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Boston College Tailgate Wrap-Up:

      - Lot 1, College Park, MD 
 

“J, Glad you can dominate when it doesn’t count!”   

-Emily                        

Overall:  

First can you believe we have had back to back woman tailgate quotes of the week?  Of course I literally have like 20 quotes each week to pull from, but only a tiniest fraction of those are suitable to put on the site.  And as for the picture, I saw that and immediately thought of J smashing my cup in frustration as his chance at the season championship slipped away.  So that’s the intro to the intro…moving on.

Well I have really good news, and really bad news.  Let’s start with the good.  The Maryland 2009 Football season has finally ended.  The emotional rollercoaster that it was has finally pulled up to the platform.  And what a roller coaster ride it was, actually thinking back it wasn’t much of a roller coaster at all.  We got crushed to open the season in Berkeley, then rallied for an OT win against JMU, then lost to MTSU, then inexplicitly beat Clemson.  Then lost every game from then on.  Not exactly the ideal blueprint for a successful coaster.  “Okay men, here is what we are going to do first it will go flat, then over a little hill, then flat some more, then over a medium sized hill, and then flat the rest of the way”. 

So I’m happy that it is finally over.  Never before, or at least in a very long time, have we watched so many meaningless football games.  I remember when we would come back from games and talk for long periods of time about what just happened, how great or how horrible it was, what would then have to happen in other games for us to strengthen our shot at the division title.  But 2009 was nothing like that, other than Clemson each post game tailgate was just hand wringing and self depreciating jokes about our program.  But I keep forgetting this isn’t the place to talk football.

The real bad news (if you needed any more) is that Tailgating Season is officially over.  I think I say this every year, and I’m going to say it again, so if you want to skip ahead, I don’t blame you, but I LOVE tailgating.  I love that I am guaranteed a good time every home game despite what happens on the field.  I love knowing that from September to the end of November, I won’t ever have to go more than a few weeks without seeing so many of my friends.  I love that when we get together, it is just like how things were in college.  And I also love that we have a website to document all of this.

Sometimes these recaps get a little tough.  I’ve had some (especially Pumpkin Carving ones) where they take me over 4 hours to write.  I even once said to myself “Wow, I’m glad I don’t have to do a tailgate recap this Sunday morning”.  But then I quickly asked myself whether I would have wanted to have a tailgate this weekend and done a recap, or not have had a tailgate and not need to do a recap.  The answer knocked me back to reality, of course I would rather have had a tailgate to write about. 

Anyway, the important thing behind all of this is everyone who reads this.  Come good times or bad times on the field we will always be there to celebrate Maryland Football.  We are alumni and lifers, we can’t get away from it.  As I like to say in sports, we are married to this program, and there is no such thing as affairs or divorce.  We’ve made our choice and that is how things are going to be.  But the real reason we all show up each week, why we all clear our Saturday schedules in the fall, is to hang out with each other.  Let’s face it, if no one is tailgating on a given day (God Forbid), I’m not going to sit in the lot by myself.  Sure I could drink beer and hang out, but with out everyone else who makes up D7 what’s the point?

Sorry that is a little sappy, but what can I say?  I really enjoy tailgating.

Tailgate Highlight:

Pete promised us that if we battled J on the flip cup table hard enough to keep him from winning the Overall Flip Cup championship, he would treat both Chris and I to a round of golf (with beer).  That was all the motivation we needed.  Not to ruin the flip cup results, but both Chris and I came through and now will be enjoying free golf and booze.  I just hope Pete is fine with that free golf coming at Pebble Beach. 

Tailgate Lowlight:

This was originally going to be the highlight of the tailgate, but since it never happened, I’m moving it into the lowlight.  A couple rows of cars up from us a group of people tethered together two tents.  Two spots down wind from the tents was a Seabring convertible.  Chris noticed it and wondered how long do you give it until those tents blow over and put a hole in the roof of the convertible.  At that time I would have put the odds of that happening at atleast even money.  But alas, it never happened.   I suppose that is good for everyone involved, but as on outside observer with no property or potential lawsuit at stake, it was pretty disappointing.  It also brought up a good point.  Every Seabring you see is a convertible except for mine.  I’m starting to wonder if I have the only hardtop Seabring in the country?

King of the Hill Flip Cup

When I say “Girl on Girl” action, I know immediately what image pops into your head.  And I’m going to go out on a limb and say you aren’t thinking of the final round of King of the Hill Flip Cup.  But on this day you very well could have been.  Colleen knocked off Emily in a highly contested KOTH match up.  Now for those that checked the message board this week, I have come up with an idea for the KOTH trophy.  And any winner from 2009 will be grandfathered in to that trophy.  Moving forward the new tradition will be that the winning KOTH will drink out of the trophy ala the Stanley Cup, and if they desire will also have their picture taken and placed right there where Bobby Hill is sitting, but only if you wish.  Anyway, somewhere right now my boss is probably reading this thinking, “If you were only half as inspired at work as you are with Tailgating, my life would be so much easier!”. 

I’m going to hold a spot here for our year end KOTH results.  I think I can do this but it is going to take time.  If it takes too much time, it may be it’s own separate recap, but we’ll see what I can get done.  [Note this will be on the final tailgate recap of the year]

Punt, Pass, and Kick:

PPK history was made on Saturday, as one of the last barriers to equal rights among the sex’s was torn down.  Colleen became the first ever girl to participate in the PPK contest.  And it was a good thing she was there because quite frankly we needed her to make it a legit PPK.  Otherwise it would have just been me, Surin, J, and Chris.  So good job Emily.

However, Emily, like so many other of us now knows the terrible feeling of losing to J in PPK.  Despite strong head winds, J managed a respectable 39 spots, which was more than the other four could boast.

On the Sinister PPK (Sinister of course meaning left handed (Look it up)).  Chris’s left handed limp throwing style, inspired by Jamar from Revenge of the Nerds was enough to get him the title with 25 spaces. 

Miscellaneous

Couple things to file under miscellanous this week.  First thanks to one of the Leavitts for commenting on my Raycom blog (they signed it J Leav, so I don’t know which one it was) I appreciate the 30 seconds he took to do it.  Please others follow suit.  I can’t say how much it helps us, so if you have any feelings short of pure hatred for Chris and I, please take the time to comment, I’m putting the link right here for God’s sake.  This week Chris wrote about Chris Turner, and I wrote about Keeping Friedgen.  Also don’t forget those who leave comments are eligible to win prizes, so you never know.  For once it could pay off knowing Chris and myself. 

LRC:

Well someone figured out the way to solve the change issue with LRC, play with 10’s.  Technically I don’t know if breaking twenties into 10’s is easier then breaking 20’s into 5, but it sure seemed easier.  In what was easily the biggest pot in LRC history, Chris D took home 90$!  Of course most of that he had to pay back to Emily who spotted him the money, but the rest he and Meagan can use to get their new house ready.  Congratulations to Chris, no one has walked away from LRC more richer. 

Flip Cup Results:

Generally speaking, Flip Cup was pretty small this weekend.  In fact there was actually a moment where I moved my elbows around and thought to myself “It’s nice to actually have room at the table for once.”.  Normally it’s flip and back out so the next person can maneuver.  Though this Tailgate didn’t have the mammoth games we have become known for throughout the year, the quality of games more than made up for it.  In fact we had a couple games that were virtual ties.  So it was pretty exciting, but that’s not saying much when talking about D-7 Flip Cup.

The First Series:  This one worked out perfectly for Pete.  He ordered Chris and I to block J’s quest for first at all cost.  Luckily for him Colleen obliged selecting both Chris and I on the same team.  Team Colleen also consisted of Chris D, Jason, and ironically Colleen.  Facing Team Colleen was team Emily.  Emily built her team around J, Surin, Jason C, and Meagan.  It almost worked.  TC came out winning game one, but TE fought back taking game 2.  TC got hot winning games 3 and 4, and then seemingly 5, but replay showed that game 5 was a tie.  As is Flip Cup tradition, that meant one thing, Run It Back!  And run it back we did.  TE this time took game 5 legitimately but TC took the 6^th match up to prevent a game 7.  J’s first attempt DENIED!

[Oh crap.  I was sitting here writing while my daughter was in her high chair, the next thing I know I hear the pitter patter of little feet and guess who is now standing next to me.  December 2, 2009 is the day the High Chair Era ended in the Wevodau household]

The Second Series:    I’m not going to lie, Nicole did a great job of taking notes, and when she was updating the roster changes I knew exactly what she was doing (since I was looking over her shoulder the whole time), but looking at the notepad now, I’m not 100% sure what substitutions occurred, so bare with me here.  The 2^nd Series featured pretty much the same teams, however Keith was added to TC and Brad came in for TE.  Also TE subbed out Justin C who was replaced by Justion D (or F, I have no idea).  This was one for the ages.  TC stayed hot winning game 1, but in typical TE fashion they took game 2.  TC came back for game 3, but promptly lost game 4.  Game 5 put the advantage back to TC, but TE won game 6.  Then came game 7 which ended in a dead heat.  That’s right, who needs Hollywood, this is REAL drama.  Game 7 had to be played yet again, and this time the replay went to Team Colleen!  Once again, J’s chance DENIED!

The Third Series:  Well you can’t keep a good man down forever.  J got his revenge in the Third Series.  For this series, new teams were selected.  Team Cheryl Tiegs featured Bix, Bob, Justin, Sean, Meagan, and Surin.  Team Bo Derek featured Jason, Mike, Emily, Kathryn (whose name isn’t nearly as easy to spell as her next teammate) J, and Colleen.  This one was by no means easy.  Bo came out taking one and two, but Cheryl would not be denied taking both 3 and 4.  Pivotal game 5 went back to Bo, but Cheryl answered in 6.  Game 7 in this battle of the late 70’s and early 80’s pin up stars went to Bo Derek.  A perfect 10 if you will.     

The Fourth Series:  Despite the competitiveness of the third series, these teams were scrapped for new ones.  To me, that screams extended bathroom break.  Anyway as we returned from where ever we went to the bathroom, we re-drew.  I don’t remember much from these tailgates but I do remember being captain.  I took my time and created what I deemed the Greatest Flip Cup Team of all time.  Someone who wasn’t me picked the other team and we’ll just call them Team B.  TGFCT lived up to it’s name and more.  As soon as we did our pre-game huddle I knew we had captured lightning in a bottle.  Never before in history did a group of 4 people work so hard towards a common goal (not counting any bobsledding events at least).  TGFCTOAT promptly went out and won not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 consecutive games for the sweep.

The Fifth Series: I don’t know how, but TGFCTOAT didn’t last for all time.  In fact we lasted for 5 games.  Team B ran it back on us and promptly lost game 5, which was now game 1, and then took the next 4 to end TGFCTOAT’s glorious, albeit short rein.  Looking back, not really a great game to end the year on. 

So below are the FINAL standings for Flip Cup. Pete holds on despite not showing to the last tailgate (a point J was not afraid to raise, and with good cause).  But the E-town kids did their job and kept J in a respectable second place.  Here is where everyone else finished.   

So there you have it.  53 people bellied up to the bar.  Some distinguished themselves, others fell into oblivion.  Just a couple facts, Pete’s 22-7 is extremely impressive.  I also like how I ended up with the same number of wins as Jason yet he played 8 less series than me!  Brian Lee and Colleen also had great seasons.  But when it comes to flip cup, does anyone really loss?    

Going back to the 53 flippers this year, in 2008 we had 51 flippers and a champion (Me!) with only 16 wins.  In 2007 we had 46 flippers and a Champion (Erin) with, get this, 11 wins!  And I guess 2007 is the first year we kept flip cup records.  Hmm, though I did notice a reference to Flip Cup in 2006.  Needless to say, you can see where this Flip Cup thing is trending.  It’s becoming it’s own monster.  Speaking of Monsters, looking at some of those old recaps, they must have been like one page!  How did I ever get away with that. 

Random Observation:

Remember when the cops used to drive up and down Lot 1 cracking down on all us “binge” drinkers (Bix not included in the sarcasm since he really was a binge drinker back then!).  Where did they ever go?  They just sort of stopped doing that a few years ago, and I must say, is lot 1 any worse for the lack of hassle?  Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly a place for Police at a Maryland Tailgate, but giving us grief for having a good time isn’t that place. 

The “Save the Terrapin (tailgaters)” Drive:

I don’t know if everyone is aware of this, but we really had a good year in terms of raising money.  It is unfortunate that we had to raise money for Chris’s cousins child and wife, but that is how life goes.  The good news is that we were able to raise $135.  Now in the big scheme of things that isn’t much, but in all honesty we pulled that $135 out of thin air.  Is anyone worse off for having donated some LRC money?  Of course not.  So as unfortunate as it is that we had to raise money, it makes what we do seem a little more legit.  It certainly is nice to know that some good comes with our hanging out. 

Tailgate MVP:

Not going with an MVP this week.  I think there were a few people that need to be called out (in a good way).  First of all (In no particular order) thanks to J for all the cooking he did throughout the year.  Also for hauling all the equipment and most importantly the table to every tailgate.  Believe me I know what a pain in the butt that is, so I just wanted to say how much we all appreciate it.

Also I wanted to call out Meagan who brought Chili to the tailgate.  Though it wasn’t Turkey, it was still the perfect food for a cool and windy day.  And in hindsight, who wouldn’t rather have chilly after eating turkey the previous two days.  Also the corn bread was awesome.

Surin also has brought stuff throughout the year and though I always cuss when I see donuts (because that means donut flip cup is a possibility) I do appreciate his enthusiasm.  Same goes with Brian Lee, who unfortunately could not be with us on the last tailgate of the year.

Shannon also made it to several tailgates this year and brought plenty of food, as well as her husband Matthew.  It’s always good to see Witchart, and I must say, I don’t know if I ever had a conversation with her where I wasn’t laughing or blushing, and if you are doing either of those, things are all right!

Emily also had a great tailgate season despite missing a large chunk of the year to Octoberfest (not that I’m going to cry for her).  Emily also was the first female participant in PPK, and was a fixture at the flip cup table. 

And most importantly some of our wives who choose not to come to the games.  My wife Kristin is a Saint for staying home with my little girl all of those Saturdays (though interestingly enough she did chose to attend the Cal game in Berkeley!).  Megan Y also deserves a medal for allowing all Chris to travel all of those weekends, because lets face it, having Bix at a tailgate makes it much better.  Mary also gets a nod, as important as J is to our tailgates, it is nice that she watches their son while J plays with us.  And finally Jill who I believe has a record for most Saturdays spent with a dog, for a person that does not have a dog. 

At any rate, I hate naming people because I’m bound to leave someone out (Like Shannon usually!).  Anyone who is reading this I’m also thankful for, if you are reading this you are part of D7 and we appreciate seeing you all Fall long. 

Reminder:

We really need to try and get together over the winter for a Saturday Basketball game.  Not to attend, but to at least get together to watch on TV.  Also there are a couple things that I plan on working on for next tailgate.  We will see if they come to fruition but they are definitely in my mind.  If you have any ideas on how to improve the tailgates please either let Chris or I know, or just do it yourself and surprise everyone come fall. 

Conclusion:

Well that is it for the year.  I am doing an overall tailgate recap for the season, so please check back for it.  I hope to have it up by this time next week.  Other than that, there isn’t really much else to say.  Thanks for coming out, and I hope to see everyone back this year.  Until then remember:

·        We may lose football games, but we’ll never lose a tailgate

·        Flip Cup…Religion…Country….Family, in that order

·        And Next September never felt more further away

So until then, see you next year…and Go Terps!