2 weeks…

2 weeks to go! Almost there! Yes only 2 weeks until college football and college football tailgating season begins!

In continuing my countdown of my favorite things about college football tailgating (#5 Stadiums, #4 colors #3 Vehicles ), it is time for number 2! THE FANS! College football tailgating couldn’t happen without college football fans. Without them it would be empty stadiums and parking lots. The Grove would be just an empty grass area and the Tennessee River wouldn’t have the Vol Navy on it during Game Day.

Luckily there are millions of college football fans out there. As I traveled the country last season exploring new tailgates, I met hundreds of amazing fans. While they all supported and wore the colors of different teams, they all had the same amount of passion that makes college football such a contagious event!

I could fill an entire book with all the stories I gathered by talking to all the amazing fans I met last year. Here are a some pictures showing just some of the great groups of fans I met!

Ok, I won’t leave you hanging. Here is one story.

While tailgating with the Huskies in Washington, I came across an ice carving. Being a Wisconsin alum, I have a certain appreciation and respect for the letter W, I was quite intrigued as to how this was created. After talking with Doug (in the white) and Scott (in the purple) I learned that Scott had carved this W. Scott had always thought it would be cool to have a W ice sculpture as an art piece at tailgates, so he set out figuring out how to make one. He began with attempting to make a plastic mold, but that never froze all the way through or the mold leaked too much. After many failed attempts and research he decided carving the W out of a solid block of ice was the only way. So, he did just that. Using a chain saw and chisels, he learned to carve his own W out of ice for game day tailgates. When I heard this story I was speechless. Learning ice carving for tailgating! That is so cool!

This is just one of the countless stories I heard last fall showing the, some would call it crazy, but I like to think of awesome extremes college football tailgaters will go when it comes to having an amazing tailgate!

I can’t wait to hit the road in a few weeks and meet more fascinating tailgaters who have gone to  the extremes for their tailgating set ups.

Here is this seasons schedule.

Tailgate 2011 Schedule

Sept  3         Boise St @ UGA                                                        Atlanta, GA

Sept  10th    Oregon St @ Wisconsin                                            Madison, WI

Sept  17th     Auburn @ Clemson                                                   Clemson, SC

Sept  24th     LSU @ West Virginia                                               Morgantown, WV

Oct    1st       Alabama @ Florida                                                    Gainesville, FL

Oct     8th  Central Mich @ NC State                                             Raleigh, NC

Oct    15th Hampden Sydney@ Emory Henry                             Emory, VA

Oct     22    Samford @ Appalachian State                                    Boone, NC

Oct     29   Miss St @ Kentucky                                                       Lexington, KY (Horse race tailgating also)

Nov 12th   Miami @ FSU                                                                 Tallahasse, FL

Nov 19th   Nebraska @Michigan                                                   Ann Arbor, MI

Nov 26th   Clemson @ USC                                                            Columbia, SC

If you will be at any of these games or know any awesome tailgaters that I need to meet let me know! 2 weeks to go. Almost there!

Next week, I will finish my countdown as well as have an exciting announcement! Stay tuned!