[Photo: Jose Chavez via Unsplash]

Trash Talk: Prepping for Tailgate Season

[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

We’re two weeks out from the first NCAA Football games. With them comes tailgate party season.

Just as the golf season widowhood appears to end, NCAA Football drops into the schedule. There’s always some excuse for bullshitting over beers outdoors, I guess.

The last couple of years my spouse has been part of an alumni crew who pull together tailgates for games played in our neck of the woods.

This means hunting down a loaner canopy and grills and tables and chairs and all the other hoopla necessary for a parking lot bash. Preparation also requires renewing acquaintance with the loaner canopy’s setup by installing it on my deck to air out. Sounds easy enough but the damned thing is missing a couple bits and pieces, is a much bigger package than I am, and must be wrangled into place with two or more people to accomplish this.

Gods help us if it’s windy.

Never mind the equally frustrating disassembly to stuff it back into its carryall to truck to the school’s parking lot ahead of the game.

There are discussions ad nauseam ahead of the tailgate as to whether it’d be better to have pasties shipped express from da’ U.P. , or make them here from scratch, or find a local supplier.

You may envision me studiously biting my tongue, sitting on my hands, and avoiding my spouse’s needy look in my direction as he hints at someone making them at home.

In the end it’s been potluck the last two years.

And then there’s the inevitable storage of the goddamned loaner canopy in my half of the garage over which I need to climb for months until the bloody thing is returned to its owner.

This year I said fuck that and bought one I can put up and take down by myself. I might actually have a party of my own some time, invite all the golf/football/deer season widows for some bullshit over beers, now that I own the canopy.

With the annual canopy convolutions avoided, I need to come up with some equally easy solutions to tailgate potluck contributions.

What do you take to tailgate parties or other outdoor potlucks?

While you’re at it, share a recipe for poutine if you have one because community member earlofhuntingdon is on the hunt. Not exactly your typical tailgate food but I bet I could serve some in large paper cups.

Consider this an open thread.

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117 replies
  1. Rayne says:

    earlofhuntingdon — I don’t have a poutine recipe, have always thrown a handful of white cheddar cheese curds on top of quality fries and topped with good gravy.

    But I recently had lunch at a little pub up north which had a fried chicken poutine on its menu. Thank goodness it offered half orders because it was so filling. Chunks of battered fried chicken, fried white cheddar curds, grilled corn over steak frites. The pièce de résistance was a gravy made with the house ale.

    This looks like a good recipe for experimentation, will try this with homemade chicken stock, a local lager and red ale, and add a bit of fresh thyme. https://brooklynbrewshop.com/blogs/themash/recipe-beer-gravy

  2. earlofhuntingdon says:

    If you’re ordering pasties from the UP, which I recommend, you might as well stock up on smoked fish and jerky from Gustafson’s.

    As for recipes for poutine, add recommendations for kapsalon, a comfort food originally from Rotterdam.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Kapsalon is similar in concept to poutine. Its prime ingredients are steak fries topped with a layer of gyro meat, then Gouda cheese. After melting the cheese under the grill, top with mixed salad and an Indonesian hot sauce. Variations abound.

  3. Purple Martin says:

    Well, since you so graciously give us the opportunity, here’s a bit of an update from the Disc Sports world, and one Marcy might appreciate:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb80vd2KGiE

    That’s last Saturday’s SportCenter Top 10 plays. Begins with Number 10 from the Pro Disc Golf Tour, and the penUltimate play (at about 2:12) from Woman’s Ultimate, DC Scandal versus SF Fury.

    We now return you to your regular programming.

  4. Lisboeta says:

    I’m sorry, but I had to laugh at your description of wrestling with the loaned canopy. I hope you find plenty of excuses to use the one you now own (which, of course, absolves you from doing any of the cooking).

  5. rosalind says:

    welp, as it is an Open Thread, i will take a moment to highlight one of my favorite follows on the dying bird site: Mayor John J Bauters of Emeryville, CA. his motto: go outside! he is an action not words mayor, finding ways to get more housing and bikeways constructed in his tiny town. he does a solo month-long hike every August along the North Country Trail in Michigan, and his current whereabouts may be tracked here: https://share.garmin.com/BammBamm

    back home he features his doggo Reyna as the two cycle around the Bay Area on his cargo bike. in a cynical political world, i find him a refreshing example of what can get done.

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks for sharing, rosalind. Bauters is trekking through some very familiar territory. He surely saw a spectacular sunset this evening, hope he gets to see some Perseids overnight because skies are very clear for the first time this week.

        • Rayne says:

          Ugh. Please let it not be COVID. My family got caught up in a super spreader event in the UP in late July.

        • Molly Pitcher says:

          I just heard on NPR that now that Covid is no longer a national declared emergency, Paxlovid costs $1000 !! I have continued to wear a mask indoors, and we do not eat at indoors only restaurants. The Covid levels in the sewer tests in the Silicon Valley part of the Bay Area are on a steady rise.

          The medical director for Santa Clara County had diligently worn a mask for all these years. A couple weeks ago she went to an event without it, and two days later had a raging case. Dr Bob Wachter from UCSF, who was all over the news, providing information for the last few years also caught it recently when he finally took his mask off.

          I don’t care how foolish I look. I am not getting Covid again.

        • Rayne says:

          N95 masks work. I stayed with my family and wore a mask indoors around them (both in the house and at church), sealed my bedroom at night and left the windows wide open, didn’t get another case. But my sibling who had the worst case (folks were both in denial and mildly symptomatic to asymptomatic) also wore a mask indoors.

          I don’t know how much of all the denial isn’t just corporatism driving a demand for so-called normalcy, but the effects of society-wide cognitive deficits caused by COVID (since nearly all cases cause some degree of damage).

        • rosalind says:

          have had three friends get covid for the first time the last three weeks. i’m the last one standing having never tested positive. a former neighbor recovering from a stroke says four of her regular health care aides are out with covid right now. i have noticed it is the younger checkers at the grocery store who are consistently masking up during their shifts.

        • ExRacerX says:

          My wife & I got COVID back in late March—I was down for a day or two and bounced back relatively quickly, but my wife had symptoms for like 2 weeks. She also has pre-existing conditions, so both of us have been wearing masks outside the house.

          Later this month I have to present on animal laws and ordinances at a 2-day humane conference, and frankly, I’m wracked with trepidation. There will be plenty of in- and out-of-staters traveling to attend. Should I wear a mask the whole time? Muffling and projection are a factor with masking, so maybe the whole time except for during my presentation? Should I quarantine in a motel room for a few days afterward so I don’t potentially infect my wife? I just don’t know.

          Whatever the plan, I gotta figure it out soon.

        • Rayne says:

          Wear an N95 mask any time you’re indoors with others. They work, I’m proof — didn’t get COVID after this last several weeks with repeated prolonged exposures.

          Work on a small mic which you can clip on a collar near your mouth while wearing a mask which doesn’t contact your lips to allow for better enunciation. Or obtain a mask-mic like Sarmonic makes: https://saramonicusa.com/maskmic-w-face-mask-with-lavalier-holder-secure-seal-and-dual-adjustable-straps-for-safely-using-lavaliers-white/ — no idea what the rating is on this mask but it’s better than no mask during a presentation. Switch to an N95 as soon as you can.

          Can’t hurt to ask the venue if they’re doing anything at all about indoor air monitoring and filtration, but I doubt they are.

        • ExRacerX says:

          Thx, Rayne! I might as well give the lavalier mic mask a shot—it’s a little pricey, but might as well be safe!

        • Rayne says:

          There’s a fair amount of discussion online — lots of academics have asked about using masks and mics during lectures. You may find better solutions, including recording your lecture and only taking Q&A after playing a recorded presentation.

  6. Roadtrip says:

    Sounds like an excellent way to campout one of the indictments in Georgia or something, do a tailgate potluck.

    • Rayne says:

      It’s a tempting idea but I think in some cases, particularly the anticipated Fulton County indictment, participating in a tailgate could be both risky and a security challenge.

      The amount of hate directed at Fulton County personnel and grand jurors has been horrific, much of it overtly racist. There’s a reason security has been ramped up considerably around the county courthouse.

      • bmaz says:

        Fani Willis is a joke. It is not because she is black. It is because she is a self promoting dope. If this discussion cannot be had without people falsely asserting “racism”, then this country is done.

        At the hand of one out of 159 local DAs in Georgia. Do you want the DA of Greenlee County AZ deciding things like this? Because Scott Adams, as a local DA, has exactly as much power as Willis and Fulton County. Should we give that power to little local municipal prosecutors too?

        • chesterfield says:

          Do I want the allegations of a crime committed in a jurisdiction investigated by the law enforcement officials of that jurisdiction? Yes. Was the alleged crime committed in Fulton County? Yes. Does jurisdiction and venue coincide there? Yes. Does that make the officials grandstanding self promoting dopes? No. Is there some sort of rule on when the law enforcement officials should take a pass on the crime? I am not aware of such a rule. Who would be the proper authority to bring charges? You have any authority on why the appropriate authority in the county where the events were allegedly committed should not investigate and, if the allegations are substantiated, charge the offender? I have not read any articulation of a legal reason for this DA to take a pass. Personality clashes aside, it sounds as though she is doing her job. If the crime was committed in one of the other counties then yes, that DA should be able to pursue the case. I think that is one limit- venue- to your recitation of multiple judicial horribles from charges brought in other venues.
          Maybe I am missing something. Probably not.

    • Patrick Carty says:

      No…. The heat and humidity here are unbearable. Then the afternoon storms are brutal. Team Fani is probably best enjoyed from air conditioning. But back to NCAA football, that season never ends here, particularly if you’re a Dawgs fan, and I most certainly am not.

  7. Ken_04MAR2019_1435h says:

    House party with a couple of sheet pizzas and chicken wings.

    [Welcome back to emptywheel. SECOND REQUEST: Please use the same username each time you comment so that community members get to know you. This is your second user name — or there is a KennethKohl and a KenKohl, which means one of you needs a more unique username. “Ken” is too short and common a username and will be edited to include the first date/time you commented until you comment under a new username which complies with the site’s 8-letter minimum standard. Thanks. /~Rayne]

  8. Chirrut Imwe says:

    Ah, pop-ups. Unfortunately reminds me of the youngest going on her first group camp-out. Of course she had to borrow everything. The awning lasted all of 10 minutes apparently – forgot to stake it down. 2 camp chairs came back broken. And the tent poles are still in the mountains somewhere.

    She has her own stuff now, and it is amazing how well she takes care of it.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      Lots of blame here, but it comes down to greed as the root cause. Apparently there was a 30 M$ per team TV deal a couple of years back but so-far-unidentified campus leadership (President / Chancellor depending on where you are) wanted 50 M$ and stopped the process. U$C of course went for the money afterward since it was pretty clear by then that the conference wasn’t going to even get that good of a broadcast deal (streaming, really? Really?) and the process cascaded from there.

      The ACC is IMHO a dangle, it’s more likely that WSU and OSU join the MWC, Cal and Stanford join in all sports (maybe keep football as an independent like ND does with the ACC), and the MWC renegotiates their broadcast deal up from the 8 M$ or so where it is now.

      One thing to consider for Cal in particular is that the Memorial Stadium renovation is still being paid for and they really need to keep the revenue high. Cal and especially Stanford also support many so-called ‘Olympic’ sports not known to be revenue generators (like field hockey) in their athletic department budgets.

      There is also the ‘academic culture’ issue which is why the Big Ten was a better fit for UW and UO than the Big 12. These universities pride themselves on their academic prowess as well as athletic success, which for the Pac-12 was substantial. It holds by far the most NCAA championships, and plenty of non-NCAA ones too like IRA (for crew) and USARFU (for rugby) and no other conference comes close.

      I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the warped management structure of the universities, for which I would commend Lawyers, Guns and Money to your reading list. Yesterday, they posted an article about how West Virginia University will be cutting the entire Foreign Languages department (among many other things) for budget purposes, but the administrators will of course not feel any pain.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        The absolute dominance of “administration” over all other university functions – barring what it refuses to call their pro sports teams – is legendary. Faculty? Meh.

        It seems to be an outgrowth of the businessification of higher education, in which bidness people on boards impose their culture on education. The resulting priorities are nauseating. So, too, is the plethora of deans and deanlets, administrators, vice presidents and “chiefs of staff,” all of whom define their work in relation to the assets for which they are responsible, as if that justified their exorbitant salaries.

        Even deans of students are required to list the assets and businesses they oversee – because every function is a profit/loss center – whether it’s a student union, the coffee shop, or long outsourced bookstore. Student welfare? Meh.

      • BriceFNC says:

        Sadly, WVU folks fail to equip their students for the reality of this modern world. The state suffers from a tremendous inferiority complex and seems to fear giving their students tools to function beyond state lines!

    • Purple Martin says:

      For many decades, the top NCAA football teams—the former Big Five conferences+Notre Dame—have been colluding members of a corrupt cartel, the minor leagues of the NFL, fully professional in all but name. As soon as they unapologetically become for-profit businesses paying their employee-athletes a fair wage through a contract freely entered into by two willing parties, the better.

      National brand-name schools with a nationwide fan base (30-50?) own valuable intellectual property (school & team names, goodwill) and physical assets (lux training facilities, famous on-campus stadiums). Most university presidents would be thrilled to trade sports business headaches, for substantial licensing income to support their educational mission.

      So, A Modest Proposal. Go ahead and let the broadcast and streaming media industry lease the real estate, license the intellectual property, pay players and coaches, and run a national independent sports media & entertainment business. Take the Power Five conferences’ top few teams plus enough others (32-48 teams) to divide into divisions. Then swap the Bowl Season for the College Football Championships (playoffs, where the real money is) and there you go.

      All the non-football-factory others? Like the rest of the world, don’t complicate higher education by mixing it with a professional sports business. Individual colleges may still decide to direct some of that licensing income to subsidize other, less commercial sports, and sponsor a far less expensive intercollegiate sports program, as they do for other amenities that draw prospective students.

      —College teams could may join The National Club Sports Association, an organization promoting a newly novel concept: genuine college students playing a sport in their spare time, for the pure love of the game and the camaraderie of a team (the Ultimate (frisbee) model).
      —Top athletes in individual sports already see affiliations with the national sports organizations (gymnastics, swimming, track & field, etc.) as or more important than their college teams. But those wanting the college experience could participate under rules of existing performance, entertainment and professional majors (who, by the way, have long leveraged their programs to make a little extra money, sometimes through the Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) rights NCAA athletes only recently received).

      That will blow up the NCAA you say? OK, that’s a positive too! Win/Win!

    • Rayne says:

      I still can’t figure out WTAF the Big 10 is when it’s going to be 18 teams including some west coast schools.

      • Purple Martin says:

        Coincidentally, Washington Post’s Kevin Blackistone (one of the nation’s more thoughtful sportswriters), wrote his column today on just this topic:

        College football doesn’t need realignment. It needs to start over.
        Perspective by Kevin B. Blackistone | Columnist | August 13, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

        A far better writer and more knowledgeable on the topic than I, his take is a lot more convincing than my modest proposal. Here’s a gift link: https://wapo.st/3Owkq24

  9. Peterr says:

    KC is well known for its tailgating culture, but this past summer has spawned a new variant.

    The Kid’s girlfriend is a huge Taylor Swift fan, and managed to obtain tickets to three concerts – one in Chicago and both KC shows (and did so below her budget, she will proudly tell you!). For those without tickets, the Swifties have taken to coming to the venue and participating in the concert from the parking lot. “We can’t see her on stage, but we can hear her and sing along and dance to our heart’s content.”

    It’s called Taylorgating.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      Swift was at Levi’s recently, and FWIW her fans were remarkably well behaved in comparison to the louts that turn up for Niner games. No water bottles used as urinals, limited trash, etc. and because the hotels in the area were booked solid more than a few came in.

      We had one mom on KCBS talk about how her teen daughter got sick and had to leave at song #2 on Friday but she seemed pretty mellow about it so I guess she had tickets for Saturday too.

      • Eschscholzia says:

        Certainly deadheads “tailgated” for hours before concerts back in the day: I experienced that at Nassau Coliseum in 1984. In terms of partying outside when you can’t get tickets, at least in San Diego, most big outdoor concerts have substantial parties outside the venue by people without tickets: on the beach, on the grass, on the water. Stadium sound systems are so much better and clearer than even a decade ago, let alone 30 or 40 years ago. As muddied as sound was inside stadia decades ago, I don’t know it would have been listenable let alone danceable outside back in the day.

        As for the demise of the PAC-12, yes their academic standards were a self-imposed handicap for big money sports, both in terms of which schools might join (BYU famously didn’t measure up), and admission standards for athletes. But their timezone was at least as much of a factor: night football and basketball games are too late to draw large national audiences. Even if that $30M/school TV deal was real, that was tens of million per year behind the SEC and other power 5 conferences: not a sustainable difference.

        I’m glad that my alma mater (UCSD) built research and academics, and never bothered with a football team.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          Sound was muddied at those Dead concerts I attended in the very early Eighties?

          NOW you tell me!

        • ExRacerX says:

          We in the hard rock and metal crowd used to “tailgate,” too, but it mostly involved liquids, powders and combustibles. Nobody thought to bring food…

        • Rayne says:

          Tailgated several Jimmy Buffet concerts with so many Parrotheads back in the day, but we didn’t do it *during* the concert as the Swifties are doing.

          Maybe it’s because concert tickets back then weren’t sold through a monopoly and were reasonably affordable.

  10. boatgeek says:

    The canopy convolutions are familiar. I’m about to take ours across the state to a hobby rocket launch. The big question there is whether I’ll actually fix the popped seam in the cover before the trip or just look at it when I’m unpacking it and sigh that I should fix that popped seam sometime.

    If you buy the pasties local, definitely test them out ahead of time. Bought pie is fraught pie. Far, far too many establishments that claim to make good pies (fruit or savory, full size or hand/pasty) have lousy crusts or inadequate filling.

    Is there a power outlet near the tailgate? If so, a big crock pot of chili is a good addition to beer and bullshitting, with cornbread if you wish. If people will eat the whole crock of chili before it gets cold, then you don’t really need the outlet. I’m partial to cast iron skillet cornbread myself, but recognize the many variations that cornbread comes in.

    • P J Evans says:

      I took plain rice to a potluck once, because there’s never anything to use as a basic side. Took the dry rice in the crockpot, cooked it under my worksurface. (A grand tradition for work potlucks.)

    • Rayne says:

      Take a big roll of duct tape. Buy it in a color close to that of the canopy. Tape the seam and shrug — you’ll have it fixed after the rocket launch event.

      In re: local pasties — if they’re not good they don’t survive here. Michiganders don’t tolerate bad pasties.

      As for crock pot dishes: I’m seriously considering a Wonderbag. Probably should have bought one years ago when I spent so many weekends shuttling kids to sporting events every weekend. Heat the dish, pop the pot in the hyper-insulated bag, dish will continue to slow cook and stay warm for hours without additional electricity.

      • Bill B(Not Barr) says:

        You could stay a troll and make a run to the Mackinaw Pastie & Cookie Co in Mackinaw City. Not a horrible road trip.

        For those in the Detroit Area, have you tried Superior Pasties in Livonia on Plymouth. I found them quite good.

        • holdingsteady says:

          Thanks for the tip on where to get good pasties, I’d like to get some to my mom in Flint somehow, she used to make them and it was always a treat!

          We used to set up those tarp things for the x-country ski meets, yes they were always old and clunky… I think my fingers are warming up now 10 years later … was very very fun though serving hot chili etc to those cool kids.

      • ExRacerX says:

        Hint: instead of duct tape, gaffer tape is the stuff, although it is more expensive. It’s available in multiple colors.

        Used heavily in film & stage, gaffer tape is a strong, fabric-based product with excellent adherence. The best part: it peels off easily and cleanly, unlike sticky, gummy duct tape. Roadies swear by it.

        • Rayne says:

          Good point. Gaffer tape is 2-3X the price of duct tape, not always available at hardware stores, and should be used on the inside surface of a canopy rather than outside surface because it’s water resistant not waterproof.

  11. Allagashed says:

    God, I hate football. The tailgating would be fun if you simply left the game out of it. Christ, baseball season isn’t even over yet and I’m already jonesin’ for spring training. EoH, I live north of Caribou, poutine is almost a religion. The example you cited would be well accepted here.

    • ShallMustMay08 says:

      Agree. It is religion in Maine. Especially where you are. Inescapable but fortunately or not I never had to make my own.

  12. Peterr says:

    Tailgate menu options, first course . . .

    A fruit salad served in a hollowed-out watermelon decorated like a viking longship, with the leafy end of a pineapple on the stern, lemon slices like shields along the sides, and skewers with lime slices as the oars.

    Caprese salad skewers: take chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese, grape/cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil leaves, and skewer them together on 6″ wooden skewers. Drizzle a little olive oil on them before serving. If you want to get really fancy, stick the skewers into a melon/pineapple.

    • Peterr says:

      A cold option . . .

      Boiled shrimp, with home-made cocktail sauce (ketchup, horseradish, and worchershire sauce, in whatever proportions work for you).

    • LadyHawke says:

      An old family picnic favorite that’s still going strong – Sputniks – grapefruit festooned with nibbles on toothpicks: cheese cubes, pepperoni, little pickles and tomatoes, melon chunks, strawberries, whatever. Tradition is to put it out while setting up to sneak some nutrition into kids. (The subsequent “sword” fights usually didn’t draw blood…)

  13. Rugger_9 says:

    I’ve been watching with some interest the betting fiasco in Iowa, as both Iowa and Iowa State players are being disciplined for betting on games. Brock Purdy of the Niners is from ISU and there during the scandalous behavior, but my read on him is that he’s too smart to be mixed up in that mess. We’ll see if the NFL cracks down with the ‘should have done something’ rule.

    With that said, Trey Lance should stay in SF, not because Brock might get suspended but because the half life for starting QBs seems to be quite low in spite of the rule protections built in by the NFL. Plus, Trey is too good to let someone else have him.

    • Iamevets says:

      All the sports talk shows can talk about is trey, the seldom seen backup quarterback. Sorry, I dont care to hear ad naseum about the freaking backup quarterback.

    • Rugger_9 says:

      In CA the big firms (FanDuel and Draft Kings) tried to get online gaming approved and failed, but I do know it’s still out there (I had my credit card hacked for a $400 BetMGM wager). It’s hard to figure a less productive activity that fantasy sports for money. How bad is it? My local Safeway had six different fantasy NFL mags but not one preseason summary for college football. Not even Lindy’s.

  14. David F. Snyder says:

    “…invite all the golf/football/deer season widows for some bullshit over beers, …” This cracked me up. Sounds like a good plan, though.

    My neighbor may have a good Cajun poutine recipe (he’s from Lafayette area), if that fits the bill.

    • punaise says:

      Cajun poutine?
      Like the Québécois version minus the below freezing weather, but with the drunk munchies.

  15. morganism says:

    Take a look at the “Pie Squared” cookbook for some great ideas. Has some sweet and some savory in there.

  16. Skillethead says:

    Expat living in Middle Earth for the past 18 years. Most of the time, it’s pretty close to heaven down here, but football season gripes the hell out of me. I’m an old gridiron player — actually played one season of single-wing football.

    But I only get ESPN Ocho here, and if there is international darts match or an 8-and-under La Liga game on, that will take Michigan/Ohio State off the air every time. Every once in a while I’ll get Middle Tennessee vs Western Kentucky. I do get the All Blacks, and have developed a true love of rugby union, but these folks don’t understand the concept of a hot dog, much less a tailgate.

    LIfe in NZ nets out very much on the positive side overall, though. Just not in terms of football (gridiron that is).

    Have fun folks!

    • Henry the Horse says:

      Native Micignder here with parents from Montreal…I feel like Flounder This is great!!!”.

      Now let’s go to the rankings:
      Poutine is beyond heaven and the secret is near gelatinous gravy. Like the consistency of pudding lol.

      Pasties…not so much, I will always be a lowly troll. Damnit, I wish I liked them.

      But the ultimate tailgate is a…ahem…sausage fest! Kowalski polish sausage, Koegel Viennas (the coney dog dog), Brats, Italian sausage all grilled on the BBQ.

      Also you might be doing it wrong just go mingle and party under many tents.

      Salut emptywheel!

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        We’ll have to disagree about the pasties: they’re great, whether veggie or meat. Cottage pie is another comfort food: baked mashed potato top, hamburger and gravy base.

  17. Ed Walker says:

    I’ve been trying to watch the Women’s World Cup but Fox makes it really hard. The games are rerun on FS1, which has been spotty on comcast. Also the TV coverage is surprisingly lousy. The replays are too short so you can’t see the flow into the shot or score.

    I saw 2 of the US women’s games in group play. We looked fluid and strong, but just couldn’t score.

    One thing is quite clear. The rest of the world has caught up with the US. An article in The Guardian (I think) said that many of the athletes played at US colleges, They’re all disciplined, and well-coached, as far as I could tell.

    I just watched the England-Colombia match, and I was struck by the ball-handling skills of the Colombians.

    England is probably the favorite at this point, but I really enjoyed the Spain/Netherlands game which I caught live. Don’t count the very aggressive Spaniards out.

    • fubar jack says:

      The quality of play and the excitement in the games at the women’s world cup this year is a lot of fun to watch. I’m rooting for the host Matilda’s.

    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      Ed, The Fox Sports channels will drive you crazy if you rely on them for anything. The horse racing broadcasts get randomly interrupted by poker; MLB (that I can’t get anywhere else) switches games; and then there’s incessant Cowherd ads. Plus, now, My Pillow.

      I’m with you about world soccer. Just wish Colombian team had gotten more TV exposure, when I was awake.

      • chesterfield says:

        Telemundo on Peacock has been carrying the games with Spanish speaking announcers and subtitles. With the volume down and the closed captioning off more of the field is visible, not hidden by the letterbox, and you don’t have the jabbering of obvious know- it- alls. I have greatly enjoyed the games I could wake up for after midnight.

  18. Jared Shoemaker Jr says:

    What you bring depends on what you like and the kind of effort you wanna put in. My wife loves to make her homemade baked beans and PA bbq. Me I like to make a variation of burger and beans

  19. CrescentBeachCats says:

    My first foray onto the emptywheel site, although I’ve been reading for a while and contributing (just twice). This site is fantastic. Two insights…1., anything with french fries and/or melted cheese/gravy is amazing, and 2., easy peazy recipe for orange chicken. You need a crockpot. Put in a jar of orange marmalade and a package of chicken breasts. Heat until they are done!

    • Rayne says:

      Welcome to emptywheel. Thanks for the easy orange chicken recipe, though I’d add some soy sauce for umami, chili pepper, and garlic (because nearly everything is better with garlic). I probably wouldn’t stop there, adding unseasoned rice wine vinegar, some grated fresh ginger, and a splash of toasted sesame oil along with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and chopped scallions for garnish.

  20. introbang says:

    The Ford Lightning, new Jeep 4xe have power out and it will probably be a feature on future vehicles of all sorts – How do you think the electrification of trucks will change tailgating? For context: I’ve never tailgated :(

    [Welcome back to emptywheel. THIRD REQUEST: Please use the same username AND EMAIL each time you comment so that community members get to know you. Your email used for this and your August 7 comments don’t match previous comments; they could be typos but it still amounts to a change in identity requiring moderator’s validation. Changes of username and email address typo make you look like a sockpuppet or identity spoofer. PLEASE use the same name each time. /~Rayne]

  21. SunZoomSpark says:

    Cook ahead Tailgate recipe.

    Minced, smashed and sliced garlic. Shells (the most flavorfull part of the shrimp) sauteed with garlic and olive oil and then used to sautee the shrimp.

    https://www.seriouseats.com/spanish-style-garlic-shrimp-gambas-al-ajillo-recipe

    NCAA Sports

    For most colleges all the non-football and olympic sports except (for some schools) men’s basketball are non-revenue sports. Funded by football.

    The consensus in the industry is that direct pay of football players is inevitable. The B10 is estimating 30% of revenue will go to player salaries. This is one of the factors driving realignment.

    Olympic (non-revenue) sports have individual championships as well as the Directors Cup which is an award to the progran with best overall performance. This award has been one by Stanford 26 of 29 years. Of course Stanford does this both with excellent programs as well as playing more Olympic sports than any other school.
    How will Stanford maintain these programs without football revenue that can help underwrite these sports? IDK.

    What’s next with football?
    This will be the last round of chasing TV contracts. Why should top tier teams/conferences share revenue with networks when they can produce and stream content themselves. Have subscriptions with/without ads. Better monetize non-revenue sports

    Schools like my alma mater Michigan may end up independent. Why support the bottom feeders in the B18?

    Another thought. Why should Northern schools play outdoor sports like baseball, softball etc in February! Sure makes it hard to win the directors cup against Sunbelt schools. Looking at you Stanford.

    Trash Talk

    I first attended a Michigan football game in 1967 when my sister was a freshman. Subsequently I was LSA 76 MBA 86.

    The 2 time defending BigTen (18) champions will be hosting THE them on the way to 3 in a row.

    Alumni comparison

    UM
    James Earl Jones
    Jonas Salk
    Arthur Miller
    Charles Woodson

    THE them
    Jim Jordan

    Go Blue!

    • Rugger_9 says:

      As one might guess there is another reason why $tanford does so well (if it were just Sun Belt and money, U$C would be tops for the Director’s cup, but in terms of Olympic medals seven of the top 20 are Pac-12 school sourced and both Cal and $tanford are top-five.

      What $tanford grasped is that top male athletes often have GFs that are top female athletes and so set up the opportunity to compete together. Something I never understood is why U$C (of all places) doesn’t have a softball team. Neither do Colorado or WSU, but given the winters there it’s understandable, but U$C especially with the hay UCLA makes with their team?

  22. Molly Pitcher says:

    No matter what else I take to a tailgate, I always take oyster crackers because they are a huge hit and the perfect accompaniment to alcohol.

    For every 12oz. box/bag of oyster crackers, in a large lidded Tupperware type bowl, stir in:
    3/4 C. vegetable oil
    1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (or powder)
    1/2 teaspoon dried dill
    1 package Ranch Dressing mix
    Stir with a spatula scraping the sides. These need to be made the day/night before, and it is ideal to use the spatula a few times over the hours, to be sure they are evenly coated.
    They are ideal to put on the bar of any fund raiser, especially charity auctions, as they encourage imbibing and bidding !!

    Regarding the Pac 12’s demise, we are gutted and furious. Mr Pitcher played Basketball for Cal, where we met, and we both have done lots of fund raising over the years. But NOT for the current administrations. This AD is an idiot both athletically and from a business standpoint. The current Chancellor is on her way out the door, but not soon enough. She was actually my faculty advisor, and utterly incompetent at that as well.

    But they look like geniuses in comparison to the Head of the Pac 12. Everyone could see this coming, and his pathetic negotiations for TV contracts are only the most recent ineptitude.

    I guess paying athletes was inevitable, but the NIL rules will destroy college athletics. I was always proud of the fact that the majority of student athletes in the Pac 12 actually went to class. I sound like Harry Edwards, but the way black athletes in other conferences were used and thrown away has always seemed like a modern version of share cropping. Promises are made, expectations raised and when someone gets injured the medical care and the scholarship disappears.

    Maybe the NFL just needs to pony up and take over college football and call it what it is, their farm system. The NFL certainly has the money to do it.

    • Purple Martin says:

      WaPo’s Kevin Blackistone wrote a very good column on that today. I just added a gift link to it, to a previous comment (CTRL-F blackistone will go straight to it).

      • Molly Pitcher says:

        Thanks for the link. It has been a busy day and I hadn’t looked at the WaPo, so I would have missed it. Also read the article about the Arch Manning NIL trading card selling for $104,000. He has yet to play a down.

  23. Matt Foley says:

    Don’t blink or you’ll miss it:
    “Newsmax has accepted the 2020 election results as legal and final.”
    –4 second disclaimer after 30 minutes of Trump spewing election lies to host Eric Bolling

  24. SunZoomSpark says:

    Salaried athletes would not be the same as the current NIL griftathon.

    It would be the result of ongoing student athlete lawsuits
    This would result in making the athletes “employees”.

    The current unregulated NIL is a travesty.

  25. Rugger_9 says:

    Sort of OT because it’s kind of serious. The California PUC approved the rollout plans for the driverless taxis / cars / etc. from Waymo and Cruze (IIRC) in spite of the fact that even they understand no auto-operation is perfect (they say it’s not the last word, but no one believes the CPUC). Keep in mind this is the same venal organization that defined ‘regulatory capture’ by PG&E to the point where even after the San Bruno explosion the CPUC did nothing until after multiple PG&E-caused fires killed several hundred more people, so now they’ll ‘think’ about it.

    Driverless transportation is well documented to be unsafe when presented with surprises like potholes, fog (blocks the sensors) sudden changes such as a kid running into the street after a ball, etc. There is nothing in these proposals about who pays when a kid gets mowed down. Cruze and Waymo will dodge the responsibility or claim bankruptcy, and the passenger will not have the ability to intervene. I would have asked the CPUC members which of their kids should go first to be sacrificed for ‘progress’.

    • Rayne says:

      This is an open thread which means you’re free to bring up topics like bloody driverless cars, which shouldn’t be regulated (or unregulated) by any one state. They should be regulated by the USDOT and they shouldn’t be on the road until they meet a tested and demonstrated federal standard of safety we expect from other vehicles with drivers for hire.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Here, here. Letting them on the road sooner is a government subsidy, and a socialization of the cost and privatization of the profits.

    • Molly Pitcher says:

      Rugger, did you see that last night 10 of them stalled out in the same intersection ? Caused a horrific traffic jam. At least there wasn’t an emergency in the area. That has happened before.

      The company claimed that because of the Outside Lands concert in Golden Gate Park there was insufficient band strength for the cars.

      They have actually trained a large number of emergency responders how to use the jaws of life to cut the roof off of one of these cars to get it out of the way for first responder vehicles. So I guess if you are waiting for the ambulance or watching you house burn down, you just have to tack on another 20 minutes or so, till they finish opening the tin can and drag it to the side.

      Can’t wait till that happens and someone sues all the robocar companies AND the PUC.

      • Rugger_9 says:

        I hadn’t but this proved my point (again). San Francisco for their part has several supervisors (it’s a city and county, so just a board of supes there) who are saying they’ll be tossing sand into all of the gears on the rollout. We’ll see, but after the CPUC decision was trashed in the Chronicle op-ed cartoon, so the ball will be rolling. The note about ‘bandwidth’ is interesting, and points to a fundamental flaw.

        Commands need to be on a wavelength that is neither shared with other purposes or a harmonic of another frequency in use. It would appear that our companies here didn’t do that basic communications homework any RM / ET from the USN could have shown them, and that’s the best option. The other is that the command computers were so feeble (due to cost cutting) that their data stream looked like a DDOS attack.

        I’m reminded of Elno (I’m not using Elmo since that’s a Muppet who is smarter than the ruler of “X”) and his billion (only a slight exaggeration for emphasis) satellite project, which apparently at its core is an attempt to reduce gamer lag time and really nothing else, for the mere inconvenience of so much space junk and falling satellites that some actual and expensive telescopes will go out of business because of the clutter.

  26. ShallMustMay08 says:

    -Italian breadsticks: Pillsbury twist type brushed with melted butter and Good Season Italian package dressing (dry) before baking. In a pinch or in addition the dry crunchy breadsticks from cracker aisle can work as well.
    -Mild Italian sausage cooked and sliced. Freeze ahead if there is concern in travel distance in a back pack or like.
    -Jar of high quality honey mustard (a must have).
    -Sliced white cheddar – if the mood and weather conditions support.
    – I try to remember to bring a small wooden utensil for mustard when jar gets low – but it is finger dipping/licking food at heart.

    At first glance it is a strange combo with Italian season and sausage and honey mustard. Wicked easy to scale up and portable in any weather. I can’t claim the fame. Credit where do elsewhere it was offered to me while sailing ages ago and I have taken everywhere since from games to concerts, hiking, skiing, etc. Still a hit.

    The above orange chicken base and upgrade suggestion sound great! Thanks.

    • P J Evans says:

      I’ve been known to make sandwiches with Jack cheese and a sweet hot mustard. They go really well together.

  27. MWFfromSAT says:

    It’s too hot to tailgate here…even in the evening…95º+ at 8pm… So, to watch the Women’s World Cup, we gathered at a local pub where the A/C was working well.
    The Scotch Eggs were delicious….and something I had never seen at a tailgate party.

  28. SunZoomSpark says:

    Andrew Weissman on Deadline Whitehouse this afternion.
    With regards to bail rules in Georgia based on the statute that may apply here
    The presunption is the defendant has the burden of rebutting, i.e. it is on the defendant to show that he will not commit crimes, that he is not a risk of flight. The exact words of statute to approve bail that the judge must find “ the defendant poses no risk of intimidating witnesses or otherwise obstructing the administration of justice.”

    To that end, today on “Truth” Social Trump told Jeff Duncan (former Lt. Gov.) not to comply with the Grand Jury subpoena. He testified today despite that TS admonition.

    Roasted garlic butter popcorn and bourbon time for me.

  29. punaise says:

    What the heck is wrong with some people?

    Michael Oher, depicted in ‘The Blind Side,’ alleges he was never adopted by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, but signed into a conservatorship

    The petition says “Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control. All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”

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