Pra Caramba!

So this is me, shakin my booty with the ever fabulous first lady of TU Football, Angel Johnson to the Greenwave Brass Band in the third or fourth quarter. Yeah. fun times!
So it was about damn time.

We have been due a flipped script with UTEP. I have watched so many stupid games against CUSA teams go sideways for us, so it was high time.

moment captured by Michael DeMocker
I'll never forget our hail mary situation in 2008, Kevin Moore under center, Graf screaming "IF WE GET THIS, WE WILL BE ON SPORTSCENTER FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!" We had been ahead most of the game, Andre Anderson was busting his tail all over the field, and then we let the game slip away 21-25 in the second half. Sigh.

So it was pretty funny to get this text from Chardonnay after the game yesterday.

Com Certeza, ha!

I will say that I am deee-lighted Coach Johnson has architected something out of nothing. But am I satisfied? uh, Hell No. This horrid conference we were trapped in and the mediocrity that was orchestrated since being handed the keys to the kingdom in 1998 cannot just be forgiven or forgotten because we beat a bad team on our way out the door. No sir.

But it was a momentary distraction fo' sho'.

photo by aguiluzer
I hope that the team is enjoying their season. Proud of the change in attitude. Proud effort they are making. But if TPTB makes amends by hiring Jaime Garza or get us into a P5 conference then maybe I'll revise my hardened opinions about where we've been and where we are.

Could you, like, imagine this behavior being tolerated at Corndog land?

So in summation: don't like hold your breath that I'ma lead a ticker tape parade down Poydras about the New Orleans Bowl.

They actually want us to pay $25 to "secure seats". Chile please, I have walked up and bought tickets minutes before kick off at that bowl, sat where I pleased and didn't have to worry my pretty little mind.

The sister-in-law of the late great Greenwave booster, CJ Lenz, is one of my girls. She marched right up to me at tailgating and gave me somekind of lecture about me needing a serious attitude adjustment. "Now listen here young lady, a bowl is a bowl!" ha ha! This, from the same lady who ditched standing in her friend's wedding to be at the '73 win over the bataan rouge corndogs. But honestly, it doesn't matter what I think about it because the Universe is in charge at this point.

The math involved for us to upgrade our situation is pretty crazy right now.

It's the slightest glimmer of hope for a better bowl and I refuse, refuse, refuse to go down without bitching even more than I already have. I mean I picked my man pie Coach Hullabaloo after all. So as you can see, I am not a settle for anything that just wanders along kind of girl. So anyways: I can't even believe that we have to go through these scenarios for many reasons including the fact that UTSA wasn't even a zygote for Katrina, but the deal is that UNT had to lose yesterday, which they did - but now UTSA is an upstart and could win the division unless Louisiana Tech somehow has a miracle next week at the Alamodome (The Bulldog Miracle! pray for it y'all. seriously pray, pray, pray!).

But my feeling is hows that for some bs an inaugural member of the SEC has to resort to? And CUSA would be so stupid to let a provisional team rob the conference of a potential Liberty Bowl payout, the biggest bowl payout for conference. UTSA is not eligible to play a bowl game this year and the numbers aren't there for them to get a bowl bid even if they win enough games. If UTSA gets to the CUSA championship, Liberty Bowl would go free agent for the CUSA slot and that would be all she wrote. It would be a lose-lose situation for everyone. Just wretched!

So anyways, the game: what a hoot. It was more of a touchdown derby with a Lorenzo Doss interception mixed in to keep things interesting. Look, more photeauxs by Michael DeMocker.

Marc Edwards catches his first TD

Sam Scofield being awesome
I'm watching the replay today on an actual TV and not a laptop, because well, I can - they are actually showing games on TV this season for the first time since like Hurricane Georges.

When's the last season we had for real college luxuries like TV replays? Progress.

And speaking of luxuries: our tailgate food was Lindo Maravilhoso, Otimo!

In honor of our mighty Brazilian, our resident Lou Groza Award winning kicker, Cairo Santos, we chose a Brazilian theme for our senior game tailgating and word, it was some kinda good. And it was so great because everybody went out of their comfort zone and executed these exotic recipes flawlessly.

Priscilla brought the star of the show: grilled Tri Tip cut of sirloin, also known as "Picanha" and it was some kinda good. Our Band Mom whom I'll call Tupelo Honey brought chimichurri sauce to pair with the steak, which was exceptional.

Peggy brought traditional brazilian chicken salad, or Salpicao....word.

Whoever decided in Brazil that shoe string potatoes needed to be in chicken salad deserves a prize. Peggy's friend Marlene brought us some lovely brazilian rice, which went nicely with some "feijoada" I picked up from a Brazilian cafe out on Williams in Kennah Brah. Feijoada is basically red beans, but with pinto beans instead of red beans.

One of my sorority sisters joined our tailgating group, I'll call her Ginger. Ginger made a brazilian twist on spinach dip using hearts of palm ("palmitos") and kale and it was boss.

Coach Hullabaloo even contributed and made chorizo "Bolinhos" which are mashed yucca stuffed pillows of heavenly-ness.

We rounded out the treats of the day with an interesting version of brazilian carrot cake that is topped with chocolate ganache, which sounds like an odd pairing, but was actually very tasty. Also making a cameo were some Pao de Queijo rolls and then I made a coconut/ginger/tomato sauce to nestle some grilled chicken drumettes in.

Ok so most recipes are on my pinterest page, but here are a few of the standouts:

A NO FAIL CHIMICHURRI
cup of fresh parsley leaves
3-4 garlic cloves (the more the merrier)
2 tbs fresh oregano leaves (or 2 TSP dried)
1/2 cup olive erl
2 tbsp wine vinegar (red, white, no matter)
Tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Ok, so gathering the ingredients is the hard part. Toss in a blender or bullet and whiz everything together. Slather onto your steaks and like just die from happiness.

CASTELO AND PALMITOS DIP
6-8 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive erl
one 14-16 oz can of hearts of palm
5 cups of kale, chopped small
halfa cup of milk
8 oz pack of cream cheese, room temp
half cup sour cream
salt and black pepper
cup of parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish. On the stove, saute garlic in olive erl, add hearts of palm and mix, add kale and give it all a whirl. Turn off heat, add milk and cream cheese and mix through. Then add sour cream and parm, salt and pepper to taste. Pour deliciousness into the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.

BOLINHOS DE CHORIZO
1 large yucca/cassava root
1 egg
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 lb chorizo
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Saute chorizo in a pan until cooked, add chopped onion and stir through until translucent. Turn off heat and add chopped cilantro, stir through until well distributed. Set aside to cool to room temp. Peel your casava/yucca and then cut into 2 inch chunks. Boil in salted water until fork tender. Drain and mash like mashed taters. Add coconout flour, garlic powder and s+p to taste as you mash. Mold mashed yucca into balls, dust with coconut flour to keep from getting sticky and then mush/press a hole with your thumb to flatten out a bit, fill with a tablespoon of chorizo filling and then roll back up into a ball with a dust of coconut flour. Fry em up in a pan until golden brown and then keep yourself from eating the whole batch.

SALPICAO
1 whole skinless chicken breast poached in seasoned water, shredded
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup peas
2 small granny smith apples cubed
1/3 cup seedless raisins, or dried apricots or dried figs, chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup mayo
1 package shoestring potatoes
1/2 cup of olives
1/2 cup of heart of palms (cut in cubes)
Salt and pepper

Ok, the ingredients are the hard part. And maybe the elbow grease you need to mix everything together. So combine everything and then s+p to taste. And be astounded by the deliciousness.

Cute picture of former FB mom Maggie Edwards shaking her tailfeather with one of the drink vendors to the Greenwave Brass Band.

Me and my peeps

Mercury is in Retrograde!!!

I'm not sure where I would place this loss on the richter scale of losses. Last week I wanted to hold a wrist slitting tailgate theme. This week I considered fashioning a noose out of my tailgating tablecloths.

In retrospect I do not believe that I am nearly as devastated as I felt after this Toledo era loss though.

Well. Maybe.

While I was somewhat (ok, very) impressed with how Montana has improved, no moral victory explanation is going to satisfy me. I wasn't even consoled by the outhouse losing in Tuscaloosa. It coulda shoulda been the sweetest ending to our gameday, but alas, Mercury was in retrograde!

I just knew it had to be something, because there was some kind of juju on that endzone. A Roll Wave button is just not enough to offset the juju from Mercury being in retrograde.

You know the endzone I'm talking about. The endzone where UTSA coughed up the ball. The same darn one where we coughed up the ball. The same one UTSA scored a TD on and where Cairo missed a FG. Yes, that's the one.

I swear that endzone was simply plagued.

So maybe this loss is saving us from our Liberty Bowl Coaching Curse wherein we always lose the coach who gets us bowl eligible after going to the Liberty Bowl. (Pittman, Smith, Bowden)

This morning I actually even considered just giving up and not worrying about going to the New Orleans Bowl. I am such a bad Tulane fan, I am simply dreading the possibility of getting embarrassed in front of USL fans and giving Sporty Nunez fodder for her articles. The thought of a USL New Orleans Bowl just makes me want to book a vacation to Tulsa or a cruise to Somalia for the holidays.

Anyways, because Coach Hullabaloo was off reuniting with his Marine Corps peeps in Philadelphia for a man weekend, Chardonnay and I packed our little bags and made a good old fashioned girls road trip out of the UTSA game weekend. We spent the night with Nell and then went to San Antonio where I OD'd on BBQ and cobbler, road the boat for a tour of the Riverwalk, admired the Alamo, etc.

We went by the Tulane Alumni tailgating too. I ran into Alex Wacha and his family, but I was in a rush so I didn't get a picture. I kind of regret that. Coach Hullabaloo had such a man crush on Alex, especially after his game winning sack in overtime in the UTEP game and his game ending interception at Rutgers.

The alumni tailgating was really cute.

So glad they are stepping them up a notch now. The caterer served grits and grillades, corndouilles (Andouille corn dogs), bloody marys and beignets.

And how cute are these centerpieces?

Look out: Tulane colors and everything!

As Mercury in retrograde dictates, I did run into an old friend - a long lost college acquaintance whom I'll call Vinnie Barbarino.

Here's Vinnie wearing his wife's bedazzled sunglasses because he forgot his. Hilarious.

So I did very much enjoyed catching up with Vinnie and hearing about his French quarter wedding to his wife which sounded lovely. I enjoyed knowing Vinnie in college because he delivered food for one of my favorite restaurants. And his fraternity had great keg parties at the bar that is currently known as Ms Mae's, which a young Mrs. Hullabaloo did not miss.

Anyways, I don't have much to add about the game that hasn't already been beaten to death: Enough penalty flags to hold a proper Veterans Day flag ceremony, Umpteen dropped passes, lawd have mercy. We totally let UTSA off the hook and beat ourselves.

We are 1-5 against teams that are navy blue. 0-2 against red and navy blue teams, 0-2 against ernge and navy blue teams. Navy is just not a good color for us. But what's worse is that we are 0-3 against teams who were birthed AFTER Katrina. Hows that for some titanic flower beds for ya?

A younger Tulane fan posted on twitter earlier today that these last two losses hurt more because we got so used to winning.

I guess these losses learned us now, huh? Booooo.

Well that BLOWS

Ay yay yay!

Talk about going "cold turkey" after a high. We got blow-ed by the "Snow" birds (get it, ha ha). Yes, the drug jokes abounded yesterday. a 3rd and 1, was 3rd and a blunt. "Just Say No" etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

But lawd have mercy, I really did wake up this morning and last night really did happen. And I really did spend the night at my monster in law's to come see this. It was not a drug fueled nightmare.

Mrs. Hullabaloo's list of things that totally blow:

1. Being more specific when requesting a takeaway derby.

More takeaways by Lorenzo Doss, please.

....Oh, but for lack of clarification.

photo by Jon Way
2. Forgetting My Roll Wave Button. In my rush to get to the game, I left behind my Roll Wave button in our hotel room.

I coulda/shoulda dispatched Coach Hullabaloo back to get it. I even had the sinking feeling at tailgating that I didn't have it and bad things would happen and I tried to brush off the feeling. I should have known better! I'm going to get it permanently implanted onto my body. Or tattoo'd. Or both.

The one on the right I'ma tie to the back of my bumper and drag it all the way back to New Orleans, run over a few times in my driveway and then torch in a ceremonial ritual. My original plan was to wear it proudly to yesterday's game and to Rice in a few weeks. But evil is attached to it now so it must be destroyed.

3. EX-CUSA REFS!!!! Grrrr.....

photo by Steve Mitchell
You cannot not assess a penalty. Or review a review! Lawd have mercy do Ex-Cusa refs blow. Zach's daddy was yellin "HEY REFS, ARE YOU SMOKING SOMETHING!" .....har har

4. Tammy Nunez patronizing articles. Hula skirts and coconut dreams? Lorenzo Doss impersonator? I aint' sayin, but I am just sayin. She just loooooves all her witty little sayings she gets to come up with for when we lose. I still can't believe how awesomely funny she thought she was last year when she was caught off camera at the Coach's press conference bashing the Greenwave and giggling about how John Curtis could beat Tulane. She's just sooo funny y'all!

I'ma start calling her Sporty Nunez like that turd reporter from Cinderella Man. I can picture her writing "The only time the Wave was on it's feet was walking into the stadium...." this would so be something only Sporty Nunez could write.

4. Tropical Stadiums. Ok. weather patterns in tropical stadiums suck. I'd love to blame the weather on our interception rally, but I can still complain about it. It was absolutely sweltering and stagnant hot the first half, but nothing we aren't used to in September. And then just like that at the half it was like hurricane gale winds kicked in during the entire FAU momentum swing. Like weather was the FAU 12th man. Only to die down into a peaceful evening breeze as the final minutes ticked off the clock and our loss looming over us like a bad hangover. It was completely biblical. And reminiscent of that completely cray game we had in Hawaii.

Another thing like Hawaii was the FAU dance team. Lawd. Cover your husband's eyes.

The twerking they incorporated into their "Shake Your Groove Thang" halftime routine should have come with a "suitable for mature audiences only" warning. I am serious. Big Fredia woulda banned it for inappropriateness.

5. The demise of this game day maxi dress. The colors are so perfect. Now I can never wear it again.

This picture is at the mini "beach" that they have at FAU's stadium with a misting system. I was jealous. Oh, and those butt curved stadium bleachers that TPTB is carrying on about that's supposed to also be installed at Yulfogelmevlin: overrated. My ass still ends up sore even with ergonomic butt bleachers.
I wore this dress to the 2011 Hawaii game. And now I am definitively never wearing it again (well, ......maybe. but I would agree with Coach Jones on classifying it as "ineffective" and therefor banished from ever seeing the light of day ever again. Like the "Roll Wave Roll" cheer).

6. All Access and 106.1. Just sayin! I hope the Greenies don't give up on whining and complaining to TPTB. A proper football team deserves to meet at least minimal standards in the media/broadcast department. Enough with the mickey mouse operation with rabbit ears, chewing gum, and coffee cans tied with string to only then get cut out by a high school game, puh-lease. Or 50 minutes of commercials during a 60 minute radio show. THIS IS UNPROFESSIONAL.

For as small as a fan base as we are, we don't ask for much: a decent team, a decent broadcast. and a decent bowl game while we're aksin'. (ok. ok. I'm pushing it, I know.)

7. Homecoming "Miracles". I know that the team and the coaches are eager to accept blame and move on, but I need to work this out of my system a bit. BECAUSE I WAS THERE IN 2007 AT ARMY! Sitting in those crap seats in the endzone. Leading 17-7 and then losing!!!

This should be a glorious morning in South Florida, except that here we are. Reminiscing about how we managed to hand a downtrodden team a homecoming "miracle" at the end of the game. Coach L's wife and I were just so smug at tailgating laughing about that ruinous "Michie Miracle" officiating that handed Army that win (he was out of bounds!!!!). Clearly tempting fate and the impending doom that was to befall us in a few short hours. And against a team that didn't exist a few shorts years ago. We are getting good at that.

Now there's going to be all these "Miracle at FAU Homecoming" videos to look forward to for posterity. Yay!

.....Sigh.