Temple Tailgate Wrap-Up:
By Bob W.
My take on the tailgate:
Overall:
“I want S and M”
-E
Well it was Friday night and I was getting pretty bummed. E’s plane was parked in Salisbury, MD, just 100 some miles from where it was supposed to land. Chris was hammer time in a bar 6 hours north of here. Shannon didn’t think we were really going because it was raining and even rock solid J was losing heart. But then John called with the magic words “8:00 am at the Columbia Park N Ride, we’ll be there” and I knew everything was going to be all right. Oh sure it rained, but still a classic tailgate that none will forget anytime soon.
Tailgate Highlights:
Well the table didn’t make the trip, but that didn’t stop the alcohol abuse at our party. The name of the game was, well “The Name Game” aka “Drink While You Think”. It was ugly. I have played the name game hundreds of times, but never before did I see people drink so much after about 10 names have been used. We also couldn’t go 2 minutes without someone confidently calling out a name that was used 3 people ago, but that got better once we banished repeaters from the tent. Overall a great game that got us adequately “prepared” to see the juggernaught that is Temple Football.
Another highlight was the parking. Only 10$ and we literally parked 50 yards from the entrance to Lincoln Financial. And for anyone else considering making the trip the next time the Terps visit the city of Brotherly Love, they sell beer during Temple games, but be warned last call is after half time (I guess that is when all the Temple fans leave anyway).
And finally the brand new Vernon Davis Tailgate award (named after his run in the UVA game where he stepped out of bounds so it didn’t really count). The VDTA is for any event that didn’t happen at the game, didn’t happen at the tailgate, but most definitely did happen. The first ever VDTA goes to the radio station we listened to on the ride home, playing Boyz to Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You” was one thing, but following it up with “Mo Money, Mo Problems” nearly blew out the window’s in J’s mom’s Durango!
Tailgate Lowlights:
The low light of the tailgate had to be the amount of beer we brought. We were within a hair lash of not stopping in Elkton to get some reinforcements, and if Shannon hadn’t had to take a bathroom break we probably would have kept rolling on to Philly. Needless to say the original amount we brought would not have cut it. I had figured we would only start drinking 2 hours before game time so how much could we all drink. Well the answer was rather surprising. By the time we rolled in for kick off we were down to about 8 beers, or about 1 per person. What poor, poor, planning. If the “Linc” hadn’t hooked us up inside the trip would have gotten ugly in a hurry. Luckily that wasn’t the case, but it was still way to close for my comfort.
Tailgate MVP:
This is the reason you are not reading this article first thing on Monday morning. What a difficult, difficult decision to make. I have narrowed the list down to 3 and even when I pick one I am going to regret not giving it to the other two. But sometimes you have to man up and not just hand out MVP’s like their someone else’s beers. Here are my choices. Bix got up at 4:00 am, drove down from Boston by himself, stopped to get us cheese stakes and then had his dad cook us up dinner afterwards. Then there was J. J drove which in itself is MVP worthy, but his key was bringing the canopy. I can’t begin to tell you what a life saver that was. Then there was E, though not a Maryland grad still had the determination to get the tailgate done. She had a horrible plane ride up, and despite being flown everywhere but National, also had to endure a plane full of Duke students flying home for fall break. That in itself could make that flight worst than the one at the beginning of “Lost”. But for reasons given above, I am going to go with Bix for the 2005 Temple Tailgating MVP. It was probably one of the toughest choices so far this year, but Bix gets his first 2005 MVP.
Honorable Mention:
The Temple 2005 Honorable Mention for MVP goes to J and E. This is the first time we have had a co-honorable mentions with two people who are known strictly by letters. But if you are a Terps fan there aren’t many two letter combo’s better than EJ! Both of you had a great tailgate which was MVP caliber, but this Saturday was a tailgating buzz saw with everyone going above and beyond for the sake of the group. Don’t worry though, there are still plenty of games left to rise above everyone.
Honorable Honorable Mention goes to Jason and his friends, who set out to prove that only real girls play drinking games with anything less than rum.
That wraps up a great Temple Tailgate, don’t forget October 20th against the Hookies in what is the biggest game of the year. Remember any Terp who let’s a Hookie have a ticket is no Terp at all. Do your part to keep VT out of Byrd!!