Alphageek Reviews Another Tailgate!
First, the Alphageek wishes to thank "Does this Pizza Come with Sauce" for the use of the Mac to write this incredible report you are reading. This report is coming to you from the road, so you will have to accept some compromises. One of those compromises is the Mac. You may ask why a geek would have to use an avowed non-geeks computer. The answer is simple. I melted my computer and have not had time to fix it. I will let you decide if not having it fixed is a sign of greater or lesser geek prowess. Good is the fact that I can fix a broken notebook pc and did not just buy another. How many other people can do that? Bad is that I did not fix it immediately. You go ahead and decide. The Alphageek is not changing the title of the blog to Betageek's Thoughts.
The next compromise is no pictures. I have not been able to upload my picture after the South Carolina-Arkansas tailgate. Yes, the pictures are still on my camera. My broken notebook PC is really cramping my style. For you logic challenged folks, that means no pictures for this blog. The smart ones of you already knew it, but sometimes you have to spell things out for folks.
On to the tailgate. First of all, plans had to be changed at the last minute for this tailgate. Originally, the game was scheduled to kick off at 7 pm. Due to the fact that USC lost to Vanderbilt, the national interest in this game was reduced to the point that a new kick-off time was selected. The highly unfavorable time of 1 pm was the new offending time. This caused a cancellation of the satellite tv setup the Alphageek was going to bring. It is hard to enjoy anything on tv if the kickoff is before 3:30 pm.
Things started off merrily enough. When we arrived, we were greeted by the tailgaters at the next parking spot to our left. They stop and we talked about USC's chances for the day. We then setup our tailgate tent. We attempted to use the sides, but that was not possible because the wind was extremely strong.
As we sat and cooked some onions and peppers for our brats later, we enjoyed several beverages. Fortunately, the Alphageek was not subjected to the worst bourbon, "Fighting Cock." Instead, we enjoyed several beer options, as well as a drink created specifically for this game. The Alphageek felt it was very special to drink something created for only one game, that will never be served again. While it was somewhat sweeter than a good bourbon, the drink known as Pigslop was still enjoyable.
We then finished grilling the rest of the food and packed up to go to the game. While walking to the game, we did notice that several tailgates brought along satellite dishes to watch tv. The Alphageek commends anyone who brings satellite tv to a 1pm kickoff. As mentioned before, setting up and taking down a satellite setup is a lot of work.
We arrived at the game and had to move around for seats. Apparently, the fine USC has some unassigned seats and we were in those seats. This confusion resulted in the Alphageek getting to sit where he is right at home, near the Tuba sections. The Alphageek was later informed that these folks are Sousaphones, not Tubas. Go figure, the Alphageek had it wrong for 20 years!
The game was exciting, but not too exciting and South Carolina won easily. The favorite moment came at the end of the game when the Tubas, er Sousaphones, began yelling at the fans who were leaving early. The cries of "your tickets are still good" will resonate with the Alphageek for many years to come. The Alphageek was somewhat surprised upon being told the band members had never heard the f-bomb before. As bad as a couple of the calls were, the band needed to drop some f-bombs, too.
The game ended and we returned to the lot for a little more food while the crowds thinned out. We cooked up some more brats and enjoyed them while waiting for traffic to dissipate. Traffic lightened and we returned to "Wake Up It's Christmas'" house and watched a few more games on satellite tv. All in all, a traditional southern football experience.
The next compromise is no pictures. I have not been able to upload my picture after the South Carolina-Arkansas tailgate. Yes, the pictures are still on my camera. My broken notebook PC is really cramping my style. For you logic challenged folks, that means no pictures for this blog. The smart ones of you already knew it, but sometimes you have to spell things out for folks.
On to the tailgate. First of all, plans had to be changed at the last minute for this tailgate. Originally, the game was scheduled to kick off at 7 pm. Due to the fact that USC lost to Vanderbilt, the national interest in this game was reduced to the point that a new kick-off time was selected. The highly unfavorable time of 1 pm was the new offending time. This caused a cancellation of the satellite tv setup the Alphageek was going to bring. It is hard to enjoy anything on tv if the kickoff is before 3:30 pm.
Things started off merrily enough. When we arrived, we were greeted by the tailgaters at the next parking spot to our left. They stop and we talked about USC's chances for the day. We then setup our tailgate tent. We attempted to use the sides, but that was not possible because the wind was extremely strong.
As we sat and cooked some onions and peppers for our brats later, we enjoyed several beverages. Fortunately, the Alphageek was not subjected to the worst bourbon, "Fighting Cock." Instead, we enjoyed several beer options, as well as a drink created specifically for this game. The Alphageek felt it was very special to drink something created for only one game, that will never be served again. While it was somewhat sweeter than a good bourbon, the drink known as Pigslop was still enjoyable.
We then finished grilling the rest of the food and packed up to go to the game. While walking to the game, we did notice that several tailgates brought along satellite dishes to watch tv. The Alphageek commends anyone who brings satellite tv to a 1pm kickoff. As mentioned before, setting up and taking down a satellite setup is a lot of work.
We arrived at the game and had to move around for seats. Apparently, the fine USC has some unassigned seats and we were in those seats. This confusion resulted in the Alphageek getting to sit where he is right at home, near the Tuba sections. The Alphageek was later informed that these folks are Sousaphones, not Tubas. Go figure, the Alphageek had it wrong for 20 years!
The game was exciting, but not too exciting and South Carolina won easily. The favorite moment came at the end of the game when the Tubas, er Sousaphones, began yelling at the fans who were leaving early. The cries of "your tickets are still good" will resonate with the Alphageek for many years to come. The Alphageek was somewhat surprised upon being told the band members had never heard the f-bomb before. As bad as a couple of the calls were, the band needed to drop some f-bombs, too.
The game ended and we returned to the lot for a little more food while the crowds thinned out. We cooked up some more brats and enjoyed them while waiting for traffic to dissipate. Traffic lightened and we returned to "Wake Up It's Christmas'" house and watched a few more games on satellite tv. All in all, a traditional southern football experience.