2011 Season Re-cap

Well. 
I got busy and simply didn't post last season. 

I set this blog up for the sole purpose of sharing pictures of the bus project.  I can't believe that was four years ago.  That was interesting.  My thoughts on Illini football are not.  If you want to read about the Illini, go here:  www.alioneye.com.  That's really all ya need.  Atta boy Bobby!

But, Illini FB tailgating is my most favoritist hobby and I think I may feel bad if my stupid little blog ended with a silly picture of Zook.  Although that post was pretty prophetic, huh?    I just need to make sure the bar is set sufficiently low that I don't feel bad if it's 6 posts full of pictures of kids with grown men drinking in the background.  I guess it got me this far.

So let's re-cap last year with the help of the stat book:

• Arkansas State:  Had bus trouble all summer, but got it fixed up for the opener.  Our offense looked good - we have good receivers.  We might not suck.
• South Dakota State:  My son thought it was funny that we played the Jackrabbits.  We looked really good.  We don't suck.
• Arizona State - Top tailgate of the season - huge turnout.  Stuck around and pretended it was 1993 that night.  We didn't have Blue Guys in 1993.  I still have a headache. We won a game we normally lose.  We might be ok.
• Western Michigan - too close for comfort- a harbinger of things to come.
• Northwestern - this game was fun.  I share Robert's distaste for all thing's Fitzgerald and I enjoyed this.  Holy crap - we may be good.
• Ohio State - What's that noise?  Oh, I think a wheel fell off.
• Michigan - There went another.
• Wisconsin - Season in full free-fall, we had a very nice tailgate with some new friends from Madison.  In full disclosure, I also matriculated (they teach those words there) at UW, so I donned the red and white for this one, in protest.  2nd best tailgate of the season.  The UW shortbus parked next to us.  They outdrank us - to be sure.  But nobody from my tailgate passed out in his own vomit.  I'm not sure any of them didn't.

If I took any pictures, they aren't good enough to warrant me trying to find them and/or they could be used in a custody hearing, so this little recap will have to do.  I closed the book on the 2011 season a long time ago - we'll not dwell on it here.

For this season.  Hmmm.  Again, if you're looking for real analysis, go see Bobby's blog.  My gut says we go 6-6 and we have some great tailgates this year.  Please join us.

Hot Seat

Well, Coach Zook, all the pundits think the loss of three draft picks handicaps this team and puts us in the middle of the pack in the East/Plains/Grange/ -what? -Leaders division.  Yet, the locals are a'buzz with optimism.  You've got a new boss. The schedule is in our favor. Your recruiting class, to date, is less than mediocre.  What direction will this program go?    I'm going with early season success but guessing  that when the Big 10 season rolls around, the weaknesses are exposed and reality eventually knocks him out the door.  Hope I'm wrong.  I really hope I'm wrong.

Looking forward to kicking this thing off tomorrow.  Go Illini!

Northwestern 11.20.10

Funny how this novelty game turned out to actually mean something.  And the circus of the sandlot rules quickly became overshadowed by a phenomenal performance by our running game.  I didn't care much about the Wrigley thing, but it turned out to be really cool and I'm glad I had an opportunity to go. Someday it might be fun to hang out with all the Chicago contingent in Chicago (or Evanston) when it isn't freezing outside. 

Friggin circus in the streets.

At least they were running toward us.

We're going bowling! 

Impressive performance.  Wonder where it was when Minny was in town.  Oh well, probably saved Zook's job and gives us a chance at a bowl.  I just hope the word TicketCity is not in the title.  We shall see.  Week off and then a trip to get a little revenge on Fresno State for the egg the ILLINI laid last year. 



Minnesota 11.13.10

Final 2010 shortbus tailgate.  Weater started nice but got pretty damn cold and crappy the the afternoon.  Brought the buddies from home to the finale'.  Also had a nice showing from some of the Chicagoland regulars as well as a surprise guest.

Early in the day.  Having a Pabst with its namesake. 

Took me all day, but I was finally able to catch these guys with a beer in their hand :)

Brave souls.  And great friends.  You too, Brad, wherever you went during this shot.

Ladies love bus drivers.

Great end to a great season of shortbus tailgaiting.

Again, another successful year of getting up early to drive to Champaign and drink beer in a painted up shortbus, waiting for an improving, if not still mediocre, football team to win a few games.  This year, the highs were pretty high and the lows were pretty low - but once again, seeing old friends, making new ones and reliving some long gone glory was a lot of fun.  More posts on the Wrigley game and (hopefully) the bowl game to come.

Purdue 10.30.10

Brought the family for Halloween. Day started out cool, but got better.  Not a huge crowd, but did get to visit with some old friends and the kids had a ball.

Early start on a chilly morning. Gotta love those 11 am games.

 

Man that kid does love to play in the dirt.

Prolly gonna have to play JV for a while.

We're good parents - we kept the baby warm in chilly weather.  However, the State may be visiting soon because we did so with a giant pink bunny suit.  Looked like a pink nightmare.  C'mon it was Halloween!

Ahhh, bus drama.  Always something. 

Little vampire and dad. 

You gotta admit, that's funny.

Indiana 10.23.10

Homecoming shortbus tailgaters did not show up for this one, but I suppose you can't blame them.  Although, the weather was fantastic.  Had some new faces at the tailgate this day.  Some of them had a LOT of fun.  I won't post the proof.

Two handsome bus drivers.  Whatever the hell Megabus is, this is apparently the guy who drives it.

I'm not even gonna comment. 

Liquid courage.

A nice day and a good win, if not an otherwise pretty uneventful tailgate. 

Penn State 10.09.10

We've always talked about a trip to Happy Valley and this year made a lot of sense. 

HUGE shout-out to DB for his acceptance of the invitation, willingness to sacrifice his car for tailgating,  and for bringing that stupid little charcoal grill that, it turns out, is contraband in State College- but man were we glad to have it.  You rock - D!

First some scenery:

 Far cry from Central IL.

 
Mt. Nittnay

We didn't tailgate too far away.

It's like Disneyworld.

Joe-Pa.  Actually pretty cool.

The tailgating:



 That silly little grill couldn't have been more conspicuous in a giant lot that outlaws charcoal.  With our keen sense of thermodynamics, wind mechanics, and culinary heat transfer theory, we were able to cook, eat, and prevent the west half of Pennsylvania from burning to the ground.

Nothing says tailgaiting like Peach Schnapps.  Seriously, you can't buy a 12 pack at 8 am  on a Saturday morning in PA?  Never been so sad to see the last Natty Light come out of the cooler.  Oh, and I found it really hard to party sideways.  Hills suck.

The game:

 Pretty impressive.  Gotta give it to the Big House, though. 

I could get used to this.  Nice win, boys!

Gotta admit. I was pretty amped to see what I've been told repeatedly is the best tailgating in the Big 10.  Now, maybe we were in the turd lot, maybe there was a great party off-site that we weren't invited to, or maybe they were all hung over from a Friday night Mad-Dog bender.  But I was not impressed.  Huge crowd - but as has been said, "do not confuse activity with achievement".   Pretty subdued event, in my opinion.

However, the experience was awesome, the drive though the hills in October was cool, and meeting some east coast Phi's in the middle of nowhere was well worth the trip.  Being present at the first ever win in Beaver Stadium was pretty cool too.  We play there again next year - I know how to get there - who's in!