Tailgate Club
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 US Mens National Team vs BRAZIL 3 club seats with 2 hour tailgate $250.00 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 56m Buy It Now for only: $275.00 |
Tailgate Club
Living In The South Where Football Season Never Ends
Unless you are steeped in the history and tradition of southern football you might get the impression from television, radio or the newspapers that football season is beginning. Those of us who have followed southern football since before the NFL deemed it fitting to locate one of their teams farther south than the nation's capitol, know better.
In order for football season to begin it would have to end, and of course, it doesn't. Let me provide a few tidbits of information in case you were raised in a place where playing hockey is actually considered an alternative to football or where the end of the professional baseball season is more important than Thursday night Junior High School football.
Football in the north and football in the south are different things entirely. In the north you get tickets at the stadium ten minutes before kickoff. In the south you put your name on a waiting list ten months before the game, pony up a second mortgage on the trailer to the booster club, and read the obituaries looking for an opening. There have been divorces, and I'm told murders, over who actually owns the family's season tickets.
If a good old boy Alabama graduate marries a belle from Auburn or a lawyer's son graduates from Ole Miss and marries a farmer's daughter from Mississippi State we call those mixed marriages. No weapons are allowed at family get-togethers.
Parking at football games also illustrates the differences. Up north the university opens campus for parking a couple of hours before game time. In the south RVs sporting school flags arrive on Wednesday and begin setting up the smokers.
Tailgating means something else entirely in the south. Even an old Bulldog like me has to admit that "The Grove" is an outstanding example of Southern Tailgating. In the north tailgating food consists of sausage on the grill or avocado sandwiches and maybe a beer with lime, all served on a portable picnic table. In the south a 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up before dawn. The cooking contest is the only activity that even begins to rival the football game. Winners will want their trophy buried with them and something like, "Best Hog Cooker" on their tombstones.
At northern universities still engaging in such archaic activities, the homecoming queen plays Field Hockey and is majoring in Women's Studies while in the south your homecoming queen might well be a future Miss America. In the north both stadium and campus empty soon after the band finishes its halftime medley of classic show tunes. In the south when the game is over another rack of ribs goes on the grill. Somebody makes a cold beverage run, every play of the just concluded contest is discussed, and planning begins for next week's game.
Of course there is also a different way of dealing with classes after the ESPN Thursday night game. In the north students and professors may not attend the game due to classes on Friday. In the south professors cancel classes because even if a couple of students actually come to class they'll be worn out from the night's activities.
Football season lasts the entire year, moving from games to recruiting to spring practice to NCAA investigations to preseason practice and back to games. In the south football season will never be over and that's all right with me.
About the Author
If you enjoyed this fun look at College football then click here and pick your fun. In case you have an interest in Mississippi State University give this page a try. Jack Kean writes on a variety of subjects including RV life, English Bulldogs, humor, and much more.
I'm Going to San Francisco for Monday Night Football...any helpful tips?
I'm going to San Francisco to go see Monday Night Football (49ers and the Cardinals). I've never been to the bay area and I'm super excited. I just need some helpful tips, like, where to eat, tips on tailgating, traffic, where to go after the game, bars/clubs, sightseeing, etc. I'm staying near Fisherman's Wharf. Thank you so much.
If you are driving to the ballpark, start very early because traffic is heavy and rush hour traffic is being added on top of that.
Fisherman's Wharf is within walking distance to Chinatown, North Beach, Coit Tower, the Embarcadero, and Union Square. If you are into strolling around, a lot of sites are within walking distance. Parking is heck in San Francisco, so you are better off taking the bus or walking to see the sites.
There are plenty of Italian restaurants in the North Beach along Columbus Street and its cross streets. You can find plenty of cheap eats in Chinatown. Fisherman's Wharf has plenty of seafood restaurants to choose from.
For Chinese food, I recommend the New Sun Hong Kong Restaurant on Columbus at Broadway. If you want more high class Chinese dining, then try the R&G Lounge on Kearny at Commercial.
For Italian food, I recommend Pomodero on Union at Columbus. If you want Japanese food, there is Sushi Rock on Pine at Grant.
If you are inclined to shopping, Union Square is in the downtown shopping area.
All the tittie bars are on Broadway in the North Beach area. Hooters is in Fisherman's Wharf.
Weekday mornings are the best time to visit Golden Gate Park. There is a pay lot there, but street parking is not as much an issue on weekdays. Make sure you check the signs for street cleaning or 2-hour zones. The Academy of Science and the De Young Museum are in the park across from each other.
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