Congratulations to The Ohio State and North Dakota State for
winning their respective National Championships. I think it is safe to say that
the playoff format was mostly a success. Just think, Ohio State and Oregon
would not have even been in the BCS Championship game under the old format. My
solution to improve upon this good start is an eight team playoff format. Here is
how it would work: The Champions from each of the Power Five Conferences get an
automatic bid. The highest ranked non Power Five team that won its Conference Championship
gets an invite. The two highest ranked non-conference champions get a ticket to
the ball too. I think all the BS-BCS arguments about loss of revenue were about
as compelling as Government run Health Care. The National Championship game
alone was the highest rated College football game ever. Just think, if we had a
quarterfinal round during the Christmas Holiday, then Santa would have answered
my wishes. As far as the Division 1 AA Championship, North Dakota State won an
unprecedented fourth straight title. This was through a true playoff system
year after year. Something the big boys should take note of.
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| Bison Bobby B and Bride at D1AA Natty Ship |
Tailgate wrap up: 2014 by all accounts was a quality rich
journey for the Tailgate. We began the tradition of mailing one of the DFT
banners to members of the DFT Nation attending venues where ESPN College Gameday
was broadcasting. Additionally, the other banner made an appearance at most of
the Tailgates I attended. We will do this again next year. There were seven road weekends in particular
that allowed me to soak in the full atmosphere along with a few suds of each
host school. In all, I attended a modest 14 games, including 7 new Division 1
and 1 Division III stadiums. Along the road we rented cabins, stayed in stranger’s
homes, hotels and friends’ cribs. Sampled many new foods, libations and
traditions. Made multiple new friends which is what makes this obsession of
mine so damn cool. Here is a recap:
1.
Michigan State at Oregon – Nephew Nate and
Brother Brian.
2.
Army at Stanford –Rabagos, Drubaca and Stanky Reinke
3.
Illinois at Nebraska – Moochgating with Byom, Badger
Gary, Walsh and Dru,
4.
Washington State at Stanford – Coug gating with The
Heins Family and friends
5.
Washington at Cal – Snobgating with Kenny King
and Downtown Gilbert Brown
6.
Kansas State at Oklahoma – Daughter Erin, Uncle Buck,
Mrs. Tailgate and extended family at the Mullica Soiree
7.
Miami at Virginia Tech – Crashing the Holiday
Inn Tailgate with Big T Kernan
8.
Alabama at Tennessee – Tennessee Tony’s Cabin in
the Smokey Mountains along with Maryland Mike McCabe, Alabama Al and the Hockaday
tailgate party.
9.
USC at Wazoo – Weekend in the rain with the
Crazy Marine Corp Major at Bonnie’s House.
10.
Notre Dame at Arizona State – Ice Cream Man
Porter, Pauley Walnuts, the Crazy Major, Shannon and the Kevin O’Connor Sun
Devil Tailgate party.
11.
Randolph Macon at Hampden Sydney - Cabin in the
woods with the Kernan/Warner family.
12.
Boston College at Florida State – The Eagle
Tailgaters and Floppy Hayden.
13.
Oregon vs Arizona (PAC 12 Championship) – The Dons
of Danville and newcomer Kevin Duncan.
14.
Maryland- Stanford (Foster Farms Bowl) – Winsted
and the Old Marine doing the Instagate.
This was nowhere near my record of 20 games in 2013 but was
rich with the quality of experience across the Board.
Highlights on tap for 2015:
Stanford at Northwestern
Boise at BYU
Rutgers at Penn State
Alabama at Georgia
Frostburg State Homecoming
Utah at Arizona
Harvard at Yale
Notre Dame at Stanford
Army Navy
Sacramento State Home Game
Bieber Champion 2014 - Hard to top Famous Jameis who has
been a constant source of entertainment for the Tailgate. Jameis, we are gonna
miss you buddy. I predict in five years’ time, you will be hanging out with
Jamarcus Russell getting your purple drank on.
And so my narcissistic, self-promoting 2014 journey has come
to an end. Eric Church sums up best in this short video:
Happy Tailgating!
