Home
Up

UNC Tailgate Wrap-Up:

            - Lot 1, College Park, MD

Tailgate Quote: 

(Justin telling story about an auto wreck and Amish wagon)

Justin:  Imagine being Amish and waking up in a hospital, it’d probably freak you out.

Bob:  Yeah they’d think they died and gone to heaven and then start screaming ‘Damn, all of this time I could have been watching TV and driving cars!!’

Overall:

Here comes the obligatory “Sorry for using one of my lines as a tailgate quote explanation” but in all honesty.  Since I didn’t have my trusty notepad (I honestly felt naked without it), it is the only line I can remember, though I think I remember every single member of the Leavitt family saying something that I mentally though was Tailgate Quote material, but as I write this 3 days after the fact, I can’t remember any of them.  Don’t worry though I will put my notepad in my truck tomorrow just to make sure I have it for Saturday.

And speaking of Saturday, you can say without any hint of exaggeration that this Saturday is going to be one of the biggest football games at Byrd Stadium in quite some time.  In fact I’d say not since 2006 when we still had a chance at the ACC Championship and lost to Wake Forest had we had such a meaningful game.  And before that was probably the 2001 Clemson game.  So add that together with the fact that we will be having a black out and a night game and it should make for a pretty intense day. 

But that is getting ahead of ourselves.  This game against UNC was also pretty big as well.  We inched ever so closer to the first flip cup table blood shed, we resurrected the horse race game, and even got in two pretty nice games of LRC (69$ total).  We also missed a major weather bullet.  The forecast called for falling temperatures through out the day, but quite honestly, except for a brief shower or two, it was actually a pretty nice day.  Overall a pretty solid Saturday. 

Of course when we do these tailgates I sometimes have to make up some lame excuse about the football team, and then give the token “We’ll at least we didn’t lose the tailgate BS”, but not this year.  In fact only Chris, Brian, and Myself have had a tailgate that ended with us watching the Terps lose.  Not since 2001 have we gone undefeated at home, yet here we sit in 2008 just one game away from that very feat.  You’ve got to love that.  We all know that we will be out there every autumn Saturday that the Terps take the field, but isn’t the flip cup and Bud Light a little sweeter when the games, especially this late in the season, mean something.  It’s like having a piece of double chocolate cake, instead of just chocolate cake. 

I often say that I feel that the results of the football game fall over into the memories of the tailgate recap, and that may very well be true, because the 2008 tailgating season has been one for the ages.  In fact it seems like the first season in a while where we haven’t dedicated hours of time debating the scenario’s that make us bowl eligible.  Instead we’ve been discussing possible trips to Tampa, and that’s much more fun!  In fact this season has been so great, that I have decided to do a 2008 Tailgate Season Recap with Awards Ceremony, so look forward to that.  And if your vane like J and like to see your name in print, it probably wouldn’t hurt you to do something memorable this last Saturday…actually something stupid and memorable would be best! 

Tailgate Highlights:

I would have to say the weather was the highlight this week.  No not that the weather was good, but the fact that the weather wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they were calling for.  I know you all give me crap when I botch a forecast, but I’m making these forecasts weeks ahead of time, in the few free moments I have where I’m not taking care of my child.  Professional meteorologists have access to all the lastest technology and from the moment they walk into work, they have nothing to do but to get the forecast right for the next few days.  Well in this case they dropped the ball. 

In all my experience screwing up forecasts I can say that they at least did one thing right.  When you predict a crappy day and it doesn’t materialize, no one really cares (unless they already cancelled something), but when you predict nice weather and that falls through, we’ll that’s how you get death threats.  Needless to say the weather wasn’t perfect, but all the bad weather was confined to a few minutes, and for most of those minutes we were all able to fit under the tent, so not much damage was done.  I guess the lesson here would be to always be ready for rain.  I had my full rain gear, and boots, in fact this was probably the most ready I have ever been for rain in my life, yet I hardly used any of them.  I was almost disappointed. 

Tailgate Lowlights:

This week’s lowlight had to be me forgetting my notepad.  Laugh all you want (in fact you would probably be laughing right now if you could see me trying to decipher notes that I made on a Pep Boys receipt).  Sure unlike last week, I was able to keep this one dry, but still.  I feel like a homeless person. 

Live from College Park Downs:

The Slot Referendum has been passed and the Maryland Horse Racing Industry now has a chance to return to it’s former glory, and that all started on Saturday with the opening of Terrapin Downs.  In fact, not only was Terrapin Downs Open, but we also had a full race card featuring the main event known as the “Double Up Derby”.  Unfortunately I was caught up in being the banker and I didn’t really get to note who won what.  Sorry for that.  I think I won at least one race, and I think Linkous won a few since he was next to me and I remember him being happy.  Oh, and by the way we need more chips.  If anyone can go to a dollar store and pick up a packet of those flimsy poker chips we use, I’d greatly appreciate it, and I’ll also re-imburse you through the Save the Terrapin (tailgater) Fund.            

LRC:

Guess who’s back…back again….  That’s right the UNC tailgate saw the return of LRC to the tailgate.  It has been a while since we broke out the dice, but we had enough requests to do it this past weekend.  Of course we did play a few games of LRC down in Blacksburg, but that doesn’t really count since it was only Chris, Brian, and I.  The first game saw 11 participants with a total pot of 33$.  It was won by George.  The second game was much more awesome with 12 participants and the $36 was won by myself.  If you do count the Va Tech games of LRC that gives me two wins out of my last three LRC games.  Not too bad.  Maybe I’ll look into going pro.

Punt, Pass, and Kick:

Despite perennial runner-up Bix not being around we still managed to get in a game of PPK.  Once again the PPK was won by J.  J reached 41 spots to claim the crown and once again get his name engraved on Chris’s trophy.  Brian M, no not Brian S, gave him a run, but in the end he wasn’t able to represent.  I’m thinking of bring up a new rule for PPK, as in your kick has to land between the parking spots.  If it lands on un-marked asphalt you only get the spot where it crossed out of bounds.  I’m not saying this would hurt J, I’m just thinking that is how they do long drive contests, and it might make things more interesting.  The idea actually came to me when Jason hit his kick and it sailed as straight as an arrow.  Being able to throw or kick straight should be worth more than say the Josh Portis pass to Heyward Bey.  Ohhh that’s what we’ll call it.  The Portis rule.  Anyway Congratulations to J. 

Coffin Corner:

For the second tailgate in a row, CC was won by the person who kicked first.  In this case it was J.  His kick was pretty ordinary, but when you are playing against several other kickers who strive to reach ordinary, it can be good enough.  However, J winning the CC was not at all news worthy compared with this nugget.  Surin had the first ever negative punt in CC history.  I’m not sure what happened, but his kick went straight up into the wind, landed about even with him and rolled to a stop about 4 parking spots behind him.  I don’t think that feat will ever be topped.  Sorry Surin, but if there was a Tailgating Hall of Fame, that moment would be in it.  (As well as Brian’s outfit and cell phone from the Wake Forest Game).

Flip Cup Results:

I called it, I so called it.  I even have witnesses.  Well, I didn’t exactly call it, but I was close.   I told several people that we were getting dangerously close to someone being assaulted at the flip cup table.  Of course when all things were said and done, I figured it would be J with blood on his hands, but not yet.  However, you have to admit, this once fun game now has more tension than the Cuban Missile Crisis, and though part of me hates that, another part of me LOVES it. 

Let me paint you a picture.  I play volleyball at the local elementary school every week.  It is mostly for fun, but we do keep score.  Occasionally we will play a game and everyone will forget the score and we just end up playing. IT KILLS ME.  I can’t do it, it’s like what’s the point of trying if it doesn’t matter whether I get to the ball or not.  But when we keep score, I’d be willing to dive into the bleachers to save a point.  It’s all about being accountable.  That is what keeping score does.  It makes you accountable for your actions.  That is why I love keeping flip cup standings, it gives everyone a reason to really try.  Now the up side of this is that everyone plays really hard and puts their all into it.  The down side is that things are starting to get a little out of hand as we approach the end of the flip cup season.  I for one don’t care.  I’m pretty sure I won’t be the one who’s head get’s put through the table, but I fear someone might.

In fact you can’t mention flip cup this week without bringing up the now famous “Beer Gate Scandal”.  For those who weren’t there (actually that would just be you Bix).  What happened is that my team had a 3-0 lead and the other team lead by those Leavitt Boys (read that in the Boss Hog voice) were desperate to stop the bleeding.  They finally got a close game in and Tim shut them down at the anchor position.  Now here is what happened.  Tim finished his beer really quick.  The Leavitts, mostly Justin, thought it was too quick and chaos insued.  Now here is where I’d like to chime in.  I did not watch the whole thing (had a known the historical significance I most certainly would have) but I do remember thinking my god that was quick.  So there are two ways I can look at this as the Supreme Commissioner of the Flip Cup league.  Maybe Tim forgot to fill his beer and in a panic, just went through the motion, faked the chug and flipped his cup.  Or maybe he did indeed finish his beer.  I can really see both sides of the story, but here is what clinches my decision for me.  Tim likes to drink, in fact I know how much he had been looking forward to getting annihilated (not drunk) this past Saturday.  So having drunk with him many a beer, and never once having him cheat himself out of drinking, I am going to have to side with him on my final call.  Now with that being said, I respect Justin for up holding the integrity of the game, but that is my honest opinion.  However, whatever you want to believe, there is one thing you can’t deny.  We were up 3-0 at that time and 3-1 wasn’t going to affect the outcome of that series.  We were pretty loaded talent wise! 

Now with that behind us, let’s move on.

The First Series:  I let J pick out the team names for this match up.  I know it isn’t a big deal, but as long as it takes me to finish these, I’ll take any help I can get.  J came up with Gone Fishin’ (no g) and Sick Leave, I’m guessing J has a guilty conciounse about something.  Anyway, GF was made up of Tyson, Brian M, Myself, George, Tim, Jen, and J.  SL was made up of Justin, Surin, Mike, Emily, Megan, Jason, and Chris (no not Bix, hopefully I don’t F up the standings on this one).  Well we already know about the controversial finish, but even if it were true it’d be like saying Jimmy Johnson had an illegal back spoiler in Homestead.  By the time it came up, the conclusion was already well in hand.  GF’s sweep. 

The Second Series:  After much fighting and bickering, I finally got things settled down by having Jen and Jason pick teams.  We did the school yard draft.  Jason picked a team made up of Surin, Emily, Bob, Justin, Mike, and Tyson.  Jen countered with herself, J, Tim, Megan, Chris (not Bix), George, and Brian M.  I should also note at this time Tim’s honor was so soiled that he felt he had to chug a full beer each time in order to prove his innocence.  Surprisingly enough despite an early deficit, Jen lead her team to victory winning 4-2.

The Third Series: OK, I don’t think I have this 100%, a lot of people were coming and going, so I am going to keep the teams the same the rest of the way out.  This may not be accurate, but it pretty much is, and unfortunately it is all I can figure out from the receipt.   The notes really drop off at this point.  Game three saw Jason’s team (which in my notes is now Justin’s team) rally to win 4-3.  Since it went 7 games that last game must have been pretty intense.  Damn where was that notebook! 

The Fourth Series:  I find it hard to believe we only played 4 series, but I guess that was the case.  Anyway, again same teams, this time Jen’s team came out on top 4-3.  I don’t have any other notes than that, but now would be a good time to mention that J was so pissed he wasn’t a first round selection in the school yard draft, he was contemplating throwing the entire game.  I swear, the things J has mumbled to me over the flip cup table this season, well I could write a book.  Unfortunately after it was published J would probably have to flee the country like Salman Rushdie (google it people, I can’t hand feed you every joke!). 

So that was it for flip cup.  No pastry flip cup or anything else disgusting to report.  I would say that the Co-MVP’s on the day were J, Jen, Brian M, Tim, and George (my that’s a lot of Elkton People!!!).  They all went 3-1 by my count.  I’m hoping we can finish more than 4 series next week.  I know for me to win the season crown I would want as few games as possible, but I’m not like that.  I want this last weekend to be memorable!

Well I’m back in the lone #1 spot.  But I can see the writing on the wall.  Everyone is going to be gunning for me next week.  I can see it now, it will be me, some homeless guy selling blinking novelty sunglasses, a member of the dance team who I promised to buy all her remaining candy if she helped me, some obnoxious FSU fan, and Bix (good old Bix..Semper Fe buddy, semper fe).  Oh well, if I’m going down, I going down swinging…BRING IT ON!!!

Weather Report Card:

If I highlighted and deleted this section, would the world ever know?  Probably not, but I would, so I have to stick with it.  This season has been a terrible one for my forecasts, but that’s okay, I’ve learned a lot and hopefully I can apply those lessons in the future and give you even better service in 2009.

The “Save the Terrapin (tailgaters)” Drive:

I’m not at home right now so I don’t know what the fund is up to, but I will say that I grossly under stated what we got the last tailgate.  I think we had 15$ total, and I know I put in at least 5 in VT (could have been 10, I was drinking) so after the FSU recap I will get us our season total.  We also have the money for last year which I will give to J so that he can upgrade our grill.  The rest I will keep for whatever supplies we need in the future.  I don’t think we will have a problem spending it.  I know we have a special D7 project that could use some funding to get off the ground.  I’ll keep everyone posted however. 

Tailgate MVP:

Damn it J.  I didn’t want to do it, but your name was all over this recap, with PPK, CC, flip cup.  You also helped me fixed my headlights which was a huge issue for me.  So Congratulations….ya bastard.

Honorable Mention (in no particular order): 

I’m going with the Leavitt Clan for honorable mention.  You all got there early and didn’t disappoint.  I only wish I could remember some of those quotes from earlier in the day.

Conclusion

Well that does it for the UNC tailgate.  This is the time of year where I begin to think to myself “Damn there is only one more tailgate left”, but lucky for us, this particular tailgate has EPIC written all over it.  In fact if I were the Offensive Coordinator for the Tailgate, here is how I’d draw up my game plan.  PPK, and CC assuming the Lot is empty, then E40H followed by at least 2.5 hours of flip cup.  But that’s just one man’s opinion. 

So until then, don’t forget:

• Flip Cup = The Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, both are sparks that could and did lead to a world war
• Surin needs to turn around to play CC
• Saturday night, dress the opposite of whatever forecast I have
• And actually preparing for rain, can indeed prevent it
• The Notepad is the key to a successful recap

No need to remind you about next week.  Even my own mother knows how big this one is.  And why wouldn’t she, her son has a 1 game lead in flip cup with one tailgate left…..oh, and we play FSU for a chance to go to the ACC Championship game or something.