Clemson Tailgate Wrap-Up:
By: Bob W.
My take on the tailgate:
Overall:
First and foremost, let’s all wish “Dr.” Leavitt a healthy recovery. We were all thinking about you on Saturday and hope you get back on your feet soon. As for the tailgate with the exception of the Leavitt’s and Forrest’s it felt like old times with all the regulars there. The noon kick off time made the breakfast sandwiches a must and as always J did not disappoint at the grill. And if you judge a tailgate by how quickly it passes this one was one of the best. I swear I was only there for like 15 minutes, where did the time go?
Tailgate Highlights:
The results on the field may have not been as nice, but on the flip cup table or “Between the Dakotas” (ala UGA), the Terps were an unstoppable force. Oh sure we struggled early and everyone had their moment of shaky hands, but in the end there was no denying which side prevailed. The breakfast sandwiches also make the highlight reel as well as all the nice cup cakes, coffee cake, and brownies made by BOTH sides. Just a great all around tailgate. Not as big as the 2001 match-up but just as satisfying.
Tailgate Lowlights:
I don’t really have any low lights from the tailgate. No cops tried to break us up, no one vomited on the table (God forbid), it was a rock solid tailgate, but I am going to say this. Now this may be a little controversial so read at your own risk. First of all, I love the Terps, and I love the Fridge, but Terp Alley is just brutal to tailgating. Terp Alley starts at 9:30. We start to walk about 9:20ish. The team is always late and don’t get there until say 9:40ish and then they walk by and you head back to the party and it has been 40 minutes. You have 6 hours to tailgate, or 360 minutes, Terp Alley takes away 40 of those minutes or (lets see carry the one….) 11% of your tailgating time. That doesn’t seem like much, but by the end of the season you have donated half of a precious home tailgate! Don’t get me wrong I will still do it, and I believe in it, it was just that we were just getting into a groove on Saturday when we had to go up to the Alley. But if we are going to do it, I want EVERYONE to be there. Not everyone at our tailgate (who would guard the beer), but every group who is out there at 9:30am claiming to support the Terps. And I have not seen that yet.
Tailgate MVP:
Here comes more controversy. The tailgating MVP. Ugh sometimes I dread I even came up with this idea, but I am naming myself the Clemson Tailgating MVP this week. It was a razor thin margin of victory but here is my reasoning. First of all I had to wake up 6 people at 5 am and drag them out of the house, not too bad if they were all die hard Terpies, but that wasn’t the case. I swear I could hear the mission impossible music playing in the background all morning as I was prodding and pulling. Second reason is because, well I had to single handily bring beer for Me, Kristin, Tyson, LeAnne, Mary, Matt, Chris, Brian, and Gilmore. That’s at least half the tailgate! Though Felipe at C and C Liquor store in Annapolis (my new friend who has loaded me up the last two tailgates, he even breaks up the ice and loads the cans with me!) helped, it was otherwise all on me. Third and this was the clincher, J did great with the food and cooking, but I went with myself because lets face it, you can tailgate without food, it sucks but you can do it and Lord knows we have, but you can not tailgate without beer. That’s called loitering. So for those reasons I named myself the MVP. Please feel free to spit on me and yell. After all I am a Maryland fan and am use to the abuse!
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
Shannon and Mary- Money desserts
Kara- excellent coffee cake
Lee- great brownies even if they were the wrong color
Brian- Did you really get to a tailgate before me??
J- Always an MVP threat every time he steps on the field
Kristin- for finding extra Tix for us
Forrest- For the Text Messages
Juanita- the black widow of the flip cup table
Sydney- For trying to find the courage to finally meet the real Testudo
Cory- For Sydney’s cheer to be debuted next week
Bix- For traveling from Boston
Ty, Mary, and Matt and the rest of the random Clemson fans- For making us feel like flip cup champions.
Gilmore- Wait until next week. If anyone thinks they have a shot at the WV MVP, they had better be prepared to take a bullet for the table or something equally impressive.
See everybody at the WVU game. GO TERPS!