Jason Austin's Blog Life and times of a PHP Developer in Raleigh, NC

Tailgate/Game of the Year

For anyone that knows me even just a little bit, you know that I love Wolfpack football.  Fall is my FAVORITE time of year and with fall comes football and tailgating.

At NC State, tailgating is an art form.  We don't just bring out the hibachi grill and a pack of hot dogs.  We do it big time, and our tailgate this past weekend for the NC State/Pitt game was no exception.  In fact, it was probably the biggest/best tailgate that we have ever had and we've been doing this for 10 years.

By my (slightly hazy) count, we had about 26-30 people, 5 coolers, 2 grills, 2 tents, and a myriad of food and drink.  We also unveiled our latest addition to our tailgate supplies, the newly complete cornhole set.  It still needs to be painted and clear-coated but it will be awesome to have that for future tailgates.

And what could make a tailgate even better?  The Wolfpack pulling out a come-from-behind, 38-31 win!  Even though the weather was nasty all day, Wolfpack fans brought the noise and the team showed up in force.  It was a great day, and thanks to everyone who came out to our tailgate.

And a quick note about the game.  For those of you who aren't obsessed with Wolfpack football like I am, you may have missed a chat transcript that was posted this past week where a Pitt beat writer stated "from what I understand there is a good crowd expected but, perhaps I am wrong about this, when has anyone ever talked about N.C. State being one of the tough or most hostile road venues around? .... So I don't think the crowd will be that much of a factor, no more than a normal road game." I recorded the game on ESPNU and Pitt had at least 2 false starts that can be directly related to crowd noise.  The announcers even commented about how loud the stadium was.  Despite the horrible weather, Wolfpack fans brought the noise and it made a difference.