Tailgating season is once again upon us! So before every home football game, WRNL again will toss you a lovely bone called the “Tailgate Preview”. Throwing out weekly nuggets on what may blow your tailgate neighbor right out of the lot. I mean, who doesn’t love a good tailgate?
We are going to focus weekly on the weather, food, drink, game and even a weekly song to spice things up a bit! No tailgate is complete without some awkward dancing done by a random passerby to your favorite song. If we can’t win a game, we might as well tailgate better than anyone out there!
Get in the groove of morning tailgates, we got two weeks in a row of this!
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Warm
It’s looking like Saturday will be partly cloudy and around 85 degrees for game time. Peak morning tailgating temperature will be below 80 degrees. Perfect weather to throw back some beverages and discuss all our issues with friends you haven’t seen in two weeks. Show up early if you plan on discussing those. There will also be a slight wind out of the south to aid some corn hole tosses. Not that any of you need help.
Be sure to position that tailgate tent to block out the early morning sun before the clouds arrive. Wouldn’t be any good to go blind into the game... Or maybe it would?
With heavy rains Thursday night, it’ll be safe to assume the lots will be a little wet. Be on the lookout for information regarding the status of the lots. The university likes to protect that grass!
It very well could be the first ever tailgate on boats!
Drink: Jägerbomb
Back in the good ol’ college days, this was the drink of choice for morning tailgates. Why not mix in some solid caffeine and sugar with booze? What could possibly go wrong?
“Nothing” is right. It will at minimum get you fired up to do some yelling at the refs.
So head on over to Hy-Vee and grab some Red Bull or Monster — either one mixes with Jäger nicely. I prefer Monster because it gives it another flavoring element, but at this point, who cares about flavor.
These will sneak up on you (not speaking from experience or anything), so if you do intend to go into the game, drink these suckers with caution. I know all of our readers do drink with caution. If you don’t, you might be as useless as some of our offensive drives.
Show up with plenty of Jäger, the stakes of this week’s game will be sure to drain the Jäger supply.
Food: Game Day Breakfast Sliders
This is the first morning game of the year and I am willing to bet the motivation for making a lot of food on the spot may be at an all-time low. These breakfast sliders can be prepped the night before and warmed right on the grill at the tailgate. Fun thing about these is that you can tailor them to your liking and they go well with booze!
Have plenty of these glorious morning treats. Odds are some party goers from the night before will be stumbling into your tailgate looking for some nourishment. We have all been there and know the feeling.
Check out the recipe here.
Protein mixed with booze sure will help you on your journey to the 11 a.m. kickoff. You don’t wanna be that person stumbling into the game and not even make it to the second quarter. We all know a person that is bound for that fate.
If you want something to go with these breakfast sliders, toss in some monkey bread. Everyone loves that stuff. If you don’t, head 2.5 hours east where you will fit right in.
Game: Flip Cup
Let’s start the morning off with a good ol’ fashioned relay game of flip cup! Get your cups lined up and get to flipping. If you are able to find some San Jose State fans, assuming such a group exists, put them on the other team and show them some early morning dominance. It may be our only dominance of the day (hopefully not).
For those of you who do not know to play flip cup, here is how you play. Make sure everyone at least puts a good amount of booze in their cups. No one likes the person that puts practically nothing in their cup and tries to fend off eventual inebriation. Looking at you, freshman.
If you want to make this interesting, make the losing team have to take a Jägerbomb.
Song: We’re Not Gonna Take It
We’re not gonna take it anymore. We’re 0-3, it’s time for a win. Go State!
If you want your tailgate photos, food or games featured in the coming weeks be sure to send them to me on Twitter @MatthiasWRNL. Also throughout the day Saturday, tweet me your tailgate photos! Let’s show the tailgate world who does it right!