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All right, welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast.
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I'm your host, Luke Lork, with Tailgating Challenge.
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I love all things tailgating.
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And in today's episode, you're going to love our guest Pops from Boston College, who's been tailgating consistently for home and away games for over 60 years.
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The food and the drink that he serves at his tailgate are unrivaled.
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You're going to want to hear everything and the knowledge he has to share in this episode.
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Let's have a fall across the states from college.
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NFL Tailgate Connect.
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Got a story to tell.
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All right, welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast.
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I'm here with Pops, the avid Boston College Tailgating Aficionado.
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Pops, how are you doing this evening, sir?
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Doing great.
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How about you?
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I am doing anytime I get to talk tailgating, I feel like I'm I'm already in a more happy place than I would be otherwise.
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I'm doing great.
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Yeah, why not?
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I mean, it's the best uh part of uh of football.
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We actually do it for hockey too.
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So excellent.
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So, yeah, let's let's jump right into there because obviously, for for those listening, you can't see this, but if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that Pops has got all of his Boston college gear on.
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I'll be transparent.
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Um, and again, this is probably shame on me, but I've not yet been to a Boston college football tailgating party.
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Pops, go ahead and scold and shame me right now on this podcast, please.
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Well, all you got to do is show up at the Heights uh in Boston College.
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Um, we tailgate immediately outside the stadium.
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Uh we're known as Eagle Tailgators.
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Um, easy to find.
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Our flags are flying below old Gallogria, you'll see the Eagle Tailgator flag.
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And um, for me, it all started when I walked on campus in the 60s.
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And um love for alcohol.
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I mean it happens sometimes.
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And and just the party atmosphere of football.
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I mean, we started out of the back of an old beach wagon back in the 60s, up against the channeling fenced, and one under the stadium that was still wide open in at BC.
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And um we've been doing it ever since.
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There's uh there's four of us in this gang, my best buddies on the planet, Rick and Scylla Gagney, and my wife Peggy.
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And uh we're known as Eagle Tail Gators.
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We all have specific responsibilities.
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There's no head haunts over there.
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We're four executive VPs of Eagletale Gators.
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I'm in charge of planning and logistics.
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Rick is in charge of uh food and beverage.
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My wife is in charge of uh photography, and uh and uh Priscilla, Rick's wife, is in charge of setups and procurement, and uh we just go at it and know how to do it.
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And when we hit town, out of town, with our gear, first up is either a Costco or a Walmart.
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We load up and go and go hard.
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And we show up, put up the BC tent, put up the BC flags, and we actually show.
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Well, I think we taught half of the ACC how to tailgate.
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So again, it sounds like you could probably teach me a few things about tailgate too, because then I hear correctly.
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Did you say it you started tailgating there?
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Was it the 60s?
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Or am I am I authentic?
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In in the 60s when I was I was at BC, yeah.
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And that was that was out of a bat back of an old uh Ford Esquire beach wagon.
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And um, you know, we were quite quite young then, and we may have served uh hamburger or hot dog back then because we didn't have any damn money.
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Um, but you'll never find a hamburger hot dog at our tail kitchen, other than for the youngsters.
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That's not what we do.
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Well, we we will get I because again, I understand you do some amazing things with food we'll get into here momentarily, but like I want to take a moment just to just to go back to the to the sixties.
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Yep.
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Let's go back to the sixties real fast.
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Like, what was tailgating like in the sixties compared to today?
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What are some of the differences?
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Oh gosh.
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Um not as sophisticated.
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There really weren't any tents.
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Um at BC we pulled into a crushed stone dirt parking lot, literally.
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You found a spot.
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Um I don't think there were any lines or demarcations as to where to park.
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You found a spot and you and you set up and uh of course you used charcoal.
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Back then everything was charcoal.
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There wasn't a lot of uh propane type stoves that that were uh available and uh opened up your coolers and off you went.
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So it was um we uh sometimes um if you couldn't get a spot uh close to campus, we actually used to tailgate up in the hills adjoining Boston College in front of folks' houses.
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Uh they got a little cranky and uh would would kind of uh chase us off.
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Um in fact they were getting a little cranky about BC in general and football and night games and things of that nature.
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So um I think over the years BC has bought up all those houses and now controls them all.
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So uh keep the neighbors in check.
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So but today, far more sophisticated.
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You know, we've got sound systems, we've got high tech grills, um you know, we it just it's just an amazing transformation.
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I mean, not just for tailgating, but you know, technology does just wonders for for everything that we do in our in our in our daily lives, you know.
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So it's um it's a lot of fun.
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But those are the big changes.
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So I think it's it is very impressive to me that you started tailgating that long ago.
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And it sounds like you've been pretty consistent with tailgating and and your love for the school of Boston College over the years.
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Yeah, that's that's true.
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Um I was uh blessed to have a Boston College degree.
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And uh with that I was blessed to be able to retire pretty early.
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Um over 20 years ago now.
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And um and and once that happened, we never missed a game.
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Well I think um maybe one game in ten consecutive seasons, home and away.
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And um we moved, my wife and I moved out of Massachusetts uh down in North Carolina ultimately, and we've replicated all of our tailgating gear.
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So we have a setup in Massachusetts, and when we head south and travel from the south, we have a duplicate set of gear um uh down in down in North Carolina.
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So uh off we go.
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But it's it started in the 60s.
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Um and after I retired, and poor Rick and Scylla, they're still they were still working, but I'll tell you, they stepped up and um they would fly in the home base for one of our road games and then off we'd go.
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And um here's an interesting story.
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Um there was a death in in one of their families, and we were we were destined I'm trying to recall where the tailgate was, but it might have been down in Virginia.
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We were gonna drive down to Virginia from our home uh where we were living in Connecticut.
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But there was a death in Silla's family.
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Well, um at that time I didn't have the gear down south.
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So Rick and Silla drove it and met us halfway between Connecticut and and Boston.
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We picked up the gear.
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It was the Virginia game.
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We went down and uh ran the tailgate without them in honor of uh in honor of in honor of her dad.
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So that's uh again it it always you know hurts to hear about a passing, but just honoring someone's memory and trying to have fun doing it is is a is a great idea, in my opinion.
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Yeah, and I believe we won the game too, so that was even better.
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Even it's always better.
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It's like you never lose a tailgate, but if you win the game too, that's the best.
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Exactly.
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Good statement.
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I like that.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So, Pops, tell us this.
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Like, obviously, you're super passionate about tailgating.
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Like, what about tailgating just like resonated in your heart to make this a lifelong passion?
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The people, you know.
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Um, for my wife and I were hanging out with our best buddies, right?
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And we all we have many other friends, and so you're with the two people you love the most as your friends, and then for every game, we have a detailed schedule as to who's gonna join us.
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Other friends from around the country, other Boston College friends.
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Um, and so that's I mean, that's the gig, it's the interaction with the people, uh, the people you meet.
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And I will also say this in the away venues, in particular in in the ACC, we develop some great friendships.
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And so when we'd go to Clemson, we'd hang out and tailgate right next to a bunch of Clemson people.
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Put a Clemson tent, put a BC tent together, and we'd hang.
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Um little different tailgating in the South.
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I mean, you could start the Tuesday before.
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At BC, it used to be two hours, we got it to three, and now it's four hours before.
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And that's I mean, that's just a political question.
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There's a battle of four four or five towns to fight over the duration of the temporary liquor license.
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That's a reality.
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And and that's why we're so limited in our in our tailgating time.
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But down south, this is where we met all our friends, be it Wake Forest, NC State, Carolina, uh Clemson, even down all the way down Florida State, um, you know, developed some great, great friendship.
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So when BC be home against those opponents, those friends would come find us and come chill with us.
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You know, if they brought an enemy tent, we'd set it up right next to ours on the BC campus.
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So um, but but that that's it.
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It's the interactions.
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Um, in fact, um we haven't been down to Clemson in a while.
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And I mean, I we had some illnesses and things that didn't allow us to make the trip, but we still stay in contact with those people we met at Clemson.
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Our Wake Forest friends that we met at a Wake Forest Tailgate are here for a week at our home in Massachusetts.
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Um and C State friends.
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Uh just I mean, that's that that's what it's all about.
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It's the camaraderie, you know, it's the celebration.
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You're celebrating some terrific athletes.
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These, you know, these young men put it all out, right, for their respective uh universities.
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And so that's what we're there to celebrate, and we have a party while we're doing it.
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What the hell's wrong with that?
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Nothing.
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There's nothing wrong with that at all.
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That should be celebrated and done even more often than what we do right now.
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Yeah.
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You know, so it's um so it's a ton of fun.
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I mean, we're um I have this massive spreadsheet um um that um I build every year.
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It's got every game.
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Um we not only have our tailgating setup immediately adjacent to the stadium, but we have an N-Zone box at BC.
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And we'll invite our friends and um for participation there, we all share in the food and beverage in the box.
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So when I retired and no longer had an administrative assistant to guide me through Microsoft, I figured out a way to build up an Excel spreadsheet, and we use that to manage all of the box activity.
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It's kind of fun.
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So and I'm working on that as we speak right now to get it set up for this season.
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I mean, it'll be here before you know it.
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No doubt.
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I know I'm excited about it.
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Six home games this year.
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Just six, yeah.
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So I know what one of the things that we talked about before we came on, and I know is also probably exciting not only to you, but the people that come to your tailgates is the food.
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That's a big part tailgating.
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And uh you mentioned earlier, it's like, you know, hamburgers and hot dogs are great, but you do things a little bit different at your tailgates.
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Tell us a little bit more about what the food looks like if somebody comes to your tailgate.
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Well, yeah, I mean, lobster rolls, sauteed lobster tails, um sushi, shrimp scampi.
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Um, yeah, I mean, it's you know, uh grilled sirloin tips, you know, marinated sirloin tips, and things of that nature.
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We're not into the, as I said, you know, if if we got youngsters attending, obviously we'd do a grill them up a hot dog, but um um lots of soups and chowders.
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Sure.
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I make a mean New England seafood charter that has everything in it crab, shrimp, lobster, haddock, scallops, um, you name it, and clams.
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And uh that's that's one of the one of the favorites.
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So uh we do actually do a lot of soups.
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We always have a soup, seem to have a soup, some type of chowder or soup.
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And uh yeah, but we just um avoid the traditional um tailgating type, uh tailgating type foods.
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So I mean, all of that sounds extremely delicious and very unique, in my opinion, with having been to a lot of tailgates.
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I I've definitely not seen lobster, shrimp, scampy, sushi, et cetera, out there, but um, it sounds like something I've showed everybody right now is like, how do I, how do I get to his tailgate?
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Yeah, just call Danny.
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Tailgate Connect will hook you up with that, no doubt about it.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah.
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So just because I'm a big sushi guy myself, so I'm just curious, like, like what type of like what type of sushi are you hand-rolling this?
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Are you getting it from somewhere that's already made?
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No, we have a we have a local shop in uh adjacent town.
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I'm here in Gloucester, Massachusetts right now.
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This is where our where our summer fall home is located.
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We live full-time in in North Carolina.
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Um, and uh there's a great uh sushi place in in Beverly, the town I was born in, Beverly, Massachusetts.
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And um we just ordered up from them and pick it up, keep it on ice, and and out it and out it comes.
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So beautiful.
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Yeah.
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Beautiful, beautiful.
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Yeah, I was I was about to say, it's like, you know, they're at the beginning of this uh interview, I was talking about having been the Boston College Sale Game.
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But it sounds like by the time um I'm done talking to you, I'm I'm gonna be forced to go for a variety of different reasons.
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You need to, you need you need to come.
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You know, um the last time I saw my dad uh was uh Michigan at BC in 1995.
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And Real Pops, um I'm rookie Pops, Pops Jr.
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Excuse me, Real Pops um was always good for three, four gin tonics, right?
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Okay.
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He only had a couple that day.
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Excuse me, I went off to to Europe on business and he actually passed while I was suddenly uh while I was in Europe.
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So what we did, my wife and I, is we set up an endowed football scholarship, one of the early ones, endowed athletic football scholarships at BC, in honor of my father.
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Well, it's nice.
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And and we've tried to limit it, award it to football athletes from this is known as the North Shore area, Cape Ann, uh, Massachusetts.
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And we've been pretty fortunate to have some uh good representatives um from the from this uh part of the country.
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So, you know, every year there's a youngster out on the field carrying my father's name on on it on his back, so to speak, you know, and my father's helping him get through the whole thing.
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Real pops.
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No, that's I I again all the stuff you're sharing are just about how tailgating and sports can help elevate and represent people that may have passed on, but they'll never leave our thoughts and get to do a lot of positive things in this world.
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Correct.
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Yeah.
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Amazing.
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Now, excuse me.
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Pops, the other thing I feel like I just have to pick your brain here, because I feel like you've been tailgating for you you probably have, I will say, more experience than anyone we've had on the show before.
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And so I want to know like, what are some of your top tips for somebody that's like, you know, like, oh, like they're into tailgating a little bit or they want to start tailgating more?
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Like, what would be some of the tips you would tell tell a uh tell your younger self?
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How about that?
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Tell your younger self of some tailgate tips you know now.
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Okay, so I would say one of them is to not take three decades to develop your bloody Mary recipe.
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That long.
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I I fine-tuned it.
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It's now been it fixed, and uh, you know, for a fee, I can send it to folks.
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No, just kidding.
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Um But um yeah, it took it took probably three decades to get it right, and uh that's one of the things we're famous, one of the things we're famous for is um is is is the Bloody Marys, and and and with that comes some special passion, and uh so as soon as people show up, the tents are going up, the bar is set up, and I I'm in charge of making those that first round of um of Bloody Marys.
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.319
And people come over from all our immediate ear and are all getting Bloody Marys.
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.160
It's a big job to do it.
00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.880
I I have I have no doubt about that.
00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.920
How many people are normally at at one of your tailgates, would you estimate?
00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.880
So I would say from 10 to as many as 30.
00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.440
Sometimes we have 30 folks there, you know.
00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.640
We'll go through several through several handles of Tito's vodka.
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.720
So people are probably having a really good time, it sounds like they do.
00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:13.920
They do have a good time.
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:15.839
And we were talking a little bit earlier.
00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:35.359
We have a we have a tradition um that we do as we're closing up, as we're packing up the gear to head in uh to the stadium, because again, due to the license restrictions in Boston, there's not a lot of activity after the game.
00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:40.240
You've really got to move on and get up.
00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:45.680
But before we go in, we pour um shots.
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:52.720
Uh maroon and gold shots of various blends.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.480
Um they packed a pretty good punch, and we do a thing called Eagle Up.
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:06.559
Um, we play the fight song, the BC fight song, and my wife, who's in charge of photography, takes a picture.
00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:13.359
So we'll have you know small gangs, but we've had these crowds of people holding up a shot glass.
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.680
And uh once the fight song stops, it's eagle up and down it goes.
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:22.720
So that's your last drink before you go into the stadium to go watch.
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:23.680
Absolutely.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.920
That and it's a wonderful tradition, and people stop and watch us.
00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:42.559
You know, so uh we're right on the corner before uh the main uh one of the main entrances uh to the stadium where the athletes actually go in and come out, and um and people know we're gonna do Eagle Up.
00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.200
And when they hear the fight song, they'll come over and watch us.
00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:47.359
They'll try and sneak in there and get a shot, too.
00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:48.000
That's okay.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:48.720
We don't care.
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.079
The more the merrier, right?
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:53.359
Absolutely.
00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:53.759
Yeah.
00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:03.759
It's all about you know, BC, BC football, and uh and then um the young the young men will stop as they come out, some of them will stop by.
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.359
You were talking we were talking about what's changed over the years.
00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:12.799
So I mentioned the scholarship fund, right?
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:13.119
Sure.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.480
The f their families, the parents, right?
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:23.279
You back up fifteen years, twenty years, we couldn't give them a bottle of water.
00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.799
We couldn't give them a cookie.
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:27.119
Right.
00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.960
We couldn't give the athlete a cookie or anything.
00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:35.039
I mean it's all changed now and and for the better.
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:40.960
So the way we got around that was we said, you bring your stuff to our tailgate.
00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:58.240
So mom and dad of our particular athlete that year, they come, they'd show up and they'd bring and they'd they'd bring their own stuff and uh contribute into our tailgate, and that allowed us to get around get around that model without stepping on anybody's toes, you know.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.759
So that that's a big challenge.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.039
Today.
00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:02.160
Of course it is.
00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:11.359
That's a whole other discussion, but uh you know, the money and all and all this moving around a bit, but um um yeah, that was one of the one of the things.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.519
Just it never made sense to me, right?
00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:16.240
Sure.
00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:25.119
To give a family member or an athlete a cookie, a chocolate kit cookie after again, verboten couldn't do it.
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.400
Pretty amazing.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:26.960
Yeah.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.599
That seems like a long time ago, but it wasn't that long ago.
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:30.720
It wasn't that long ago.
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:33.599
Luke, it wasn't that long ago, surprisingly.
00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.839
You know, things have changed very, very fast.
00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:38.000
You know, so no doubt.
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:43.519
So speaking of things like changing fast, you mentioned a little bit earlier, too, about like technology at the tailgate.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:43.920
Yeah.
00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:45.200
So talk to me about that.
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:54.880
Like, what is your do you have like one like tailgating gadget or something like, man, I love to have this at every tailgate because it makes it more fun or easy or whatever the case may be.
00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.519
No, I mean it's just, you know, we got um uh Bluetooth speakers now.
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.200
I mean, that's um that's it.
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.440
The rest of it's all pretty basic.
00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:16.720
You know, we've got a sunsetter flagpole, you know, got two flags on it, old glory and then the BC Eagle Tail Gaistus flag um um uh below that.
00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:20.400
Oh, we're using a blackstone grill now, a flat right?
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:21.119
That's changed.
00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:21.759
Yeah.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.480
Right?
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:32.559
And um, and uh, you know, and and butane stoves, you know, that's to heat up all these soups and things uh that that we do.
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.079
But on the technology standpoint, it's just really the music.
00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:36.480
Sure.
00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.880
You know, we used to have to turn on the car radio.
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:41.680
Yeah, then the battery might die, and you got that going on.
00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:42.160
Right?
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.319
You know, always had jumper cables just in case.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:51.920
But but you know, today you just you know fire up your phone and connect to some some wireless pre-charged blue speakers and you're off and running.
00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:53.519
No doubt, no doubt.
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.839
Technology for the win on that one, because again, I love some good music at a tailgating party.
00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.519
Oh, it's nice, it's a lot of fun.
00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.960
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:02.319
All right, tell me this.
00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.519
What because it sounds like you travel for all the away games too.
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:14.000
What is what's your favorite stadium or fan we'll say we'll say stadium outside of Boston College to go travel to?
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.400
I think there's two.
00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:17.119
Okay.
00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:31.519
Um, Winston-Salem, Wake Forest, quaint, a little bit smaller than BC's uh stadium, very rabid, passionate fans, but as welcoming as you can ever imagine.
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.799
The tobacco company literally built that university.
00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:35.200
Right.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:43.599
Reynolds, right, and their their their facility are butts, some major offices um for them.
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:50.960
So that's wide open, tremendous expanse, great place to set up and um and tailgate.
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:56.240
I mean you really uh I I don't think you even need an advance pass or whatever.
00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.519
You just need to show up on time, get a good slot, and set up.
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:10.640
We've even we've even had a buddy run down there with a a massive um um um Christmas vacation RV and pull in and spend the night there, you know.
00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:14.559
So um then the second one would be Clemson.
00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:23.599
And and that I say, I mean, a spectacular stadium, the whole rock thing is phenomenal, right?
00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:38.720
But the fans, they are so welcoming and so friendly, and there's more outside the stadium watching it on talking about technology, TVs that they brought, than there are inside.
00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:43.359
That's how passionate uh the Clemson the Clemson folk are.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.400
So I think those would be the top two.
00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.599
You know, we've only been to one SMU game and things like that.
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:50.960
We get, you know, some new players.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.759
Uh oh, Pitt's always been a challenge too.
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:57.680
You tailgate across the river and take a boat across.
00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:58.960
Unique.
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.000
Yeah, I know.
00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:02.559
That sounds that sounds uh kind of cool, but different.
00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:03.519
But different, you know?
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:07.920
So you set up across the river, jump on a boat, go to the game, and go back and party.
00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:09.359
Okay.
00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:13.839
What where's what's one stadium you haven't been to that you would love to go tailgate at?
00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:15.519
Oh, the Grove.
00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:16.400
The Grove?
00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:16.720
Yeah.
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:17.279
Oh, yeah.
00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:25.119
And I don't I know Danny, I think he has a great connection down there, and uh, but that's I guess the penultimate, right?
00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:27.920
They do a s such a wonderful job down there.
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:36.240
Yeah, the the old miss and the grove is is definitely one of the holy grail sites for for anyone that loves tailgating and just that coward atmosphere for sure.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:36.799
Yeah.
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:38.960
So I think probably that one.
00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:41.599
Um, you know, maybe Alabama.
00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.599
We uh never made that trip to Alabama, although we've played them a couple of times.
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.799
Uh um never made that, never made that trip.
00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:49.680
Yeah.
00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:52.720
Yeah, and again, those are those are both excellent venues.
00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:54.240
There's so many amazing ones out there.
00:26:54.319 --> 00:27:03.039
And and again, I learned more like Boston College like wasn't on my list, but I think after talking to you, it's it's probably gonna be on the list of nothing else for a piece of sushi, a lobster roll.
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:03.599
Oh, yeah.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.720
I mean it's you know, BC's a tiny school, you know.
00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:12.880
I mean, you know, our incoming classes, total students with about 2,000 a year, right?
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.480
And that's a big slug of it are athletes.
00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:21.920
Um, so it's a very, very difficult school um to get into.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:26.079
People call me all the time, say, Pops, what can you do to help get my daughter?
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.079
And I said, well, statistically, let me explain something to you.
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:34.160
I said, we're big on legacy, which is good, right?
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:34.640
Sure.
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:38.720
Take care of those who have who've come come before.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:42.480
A lot of athletes, 31 Division I sports, which is crazy.
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:43.440
But you know what?
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:44.400
Why not?
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:45.759
We can afford it.
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:46.880
Uh, we can do it.
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:56.960
So at the end of the day, my response is always the room for a basic Irish Catholic kid, it might be 900 positions.
00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.160
That's it.
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:06.880
So you got 40,000 applicants competing at the end of the day for 900 to 1,000 real slots.
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:10.960
It's so competitive to try and get into BC.
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.559
So uh uh, but that's what makes the university great.
00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.920
You know, you get a BC degree, set for life, retire early, mark it down.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.480
Man, uh retire early always sounds good to anybody, right?
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.519
Um I hired baby eagles a lot.
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:28.559
I love them.
00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.200
No doubt, no doubt.
00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:38.480
So, Pops, if we let let's let's set the stage here for a nice crisp fall day.
00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.920
Yeah, you for for this scenario, you don't have to do any work.
00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:45.599
You can sit there and enjoy the tailgate without having to coordinate or do anything.
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:46.240
Yeah.
00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:54.240
So, with that being said, first off, what would be your favorite tailgating beverage to have in your cup?
00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:54.559
Okay.
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:56.480
No holes bar with any of this.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.200
No, no.
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:01.599
So I mean, it's always started with a bloody Mary.
00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:02.160
Okay.
00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:08.559
My my mix has 25 ingredients in it, so it starts with one of them.
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:14.079
Then I uh transition to um uh bourbon and soda.
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:22.480
And uh my buddy Rick starts with a bloody Mary, and then he transitions to Bud Light.
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:24.960
He's addicted to Bud Light, okay?
00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:26.160
Addicted.
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:34.720
Both my wife and Priscilla, Scylla, as we call her, they'll start with a bloody Mary, but then they go to Jameson and Ginger.
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:48.079
So that's you know, we'd be sitting there, maybe taking down a lobster tail and uh capachada, as they say up here, you know, C-H-O-D-A.
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:49.839
There's no R's in Massachusetts.
00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:51.279
None.
00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:52.240
None.
00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:00.160
So as as we get to the next question I usually ask people, it's like, what's what's going to be on your teal gating plate of food?
00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:05.519
Is it gonna be what you serve, or is there anything that you would even do crazier if no holes were bored?
00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:10.640
No, no, because we kind of take it to the uh to the limit.
00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:13.680
But I mean the lobster roll would is is my favorite.
00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:19.920
I I just um, you know, and uh we have a wonderful fish market locally.
00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:23.680
Uh we get the fresh lobster meat, we buy it cooked.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:28.000
And um, and I've got a secret recipe from making the lobster roll.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:30.400
It's got a little bit of old bay in it, right?
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:32.160
A little taste of the south.
00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:36.480
I've got a few chives and just a little bit of lettuce.
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:41.599
And and it has to be canes mayonnaise, C-A-I-N-S.
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:43.839
That's I've heard of them before.
00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:44.799
That's the nope.
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:48.799
You it's very local here in Massachusetts.
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.519
So we serve a cold lobster roll.
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.960
Up here in New England, you'll also find the buttery lobster rolls, which is mostly lobster meat and butter and a drippy bun.
00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:01.359
Toasted bun just soaking in butter.
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:09.119
That's uh um so either a lobster roll or what we do is just saute lobster tails.
00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:19.200
We'll split them right down the back, then quarter them, and then a lot of garlic and a ton of butter and saute them and s and serve them off with toothpick.
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:28.000
You know, the girls will pass them around, and uh that's that's that's that's my number one um uh go-to food for a tail cake.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.759
No, the lobster, so I'm a big lobster fan too, so that that sounds delicious to me as well.
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:41.440
But would you say like when you're when you're picking out your lobster tails, yeah, do you do you ever look at do you ever the size matter?
00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:49.279
And what I'm like, because I feel like is there a sweet spot where it's like too small is not good, too big is not good, like is there a sweet spot with lobster tails?
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:50.559
It's an important question.
00:31:50.720 --> 00:32:13.039
Okay, so the the fish market where we get our stuff locally here, Danvers, Massachusetts, also part of Cape Pen, uh Massachusetts, he targets a one and a half to two-pound lobster that he cooks, and um and then you you buy the tails from that size cooked lobster.
00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:31.680
So there's probably six of them in a pound of lobster meat, which talk about change, which years ago, um you know, we'd pay anyways from 35 to maybe forty-five uh dollars a pound.
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:41.839
Um because of some issues with the whale migration, they limit the lobster fishing up here now significantly.
00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:46.720
And uh we're now talking$75 to$85 a pound.
00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:50.880
So you but you're buying the cooked lobster meat, you're not doing all the work.
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:54.640
You know, the fish market does it all, um does it all for you.
00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:03.920
But I would say that, so let's see, six, six in a pound, that's what, just a little under three ounces each tail, nice size lobster tail.
00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:08.640
Yeah, no, uh again that that's interesting with with the with the costs, obviously.
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:11.839
Like that jumped big time, right, in regards to the the amount.
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:12.559
Yeah.
00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:14.400
So right whale migration.
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:17.839
I guess a whale got hung up in in some gear.
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:24.480
Didn't die, but um since then they've been shutting the industry down up here for about a four-month part of the year.
00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.000
Same thing in Maine.
00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:27.920
That's really driven the price.
00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.400
Put a lot of lobstermen out of business, unfortunately.
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:32.000
You know, the smaller guys.
00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:33.440
Yeah.
00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:35.920
So but still good eating.
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:40.160
We love it, and uh, and a ton of fun.
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:47.119
So speaking of fun too, Pop, one of the questions I love to ask people, because I'm really big on tailgating games.
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:47.519
Yeah.
00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:51.759
Is there a favorite tailgating game that that you have or play with your crew out there?
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:52.559
We do.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.519
We do a little bit of cornhole occasionally.
00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:59.680
Um and and that's about it.
00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:09.679
Um we've got an area where we can do it, but um, you know, uh again, our time is compact.
00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.320
Four-hour window.
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:17.679
By the time we the gates open up four the they let you in four hours before.
00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:26.320
By the time you get to your assigned spots, get everything set up and get rolling, it's quarter to the hour, right?
00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:29.519
So you're 45 minutes in, right?
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:35.280
People start showing up, gotta work on your food prep, get the bar going, etc.
00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:37.440
So there's really not a lot of time.
00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:51.760
And then our breakdown, we typically target, uh, we'll do Eagle Up as we're breaking down, and uh, and then we try and head into the stadium about twenty to thirty minutes before.
00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.199
So it's kind of a compact, you know, not a lot of time, uh, not a lot of time for games.
00:34:57.360 --> 00:35:02.079
Uh uh, but then we head up to the suite and start the party again.
00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:08.159
Dare I ask what happens in the suite, or is that just totally top secret?
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:09.119
Uh no.
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:12.880
Um, I understand we've we're gonna have a change at BC.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:16.320
I think um it's only always been beer and wine, right?
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:19.039
Um in in in our suites.
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.719
And again, it's local liquor licensing, right?
00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:26.159
Dynamics and um for the temporary licensing.
00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:30.719
But I understand we're perhaps gonna have a full uh liquor license.
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.920
Now, I would just, you know, I'm not talking out of school here, suggest to you that never stopped us.
00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:41.119
Just saying.
00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:51.920
I I mean, I mean, we've had we've had some you know, folks joining us upstairs um in a suite with bras full of little airplane bottle nips.
00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:54.159
You know, I mean it whatever it takes.
00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:03.039
Again, I again I d I don't hate that, I don't want to condone any bad behaviors, but have fun and be safe, right?
00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:13.840
Yeah, but I think I believe this year we're gonna be able to access um and perhaps you know buy bottles, you know, leave them in there, you know, throughout for the during the course of the season.
00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:21.599
A lot like the old South Carolina used to be, where you when you worked into the bar or the club, you had your own stash locked up, you know.
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:23.599
So good stuff.
00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:27.760
Um now I feel like you you talked about somebody that really enjoyed Blood Light.
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:31.360
Do you partake in any of the of beers?
00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:32.400
No.
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:41.440
I mean, when I was a youngster, um so the the way I the way I met my buddy Rick was on a racetrack and that being the Hampshire.
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:49.119
We built and raced, drag raced together in our in in high school, opposing high schools.
00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:51.360
Um, but that's how we met.
00:36:51.519 --> 00:37:01.039
And I drank some beer back in in those days and it was Budweiser, but um I I I prefer the Clairs and the Browns.
00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:02.079
Fair enough.
00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:02.559
Fair enough.
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:04.320
And a good wine, and a good wine.
00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:04.880
Okay.
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:07.440
I mean that probably pairs well with all the seafood, right?
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:08.320
It does.
00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:08.719
Yep.
00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:12.800
Some good sold blonde with lobster goes a long way.
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:21.119
And uh yeah, we serve we serve some wines and yeah, and and we got w wine in the in the in the box as well, so it's good.
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:22.159
Excellent.
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:27.679
Well, Pops, this uh podcast, we will we will launch it probably a little bit before the season starts.
00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:29.760
And so I want to put you on the record right now.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:36.079
Go ahead and predict Boston College final regular season record 2026.
00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:41.760
Well, Bill O'Brien's a good friend of mine, okay, the coach.
00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:43.920
Uh I think he's a hell of a coach.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:45.840
Um rough season last year.
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.360
We only won on the ends, only two wins.
00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:54.239
Um, I'm gonna say he's gonna get five or six, and he's gonna win early.
00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:56.960
Um he's got 50 new kids.
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:03.760
I mean, this this thing is a nightmare, but I think it's gonna slow down with the things that have been announced.
00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:08.639
You know, we're gonna only get to get one transfer shot till you get your degree and things of that nature.
00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:10.800
But he's got 50 new kids.
00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:14.000
Um, I think the defense will be tough, the secondary will be tough.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:17.760
It's gonna be a question again can we put off enough points to beat the other guys?
00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:19.119
And we got a brutal scud.
00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:21.440
We're at Notre Dame um this year.
00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:25.519
Uh I mean, that's our all-time arch rival.
00:38:25.679 --> 00:38:27.360
That's the War of the Catholics, dude.
00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.280
I mean, that is a battle.
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:33.280
And um we had a good stretch 25 years ago.
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:35.519
We had him seven times in a row.
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:39.280
And um, including one of my idols, Coach Coughlin.
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:40.880
You know, Coach Tom Coughlin?
00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:42.079
I d I did.
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:42.719
All right.
00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:44.480
So he's one of my best buddies.
00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:45.280
Oh, nice.
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:48.239
And he was Flutie's quarterback coach at BC.
00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:49.199
Yep.
00:38:49.679 --> 00:39:00.800
He moved on, came back as BC's head coach for three years before he left to start the Jackson Jaguars franchise.
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:01.440
Yep.
00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:13.519
And uh he got Notre Dame two out of three years, including knocking him out of the national championship spot with a 42-yard field goal with no time on the clock, which was awesome.
00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:17.199
You know, and then I'm a New York Giants football fan.
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:26.880
He ended up coaching the New York football Giants and won two Super Bowls, beating the New England Patriots.
00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:31.360
You need to understand all my friends up here.
00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:35.280
They're all Patriots fans, including my wife.
00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:43.039
So with the first Giants victory over the Patriots, I got thrown out of the house for a week.
00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:46.800
The second one was just three nights, you know.
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:50.239
So she gave me a break on the second time Coughlin beat him.
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:51.199
You know, not so bad.
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:55.840
So if it's a third time with that, it'd only be one and a half nights if I'm doing the math.
00:39:56.079 --> 00:39:57.519
Something like that, you know.
00:39:57.760 --> 00:39:59.519
But coach is doing a wonderful job.
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:06.239
He's he's got a tremendous charity called the J Fund that ties right back to BC.
00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:18.960
When he was there, he had a young man named Jay McGillis, number 31, who was diagnosed and died of leukemia while Tom, he was a defensive back while Tom was coaching BC.
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:25.760
When he left to start the Jaguars, he told the McGillis family, I'm gonna do something.
00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:29.280
And he launched the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund.
00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:32.400
This is our 31st year for number 31.
00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:33.519
Beautiful.
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.639
We just had a tournament at TPC Sawgrass.
00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:42.480
They have a tournament there every year, and our raise this year was$1.4 million.
00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:44.480
And I just finished with this.
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:46.639
It's a simple model that they have.
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:55.199
If you have a youngster diagnosed with childhood cancer, the J Fund comes in behind and takes control of your family.
00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:58.320
We pay the bills, the mortgages, car payments.
00:40:58.400 --> 00:40:59.920
We'll fill your tank with gas.
00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:03.360
We'll we'll we'll fill your refrigerator with food.
00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:10.239
So while you're dealing with the battle that your child is undergoing, the J Fund is there.
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:17.760
And um, I think closing in on 40 million overall, which is that's a lot of money helping a lot of families.
00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:23.679
Jacksonville and and Greater Um MetLife Stadium, New York Giants.
00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:27.920
Those those are the geographic areas that they focus on dealing with families.
00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:29.519
So it's great charity.
00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:30.559
Beautiful.
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:36.880
Again, another just good plug of just positive things that come from all of this, especially for people that are in in need.
00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:43.599
Like again, I'm I'm not going through that right now, or anybody I know, but I know that it can be very valuable when it is needed.
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:46.000
So kudos to everybody that's behind that organization.
00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:47.360
Great, great charity.
00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:47.760
Yep.
00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:48.559
Yes, sir.
00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:49.760
All right, Pops.
00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:53.440
Um, you've told us a lot today about your tailgating.
00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:55.039
I want you to plug it one more time.
00:41:55.199 --> 00:42:00.480
Why does somebody need to come to Boston College and see you?
00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:01.760
Why is it impressive?
00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:02.639
Why is it amazing?
00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:03.760
Why do they need to pull the trigger?
00:42:03.840 --> 00:42:06.320
Come see Boston College tailgating this year.
00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:09.039
So it's the four of us.
00:42:09.280 --> 00:42:16.719
You get a chance to hang out with four football junkies, you know, two good-looking women, right?
00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:24.159
And a couple of knuckleheads that used to drag race cars in Epping, New Hampshire, who've got a lot of war stories.
00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:32.559
And um, we enjoy meeting people and and and sharing life's sharing life stories.
00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:35.599
So that's that's why you want to come and find us.
00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:37.360
We'll show you a good time.
00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:42.079
We'll tell you a lot of good stories, and give you some good food and booze.
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:51.519
I was about to say, uh, you have custom recipes for lobster roll, for bloody Marys, the most expansive seafood menu I ever heard about at a tailgate.
00:42:51.679 --> 00:42:54.480
Just those little things, too, on addition to what you said, right?
00:42:54.719 --> 00:42:55.199
Absolutely.
00:42:55.360 --> 00:43:02.159
You know, they're all specialties, and um, and uh yeah, people people have a good time when they come to the Eagle Tailgate or tailgate.
00:43:03.360 --> 00:43:03.920
Excellent.
00:43:04.079 --> 00:43:07.519
Now, Pops, are you do you have your tailgate or anything on social media?
00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:11.199
Any plugs right now you want to put out there for any social media for people to check out?
00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:13.920
No, we you know, we're just we're just kind of low-keyed.
00:43:14.079 --> 00:43:17.519
You know, this thing is for family and friends, you know.
00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:25.840
So it's the it's the kind of thing, you know, Danny, you know, we'll we'll we'll allow him to sneak a few tailgators in there every now and then, you know.
00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:27.119
Take take good care.
00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:34.880
And my connection with Danny, I mean, we we uh know his sister real well.
00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:45.840
Unfortunately, she's past, but he's a very good neighbor of ours in North Carolina, and that's kind of how the the connection between Eagle Tailgators and Danny.
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:50.719
I mean, I think we knew Danny before we actually moved to North Carolina, met his sister.
00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:56.159
Um, but um, yeah, that's um that's that's the connection with uh with Dan.
00:43:56.480 --> 00:44:03.519
And every now and then he'll say, hey, look, I got a I got a couple of guys here, you know, looking at us, sure I'll send them over, dude.
00:44:03.599 --> 00:44:04.159
What the hell?
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:05.280
We'll take good care of.
00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:07.280
Excellent.
00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:08.000
Excellent.
00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:21.280
Well, Pops, thank you so much for hanging out with us, giving us some knowledge and and probably expanding our minds in regards to what tailgating food and beverages can be when done correctly with the right experience, the mindset behind it.
00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:23.599
You gotta make it an experience.
00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:28.079
It sounds like you're doing that every single game that you do.
00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:30.159
And you probably do it with a lot of things in life, too.
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:34.159
So I commend you, sir, for your dedication to the sport of tailgating.
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:36.320
Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight.
00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:40.159
And for everybody else out there, thank you for listening to the end of the episode.
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:49.280
And if you're looking to hang out with amazing people like Pops and other tailgators across the country, check out tailgateconnect.com to get your easy button, tailgating tickets.
00:44:49.360 --> 00:44:51.760
And we hope to see you at a tailgate center.
00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:59.519
Tailgating, it's all here for you, food drinking friends, got some blue.
00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:03.200
All right, welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast.
00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:05.919
I'm your host, Luke Lork, with Tailgating Challenge.
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.080
I love all things tailgating.
00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:21.760
And in today's episode, you're going to love our guest Pops from Boston College, who's been tailgating consistently for home and away games for over 60 years.
00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:27.920
The food and the drink that he serves at his tailgate are unrivaled.
00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:32.560
You're going to want to hear everything and the knowledge he has to share in this episode.
00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.920
Let's have a fall across the states from college.
00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.359
NFL Tailgate Connect.
00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:55.600
Got a story to tell.
00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.960
All right, welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast.
00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:09.359
I'm here with Pops, the avid Boston College Tailgating Aficionado.
00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.719
Pops, how are you doing this evening, sir?
00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:11.359
Doing great.
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:12.239
How about you?
00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:17.840
I am doing anytime I get to talk tailgating, I feel like I'm I'm already in a more happy place than I would be otherwise.
00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:18.719
I'm doing great.
00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:19.760
Yeah, why not?
00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.519
I mean, it's the best uh part of uh of football.
00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:25.120
We actually do it for hockey too.
00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:26.640
So excellent.
00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:36.239
So, yeah, let's let's jump right into there because obviously, for for those listening, you can't see this, but if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that Pops has got all of his Boston college gear on.
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:37.599
I'll be transparent.
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:45.120
Um, and again, this is probably shame on me, but I've not yet been to a Boston college football tailgating party.
00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:49.519
Pops, go ahead and scold and shame me right now on this podcast, please.
00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:54.000
Well, all you got to do is show up at the Heights uh in Boston College.
00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:58.079
Um, we tailgate immediately outside the stadium.
00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.719
Uh we're known as Eagle Tailgators.
00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.640
Um, easy to find.
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:08.159
Our flags are flying below old Gallogria, you'll see the Eagle Tailgator flag.
00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:13.439
And um, for me, it all started when I walked on campus in the 60s.
00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.919
And um love for alcohol.
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:21.759
I mean it happens sometimes.
00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:25.360
And and just the party atmosphere of football.
00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:37.759
I mean, we started out of the back of an old beach wagon back in the 60s, up against the channeling fenced, and one under the stadium that was still wide open in at BC.
00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.639
And um we've been doing it ever since.
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:50.319
There's uh there's four of us in this gang, my best buddies on the planet, Rick and Scylla Gagney, and my wife Peggy.
00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.520
And uh we're known as Eagle Tail Gators.
00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.520
We all have specific responsibilities.
00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:59.599
There's no head haunts over there.
00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.120
We're four executive VPs of Eagletale Gators.
00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.280
I'm in charge of planning and logistics.
00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:08.560
Rick is in charge of uh food and beverage.
00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:21.919
My wife is in charge of uh photography, and uh and uh Priscilla, Rick's wife, is in charge of setups and procurement, and uh we just go at it and know how to do it.
00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:28.639
And when we hit town, out of town, with our gear, first up is either a Costco or a Walmart.
00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.280
We load up and go and go hard.
00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:36.960
And we show up, put up the BC tent, put up the BC flags, and we actually show.
00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:40.080
Well, I think we taught half of the ACC how to tailgate.
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:46.639
So again, it sounds like you could probably teach me a few things about tailgate too, because then I hear correctly.
00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:48.879
Did you say it you started tailgating there?
00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.159
Was it the 60s?
00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:51.599
Or am I am I authentic?
00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.120
In in the 60s when I was I was at BC, yeah.
00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:01.039
And that was that was out of a bat back of an old uh Ford Esquire beach wagon.
00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:10.879
And um, you know, we were quite quite young then, and we may have served uh hamburger or hot dog back then because we didn't have any damn money.
00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:17.439
Um, but you'll never find a hamburger hot dog at our tail kitchen, other than for the youngsters.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.279
That's not what we do.
00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:29.600
Well, we we will get I because again, I understand you do some amazing things with food we'll get into here momentarily, but like I want to take a moment just to just to go back to the to the sixties.
00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:30.160
Yep.
00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.000
Let's go back to the sixties real fast.
00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.839
Like, what was tailgating like in the sixties compared to today?
00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:37.279
What are some of the differences?
00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:38.639
Oh gosh.
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.480
Um not as sophisticated.
00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.519
There really weren't any tents.
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:53.839
Um at BC we pulled into a crushed stone dirt parking lot, literally.
00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:55.920
You found a spot.
00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:01.439
Um I don't think there were any lines or demarcations as to where to park.
00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:06.160
You found a spot and you and you set up and uh of course you used charcoal.
00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:08.399
Back then everything was charcoal.
00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:18.079
There wasn't a lot of uh propane type stoves that that were uh available and uh opened up your coolers and off you went.
00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:33.839
So it was um we uh sometimes um if you couldn't get a spot uh close to campus, we actually used to tailgate up in the hills adjoining Boston College in front of folks' houses.
00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:40.399
Uh they got a little cranky and uh would would kind of uh chase us off.
00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:47.199
Um in fact they were getting a little cranky about BC in general and football and night games and things of that nature.
00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:53.519
So um I think over the years BC has bought up all those houses and now controls them all.
00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:55.839
So uh keep the neighbors in check.
00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.680
So but today, far more sophisticated.
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:09.040
You know, we've got sound systems, we've got high tech grills, um you know, we it just it's just an amazing transformation.
00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:18.399
I mean, not just for tailgating, but you know, technology does just wonders for for everything that we do in our in our in our daily lives, you know.
00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.879
So it's um it's a lot of fun.
00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:22.800
But those are the big changes.
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:28.959
So I think it's it is very impressive to me that you started tailgating that long ago.
00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:35.199
And it sounds like you've been pretty consistent with tailgating and and your love for the school of Boston College over the years.
00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.279
Yeah, that's that's true.
00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.519
Um I was uh blessed to have a Boston College degree.
00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:50.160
And uh with that I was blessed to be able to retire pretty early.
00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.439
Um over 20 years ago now.
00:06:54.560 --> 00:07:01.199
And um and and once that happened, we never missed a game.
00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:08.240
Well I think um maybe one game in ten consecutive seasons, home and away.
00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:19.120
And um we moved, my wife and I moved out of Massachusetts uh down in North Carolina ultimately, and we've replicated all of our tailgating gear.
00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:28.560
So we have a setup in Massachusetts, and when we head south and travel from the south, we have a duplicate set of gear um uh down in down in North Carolina.
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.240
So uh off we go.
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.800
But it's it started in the 60s.
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:47.759
Um and after I retired, and poor Rick and Scylla, they're still they were still working, but I'll tell you, they stepped up and um they would fly in the home base for one of our road games and then off we'd go.
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:52.639
And um here's an interesting story.
00:07:52.720 --> 00:08:04.319
Um there was a death in in one of their families, and we were we were destined I'm trying to recall where the tailgate was, but it might have been down in Virginia.
00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:10.399
We were gonna drive down to Virginia from our home uh where we were living in Connecticut.
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:13.680
But there was a death in Silla's family.
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:19.360
Well, um at that time I didn't have the gear down south.
00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:25.439
So Rick and Silla drove it and met us halfway between Connecticut and and Boston.
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:26.639
We picked up the gear.
00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:28.480
It was the Virginia game.
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:35.279
We went down and uh ran the tailgate without them in honor of uh in honor of in honor of her dad.
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:45.200
So that's uh again it it always you know hurts to hear about a passing, but just honoring someone's memory and trying to have fun doing it is is a is a great idea, in my opinion.
00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.159
Yeah, and I believe we won the game too, so that was even better.
00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:49.600
Even it's always better.
00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:52.720
It's like you never lose a tailgate, but if you win the game too, that's the best.
00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:53.519
Exactly.
00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:54.240
Good statement.
00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:55.120
I like that.
00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:55.679
Yeah.
00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:56.159
Yeah.
00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.240
So, Pops, tell us this.
00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.440
Like, obviously, you're super passionate about tailgating.
00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:06.080
Like, what about tailgating just like resonated in your heart to make this a lifelong passion?
00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:09.279
The people, you know.
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:14.000
Um, for my wife and I were hanging out with our best buddies, right?
00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:26.960
And we all we have many other friends, and so you're with the two people you love the most as your friends, and then for every game, we have a detailed schedule as to who's gonna join us.
00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:32.559
Other friends from around the country, other Boston College friends.
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:41.279
Um, and so that's I mean, that's the gig, it's the interaction with the people, uh, the people you meet.
00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:51.120
And I will also say this in the away venues, in particular in in the ACC, we develop some great friendships.
00:09:52.080 --> 00:10:00.240
And so when we'd go to Clemson, we'd hang out and tailgate right next to a bunch of Clemson people.
00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:04.159
Put a Clemson tent, put a BC tent together, and we'd hang.
00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.600
Um little different tailgating in the South.
00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.480
I mean, you could start the Tuesday before.
00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:19.200
At BC, it used to be two hours, we got it to three, and now it's four hours before.
00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:23.039
And that's I mean, that's just a political question.
00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:29.039
There's a battle of four four or five towns to fight over the duration of the temporary liquor license.
00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.320
That's a reality.
00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:35.440
And and that's why we're so limited in our in our tailgating time.
00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:48.639
But down south, this is where we met all our friends, be it Wake Forest, NC State, Carolina, uh Clemson, even down all the way down Florida State, um, you know, developed some great, great friendship.
00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:56.080
So when BC be home against those opponents, those friends would come find us and come chill with us.
00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:01.039
You know, if they brought an enemy tent, we'd set it up right next to ours on the BC campus.
00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:04.240
So um, but but that that's it.
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:05.519
It's the interactions.
00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:11.440
Um, in fact, um we haven't been down to Clemson in a while.
00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:21.120
And I mean, I we had some illnesses and things that didn't allow us to make the trip, but we still stay in contact with those people we met at Clemson.
00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:27.600
Our Wake Forest friends that we met at a Wake Forest Tailgate are here for a week at our home in Massachusetts.
00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.399
Um and C State friends.
00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.000
Uh just I mean, that's that that's what it's all about.
00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.919
It's the camaraderie, you know, it's the celebration.
00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:41.120
You're celebrating some terrific athletes.
00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:48.320
These, you know, these young men put it all out, right, for their respective uh universities.
00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:53.039
And so that's what we're there to celebrate, and we have a party while we're doing it.
00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:54.399
What the hell's wrong with that?
00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:55.759
Nothing.
00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:57.200
There's nothing wrong with that at all.
00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.720
That should be celebrated and done even more often than what we do right now.
00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:01.759
Yeah.
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:05.279
You know, so it's um so it's a ton of fun.
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:15.919
I mean, we're um I have this massive spreadsheet um um that um I build every year.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.080
It's got every game.
00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:28.240
Um we not only have our tailgating setup immediately adjacent to the stadium, but we have an N-Zone box at BC.
00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:38.080
And we'll invite our friends and um for participation there, we all share in the food and beverage in the box.
00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:53.200
So when I retired and no longer had an administrative assistant to guide me through Microsoft, I figured out a way to build up an Excel spreadsheet, and we use that to manage all of the box activity.
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:54.240
It's kind of fun.
00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.960
So and I'm working on that as we speak right now to get it set up for this season.
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.879
I mean, it'll be here before you know it.
00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:01.279
No doubt.
00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:02.399
I know I'm excited about it.
00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:04.000
Six home games this year.
00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:05.440
Just six, yeah.
00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:14.559
So I know what one of the things that we talked about before we came on, and I know is also probably exciting not only to you, but the people that come to your tailgates is the food.
00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.399
That's a big part tailgating.
00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:24.320
And uh you mentioned earlier, it's like, you know, hamburgers and hot dogs are great, but you do things a little bit different at your tailgates.
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.919
Tell us a little bit more about what the food looks like if somebody comes to your tailgate.
00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:38.559
Well, yeah, I mean, lobster rolls, sauteed lobster tails, um sushi, shrimp scampi.
00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:48.000
Um, yeah, I mean, it's you know, uh grilled sirloin tips, you know, marinated sirloin tips, and things of that nature.
00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:57.360
We're not into the, as I said, you know, if if we got youngsters attending, obviously we'd do a grill them up a hot dog, but um um lots of soups and chowders.
00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:57.919
Sure.
00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:09.679
I make a mean New England seafood charter that has everything in it crab, shrimp, lobster, haddock, scallops, um, you name it, and clams.
00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:13.440
And uh that's that's one of the one of the favorites.
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:15.919
So uh we do actually do a lot of soups.
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.559
We always have a soup, seem to have a soup, some type of chowder or soup.
00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:30.799
And uh yeah, but we just um avoid the traditional um tailgating type, uh tailgating type foods.
00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:38.000
So I mean, all of that sounds extremely delicious and very unique, in my opinion, with having been to a lot of tailgates.
00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:49.200
I I've definitely not seen lobster, shrimp, scampy, sushi, et cetera, out there, but um, it sounds like something I've showed everybody right now is like, how do I, how do I get to his tailgate?
00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.039
Yeah, just call Danny.
00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.039
Tailgate Connect will hook you up with that, no doubt about it.
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:55.840
Absolutely.
00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:56.480
Yeah.
00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:02.960
So just because I'm a big sushi guy myself, so I'm just curious, like, like what type of like what type of sushi are you hand-rolling this?
00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:04.639
Are you getting it from somewhere that's already made?
00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.480
No, we have a we have a local shop in uh adjacent town.
00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:10.399
I'm here in Gloucester, Massachusetts right now.
00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:14.080
This is where our where our summer fall home is located.
00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:16.480
We live full-time in in North Carolina.
00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:24.559
Um, and uh there's a great uh sushi place in in Beverly, the town I was born in, Beverly, Massachusetts.
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:31.840
And um we just ordered up from them and pick it up, keep it on ice, and and out it and out it comes.
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:33.039
So beautiful.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:33.360
Yeah.
00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:34.480
Beautiful, beautiful.
00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:41.279
Yeah, I was I was about to say, it's like, you know, they're at the beginning of this uh interview, I was talking about having been the Boston College Sale Game.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:47.600
But it sounds like by the time um I'm done talking to you, I'm I'm gonna be forced to go for a variety of different reasons.
00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.600
You need to, you need you need to come.
00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:59.759
You know, um the last time I saw my dad uh was uh Michigan at BC in 1995.
00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.159
And Real Pops, um I'm rookie Pops, Pops Jr.
00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:12.240
Excuse me, Real Pops um was always good for three, four gin tonics, right?
00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:12.879
Okay.
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.679
He only had a couple that day.
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:25.440
Excuse me, I went off to to Europe on business and he actually passed while I was suddenly uh while I was in Europe.
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:38.960
So what we did, my wife and I, is we set up an endowed football scholarship, one of the early ones, endowed athletic football scholarships at BC, in honor of my father.
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:40.080
Well, it's nice.
00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:52.720
And and we've tried to limit it, award it to football athletes from this is known as the North Shore area, Cape Ann, uh, Massachusetts.
00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:00.480
And we've been pretty fortunate to have some uh good representatives um from the from this uh part of the country.
00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:09.759
So, you know, every year there's a youngster out on the field carrying my father's name on on it on his back, so to speak, you know, and my father's helping him get through the whole thing.
00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:10.799
Real pops.
00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:23.039
No, that's I I again all the stuff you're sharing are just about how tailgating and sports can help elevate and represent people that may have passed on, but they'll never leave our thoughts and get to do a lot of positive things in this world.
00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:24.079
Correct.
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:24.559
Yeah.
00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:25.599
Amazing.
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:27.759
Now, excuse me.
00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:36.880
Pops, the other thing I feel like I just have to pick your brain here, because I feel like you've been tailgating for you you probably have, I will say, more experience than anyone we've had on the show before.
00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:46.480
And so I want to know like, what are some of your top tips for somebody that's like, you know, like, oh, like they're into tailgating a little bit or they want to start tailgating more?
00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:51.200
Like, what would be some of the tips you would tell tell a uh tell your younger self?
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:51.759
How about that?
00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.039
Tell your younger self of some tailgate tips you know now.
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:04.160
Okay, so I would say one of them is to not take three decades to develop your bloody Mary recipe.
00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:05.200
That long.
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.839
I I fine-tuned it.
00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:14.799
It's now been it fixed, and uh, you know, for a fee, I can send it to folks.
00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:15.839
No, just kidding.
00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:45.759
Um But um yeah, it took it took probably three decades to get it right, and uh that's one of the things we're famous, one of the things we're famous for is um is is is the Bloody Marys, and and and with that comes some special passion, and uh so as soon as people show up, the tents are going up, the bar is set up, and I I'm in charge of making those that first round of um of Bloody Marys.
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.319
And people come over from all our immediate ear and are all getting Bloody Marys.
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.160
It's a big job to do it.
00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.880
I I have I have no doubt about that.
00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.920
How many people are normally at at one of your tailgates, would you estimate?
00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.880
So I would say from 10 to as many as 30.
00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.440
Sometimes we have 30 folks there, you know.
00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.640
We'll go through several through several handles of Tito's vodka.
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.720
So people are probably having a really good time, it sounds like they do.
00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:13.920
They do have a good time.
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:15.839
And we were talking a little bit earlier.
00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:35.359
We have a we have a tradition um that we do as we're closing up, as we're packing up the gear to head in uh to the stadium, because again, due to the license restrictions in Boston, there's not a lot of activity after the game.
00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:40.240
You've really got to move on and get up.
00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:45.680
But before we go in, we pour um shots.
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:52.720
Uh maroon and gold shots of various blends.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.480
Um they packed a pretty good punch, and we do a thing called Eagle Up.
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:06.559
Um, we play the fight song, the BC fight song, and my wife, who's in charge of photography, takes a picture.
00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:13.359
So we'll have you know small gangs, but we've had these crowds of people holding up a shot glass.
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.680
And uh once the fight song stops, it's eagle up and down it goes.
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:22.720
So that's your last drink before you go into the stadium to go watch.
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:23.680
Absolutely.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.920
That and it's a wonderful tradition, and people stop and watch us.
00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:42.559
You know, so uh we're right on the corner before uh the main uh one of the main entrances uh to the stadium where the athletes actually go in and come out, and um and people know we're gonna do Eagle Up.
00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.200
And when they hear the fight song, they'll come over and watch us.
00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:47.359
They'll try and sneak in there and get a shot, too.
00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:48.000
That's okay.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:48.720
We don't care.
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.079
The more the merrier, right?
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:53.359
Absolutely.
00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:53.759
Yeah.
00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:03.759
It's all about you know, BC, BC football, and uh and then um the young the young men will stop as they come out, some of them will stop by.
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.359
You were talking we were talking about what's changed over the years.
00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:12.799
So I mentioned the scholarship fund, right?
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:13.119
Sure.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.480
The f their families, the parents, right?
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:23.279
You back up fifteen years, twenty years, we couldn't give them a bottle of water.
00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.799
We couldn't give them a cookie.
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:27.119
Right.
00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.960
We couldn't give the athlete a cookie or anything.
00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:35.039
I mean it's all changed now and and for the better.
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:40.960
So the way we got around that was we said, you bring your stuff to our tailgate.
00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:58.240
So mom and dad of our particular athlete that year, they come, they'd show up and they'd bring and they'd they'd bring their own stuff and uh contribute into our tailgate, and that allowed us to get around get around that model without stepping on anybody's toes, you know.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.759
So that that's a big challenge.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.039
Today.
00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:02.160
Of course it is.
00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:11.359
That's a whole other discussion, but uh you know, the money and all and all this moving around a bit, but um um yeah, that was one of the one of the things.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.519
Just it never made sense to me, right?
00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:16.240
Sure.
00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:25.119
To give a family member or an athlete a cookie, a chocolate kit cookie after again, verboten couldn't do it.
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.400
Pretty amazing.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:26.960
Yeah.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.599
That seems like a long time ago, but it wasn't that long ago.
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:30.720
It wasn't that long ago.
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:33.599
Luke, it wasn't that long ago, surprisingly.
00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.839
You know, things have changed very, very fast.
00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:38.000
You know, so no doubt.
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:43.519
So speaking of things like changing fast, you mentioned a little bit earlier, too, about like technology at the tailgate.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:43.920
Yeah.
00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:45.200
So talk to me about that.
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:54.880
Like, what is your do you have like one like tailgating gadget or something like, man, I love to have this at every tailgate because it makes it more fun or easy or whatever the case may be.
00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.519
No, I mean it's just, you know, we got um uh Bluetooth speakers now.
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.200
I mean, that's um that's it.
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.440
The rest of it's all pretty basic.
00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:16.720
You know, we've got a sunsetter flagpole, you know, got two flags on it, old glory and then the BC Eagle Tail Gaistus flag um um uh below that.
00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:20.400
Oh, we're using a blackstone grill now, a flat right?
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:21.119
That's changed.
00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:21.759
Yeah.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.480
Right?
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:32.559
And um, and uh, you know, and and butane stoves, you know, that's to heat up all these soups and things uh that that we do.
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.079
But on the technology standpoint, it's just really the music.
00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:36.480
Sure.
00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.880
You know, we used to have to turn on the car radio.
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:41.680
Yeah, then the battery might die, and you got that going on.
00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:42.160
Right?
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.319
You know, always had jumper cables just in case.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:51.920
But but you know, today you just you know fire up your phone and connect to some some wireless pre-charged blue speakers and you're off and running.
00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:53.519
No doubt, no doubt.
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.839
Technology for the win on that one, because again, I love some good music at a tailgating party.
00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.519
Oh, it's nice, it's a lot of fun.
00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.960
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:02.319
All right, tell me this.
00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.519
What because it sounds like you travel for all the away games too.
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:14.000
What is what's your favorite stadium or fan we'll say we'll say stadium outside of Boston College to go travel to?
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.400
I think there's two.
00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:17.119
Okay.
00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:31.519
Um, Winston-Salem, Wake Forest, quaint, a little bit smaller than BC's uh stadium, very rabid, passionate fans, but as welcoming as you can ever imagine.
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.799
The tobacco company literally built that university.
00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:35.200
Right.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:43.599
Reynolds, right, and their their their facility are butts, some major offices um for them.
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:50.960
So that's wide open, tremendous expanse, great place to set up and um and tailgate.
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:56.240
I mean you really uh I I don't think you even need an advance pass or whatever.
00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.519
You just need to show up on time, get a good slot, and set up.
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:10.640
We've even we've even had a buddy run down there with a a massive um um um Christmas vacation RV and pull in and spend the night there, you know.
00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:14.559
So um then the second one would be Clemson.
00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:23.599
And and that I say, I mean, a spectacular stadium, the whole rock thing is phenomenal, right?
00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:38.720
But the fans, they are so welcoming and so friendly, and there's more outside the stadium watching it on talking about technology, TVs that they brought, than there are inside.
00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:43.359
That's how passionate uh the Clemson the Clemson folk are.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.400
So I think those would be the top two.
00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.599
You know, we've only been to one SMU game and things like that.
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:50.960
We get, you know, some new players.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.759
Uh oh, Pitt's always been a challenge too.
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:57.680
You tailgate across the river and take a boat across.
00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:58.960
Unique.
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.000
Yeah, I know.
00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:02.559
That sounds that sounds uh kind of cool, but different.
00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:03.519
But different, you know?
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:07.920
So you set up across the river, jump on a boat, go to the game, and go back and party.
00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:09.359
Okay.
00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:13.839
What where's what's one stadium you haven't been to that you would love to go tailgate at?
00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:15.519
Oh, the Grove.
00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:16.400
The Grove?
00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:16.720
Yeah.
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:17.279
Oh, yeah.
00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:25.119
And I don't I know Danny, I think he has a great connection down there, and uh, but that's I guess the penultimate, right?
00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:27.920
They do a s such a wonderful job down there.
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:36.240
Yeah, the the old miss and the grove is is definitely one of the holy grail sites for for anyone that loves tailgating and just that coward atmosphere for sure.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:36.799
Yeah.
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:38.960
So I think probably that one.
00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:41.599
Um, you know, maybe Alabama.
00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.599
We uh never made that trip to Alabama, although we've played them a couple of times.
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.799
Uh um never made that, never made that trip.
00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:49.680
Yeah.
00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:52.720
Yeah, and again, those are those are both excellent venues.
00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:54.240
There's so many amazing ones out there.
00:26:54.319 --> 00:27:03.039
And and again, I learned more like Boston College like wasn't on my list, but I think after talking to you, it's it's probably gonna be on the list of nothing else for a piece of sushi, a lobster roll.
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:03.599
Oh, yeah.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.720
I mean it's you know, BC's a tiny school, you know.
00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:12.880
I mean, you know, our incoming classes, total students with about 2,000 a year, right?
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.480
And that's a big slug of it are athletes.
00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:21.920
Um, so it's a very, very difficult school um to get into.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:26.079
People call me all the time, say, Pops, what can you do to help get my daughter?
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.079
And I said, well, statistically, let me explain something to you.
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:34.160
I said, we're big on legacy, which is good, right?
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:34.640
Sure.
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:38.720
Take care of those who have who've come come before.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:42.480
A lot of athletes, 31 Division I sports, which is crazy.
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:43.440
But you know what?
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:44.400
Why not?
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:45.759
We can afford it.
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:46.880
Uh, we can do it.
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:56.960
So at the end of the day, my response is always the room for a basic Irish Catholic kid, it might be 900 positions.
00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.160
That's it.
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:06.880
So you got 40,000 applicants competing at the end of the day for 900 to 1,000 real slots.
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:10.960
It's so competitive to try and get into BC.
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.559
So uh uh, but that's what makes the university great.
00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.920
You know, you get a BC degree, set for life, retire early, mark it down.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.480
Man, uh retire early always sounds good to anybody, right?
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.519
Um I hired baby eagles a lot.
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:28.559
I love them.
00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.200
No doubt, no doubt.
00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:38.480
So, Pops, if we let let's let's set the stage here for a nice crisp fall day.
00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.920
Yeah, you for for this scenario, you don't have to do any work.
00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:45.599
You can sit there and enjoy the tailgate without having to coordinate or do anything.
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:46.240
Yeah.
00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:54.240
So, with that being said, first off, what would be your favorite tailgating beverage to have in your cup?
00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:54.559
Okay.
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:56.480
No holes bar with any of this.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.200
No, no.
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:01.599
So I mean, it's always started with a bloody Mary.
00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:02.160
Okay.
00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:08.559
My my mix has 25 ingredients in it, so it starts with one of them.
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:14.079
Then I uh transition to um uh bourbon and soda.
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:22.480
And uh my buddy Rick starts with a bloody Mary, and then he transitions to Bud Light.
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:24.960
He's addicted to Bud Light, okay?
00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:26.160
Addicted.
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:34.720
Both my wife and Priscilla, Scylla, as we call her, they'll start with a bloody Mary, but then they go to Jameson and Ginger.
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:48.079
So that's you know, we'd be sitting there, maybe taking down a lobster tail and uh capachada, as they say up here, you know, C-H-O-D-A.
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:49.839
There's no R's in Massachusetts.
00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:51.279
None.
00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:52.240
None.
00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:00.160
So as as we get to the next question I usually ask people, it's like, what's what's going to be on your teal gating plate of food?
00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:05.519
Is it gonna be what you serve, or is there anything that you would even do crazier if no holes were bored?
00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:10.640
No, no, because we kind of take it to the uh to the limit.
00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:13.680
But I mean the lobster roll would is is my favorite.
00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:19.920
I I just um, you know, and uh we have a wonderful fish market locally.
00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:23.680
Uh we get the fresh lobster meat, we buy it cooked.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:28.000
And um, and I've got a secret recipe from making the lobster roll.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:30.400
It's got a little bit of old bay in it, right?
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:32.160
A little taste of the south.
00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:36.480
I've got a few chives and just a little bit of lettuce.
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:41.599
And and it has to be canes mayonnaise, C-A-I-N-S.
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:43.839
That's I've heard of them before.
00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:44.799
That's the nope.
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:48.799
You it's very local here in Massachusetts.
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.519
So we serve a cold lobster roll.
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.960
Up here in New England, you'll also find the buttery lobster rolls, which is mostly lobster meat and butter and a drippy bun.
00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:01.359
Toasted bun just soaking in butter.
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:09.119
That's uh um so either a lobster roll or what we do is just saute lobster tails.
00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:19.200
We'll split them right down the back, then quarter them, and then a lot of garlic and a ton of butter and saute them and s and serve them off with toothpick.
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:28.000
You know, the girls will pass them around, and uh that's that's that's that's my number one um uh go-to food for a tail cake.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.759
No, the lobster, so I'm a big lobster fan too, so that that sounds delicious to me as well.
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:41.440
But would you say like when you're when you're picking out your lobster tails, yeah, do you do you ever look at do you ever the size matter?
00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:49.279
And what I'm like, because I feel like is there a sweet spot where it's like too small is not good, too big is not good, like is there a sweet spot with lobster tails?
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:50.559
It's an important question.
00:31:50.720 --> 00:32:13.039
Okay, so the the fish market where we get our stuff locally here, Danvers, Massachusetts, also part of Cape Pen, uh Massachusetts, he targets a one and a half to two-pound lobster that he cooks, and um and then you you buy the tails from that size cooked lobster.
00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:31.680
So there's probably six of them in a pound of lobster meat, which talk about change, which years ago, um you know, we'd pay anyways from 35 to maybe forty-five uh dollars a pound.
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:41.839
Um because of some issues with the whale migration, they limit the lobster fishing up here now significantly.
00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:46.720
And uh we're now talking$75 to$85 a pound.
00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:50.880
So you but you're buying the cooked lobster meat, you're not doing all the work.
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:54.640
You know, the fish market does it all, um does it all for you.
00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:03.920
But I would say that, so let's see, six, six in a pound, that's what, just a little under three ounces each tail, nice size lobster tail.
00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:08.640
Yeah, no, uh again that that's interesting with with the with the costs, obviously.
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:11.839
Like that jumped big time, right, in regards to the the amount.
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:12.559
Yeah.
00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:14.400
So right whale migration.
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:17.839
I guess a whale got hung up in in some gear.
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:24.480
Didn't die, but um since then they've been shutting the industry down up here for about a four-month part of the year.
00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.000
Same thing in Maine.
00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:27.920
That's really driven the price.
00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.400
Put a lot of lobstermen out of business, unfortunately.
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:32.000
You know, the smaller guys.
00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:33.440
Yeah.
00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:35.920
So but still good eating.
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:40.160
We love it, and uh, and a ton of fun.
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:47.119
So speaking of fun too, Pop, one of the questions I love to ask people, because I'm really big on tailgating games.
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:47.519
Yeah.
00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:51.759
Is there a favorite tailgating game that that you have or play with your crew out there?
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:52.559
We do.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.519
We do a little bit of cornhole occasionally.
00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:59.680
Um and and that's about it.
00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:09.679
Um we've got an area where we can do it, but um, you know, uh again, our time is compact.
00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.320
Four-hour window.
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:17.679
By the time we the gates open up four the they let you in four hours before.
00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:26.320
By the time you get to your assigned spots, get everything set up and get rolling, it's quarter to the hour, right?
00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:29.519
So you're 45 minutes in, right?
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:35.280
People start showing up, gotta work on your food prep, get the bar going, etc.
00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:37.440
So there's really not a lot of time.
00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:51.760
And then our breakdown, we typically target, uh, we'll do Eagle Up as we're breaking down, and uh, and then we try and head into the stadium about twenty to thirty minutes before.
00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.199
So it's kind of a compact, you know, not a lot of time, uh, not a lot of time for games.
00:34:57.360 --> 00:35:02.079
Uh uh, but then we head up to the suite and start the party again.
00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:08.159
Dare I ask what happens in the suite, or is that just totally top secret?
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:09.119
Uh no.
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:12.880
Um, I understand we've we're gonna have a change at BC.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:16.320
I think um it's only always been beer and wine, right?
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:19.039
Um in in in our suites.
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.719
And again, it's local liquor licensing, right?
00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:26.159
Dynamics and um for the temporary licensing.
00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:30.719
But I understand we're perhaps gonna have a full uh liquor license.
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.920
Now, I would just, you know, I'm not talking out of school here, suggest to you that never stopped us.
00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:41.119
Just saying.
00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:51.920
I I mean, I mean, we've had we've had some you know, folks joining us upstairs um in a suite with bras full of little airplane bottle nips.
00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:54.159
You know, I mean it whatever it takes.
00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:03.039
Again, I again I d I don't hate that, I don't want to condone any bad behaviors, but have fun and be safe, right?
00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:13.840
Yeah, but I think I believe this year we're gonna be able to access um and perhaps you know buy bottles, you know, leave them in there, you know, throughout for the during the course of the season.
00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:21.599
A lot like the old South Carolina used to be, where you when you worked into the bar or the club, you had your own stash locked up, you know.
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:23.599
So good stuff.
00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:27.760
Um now I feel like you you talked about somebody that really enjoyed Blood Light.
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:31.360
Do you partake in any of the of beers?
00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:32.400
No.
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:41.440
I mean, when I was a youngster, um so the the way I the way I met my buddy Rick was on a racetrack and that being the Hampshire.
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:49.119
We built and raced, drag raced together in our in in high school, opposing high schools.
00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:51.360
Um, but that's how we met.
00:36:51.519 --> 00:37:01.039
And I drank some beer back in in those days and it was Budweiser, but um I I I prefer the Clairs and the Browns.
00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:02.079
Fair enough.
00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:02.559
Fair enough.
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:04.320
And a good wine, and a good wine.
00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:04.880
Okay.
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:07.440
I mean that probably pairs well with all the seafood, right?
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:08.320
It does.
00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:08.719
Yep.
00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:12.800
Some good sold blonde with lobster goes a long way.
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:21.119
And uh yeah, we serve we serve some wines and yeah, and and we got w wine in the in the in the box as well, so it's good.
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:22.159
Excellent.
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:27.679
Well, Pops, this uh podcast, we will we will launch it probably a little bit before the season starts.
00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:29.760
And so I want to put you on the record right now.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:36.079
Go ahead and predict Boston College final regular season record 2026.
00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:41.760
Well, Bill O'Brien's a good friend of mine, okay, the coach.
00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:43.920
Uh I think he's a hell of a coach.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:45.840
Um rough season last year.
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.360
We only won on the ends, only two wins.
00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:54.239
Um, I'm gonna say he's gonna get five or six, and he's gonna win early.
00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:56.960
Um he's got 50 new kids.
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:03.760
I mean, this this thing is a nightmare, but I think it's gonna slow down with the things that have been announced.
00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:08.639
You know, we're gonna only get to get one transfer shot till you get your degree and things of that nature.
00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:10.800
But he's got 50 new kids.
00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:14.000
Um, I think the defense will be tough, the secondary will be tough.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:17.760
It's gonna be a question again can we put off enough points to beat the other guys?
00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:19.119
And we got a brutal scud.
00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:21.440
We're at Notre Dame um this year.
00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:25.519
Uh I mean, that's our all-time arch rival.
00:38:25.679 --> 00:38:27.360
That's the War of the Catholics, dude.
00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.280
I mean, that is a battle.
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:33.280
And um we had a good stretch 25 years ago.
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:35.519
We had him seven times in a row.
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:39.280
And um, including one of my idols, Coach Coughlin.
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:40.880
You know, Coach Tom Coughlin?
00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:42.079
I d I did.
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:42.719
All right.
00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:44.480
So he's one of my best buddies.
00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:45.280
Oh, nice.
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:48.239
And he was Flutie's quarterback coach at BC.
00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:49.199
Yep.
00:38:49.679 --> 00:39:00.800
He moved on, came back as BC's head coach for three years before he left to start the Jackson Jaguars franchise.
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:01.440
Yep.
00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:13.519
And uh he got Notre Dame two out of three years, including knocking him out of the national championship spot with a 42-yard field goal with no time on the clock, which was awesome.
00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:17.199
You know, and then I'm a New York Giants football fan.
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:26.880
He ended up coaching the New York football Giants and won two Super Bowls, beating the New England Patriots.
00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:31.360
You need to understand all my friends up here.
00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:35.280
They're all Patriots fans, including my wife.
00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:43.039
So with the first Giants victory over the Patriots, I got thrown out of the house for a week.
00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:46.800
The second one was just three nights, you know.
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:50.239
So she gave me a break on the second time Coughlin beat him.
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:51.199
You know, not so bad.
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:55.840
So if it's a third time with that, it'd only be one and a half nights if I'm doing the math.
00:39:56.079 --> 00:39:57.519
Something like that, you know.
00:39:57.760 --> 00:39:59.519
But coach is doing a wonderful job.
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:06.239
He's he's got a tremendous charity called the J Fund that ties right back to BC.
00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:18.960
When he was there, he had a young man named Jay McGillis, number 31, who was diagnosed and died of leukemia while Tom, he was a defensive back while Tom was coaching BC.
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:25.760
When he left to start the Jaguars, he told the McGillis family, I'm gonna do something.
00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:29.280
And he launched the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund.
00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:32.400
This is our 31st year for number 31.
00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:33.519
Beautiful.
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.639
We just had a tournament at TPC Sawgrass.
00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:42.480
They have a tournament there every year, and our raise this year was$1.4 million.
00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:44.480
And I just finished with this.
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:46.639
It's a simple model that they have.
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:55.199
If you have a youngster diagnosed with childhood cancer, the J Fund comes in behind and takes control of your family.
00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:58.320
We pay the bills, the mortgages, car payments.
00:40:58.400 --> 00:40:59.920
We'll fill your tank with gas.
00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:03.360
We'll we'll we'll fill your refrigerator with food.
00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:10.239
So while you're dealing with the battle that your child is undergoing, the J Fund is there.
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:17.760
And um, I think closing in on 40 million overall, which is that's a lot of money helping a lot of families.
00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:23.679
Jacksonville and and Greater Um MetLife Stadium, New York Giants.
00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:27.920
Those those are the geographic areas that they focus on dealing with families.
00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:29.519
So it's great charity.
00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:30.559
Beautiful.
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:36.880
Again, another just good plug of just positive things that come from all of this, especially for people that are in in need.
00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:43.599
Like again, I'm I'm not going through that right now, or anybody I know, but I know that it can be very valuable when it is needed.
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:46.000
So kudos to everybody that's behind that organization.
00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:47.360
Great, great charity.
00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:47.760
Yep.
00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:48.559
Yes, sir.
00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:49.760
All right, Pops.
00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:53.440
Um, you've told us a lot today about your tailgating.
00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:55.039
I want you to plug it one more time.
00:41:55.199 --> 00:42:00.480
Why does somebody need to come to Boston College and see you?
00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:01.760
Why is it impressive?
00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:02.639
Why is it amazing?
00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:03.760
Why do they need to pull the trigger?
00:42:03.840 --> 00:42:06.320
Come see Boston College tailgating this year.
00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:09.039
So it's the four of us.
00:42:09.280 --> 00:42:16.719
You get a chance to hang out with four football junkies, you know, two good-looking women, right?
00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:24.159
And a couple of knuckleheads that used to drag race cars in Epping, New Hampshire, who've got a lot of war stories.
00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:32.559
And um, we enjoy meeting people and and and sharing life's sharing life stories.
00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:35.599
So that's that's why you want to come and find us.
00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:37.360
We'll show you a good time.
00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:42.079
We'll tell you a lot of good stories, and give you some good food and booze.
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:51.519
I was about to say, uh, you have custom recipes for lobster roll, for bloody Marys, the most expansive seafood menu I ever heard about at a tailgate.
00:42:51.679 --> 00:42:54.480
Just those little things, too, on addition to what you said, right?
00:42:54.719 --> 00:42:55.199
Absolutely.
00:42:55.360 --> 00:43:02.159
You know, they're all specialties, and um, and uh yeah, people people have a good time when they come to the Eagle Tailgate or tailgate.
00:43:03.360 --> 00:43:03.920
Excellent.
00:43:04.079 --> 00:43:07.519
Now, Pops, are you do you have your tailgate or anything on social media?
00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:11.199
Any plugs right now you want to put out there for any social media for people to check out?
00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:13.920
No, we you know, we're just we're just kind of low-keyed.
00:43:14.079 --> 00:43:17.519
You know, this thing is for family and friends, you know.
00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:25.840
So it's the it's the kind of thing, you know, Danny, you know, we'll we'll we'll allow him to sneak a few tailgators in there every now and then, you know.
00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:27.119
Take take good care.
00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:34.880
And my connection with Danny, I mean, we we uh know his sister real well.
00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:45.840
Unfortunately, she's past, but he's a very good neighbor of ours in North Carolina, and that's kind of how the the connection between Eagle Tailgators and Danny.
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:50.719
I mean, I think we knew Danny before we actually moved to North Carolina, met his sister.
00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:56.159
Um, but um, yeah, that's um that's that's the connection with uh with Dan.
00:43:56.480 --> 00:44:03.519
And every now and then he'll say, hey, look, I got a I got a couple of guys here, you know, looking at us, sure I'll send them over, dude.
00:44:03.599 --> 00:44:04.159
What the hell?
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:05.280
We'll take good care of.
00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:07.280
Excellent.
00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:08.000
Excellent.
00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:21.280
Well, Pops, thank you so much for hanging out with us, giving us some knowledge and and probably expanding our minds in regards to what tailgating food and beverages can be when done correctly with the right experience, the mindset behind it.
00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:23.599
You gotta make it an experience.
00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:28.079
It sounds like you're doing that every single game that you do.
00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:30.159
And you probably do it with a lot of things in life, too.
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:34.159
So I commend you, sir, for your dedication to the sport of tailgating.
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:36.320
Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight.
00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:40.159
And for everybody else out there, thank you for listening to the end of the episode.
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:49.280
And if you're looking to hang out with amazing people like Pops and other tailgators across the country, check out tailgateconnect.com to get your easy button, tailgating tickets.
00:44:49.360 --> 00:44:51.760
And we hope to see you at a tailgate center.
00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:59.519
Tailgating, it's all here for you, food drinking friends, got some blue.
