Wednesday, June 22, 2005

September home games

The game times for the first 3 games of the season have been announced. The games are all at home and non-conference.

South Florida kickoff at 3:30pm. The 3:30 kickoff means that the parking lots will be open at 8am.

The Cincinnati kickoff is at 12pm. 12pm start time means that the lots will open at 7am.

Kickoff for the Central Michigan game is scheduled for 1:30pm. Not sure what time the lots will open; I'll have to give the parking office a call.

Central Michigan is the Diesel Tailgate (DDT5) - please check 2theLion.com for links to the Diesel website and more information regarding the festivities.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Football Ticket Sales

Alumni Sale. Beginning Monday, June 27, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. alumni tickets will be available on the internet ONLY for all of the home football games. There are ticket limits for this sale (9 for all but OSU and Purdue where the limit is 4). The ticket office will accept no counter, telephone or mail in sales

Public Sale. Beginning Monday, July 11, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. tickets will be available to the public on the internet ONLY, again, for all of the home games. This sale will take place only if tickets remain after the Alumni Sale. Again, they will not accept any counter, telephone or mail in sales. Same ticket limits apply.

Phone Orders, Away Games and Group Sales. Beginning July 18, 2005 from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM tickets will be available for phone orders and Group sales will take place only if tickets remain after the Internet Sales. Phone numbers to call: Local: 814-865-5555; Toll Free: 800-863-3336. No Limit

click on the "game day info" link or go to 2theLion.com "Game Day Game Plan" page for link(s) to the ticket office.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Ohio State 10/08

PSU has announced that kickoff for the Ohio State game is going to be either 7pm or 7:45pm (depends on if ESPN2 or ESPN picks up the game) so that means it could be a very full day of tailgating!

Suzanne and I are toying with the idea of going up to Connecticut that Friday (yes, that Friday) to see the UConn Syracuse game (8pm kickoff) and then traveling back down to PA really early the next morning with tailgate in tow.

Now, before you get all crazy and start telling us that we aren't youngsters any more and we need to pace ourselves, just remember that Mr. Hoover used to drive down to PA, from Connecticut, for every home game in the "olden days" with the entire tailgate in his trunk. It can be done. And we might even see Mianus (CT) on the way. ;)

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Blue White 2005

Blue White 2005 - Diesel Tailgate

Well - Blue White 2005 was one for the ages. We joined tailgating forces with the "dual diesel tailgate 4" (DDT4), a group of young engineers we met last season and have been corresponding/planning with all winter.

Suzanne and I traveled to the State College Area the Sunday before and spent the week with Mom. During the week we planned, shopped and prepared a variety of goodies for the tailgate. Our assignments were: dips/snacks, desserts and a specialty beverage. For the beverage we made 5 gallons of Lynchburg Lemonade; suzanne made the sours mix from scratch and they were outstanding! For dips/snacks we made: Mini strombolis (ham/cheese, pepperoni, buffalo chicken); mini quiches (ham/cheese, vegetable); smokies in a blanket; ante-pasta plate; mini muffins (blueberry, cinnamon, corn, chocolate chip); mini biscuits (cheese, herb); onion/blue cheese dip; creamy salsa dip; buffalo chicken dip; uncle al's burnt keilbasa, roasted red pepper dip; spinach dip; tomato puree; pasta salad, homemade bagel chips; homemade crostini; party pumpernickel; chicken/red pepper spread made in a football shaped mould; stuffed mushrooms; homemade chex mix; cream puffs with herbed cream cheese filling; cherry tomatoes wrapped in salami & herbed cream cheese; tortilla chips; and, potato chips. For desserts we made: lemon tarts; coconut tarts; cheesecake bites; marbled cheesecake brownies; cream filled cream puffs; chunky chocolate brownies; turtle brownies; pineapple coconut brownies; mini chocolate cupcakes (which we frosted green and sprinkled green colored coconut on top of, arranged side by side on a tray and decorated with blue and white football player figurines, goal posts and knocked over red and yellow figurines which we called Florida State); almond butter cookies (shaped like footballs); shortcake footballs (dipped in chocolate); and, the lion cake (blue cake inside)!

The rest of the crew served breakfast (bacon, eggs, pancakes); hot sausage sandwiches; bratwursts; beercan chickens; brisket sandwiches; baked potato chili; bacon cheeseburgers; deep fried peirogies, cheese sticks, poppers, etc. Bloody Marys, Sangrita and beer as far as the eye could see, until you couldn't see anymore. There were little to no leftovers except for some dip and a few desserts - it was a return of the locust! (we hadn't seen devastation like that since Minnesota 2003).

There were a ton of people (est. 90!) - and it was a blast. The tailgate "area" was huge - 12 parking spaces, 3 canopies, tables and chairs everywhere. I did make it into the game for the 2nd quarter and halftime (saw the '94 team). The game was called in the 3rd quarter due to rain. The weather in general was icky - but we made the most of it!

The tailgate itself made it into the York Dispatch newspaper and Fox Sports' recap of the game!

It was a great success and everyone had a fun time.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Website update

Well, this week has been exciting, in a website creation type way. I am having the best time working on the site and learning all the publishing tricks, etc. I've added a few external links (including this one and one to our Football blog as well!) and uploaded a ton of photos. The hosting company has many more "add-ons" that I need to learn about - but it really is a labor of love.

Food glorious food

I bought a new cookbook over the weekend. It's only Monday and I've already made 2 recipes! French Onion Soup (best I've ever made - adapted the recipe which called for 8 cups beef stock and used 4 cups beef stock and 4 cups homemade chicken stock) and an Apple Tart.

I'm so ready to start planning for tailgating - Suz and I have been checking out the summer display of new grills, stoves, outdoor tables, etc. We're "gambling" to see what's left for the "end of summer" sales!

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Early planning

So, it's the beginning of the summer and football season is a good 3 months away; however I'm always ready for some advance planning. The summer is a great time to pick up "outdoor" picnic supplies which can be used in the fall.

We had our "practice tailgate" at the Blue White spring scrimmage in late April. We joined tailgating forces with the guys at the "Dual Diesel Tailgate" (DDT). These fellas are super organized and enthusiastic about tailgating. Suzanne and I had prepared a slew of appetizers and desserts (including the lion cake!) and Suzanne mixed up 5 gallons of her spin on Lynchburg Lemonade (Lion Country Lemonade). We tried a bunch of new recipes and techniques. We had a great time getting ready for the tailgate and a super time on game day. We plan to tailgate with the Diesel boys again at the Central Michigan game (Sept 17th) - it should be fun.

Welcome to 2theLion.com!

Welcome to our Tailgating blog! We'll be posting about tailgating and all of the fun we have getting ready for it. Football season may only be in the Fall, but we're always on the look out for new equipment, recipes, etc. to add to the fun. Plus, the skills we have honed through throwing multiple "mini-parties" on fall weekends have helped with "partying" throughout the year. Every event is just a modified tailgate :)