It seems fitting that as the year comes to a close and we say goodbye to 2013 and welcome in 2014 that we look back at the 10 most popular posts that were published here at Tailgating Ideas. 2013 was a good year for us as we continued to grow and expand. We saw traffic numbers increase and gained more visitors than in any of our previous years. (We were founded in 2007 and in August 2014 we will celebrate our seventh year blogging.)
2013 was the year of the product review. In recent memory, we can not recall a year where we did more Tailgating Game Reviews and more Tailgating Gear Reviews than we did this year. We counted them up and we did nearly 50 gear and game reviews (48 to be exact) this year alone. It stands to reason that many of our top posts from 2013 come from either of those two categories.
So without any further delay, let’s recap the year that was 2013 and share with you all the top 10 posts from this past year:
10) MegaPongo – A tailgating game review by Rob, MegaPongo takes beer pong to a new level. The game stands can be set at varying lengths and there are a multitude of cup formations to configure your cups. There are even backboards and a ball collection system for missed shots. Because this new game is so different from the regular beer pong played on a table, it is no wonder this tailgating game review was one of our most popular and most read posts in 2013.
9) Chill Bit – Since our original product review was published, the Chill Bit successfully completed a Kickstarter fund raising campaign that allowed them to redesign the product and bring it to mass production. But before all that success started, we reviewed the 1.0 version. The Chill Bit basically snaps onto a warm can or bottle and spins it in ice using your cordless drill and will chill it down to the same temperature had it been sitting in your cooler for hours. It does this all in about 90 seconds to two minutes and it is safe to open immediately after spinning without fizzing over or exploding. You have to read the review to understand the science behind it but the bottom line is it works and the Chill Bit was our No. 9 most popular entry this year.
8) Tailgating Fantasy – Originally written to help promote the Visa #MyFootballFantasy campaign, this was a humor piece written to outline my own football fantasy. With things like the a luxury cruiser, battling celebrity chefs, Isaac the bartender from the Love Boat serving up drinks, piloting an F-18 Hornet for the stadium fly-over and making it rain bacon strips, this was one fantasy that if reality and money were not a factor, would have been epic. But alas it is only a fantasy but at least it is all mine and it was fun to write and share.
7) Tampon Flasks – Smuggling booze inside the stadium or concert venue has been the topic of numerous reviews here on TailgatingIdeas.com over the years. It is no wonder that three of the top 10 posts in 2013 had to do with saving a little bit of money by doing a sneaky BYOB past security. These flasks look like test tubes you used in high school science lab but are designed to bring in liquor wrapped in a tampon wrapper. We all know security guards will not even touch a woman’s purse if he sees some tampons in there and will waive her right through. That is the genius design in these little flasks that hold about an ounce and a half of liquid and are sold in a 5-pack.
6) Pool Pong Party Barge – Back in 2007 when we started this tailgating blog, we discovered the PortOPong inflatable beer pong table. You knew it was bound to happen that someone would take that basic concept of a floating beer pong table and improve upon it. Hence the Party Barge was born. Not only does it float in water for games of beer pong but it has additional cup holders around the edges to be used for game spectators or to use it as a floating bar. The biggest improvement was the addition of a sunken cooler in the middle that can hold up to 18 canned beverages plus ice. With that added feature you never have to get out of the water to grab another cold one. No wonder this post and product review was our sixth most popular in 2013.
5) FanMug – When it comes to tailgating, we sure do love to show our undying support and devotion to our team. From team apparel to hats to face painting, we love to show our support in many different ways. When we discovered the FanMug, an authentic, miniature replica of your favorite football team’s helmet, we knew right away it would be a hit with tailgaters. It can be used as a can or bottle koozie or as a regular mug to hold hot or cold beverages. High quality with extreme attention to detail the FanMug was not only quite popular out in the parking lots but was one of the most popular posts and gear reviews we did in 2013.
4) Sunscreen Flask – The second of three posts that involve a new and genius way to smuggle your booze past security when attending a game or concert. These 8 oz. tubes look identical to a tube of sunscreen but they are made from food grade plastic. Nowhere on the tube except in very fine print on the back does it reveal that it is not a legitimate tube of sunscreen. From a reasonable distance and at close examination it looks exactly like an SPF 30 sunscreen bottle. Why a flask disguised as a sunscreen tube? Quite honestly because all events allow sunscreen in past security. Football games, baseball games, concerts, state fairs, outdoor festivals all have security staff checking bags and backpacks before entering the venue. All of these events allow sunscreen in past the gates and the Sunscreen Flask is so stealth, the security won’t think twice about checking it closely. With the cost of alcohol inside a stadium these days sky high, no wonder this post was our fourth most popular this year.
3) Hi-Tops – Hi-Tops is a new tailgating game that combines elements of other popular tailgating games like cornhole and beer pong but puts a new twist on it to make it a fun and unique tailgating game. Hi-Tops was invented by two recent University of Central Florida graduates. They came up with the concept of hi-Tops when they were on a road trip, talking about the tailgating and drinking games that are available on the market now. Both agreed there just wasn’t really anything that satisfied everything they would like to see in a game that was also easy and convenient to play while tailgating. We took Hi-Tops tailgating with us to a Monday Night Football game and it was a big hit. Gauging from the amount of people that read the review, making it our No. 3 most popular post in 2003, the readers thought it was a big hit too.
2) Best ways to smuggle alcohol – With so many different gadgets and techniques to smuggle your booze out there, we decided to compile a list of the best ones . Over the years we have tried out numerous booze smuggling techniques and why not put together a 10 best list for the booze smuggling crowd? We featured such gadgets like the Freedom Flask, the Bootlegger and even The WineRack for women. More sneaky ways to smuggle your booze were featured in this post and it is no wonder why it came in ranked at No. 2 of our most popular post in 2013.
1) The Whizdom – the Whizdom is a personal urinary device that basically extends the end of your penis to the ground in a self-contained tube so you can urinate without having to go to the port-a-potty. Guys, how many times have we peed on a tree while out camping? Same concept here but you would be doing it more discreetly and in more of a public setting. Just make sure the cops aren’t looking and follow you to the area where you have targeted as your “relief zone”. This post came in at No. 1 for two reasons. The sheer outrageousness of this little device generated some social media buzz and it was shared on Twitter and Facebook quite a bit. The big boost was when we received a link from Sports illustrated that really boosted the number of people that saw this post.
So there you have it. Another year in the books and another successful year for all involved at making TailgatingIdeas.com the best tailgate party lifestyle blog on the web. We did have a few other popular posts that took in a lot of visitors but just didn’t make the top 10. Those honorable mentions include: The Kegster, Ryobi RYI 2200, OYO Sportstoys, CocktailGator and the Flip-Box Iceless Cooler.
Thanks for reading and we expect even bigger things for 2014.