Archive for September, 2011
Crimson Tide Prepares for the Gators
This weekend the Alabama Crimson Tide will face off against a formidable opponent, the Florida Gators. Last year, the Crimson Tide successfully routed their opponent, but Florida has been doing quite well this season. Florida is currently running a pro-style offense, similar to what the Tide runs.
Crimson Tide’s coach said, “They’re not the typical zone option, sort of spread, Mississippi State, old Florida…They do a great job of featuring talent and the players that they have and what they do well, which I always though Florida’s old offense did that as well.” When the two teams match up in a few days for the nationally televised event, you can be sure that fans from both teams will be out in force, showing off their Crimson Tide or Florida Gators tire covers, grill covers, and tailgate games.
Time to Grow Up, Florida Gators
Florida coach Will Muschamp challenged his team to “grow up” at halftime against Kentucky. The coach said, “We got to start growing up as a football team. We had some adversity, so what? Move on, play the next play.” They definitely need to bring their A-game as they prepare to face off against Alabama, currently ranked third in the nation, this coming weekend.
The game should be a fierce one. Florida is number one in SEC total offense, and Alabama is number two, but the Crimson Tide has the league’s top scoring defense. Last year, Florida suffered a huge defeat at the hands of Alabama that they’d rather not repeat. During this upcoming nationally televised game, you can bet there will be lots of Florida Gators grill covers and other paraphernalia in the parking lots leading up to kick off.
Tailgating with Moms
In the five years since my friends and I graduated college many of us have married and have had children. Naturally, having children has changed how we tailgate. We have a lot less beer flowing and more child-friendly games.
Some tailgaters might find this a bummer, but actually we’ve found new joys of tailgating. For one, we can dress our little ones in adorable game day outfits. (The girls always want to be little cheerleaders and the boys like to wear little jerseys). It’s great to see the kids’ enthusiasm as they get excited over everything with a team logo from collegiate tire covers to college grill covers.
Tailgate Games: Ladder Golf
One of my favorite parts of college football is attending tailgate parties. At the tailgates I go to we typically play Cornhole or Beer Pong. Recently I was introduced to Ladder Golf which is somewhat similar to Cornhole.
Essentially, there is a ladder structure with three rungs. The top rung is worth three points, the middle two, and the bottom one. The goal is to toss a bola of two golf balls at the ladder, hook them on a rung, and earn 21 points exactly before anyone else. The game was a ton of fun and I plan on setting it up at my next tailgate with our college tire covers as a backdrop.
Who Has the Most Team Spirit?
When it comes to showing team spirit, you can never have enough swag. There are some intense tailgating rivalries amongst fans of the same school. With all of these die-hard fans vying to have the best tailgate, it’s no wonder that sports merchandising is such a lucrative business.
At my own tailgate you can catch me in a team jersey, team pants, team hat, scarves, and gloves (when it gets colder outside). I keep my drink cold with a team koozie and my face shaded with a team tent. I even have a collection of college grill covers. There’s plenty of other fan gear I own and display proudly, too.
Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce
I love finding new and interesting BBQ sauce recipes to try out during football season. For this weekend’s tailgate I’m going to try out a Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce recipe I found through Simply Recipes. The recipe doesn’t look like it will be too difficult to tackle. I will need 1 cup minced onion, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 ½ cups Dr. Pepper, 1 can crushed tomatoes, ½ cup orange juice, ¼ cup cider vinegar, ½ cup honey, 1 teaspoon cayenne, and salt.
The recipes call for sautéing the onions in vegetable oil for 4-5 minutes. As the onions brown I’ll add in the rest of the ingredients. Once all the ingredients have been added, I’ll cover the concoction and let it simmer for 30 minutes. After I’ll run the sauce through a blender, pour it back in the pot, and let it cook down for two more hours to allow more flavors to develop. I’m hoping it turns out as delicious as it sounds! I wouldn’t want anyone hurrying to put their barbeque grill covers on when I come by with some sauce.
No Love Lost Between Vancouver and Chicago
I recently spent some time visiting a friend in Vancouver. In her words, she is “stereotypically Canadian in that the only sport I care about is hockey.” Her team of choice is, of course, the Vancouver Canucks aka the team that came up one game short of winning the Stanley Cup trophy to the Bruins.
Surprisingly, she doesn’t hold any animosity against the Bruins, but has an undying hatred of the . I’m thinking that the next time I buy her a holiday or birthday gift it will be some NHL tire covers sporting the Canucks logo. Or the Blackhawks if I feel like playfully needling her!
New Maryland Uniforms
For me, college football season is finally in full swing. My beloved Maryland Terrapins beat ACC rival the Miami Hurricanes in Monday night’s season opener at home. They also debuted some shocking new uniforms – much different in design from the combinations that had been debuted in August.
I’m undecided about the team’s new look. I don’t have a problem with the jersey and pants (thought the belts are a little much). The helmets, gloves, sleeves, and cleats – oh goodness the cleats! – were way too over the top, in my opinion. Let’s just say that the Maryland collegiate grill covers I’ll be sporting at the next home game will be much tamer
Celebrating Flyers Extension Deal
This Labor Day weekend I will be celebrating the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers have signed to a six-year extension deal. The team and Riemsdyk made the announcement earlier this week. I take this as a great sign for the upcoming season.
After all, the 22-year old forward was the number 2 overall draft pick in the 2007 NHL draft. He has played 153 games with the Flyers and collected 36 goals and 39 assists. We’ll be grilling in his honor this Labor Day weekend. All of my guests had better show up with Flyers NHL grill covers and other fan gear or else I’ll make them go back home and change!