I arrived in Happy Valley yesterday morning (Wednesday around 11h30) .  It feels good to be back in the place I called home for several years and my booth at 'skeller felt just as comfortable as the last time put in an 8 hour shift there.  I've seen a few fellow Gopher fans roaming college ave over the past few days and anticipate a decent number of gopher fans will show up for a night on the town tomorrow. 

Snow fell all day and the heavy snow dropped a lot of trees and left much of Happy Valley without power for several hours tonight.  I spent those hours pounding beers at my buddy's house and we'll be jumping the bus to downtown and take advantage of wing night at the Dark Horse.

Tomorrow will be completely dedicated to boozin'.  Lloyd and Leeks are arriving in the late afternoon and I will have secured a table at the Cafe in the early afternoon before the crowds show up for the homecoming parade.  We'll be there until after the parade and then will hit Zeno's for a couple of craft beers before settling in at the 'skeller.  If any of you are in town and find Tipsy, Lloyd, and Leeks tomorrow night (and if you're still up 30 minutes before bar close) we'll take you to the best kept secret in State College - a place where the beer flows like wine and they serve well past closing time.

Safe travels to those of you who are on your way east tomorrow. (except for fat chicks from lot 86 who inhale cheeseburgers)

Go Gophers!!!

Weddings on Football weekends thread

I posted the thread linked above nearly 1 year ago when my "friend" announced that he was getting married on Oct. 3, 2009. 

Feel free to review if necessary, but the long and short of it is that this guy I know is getting married on Saturday in Duluth, MN.  To his good fortune, the 11 AM kickoff might allow me to make it to Duluth in time for the 5 PM wedding.  If nothing else, I'll make the reception which is quite generous of me since I am potentially giving up a post-game tailgate celebrating a victory over Wisconsin in order to attend.

Given the sacrifices I am making, do I still need to give the bride and groom a gift?  Or should they be punished for being so stupid as to schedule a wedding on such an important day?

Your feedback will be appreciated.

I'm going to head up this weekend and take in the Gopher football opener, but have also decided that I'm going to fulfill a lifelong dream and attend the Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival, taking place over Labor Day weekend in the city that gave birth to what food critics have called "the greatest culinary invention in the history of mankind".

It's a bit of a drive across the state of NY, but one that will be worth it.

We are two weeks away, my fellow Gopher Fans...  tailgate planning is in high gear.  We switched our parking passes to Lot 89 for fear that our cheeseburgers would be inhaled by a certain cheeseburger aficionado in Lot 86.  We made our move after careful study of the lots, finding that 89 provides much more shade, WAY more green space in which to play JARTS, excellent shelter from wind in case of inclement weather, and close access to the pedestrian bridge to Dinkytown making for an easy 1 mile walk to the stadium.  Who would take a shuttle when they could stroll through campus on a glorious Fall day?

So for those of you lucky enough to be in Lot 89, you've made an excellent choice my friends.   We'll be your fellow tailgaters.  We'll be serving up Lobster several times this year in honor of our old buddy Kelly Leeks.  Kelly Leeks II will join us for several games and Lloyd C will be a regular alongside myself, Tipsy McStagger. 

Question:  If we've paid for 3 parking spots but only need 1 car, can we hang our additional parking tags on some sort of post or orange cone and keep people from parking adjacent to us?  (Not that we aren't friendly, but I really like to spread out when I tailgate)

For the opener, we'll be going with a slightly more upscale menu - perhaps Cornish game hens on the rotisserie.  Being that it is the first game back on campus, we'll also tip our hats to the gentleman and ladies that made college football Saturdays a social event back in the early years.  Sharp dress is a must.  I'll be wearing a tie, just as my grandfather did at Memorial Stadium.

Where are others on this board tailgating?  Do you plan to do anything special or unique for the inaugural game?  I'd like to meet fellow posters and grow Lot 89 into the finest tailgate lot on campus, but to be quite honest, it probably already is.

Here's to a great tailgate season!

Our time has come.

For many of us, this day has only existed in our imagination.  We have never fired up the grill and poured a handful of beers down our gullet.  We have never strolled through campus on a crisp Fall day alongside thousands of other Maroon & Gold adorned football fans.We have never walked into our home stadium with head held high.  We have never watched our beloved Golden Gophers battle on the gridiron under a clear blue sky.

Our time has come.

This past weekend many of us who could not wait another few weeks had a sneak preview of what lies ahead.  We check out our tailgate spots, we mapped out our procession to the stadium, we watched a little football and we began to understand just exactly what we've been missing.  I've been to dozens of college campuses for games and always felt a bit of envy and would imagine what it would be like to do the same thing on the campus of my alma mater.  Maybe I have a poor imagination, but my wildest dreams never conjured up the emotions I felt walking through campus and into the stadium last weekend.  I can assure you, on September 12, when the place is full and I hear The Rouser or Hail, Minnesota, my eyes won't be dry.

We are two weeks away, my fellow Gopher Fans...  Our time has come!

Go Gophers!!!

Another academic year has passed us by and with that another year of Golden Gopher athletics.  With a little baseball left to be played, there is still something out there for those with a ravenous Maroon & Gold appetite.  For many, however, thoughts are now wandering to Fall.  The sweet smell of hickory wafting up from the grill as the brats and burgers sizzle on the grill, the crisp and refreshing quality of that 7th beer as it washes down your pre-game meal, the music of a pretty co-ed's laughter as you regale she and her friends with tales of the past.  We're talking about tailgate season.

I love summer.  I spend weeks spent at the cabin fishing the days away, wakeboarding, kite boarding, or just going for a swim after sauna.  There are great events, such as Tipsy and Lloyd's annual 4th of July Beer Blast and Scott Pumper's Labor Day Bash, but those mearly serve as a momentary distraction.  During the summer, I spend many hours a day planning and daydreaming about tailgate season.  And this year is going to be special...

Our tickets are selected.  By closely monitoring certain fans' seat selections, we've went to great lengths to ensure that we aren't sitting by any dicks.  Lloyd and I have made it clear to our renter's that we'll be throwing large tailgate parties in our yard in stadium village each game day, so they have to be prepared to either vacate or join the fun.  Everything is in place.  Now we play the waiting game...

For the opener, I expect that everyone will dress in their finery, much like gentleman and ladies did in the old days of Memorial Stadium.  One only needs to look back at historic photos of the crowd to see that a college football game was an event and most fans dressed well and carried themselves with dignity.  I have been in discussions with the tailors at Heimie's Haberdashery in St. Paul and will be having a new gold suit for opening day.  In anticipation of warm weather, it will be of lighter fabric than my other Fall weight game day suits.

We're so close, I can almost taste it...  on to September!!! 

Go Gophers!!!

Spring football is a really exciting time of year for me because it mean that Lloyd C. and I can dust of the grill and our trusty cooler and start getting back into tailgate shape.  2009 will require more rigerous training and planning as we prepare for opening day at Memorial Stadium.  Much of the planning will begin at our annual Gopher Football roundtable that is held in conjunction with Tipsy and Lloyd's annual 4th of July Beer Blast, but this weekend is were many seeds will be planted.

In order to practice in a true college football environment which will most closely duplicate the level of fan excitement we hope to see September, Lloyd and I will be hold our spring tailgate in State College, PA during Penn State's Blue & White weekend.  We, of course, will be flying the Maroon & Gold.

I hope everyone tailgating back in Minnesota enjoys the day and their first taste of Gopher football outdoors.  The best is yet to come!

Go Gophers!!!

smoking hat, smoking hat

I made the last minute decision to head to the game this weekend.  I'm not worried about finding tickets there, but I wouldn't mind picking some up from a Gopher fan if anybody has extras.

I will be throwing one of the best tailgates the Purdue fans will have ever seen on their home turf.  If anyone is going and wants to join us for some drinking prior to kickoff or after for a victory beer, let me know and I'll send you the details.

At the start of the season, one of the guys in my season ticket group missed the home opener because he scheduled a lame camping trip with his girlfriend.  He claimed the trip was planned and he didn't think to look at the football schedule when they were making restervations.  I excused this as plausible and let it go.  However, I made sure to give him a handy wallet schedule, so things like this would not happen again.

A few weeks later, as tailgate planning was underway, this same guy tells me that the coming weekend was the annual BWCA trip with a bunch of guys (who he doesn't like) from work.  Thankfully, the whole block of tickets is in my name, so I have suspended him from attending the next game as punnishment for his inability to plan.

He has a 2008 and a 2009 schedule in his wallet, so future mistakes will not be tolorated.  I have made this clear.

Last night, over drinks, he and his new fiancee announce that they've decided to get married in Duluth next year.  I inquired, "what date?"  He answered, "October 3rd."  I ask did you check the football schedule (knowing full well that October 3rd is the day of the Big Ten home opener in the new stadium vs. Wisconsin).  He says, "no."  I simply said, "I won't be there".  He got upset and said that it's rediculous for me to say so matter-of-factly that I won't be a part of his wedding.

If he follows through with the wedding, is it right for me to kick him out my season ticket group?  That's what I intend to do.

It's been one helluva run so far and if I had it my way, the Maroon & Gold would be putting on the pads this week and battling for another Big Ten victory.  But, I don't make the schedule and as we look to Saturday, I see a wide open day with plenty of opportunity to attend to other aspects of my life.

What are other DGers doing?

I'm going to head Up North and spend the day in the great outdoors... I haven't taken any ducks yet and the Fall bite is picking up on several of the lakes in God's country.  It will also give me a chance to see the family that I neglect from late August through early December.  Of course, I'll tune in to radio to some AM sports talk so I can keep up with the days events - hopefully an injury filled wisconsin/iowa game (it's a shame they can't both lose).

I'll come back refocused and the team should come back healthy, rested and ready add another W to the season.  Lloyd and I will be packing up the car and heading to West Laf on Thursday, anxious to hit up Harry's Chocolate Shoppe for a dozen or so beers and try our luck.

Who else is making the trip?  And What will you do this Saturday?  Discuss.

"OK, maybe it's true that Gopher Nation is bored with this game on Saturday."

Come on, Mr. Daily Gopher... where have you been all week?  The whole town is  a buzz in anticipation of this weeks tilt vs. Indiana.

It's the Big Ten home opener - the last ever in our dear old Metrodome.  Kelly Leeks has had this game circled on his calender for over a year and he'll be arriving from Boston late tonight and we'll spend the wee hours making sure ever detail of our tailgate has been taken care of.  No mistakes this week!

The Gophers will be looking right the ship and get back in the win column after taking their lumps in Columbus last weekend and Coach Brewster really needs to get that first Big Ten victory.  I am still feeling pretty pumped up about this team and see the potential for a really complete game this weekend - polished offense, scrappy opportunistic defense, and solid special teams.  All off this will translate to a resounding triumph on Saturday.

Fall weather is here, finally... it'll be a crisp AM tailgate, just the way I like it.  Football weather!  If only the game was outside...  I can finally trade in shorts and t-shirts for proper football attire.  The change in weather alone is enough to get me Super Pumped!

Last  week, I was only super pumped for the FAU game.  After watching the Gophers put forth a complete game and dismantle the Burrowing Owls 37-3 (a game I thought would be a shootout), the Maroon and Gold has given me every reason to believe that Saturday's tilt vs. Ohio State will be competitive. 

It reminds me of the time that TAD was so pumped that he lit Scrap Iron's Ohio State Flag on fire.  That got Scrappy so pumped that he took H. Sailor's Florida (the state, not the university flag) and Lloyd's Minnesota flag and threw them in a mud puddle behind 253 Ridge and stomped on them.  Boy was he pumped!

Lloyd and I will have a practice tailgate this weekend in preparation for the arrival of Kelly Leeks for the IU game.  We'll focus on side dishes and beverages, since Leeks is going to be preparing the main course next week.

So... In honor of my very first night in State College, PA when I was witness to a burning Ohio State flag (which led to me getting really pumped up for a football game the next day), I ask...

Heading into the season, I told myself that as Brewster's team continues on its learning curve, I would be please to be heading to Columbus with a 3-1 record.  I really didn't think the boys in Maroon and Gold would come back of Bowling Green with a W, but they did and it really gave me more hope for the season.  I get pretty pumped up for all home games because I love to tailgate, but this weeks match up should be a pretty exciting one and win would send the Gophers into the Big Ten season on a pretty high note.  The chance of a bowl game would be well within their grasp.  I for one am super pumped for this game.  How pumped are you?

(poll note, everybody knows that fist pumps are the coolest way to show how pumped you are)