Sunday, October 5, 2014

Week 6 - I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend



Well, I promised to not blog on weekends when I did not go to a new stadium, however I must say a few words about this weekend. First of all it was great to have a weekend when real on field action was happening in multiple venues across the Promised Land.  Starting Thursday night with Oregon losing to Zona and Friday with BYU tanking it, and on to Saturday where four more top ten teams (Bama, Oklahoma, TA&M and UCLA) all went down in upsets. In addition to the marquis games there was incredible action all over the college football landscape including the three late Pac 12 games.  In the Cal/Wazoo game, Connor Halliday the ginger Wazoo QB threw for an FBS record 734 yards only to lose because his kicker was paid off by the Mob to miss a chip shot.

Guest Blog from the DFT crew in the Ole Miss Grove:
The Italian Stallions (Chris & Tim Desimone, Lou & Sam Gervolino, and Dave Quilici) descended into Oxford, Mississippi to attend the Alabama/Ole Miss game. Despite weather and mechanical delays we managed to all make it to Oxford on Friday night. First stop was for fortification and the second stop was focused on becoming fortified. Once hydrated, it was time for the Italians to take on The Square in Oxford, which we did, until “sometime” in the morning. All that walking and non-stop football talk makes a fella thirsty. The Square was packed, with mostly Alabama fans. As we walked the square we were met with “Roll Tide” after “Roll Tide.”  Nevertheless we persevered, but that was just a warm up for the real show on Saturday which came way too early. At 7 AM, the helicopters and planes began circling The Grove; College Game Day had come to Mississippi for the first time ever. 
 
Hotty Toddy in The Grove
We were hosted by Dr. Brian Wilkinson and his lovely wife Francie along with their many friends at their tailgate. The kindness of everyone we ran into in The Grove is unmatched anywhere in the country. Feasting on pulled pork, cornbread, smoked bacon and an abundance of other delicacies, we almost forgot to go see Game Day. Walking The Grove was no easy task but we made it in time to see the crew and “hear” Katy Perry upstage Lou Corso by picking Mississippi to beat Alabama, little did we know…..We headed back to our home base tailgate, there was still a football game to be played. 
 
Those are homemade helmet cakes at the good doctor's tailgate
At the tailgate, several people came up to me asking if we were the “California Bloggers.” Unknowingly, we had been given this moniker from our last year trek to the LSU game. Well, good enough, we are the California Bloggers! There was one more tradition to experience and that was the Walk of Champions, a tradition of the players walking through the Grove to their locker room. This is a wonderful experience for the fans and players - high fiving, cheering a cacophony encouragement from everywhere. As the players passed, our Italian crew was equally caught up in the moment. Lou shouted to one player “are you ready” and that player turned around and with intense stare, shouts back, “are YOU ready?” Yea, I was ready to run like hell. All of this hoopla was merely a lead in to the main course - the football game. 

The boyz representing!
Leopard skin ladies are an endangered species
The banner crowd surfing through the game day masses
 Our seats were on the 50 yard line, the crowd was loud and the game was well played and tight in the first half until Mississippi fumbled right before half. Alabama 14 Mississippi 3, the score seemed daunting. However, with Bo Wallace throwing pin point passes in the second half and stout Mississippi defense, the game turned into one spectacular comeback and ended on a phenomenal interception. Number 11 Mississippi had defeated number 3 Alabama 23-17. 


The stadium erupted for what is arguably the biggest win for Mississippi in a generation. The fans spilled out onto the field, the drinks spilled everywhere, and the celebration had begun back in The Grove. As for us, we made it to several post- game tailgates, between live bands, the Elvis impersonator (who was actually pretty good), dancing and simply high fiving anyone walking by, all I can say is, “Hotty Toddy!”  As we wound down the day / night we walked back into the square for dinner for some Southern Fried Chicken, a great way to finish the day in Oxford. All in all, the Italian team represented Dan from the Tailgate as well as anyone could. And Katy Perry, she is now a folk hero in Mississippi………….


The ladies of The Grove will talk to just about anyone!
Bieber Award – Although I myself was in strong consideration for the Bieber honors for missing the Ole Miss weekend, the nation voted otherwise:  For the entire month of September, every time a college football show was on TV, we had to endure the prognosticators predict the future. What sez me you ask? Let’s start first with every talking head Savant that was trying to act like they knew who the four teams were that would make up the new college playoff. We also already heard who the most Heisman worthy players were so early in the season. The problem is, September mostly amounts to College Football’s version of a pre-season. With very few marquis or conference games, why do these self-anointed omnipotent stalwarts continue to play the role of college football’s version of Nostradamus?  My suggestion would be that there should be no polls or Heisman discussion until after the first week of October. It is ridiculous to have a poll after the strong have beaten up on the weak and to strike the Heisman pose when the good players rack up gaudy stats against the bad. Ninety percent of what they say is inaccurate. This band of brothers includes but is not limited to empty suits such as the wise Mark May, Paul Finebald, Collin Cowturd, Jesse Palmer, Danny Kanell, David Pollack, Kirk Herbstreet and Tom Luginbill. If we went to an eight team playoff with the conference winners of the Power Five and three wild cards, we could put these hot air balloons out of commission. They wouldn’t have anything to pontificate about or enlighten us with. Collectively, everyone on TV who opened their pie hole making predictions so far this season win this week’s prestigious, coveted, unrivaled Bieber Award.

Next Saturday, the Tailgate will make the trek through the Caldecott tunnel to Bezerkely to watch the Cal Bears take on the Washington Huskies. As an added bonus, the Blue Angles will be flying over the Bay that afternoon. Also possibly looking at the Friday night game at Stanford against Wazoo. The DFT flag will be in Starkeville, MS for ESPN Gameday in the custody of Dr. Matt Sheffield, a War Eagle by marriage.

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er 30, 2014
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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Week 5 - Aww Shucks!



We won $1 million dollars so we headed to Nebraska to collect


Let’s face it, the State of Nebraska was made famous by Spencer Tracey in Boys Town and the recent movies Nebraska with Bruce Dern and Heaven is For Real with Greg Kinnear. Who can forget Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels driving through the Cornhusker State thinking they were in Colorado and accusing John Denver of false advertising in Dumb and Dumber? And it was a cold Nebraska night that Michael Martin Murphey wrote about in his song Wildfire.  Warren Buffet and Omaha Steaks make the townies proud when their names are mentioned.  All those are good but Nebraska really hit the big-time when we all saw Ty Webb and Danny Noonan beat Judge Schmaels and Doctor Beeper in match play at Bushwood Country club back in 1980. So they got that going for them, which is nice! Oh yeah, they have a pretty rich football tradition here too.

These two put Nebraska on the map

Since 1962, Nebraska has sold out 333 straight games at the Venerable Memorial Stadium which honors those fallen from the State of Nebraska in every War the U.S. has fought in. Built in 1923 with an original capacity of 31,000 seats the old girl has had many facelifts and add-ons since its inception. Today’s version seats over 91,000 rabid red Husker fans. I must say, it is one of the most stunning facilities you will ever see. Rich with tradition, yet saddled with modern comforts. Nebraska claims five National Championships, thirty plus conference championships and three Heisman trophy winners.  When I was a wee lad of eight years old, I recall watching what was hailed as the game of the century between Nebraska and Oklahoma in Norman, Ok. The “Awesome One” Johnny Rogers was the Huskers Mr. Everything and Jerry Tagee was their star QB. Each year after that I looked forward to watching that rivalry game on TV around Thanksgiving weekend and saw many of them in Nebraska’s home stadium. It has always been on my bucket list.

The beautiful cathedral in all its glory's
 I was joined on this adventure with DFT Veterans Tailgate Tommy Byom and Drubaca, Rookie Terry “Hank Breaking Bad” Walsh and DFT Wannabe Wisconsin Gary.  Our sixth man, Alan “Forty Year Old Virgin” Campbell tapped out due to the Chicago airport shutting down on Friday and did not make the journey. People kept saying it was kind of hard to tell us all apart for some reason. 

Five pack of light bulbs

We hit the ground running with a Friday night recon of Lincoln which included Moscow Mules, Irish Car bombs, bars that were underground, on top of roofs and even one that was tilted. Needless to say we skipped the complimentary Pilates class Saturday morning at the hotel.

Gary and the Husker Mascot
Our lodgings for the Nebraska Game were a Cory McElroy five iron shot from the stadium. By early afternoon Saturday the pre gaming began with “Five Pepper Bloody Marys”. We all grew hair and awoke from our collective fog. Our hotel sponsored a tailgate party out back in the Dock bar with live music and complimentary libations.  
Clearly a charity picture

From that point our road march took us to tailgate lots on campus and the famous Viaduct area for what will now be referred to as Moochgating. Yeah, our Wisconsin boys made sport of popping into tents and telling the hosts that they were part of the DFT blog crew and got us all fed and watered. Included in this venture were Nebraska diehards Justin and Andrew who could not have been more accommodating. Justin stated that he has not missed a Nebraska home game in over twenty years. Our chow consisted of burgers, ribs, pulled pork, shrimp and plenty of frosties. We even participated in a new first by drinking a concoction out of an IV while lying on an ambulance gurney at the Code Red Tailgate. I ask, who needs a parking spot and grill anymore after this experience? The viaduct was a great tailgating venue with plenty of music, noise, passion and original vehicles to enjoy.

The Mooch in action


The Huskers are dead serious about their opponents

The boy will try anything once

In the Viaduct lot

Who doesn't like free beer?


Our hosts Justin, Andrew and the chef
Once satisfied that we had our fill of goodness, we made our way into the stadium. The Huskers were taking on Big Ten rival Illinois. The stadium was electric with anticipation as the Huskers led by Heisman hopeful Running Back Ameer Abdullah and their defense known as “The Black Shirts” would be taking on the Orange Slush from Champagne. Nebraska entered the game with a 4-0 record and ranked 21st nationally. Illinois though improved is sadly still Illinois. Throughout the night, the Husker student section would start certain chants, waves and unfurl the Black Shirts flag. The marching Band was top notch and put on a first class halftime show. The cheerleaders wore retro outfits reminiscent of a more innocent time. 


My seat was in the new upper deck (level 6) in the stadium. I was air dropped in safely as I have never been that high since I scaled Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary. 
My seat view
 My seat mates were die hard Husker fans: Erlene, Julie and John. They introduced me to a local goodie called a Runza. A Runza is a big roll stuffed with meat, cabbage and onion. Simply awesome.

The first quarter had Illinois give the Huskers all they could handle as the Illini (Named after a Native American Indian tribe) had the Huskers tied at 7 for most of the first set. Then we found out why the locals say “Fear Ameer” as the talented running back took over the game ripping off impressive run after run. His style reminded this blogger very much of a guy who played for Oklahoma State and won the Heisman in 1988…Barry something or other. Between Ameer’s stellar 200 plus yard night and the Black Shirts lock down defense, the Huskers notched their fifth victory of the season with a 45-14 win.This is a must see venue for all true college football fans. The history, traditions and the friendly people made this a memorable DFT weekend experience.

 

Around the Country
College Gameday was in Columbia, SC for the battle of Columbias’ with Mizzou and SC. DFT ally Steve Koreivo was representing for us as his daughter is a senior at SC. A Mizzou team that just lost to lowly Indiana pulled off the mild upset over an overrated Gamecock team. Okay, just because your conference says SEC does not mean you deserve a top 25 ranking. All conferences have quality teams, mediocre teams and bad teams. SC, UGA, LSU, ARK and Mizzou are Mediocre. Bama and Auburn are in an elite class with A&M and the Mississippi schools somewhere in between.  So you pollsters, if you want to avoid me giving you the Bieber award, stop acting like Paul Finebaum.  In other meaningful SEC action The Chokeansas Pot Bellied Pigs gave one away to Kenny Football and the Aggies in Jerry World as did the Volunteers of Tennessee to UGA between the Hedges in Athens, GA.

In PAC 12 action, the UCLA baby bears awoke from their slumber and put a helluva beating on the Sun Devils in Tempe Thursday night. Cal wins in a gun slinger shootout 59 -56 over the CU Buffs. The significance of that game was it was the first time each opposing QB threw for seven touchdowns in the same game. USC and Stanford both pulled off expected wins and the old Pirate of the Palouse Mike Leach and the Wazoo Cougs pulled off an upset over the Utes.

In the Big Ten, the misery continued for Brady Hoke and Big Blue as the Wolverines surrendered the coveted “Little Brown Jug” to Carl Spackler’s Gophers. Wisconsin and their talented tailback Melvin Gordon put a licking on USF. The resurgent Northwestern Wildcats pulled off an upset over Penn State and Sparty Lassoed the Wyoming Cowboys. The Buckeyes gunned down Gunner Kiel and the Bearcats from Cincinnati.

In ACC Action Jameis the Clown and the #1 Noles almost lost one in Raleigh. 
The Golden Domers bested the Carrier Domers at Met Life stadium. In the Big 12 Oklahoma State had a nice win Thursday night with backup QB Daxx Garman throwing for 370 yards over TTU. Baylor rolled the Cyclones and DFT favorite Charlie Weiss got fired again after Kansas was blanked by Texas. I guess the sideline buffet was not such a hit with your superiors. TCU trounced a simply pitiful SMU squad that has scored only one offensive touchdown all season.

Bieber award
Goes to this guy for running on the field in his inebriated state at the Horseshoe in Columbus, OH during the Buckeye – Bearcat battle. Not only did he achieve stain status for being that guy to do such a foolish thing, but how does he save face with his buddies and girlfriend after his run abruptly ended? Let’s go to the videotape:


Next week the West Coast Italian Mafia contingent of DFT will make its way to the Grove and ESPN Gameday in Oxford, MS. Mrs. Tailgate has put me in timeout for the weekend so I had to cancel my participation. Look for the DFT flag at Gameday nonetheless.

Happy Tailgating!




















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