Don’t feel like an outcast if you’re not Irish, you should come out and celebrate your grander ability to tan or do complex math!

  6. Sara says:

    So your point is that you need to get drunk with people you most likely don’t know or don’t even like to blow off stress for midterms that aren’t even over yet? Yeah, I really missed my point huh?
    Like I said, it’s DUMB! There are a lot more rational ways to blow off stress and if getting hammered all day long is your only way you can think of to blowing off steam, that’s weak! Getting drunk is not gonna help you blow off stress, most of the time it just hurts you in the end. So while you are out getting hammered and making yourself look pathetic while drinking at ungodly hours, I will be spending time with good friends and family and still having fun.
    Hope your liver doesn’t hate you, but I’m sure it will.

  7. Ethan K says:

    Dan, I’m going to rebut your comment with one of my own. First off, the Irish people, you know the ones in Ireland, don’t have drinking problems. Plenty of students at SUNY Albany have drinking problems. That’s an Irish stereotype that should be an American stereotype. People want to have fun, of course I can understand that. There’s other ways and times to have fun. But it’s unfair to the city of Albany and the SUNY staff that has to clean up the mess. It’s unfair to people like me who wanted to sleep and had work the next morning, only to be woken up by blasting music, yelling, and vuvuzelas from 3 AM to 7 AM. There’s a fine line between fun and immaturity and I think those involved in Kegs and Eggs love to flirt with it. The idea of “it’s fun” is not a fair reason to me to condone Kegs and Eggs. Sometimes college kids just need to be more mature.

  8. Dan Veet says:

    I have one name… Tom Ryan… an Irish friend of mine who just moved to the states… he would disagree with you entirely Ethan. Like I said, I respect your opinions but it sounds like you guys are just a little uptight. Get off your high horses… its one weekend out of the entire year!

  9. Ethan K says:

    Yeah yeah yeah, well… get your head outta the gutter, let’s meet in the middle!

  10. Sara says:

    It’s not being uptight, it’s being mature and civil. Just because you know a whopping total of one person who is Irish doesn’t make your point any stronger. I have family in Ireland and they do not spend their days drunk and clinging to their beers, they are civil humans just like the rest of us, well maybe not you. It may be one weekend, but it’s also a weekend where people are trying to study for midterms so it would help if people would grow up. Your in college now and I’m not saying you shouldn’t have fun, I’m just saying this is going overboard.

  11. Ryan Crexton says:

    Ethan, Irish people struggle with alcoholism significantly. It is a problem in Ireland (and really everywhere for that matter).

    Also, Kegs and Eggs sounds wonderful. I wish I could experience it. However, I would boycott it if there were no actual eggs served. If at least some sort of breakfast/brunch is served, the practice should be venerated. If not, condemned.

    Word to your mother.

  12. Dan Veet says:

    Sara –

    I know a lot of people who are Irish, a lot of my family is Irish, and my friend Tom is just one person that I know you is actually from Ireland. I only bring him up because in the last few years that I’ve known him, on several occasion he has brought up the fact that the Irish love to drink.

    Also, I never said that people from Ireland spend their days drunk and clinging to beers. What I said and will keep saying is that this is one weekend out of an entire year that anyone can celebrate by drinking… whether it be heavy drinking or moderate… it doesn’t matter.

    While it may be “overboard,” there are a lot of us who can handle it, who can do it responsibly and have a really good time. On the other hand there are a lot of people who cannot and thus give Kegs and Eggs a really bad name…

    If you want to study… stay in the library or your dorm room! I don’t know why you would be out studying in the streets of Albany from 3am to 9pm Friday into Saturday…. you must be hardcore!


    Don’t be such a herbasaurus rex!

  13. Ethan K says:

    Dan – you don’t live on campus to know how loud people were this weekend. I couldn’t sleep at all to wake up for work. Yes, I was in my room. Believe it or not, SUNY Albany’s astounding budget didn’t include soundproofing everything. What will have to be included in it is the aftermath of this – like fixing the shattered glass doors that people decide they need to break when drunk. Nothing wrong with stress relief and having fun, but think about the negative effects that come out of it for other people.

  14. NMF says:

    There’s a difference between blowing off steam by drinking… and rioting in the streets, damaging personal property, etc. You can’t have fun without embarrassing the rest of the University at Albany? You realize this kind of mindset is what ruined Fountain Day? Why can’t people have fun and drink without taking it to the extreme and ruining it for everyone? How proud will you all be when the City decides not to have a parade anymore?

  15. JW says:

    Hope the felons enjoy their night in jail and early morning court appearance.

    Nice Fail.

  16. Dan Veet says:

    NMF -

    In no way do I condone what happened on Hudson Avenue and I am fairly confident that the majority of the Albany student community would agree that it is embarrassing and upsetting.

    It’s a shame that a small group of people on one block can ruin the event for the rest of the city. The students that rioted, caused chaos and attacked Albany police do not represent the majority of students and will have to answer for the crimes they committed. As a matter of fact, there were a number of people including myself and a lot of my friends that enjoyed Kegs and Eggs responsibly. There is no problem with getting up early to drink and celebrate with your friends as long as it’s done peacefully and responsibly.

    Now… there have been problems on Hudson Avenue for years, this is well known by students from Albany, Siena, Saint Rose and HVCC. It is also well known by the Albany police department. The entire block between Quail and Ontario is known for over-the-top and often ridiculous parties. I think it would have been a good decision for the Albany police to patrol the area before things started to get out of hand.

    I think it’s unfortunate that we need to wait for riots to start before the city realizes what needs to be done. These thing were happening last spring, then over the Halloween weekend and now Kegs and Eggs. Ultimately, these things happen every weekend on Hudson, if not every night!

    If the city of Albany needs to do anything right now, it should be taking a good hard look at Hudson Avenue and making a solid effort to work with students to clean it up. It would be beneficial to the entire Albany community.

  17. Rachel says:

    I graudated from SUNY Albany when most of the bars were still open. .25 cent drafts at Pauly’s and partying at The Branch were awesome. However, the whole idea of kegs n eggs was a turn off. Did I drink on St. Patty’s day? Probably…but I know that the SUNY students who walked back drunk from downtown bars while covered in beer “claimed” that they had a good time, but for whatever reason–the following year they did not wake up extra early to go get beer showers.

    People do it once just to say that they went, but come on…5 felony charges and 1000′s of dollars in damage..kegs n eggs just went from an experience to a life changing experience, and not in a good way.

  18. Victor Campana says:

    “Blow off steam” ???? from what? you are in college – what will you need to do when you enter the real world with jobs, layoffs, marriage, divorce, kids, mortgage, taxes, and lazy bums living off your tax dollars?

    Four years of our tax dollars being spent to eddideucate someone, their idea of the best thing to do is watch a bunch of drunks?? Yeah, lets hurry up sand throw more tax dollars at that educational process.

  19. Chris says:

    The entire Saturday St. Patrick’s Day celebration is just another amateur day / night for most people. The drinking age is set at 21. These kids that cause the problems shouldn’t be drinking in the first place. Every St. Patricks Day parade I’ve been to has numerous underage drinkers causing havoc for normal people that want to enjoy and celebrate their Irish heritage. I think the kids need to stay in bed and let the adults do the partying. We are the ones that need to blow off steam after having to deal with children all day.

  20. Kelly says:

    Dan, its great that you feel you and your friends partied responsibly…were there underage drinkers among your friends? Yes? Then that was NOT responsible! Now, for the of age drinkers that were not part of the actual distruction of other people’s personal property, judging by the videos, they were not doing anything to act responsible by either calling police themselves or simply leaving. Hopefully Mr Kiernan and Ms Cohen (to name a few) got their enjoyment out of it all…..while they’re sitting in ACJ awaiting mommy and daddy to come bail them out. I also hope that the university decides to expel those who are charged with the felonies. Partying is one thing, destroying someone else’s property is not!

  21. SPete says:

    I agree with Dan Veet in that more needs to be done by the police and the city of Albany. I’m not aware of any “riots” like this when I went to Suny Albany 10 years ago but it seems the same problem areas/streets still exist.

    I mean 95% of the kids that need to get tanked to “blow off steam” are pretty dumb and irresponsible so I’m not going to depend on them to police themselves; outside control is needed.

  22. Vinayaka says:

    You know, maybe everyone should get some greater perspective. Compare this sickening lot to the young people who are standing up to dictatorships in the streets of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Middle East, or those who stood alongside workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana. What an obvious contrast in values and sense of community. There’s no excuse for these spoiled and pampered louts who think the tri-cities is their play-ground to treat like a toilet…Sickening….

  23. Dan Veet says:

    Victor -

    A lot of students know how to have a good time and on occasion, drink without being excessive. Kegs and Eggs is an event that we look forward to because it’s generally around the same time the snow clears and we can finally get outside and breathe. Combined with midterms, it’s a good reason to celebrate. I refuse to let a handful of idiots represent the student community.

    Since freshman year I have had a part time job, I go to school and get great grades. I live in my own apartment, I pay my own bills, food, gas, tuition, taxes, etc. I have a lot of friends who are in the same situation. Seems close enough to the real world for me. You should try not to stereotype just because there were a few bad eggs! That just seems ignorant…

    Fact of the matter is that Kegs and Eggs used to be a sight to see (for all of Albany!), but after this year it looks like we’ll have to babysit the idiots on Hudson Avenue.

    By the way… maybe you should review your writing before you post a comment… eddiddeucate?

  24. Sara E. says:

    I am a SUNY Albany graduate and let’s face it, while the disgusting display of stupidity on Saturday was extreme, it is something we’ve seen before from a large portion of the students in the Albany area. It’s a complete disregard for private property and a mentality that because this area isn’t their hometown ::cough::Long Island::cough:: it should be treated like a dump.

    Scores of overprivileged, ungrateful kids getting drunk and trashing the neighborhood is not what Kegs and Eggs should be about. I went out for Kegs and Eggs in college and it wasn’t all that. You get dowsed in beer, and walk around in the freezing cold, drunk and smelling like Keystone, which smells strongly of urine. It’s not being uptight to say that this tradition is pointless, because it is. Frats fighting other frats, sorority girls wrestling in dingy keystone, guys turning into cavemen and throwing tv’s and beer bottles at someone’s car, yea, all that sounds like such a blast.

    Forget just hanging out with friends, getting drunk at a bar listening to some tunes, I want to go yell obscenities at police officers, degrade women and do keg stands. Because dude, college is like so hard with all that sleeping through class and complaining to professors about my D on that paper, dude I need like a serious blackout drinking binge now.

    This stuff makes me embarrassed to say I graduated from SUNY Albany.

  25. Dan Veet says:

    Kelly –

    1) I am of age and so are all of my friends so yes… we were responsible. We woke very early and we drank… yes we drank! Do we wake up early everyday and do this… No. If you were down on Pearl Street after 11am did you notice all the drunk 30/40/50 years olds? I know I did!

    2) The issues occurred between Quail and Ontario on Hudson Ave. This is a very small but highly trafficked student area. Look at a Google map if you’re unfamiliar with it. Parties go on here all the time, underage drinking goes on here all the time! The city and its cops generally do a poor job with this particular section of the city. Look at the block party from 2009, Halloween 2010 and now kegs and eggs 2011. The same stuff was going on last year too… so answer me this… why weren’t the cops prepared and available to monitor this street before a bunch of tanked bros and idiots incited riots? Just clean up Hudson Avenue already!

    3) The people responsible for the Kegs and Eggs crimes will have to own up. Aside from assaulting police, causing riots and damaging property, these people ruined Kegs and Eggs and further damaged an already weak image of the student community. They should be held accountable for their crimes, but in no way should they be looked at as representatives of the student population.

  26. NMF says:

    @Vinayaka Exactly. Young people on the other side of the globe are protesting against armed military group for the chance to participate in fair elections. The Japanese are recovering from the worst earthquake tsunami they have ever seen- an earthquake 100 times stronger than Haiti! And people across the country are fighting for collective bargaining “rights”. What are these nit-wits doing? Drinking and rioting because the snow melted? Really?

    Dan, I’m not going to agree with most of your points, but I’ll agree that we can’t let a small minority of students ruin it for all of us. But the corralary is that we have to DO something about that. I spent my years at UAlbany trying to prove that we’re more than the Fountain Day school, and I guess we need to keep doing more.

    See this event this week ( about the GOOD things UAlbany students do. Let’s let the tens of thousands of community service hours UAlbany students do make news- not the three hours of flipping cars.

  27. Kegs & Egg'er says:

    I am a U Albany student that participated in Keggs and Eggs. I have to disagree with all you party poopers.

    First of all, nothing proves you’re Irish heritage like drinking watered down Miller light for breakfast. We are real drinkers on Hudson Ave, none of that sissy Coors light. We drink hardcore like like the Irish!

    Second, not only do we drink hardcore, but we start at 7 AM and go all the way till Noon! I’d like to see any of you try to drink 6 cans of Miller Light and not either A) throw up B) pass out or C) get arrested! Yeah, What! We prove year in and year out why we are the biggest tools because we’re done by Noon.

    Third, we don’t care what any of you have to say about damage to property. All of our property is provided by our Mommies and Daddies (who also have big lawyer friends) who will take care of us whenever we get into trouble.

    Lastly, we have mandatory GPA minimum of 1.8 in our house, so I dont want to hear nothing about academics. We each will earn double minors in spray tans and hair gel, so we get 3 degrees for the price of one.

    So quit hating on the party goers. If it wasnt for us getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly, everyone would forget about what Irish heritage is really all about.

  28. Apathetic says:

    The solution is becoming quite clear to me. SUNY Plattsburgh solved the issue back in the 80′s after the riots that occurred up there one St. Patrick’s day and they had to call out the National Guard to restore order. SUNY Albany and the The College of Saint Rose NEEDS to schedule their Spring Break to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day. As a student, I did not like the fact my Spring Break was so early in the semester, but as an adult, I see the wisdom behind it.

  29. Semr says:

    Just an embarrassment to UAlbany, completely disgusting.

  30. TC says:

    I think that kegs and eggs has gotten way out of hand in recent years. The one time I did it 5 years ago, me and my roommates just went to a bar (the long branch) had fun there and then went home. I did not see anyone massing in the streets causing riots or fighting during the middle of the morning like people seem to now. I think the big difference is that college students at the time could easily go to underage bars like the long branch or paulies and pay a cover for all you can drink beer for a few hours. Of course now, there are no places that a person under 21 can go so it seems that instead they go to house parties downtown, get far more drunk than they would otherwise and then get antsy about sitting in a house for hours and then start roaming the streets of the student ghetto causing trouble. I think this is why these incidents have been happening in recent years and seem to be getting worse each year. At least when they were celebrating kegs and eggs in the bars, they were being controlled in a way by bartenders and bouncers. Now, they are free to drink for as long as they want and as much as they want in private dwellings. Also, I think banning this event would only hurt businesses and people of age who are responsible and weren’t involved in this type of behavior. In other words, I think Albany is starting to see what happens when you drive underage drinking underground (which in this city essentially wasn’t for many years)and incite more and more people to drink in a uncontrolled, fraternity driven environment like many other college towns throughout the country.