Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Putting A Bow On The 2024 Season

Rutgers' 7-6 season that culminated in a blown 17-point lead and 44-41 Rate Bowl loss to Kansas State in Arizona the day after Christmas failed to match the preseason hype, but BREP Nation put forth yet another National Championship-level tailgate season in 2024!

Rate Bowl hijinx with
Legrand bourbon toast
Rate Bowl watch in NJ
(kudos to Tom going to AZ!)
The on-field product and busy schedules sapped our strength to blog much since the UCLA and USC debacles, and so we'll briefly recap the final two home tailgates for Minnesota (November 9) and Illinois (November 23); the latter a brutal 4-hour loss to the Illini, which cost RU a better bowl as Coach Schiano saw it wise to ice the kicker on a 57-yard attempt he had zero chance of converting.  

The Minnesota result, a pleasantly surprising 26-19 win as quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw for three touchdowns against his former team, improved Rutgers record to 5-4. 

Final '24 group shot
My one Minn shot
From a tailgating perspective, with another noon kickoff, the Nation stood strong and produced a nice menu of breakfast themes, and Andy's Minnesota-themed ham and cheese sliders on Hawaiian buns. It was a solid day for the penultimate 2024 tailgate. 

The Illinois tailgate, despite the football result, was a picture-perfect close to our season. 

Dana's Illinois-themed Italian beef sandwiches were the culinary highlight of the day and maybe one of the most savory dishes we've had; adding fresh-made giardiniera to it was outstanding

Inspecting the spread
Pete's pierogies were a wonderful complement to Chicago-oriented foods, while Andy thought outside the box to bring Sayreville specialty Mr. Dee's chili to create delicious chili-cheese hot dogs. 

Bad loss, but fun group
Plenty of bourbon was shared, too, including the
customary Legrand shot and spiked hot apple ciders.

In the months ahead, we begin preparations for the 2025 tailgate season and more great times with fantastic friends creating more wonderful memories. The schedule is already out; not the start times, but let's hope we don't get mired at noon every week again. See everyone in the Black lot next season!

2025 Home Schedule: August 30 (Ohio), September 6 (Miami, Ohio), September 13 (Norfolk State), September 20 (Iowa), October 18 (Oregon), November 8 (Maryland), November 29 (Penn State)

Pierogies, Giardiniera
& Italian beef

Dig in, Pete!

Andy's sliders

Andy serving up...

Mr. Dee's chili-cheese dogs

Ja-kobe beef?

Pregame brick visit

Not symbolic of game outcome,
but a great shot nonetheless

UMD Tailgate Recap: BREP Nation Lifted RU To Bowl Eligibility

A week after Rutgers broke a four-game losing skid with a 26-19 win vs. Minnesota, a sizeable BREP Nation tailgate contingent and several others made the 200-mile trip to College Park for a fantastic tailgate and to give the Scarlet Knights a spiritual lift against the host Twerps.

Early birds get the worm...
but we forgot the tequila
Fantastic food, football,
and friendships!
Rutgers came through with a convincing 31-17 win vs. Maryland, running its record to 6-4 and ensuring bowl eligibility for the second straight season. 

Everything worked as planned (including for Coach Schiano's squad), with about 25 folks tailgating for 3+ hours on the sunny 60-degree afternoon in a mostly vacant lot near the Clark Engineering school.

The crew set up camp by 2:30 p.m., with Basil arriving suspiciously early with Fitzgerald Quad representative and newly minted attorney Alexa, who lives in nearby Bethesda and, true to form, showed a Pavlovian response at one point to nearby ambulence sirens. Legal representation opportunities were put on hold to instead relax and enjoy the tailgate.

Basil & Alexa

The menu was heavy on Central Jersey cheesesteaks, with Hobo grilling 10-plus of the 12 pounds of great cuts from Red Bank's Monmouth Meats and topped with three pounds of cheddar and provolone cheeses and accompanied by sauteed onions, all stuffed into fresh Nino's Bakery rolls purchased right from company headquarters in West Long Branch before the drive down Friday afternoon by Bill, Kathy, and Logan

Sides were abundant, including homefries, Cotter-made tortilla wraps, macaroni salad, chips and dips, veggie platter, Tom's boujee DC-area donuts, several desserts, beer (need to give a shoutout to Baltimore's National Bohemian, a.k.a. Natty Boh), wine, and Legrand bourbon.  

Weather couldn't have been more perfect to spend a mid-November afternoon. Plenty of sunshine, only minor breezes. Unfortunately, Shane (known in a small circle within the BREP Nation community as "Stan from College Park" or "Los-Rez BRES") forgot to bring the custom-made UMD cornhole boards, though he needed the room in his Honda Fit to squeeze in his crew; it looked like a clown car situation upon arrival to the tailgate lot. 

Shane, Zack, Harrison,
Thomas (holding Shane-
head), Owen & Logan
I fed you ****ers
Anyway, Shane's Tinton Falls-area/MAST crew making the roadtrip included Harrison (recent transfer to Rutgers, sans NIL funds), Zack, Thomas, and Owen. The boys spent the weekend at Shane, fall 2024 UMD graduate Pat, and Tommy's place in Old Town College Park, where we later learned that 30+ revelers raided their liquor, donuts, and donuts into the wee hours of Sunday morning. 

Back to the tailgate...it was an eclectic and energized crew.

Pat's mom Cheryl Seeley, twin sister Megan, and cousin Kenzie were first to park in lot XX1 and, according to BREP Nation sources, spent time before the tailgate touring campus. 

For those who've never been, it's an outstanding state university backdrop. UMD is configured in a gigantic rectangle mostly to the west of Route 1. It's spacious, leafy, and rather walkable (unless you're a freshman engineering student who has to schlep yourself 20 minutes by foot to class on a regular basis as Shane experienced from the dreadful Easton Hall). Route 1 is a heavily trafficked route to DC and houses the best of College Park's hotels, eateries, and bars. 

Kathy & Team Seeley
Reports also suggest that, following their walkabout, the visiting Seeley trio plus Basil, Alexa, and Pat and Dana Cotter of the Cherry Hill, NJ, Cotters arrived almost simultaneously to the tailgate, still missing its organizer, stuck in traffic after grabbing most of the key supplies. We would be remiss to not give the Cotters props for their tasty food contributions plus Pat's impromptu DJ-ing, where the group's satisfaction rate with his selections was 82%.  

Bill, Ed, Pat, Aaron & Basil
causing more trouble
Current Maryland residents and RU alums were prominent. Bill's first college acquaintance (he approached this blogger on the fourth floor first-day dormitory meetup, since I sported long hair and an Anthrax shirt and he had heavy metal sensibilities) and sophomore year roomie (plus his drum kit and one other guyAaron Auerbach and son Ben joined the Nation. Fellow Frelinghuysen freshman year dorm mate Ed Summers, along with wife Kesa and UMD senior son Charlie, also joined. It was great seeing Ed for the first time in, like, 30 years and meeting some of his family! We didn't miss a beat.

#bELieve52 toast
In keeping with the great tradition established this season by Dana, BREP Nation's resident Master of Bourbon and RU Recruiting Bullshit, the UMD crew toasted Rutgers' spiritual leader Eric Legrand with shots of his fine Kentucky bourbon; killed the bottle with this many toasters. Our toast and X post to Eric and his distilling company were well-received and we hope will increase visibility for his tasty, affordable spirits. 

Once the extended tailgate wrapped up, the crew made the 15-minute walk to SECU Stadium, which was heavy on Rutgers fans. Many, like us, picked up discount field-level tickets (under $40) near the 50-yardline off of SeatGeek, presumably from season pass holders who bailed on Maryland football for the 2024 season (the Twerps failed to make a bowl game). The bailing theme continued, especially after halftime, as it seemed that large portions of UMD faithless deserted their squad by the middle of the third quarter. BREP Nation sources watching on TV said audible pro-Rutgers chants could be heard on the broadcast. That's right. It was us. High 5's, all!

View from the cheap (but
GREAT) seats...go RU!!!
In the end, Rutgers pulled away with 10 fourth-quarter points to wrap up a 14-point win. Most of our crew made it through the entire game and strolled confidently back to the lot without incident. 

As fatigue from our A+ tailgate and in-stadium cheering effort got the best of us, we then said our goodbyes. The kids, however, found the energy to party into the night, celebrating a fantastic Rutgers win no doubt, while Bill and Kathy hit the gas station taco truck next to the hotel for late-night snacks and an impromptu meetup with Steve (an actual Sir Henry mascot in the 1980s) from the Scarlet Fever apparel shop in New Brunswick. 

We'll be sure to run this back again, whether in College Park or at Rutgers. Thanks to everyone for attending to make a memorable day, and here's to everyone's health and more good times...go RU!!!

Logan with friend Maggie, who joined us pregame

Bill and Tom, who for those that don't know
bleeds Scarlet and drives 3-4 hours from DC
to most Rutgers football homegames

Proud momma Kathy with her son

Harrison and Kathy bringing the smiles!

Zack and Thomas enjoying Natty Bo, unofficial
beer sponsor of BREP Nation UMD tailgates

Shane knowing UMD's fate well in advance

Representing RU and UMD

Festive crowd shot

An Auerbach-Cotter selfme from the seats

Alexa and Baz showing their gamefaces

The happy Hobos

 
Kathy, dealing 25+ years with
Bill's Rutgers sports bullshit

Pissed off UMD fans (top right) NOT happy
about the Rutgers fan invasion; Shane a true sport

Cherry Hill natives Pat & A-a-ron

Really love these 2 shots
by Tommy w/...

...happy campers!

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Undefeated Tailgates, But Can RU Get A Win?

It's been three weeks since our posse gathered for a pregame Rutgers football tailgate, but we reunite this Saturday at 9 a.m. ahead of the (another) noon kickoff. This week it's vs. Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers visit Piscataway on a modest 3-game winning streak (road wins at UCLA and Illinois and a home win vs. Maryland) but may be looking past our brutally bad Scarlet Knights ahead of its shot at Penn State in two weeks. 

Wishful thinking perhaps, but the way Schiano's defense is playing, I'm not sure taking 6.5 points at home is close enough.

Then again, maybe the bye week did Rutgers good and allowed some players to mend.

Whatever the case, let's do roll call and menu selection below. Already we know that Dave and Jennifer won't be in attendance while B-REP will be joining us in the stadium after getting banged up at a friends' son's wedding on Friday night. We'll sneak in a greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray for him.

With yet another morning tailgate time but projected great football weather again (sunny, high 58), perhaps basic NJ breakfast?

Else something exotic like Burragato burritos, though Thai in the morning might be tough.

We'd be remiss to leave without scenes from an outstanding UCLA tailgate, where Dana's breakfast bullshit was a tremendous hit, along with the other great dishes that no doubt we'll roll back when our next visitor from Los Angeles is in town.









Tuesday, October 15, 2024

RU Bru'in Up Plans to Rebound vs UCLA

The Scarlet Knights laid a huge egg after members of BREP Nation gave 110% for a wonderful Roxxarmadatoberfest tailgate on a beautiful autumn afternoon. 

Wisconsin pulvarized Rutgers in a game that wasn't even as close as 42-7 and has a long way to go to B1G respectability; maybe the transfer quarterback will make some accurate throws this week and the WRs will do their jobs as Rutgers hosts new conference member UCLA on Saturday at noon. 

Let's assume the normal 9 a.m. meeting time and more banner weather (sunny, high 68) and use the comments below for roll call and what everyone's contributing.

If we keep with the opponents' regional food theme, Mexican is very much the vibe -- among the ideas kicked around briefly at last week's tailgate and that Dana brought up by text: tacos (fish, carnitas, egg and chorizo some options), street corn, chilaquiles bullshit, sushi, and chili cheese dogs.

Everyone please weigh in on headcount and food preference(s). I can make just about anything but will wait on opinions before buying needed items. 

FYI that I have my curling league opener on Friday night with me and 7 scorching hot Canadian women. Sorry Pete, only club members have that privilege. Sucks for you!