Rutgers- Maryland Tailgate - Part 2: The Season Ending Tailgate

The year ending group shot of the BREPNation.com crew at our final 2015 tailgate 

Getting it all set up in the Black lot 

 As the BREPNation.com tailgating crew took to the Black lot for our season ending tailgate for the Rutgers-Maryland match up, the morning started with very favorable weather for a breakfast buffet. It was the start of a day of highs and lows for the crew. Little did we know that after a great half of football by the Scarlet Knights, the Terrapins would come alive in the second half as an unstoppable offensive machine to get even with RU for the dramatic comeback win we had in College Park to end the 2014 campaign. It would also be the end of Kyle Flood's tenure as head coach, and culminating in the firing of both Flood AD Julie Hermann the next day.    

Tantooing Welcome to the B1G (2014)

BRES and the King - 2015!

For several years our group (and in particular BRES) has had a fascination with Rutgers Fan/Tantoo Artist (and apparently also damaged goods), the one and only King of Sandy Hook!

A somewhat apprehensive BRES with his gift!

 Not only were we treated by the presence of the King at our tailgate, we were transfixed on his every word as he told us of his Xanax fueled adventures, recent incarcerations, and the dangers of being a tantoo artist. After finishing the tales of his exploits and having a brew to go on his way, the king treated his biggest fan with a "Birthday" gift T Shirt. Yes, BRES, Believe!

 The spirited corn hole action was ongoing for the bulk of the tailgate, started by a heated battle between the Next Gen and the Old Guys, with the youngsters coming out on top. The fiery match ups continued right up to the end of the tailgate, with bags in the air right up to kickoff!
 

 Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we must now look forward to next year with a new head coach and a new athletic director to hopefully lead us in a new winning direction. Thank you very much for the 2015 season BREPNation.com tailgaters! You have inspired us for the last magnificent 7 tailgates. You have excelled in your corn hole competitions. You have shared your emotions with us and the whole RU world. You have celebrated victory with dignity, and accepted defeat with dignity. I declare the 2015 Rutgers tailgating season closed. In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world (and BREPNation.com) to assemble 9 months from now in the parking lots of Piscataway to celebrate with us the 2016 Rutgers football season!

The end of the season marked by our leader ceremonially putting away the official tailgate flags

Rutgers- Maryland Tailgate - Part 1: The Presentation

September 2014: The christening of BRES

For the first game of the 2014 Rutgers season, a presentation was made to Shane that was the embryo that eventually led to the creation of this website. This presentation, capture in the photo to the left taken by Chris, was a framed proclamation with the following words:

Shane:

You have been promoted. As can be seen below, from your early years, you have shown great promise in your endeavors as a Scarlet Knights football fan. There can be no doubt that your blood runs Rutgers Red (as genetically given to you by your alumni father). You have also been recognized for your amazing touch football diagrams, play calling, and unquestioned Corn hole bean bag ability. You continue to impress the youth of Scarlet Nation on an ongoing basis by your commitment to pre-game tailgating excellence. Enclosed are the tools you will need for your new position. By the powers vested in me by Rutgers, THE State University of New Jersey, The B1G Ten Conference, D.G Yuengling & Sons, Inc. & Elvis Presley Enterprises, you are now formally known as: 

B1G Red Elvis Servant

November 2015: The moment captured in bobble heads!

Little did I know that over a year later this presentation would later be captured in a detailed bobbling plastic figurine given to me as a gift to commemorate this moment.  I cannot express enough to the Holobowski family how much this kind gesture means to me. This wonderful personal gift is one that I will always treasure.     

Thanks again,

BREP  

The bobble head presentation

The Finale: Maryland vs. Rutgers @ Noon on Saturday

First, everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving, and if you've got nowhere to go you're always welcome to roll by our house in Tinton Falls; just RSVP and be here by 3 p.m.

Otherwise, what better way to wrap up the season and send Kyle Federico (similar to several of his FG tries and kickoffs) exit stage left along with his fellow seniors...and probably Coach Flood...than with a tailgate for the finale this Saturday at noon vs. winless (in the B1G) Maryland!

If lobster can go with eggs...
so can Maryland crab!

The forecast is for a slight chance of occasional showers, but for all intents and purposes it's going to be relatively mild and conducive to a final gathering for our wonderful group.  

Really, there's nothing more to be thankful for this season than your great company, as evidenced by the successful rollout of our blog and the fun-filled photos and dialogue on this otherwise drab football season.

As traffic should be light getting into what I'm expecting will be a half-empty stadium, I'll propose meeting at 9 a.m. at our usual spot.

I'm also going to propose a breakfast tailgate and will offer to make 2 "Jersey Shore Tomato" casseroles (one with crab instead of Taylor Ham to comply with our Maryland food theme and the other with veggies).  If people aren't up for that, please offer suggestions for what to eat.

If we do the breakfast theme, we could use home fries, bagels, etc., so mention what you'll bring and how many people you're bringing.  

If anyone's bailing, please speak up, but figure at least Kaitlyn, Shane and I being there Saturday morning to cheer on the Scarlet Knights!

Tailgate Recap: Rutgers-Nebraska

The group gets together for a picture towards the end of the tailgate 

Although down our leader, and missing the emotional lifeblood and concierge

Tom, Andy, Nebraska Sue and her husband

of our tailgate (BRES) as well as a few other key members (JC, Donna, Chris, etc.), BREP Nation once again took to the Black lot to put together a solid (if abbreviated) tailgate experience. Joining us in the lot was Andy, an RU alum and former WRSU Knightline co host with Tom & Bill. Andy also brought along Nebraska Sue and her husband, who while rooting for the wrong red clad team, contributed some excellent wings and awesome red velvet gourmet cupcakes.

Good Guys vs. Bad Girls 

The corn hole matches were spirited and very competitive, with the Good Guys and the Bad Girls squaring off in a tough grudge match, the Good Guys narrowly escaping with a slim margin of victory (Clearly someone had been practicing!). The walk into the stadium also featured several armored military vehicles on display in honor of our veterans, with the scalpers out in full force with NO ticket takers to be found. Unfortunately, Rutgers fell behind early, and despite a nice rally early in the third quarter, were no match for the Cornhuskers on this day.

BREP Nation poses with an armored vehicle in front of the stadium 

A scalper trying to unload all his tickets - GOOD LUCK!!! 

The group in our seats looking directly into the sun for the first quarter. Wasn't much that was good to see for RU anyway!

 

RU vs. Michigan trip Part 3: BREP Nation invades the Big House

Panoramic view of The Big House (courtesy of the artistry of BREB)

After our long trip with many great stops on the way, we finally arrived at game time. While the results of the game weren't as we hoped, seeing a Rutgers football game with over 109,000 fans was quite an experience. Feeling the history of the stadium, coupled with the great football atmosphere (and the welcoming Michigan fans) made the day one we won't forget.  Below are some of the pictures of our game day experience.

BREP nation crew settles into our seat area before the game  

Chris pausing for a moment to think and reflect on the moment 

The sun shines brighltly as BREB anxiously awaits kickoff 

Flags unfurled on the field prior to the National Anthem - Michigan honors the veterans 

The Hobo clan enjoying the game with the other RU fans 

The Michigan band at halftime (courtesy of the artistry of BREB) 

A final group shot before leaving the Himalayan Resort (courtesy of the artistry of BREB)

One final trip note: On the way home, one last important stop was required to fulfill a boy's dream:

WAFFLE HOUSE!!!!!!

RU vs. Michigan trip Part 2: Pre-Game

The Holobowski on the porch of the Himalayan Lodge  (with BREB looking on)

Bongos, Bongos, and more Bongos

After our trip to the R&R Hall of Fame, the BREP Nation crew made the trek to Ann Arbor to settle into our house for the weekend.  Kudos to Bill on setting us up in this unusual weekend retreat, aptly named by the owners as the Himalayan Lodge.  A truly unusual house, with bongos, unusual artwork, bongos, tales of mountain 
climbing, more bongos, and other musical instruments.   

Getting ready to take on the Blue and Maize!

 After getting fired up for the big game at the Big House, the crew went to the famous Maize and Blue Deli, for a long wait for the excellent treat of hot pregame sandwiches. We then made the short walk through town to the Big House. Check back later for Part 3 of our trip - BREP Nation invades the Big House!

Bill Knows Bo, 

BREB joyfully awaiting his sandwich outside...... 

......as the rest of us wait inside 

RU vs. Michigan trip Part 1: BREP Nation Rocks the R&R Hall of Fame

BRES pays homage to the King's gold suit 

BREP Nation welcomes you to the rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!!!!!!!!

Our resident RU Bad Religion fan 

On our way to the Rutgers-Michigan game, B-Rep Nation took a detour to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Our crew enjoyed a fun day looking back into rock music history. After a walk around the outside of the building, to marvel at I.M. Pei's interesting architectural design and soak up the neat Cleveland waterfront, our group began our journey into rock's past.^[I think we were all surprised by the amount of instruments, costumes, hand written lyrics and other cool things like the HoF inductee signature wall, the many video rooms, and "The Wall" we discovered during our roughly five hour stay in the museum that was way too short.

While everybody had their own highlights, my personal favorite was the collection of Beatles nostalgia, including John Lennon's Sgt. Pepper suit and hand written lyrics, Ringo's drum kit from the historic 1965 Shea Stadium Show, and the mellotron played by Paul on "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Check out below for just a fraction of the things we saw and learned:

Our fearless leader with a collection of Jimi Hendrix guitars 

BREP in awe of Ringo's 1960s Beatles drum kit 

The RU crew with Michael Jackson's glove and suit behind them

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!!!!

ZZ Top's instruments with a sharp dress man 

Bruce's hand written lyrics for "Born in the USA"  

BRES channels the King of Rock & Roll 

BREP Nation group shot at R&R HoF Historical Marker sign 

Quick Notes on Nebraska Tailgate

Those of us that made the Michigan trip had an awesome time notwithstanding our team's 4th-straight beating, and I'm sure you'll see some posts here in the near future recounting the expedition.

'15 Huskers certainly not
Tom Osborne vintage

In the meantime, please note that Chris and I will NOT take part in the pregame tailgate as we normally would, since we're coaching our boys' first CYO basketball game, which starts at 1:30 p.m. in Marlboro.  We'll meet y'all inside the stadium, hopefully by kickoff.

Some of you know my friend and Rutgers alum Andrew Kagan (Tom certainly will from the WRSU days), who would like to join the group for the pregame tailgate along with a few friends, including a Nebraska gal
who evidently plans on bringing wings, a tray of food and cupcakes, so whomever is organizing this week's shindig please update the group here.

I've directed Andrew to stay tuned here for details.

Tailgate Pitch: Thurmanator Burgers prior to RU Upset Win over Ohio State

Let's keep the ball rolling this Saturday against No. 1 Ohio State after our improbable 55-52 win over Indiana on Saturday after being down by 25 points and playing matador defense for three quarters.

Our 3-3 Scarlet Knights host the top-ranked team in the nation -- a squad that crushed us last season in Columbus, OH, home to the Thurman Cafe and the "Thurmanator," probably the best burger joint I (and the kids) have ever visited.

The "Thurmanator"

I fully expect to devour a Thurmanator, as well as the Buckeyes' football team in an upset.

With that in mind, I'm proposing that a scaled down version of the "Thurmanator" serve as our core cuisine this Saturday.

Buckeye Candy:
Chocolate and peanut butter

Kickoff is 8 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ABC, so similar to the Michigan State start-time and tailgate, I'm proposing we again meet at our usual carpooling spot by 3:45 p.m.

Here's what's on the Thurmanator, BTW -- bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle, banana peppers, 12-oz. burger, cheddar, bacon, sauteed mushrooms & onions, ham, mozzarella and American cheese.

Oh, and it comes w/fries or onion rings and a pickle spear, so if anyone wants to go crazy and experiment with beer battered onion rings or something, now's your chance!

I volunteer to pick up all burger ingredients, but we need volunteers for the rest -- side dishes, beer, soda and water, snacks, etc. -- and DEFINITELY we'll need a second grill and chef.  Chris will not be with us, so someone (or 2) please bring an extra folding table just in case.

For the vegan-minded part of our group, let me know if you have or I can pick up portabello mushroom burgers or something.

Please respond by THURSDAY night in the comment field below as to what you're contributing, AND IF YOU ARE BRINGING OTHER PEOPLE.  I, for instance, expect a co-worker and his friend to join us for the tailgate.   

Pete has already offered to make Buckeye candy and I'm figuring will have his usual Miller Lites.

Let the discussion begin!

Official BRES Game Day sunglasses now available for a limited time!

BRES has endorsed the sunglasses below as his official RU tailgate sunglasses, and for a limited time you too can now have the same look with your very own own pair!

Combining the black, red, and silver colors of his favorite team's jersey, a dynamic streak reminiscent of the Elvis Presley 'TCB' lightning bolt on the sides, and a sensible style reflecting his practicality, BRES has found a pair of sunglasses representing his own identity that he will be wearing starting with the RU-Ohio State game, on the road to Michigan, and moving forward for the rest of the year!

In line with his simple every man's attitude and the big heart we all know he possesses, Shane has graciously offered to personally sign identical pairs of sunglasses (and provide an accompanying letter of authenticity if requested) that will be made available for auction with the proceeds to go to charity. Supplies are limited, so be sure to move quickly on placing your bid before they are all gone!

Become a bigger part of  the game day BREPnation.com tailgate experience starting today!