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Rutgers Tailgate Wrap-Up:

      - Lot 1, College Park, MD 
 

Tailgate Quote:   

“Run it back B#&%H”

Series 3 of Flip Cup, not sure who said it, and don’t think it was the quote of the tailgate, but it was the only quote I wrote down. 

Overall:  

I know it wasn’t the first tailgate of the year, but it was the first tailgate with everybody there.  And that has to be worth something.  It was also our last 9:30 Tailgate start of the year.   Of course having a noon start gives us a good shot at being on TV, but seriously, do we want the rest of America watching this crap?  So give me a 3:30 start for the game, a 9:30 start for the tailgate, and for God’s sake, don’t even include our score on ESPN’s bottom line.  You think Scott Van Pelt could do us a solid for that last one.

But we aren’t here to bitch about the game.  I have two other sites to do that on.  By the way would it kill some of you to actually read those things, especially the Raycom ones, and God forbid you leave a comment to help out Chris and I’s popularity.  I do want to thank both J and John who have done their part, but what about everyone else…PETE!

Then again, Pete didn’t even know he won the tailgating MVP award last week until this Saturday, so I doubt he is reading this either.  He claims he’s busy, but I refuse to accept that excuse from anyone who doesn’t have a kid.  YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT BUSY IS. 

Now back to tailgating. This week had a lot going for it.  We had the return of LRC, the debut of Survivor Flip Cup, and the new field goal kicking game.  I can only imagine what slew of games we will create as Lot 1 continues to get emptier as each week passes.  So with that intro, lets get into the recap, because there is a lot to cover. 

Tailgate Highlights:

We have talked about it forever, but the timing was never right.  Finally on this tailgate, all the stars aligned and the first ever D7 Flip Cup Survivor game was played.  For those who are wondering what Survivor Flip Cup is, it is very simple, there are no teams, no sides, just individual players.  After some rhythmic clapping everyone drinks at the same time.  Then they flip.  The last one to flip there cup is eliminated and the process is repeated until there is only one.  It was most definitely the highlight of the evening, and the results may surprise you.  Here’s how it panned out.  I’ll give you the name followed by the round in which they were eliminated, and a little commentary.

That is right.  Cory won the inaugural Survivor Flip Cup Challenge.  Way to go Cory, you shocked the world, and took home the title.

Tailgate Lowlights:

Lowlight!?   YOU WANT A LOWLIGHT?!  WELL I’LL GIVE YOU A LOW LIGHT.  How about having to wake up at 6:30 am on a Saturday in order to pack up your stuff, get everything ready, stress about having everything you need for the tailgate, only to pick up a bunch of people who not only aren’t ready, but haven’t bought any beer yet!?  What was the Rutgers game a surprise game that got added to the schedule Saturday morning???  So instead of sleeping an extra 45 minutes, you take that time and use it to waste 45 minutes of prime tailgating.  Look, I’ve seen us play, we aren’t going to have another game all season that starts at 3:30 or later, which means the era of the 6 am tailgates is upon us.  Once that happens you’ll be wishing you had 9:30-10:15 am from the Rutgers Tailgate back. 

Punt, Pass, and Kick:

I guess order has been restored in the Universe.  Pete’s reign of terror has ended after just one week.  J is back in the saddle.  But J didn’t just win PPK, he brought out his best performance of the year and tied his personal record of 43 parking spaces, which also happens to be the tailgate record as well.    
 

Coffin Corner:

The good news is that I remembered to bring the Pylons this week.  Sure you can play coffin corner just as well with empty beer cans but it’s just not the same.  It’s like having a cherry on your sundae, without the cherry its still a sundae (said with straight face), but with the cherry it’s a SUNDAE!!!! (said with a smile and jazz hands). 

This week there was a CC first.  We actually had a tie.  Both John and Pete downed their punt at about the 9 yard line (Howard High in the House).  So this led to a kick off.  John had the un-enviable luck of leading off.  He responded to the pressure by putting one through the end zone.  Pete got to go second which meant he only had to beat 20 yards.  This he did.  It may not be a PPK win, but it’s another title Pete can notch on his belt.  Well done. 

Miscellaneous:

This week we made up a new game.  The field goal kicking contest complete with snapper, holder, and naturally…a kicker.  We started out 10 parking spots away which was far enough to eliminate everyone by myself and Jason.  I lead off the next round by bending it like Beckham into the student section (had it been in Byrd).  Jason then followed that beauty up with a chip shot that went right down the middle to claim the title.  Will I ever win one of these stupid games?

Left, Right, Center:

Saturday saw our first LRC game of the year.  It was a little ghetto since I was missing one of the dice and we had to use two LRC dice with a red regular dice.  But we got through it.  This week we played for 5$, well most of us did.  Apparently J didn’t, which led to the following conversation. 

J: Juanita was short 2 dollars after LRC, she only had 43$ how could someone not put in all the money?

Bob:  Did you put in 5 dollars?

J:  No, I put in 3$ like always…..oh

As you can see Juanita was the champ taking home either $43 or $45. 

Flip Cup Results:

This week was much more competitive than the previous week.  We had series that ebbed and flowed, we had miracle comebacks, we had big time chokes, and most importantly we had series clinching pile ups.  It was everything Flip Cup was supposed to be.  So let’s get into it. 

The First Series:  Based on the finish in the Survivor Flip Cup, we had the top two finishers be team captains.  Well, not quite.  We decided Cory may not have been ready for captain duties, so I being number 3 took over as captain.  I named my team the Memphis Grizzlies and picked J, Chris, Pete, and then Cory once he decided to join back in.  The other team was the Utah Jazz (the theme is teams that need to switch nicknames) who were pieced together by Jason who added his brother Justin, Surin, Juanita, and John.  Again I’m not sure what order they were picked, but that was the end results.  Though the week was more competitive, the balance really didn’t kick in until after this series.  The Memphis Grizzlies took game 1, game 2, game 3, lost game 4, and then iced it in game 5. 

The Second Series: The next series was a rematch, now bear with me on this, we had some people coming and going while this was going on, so hopefully I have this all straight. The Grizzlies had Bob, J, Pete, Cory, and then John came over.  The Jazz had Surin, Juanita, Justin, Jason, and Chris.  Now this was a game.  The Grizz came out 2-0, but the Jazz answered in round 3 and 4 to even it up.  Then the Grizz pulled ahead by winning game 5, but the Jazz were not to be denied and took home games six and seven to capture the series win.  Finally some drama!

The Third Series: See Tailgate quote at the top of the page.  The Grizzlies remained Bob, John, J, Cory, and Pete.  While the Jazz retained Surin, Juanita, Justin, Chris, and Jason.  The Jazz got out to a 2-0 lead but the Grizzlies answered in game 3 to make it 2-1.  The Jazz stiff armed the Grizz in game four to make it 3-1, but the pesky Grizzlies fought back to make it 3-2.  However, it wasn’t meant to be for the Grizz, the Jazz won game 6 to take the series.

The Fourth Series:  Now we start to mix in some fresh faces.  The new teams were the Chickadee China the Chinesse Chickens vs. the Dungeon and Dragons Fan Club.  CCCC was made up of John S, Justin, Chris, Surin, Juanita, and Kenny.  The DDFC were made up of Bob, B Lee, Dave, J, John, and Pete.  This one was not pretty.  DDFC operated with German like precision taking out the CCCC 4-0.  And yes, it was as ugly as 4-0 could look.  I’m not pointing any fingers in this one, but if game one would have ended like a South Park episode, things might have been different. 

The Fifth Series: Now things were starting to heat up.  By this time everyone was feeling good, and starting to get caught up in the moment.  I’m going to stick with the animation theme and go with the South Park Cows vs. the Springfield Isotopes.  SPC was made up of Bob, J, Dave, B Lee, Pete, and John.  SI was made up of Madra, Chris, Juanita, Surin, Justin, and Jason.  SPC’s came out to stake an early lead jumping ahead 2-0.  But the Topes, like a caged tiger being poked with a stick roared to life.  They took game 3, game 4, game 5 and the next thing we knew it was 3-2 Topes.  But SPC wasn’t done yet.  They rallied to force a game 7 and then in miraculous fashion took the final game to claim the 4-3 victory.  As the announcer on the Simpson’s says in the Episode where Homer becomes the Capital City Goofball…..Topes Lose?!?  (with sad and dejected voice echoing through the stadium).

The Sixth Series:  The final count down.  We got to the point where we could either go into the game or play one more round of flip cup.  Guess which choice we made (and what a choice it was).  This was basically a rematch.  Again SPC was Bob, Pete, Dave, J, John, and B Lee.  SI was Madra (or Marinda according to my notes at this point!), Justin, Juanita, Surin, Chris, and Jason.  This was one for the ages.  SPC looked to be dominating early going out to a 3-0 lead.  But the Topes would not be denied, they won not once, not twice, but thrice to tie the game at 3-0.  The Cows had blown 3 chances to close this one out.  And then when the momentum was so overwhelmingly against them, the Cows pulled out a great series win.  I’m not sure what happened, but I know we did a pile up in the middle of lot 1.  And that is what tailgating is about!!

Below are the season standings.  We did more picking on this day and found teams that were close enough that we kept them for a few games in a row.  Because of this the records on the day were much more balanced.  I said it before, but I think the school yard pick is the way to go.  Sure it hurts some feelings, but there is nothing better than getting over looked on draft day and making the team that didn’t select you pay.  Not that I know anything about that because I am so money, I would never not be picked near the top.   
 

 
Tailgate MVP:

I don’t know who to go with this week.  It was basically J’s to lose, but for some reason he did something that made me mentally note that he would not be winning the MVP this week.  Luckily for him, I can’t remember what that was.  So it is between J and myself.  I’m giving myself a nod because I was on time and had to be held up by the Riva crew, those were precious sleeping in minutes I wasted.  But since I hate giving these MVP’s to myself, I guess I’ll let J off the hook early and give him his due. 

Honorable Mention (in no particular order): 

I don’t think I’m naming an HM this week.  Stay tuned for next week.     
 

Conclusion

I think Surin said it best when he stated “This is going to be a long year so we might as well have as much fun as possible out in the parking lot”.  I couldn’t agree more.  In fact I’m going to add in my own quote of “Next week you are going to have to drag me into the Stadium kicking and screaming”.  Now that is not a healthy attitude to have, and I really don’t mean it 100%.  But the point is, I have an awesome time in the parking lot.  I go into the Stadium and I am miserable and frustrated.  Now we can’t control what happens on the field, but we can control what we do with the time we are given to tailgate.  Overall I think we are spending that time wisely, except for of course last Saturday’s 45 minute trip to the Riva Penalty Box.  Now next week we have a nooner against Clemson.  I plan to be there at 6:00 am.  We’ll see what happens.  

So until then, don’t forget:

·        We take flip cup way to seriously

·        There absolutely, 100%, won’t be a night game this year

·        It’s nice to have everyone present for Tailgating duty

·        Look for Dave to be the Surgeon General in 2018

·        I don’t think I’d have bullet #1 be any other way

 
  See you all next Saturday!