From time to time when I get in the zone at games I start cheering that to opposing teams for giggles. Such a fantastic cheer! And plus the lyrics about alibis are just so appropriate for them fighting tigahs. ha.
Which I just have to address this: OMG about their incessant whining from the Championship to National Signing Day. Talk about u-g-l-y.
Silly me, I thought that Alabama completely embarrassing les tigres live on National Television would be the end of it. But no. When one feels entitled, then it’s imperative to complain, complain, complain (and it made me wonder which would have been worse: the gloating if they’d won or the never ending whining which ensued).
I just knew G-d would punish me somehow for gloating about this most awesome smack down in the history of America. And for laughing about the “Mantrums” (yes Peggy christened this word) which Peggy and Koozie witnessed. The complainers took it to the airwaves. and in the paper. and on the news. By air, land and sea. Oy! Enough Already!!!
About midway through football season, Peggy and Koozie took up the hobby of working Sundays at the Superdome for the Saints games which meant they got to work the BCS game. and Lawd did they have some stories about the complainers upriver.
At the end of the game, Peggy got to greet people as they left (which they did in droves). “Hope y’all have a great night! Thank you for coming!” "Enjoy your evening!" and she drolled this out there layered on REAL thick just because she could. ha ha! I love her!
Which by the way, I don’t think I can mention enough that their fans a) left in the third quarter and b) boo’d the players! Yes, they boo’d at children who play for free, don’t get an actual education and yet undertake this all for their selfish entertainment. Koozie had to work security on the field and was in front of the Golden Girls who were all forced to sit and watch the meltdown with mascara streaming down their faces.
Isn’t that fantastic?! Just enough to tide me over til September. Or this spring if we manage to beat them in Baseball.
Anyways, I just have to also point out that these quote/unquote “Fans" had the nerve to gasp and clutch their pearls when an Alabama fan went rogue and acted a fool in the Krystal’s on Bourbon. Because really, there isn’t a single solitary classless fan in the history of Louisiana A+M. That doesn’t excuse Mr. Downing for his behavior, but when you lower the bar for acceptable behavior, this is what can happen.
And then, for the cherry on top: les tigres went into a complete tailspin all the way through to signing day when their recruits started bailing on em. Because would you want to go before a sports tribunal for going 13-1? And Sweet Baby Jesus, if there is one thing I am grateful for in being mostly ignored by the media is that we don’t have whack moms, whack fathers or whack coaches who then go viral for talking out their mouths and looking like maroons. (or for that matter fans piling on by verbally lynching the high school coaches!)
So, now, meanwhile at OUR Glass House:
The Good: Tulane got it’s first four star recruit in a decade and we stole not 1, but a total of 3 recruits from the SEC. Yes indeed.
Fudge Van Hooser - turned down offers from Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Stanford.
Kedrick Banks
Darion Monroe(!) - our twelfth hour 4 star coup, who switched his commitment from Texas A&M to the Wave and teared up explaining his decision. Holy Facundus, right?!
Joshua Rounds and Royce LaFrance, some more local kids for good measure. Shown here representing The Wave at Manning's
And there was gossip that there was – gasp- an LSU recruit who was wavering on his decision up until 7am that morning about jumping ship to come to Tulane. Could you have imagined? It’s actually a scary thought because since these people are in some kind of mood, they might have marched down and torched Tulane down to smoldering embers.
The Bad: I honestly don’t know if I should feel exhilarated or more tepid in my emotions about our Legendary Signing Day due to the impending fracas which is "Conference WTF"* that was birthed via negotiations by our very own Scott Cowen. The new conference name I am using is, of course, a joke since the conference has yet to be named. But I think it frames the situation perfectly.
How low our situation has sunk over the past decade is such a nightmare of epic proportions – and the fact that TPTB just allowed this slide down while every Greenie Dat could see it from light years away and yet were powerless in the situation – makes me really need to talk about food to push it aside and pretend it’s just not happening for the time being.**
So I won't think about Conference WTF right now. I'll think about it....in a year when I have to.
*I totally stole this from somewhere I can't remember, but if it belongs to you please let me know and I will happily give you proper credit
** yes, yes I know I just finished penning that it would be cool to have Hawaii in our conference. But I didn’t mean for an implosion to happen first for this to conveniently take place.
So now to items of real importance. Yes, my brothers and sisters: The 2012 Tulane Greenwave Fall Schedule was released and I promptly decided on our tailgating menus. I call it my swan song for the “Ex-CUSA” of a situation Tulane Football finds itself in.
Rutgers: Cheesesteaks and trimmings!
Ole Miss: Shrimp n Grits brunch
ULM: Louisiana favorites
SMU: Chicken n Waffles, oh yeah!
UAB: BBQ
Rice: Greek-Mex!
ECU: Cochon du Lait
My friend Jack says that Cheesesteaks aren’t really NJ food, even though I’ve had delicious ones in NJ. But whatever – I think it will be delish, so I’ll just consider it a Rutgers-Adjacent themed menu.
As you can see I am going though serious football withdrawals. For my final hurrah of football season I had put together a totally cute par-tay for the Saints play offs hoping that I could extend tailgating festivities until the beginning of February. Alas it was not meant to be. Mr. Roman Harper. (yes I'm calling him out).
I admit I do have some residual bitterness and spent Superbowl Sunday shopping until I was kicked out of stores when they closed for the day. But as a more well-adjusted fan used to losing, I will only lash out about it on occasion. Besides, the last time I went to San Fran I was completely underwhelmed so I’m already on record about hating on it. and Jim Harbaugh can't touch Sean Payton with a ten foot pole in the class department.
For my partay I did a whole San Francisco Menu that came out really cute and delicious: Rice-A-Roni salad, Asian BBQ Spare Ribs (recipe below), California Rolls, Clam Chowder and Irish Coffee Cheesecake (recipe below). Nell brought Fruit (get it?) Salad and Peggy brought egg rolls and her awesome Sonoma Chicken Salad. FF brought a bunch of California artisanal beer and Coach Hullabaloo went nuts with the California wines at World Market.
My tablescaping was so cute, I loved it.
We even put bunting on the house and I made this fab wreath for the front door.
So I hope you enjoy these recipes. Now, onto planning our final hurrah in Ex-CUSA....
ASIAN BBQ SPARE RIBS
2 lbs pork spare ribs or baby back ribs
2 tbs hoisin sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp five spice powder
3 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs sambal oelek (asian crushed chili pepper)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbs honey
Cut ribs in serving pieces, one or two ribs per cut. Wash and pat dry with paper towel. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. This will yield a wet mixture, not saucy. Rub onto the ribs and cook in a slow cooker overnight. Before ready to serve, broil them in an oven for 15 minutes on each side until brown and seared.
IRISH COFFEE CHEESECAKE
22 crisp oatmeal cookies
3 tbsp of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp of coffee liqueur or milk
1/2 tsp of vanilla
2 tbsp of instant espresso coffee powder
1/3 cup of Irish whiskey or milk
1 tsp of instant espresso coffee powder
1 tsp of granulated sugar
1 tbsp of whipping cream
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
2 tbsp of granulated sugar
Butter a spring-form pan. Rough crush the cookies in a food processor. Add tbsp of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon to processor to combine. Mush it into the pan into a thin crust. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes and then let cool completely.
Beat cream cheese with a cup of brown sugar, add eggs until smooth. Add vanilla and the coffee liqueur. Dissolve the 2tbsp of espresso coffee powder in Irish whiskey. Add this into the cream cheese mixture and pour into crust. Bake at 350F degrees for 50 minutes and then let cool.
Dissolve 1tbsp of whipping cream with 1tsp of espresso coffee and 1tsp of granulated sugar. Separately, beat 1 1/2 cup of whipping cream with 2tbsp of granulated sugar until the mixture become stiff, and then fold in espresso mixture. Spread as garnish on top of cheesecake.
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