[Oh, what the hell.  Gotta promote my peoples. -RUTS]

Need to start thinking about tailgating, people.  To that end, I'm going to periodically throw out some recipes and a few rules to live by.  Would love to see some other recipes as well - always like to get the ideas going....

To start:  World Famous Tailgate Chili a la Shogun
Why?  Because it's easy and it's great.  Serves plenty of people, depending on what else you're serving

When?  Cold weather game.  But whenever works, too.  I probably won't trot this out until October, but you never know.

You'll need: 1 package of ground beef or ground turkey; 4 cans of various beans (black, kidney, pink, etc.); 1 large jar of salsa (fond of Old El Paso), 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 or 2 jalapeno or other hot peppers; 1 can of corn (I like yellow & white by Green Giant); 1 lg. yellow onion; 1 beer (Yuengling does the trick); 1 pack of chili seasoning (McCormick's original works well)

To make it:  The night before the game, start by browning beef/turkey in large pot over medium to medium low heat.  After about 8 minutes, start gradually adding other ingredients.  No rush, no magic order, but I start with the fresh vegetables first. Every few minutes, add in some of the seasoning.  Add in some beer along the way too.  Stir often.  After it cooks for about 20, 25 minutes, you're good.  You can eat it now - but it tastes better after everything  sits together overnight.  Trust the Shogun.

At the tailgate, heat up on a grill or portable stove, adding another bottle of Yuengling to get the right consistency.  Stir frequently. Add cheese if you like, hot sauce if you like, sour cream if you like.  Serve friends, keep drinking beer, bask in the compliments you receive.

Are there more complicated chili recipes out there?  Sure, and I use them too.  But this takes very little effort to make, tastes great, and is surprisingly healthy, especially if you use lean ground turkey.

Random rules to think about for the day:
34. No matter how awesome you think your mix is or how big your speakers are, people 8 rows away (let alone those right next to you), really REALLY don't want to hear your music.

53.  Bring trash bags.  It's easy, and makes people around you think you're civilized.  Even if you're not.  If you forget them, they typically have them free by the dumpsters on giant rolls.  Don't be a slob.

91.  Want to make new friends?  Offer the people around you some of whatever you make.  Especially when they trot out some soggy hoagies and you're doing up steamed clams or homemade soup.  This is especially true when you find yourself next to a group of 12 college kids who brought 12 cases of beer and one bag of chips.

92. Oh yeah - don't just bring beer.  That's not a tailgate, that's self-assault.  Drink as much as you want, but eat something along the way.

Incoming freshman LB Glenn Carson is making friends and influencing people.  Sadly, the people he's meeting are the Penn State U. Police.  Cited for underage & public drunkenness on campus.

My question:  If he was cited for underage... did he have to actually be drinking when the cop grabbed him?  Or can they get you for that if you earn yourself a public drunk charge without them seeing you do the drinking?  Anything going on at the old Phi Delt house this summer, or was he just wandering around smashed? Regardless, not a great way to welcome yourself to your new team.

Anyway.  Hopefully Joe beats him severely and he learns that cops in S.C. aren't as OMG FOOTBALL PLAYER! as the rest of the population.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/07/30/players_involved_in_trouble.aspx

If it wasn't a lock before, I assure you it's a lock now.  SI is reporting that Rich Rod is looking to bring in... Greg Paulus to play QB for the Wolverines.

You may recall this is a guy who was highly touted as a HS QB, but who hasn't played football in four years.  So, clearly the 'Tate Forcier For Heisman' campaign is getting off to a slower start than expected.

I hope this is true, only so Odrick & Bowman can make this poor 180lb kid bleed from his eyes after pile-driving him into the turf.

"Those who stay, may not be champions, but they may sit the bench behind a back-up point guard from Duke"

Which is a better outcome for the team:  Making the tourney, maybe going one & done or at best making the second round.

OR

Playing well in the NIT, getting 4 or 5 games under their belts, including another good road win and a win without a soon-to-be departing senior?

Sure, the NCAA tourney gets more attention, but does anyone remember the 10 or 11 seeds from one or even two years ago?  Not saying that anyone would remember the NIT champion two years from now; instead, I wonder if the added practices & games might prove advantageous in the long run. 

Discuss...

Article from the Collegian where Ed talks about our schedule.  Player quotes included, none of whom seem to be blaming anyone else (unlike some people on this board). Quote from 'Mel:  

"I think that our coaching staff did what was best," senior forward Jamelle Cornley said. "They tried to schedule the games and teams that were good enough and that they felt we could compete against.

Link: Sounds like there are 4 games left to work with on the OOC schedule for next year.  Hope we get some better teams going, and more importantly, hopefully we win those games.

It's official, we got him!

Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome Newsome

Seriously, this 75 word thing is the dumbest rule alive.  However, hard to be mad on a day when Joe signs a 3 year extension and we pick up our starting quarterback for 2010.  Good day to be a Nittany Lion!

Now if only my Rose Bowl tickets would have arrived....

We're heading to Columbus this weekend, just wanted to see if anyone had some info they can share on the tailgate environment out there.

Is there a lot or area we should avoid parking in?  I saw they have a "visitors" lot available for opposing fans, and it didn't look much further than any other lot there.  Thoughts?

Also, any concerns with open containers or things of that nature?  While our tailgate doesn't get rowdy enough to attract much attention, I do plan on drinking beer for the better part of the day.

Any thoughts, tips, info, suggestions, comments, concerns, ideas or feedback is welcome.  Anyone else from this board heading out?

Some very nice press from Stewart Mandel on the white out (link below). as well as comments on PSU being the best of the Big Ten so far.  

Article states what anyone who was in the stadium Saturday night already knows - that PSU's White Out is truly something to behold in person.  And that everyone else's just isn't as good.  But we already knew that, didn't we?  Love the jokes about Georgia's 'black out' being a funeral, too.