The Bloomington Six (and Prep for Ohio State Tailgate)

On the heels of B-Rep's fabulous wrap up of the Michigan State win, we turn attention now to the "Bloomington Six" that headed west to ensure that our beloved Scarlet Knights became bowl-eligible for the first time in almost a decade.

The Bloomington 6, prepping
for IU with fine spirits

Though only four of us where cheering on Rutgers, a tip of the cap to Janet and Tom Hoffman for coordinating the second-half of our five-day trip to Kentucky bourbon and horse country and to a B1G university that has had enough of us in a short time. 

Beautiful campus, downtown and football setting, with the stadium next door to Alumni Hall.

The perfect album cover for
hardcore punk band

Much as Rutgers -- the running game in particular -- was met with little resistance, IU fans seemed generally indifferent to our presence. Not a ton of fans outside of a smattering here and there, the Rutgers section of about 250 in the bottom right corner below us, but we came across several dignitaries, including Gavin's grandmother and other friends from their nearby Kentucky town. 

RU supporters revel in
win at The Upstairs

In the end, Rutgers 31 - Indiana 14 and a 6-2 record and guaranteed bowl for the Scarlet Knights.

Bloomington is a great college town and incredibly walkable. 

Scoreboard says it all

After the game, the thirsty crew headed to The Upstairs Club for a few pitchers, then to BuffaLouie's for impressive wings and beer. It's there that we met more of Team Wimsatt, proudly sporting their RU gear.

From there, a round at the famous Nick's English Hut and a late night of live country music at the historic Bluebird, where Audi Club Eric was itching to do some line dancing to the sounds of local hero Hank Ruff. We ended up leaving the club around 1 a.m. and just missed the arrest of 5-star IU basketball freshman MacKenzie Mgbako. (Of course, no suspension at all for a kid being a complete shithead and getting booked outside the Taco Bell basically across the street from the Bluebird.) 

Next Up: RU hosts Ohio State, Saturday at noon; tailgate meet-up at 8:45 a.m.: From Eric and Andrea's fabulous Halloween party, it seemed folks were cool doing our version of the Thurmanator, the ultimate pigout food of Columbus, OH, home of the Buckeyes. It's something we've done before with much success. Bill will handle all of the burger materials. 

Otherwise we could use maybe a breakfast pastry/food based on early arrival time and some sides; green salad, potato salad? Make suggestions in comment field below.

Some kind of
bullshit tower

Burks happy, well dressed

The Bluebird Cafe

Scene of Mgbako 2 a.m. arrest