The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

One of my favorite football movie characters of the 80’s were the cheerleaders from the Goldie Hawn movie Wildcats. “U-G-L-Y! You ain’t got no alibi! You ugly! You! You! You ugly!”



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.

Koozie's Pill Party

Tonite's post is all about Family. Because, y'all: I would not trade our Tulane family for nothing.

Shout out to the Greenbackers for having some extra tickets for Lisa and her little pelicans to attend the game. Greenbackers: if you read this THANK YOU for being awesome members of the Tulane Family.

So after the game (yes, we stayed!), Peggy, Koozie, Red and FF, and Coach Hullabaloo and I stayed and shot the shute outside in the parking lot like we like to do. We do a post-mortem, laugh our selves silly and enjoy each other's company. Y'all - the Hullabaloo Huddlers are a family and we stick together. A-men!

Anyways, during our post-game Koozie brought up that he and Peggy wanted to host a party at their place for the SMU game. He wanted Coach and I to go, but I reminded him that Coach and I would still be going to SMU. He was astounded. "WHAT!? Yous want some Cyanide to take wit ya?", sez Koozie. While I giggled I reminded him that Familia Hullabaloo are Texans, and that I would still want to see my family. Peggy was hilarious - she started doing a spoof rendition of me calling my folks and yelling into her "air" phone: "HEY: We Lost! So We AIN'T Comin', YA HEAR!!!!" and then fake hanging up. snicker!

So then we just went off on a tangent about how our next trick as fans would be to all re-enact Romeo and Juliet and all take cyanide together. Everybody commit mass suicide in the stands at the same time. Very Jamestown - or was it Jonestown? (we couldn't decide which J-Town it was, so "J-Town" it shall be). Peggy was laughing about pouring everyone "kool-aid" shots in lieu of Booty's jello shots. lmao!

And so we just tumbled down hill from there and suggested that at the Peggy and Koozie Pill Party, they would attach a hose to the car exhaust and do hits like a hookah.

I swear I laughed so hard I almost pee'd my pants!

Another thing that made me laught silly was Speedracer during the game. When we saw Up The Middle TM surfacing again we just went completely out the box. Speedracer was joking that Bob Toledo was calling the game from English Turn. No, wait - he was actually up in a suite texting the calls. Speedracer and I started yelling (for real y'all) "UP THE MIDDLE!!!!" I was laughing because this random guy down the row kept turning around and looking at me sideways. lmao! I mention this and Coach Hullabaloo chimed back that HE (as in Coach H) was looking at ME sideways. ha ha! He was so embarassed by me. Well, y'all I was embarrased by those dern Up the Middle Calls!

Anyways, so my Town Daughter did me proud today! Look at Chickadee's a-dorable shoes!


Listen y'all, every student needs to be indoctrinated by Mrs. Hullabaloo. Cute Green and Blue outfits are e-ssential. Chickadee told me that she and her adorable friend took all of their green and blue options out of their closets and styled their look for today. ♥ ♥ ♥ !!! I luvs my Town Daughter familia!

Welcome Visitors! Thank you for finding my little shtetl on the webs! So happy you came by! Miz Butterfly aksed I redact her story and I have happily obliged. Much love to y'all!

Anyways, as Speedracer so eloquently put it today during our pre-game Toast and Hullabaloo Chant (I like this tradition!) "The ONLY Good Tigah in Louisiana is a GRAMBLING Tigah!"

Yes, We're All Sinners Get Over It

Boo the drama’s over. Nothing to see here anymore. Except that I wish that they would show Imelda Jefferson’s collection of shoes. Coach Hullabaloo is fierce in the shoe shopping department and he doesn’t own 50 pairs of shoes. I don’t think I even own 50 pairs of shoes. I heard that the Jefferson Shoes deserved their own episode of Crib’s.

How exactly does a scholarship student from rural Louisiana afford 50 pairs of $100 sneakers. Oh the spin doctors on WWL just turned themselves into pretzels explaining how since U-BR had done some sort of favor to Nike, now their players could order shoes at deep discounts thru Nike. And all is kosher with this improper benefit NCAA regulations thingy. Dontcha just love it?

Well, so now enough with them and on with Us.


Casey Robottom doing the Heisman at last year's game. Photo taken by the Commercial Appeal.

In seven short days we got ourselves the Ham-land, as Coach likes to call it, coming into our decaying city. Our City which these visitors claim/disown in the same breath. When asked where they are from, I promise you that these individuals would all chrip out “New Orleans!” yet then they turn around and say how they could never possibly live here with all the colorfulness that is here. Mrs. Hullabaloo rolls her eyes at you! While I acknowledge that The Hamland is quaint in that Mayberry kind of way, I could never actually live there either. I’m too much of a sinner and I do quite enjoy my mixed-race/mixed-income neighborhood thank you very much. So there, we're even.

Koozie, Peggy, Coach and I drove to The Hamland a year or so ago for a Tulane baseball game. One of our former players is now a coach there, which causes us much distress. On a previous occasion, Peggy and I went alone and had life changing pizza at Tommy's Pizzeria. Tommy's Pizzeria might make me pause to say I could never live in The Hamland because it is the best kept secret out of there. Anyways, with our bellies full of this divine pizza, Peggy and I kept cheering something silly between innings which made us laugh like silly teenagers because at the end of our made-up cheer another Greenie Dat would chime in “and Take #23 with you!” (or whatever our former player/their current coach’s jersey number was). Every single time. We just laughed ourselves silly. Lawd we have to have a sense of humor here in Greenie Dat Nation.

So anyways, on this particular trip with Koozie, Peggy, Coach, we met up with FF Jim and his wife, Red, and perched ourselves on their precarious splinter-ridden rightfield bleechers. Section 110 on the Road kinda like. Well, we somehow got onto the topic about how Jews don’t say G-d’s name. Jews and Tulane just go with the territory, so it wasn’t a stretch to get on this topic. Jews don’t say “Yahweh” “Jehovah” none of that, they don’t even write it. It’s too sacred to even say his name (notice how I omit the “o” in deference to my proper Tulane upbringing). So then Peggy, with her endless sense of humor, starts joking about some Christian hymn that includes his name and starts asking aloud “Well what do they do when they get to that part of the song? Do they hum instead?” So the silly season started and we just took off doing all kinds of funny versions of said hymn. Very reminiscent of our banter in Section 110 at Turchin.

And then have you ever had that sneaking feeling when everyone around you is silent and watching you? Well we collectively got that feeling and looked around us to find that the Hammond-ites were none to pleased with us sinners and giving us the sideways glance stares. Clearly, we were no longer getting the pass we normally enjoy in Section 110 which has given us much acclaim and fame.

They are just so uptight and Christian up there.

And copy-cats too. Greenwave Marketing had some videos done for football season with individual players saying “Get your football tickets and come watch me do this” and then there would be a clip of some spectacular play from last season. Like Orleans Darkwa bulldozing Ole Miss, Joe Kemp catching a long bomb v. Ole Miss, Ryan Griffin airing one out to Ryan Grant for Rice.

And so Southeastern had to do that same thing with them showing clips of an interception against us. Ha ha ha – sooo funny! ha ha ha!


Well, let’s just see who has the last laugh y’all.

Okay my Chamudi's: Tulane v. SLU Gameday Menu – please sign up Hullabaloo Tailgaters

Muffalettas
BBQ Shrimp
Stuffed Artichokes
Fruit Salad
Robert’s Shrimp Dip
Rouse’s Crawfish Dip
Mother’s Jambalaya
Popeye’s
Vodka for Bloody Marys

....and then I think I might bring some Creole Tea Sandwiches (biscuits with turkey or ham, tomato and LeRuth’s Green Goddess Meynez)

Mazel Tov!

FREE CHE!

So in honor of playing the Tigers today, you, my dear readers get a treat. A SuperFan TM post.

Yay! It's been a long time I know. I've been wanting to do one on Mr. Koozie for a while, but he faxed me his responses and Mrs. Hullabaloo wishes she had the time to retype. So that will come when I can dedicate some moments for that. I promise it will be soon.

So for any of you who are lucky enough to secure seating in section 110 at Turchin, you will know Che.

Last month, I bet Che that Tulane would take the series from Ole Miss. He laughed at me silly. and so we bet a Felipe's margarita on it. I am still waiting for my Margarita!

Che always has snappy comebacks that keeps us in stitches. Really, he has some gems.


So Che is hilarious and an indispensable member of Section 110. and Now officially a Martyr. Che officially took one for the team.

On Saturday after our fabulous Spring Tailgating Festivus, we watched game 2 of the UH series. Coach and I took our time getting in to the game since we were taking things down. Just as we walked in to the stadium: All. Hell. Broke. Loose.

Oh my goodness Greenie Dats. I swear I felt the Earth shake with everybody on their feet angry and yelling. Houston had hit a foul ball out to third base and it was foul by a mile. The ref called it fair allowing Houston two free runs. It was just so blatant. and Horrid. and Wretched.

If Greenie Dats didn't have better manners, we would have swarmed the field and lynched the ref. Tarred and Feathered him like he deserved. So we did the second best thing and screamed at the Ref "Hey Ref, You Suck!"

Che, however, got the refs attention by screaming "Hey Ref! Hey You! You! Hey Ref!" until he turned around to look at us. and then Che said the same thing we were all screaming "You Suck!!!" And that apparently crossed the line for ref. To point out the obvious. Or to say it louder than our other fellow patriots in Section 110. Whatever. So he had Che tossed.

Talk about WTF.

Mr. Koozie went out the box. "Toss us All Out!" Koozie yelled. We all stood up and screamed for the refs to toss us all out also. In my mind I was thinking, Coach Hullabaloo is going to have to bail me out of jail or something cause I was gonna go too! I was totally swept up into the emotion of the moment. It was pretty funny cause across the stadium peeps thought Peggy was getting tossed by the way we were all reacting.

So Che was escorted out of the stadium with everybody cheering and shaking his hand. Che kept exile at Felipe's for the remainder of the game.

and I promptly set up a FREE CHE facebook page. I swear, it's true. We have members and everything.

I closely monitored the news about this dreadful situation. Finally, news came in that the Ref Who Sucks, actually apologized to Coach Jones and to Jeremy Shaeffer for his putrid call. But there is still no apology to our dear Che.

So now on to my interview with our exiled revolutionary, Che:

How and When did you know you were a true Tulane fan?

When I was 10 yrs old back in 1978. The only Tulane fan in a family of LSU fans. My grandmother she's the Wave fan of the family and I went that way and have been a Tulane fan ever since. With her being the Tulane fan, she would take me to Wave football games in the Superdome.

What was the #1 most exciting/memorable moment for you as a Tulane fan?

Actually a few fave moments: 1979 Liberty Bowl, 1998 undefeated football season, 2001 & 2005 College World Series Appearances and 2002 Hawai'i Bowl Champs (Don't we all Che? Don't we all...)



Which is your #1 favorite Tulane student athlete (past or current)?

Roch Hontas

Do you have any pre-game rituals or lucky outfits/accessories?

I don't have lucky outfits but do have 2 favorite jerseys: Brandon Belanger & Roch Hontas. I got the Brandon Belanger jersey back when the Tualne sports shop used to have "garage sales" and sold game used jerseys. I actually bought 3 jerseys that day, the Brandon Belanger and Joe Akin & Jim Ordeneaux football jerseys from 98. The Brandon Belanger jersey is special to me because when he first base coach I had him sign it (which he gratefully did) after the season and he remarked that it made him feel good that we (me and group of friends that sat on 1st base side) were always out there cheering the Wave on. The Roch Hontas jersey I only bought recently from the Tulane sports shop, it was for me a must have jersey because he was always my fave Wave QB. I don't mean that has a slight to Shaun King, Patrick Ramsey or JP Losman. (of course not Che! no offense taken)


Are there any past Tulane fans that you have admired and thankful you got to know?

A good friend of mine Mr. Ray Robbins who unfortunately passed away before the opening of new Turchin Stadium. When I got the Navy in 96 I really started attending a lot of Wave games and sat on the 1st base side of old Turchin with him and we just hit it off instantly. Mr. Ray was the type of fan who has seen it all. And to be perdectly honest, probably forgot more about Tualne than I will ever know, he had season football tix when they played at Tulane Stadium. From going to games with him, we became real good friends started going to road games vs USM and LSU at Alex Box. The one ritual we had was after Saturday home baseball games we would always go to Liuzza's on Bienville Street for supper. I know he truly would've loved the way new Turchin turned out. (Liuzza's, say no more. So delish. Plus this ice cold schooners of beer. hmmmm...heaven.)

and Che adds:

Besides the jersey's I do have some memrobilia that is special to me: mini helmet signed by Shaun King & JuJuan Dawson, Washington Redskins mini helmet signed by Patrick Ramsey, baseballs signed by the 2001 & 2005 teams. Although it is unsigned, I have never seen another one like it: a 1982 era mini helmet.

See! I told you he was a SuperFan TM.....

SuperFan Fridays

So yes, I am allowed to move the days of my SuperFan reporting because we can be SuperFans any day, and this is also my blog and I shall do as I please. Everyday is a great day to be a Tulane Fan!

So my SuperFan profile today is Lil'General.


Lil'General is such a hoot, this is her wall at home.

Her seats for football are over in 140 in the very last row so that she can stand and yell and cheer the whole game without anybody fussing.

Mr. Koozie would so appreciate this as he's had to inform unsuspecting Uptown ladies who dare to look at him sideways: "hey, look lady - dis aint da bah-ley!" Hear Hear Mr. Koozie!

Mental Note: tell Tulane ticket office to sell "boring people" tickets to a section all to themselves.


Lil'General and Mr. Lil'General host a yearly barbecue at their house for their family right before the beginning of football season. It's aptly named The Pre Wave BBQ. Dontcha just love that tradition?

She and her peeps tailgate every game just like us Hullabaloo Huddlers. And judging from her facebook pics they pass a good time also. I never thought I'd meet a bigger fan than me, but here she is in all her glory: Miss Lil'General!

How and When did you know you were a true Tulane fan?

When I got married, when I couldn't stand hearing anything about lswho! [thatta girl!]

What was the #1 most exciting/memorable moment for you as a Tulane fan?

12-0 season and we went to the Liberty Bowl in 1998!!Outstanding!! We motored to Memphis with the "Hebert Family", children, grandchildren and friends from Thibodaux in a CARAVAN of passenger vans. 30 of us in total, we were the MOST "Tulane Loving Fans"!!!

The Friday night before the game we went out on Bealle Street to a fun place called Silky O Sullivan's. Mike even got to take a picture with Silky. It was awesome! Gameday, we got up early. We were so excited about the game, so we just got ready early !! I even set a personal goal. I told everyone: "If we win, I will quit smoking" and it worked! We won the game and haven't touched a cigarette since and never will!! Tulane is to be thanked for that. We both won!!!

After the game we went "Downtown after the Victory to celebrate the New Year. Very Cold! [It was butt @$$ cold on New Years Eve that year, I concur]

Which is your #1 favorite Tulane student athlete (past or current)?

Matt Forte and so many others!!

Do you have any pre-game rituals or lucky outfits/accessories?

I have a favorite Tulane scarf that stays in my Tulane bag all year long, comes out for the games, of course the bag comes with me too. We also listen to the Tulane Fight Song early that morning too!!

Are there any past Tulane fans that you have admired and thankful you got to know?

Our dearest friend Clayton Hebert. He was a HUGE "Tulane Fan" and supporter. He passed in December 2009, but not before making all but 2 games that season while undergoing treatments for a brain tumor which was discovered in July. He wanted to see his "Wave" for the last time and he was determined to be there and he was. Its just not the same without him this year, but we know he's among us. After each game we win, we all gather in the parking lot and we have a spcial chant that was started by Clayton and his brother Craig.


Oh how special are the memories of Clayton. He and his wife Marie are the proud parents of 7 grown children and many grandchildren, all of whom are "Tulane Fans!" His tradition lives on!!

Thanks Lil'General for sharing your stories! I love them all ~

Jeremiah was a Bullfrog!

Okay, so I'm just a little stunned about the decision of our friends in O-Town, Mississippi and their choice of QB for the 2010-11 season. Joining the legacies of Archie Manning and Eli Manning. Compare and Contrast.

My eyebrows are arched.

It is just interessante because rumor had it that Mrs. "Potty Mouth" Orgeron got her fair share of sideways glances in O-Town simply because she was a little rough around the edges and didn't quite "fit in" with the crowd at The Grove.

With this QB, we aren't talking about a poor choice of words in polite company or an inappropriate choice of outfit for your age and status. Nope, this is a far cry from a run in with the Fashion Police.

I might have to plot with Koozie to make some fun handcuffs for the game on September 11th. Just for some lighthearted humor and knock em down a few pegs. Kind of like the Rice Marching Owl Band and their fabulous halftime performances.

Just to show that Mrs. Hullabaloo isn't a completely horrible and insenstive person, I am saying a prayer for Mr. Jeremiah. I sincerely hope that Mr. Jeremiah has Come to Jesus and forgiven for his transgressions. and that he benefits immensely in the future from his Masters in "Parks and Recreation" from the University of Mississippi. Also.

Tailgating Rules

from Memphis Commercial Appeal. Coach Jim Pittman and two Greenwave football players graciously greeting Miss Liberty Bowl, Linda Thompson (future Miss Tennesse, girlfriend of Elvis and mother of Brandon Jenner)


I ran across this today

Virginia Tech VTcageTailg8ors Official Tailgating Etiquette

which I found hilarious. Luckily we have not gotten to the point of being out of hand at Tulane tailgating to warrent so many "official" rules created/enforced by individual tailgating clubs.

So I decided to comment upon them. What do you think?

P.S. This list is from the VTCageTailg8ors (I promise it is not mine. I do, however, claim the snarky comments).

1. Everyone is welcome to come and tailgate.
(mmmm...I don't know about that. We are snobs and I'm not embarrassed or ashamed to admit that. We have a weird sense of humor, so you need to have a very thick skin to fit in. You also need to be a foodie, this is a deal breaker on any invitation to join the Hullabaloo Huddlers. Also, trespassing on our tailgating space is verboten, that is some serious lack of manners to just squat in Peggy's Patio).

2. Everyone needs to help out by bringing food or financially assisting. It's not fair for a few individuals to always supply/prepare food for everyone. Suggested contribution if tailgating is $10 per game.
(Lord have mercy, this is New Orleans. When have you ever run out of food brought and generously shared at a gathering? I am usually the opposite and asking guests not to bring one more morsel. We tend to prepare obscenely generous quantities like it's the last meal for an army and share with strangers and friends alike. Most NOLA folk's tailgating supplies include mandatory ziplocks so that everybody can please take leftovers home with them, or you'll be reheating jambalaya until next football season. I can assure you that I will not show this list to Coach Hullabaloo or this last part of the rule will trigger some stupid idea on curtailing my tailgating spending. Seriously. Coach H used to host "Rent Parties" in college. You buy a keg of beer and then charge admission to your apartment (!). I was mortified to learn of such practices. I can assure you none of the Fiji, Sigma Chi, or Alpha Tau Omega boys I fraternized with EVER charged for their parties. )

3. Drinks out of the round silver cooler and kegerator are for everyone.
(fair enough, although we in New Orleans should have AA on speed dial, so there is always plenty of adult beverages to share).

4. When you arrive at the tailgate, chairs will be in the trailer. Chairs that have a red label around them are reserved chairs. Those that have a silver label are for general/public use. When you leave the tailgate, put your chair back into the trailer where you found it. You may store your tailgating chairs in the trailer, please make sure you put your name on the chair.
(what if I wanted to be ornery and use a fuscia label or something? anyways, all New Orleaneans keep folding chairs in their trunk ready at a moments notice because every weekend is a different festival, parade, game, crawfish or shrimp boil etc.)

5. We will start putting things back in the trailer approximately 45 minutes prior to kick-off of each game, PLEASE HELP WITH THE CLEANUP. Trailer doors will be locked 30 minutes prior to kick-off.
(I hope the designated driver is in charge of watching the time, cause we are usually having too much fun to be timing things with such precision).

6. Alcohol consumption is acceptable, but stupidity/out of control is not.(my one and only LSU game in which they were not playing Tulane, Coach Hullabaloo and I left about 3 minutes into the first quarter. Drunk is normal. Idiots are unacceptable. This one woman kept spitting daiqiuiri while screaming incomprehensibly while this other dude kept jumping around screaming "Who Let the Tigers Out?! Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!" to the chant of the Baja Men. ummm...quelle annoying. and they were both wearing jorts, ugly tee-shirts and crocs. which was both stupid and out of control just right there.)

7. No Smoking or cursing in the immediate area of the tailgate as we try to respect everyone
(also, no peeing on our cars. That applies to you Mesdemoiselles Co-Ed Underclassmen who get too drunk to stumble to the ample number of portolets paid for by Tulane. Because we aren't shy and will call you out and you will look stupid since everybody is watching you flash your cooter)

8. Please be respectful of everyone around. (If the jerk alert goes off, you will be asked to leave)
(ahem, COUGH, UofH and UCF peeps)

9. VTCAGETAILG8ORS is not responsible for any lost/stolen/damaged items left in the trailer.
(Koozie has got some stories to tell about some jacktard underclassmen that up and took our things during one of the games. So now everything just gets stored in cars and brought back out after the game.

10. Please RSVP by 12:00 pm Wednesday of each week if you plan on attending the tailgate for that Saturday. We want to ensure we have enough food for everyone.
(these tailgaters have clearly never received a Mrs. Hullabaloo mailed invitation creation to have to be giving out reminders about RSVPs)

11. If you see something that appears odd in or around the trailer, please question.
(at the Gormley tailgating, we caught a student's father come up and start making himself a bloody mary like we knew him or something. Friends and Friends of Friends are clearly always welcome, but if we don't know you, ummm...stay away. and much less make yourself a drink. We almost thought about instituting a bracelet policy. But usually we are all well-mannered and you know, make sure to introduce new peeps to all the regular Hullabaloo Huddlers so that we know who is who)

12. If you don’t see something, just ask.
(I do not see a special teams coach. or a new offensive play caller. while I'm at it, I don't see an indoor practice faility or an on-campus stadium)

13. If you see an area of improvement let's discuss...
(see #12)

14. Everyone needs to attempt an Irish Car Bomb during the season :)
(I raise you that Irish Car Bomb and give you The Koozie White Russian)

15. Have fun and Go Hokies!
(phew, I was going to ask if FUN was allowed here)

The Koozie White Russian
Extra Large Stadium Cup
Drink Ice (VERY important, regular cooler ice is just sub-par)
Browns Dairy Half+Half
Whipped Cream in a Can
Vodka
Kahlua

CSI Turchin

Ummm, where did the baseball season go? As you can see, we have CSI Turchin on this. They're all over it.

Well, I can share with you that Mrs. Hullabaloo enjoyed baseball season thoroughly. Any season in which we beat LSU is a season to remember fondly. and especially when they get knocked out of the post season. Yay!

Coach Hullabaloo (yes, he was promoted emeritus as there was a glaring vacancy on special teams) - as I was saying, Coach Hullabaloo and I watched Game Two of the College World Series last night. Sigh, the end of college baseball season....

While watching this wonderful American pasttime, I have to point out that we were mightly disappointed with several items, the most important which was UCLA just giving up and robbing us college sports fans of a third game. Quelle Lameness.

The other points of contention: Why didn't ANY of South Carolina's uni's display the shortened version of their moniker? I would SO have loved a CWS of South Carolina v. Oregon State. Or even Irvine. That would have provided hours and hours of jokes and entertainment!

and lastly...apparently in the past decade, only TWO College World Series have taken place. Nothing else to see here, but highlights of that particular team which must be played continually throughout the breaks between innings. Luckily the remote control was quickly at hand to solve that problem.

So, as I mentioned above, CSI Turchin was commissioned and put out on the beat. The story of the christening of CSI Turchin: it started out as some innocent little jokes, but then became the overall mantra of the season.

Who is this team in our uniforms that lost so miserable to UAB and then came back to life for a mid-week game? Someone check the roadside rest areas. Koozie picking up on subtle changes to our tailgating set ups. Nothing gets past him.

So we snicker, but tailgating with our lovable Koozie is always hoot. He is our official Eagle Scout. Meticulous about protecting our tailgating wares. Adamant about proper sanitation and proper tailgating procedures (nothing bad with that). a friend to the environment by insisting in taking one car to the game and thus foiling all plans for a surprise birthday.

The photo above, we tried to distract Koozie by sending him off on a ghost errand with Coach Hullabaloo. Coach Hullabaloo tried his mightiest to keep Koozie distracted to no avail.

See, Peggy had spent weeks organizing a surprise party for Koozie, every detail was mapped out, duties delegated, everything ready to be set in motion. All to be derailed when he refused to take his own car to the game as requested. Such a simple request! But in the end a fun time was had by all. Getting there was hilarious.

So anyways, the photo above was taken after we had successfully fended off Koozie on the errand so we could set up the party and all the surprise guests could arrive. Only to find that Koozie locked the car and took the keys with him. Peggy and all of us were trying to break into the car to rescue all of the party wares.

What a hoot ~ so we made one of our more popular dishes for this tailgating season: PIGS IN A PEN/Meatballs in a Pen*.

PIGS IN A PEN
Fresh French Bread (do not deviate, you must buy same day fresh loaves from a preferably vietnamese bakery)
Your best chili recipe
Grilled hot dogs
shredded cheddar cheese
diced onions
(for meatballs in a pen *substitute hot dogs and chili with meatballs in marinara, and use mozzarella instead of cheddar)

The magicalness of Pigs in a Pen, is to scrape out the inside of the loaf and make a cavity. Put in your hot dogs, generous scoops of chili, layered in between with cheddar cheese and onions. A No Mess, Messy Delicious Tailgating Meal.

So the season was not a complete loss. See statment above about beating LSU 9-1 (!). SO close to being a shut out game, but they scored a homer in the 9th. We made the ESPN play of the day though.

And our very own Seggy, he of The Hot Corner fame, is now with the New York Yankees. I don't know what we are going to call the seating at Third Base anymore. This was a photo taken of us volunteering at the Tulane Golf Classic at English Turn, where we got to meet several of our favorite players including Seggy. Our favorite booster group below: The Greenbackers.

We heart the Greenbackers. So much fun, such good tailgating chefs, irrepressable sense of humor. God love em.

So the next task for CSI Turchin is what to do about Peggy's Patio. Peggy's Patio might need to be rechristened into Peggy's Loft. We had ALL manner of folks intruding on our Patio this season. Seriously. We are considering taking action and building out a deck with a lock on it, and putting up an official plaque:

"Peggy's Loft: No Trespassing. Unless of course you are bringing a delightful treat to add to our tailgating buffet, in which case: Welcome Y'all!"

We had some wonderful additions of to our tailgating krewe from amongst the assorted fans who have wandered into Section 110. I hope to add their recipes soon. But in the meantime I leave you with The Famous Guacamole (I swear it is famous).

THE FAMOUS GAUCAMOLE
2 or 3 Regular "alligator pear" avocadoes (the little dark green ones, not the big Haas ones that are light green)
smidge chopped FRESH cilantro (honey, if you can't use fresh ingredients, don't bother)
1 chopped Roma tomato (or handful cherry or grape, they key is small and flavorful)
1 or 2 sprigs chopped Green onions
Knorr Cilantro Mini Cube (available at mexican groceries)
squeeze of fresh lemon or lime (just a squirt or two)
salt and pepper to taste
packet of sugar (or a sprinkle of you are eyeballing it)

Sugar!? I know it sounds weird, but I promise it brings out the flavors of the avocados beautifully and I promise you won't have a single morsel left in your serving dish after you set it out at your tailgating party.

What I do is mix my seasonings first, crush up the cilantro cube, squeeze out my lemon or lime. Then I chop up my avocado, mush it all up and mix in the seasonings. adjust my salt and peppa, and taste. Then I chop up the tomaters and the onions and cilantro and toss it all together with my fabulous avocado mixture. Died and Gone to Heaven Delicious.

It's a secret recipe from a fine establishment that I worked at in college that keeps their recipes under Lock and Key. It was served briefly and always had a cult-like following. I promise, you will come back here and THANK me for this recipe!

Roll Wave!

Railgator Road Warriors

October thru November, Faithful Tulane Tailgators have to pack it up and take it on the road. Pictures to hold you over for now, but will actually write and share all recipes once I recover. That was brutal.

And the pictures will make much more sense with captions. Especially the LSU ones. That campus and their people continue to mistify.

For now, I leave with our new lexicon: Railgating. For all you football fans out there - I highly recommend road trips on rails and going to all the little football hamlets via Amtrak. Cheap and stress-less.

The Copelands and The Kaplans

Bear with me here. I’m a Newcomb alumna. It is impossible to not be “brainy” about mundane activities. Even when blogging about TULANE GREENWAVE BEATS THE BEEF PEOPLE!

Al Copeland, our beloved New Orleans icon, was flamboyant, brash, over the top, an exclamation point in celebration and life. In the words of my favorite Times Picayune columnist Chris Rose (not to be confused with Tammy Nunez who pens elaborate romance novels, tripping over herself in an effort to publicize her lust and devotion of every Tulane opponent), said of Copeland: “I'm a big fan of over-the-top. A big fan of celebration. A big fan of lust for life. A big fan of Big Fun. Copeland epitomized these things. He was one more guy who put his life on display for all to see, another example of talking too much, living too large and laughing too loud -- those New Orleans attributes that sometimes make folks elsewhere a little leery of this place.”

We in New Orleans Love Fun! We like being irreverent. We talk too much, we laugh too loud, we want to pull you into our spirit and might give you too many hugs, we might welcome you with a kiss on the cheek and invade your personal space. All you unfun people: if you don’t enjoy these activities, we suggest you find somewhere else to sit. Especially if you aren’t even sitting in your own seats.

All week long, The RV Brigade had been predicting a win. Vegas had us a 4 pt underdog. Louisiana Sportswriters actually put pen to paper on this. I bet their crow cereal and ass+u+me juice was delish on Sunday morning.

116 years of football history. Let me repeat that: 116 years of football.

Max McGhee, Clark Shaughnessy, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, SEC champions, Undefeated 98 Season, Matt Forte and you stinkers thought we we're gonna let McNeese and their RV Brigade just waltz on into our house?

Did y’all honestly think that Bob Toledo was going to allow a loss and forever be known as The Tulane Football Coach to Drop a Game against a 2AA program? He might as well have just fallen on a sword and not even shown up at the dome. But McNeese beat Appalachian State (!). They’re bringing 10,000 people (!) – is that like all of Lake Charles or what? They have RV’s (!).

I knew things were starting off on the right foot because Mr. and Mrs. Hullabaloo prepped tailgating grub, packed up the car, and set up at the dome without a single argument. Mr. Hullabaloo even found the game tickets without having to make a terse and false accusation that I had moved them from the spot he’d put them so as not to forget where he put them.

So we were off to the dome, and passed all manner of blue and yellow RV Brigadeers enjoying our fine city. and Spending Money. Yay!

There was a little bit of a drizzle, we saw dark clouds on the horizon, a slightly stronger drizzle nipped right by us and then we were in the clear for a steamy afternoon of tailgating.

I made stuffed artichokes, which if I do say so myself, I am becoming quite adept at. Stuffed artichokes are the perfect cocktail nibble food that hostesses can provide. Savory, tasty, can eat with your hands, filing, and easy.

Nawlins Stuffed Artichokes
a plump artichoke or two
can of progresso bread crumbs (what Just Joe uses)
very generous douses of garlic powder (I suggest this)
chopped parsley (fresh or dried)
bunches and bunches parmesan cheese (grate your own or KRAFT. Just Joe recommends Kraft)EVOO – bout half a cup
lemon zest and/or fresh lemon juicesome
shake, shake shakes of salt n peppa

Cut the bottom stem of the artichoke off so that it’s completely stemless and flat. Pluck off all the little bitty stems that might be left. You can’t stuff those little buggers, so just toss ‘em. Rub the open wound where the stem used to be with a slice of lemon so that the juice keeps the artichoke from browning. Cut the 1/3 off the top of the artichoke, and then take some kitchen scissors to square off the ends of the remaining leaves so that there’s no pointiness. Squeeze some lemon over the cut leaves. Mix breadcrumbs, garlic, parm, parsley, lemon zest or squeezes of lemon juice, salt and pepper, drizzles of evoo so that the mixture is clumpy and sticks together.

Take a spoon and stab the middle of your choke and start swirling it around to open up the core. Pull out the really spiney purple leaves if you can get to them. Swirl open each subsequent layer of leaves to loosen them up from the inside out. Spoon generous heaps of the breadcrumb mixture into each layer of leaves from the inside out. Your artichoke should be busting about twice its original size. Don’t miss any layer, each leaf should have fabulous amounts of bread crumbing. Keep stuffing her and stuffing her until she just can’t take it anymore.

Fill a stock pot with about an inch or two of water. Put in the chokes, make sure that they are standing up, drizzle the rest of your evoo over the breading in the chokes. Simmer/Boil the artichokes for an hour or so until the leaves pull right off and the breading is a dark brown. Refill water as needed. Take out of pot, but don’t pack up until the chokes have stopped steaming. Otherwise they’ll be watery with the steam that collects in a container. And then bring them to momma cause I will just gobble them up.

So while we’re tailgating we notice this LSU bum hovering around and Peggy yells out “HEY BARNEY!” and the weirdo actually stops and looks at us like WE were weird. So then Peggy yells “Are You Lost? This isn’t Starkville.” And he’s still just looking at Peggy like he’s trying to figure out what language Peggy is speaking. So Peggy calls out to his friend and says “Hey, your friend here. He’s lost, please show him the right exit on the interstate for Starkville.” Us Hullabaloo Huddlers were rolling in laughter.

And I found a lucky penny!

I put that right into Peggy’s pocket for safe keeping. Koozie brought a horn he’d taken to the 2007 LSU game that worked so well. We had all our voodoo in place. And then during the first quarter I was powdering my nose when McNeese laid an egg on a drive (fumbling, etc.) and had to punt. So it was decided that I had bathroom mojo duty during McNeese’s possessions. In the third quarter during a McNeese possession, I wandered up to the Claiborne Club and they were tossing balloon bouquets from the pre-game party. So I snatched up a set, sprouted horns and knew nothing good was going to come of it.

This picture is what was left of the balloon bouquet at the post-game at Henry's bar.

Somehow some very “unfun” peeps sat themselves in front of us during the game. and it wasn’t even their seats! And they had the nerve to get aggravated with us!

McNeese’s half time performance was the “Beef! It’s What’s For Dinner” song. Which is actually called “Rodeo” by a composer of the name Aaron Copeland.

Aaron Copeland was born Aaron Kaplan. A Lithuanian Jew that grew up in Brooklyn. And as you know, we at Tulane love our jewish heritage, especially all our New Yorkers. So a jewish composer serendipitously takes the name of one of our most favorite and famous New Orleans characters, created the Cowboy tune and McNeese performed it at a Tulane game. Thank you!

Anyways, Peggy, Koozie and I just hooted with laughter making silly comments such as McNeese: The Beef People! Beef! It’s What’s For Dinner!

Listen, we don’t hold back. Even when talking about our own. The only defense that Tulane had the entire game were turnovers. Cause they were scoring on every drive and so were we. So turnovers saved our game. At one point, Koozie yells out about our defense "That Looks Like a Second Line!" behind McNeese. Snicker!

If you are offended by what we say and how we amuse ourselves at a game, then don’t sit in section 110 during baseball or 143 at the dome. I have to say, however, that we are not like the idiots at 3rd base in Pete’s Trailer Park in Hattiesburg who have zero class. They are complete redneck idiots. We prefer to call ourselves “Witty.”

So a lady with a blind hair colorist sitting in front of us is not amused. If I had paid for a cut and color and ended up with “Morgus Loses at Paintball,” I would have had a chip on my shoulder too. I wasn’t sure if that was an early nod to Halloween or what, but I let Morgus be throughout the first half.

Well Koozie’s horn rolled over to her row in the middle of the Beef Song, and that was it. Morgus had had enough! So Morgus threw the horn at Peggy! Peggy tells her not to throw it at her and so Morgus goes GHETTO like she’s about to ask Peggy to take it outside and initiate a throw down. I was completely aghast.

Peggy points out that she’s sitting in our seats. I tell Morgus that we’ve let her be and she needs to let us be. Morgus continues to stand, but she was blocking Mr. Hullabaloo’s view of the band so he axes her to sit down. Mr. Hullabaloo has that ear to just tune Peggy and I out when we get on a roll being silly, but now Morgus was interrupting his view. Morgus mouths off to Mr. Hullabaloo that we’re not even watching, we’re just making fun of it and Mr. Hullabaloo repeats his request that she sit down.

Apparently Morgus was the guest of an imposter Tulane fan, cause Mr. Imposter did not do a SINGLE hullabaloo, he didn’t clap, he sat with his arms folded the ENTIRE first half. At first I thought he was a blind mute. We decided earlier on that they must have gotten lost on their way to the ballet. Because all that was left for them was to doze off and snore.

Tulane Nation has had a drought of 366 days since our last victory in football and you’re gonna sit there in a Tulane shirt in silence and be ANNOYED with the Hullabaloo?

Well Mr. Hullabaloo's request that Morgus catch some seat did not go over well, because Mr. Imposter opens up his mouth for the first time and says something to Mr. Hullabaloo. All of a sudden it was an uh-oh no she di-nt moment! After a momentary staredown between our row and theirs, Morgus and Imposter decided that their defiance strategy would be to continue sitting like mannequins in their stolen seats and roll their eyes each and every time we belted out The Hullabaloo.

So in the 3rd quarter I got the balloon bouquet and we liberated one of the white balloons and left the green and baby blue ones in place. The green and blue balloons were christened as our Lucky Nuts (will fill you in on that during baseball season).

Peggy and I took turns sucking on the helium and belting out things like “Hullabaloo!” “Roll Wave!” “The Beef People” and then Peggy’s Piece De Resistance: “Beef! It’s What’s For Dinner!” We were laughing uncontrollably like silly teenagers. We were immature. It was great!

Morgus and Imposter remained super glued to the back of their seats the entire rest of the game and turned their noses up at us on their way out. They even dissed poor sweet adorable Priscilla who had missed the whole encounter because she was busy chatting adorably like she always does. Priscilla was just thoroughly confused if they were for McNeese or what their deal was. Well, Buh-bye!

So the clock ticks down and OMG: This One Belongs to the Wave! We all ran down to the sideline and high fived the team. (pic from wavefootball.com)
I told Travis Burks to go kick some Army butt next week. And then we busted out with a final round of “Hullabaloo” with the football team. It was a moment to remember!!!

Almost as memorable as when we beat SMU in overtime in Dallas in 2007. Reggie Scott sacked SMU's QB who fumbled the ball. Green Wave defensive tackle Avery Williams, 288 lbs, recovers the fumble and starts running, but it’s done, the game's over. Mid-race Avery realizes he can stop, but he keeps running in a circle back to the original line of scrimmage where everyone is celebrating. He is exhausted from running in circles and falls to the ground on his back like a cockroach and wiggles his arms and legs in the air laughing. It was almost as memorable as the roar after The Greatest Play Never Made.

I hope that Peggy and I are like the mythological Sirens, Aglaopheme and Thelxiepeia: so that Morgus and Imposter have Hullabaloo ringing in their ears and that they keep hearing it repeating in their head all night long. I'd hate to see their reaction when Tulane has a winning season, they'd probably hold a funeral.

Anyways, on to West Point for the revege game against those weanies!