VandyBubble is getting all nostalgic and asking about the disappearance of some aspects of Commodore livin:

Whatever happened to dressing up and taking dates to tailgates?

This is an age-old Southern tradition that has apparently gone to shit at Vanderbilt. Some bubbleheads might remember the pressure leading up to their first tailgate to have some fresh frat gear and a smokeshow arm ornament to flaunt around in the Nashville sun. Now, guys are out smashing beers on their skulls and tailgating at the asscrack of dawn in basketball jerseys, while girls dawdle around in their suites till 3pm with heavily photographed, but lightly alcoholic Andre pregames. We’re not saying that it’s wrong, but what happened to tradition?

(pic via)

Everyday Should Be Saturday and @celebrityhottub bring you some helpful safety guidelines for SEC conference play. My favorites:

“Fans are reminded that referring to any alcohol illicitly smuggled into the stadium as “Top-Relf Liquor” will NOT prevent your ejection by security.”

“The Vol Navy is a valued part of Tennessee tradition, but please stop telling Holly Rowe you’re promoting her to Rear Admiral.”

“Fans, please do not give any money to Matt Jones. He is not just using it to “get his mind right and turn things around.”"

This month’s copy of Tailgater Magazine includes a ranking of the top 20 tailgating schools. You can read the full article here with snippets about each school. People love to complain about the top tailgating lists,and I certainly have my issues with this one. But to me, you can only rank what you’ve experienced. Which means only a handful of people in the nation can really create a definitely list. In my opinion there are three aspects that should be ranked. Size, Uniqueness, and the actual Game. Any campus that isn’t jam packed with tailgaters gets pushed down. You need a unique food, tradition, or setting. And finally, the game needs to mean something. The stadium, the competition, everything must be an event. So many years from now when I’ve crossed off 20-30 campuses, I’ll present my thorough list. Until now, settle for Tailgater Magazine’s:

20 UCLA
19 Georgia
18 Penn State
17 Colorado
16 Michigan
15 Oklahoma
14 Arkansas
13 Texas
12 Wisconsin
11 Alabama
10 Oregon
09 Auburn
08 Notre Dame
07 LSU
06 Tennessee
05 Ohio State
04 Washington
03 Clemson
02 Florida
01 Ole Miss

I’ve used Crown Royal bags to hold my iPod and it’s accessories before. But I have to admit I never thought of turning them into a blazer. So bravo to this resourceful LSU fan. On a different observation, most of the SEC has embraced the Solo Cup as a tailgating necessity. It’s slightly evident here and definitely in person that LSU fans side with styrofoam cups at a shocking level. I guess it’s a Louisiana daiquiri thing or something. To see more photos from the LSU/Ole Miss game check out Friends of the Program’s collection

Though cornhole, beer pong, and other tailgating games are plenty of fun, they lack any possible danger. Stump, on the other hand, provides friendly competition and the opportunity to hit yourself or a fellow tailgater by “accident”. The basic idea is that you take a hammer, flip it in the air once, catch it, and in a continuous motion try to hammer an opponents nail into a stump. Wikipedia tells us that the game is a derivative of the fairly bland German game Hammerschalgen. The Kraut’s version doesn’t appear to include the flip of the hammer, which eliminates tricks shots and some safety concerns. They do however have the game set up in some North German taverns, so gezundheit to them.

I was unaware of the game until recently seeing it in photos from Taylor Takes a Taste’s trips to Virginia Tech and Penn State. I was obviously curious and did a little research. For a complete list of rules and variations you can check out WorldStump.com. For our use, I’ve adapted a set of rules from PartySchooled.com

Stump Rules

Setup:

1. Place an evenly cut log (1 foot in diameter) on the ground or on a stand
2. Using medium sized nails, lightly hammer one nail for each participant into the stump just enough that it stands.
3. Grab a drink

Instructions:

All players stand in a circle around the stump in front of their nail with a drink in hand. The first player takes the hammer by the handle and tosses it, making at least one complete rotation, catches it, and in a somewhat fluid motion attempts to hit someone else’s nail. The hammer is then passed to the next person in the cirlce and they repeat. A person is eliminated when the top of their nail is flush with the stump. The last person standing is the winner.

Rules:

If you drop the hammer you take a drink and pass the hammer without hitting a nail
If you miss the nail you are hitting you take a drink
If your nail is hit you take a drink
Once your nail is flush you have to finish your drink and sit out until the game is over

How do you know it’s noon on Saturday? Georgia is kicking off. For the fifth time in seven games this season, UGA will kickoff around noon against Vandy on Saturday. This might seem like par for the course at a Big 10 school, but it’s definitely an unusual circumstance for an SEC team given the TV package. Combined with the basic outlawing of tailgating on North Campus, you’re almost lead to believe that Michael Adams corroborated with the SEC Offices and television networks to end Georgia tailgating once and for all.

The Red Black weighed in with their eulogy for Athens Tailgating before last week’s game

Tailgating in Athens had been on life support for the past year. With the decision to ban many of the most essential tailgating accessories from the University’s North Campus, the phenomenon was already in a crisis. Most saw tailgating fading fast, but nothing substantial was done to prevent the calamity.

It only took one last straw to flatline our beloved Saturday companion. It came all too fast.

If Michael Adams and the rest of the administration put tailgating on life support, Mark Richt and his 1-4 football team pulled the plug.

We recently wrote a post called Beer Kegs 101 that was designed to give an overview and some tips on using a keg at your tailgate. If that was the introductory lesson, than the 58 page .pdf Draught Beer Quality Manual is your graduate course. It covers the science and engineering of kegs as well as practical use and cleaning. Below are a couple of examples of what you can find inside.

Different Sizes and Types of Kegs

Different types of Keg Taps and what Beers Use them

Taylor Takes a Taste continued on his college campus tour in Blacksburg, Virginia to check out some Hokie tailgating. I have to agree that this is a well done tailgating shirt.

So these shirts from Sportscrack and similar sources have been around for awhile and I still fail to understand them. If you’re going to create a shirt that insults a rival, use your own school’s colors. Why on earth would a Ohio State fan want to wear maize and blue? On the opposite end of the spectrum is the array of tailgating shirts that Wisconsin fans wear. We’ve featured them before, but this picture comes from Taylor Takes a Taste’s visit to Madison last weekend. I’m not going to say that they’re classy, but at least they have the right colors.

The Bro Bible has put together a well done illustrated guide to tailgating. The picture is ginormous, so I’ve just included a snippet below.