Monthly Archives: January 2011

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Going, Going Gone!

January 30, 2011 in Uncategorized

Sure the endless snow and freezing cold temperatures suck.   Yes, the way-too-much darkness sucks.  But the real reason for this being the worst time of year for this fan is that IT is over for the year.  And by “it”, I mean tailgating!  To those of you living in warmer climates and still attending sporting events that allow tailgating, I am so VERY jealous!

When I mention the above suckyness (is this even such a word) I believe that I am in the majority.  With the Super Bowl now the only remaining NFL game (the Pro Bowl does not count!), football tailgating is done.  Though MLB Spring Training is only weeks away, the real season is still months away, meaning the real tailgating is still months away (my first baseball tailgate is already circled on the calendar, April 2).

Seriously the end of tailgating season is like (or in some / most cases worse) losing a long-time girlfriend or boyfriend.  Though when that split happens you can just hit the tailgate up and drown the sorrows with some drinking!  I would say that the loss of tailgating is worse than losing a job, but without the money from the job, well there is no game tickets and tailgating!

How does this tailgater say his goodbye to the tailgating season?  My goodbye is like most of yours but with a little twist.

I clean-up and pack away the gear and equipment.  But before I close the cooler lid for the season I add a little note that gets placed in the bottom of the cooler.  It is kind of like a New Years resolution, but unlike those silly things, I promise myself (and I always do) to follow through on the note.

What is in the note?  Well, it’s not really a note.  Instead it’s a list.  Some years the list is long, some years (like this year) the list is only one item long.

The list is things or ways to improve next season’s tailgating experience.

In year’s past it might be the promise to include so and so on the season tickets, a new recipe or new way of cooking, a new jersey, or a new piece of equipment.   Since the tailgating season has just ended, the needs and wants are fresh in your mind.  Sure the past season of tailgating was kick ass, but there were lessons learned on how to make it even better.  Write down those thoughts on a piece of paper, place them in the cooler, close the lid, and most importantly follow through!

If the winter becomes too hectic or too depressing and you forget about your “to-do” list you will be instantly reminded when you break out the cooler for the MLB season.  And promise yourself that you won’t move forward with the next tailgate until each item in the list is marked off!

For this fan the list is simple.  Get a tent.  Though it never stopped us from tailgating, too often last year we were stuck tailgating in rain, snow, or sun too bright.  My cheap ass kept putting off the purchase, putting the extra cash towards jerseys, food, and drink.  Not any more!  Come next season, I will be tent tailgating!  Though now I must decide do I go Phillies or Eagles tent?  Hell, I am sure dad will go “halfs” with me…I am getting both!

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Screw Me? Screw You!

January 30, 2011 in Uncategorized

I’ve been doing a lot of business travel lately.  More business travel means more free time to ponder and generate thoughts as you are flying all over the country.

My recent thoughts (and based on the various Internet articles already on the topic I am definitely not the first to think it) focused on beer.  Yes, not a huge shocker!  Specifically the beer thoughts were on screw-off tops and pry-off tops.  What is the difference and are there any benefits or downsides with either option?

To allow you to not have to spend such thinking on such a thought I thought (say that 5 times fast!) I would share my research finds…

- Pry-off capping equipment is a bit cheaper than the twist-off equipment.  When you are a small brewing company (and there are a lot of them these days) such a cost savings is huge and is why you usually only see the larger market beers (Coors, Miller, etc…) offering the twist-off caps.  And as drinkers of beers, the cheaper it is to make, the cheaper it is to buy!

- Pry-off caps provide a better seal against oxygen.  Thought the experts believe that the benefit is minimal, if any.  But anything that leads to a tastier beer is a bonus to this beer drinker!

- Pry-off caps can be reused for homebrewing.  But honestly, with the liquor store around the corner, how many of us are spending the time to brew our own beers?  If you are, well I am very jealous that you aren’t as lazy as this guy!

- Twist-off caps allow you to open a beer at anytime and anywhere.  Though with so many everyday products (rings, key chains, watches, coolers) now having built-in bottle openers is it really that difficult to get immediate access to a bottle opener…probably not.

- Perception and by that I mean perceived manliness.  To me the pry-off caps just seem more manly than a twist-off cap.  I am man, I must pry off my beer cap.  Save the twist-offs for the little-boy soda!

As you can see the differences are slight and the benefits pretty much minimal.

Pry-offs or twist-offs, somebody please just grab me a beer!  Bottoms-up!

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Jerry King Tailgating Cartoon #78

January 30, 2011 in Cartoons

Disgruntled Tailgater Cartoon

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Super Bowl Prop Bet: Super Bowl Commercials

January 28, 2011 in Uncategorized

This week is always fun leading up to Super Bowl because all the sports books come out with their quirky proposition bets for the big game. We’re planning on doing our February installment of SportsBook 101 on all the different types of wagers books take on the Super Bowl but thought this might be some fun information you’ll want sooner rather than next week.

We took a look at the prop bet over at BetUS regarding the Super Bowl commercials. They are taking action on the Super Bowl commercials that will have the “Higher Rating on USA Today’s annual Ad Meter“. Last year’s big commercial was the Snicker’s commercial with Betty White

Because I thought this was an intriguing wager I decided to get in touch with a friend of mine who has been working in advertising for a number of years now. He was on the ad creative team that created the Hyundai Super Bowl Commercial “Angry Bosses”. Needless to say, the guy knows advertising and what goes into the making of a Super Bowl. I sent him the odds breakdown on the Super Bowl Commercials props and here is what he replied.

My money would be on Mars (which will be a Snickers ad) or Best Buy (who have a spot starring Ozzy Osborne and Justin Bieber, I haven’t seen it but it’s a good bet it’ll be memorable.)

Doritos and Anheuser-Busch are the most likely winners but those odds aren’t great.

Take that advice with a grain of salt and as with any type of wagering you do, play responsibly. For comparison sake for the advertisers he mentioned, both bets he suggested (Mars and Best Buy) are listed at 12/1, Doritos is 5.5/1 while Anheuser-Busch is at 2.5/1.

Here is the complete list of all the scheduled advertisers and their odds as of this morning on BetUs.com

Anheuser-Busch – 2.5/1
Audi – 12/1
Best Buy – 12/1
BMW – 12/1
Bridgestone – 8/1
Careerbuilder – 9/1
CarMax -15/1
Cars.com – 15/1
Chrysler – Dodge – 12/1
Coca-Cola – 7/1
Disney – 20/1
Doritos- 5.5/1
E*Trade – 4.5/1
GoDaddy.com – 10/1
HomeAway – 8/1
Hyundai – 12/1
Kia – 15/1
Mars – 12/1
Mercedes-Benz – 12/1
Paramount – 15/1
PepsiMax – 5.5/1
Pizza Hut – 9/1
Relativity Media – 15/1
Skechers – 12/1
Sony Pictures – 10/1
Teleflora – 15/1
Universal Pictures – 12/1
Volkswagen – 15/1

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Featured Gear Friday: The Party Starter

January 28, 2011 in Featured, Tailgating Gear

Since starting this tailgating blog back in 2007, we have tested, tried and demonstrated a lot of tailgating gear and written a lot of tailgating product reviews. Some good and some bad. But because we are a blog, a great product we discovered two years ago may be lost in the tons of posts we have published after discovering it. Maybe you are a new reader and haven’t had the time to pour through every single post we have done in the past three years. So in order to help out the tailgaters that might not have read about some of these cool tailgating products, we will be doing a weekly feature on products we reviewed a while ago. We call it Featured Gear Friday and this week’s product is: The Party Starter

Tailgating is all about sharing. Sharing good food and sharing good times is what draws people back to tailgating all the time. The creators of The Party Starter have come up with a new and creative way to share drinks as well.

The Party Starter Drink Mixer

Simply put, The Party Starter is a two chambered beverage dispenser that keeps liquor and mixers separate until they are mixed together and sprayed into an awaiting mouth. There are no batteries to load and the pressure to spray is created by just a few pumps of the plunger. Take a look at the 90 second video of The Party Starter in action out in Lake Havasu during Spring Break. (If videos of college aged girls boozing in skimpy bikinis offends you, or offends your work’s IT department, I would suggest skipping the video.)

So here are the basic steps to getting your tailgate party started using The Party Starter:

  1. Pour 12 oz of your liquor of choice in the rear reservoir. (Get it? Liquor in the rear…)
  2. Pour mixer of choice into front reservoir.
  3. Cap both reservoirs.
  4. Use the dial on top of your Party Starter to dial in how potent you want your liquor to mix ratio. (1=Tipsy, 2=Fuzzy, 3=Hammered, 4=Blitzed).
  5. Locate the round pump at the top of your Party Starter. Pump three to four times only! (Do not over-pump the Party Starter)
  6. Locate the handle on the back of your Party Starter and wrap your hand around it.
  7. Place thumb on trigger just above handle.
  8. Locate an awaiting mouth or possibly your own.
  9. Hold your Party Starter 2 inches from a mouth and press down on the trigger firmly until you see signs of the mouth filling up.
  10. Release thumb from trigger to stop the spray of drink mixture.

It really is quite simple. For those needing a little more visual assistance on how to properly fill and use The Party Starter, here is an instructional video. I would suggest watching it because it is not only informative but it was completed by a drunk guy at 3 am and turns out to be somewhat humorous. (There are a few swear words in this video so I would suggest putting on your head phones if you are at work or little kids are around.)

I had the privilege of testing out The Party Starter for myself. The thing that impressed me the most was the amount of spray you get with just three pumps of the plunger. Most people think you have to over pump something like this but that is not the case. I was quite surprised that just a few pumps properly pressurizes The Party Starter for a nice steady spray stream. (Do not think of The Party Starter as a “Booze Super Soaker”.) You can share The Party Starter with multiple people before having to pump it again to get a stronger spray stream. Also, I would suggest always checking the dial that controls the dilution rate. They are not kidding when they say if you crank it to the number four, you are getting a whole lot of liquor and very little mixer. So make sure you do not over-serve your tailgate party guests while using The Party Starter. Lastly, another great benefit is that if you mix a bad drink, you don’t have to throw the whole thing away. Just dump out the inexpensive mixer and the more expensive liquor remains intact. Now if you buy cheap and horrible tasting liquor, well, that’s on you and we can’t help you on that front.

The only negative to The Party Starter is that the holes to fill the reservoirs are not big enough to insert ice cubes. Those thin crescent shaped ice cubes some home freezers make may fit in there but most round shaped ice cubes bought at stores will not. So if you like your margaritas cold, I would suggest chilling your mixer first before pouring it into The Party Starter. Also, when showing it to friends I did get some comments that it looks like a bug sprayer an exterminator would use. So if you are that shallow that the appearance bothers you then I guess The Party Starter is not for you. Whenever I heard the “insect exterminator” comparison I told them that I was planning on using The Party Starter as a “sobriety exterminator”. Once I came up with that analogy people wanted me to fill it up and use it on them immediately.

The Party Starter normally retails for $49.95 but they have a special football season/tailgating season special going where you can get it for $29.95. Visit their Online Store to get the special price. To get more info on The Party Starter, visit PartyStarterLife.com.

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