Mid Season Review

It does not appear that good things happened for Sammy, Timmy and Colt for spurning the millions the NFL would have awarded them...2 shoulder injuries, a concussion and an inept offense is all they got out of it. To boot, none of them improved their draft positions for next year. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture......very closely and make a tough choice.

So who are the contenders and who are the pretenders at this point? Bama, TCU and Cincy are all playing tough and consistent. I will not be surprised to see Texas, Florida and Iowa each lose a regular season game. Boise will go undefeated but will drop in the polls. Several 1 loss teams will be ahead of them at the end. SC is tough but young, they will lose again. Miami appears to be getting back on track however they will lose again. Lets go around the conferences for trendy picks to be on top at the end of the year:

ACC - Miami
Big East - Cincy
Big 10 - Iowa
Big 12 - OSU
Conference USA - Tulsa
Mid America - CMU
Mountain West - TCU
Pac 10 - Oregon
SEC - Bama
Sun Belt - LMU
WAC - Boise
Indy - Notre Dame

Great games this weekend. Be sure to watch at least 3 or 4 of them!

Week 5

Several really great games last week of note: Notre Dame versus UW featured 2 of the top pro QB prospects in the nation. Yeah that's right, get over it ND haters, Clausen will make a nice paycheck at the next level! The outcome makes the pending SC game that much more interesting. Navy & Ar Force into OT in a battle of the Service Academies. In the late late game if you did not see the Idaho Vandals upset the Colorado State Rams in the Kibbie Dome you missed a great game and a stud QB for I duh Ho! The Badgers and the Gophers in the new "real" stadium in Minnesota. The Spartans laying one on Rich Rod and the wolverines in the battle of Stimulus State. LSU's big win of the Dawgs and Auburn staying perfect for now. Cal, sorry but you suck and you should expect Stanford to whoop you this year. OU, thank you for participating this year, but your season is over. Does anyone think it was a good idea for Bradford, Teabag and the real McCoy to come back this year? It is not looking like it so far. Does Bobby Bowden know what day of the week it is?

The Tailgate enjoyed the games from the famous worn out couch in my family room. After missing the three previous weeks the games were that much more enjoyable.

Radio (Brian)and have the CFB + junket all planned out now:

Colorado @ Oklahoma State Thursday 11/19
Visiting OU, SMU and TCU stadiums on Friday the 11/20 for tours
Army @ North Texas Saturday 11/21
Redskins @ Dallas Sunday 11/22
Notre Dame @ Stanford 11/28

September in the Mirror

I am back on the continent after missing three weeks of college football in Europe. I was able to keep up on scores and managed to watch parts of several games in Amsterdam. So my observations from abroad: Who are the contenders and who are the pretenders? The next two weeks will tell allot. USC/Cal, LSU/GA, Ok/Miami and Notre Dame/UW will all be intriguing match ups on Saturday. We miss you Sam Bradford and get well Tim Tebow. Will Mr. Best be at his best tomorrow? Colt McCoy the Heisman is yours to lose. I actually declined a free ticket to the SC/Cal game due to some scheduling conflicts. The tailgate will be in full action from the couch most of Saturday. Cant wait!!

Here is a tailgating recipe from Feasty John of the world famous Feasty Boys:

Feasty BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
1 lb. Extra Large Shrimp, peeled/deveined
1 lb . Hickory Smoked Bacon
1 can Water Chesnuts
Old Bay Seasoning
Barbeque Sauce
Toothpicks

Over medium heat, slowly fry bacon to the point it begins to turn brown. Remove from grease and drain on a paper towel. Peel and de-vein shrimp. Wrap each shrimp around a piece of water chestnut and wrap each with a slice of pre-cooked bacon. Secure bacon around shrimp with toothpicks. Place toothpicked shrimp on a plate and liberally sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning. Top generously with your favorite commercial bbq sauce and allow to rest for 1/2 hour prior to grilling. Grill shrimp over medium high heat or placed in the oven at 400 degrees (no turning necessary) for 10 minutes.

Week 1 recap

Wow, what an awesome first week of the 2009 College Football season! 5 days of games capped off with a phenomenal offensive battle between FSU (Not Frostburg) and Miami on Monday night.

Welcome back to the gridiron Greg Paulus! Impressive showing after 5 years away. Rich Rod, Charlie Weiss and Lane Kiffin all had critical wins for the embattled coaches association (ECA). Navy, you could have dropped anchor in the horse Shoe but you let one sail away. Many other great games such as Iowa and NIU , OK State putting a whoopin on the dawgs, Colorado/Colorado State and the big BYU upset over OU. Who will shoulder the Sooner load now with slinging Sammy out?

All in all it was a great weekend of football. However, the weekend will mostly be remembered for one ugly incident after the Boise State/Oregon game. Did the punishment fit the crime? Some say yes and some no. WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

The Tailgate traveled to Bezerkley to watch the Terps take on Cal. Pre game festivities were held at Manny's Tap Room (formerly known as Raleigh's) on Telegraph avenue. Wearing Terrapin red, I was only slightly heckled by the Bear Faithful. The game was not suspenseful to say the least.

The Tailgate is heading over to Europe the next three Saturdays to promote American College Football (and for business and leisure with Amy for a week in Italy). Nonetheless, the Tailgate will tune in via ESPN 360 for many of the games.

A "Blount" Instrument - WOW!!!

Cut and paste in your browser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtPoC8jJzRA

Are you ready for some football!!!

The final countdown has begun....first games will kickoff on Thursday with games each day all the way through Monday....5 days of College Football in a row!!!

In addition to the games mentioned in my last post, I will be attending a game at Fresno State with my daughter on a trip there to look at the school for her. She will learn the art of tailgating with pops.

Some tips for in home tailgating:

Get up early and put on ESPN Game Day ( west coast it is 7 AM!)
Make Sure you down load ESPN 360 on your lap top (Free in most places). This way you can have multiple games going with your prime game on your big screen.
Check this site each week for a Tailgate recipe provided my good friend an TV star Feasty Jon Mayer of the Feasty Boys! And of course an occasional cocktail concoction brought to you by me.
I will periodically set up polls to vote on on this site so stay tuned.
Fire up your grill early and tell your spouse and kids you are busy for the next 15 hours.
Any good pictures from your tailgating activity, send them to me and I will post them.
Make sure you sign up as a Tailgater follower to get these weekly posts.
You can also follow my football tweets and political rants on Twitter at http://twitter.com/danbdonn

Last, get out and see a few games and partake in Tailgating. There is no better way to spend a Saturday in the fall!

I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on who you are predicting to be in the BCS "Ship" this year.

5 Weeks To Kickoff 09!!!!

The college football season is a mere 5 weeks away! I am in mid season form all ready with summer consumption of BBQ and Beverages. Labor day weekend will find the Tailgate traveling to Bezerkley, CA To cheer on the mighty Terps as they visit Strawberry Canyon. The Tailgate will engage in pre game festivities at Raleigh's on Telegraph Avenue.

The Tailgate will then travel abroad for 3 weeks spreading the proper techniques and attitudes of American tailgating. First stop will be an Amsterdam Coffeehouse...(This may bring a new twist to the Tailgate pre game festivities). Second stop will be day one of Oktoberfest in Munich..I will be holding a class on singing the Notre Dame Fight Song with a remix of Ein Prosit and roll out the barrel. Last stop will be in Venice as I rock a private Gondola on the Grand Canal with stops at the American Sports bars.

The Laurelglen group will be attending it's annual San Jose State Tailgate on October 9th versus the Idaho Vandals. Tailgate starts at noon, keg stands start at 3 PM sharp. No Jaeger bombs!

Radio (Brother Brian) and I are still up in the air for the annual Donnelly brother junket. Stay tuned.

Last live game of the year for the Tailgate will be Notre Dame at Stanford Thanksgiving weekend.

Post Bowl Season

Final Blog of the Season

The Bowl season proved to be as unpredictable as ever. With many teams having five to six weeks off between their last game and the bowl game, you have a box of chocolates. You don’t know what you are going to get. With all my expertise in couch potation (yeah it’s a real word and sounds like what I do) and tailgating I only hit on 50% out of the 34 games…needless to say I did poorly. You have some teams ecstatic that they made any bowl and they play the role of world beaters. And others who are pissed off they didn’t get a BCS game or the BCS “Ship” game and show up in body only and lay the proverbial turd on the field. All that being said, there were a few gems. The Fiesta Bowl turned out to be one of the better games as Colt McCoy led another heroic drive to beat the snake bitten BCS buckeyes. TCU over Boise proved to be a great match that showcased two teams better than half of the BCS teams, the Ship game was interesting for 3 quarters. Rose Bowl…snoozer, . Big 12 defense was exposed in several key matchups. Still think Sam Bradford is the real deal. Three good quarters can’t be erased entirely by 1 poor play call by Stoops and I bobbled pass for an INT. No, he looked composed against the best speed in the country. Good choice for Heisman, great pro! Good bye to Mr. Stafford and Know Show Moreno from Ugaland, Graham Harrell, Pat White, LB(0-3 in bcs) Lauranitis, Mark “You are not ready for the NFL” Sanchez, Jeremy Maclin and Michael Crabtree as well. We will see all of you on Sundays. Would also like to say goodbye to Todd Reesing, Nate Longshore and Chase Daniels…have a great career in the CFL!

Can’t wait for next year. Bradford, Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Gerald McCoy already announced they are coming back. Radio and I will be seeking a Mountain West triple header if the stars align. Planning on the Buckeye/Navy matchup at the Horseshoe in September. Just got a tour last week from the head groundskeeper (he was no Carl Spackler)at UT Austin…very impressive facility. They are adding 10,000 seats in the south end zone as we speak. Would love to see a game there someday.

Post Bowl Season

Final Blog of the Season

The Bowl season proved to be as unpredictable as ever. With many teams having five to six weeks off between their last game and the bowl game, you have a box of chocolates. You don’t know what you are going to get. With all my expertise in couch potation (yeah it’s a real word and sounds like what I do) and tailgating I only hit on 50% out of the 34 games…needless to say I did poorly. You have some teams ecstatic that they made any bowl and they play the role of world beaters. And others who are pissed off they didn’t get a BCS game or the BCS “Ship” game and show up in body only and lay the proverbial turd on the field. All that being said, there were a few gems. The Fiesta Bowl turned out to be one of the better games as Colt McCoy led another heroic drive to beat the snake bitten BCS buckeyes. TCU over Boise proved to be a great match that showcased two teams better than half of the BCS teams, the Ship game was interesting for 3 quarters. Rose Bowl…snoozer, . Big 12 defense was exposed in several key matchups. Still think Sam Bradford is the real deal. Three good quarters can’t be erased entirely by 1 poor play call by Stoops and I bobbled pass for an INT. No, he looked composed against the best speed in the country. Good choice for Heisman, great pro! Good bye to Mr. Stafford and Know Show Moreno from Ugaland, Graham Harrell, Pat White, LB(0-3 in bcs) Lauranitis, Mark “You are not ready for the NFL” Sanchez, Jeremy Maclin and Michael Crabtree as well. We will see all of you on Sundays. Would also like to say goodbye to Todd Reesing, Nate Longshore and Chase Daniels…have a great career in the CFL!

Can’t wait for next year. Bradford, Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Gerald McCoy already announced they are coming back. Radio and I will be seeking a Mountain West triple header if the stars align. Planning on the Buckeye/Navy matchup at the Horseshoe in September. Just got a tour last week from the head groundskeeper (he was no Carl Spackler)at UT Austin…very impressive facility. They are adding 10,000 seats in the south end zone as we speak. Would love to see a game there someday.