First things first - TeamOps security is the biggest fucking joke I have ever encountered.

That being said, I have decided to turn this week’s blog into…

Tailgating: SuperLiga Style

Sunday 7/13 vs Santos Laguna: A

Oh man. A late game start is the first ingredient to an absolutely glorious tailgate. The second is weather. Now if you have been reading my posts vigorously, you know how much I have been complaining about the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature for our pre-game festivities. Not on Sunday though. The sun was shining, the wind was calm, not a cloud in the sky. Beer was plentiful, food was exquisite, and music was pumpin. Everybody was excited for the Revs inaugural SuperLiga match at home. Great stuff all around, including the Santos fans who joined in a little “Wipeout” after the game to celebrate the good times.

Wednesday 7/16 vs Pachuca FC: n/a

And of course a tailgate review wouldn’t be complete without another mid-week game. Seriously, what the fuck. Another mid-week game? Gimme a friggen break. I understand that this is a special tournament, and time and scheduling come into conflict with both the league and the Open Cup, but I just can’t stand these times. Either I miss the match, get in late for the match, or take time off from work to make the match. If you have no problems making these games, consider yourself fortunate that live and work close to Gillette, or you don’t have to work normal hours. Because thats the only way your making it for the entire tailgate.

Either way I made it solo for about 30 minutes before the game and everyone seemed to be packing it up and heading inside for the start. However, with that said, it did seem like the tailgate was pushing the B- range on the grade scale. So thats alright. Good job Riders.

Corner Kick of the Week: Soccer Resort Tournament (Lexington, MA)

Fresh out of ideas due to you not emailing me with questions (or just lazy to think of one to put here), this week I am here to plug a tournament I will be playing in this weekend. It is also relative because the winners of each division are receiving complimentary tickets to a Revolution game later this year. I am hoping after my team wins they have some sort of celebratory thing on the field so we can get recognized for our mad soccer playing skills. Either way, we get free beer at the after party sponsored by Carlsberg. So think about it - if we win, we get free beer and a trophy. If we lose, we get free beer and more free beer. Its a lovely win-win situation. So if you have nothing better to do, come watch me and my team (Maniacs I believe, not sure if it has changed) put on a smoke show known as soccer.

Well drop a line at the address below. Peace out cub scouts. And go fuck yourselves TeamOps.

Craig’s Corner writer Fiero can be reached at fierogt20@yahoo.com

Ahhh, another successful venture into the chilly Razor.

Last night’s match against an upstart Toronto side had fans coming from each side of the border, which led to an incredible tailgate. No surprise though, there always has to be something that doesn’t quite push the tailgate into that “A” range. At least this time it was something that nobody can control - the weather.

Almost all the tailgates that we’ve had this year include some sort of lame weather. Cloudy. Rainy. Cold. All the above. And the ones that did have nice weather were the games that the scheduling geniuses placed in the midweek; a.k.a. no time to enjoy it. Last nights weather was no different, as the fans enjoyed their time in the 66° air. Ok maybe not so much enjoyed, but put up with it and made the best out of it. With that said, let’s get right to the meat and potato(e)s.

Last Game’s Tailgate: B+

Really good tailgate. There is really no other way to put it. Food was great, people were great. No complaints from me. Aside from there being no sunlight for the duration, everything ended up working out alright. I enjoyed my time with the usual crew, with my car pumping the party mix from the ipod. We whipped out the oakie and played a few rounds. We enjoyed new brews thanks to Luke’s Liquors in Rockland. I must say that Monty Python’s Holy Grale probably has the greatest name in the history of beer. But for the topic of this weeks blog/article I went and spoke with the man who made ladder golf famous at the Riders Tailgate, Rorvis!

Corner Kick of the Week: Ladder Golf

ladder golf

When I first told Rory I would be highlighting his game this week, he was ecstatic. So I asked him to send over the rules and such and received this really long piece on how its made and scoring. So this is my attempt to shorten up said game.

How to play, score, make, and do anything else regarding the game.

So there ya have it! Honestly though, its a really great game and the best part is that his is made out of the piping, which he says is much easier for transporting it to and from the tailgate. Another great aspect is that you can make so many friends just by walking over and saying “hey, what is this?” and next thing you know, you’re tossing the bolos like a champ.

Well thats all for this week. Like I said numerous times, the more you get involved the more I can do. Cmon folks lets get a Q&A going! it will be fun! Later gators!

GO REVS!

In the spirit of M. Shyamalan’s new film, there is a “happening” going on. What in the world could it be?

There were no emails in my inbox regarding my column.

Now this means one of two things. Either you have a huge lack in ideas, or you’re not reading. Now most of you are intelligent individuals, so I am going to go with the lack of reading. So… TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THIS BLOG!!!!

Seriously, this is written for you – the fans. I am here to help the rookie fan or the seasoned veteran with their tailgate experience. Whether it be adding some ideas with activities, or subtracting things that may enhance (the whole addition by subtraction notion,) the tailgating aura, I am here to help. Consider me something like the Dr. Phil of tailgating. I can mediate your tailgating sessions. Maybe I am more like Radio Shack - you’ve got questions, I’ve got answers. The success of this column/blog is highly based on your participation. If you can send an email, I can add a Q&A, or a recipe of the month, or a game of the month (like the one from last week’s entry).

With that out of the way, let’s get to the next item on the agenda…

Last weeks tailgate: N/A

I didn’t go. After what the Riders in the Fort went through with the front office only a week before, along with the fact that gas is well over $4.00/gal, added with my work schedule (I don’t leave until 7), all on top of the fact that I would be fighting traffic on a Friday night at the peak of rush hour, I am proud to say that I made it home well in time to plop myself in a highly comfortable seat with a lager in hand ready to watch the Revs take the lead on FC Dallas. OK so I missed Christman’s 5th minute tally, but nobody needs to know that. Either way I read a lot of people’s opinions on the match and how things went, and I am pleased with my decision. I hope you were all as equally satisfied.

Next up is this weeks topic, and a lovely one at that - drinks!

You know the type. Samuel Adams. Red Stripe. Guinness. Killian’s. Stella Artios. Harpoon. Yeungling. Blue Moon. Bud Light. Corona Extra. Smirnoff. Skyy. 99 Bananas. Jose Cuervo. The list can go on and on. I personally have never seen so many (nor tasted as many) beers as I have since joining the Midnight Riders. Last year alone on an away trip to Denver, Colorado, we visited the lovely Falling Rock Tap House who had over 50 different brews on tap.

My personal favorites are as follows (with season; and notes in parenthesis):

• Samuel Adams Summer Ale (summer; at tailgates and bars)
• Samuel Adams Winter Ale (late fall, winter; parties and gatherings)
• Guinness Stout (year-round; during meals, excellent with heavier foods)
• Red Stripe (summer; parties, tailgates, bars, while on vacation in the tropics!)
• Coors Light (year round; when you are poor, when there are no other alternatives)
• Jack Daniels and Cola (summer/winter; when beer just wont do it and you need something crisp)
• Bombay Sapphire and Sprite (year round; helps reduce the chance of a hangover)
  • Honestly, I usually drink 2 of these after a night of high consumption (whether it be beer or liquor, it doesn’t matter). And the next day I have never woken up with a hangover. I am guessing it is because of the mint and gin from the Bombay and the sugar from the Sprite, but I didn’t pay that much attention in chemistry class.

Now keep in mind I love many more brews, but these are some that come straight to mind, as I drink them often (including the Sam Summer, which I am enjoying as I write this).

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please drop me a line with your favorite brews, your games, your recipes, or just anything regarding this column, I will be glad to answer any and all questions in a brand new Q&A section (assuming I get questions of course). Please, even if its hate mail I will respond. For the love of Jèsus just write me anything. Email is at the end. Peace out cub scouts!

Go Revs!

Craig’s Corner writer Fiero can be reached at fierogt20@yahoo.com

What is up?! I don’t know about you, but I am sure as hell excited to be part of the first blogs here on the Midnight Riders site. Since this is the first installment of Craig’s Corner, let me inform you of the path that I plan on taking for most of the season. Please don’t be frightened, we don’t throw streamers or insults from this corner.

I will be writing about what some would say is the most important part of a match day, the tailgate.

Thats right, the tailgate. Not the ball, not the players, not the hype of the match or the rivalry created between two clubs (or in some cases supporters clubs). I will be talking about the beer, the food, the games, the atmosphere, the people to know (or in some cases, not to know), the happenings, and whatever else I can fit into this piece. Oh, and definitely photos.

Most of the posts will be following similar guidelines with some twists and turns along the way. I might do a personal diary of match day, just to give you all a taste of what I do for each game. I might give you some recipes from the greatest chefs the Riders tailgate has to offer. I will give you some great games to play while awaiting kickoff. I will tell you of the most popular brews along with the most tasteful. So much, so be sure to visit each week.

We will start easy this first week; music. The soul of every tailgate. You got your car in position, and the first thing most people do is start unpacking the grill and cooler. Ah, but in complete silence? Of course not! You have your 6-disc CD player, your cassette deck, your radio, your ipod, or your classic boombox with batteries. I just bought a 2007 Scion tC before the season started, so I have a choice between a cd, or my ipod which connects to an auxiliary port inside my center console. To do this I use a more complicated version of this http://www.hdaccessory.com/catalog/35mm6_thumb.jpg. But hey, if you still only have that cassette deck, there’s still hope. Go grab a cassette adapter, its only about $10 and they’re available almost anywhere where audio accessories are sold. http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/images/products/iPodCassetteAdapter.jpg

Generally I choose the iPod simply because of the larger amount and variety of tunes, along with the ability to find a song much quicker than on a cd (especially those mix discs where nothing is labeled so you don’t know what the hell is on there!).

I usually will choose my soccer mix, which include everything soccer related like the FIFA anthem, songs from EA Sports FIFA games, and Clint Dempsey’s “Don’t Tread”. If I am in an all-out party mode, mainstream artists Kanye West, Linkin Park, T.I., Foo Fighters, Ludacris, U2, and some lesser known artists like Jurassic 5 and Flobots will take center stage.

And all this even before the food is cooked.

Go Revs!