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Monday, September 28, 2015

Week 4 - Who'll Stop the Rain?


I hummed this song all weekend in Virginia



First and foremost, my apologies for being 24 hours late in getting this week’s blog out. In the words of the well renowned Bushwood Country Club Greens Keeper Carl Spackler “I was unavoidably detained!” I was summoned to the Eagles Nest in Southport, NC by DFT Board Member and Eagle Tailgater Pops Leblanc for a Sunday night Soiree with a host of other Tailgate enthusiasts. I was allowed to check off another bucket list item and ride the Leblanc home elevator with the ladies. So please blame him if I threw your Monday morning reading off.

The elevator ride at the Eagle's Nest.
The Tailgate ventured into the Commonwealth of Virginia for a double header weekend at UVA and Old Dominion. The DFT planning department has been relieved of duty as they did not take the huge “Nor Easter” into consideration when they coordinated this past weekend’s activities.


In 1819, another famous blogger named T Jiddy or better known as Thomas Jefferson founded the institution that is The University of Virginia. It was really not much of a hardship for this dude who lived across the holler in a little shack called Monticello. Oh yeah. Some 45 years prior he also blogged about creating a new nation or something (Just trying to bring it down to your level). We fellow bloggers stick together so I wanted to pay homage to his fine institution.  UVA has approximately 23,000 students and is set on a picturesque campus in Charlottesville, Virginia. Scott Football Stadium was built in 1931 and officially holds 61,500 derrieres.  It is a unique facility as it is dug into the ground and has a grass hill in one end zone with white columns above and behind it giving it a classical Greco Roman appearance. Legend has it that certain Fraternities used to bury a Kegger in the hillside the night before games. Rumor has it I know one of those guys.


Boise State was in town to take on the Wahoos (As they are known by their Faithful). As an added bonus, unbeknownst to me my hotel was the Boise team hotel. I was like an overgrown child in FAO Schwartz running around the hotel with sheer exuberance. Oh wait, there was a movie about that already. I was joined for the game by LTC Joe “Coastal” Anderson. Pre- game festivities began in town by meeting up with old High School buddy and UVA Sports Writer Jeff White for lunch in the grown up section of town. 

With old High School friends Jeff White, Jim Ross and the LTC.

The remainder of our pre-gaming consisted of going to the non-grown up section of town: The Famous Boylan Heights and Trinity Pubs just off Campus. Because of the inclement weather we opted to stay indoors for most of our Tailgating. One must remember that “Tailgating is really a state of mind.” It is wherever you choose it to be. We did manage to make it over to the Tailgate lot prior to the game and were given ample liquid encouragement by accommodating hosts.


            That was then ..................................................This is now

"Sir, please hide your beer cup for this picture.

Are you really a war hero sir?
Not much of a game as far as Virginia was concerned. In the words of Cliff Kingsbury (TTU Coach), “The Wahoos showed up and we kicked their ass!”. Boise Coach Brian Harsin would never say that but it is fun to quote the quotable. In the rain, Boise ended up winning 56 - 14 behind backup QB Brett Rypien after starting QB Ryan Finley was lost last week for two months with a broken ankle. Rypien, the nephew of former Washington REDSKIN Mark Rypien, carved the Cavalier Defense apart all night with well-timed short passes and a little Boise trickeration. In what looked like a promising season for UVA has suddenly turned into a very disappointing campaign.




Separated at birth


Saturday morning with a heavy fog outside and also inside my head, I drove the three hours to Norfolk to meet up with College Buddy Chris “Catch” McDaniel and his crew. In fact I arrived about three hours late and missed the Bloody Mary breakfast that was served. We were joined by Pat “Hang” Luce along with Chris’s lady friend Kathy and drove through the downpour to the Campus of Old Dominion, home of the Monarchs. Because of the weather, my fogginess and my tardiness, it was difficult to get a feel for the pregame atmosphere. ODU is quite an intriguing story. In 1940, the University killed the football Program. In 2007 it was decided they would resurrect the gridiron game on campus and field an FCS (Division 1 AA) team beginning in 2009. After five years of unprecedented success at the FCS level, it was decided the Monarchs would make the jump all the way up to the big league. They are now a member of Conference USA at the FBS Division 1A level. 





Rainy Ballard Field
Why are you so happy dude?













The Monarchs opponent on this stormy day would be another former FCS power; the Appalachian State Mountaineers out of Boone, NC. Appy State is best known for upsetting Michigan in the Big House in 2007. This is still considered one of the greatest upsets in modern College Football history. On paper this appeared to be a fairly even contest. On the field, it was anything but that.  App State dictated the tempo and pace as they ran roughshod over the mistake prone Monarchs all afternoon.  By Halftime it was already 36-0. Did I say it was raining already? After spending the first quarter in the Blue Room (covered area in stadium to watch game and purchase beer) and Q2 in the rain, it was decided to move our party elsewhere. Therefore, we spent the rest of the day at AJ’s sports bar watching all the CFB action. ODU finished the day on the losing end of a 49-0 drubbing.
 

Around the country:

ESPN College Gameday made its way to Tucson, AZ for the Wildcats big battle against PAC 12  power UCLA. It’s too bad that the Cats football team forgot to make its way to the field. They were thoroughly humiliated by the Bruins in their own litter box 56-30. In other PAC 12 blowout action the Oregon Ducks have finally been discovered as frauds as they were trounced at Autzen by the Utes 62-20. In Big 12 action, the Texas Burnt Oranges lose for the second week in a row by a dude that has one job and that is to kick a ball. With the game tied against Oklahoma State, Horn punter Michael Dickson botched a snap from their own 24 yard line and got off a kick that ended up six yards behind the line of scrimmage. This resulted in the Pokes kicking the game winning field goal. In perhaps the most exciting game of the day, TCU edged out the ass kicking Red Raiders and their Coach Cliffy Kingsbury in Lubbock, TX in a wild finish. Down South, Brett Bielema Head Ball Coach of the Razorbacks, the aforementioned recipient of that “Ass Kicking” a week before self-destructed in the final minutes handing Texas A&M an undeserved victory. Up in Anne Arbor, MI, Gentleman Jimmy Harbaugh scores a unanimous decision against BYU with a 31-0 pummeling in the Big House.

The Trojans lose one game and the Major changes teams.






 
Tailgate Siblings at Stevenson College game






 
Mr. Pervolino with UNH Beauties

 
Eagle Tailgaters celebrating win over NIU
 
Get up, it's Gameday!




















Bieber Award – This week, the prestigious award goes to the dynamic duo of TCU players Mike Tuaua and Andres Petties-Wilson for drinking crappy beer. Oh did I mention it was a case of Keystone Lite? I almost forgot to tell you how they acquired their liquid gold. Batman and Robbin decided to requisition the beer by assaulting a fellow student and kicking and punching the snot out of him. After their fallen classmate lay helpless in a fetal position, the fine lads made off with a case of the good stuff. I hope it tasted awesome because they will need to get used to cheap beer for the rest of their lives since they will now have to forego their college diplomas and take up jobs with Ringling Brothers. Both have been suspended from the team and thus become irrelevant to the world.


Next week – The Tailgate will be taking its talents to Athens, GA for the UGA – Bama matchup. We will also be visiting the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta on Friday. Let's just hope next week's song is not "It's a Rainy Night in Georgia" by Brooke Benton!










Happy Tailgating!








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