Western Michigan

Vincent the Pooch here, before I turn the blog over to Master so he can give you all of the important information for this weekend's football game I would like to talk to you about rescue dogs.  We're a hearty bunch, survivors you might say, but we do need a little help from you humans from time to time.  This weekend the Stone Cold Tailgating Club will be collecting donations for the dogs (and cats....I guess) that live at the Almost Home Animal Shelter in Lafayette.  My kind and I would greatly appreciate your assistance in the form of any donations. 

The Almost Home humans will accept both cash and "in kind" donations.  A list of donation items can be found below:

Dog and cat treats. No colored biscuits, please.

Cat and pocket pet litter. Any brand, clay, corncob or paper litter only, please. We do not use scoopable litter. Special Kitty Cat Litter from Wal-Mart is great!

Esbilac, KMR and puppy and kitten nursing bottles and nipples

Advantage or Frontline topical flea preventatives

Dog toys. Kong toys, hard rubber bones (Nylabone, etc.), tennis balls, rope bones

Cat toys. Balls with bells, catnip toys, fur mice, etc. Nothing with strings, please.

Food and water bowls, all sizes (metal only; no plastic bowls please)

Pet carriers and cages, all sizes

Rabbit pellets and alfalfa hay

Hamster food and treats

Peanut butter

Heating pads

Chew sticks, exercise balls, wheels, and small cardboard boxes for pocket pets

Towels, blankets or rugs, any size, new or used

Thanks in advance for your donations!  Now I'll turn it over to Master!

Welcome to another season of Purdue Football!  We will have a great crowd at the tailgate for the first game and we're looking forward to seeing everyone! 

Back in 2008 Brendan Less commented to me that at some point our tailgate was going to turn into a "romper room" environment.  Little did he know at that time he would be adding to the "brood" of second generation of Stone Cold Tailgaters.  This first game will be the culmination of that prophecy as we host not only the usual members but eight of their children!  (I hear that Purdue Pete is planning to drop by the house to leave a little something for these second generation tailgaters.)

We will be celebrating the music and attitude of Jimmy Buffet this weekend with our "Cheeseburger in Paradise" tailgate.  Goodness knows that we need the pleasant feelings that weekend at the beach can bring when we are preparing for our football team and I think that a Parrothead tailgate is just what we need.  We all know about the struggles of Purdue Football 2013, but we will try to forget the struggles and remember the great tailgating as we move forward to 2014.

Our menu will of course be cheeseburgers with all the fixin's and of course French fried potatoes as the song says.  The normal selection of hard liquor, mixers, and beer will be available along with a special "Boat Drink" available only for this tailgate.

I look forward to hosting everyone at the house on Friday night, we'll have a great time I'm sure and hopefully we won't scare the kids too much!

Saturday August 30, 2014
8:00 a.m.      Depart the House
8:15 a.m.      Arrive D Lot
10:00 a.m.    Lunch Ready
11:30 a.m.    Depart for Game
12:00 p.m.    Kickoff

We will be leaving the house around 8 a.m., but given that we have so many people we are not going to be able to ride together in just the Ambulance and the Element.  We will determine how many vehicles we will need on Saturday morning.  After the game everyone is welcome to come back to the tailgate to hang out and discuss the thrilling start to the season!

Football 2014

Well folks I wish I could say that I'm crazy excited for the start of football this year but the reality is that we're probably going to suffer through another tough season in West Lafayette, IN.  The team has to be more competitive this year right?  I say that only because being less competitive seems all but impossible given we were outscored 456-179 last year.

One thing that I am looking forward to this year is our tailgating, it should be a spectacular year.  We are once again slated to park in the D Lot north of the stadium.  Generally speaking we were very happy with the tailgating in D last year and hope to build on that this year!

We will be featuring the return of some of our tried and true favorites including Cheeseburgers in Paradise, Kegs and Eggs, and the ever popular Oktoberfest tailgate for Homecoming!  I've been inspired by Wrigley Field's "decade" celebrations this summer and we will be doing our first decade tailgate for MSU where we will be featuring the food, sounds, and looks of the 1970's.

We will also be doing our charity events this year.  I really do appreciate everyone that has supported our Charity endeavors over the last four years, I think it is great that our tailgating “family” is giving back.  The events will be as follows:

8/30   Western Michigan – Almost Home Pet Rescue

10/4   MSU – Coats for Kids

11/8  Wisconsin – St. Lawrence Food Pantry

The Stone Cold Tailgating Club is in effect again this year; pay one price and it covers you for the season!  There have been no changes to the pricing from last year.

In addition to the Stone Cold Tailgating Package there is also a lodging package available. With two locations I am going to leave it up to everyone to arrange their lodging each weekend by contacting Brendan and Dawn (goboilerz@yahoo.com) or Susan Franklin (susanfranklin_1814@comcast.net).

The revenues from the Stone Cold Lodging package will be put towards house upkeep, utilities, and improvement work. Each location has a “bucket” for you to make your donations.

I look forward to seeing everyone this fall!