Sunday, November 22, 2009

Tailgate Plan to Win: The "Iron Bowl's acoming" Edition

Are we really heading into Iron Bowl week? I cannot begin to tell you how fast this has all flown by. First, let me apologize for my absence in writing on here since following the big win over Ole Miss. I've been so caught up in trying to get basketball and football articles written for CollegeSportsMatchups.com, that I have been fighting writer's block a lot more often than I'd like. I'm glad the writing deal is only on the side and not my full-time career right now - I feel like I'm running out of interesting things to say.

But back to the topic at hand: Auburn vs. Alabama. It's a piss-poor decision on CBS' part to move this game to Friday afternoon, but I digress. I do end up with a four-day weekend out of the deal (a four-day weekend in Auburn at that), so I shouldn't complain too loudly. However, the impact that having this game on the largest and most important shopping day of the year will hurt Alabama's economy more than a few tickets unused in Jordan-Hare Stadium. For the record, I expect a sell-out and standing room only crowd, which is big for the number of high caliber recruits AU has visiting.

Speaking of recruiting, it sure is a lot of fun getting kids like Trovon Reed and Michael Dyer to boost our rankings up into the top 10. I've never been a proponent of recruiting rankings, myself, but as Curtis Luper says, "If they're keeping score, I want to win." Reed and Dyer will help get some other bigger names to come forward later as future Auburn Tigers, but even if the class ended with those two at the skill positions in addition to their fellow commits, this is the best class AU has put together since 2002 (and it will likely only get better).

Now, it's time to get realistic. I will cheer my butt off Friday afternoon before the game at Tiger Walk, jawing with Coach Hal and his bunch at WDTrey's tailgate, during the game's warmups and from kickoff to the final seconds ticking off the Jordan-Hare Stadium clocks. That being said, there is very little chance that Auburn emerges victorious from this game. Mark Ingram is the best running back in the country, and Georgia's second half against our depth-deprived defense most likely offered a precursor of bad things to come for our Tigers this weekend. As a trustworthy poster stated on the Bunker last week, "They (Alabama) have us out-manned (this) weekend, but that's changing." For a deeper analysis, check out the site later this week.

We will have a good group for Thanksgiving on the Plains (always enjoy being able to host the Boullys), and our family plans to arrive Wednesday night in Auburn. Super Rita will get down there ahead of everyone on Tuesday, but I plan to roll in somewhere around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Smoked turkey on the Big Green Egg - Camper Edition will be the main course for Thursday with a Boston Butt headlining the menu for Friday.

I don't plan on being at the camper very long Friday morning with the aforementioned appearance of our friends at CoachHal.com. They will be in front of Cary Hall off Thach Ave., and I will spend most of my tailgating day there. I expect most of our group to join in on that one, and I will need to get a head count for Trey at some point before Wednesday. We may even have a celebrity friend of mine stop by if he gets into town with enough time to spare before kickoff.

Some news and notes from Furman and Georgia:

- Furman weekend was a lot of fun. The game lasted about an hour too long, but it sure beats squeaking out a mistake-infested contest against UT-Martin last season. Brad Gregg's clan had a couple of new faces (Amber's father, Brad Hannah), and it was a lot of fun hanging out with them during and after the game.

- We didn't have a cooked meal for Furman weekend, so we called in orders to Buffalo Connection and Brick Oven. It went over very well. Brad and I were able to ride around town and enjoy some old memories while picking up our food orders.

- Meredith Brazzell hung out at the camper post-game, and her visits are far too infrequent. She brings a lot to the atmosphere out at University Station, and I hope she knows that she is always welcome (the same goes to the rest of her amazing family).

- Georgia, what a start, what a finish. I usually despise it when someone uses the phrase "a tale of two halves," but that's exactly what we had in Athens. By the time my "Glory. Glory. To ole Auburn." texts got out of the stadium somewhere in the third quarter, their importance had diminished due to Georgia's adjustments and Eltoro Freeman's absence in run defense.

- I hate to put blame on one thing or one play, and I certainly would not attribute fault to a flag from an official, but when Eltoro went out, our defense's aggression left with him. This was not the fault of Freeman's replacement, Jonathan Evans, but we had absolutely no answer for Caleb King and Washon Ealey from the time Da Bull walked off the field until Chris Todd's fourth down pass fell quietly out of the back of the end zone.

- Brad joined me on this trip, and we had a blast (or at least I did) sans the game. It was Brad's first AU-UGA experience in Athens, and I know Charlie Mac and Mrs. Jane enjoyed his company.

- All Auburn, All Facebook, All Orange, All Kirk got to Charlie Mac's somewhere around 2:30 p.m. EST Saturday after leaving Macon in the 8:15 a.m. CT range. I'm glad he got there for two reasons: 1.) after Friday, he will have seen all 12 regular season contests in person, a first for him and 2.) it would not have been the same without him.

- This is just for Brad: what do Olive Garden and Rome have in common?

- Bojangles breakfast can make almost any hurt sting a little less. Why we didn't have one of those in Auburn and there isn't one anywhere close to me now, I have no idea.

- Josh Jackson, Andrew Monroe and Andy Lawton all hung out with us at Charlie Mac's tailgate pregame. It was great to spend some time together. Andrew and I even ran into an old friend of our's from the 2006 trip. "It's funny. It is."

- As good as Bojangles is for breakfast, Taco Bell is its reciprocating factor for late night post-game meals. It didn't completely cure my depression, but it helped sooth some scars from watching us lose three-straight in Sanford Stadium (the only AU-UGA game I've missed since 1999 was 2005).

- To complete the theme for Georgia weekend, you have to click here: http://tinyurl.com/yzwfsbf

So, in closing, I leave you with this one question to ponder before Friday: "What have YOU done to beat Alabama today?"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. War Eagle. Let's do what we do - 2002 style.

Chris

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Tailgate Review - The "We were treated like royalty" and "We beat Ole Miss" Edition

Sorry for the delay. It's been a little touch and go with the website articles. It's pretty good that I don't write everyday for a living. I am finding myself facing writer's block more and more with those articles (but the pay is too good to quit, so you're stuck reading me there haha).

I just wanted to touch on the last two weeks rather quickly. First, we had a BLAST in Baton Rouge (sans the game, of course). I've said it before and I'll say it again: LSU writes the book on tailgating. There's not a better campus environment in the country than LSU for a Saturday night conference game. None.

I'm sure some of you have heard the old proverb concerning LSU fans, you know, that if you listen to a bunch of people scream "TIGER BAIT" at you and you don't come back at them, they'll stop you and offer you jambalaya and gumbo? I'm here to tell you that it is 100 percent accurate, and it happened to dad and me. We were walking through the parking lot adjacent to the tennis center and the P-Mac when an older gentleman in a fedora stopped us. He asked us to have some jambalaya with him and his crew. We politely declined at first, but his insisting led to us turning around to two bowls held by his wife.

We were told that this was award-winning jambalaya, and I'm not going to argue with whoever bestowed the honors on this recipe. We ended up spending an hour and a half with these strangers who could not have been better hosts. The hospitality shown by almost everyone outside the stadium was incredible, and as I say in the title of this article, we were treated like royalty there. I can't wait to get back down there in a couple of years.

Besides our tailgate friends, dad and I spent some time with his vendor Vince, who also had a pretty good tailgate with some of the best ribs I've had in awhile. I met up with Josh and Katie Jackson on the lawn in front of Memorial Tower, where we reunited with Brooke Patterson and her crew. Inside the stadium, Dennis Hodges (the SEC's top photographer) got some pictures of dad and I together in our front-row seats and visited with us for awhile. I'm hoping Dennis will come up for the LSU-Ole Miss game later this month to reciprocate the hospitality shown to us.

We stayed at the new Spring Hill Suites by Marriott out by the airport, and it was one of the best hotel rooms I've ever had. I like the design and layout even better than that of the Courtyard (it's great to be an adult and stay at real hotels and not worry about Motel 6 leaving the light on for us).

Overall, it was a great trip, but I could have done with a little better showing on the field. Tiger Stadium is one of only three stadiums in the SEC that I have yet to see Auburn win. Hopefully, that trend will end in 2011.

Then, there was last weekend. My patience for most of the Ole Miss fans I know is dwindling every week. After a three-game losing skid and their two-game winning streak following the beat-down they received from Bama, I was just ready to get to the game and let the chips fall where they may. Bowl eligibility was all but guaranteed with a win remaining on the schedule against Furman, so I just hoped for the best.

We had a pretty good showing at the tailgate prior to the game, but I can't say the same for the crowd on campus. Sure, it was an early game, but 20 minutes prior to kickoff, there were still PLENTY of empty seats. I'm not sure I've heard a softer "WAR EAGLE" during the eagle flight. While the student section never got full, the ones that were there were boisterous and helped liven things up for the players during warmups.

Making the trip for the game was Chris Purser, the only Ole Miss representative in our group. Purser has been a great friend over the years and has helped secure countless tickets to Ole Miss sporting events for us, so it was nice to be able to repay those favors ever so slightly. He ran away with Tailgater of the Week for all his help during pre-game and post-game set-up/break-down as well as bringing plenty of drinks for us to get us through the last two home games.

Despite the small crowd and an ominous start from Ole Miss' offense, the Auburn defense rose to the occasion the rest of the afternoon. I couldn't be happier with this win, trust me. I hate it for the Monroes that Arkansas got the best of us, but I'll take W's over Ole Miss and Miss. State every year over all but one opponent (which goes without saying).

We got mom a Big Green Egg for the camper as her birthday present, and we assembled the Egg following the game. By "we" I mean All Auburn, All Orange, All Facebook, All Kirk and Purser. I helped as much as I could, but I'm the furtherest thing from being a handyman you can get, and I tried my best to spend time with the rest of the gang at the camper.

The visitor list included: Katy Braden and her friend Alexandria Cole; Andy Shores; Jeanie and Robert; Brad, Amber and Jarrod in addition to the three of us and Purser. Not a bad group, and we had some stragglers here and there stop by to discuss AU football and whatnot. The steaks off the Egg were phenomenal, and the BGE just takes our tailgating to yet another new level.

Also making its debut was the five-man tent we have outside the front door to sleep additional tailgaters and overnight guests. It sleeps pretty good (when you have air mattresses in addition to the usual sleeping bags, and it beats the alternatives, in my opinion.

Sure, this isn't a long-winded update, but there's your last two weeks. As for this weekend's homecoming affair with Furman, it's becoming more and more likely that I will be trekking solo to the Plains Friday afternoon with everyone meeting up outside the stadium prior to kickoff. Therefore, there will be no pre-game tailgate and probably just some take-out for those who want to come back to the camper post-game to watch other contests (such as Bammer-LSU).

We got back to doing what we did, so that was good. War Eagle. See you on the Plains for (hopefully) a November to Remember.

Chris