Dr. Hullabaloo, Senior Advisor for Tailgating Advancement

Hoo-ray!

By the way, did you know Marjorie Cowen is getting paid $100k a year as a "senior advisor" for Institutional Advancement. Whatever that means. I will totally need to be nosy and up none of my business and ask Peggy Kelly if she snagged herself a salary while she was occupying Two Audubon Place as the First Lady of Tulane. Because for real, I should look into making my gig a more lucrative position here. I'm not getting any younger, ha!

So what have we been up to?! Well, Coach Hullabaloo and I done gone and graduated our first class of "daughters" from Tulane this year. I had one chickadee assigned to me from the class of 2013 as a Newcomb Town Mom. The past four years I have meticulously cultured her in all ways New Orleans: eating her first oyster, where the proper chargrilled oysters are purveyed (Drago's, duh), how to properly celebrate at a real life Mardi Gras Ball, NOT wear purple to a Tulane Coach's Radio Show, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Chickadee is a big sister to a whole other passel of "daughters" that I currently oversee who will begin graduating soon also. And best news is that Chickadee wants to be a Town Mom herself, so now I will have Grand-Chickadees! Very exciting! The Hullabaloo Dynasty shall continue....

Anyways, at Chickadee's graduation we were watching all manner of New Orleans dignitaries receive honorary doctorates. Dr. John is now Dr. Dr. John (ha! Eric on twitter called this one). Alan Toussaint is now Dr. Toussaint. As we were applauding these wonderful developments, my mind immediately wandered off to Irma and how she should be next in line. Dr. Irma... and then a lightbulb went off closer to home: ...Hello, ME.

Dr. Hullabaloo, Senior Advisor for Tailgating Advancement. Has a nice ring to it. And then, I thought about our tailgating invitations and the awesome change in zip code they'll have now:

Coach and Dr. Hullabaloo
request the pleasure of your company
at The Tailgating Extravaganza
Fall 2014
Yulfogelmevlin
New Orleans, Louisiana

répondez s'il vous plait...

Fabulicious, right?!

Anyways, so the Friday news dump today was pretty huge, right? That's probably why you are here. So, Hurray! 60 more weeks!!!!

And he won't work for us no' mo'

So here's the deal, because so many poor misguided souls out there right now are actually sad about this, I present to you, my story. and I hope it helps round out the picture for you. I preface this all by saying, I am not bitter. It is what it is.

Back in the January 2006 after Katrina, Cowen came to a meeting the Newcomb alumnae board were having. I was a member. We knew sh&t was fixing to hit the fan and we hadn't had a meeting during the Katrina semester. We told Cowen we were meeting at 10am or whatever. But secretly we met at 8am to give us a few hours to discuss amongst ourselves. Wouldn't you know the man shows up at 9:30. It was an ironic meeting, because our final meeting previous to Katrina in the spring 2005 was where we went over Newcomb's budget numbers. Our alumnae board had always been very vigilant about Newcomb's endowment. Every year our board reviewed where the numbers fit in with Tulane's finances. Tulane had overreached in the past on Newcomb's endowment and so we had been able to fight tooth and nail to preserve the endowment separate from Tulane's over the course of 100+ years. So anyways, this fine morning in January Cowen shows up and proceeds to give us this Oscar-worthy speech about "financial exigency" that was currently threatening Tulane blah blah blah. He had given the same canard to the board of administrators and they bought it hook, line and sinker and then rubber stamped his decisions about restructuring Tulane, firing all of the tenured professors and re-orging all of it's schools. When we spoke to Newcomb alums on the board after their vote, they were shocked to find out what we knew. They were told "this is the only option" and so scared out of their wits, they believed him. So anyways, Scott Cowen starts with this whole business of we are on the verge of extinction as an entity, and so I pipe up and interrupt his speech with a seemingly simple question: "Can we look at the numbers you are looking at?" And he starts hemming and hawing well, uh, you see, uh, "Those numbers won't be ready until August." And so I asked him "well, you are asking us to sign off on something drastic and you are asking us to go by your word that we are in a drastic situation." But he didn't even come in to our meeting with a post-it note or any sort of handout. We were just supposed to fall right into line because he was looking serious and fatherly in a cable knit sweater. So he looks back at me and asked me if I was calling him a liar. Well, ummm, yeah, but who do you think we are here? (I was kinda chicken to sass back "YES!" and just ended up letting it go)

To make a long story short (because I was chin deep in the Newcomb fight for 4 years), we orchestrated two law suits to halt what he was doing. In the course of it, Cowen's lawyers and other admin people who were deposed came back and changed their tune that he had never indicated the restructuring was due to "financial exigency." One of the admin peoples serving as a witness for Tulane actually tried to pass herself off as a Newcomb alumna! I swear we were all aghast. She had gone thru University College thank you very much. Anyways, the beautiful teary speech I had witnessed that day in January was a mirage, we had imagined the whole thing. The official line was that the re-org/merger/endowment stealing happened to "streamline the student experience." That was their story and they were sticking to it.

Y'all if I'm lying, I'm dying.

So you add my experience, plus the valiant efforts by the "Lunatic Fringe" who picketed everyday in front of Gibson Hall over the 2003 review, on top of putting up with the misadministration of athletics in general - and not to mention the "resignation" of Sandy Barbour, the unbelievable humiliation inflicted upon Rich Rodriguez, and a myriad of other unforgivable sins (the titanic deck chairs, remember that statement?) - you can understand my elation at the news that the sun has finally set on the Cowen Administration. I know it's shocking to learn that he was all smoke and mirrors, but he's very good at that. Seconds after pulling the review, he staged that whole BCS david and goliath drama for the media. He was suddenly for the survival of college football after he was against it. And he was going to testify before Congress about it if he had to. All his hard work spit shining himself landed him recognition as a "Top 10" college president bestowed by Time Magazine. <-- some Mad Skillz if you ask me.

Oh, and one last story. Back in the early 2000s, my friend Little Rue (that's what I'm calling him) sat on a plane ride out to Raleigh-Durham next to the son of the athletic director of a school in the ACC. The ACC was in the midst of reorging and he told Little Rue that he was very excited about Tulane joining the ACC because the decision to invite us was pretty much a done deal. Tulane fit right in with the atmosphere of the other schools in the ACC etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. We were still cobbling together decent seasons and beating teams like Mississippi State and TCU and such. Little Rue was thrilled, as were Mr. and Mrs. Hullabaloo (we hadn't assumed our upgraded titles at that point). Only to then have our hopes dashed when Tulane declined. or the invitation fell through or whatever actually happened, I do not know for certain. But the rumors I heard were that we gave the ACC the paw because of the travel costs involved in lugging our teams out to play games on the East Coast.

O. M. G.

Anyways, I'm over it. Until further notice anyways. I need to keep reminding myself that the Dalai Lama was our official commencement speaker this year and I should very much take to heart that the past is the past and we should forgive and forget. I should let go that we went from #38 to #51 in college rankings while Case Western shot out of a cannon in the opposite direction, Our 6 years of not being in the post season in baseball is old hat, Our 10 years since our last bowl game is ancient history. Scott Cowen will soon also be in our rearview mirror. (yay) So onwards! Let us now turn our attention onto South Alabama!

So, to change topics: A very exciting forward-looking development is the new "young alum" booster club started by the Young Turks (or young drunks as they posted on here). It's called the Gumby Social Aid & Pleasure Club. Coach and Dr. Hullabaloo went to the launch party last night and offered our warmest wishes.



and look, they got a cake and bumper stickers, so cute! I am so excited for them and wish them much merriment making in the years to come. This same group was behind the Turchin Tidal Wave and the Fogelman Fanatics. I hope we land them a new president worthy of their enthusiasm.

So here's to new beginnings and not looking back!

It's Spring and I'm giving it a Break

Spring has finally sprung in New Orleans and our festivus season underway. Including, Tulane Spring Formal season and other very exciting developments at Hullabaloo Huddle!

Yes, I continue to be aggravated on a daily basis by the emasculation on continual display you know where, but it's Spring and how can you not just love the beautiful days that our creator has bestowed up on us chosen ones who call Nola home. Coach Hullabaloo has reconciled himself vis-a-vis our dismal baseball conference record by suggesting that we consider checking out tailgating opportunities for Women's Sand Volleyball or Tulane Track, both of whom have been carrying the wins for Greenwave Nation. I hear Tulane Women's Bowling is also kicking ass and taking names. So....who's up for some mad beer pong over at Rock 'n Bowl?

Anyways, I was excited about spring formal season for the first time in 20 years because one of my freshmen town daughter chickadees got invited to her first fraternity formal. I was so excited for her! It's been lots of fun with my latest crop of chickadees because they both rushed and I got to share texting updates with them about their rush outfits and their party invitations and such. Anyways, since I covered the new-ish tradition of customizing coolers for your dates in last football season's blogging, I was able to catch her up to speed. And now lookey here: I get to admire her totally boss cooler.

How awesome is this?


I love that she has the date by hisself on the beach. Mrs Hullabaloo stands very, very impressed with Chickadee's mad Martha Stewart skills and hope to entice her into decorating a wood cooler that Coach Hullabaloo gifted me for the holidays for tailgating season.

So the ECU series this past weekend in Baseball was interesting in that A) Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo were complete wus fans and B) we had a delightful tailgate hosted by FF and Red. FF was so funny, he notified me that he was relocating our official tailgating area over to the newly christened Peggy's Annex since the construction equipment for "your football stadium" was blocking our regular tailgating digs under The Ineffective Tree in Peggy's Patio.

Speaking of Ineffective, did you know that Coach Jones has now also outlawed as Ineffective the valiant Italian flag waving by BigMac and LittleMac who love them some I-talian heritage. They would furiously wave the Red and Green flag either when we had a fellow paisan at bat or on the mound and in full display over the visiting team dug out so that our dugout could see. Well apparently that's now adding undue juju to our misery, so it's been kiboshed or I think banished to an undisclosed location. Anyways, tailgating hasn't been kiboshed just yet, and so FF made some boss chicken wings and we mooched some truly epic jambalaya cooked up by Bowen Woodson's daddy who tailgates just across the way from Peggy's Annex with the rest of the players fams.

Sadly, Coach and Mrs Hullabaloo are just so over it that in the top of the ninth on Friday when we were still down, we left and missed the tying runs and the subsequent 29 overtime innings (clearly I'm exagerating, I think it was only like 4 more innings). We also just went to tailgate for Saturday and didn't attend the game. Stick a fork in us, you know the drill. But! You'll be delighted to know that I didn't leave on Friday night before snapping a picture of this completely stylish ensemble Project Runway'd by Brandon Boudreaux's momma, Leslie.


Leslie has some mad style and I have always admired her level of creativity when it comes to pairing up Greenwave inspired outfits. Like one year she bought one of the men's Tulane tuxedo vests and wore that very, very chicly with crisp black trouser shorts and an adorable white knit top. Here in this picture she's taken a Tulane pair of Mardi Gras beads and turned it into a bracelet (I mean it helps that they own a Boudreaux's Jewelry, but how cuuute!) and a very cute blue fleece blazer she upcycled from Wal-Mart with an Athletic T Wave patch and paired over this adorbs sky blue gingham oxford button down. It's just all so fab that I wish she had a What Leslie Wore blog so I can admire and pinterest all of her outfits.

So as you can see, the ECU series wasn't entirely doom and gloom. We won one game and tied up all three games. Putting aside my No Moral Victories EVER (!) attitude, the bright side is that I got to catch up with Che and FF about Challah-baloo TM next September. FF claims to make a mean brisket, and if the wings he made Saturday were any indication, I immediately shanghai'd him into committing to make brisket for Challah-baloo TM. Che thought that our theme was genius and mentioned to me about He'Brew from the Schmaltz Brewing Company.


I about fell over I was kevelling so much. As Peggy sez, it was out of control. Seriously, how absolutely genius is this beer? L'Chaim! and "the Chosen One!" Talk about lmao. Apparently there's all kinds of flavors so I am going to do a test kitchen and see if we can make a Skip n Go recipe using a variety of He'Brew.

So the additional injection of ideas for Challabaloo has me pinteresting some more for that event. I really can't wait!

So Shalom Y'all - catch up with y'all for the Houston series and our Quatro de Mayo tailgating.

Be Blessed!

Dude, please

I present to you: The Black Tuesday Statement TM issued to explain away the Epic Meltdown. Interspersed with my snarky dialogue of course.

"Tulane men’s basketball sophomore guard Ricky Tarrant has requested and been granted a release to speak with other institutions regarding a transfer from the university."

Except that earlier his daddy allegedly said that Tulane refused to sign his transfer request, see (guess TPTB don't follow twitter)


"Additionally, junior forward Josh Davis and senior guard Ben Cherry, who will graduate from Tulane in May, have requested and been granted permission to speak with other institutions about graduate participation."

Lawd. Facepalm.


"Davis is also considering his professional basketball opportunities, but his options also include a return to the Green Wave for a senior season."

Please. Man. Just stop.

"In addition, sophomore post Lotanna Nwogbo has requested and been granted a release to speak with other institutions regarding a transfer from Tulane."

(and Kendall Timmons RE-Tweeted this!)


“We wish these young men all the best in what lies ahead in their basketball careers,” Tulane Coach Ed Conroy said. “Despite their possible departures, we look forward to building upon the success of this program.”


“We are disappointed to have these young men leave our basketball program but unfortunately this is becoming more prevalent in men’s basketball,” Tulane Director of Athletics Rick Dickson said.

In complete denial I see. Every program implodes each and every season. It's just business as usual around these parts. Nothing to worry about.


“Our basketball program is coming off its best season in 13 years and we have a talented (?) core group (???) of players coming back next year.”

what?!


“We are also excited (!) about the talent level in this year’s signing class, which is expected to have an immediate impact on the team.”

What planet are you on?

"As with all transfer inquiries, the four student-athletes requests were reviewed and processed according to Tulane and NCAA rules and regulations."

Smashing! Well, there's that we can hang our hat on then.


Seriously. I have a thousand things to say about all of this.

Nothing a Bad Attitude Can't Fix Y'all

Oh, what are you all worked up over?

So we got run ruled at home last week, followed by losing a meaningless midweek game. What's the big deal?

At least our cookie cake was cute. See.

also the pictures interspersed here are of Mrs Hullabaloo modeling a costume change with an unknown Tulane fan. Yes, I undressed in front of my husband with a complete stranger and switched shirts for a photo op. This bowling shirt is on my bucket list of Greenwave lore to own. Norby's was a tradition between Outhouse fans and Greenies that whoever won a game had to wheelbarrow the other team's fans. This all took place somewhere down in the bayou. Not sure if you can see the wheelbarrow drawing on the back of the bowling shirt that is on the other pictures that follow below. It hasn't been done in a zillion years because, well, our record and also since they refuse to play us (do you blame them, would you play us?). But unknown fan loved my "Hey Tigahs, Bleaux Me" shirt so much that he asked to wear mine for the picture I wanted to take and well there you have it, we were all undressing in Rosen.


So chin up greenwave fans, nothing a little bad attitude can't fix. Or a chipper Wave Chat in your inbox to spin any bad news into being just part of "the plan". Everything is rolling along according to plan, so just turn that frown upside down ya heard!

So yes, as you can see Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo were at "the game." I stayed until I literally could feel the wind penetrating my brain it was so flippin cold. (I can't believe they had Devon Walker out with us in that weather!)

Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo ducked out with Mr. and Mrs. Baldboy about the 5th or 6th inning, but not before I got to sing our one and only round of Hullabaloo AND watch a double play. and all of four hits. Yes. See: there is a silver lining in everything! Even in sub-Arctic temperatures. Hoo-ray!


Mr. and Mrs. Baldboy are our new fun couple that also enjoy subjecting themselves to the humiliation that comes with being a Tulane fan. Yay, kindred spirits! Although today Mr. Baldboy had it up to here (lawd, he's been a fan longer than me if you can believe it) and he finally put his foot down. Mrs. Baldboy was just hilarious recounting her husband's ire, cause ooooh noooo, now they'd gone and done it.

You see, it's not enough that we have to watch the unwatchable, but then we are also forced to follow absurd parking and tailgating "rules" on top of it. Mr. Baldboy was so worked up over his absurd parking situation that he demanded they come pick him up in a golf cart with all of his tailgate crap, and Mrs. Baldboy sat there laughing taking this all in (she is so cute). Luckily they produced a good enough parking space closer to Rosen to satisfy Mr. Baldboy. When I told him the Rosen parking passes were $5, Mr. Baldboy went through the roof.


Honest to Yahweh I believe that somewhere in the nether recesses of Wilson Center there's a secret committee that meets to figure out what are the most absurd and arcane situations they can dream up to put Tulane Fans in, not tell anybody about or announce in any normal way and then sit back, watch and see how many more of us they can chase off. Like we are laboratory mice or something. I swear, it must also be on their employee reviews as well. How many season tickets did you sell...mmm I see. Well how many fans did you piss off?...mmmm, excellent! Oh, and can your father declare in national interviews that we were the reason College Athletic Conferences fell apart? Smashing! You are Hired!


This here is the recovering foot of a fan I'll call Cute As a Button. Cute As a Button's dad is a trip. We just love him in section 110. And his seriously awesome meatballs he sells. Anyways, here Cute As a Button is modeling all the signatures she's collecting from New Orleans athletes, including Thomas Morstead! fer real!

In all fairness, Mrs. Hullabaloo has a very lovely connection inside the office who was totally awesome and secured me parking passes without a single solitary obstacle, who was ever sweet and even came over to check up on us and make sure that everything went smoothly. So grateful for that. But not every fan has a Bat Line. Mrs. Hullabaloo worked in Washington DC after college for the Ana Wintour of DC Lobbyists. So I am battle trained to deal with shit hitting a fan and how to head it off in advance. Man, I tell you that man I worked for was c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y cray. He'd call up out of the blue "Miss Hullabaloo! Go find me that and get it to me in 5 minutes. By the way I'm on the Hill" and hang up. Pre-cell phone days I'd have to figure out what "that" was and where exactly on the Hill he was (senate side? house side? which office building? or Hill adjacent having lunch?). I had a rolodex the size of an airplane engine. And he would call me on Friday nights while I was at post-Happy Hour asking if I would drive to Maryland to babysit his kids. Lawd - I once ran out onto the runway at a fedex facility at Dulles Airport to get a fedex package onto a plane for that man.

Yes this is the bat that almost took out Carthon last nite.
I don't think we even made contact with the ball.


Captured by Parker Waters.

So I'm used to crazy. I can laugh about it. But your average fan can only put up with so much crazy. Add finding new ways to lose games or witnessing how the sausage is made at Wilson Center and well that's just a recipe for bad news to the average fan. But don't worry, TPTB will just zip out a new Wave Chat and explain it all away. And don't you know that Cal State Fullerton turned it all around once 20 years ago? The laws of probability on that happening again makes it very very plausible we can whip up a miracle at Turchin. What with the transfer+scholarship rules, our intimidating tuition, and our strength and conditioning program that always somehow results in the decimation of our depth chart. Other teams play on a regulation field, with NCAA equipment and follow NCAA rules and yet somehow there's always a convenient excuse to bail us out.

Listen y'all - I have the utmost respect for Coach Rick Jones. I do! I love him and all his crazy. Like outlawing "Green! Wave!" chanting because it is "ineffective." Or threatening to cut down our tree in Peggy's Patio because it causes undue juju for being the only mulberry bush amongst the palms in the outfield.

Mrs. Hullabaloo the tree hugger. Save the Tree!

But having being run-ruled Saturday at home for the Memphis series as all part of our grand plan to eek out a series win on Sunday is suspect, IMHO. At one point during the Run Ruling Strategery, we were down 10-0 and finally Rick Jones stomps out to the mound. Coach Jones had been violently ill on Friday night and you know it had to be bad because he didn't go to the game. That happens like never. Oh but we had us a grand ole time cheering "Green! Wave!" to our heart's content. The marketing peeps even put the cheer on the scoreboard (!). Yes! Shhh, don't tell Jones about it tho. Anyways, Coach Jones stomped out to the mound at 10-0 and I thought out loud, Wow, here I thought this a redo on Weekend at Bernie's down in the dugout. The Greenies tossed ourselves down a black hole at this game and our dugout was completely silent and nobody rustling about. Like this is how we were supposed to roll now. What the Facundus is what I have to say about that.

So anyways, Coach Hullabaloo is licking his wounds this morning as he just seeths at Outhouse and their awful fans. Wants desperately to put them in their place. As do I, but ya know what exactly can we do as a collective? Protest and stop going to games? Did you see the vast swaths of purple engulfing Turchin last night? It was enough to make you ill. We know how to beat these people, remember this? the last time they were numbah two?

April 1, 2009


When LSU lost like fools on April fools 2009

It leaves us all with the unanswered question that I have yet to hear a straight "Yes" or "No" answer from TPTB......

Do. You. Want. Tulane. To. Win? question mark question mark exclamation point

Sure TPTB has perfected the response that Athletics is basically a glorified academic program for gifted student athletes and yada yada yada "right for our situation" yada yada. But if Florida Gulf Coast University (who the facundus has ever even heard of that school before?) can figure it out, what with our legions of Freeman business and Tulane Law graduates haven't been able to figure out how to run a department properly. As Big Mike so eloquently said once, We have an entire law school of Jewish lawyers at our disposal here. What is the point of operating at a loss and/or with a losing record for decades? To bring new coaches here so that they can gain 50 pounds and then graveyard their careers? We done wrote the playbook on "let's play not to lose" perspective. Been doing that since Yahweh was a boy and look where it's gotten us: humiliating trips to Thibodaux!

Anyways, I leave you with this: Middleton was Safe and here's photographic proof.



And that's all there is to it. Ciao my chamudis!

There is No Plan B

Ha, I'm fixin to graffiti this at the Wilson Center until they agree to restructure our scholarship situation. Or at least schedule a discussion with Gibson Hall about it.

So freshman Tim Yandel delivered today and got us a win in overtime today in baseball. Lawd have mercy we needed that win. Without it, stick a fork in us we were done. d-o-n-e.

And just look! Times Picayune actually covered the game. And they actually suppressed their pre-pertubal urges and didn't select another infantile picture of a Tulane player getting hit in the groin as "Photo of The Day" like TP photog David Grunfeld did after the Northwestern game last Tuesday. We are so proud.

Bra-vo, TP!


photo by Peter Forest

Of course I must also breathlessly report that last night at Senior Night for the Greenwave basketball team the ever classy UH cooters, headed by their Etiquette Coach, James Dick-e, acted like the thug fools they are. It was a close game and Tulane was ahead most of the game, falling behind, battling back and then letting it heartbreaking-ly slip away in the final moments. So instead of saying "Great Game!" let's shake hands, Mr. Dick-e encouraged his thug team into cursing and flipping off the Tulane fans in the stands. Yes. Have I mentioned enough how simply awful that wretched institution is? And we have to be associated with them for the foreseable future until we can finally mercifully manage to get ourselves into a for real college conference and out of the "Awkward 12"*

*Yes I think the new name for the Big East is stupid, so sue me for being a cynical fan.

Anyways, on more pleasant topics: I am finally excited about 2013 tailgating. No, we haven't gotten a new schedule, although I continue to pray on that daily. TPTB spinning that this schedule includes 6 bowl teams just further exacerbates that we...um... have not quite been in that number. So today after the baseball game Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo spent some social time with Booty to laugh and brainstorm what to do about tailgating themes for this very unfortunate schedule we are having heaped on us in less than five months time. Time is a ticking, so I need to hop to it.

I just have to say that Booty is a rock. Last season she walked me off the ledge about morning games (I wish we had simple problems such as this). And today she helped birth some fab ideas that has me truly excited about Tulane Tailgating for 2013.

I present to you, our Potential 2013 Tailgating Themes

August 31: Jamaican Me Crazy Already Playing Jack(ed)son State: Jerk Chicken Wings, Plantain chips and Lime Pepper Jelly over Cream Cheese, Fresh Fruit Kabobs, Pineapple Slaw, Black Bean salsa, Caribbean Crispix Mix, Coconut Curry Popcorn, Red Stripe Beer and Mint Lime Blueberry Gingerbeer Cocktail (with optional bourbon).

Since it feels like we tailgate on the surface of the sun in August and September, Booty suggested a luau theme. But with Bob Marley's grandson, Nico, now playing for the Wave, I thought of Jamaica and with New Orleans the unofficial Capital of the Caribbean, why, it's a perfect combination.

September 7: Challah-baloo TM (yes! aren't we clever): In honor of welcoming our Southernmost Alabamians and also in reverence that Rosh Hashana will be upon us soon, we're getting our Jew on. Kosher Deli Meat Roll, Sweet and Tangy Beef Brisket, Whitefish Salad, Kosher Pickles, Granny Smith Apple Wedges with honey, Sweet and Savory Noodle Kugel Casserole, Maneschewitz Sangria, Chocolate Matza Cracker Brittle, Almond Raisin Challah Rolls, and Coconut Macaroon Brownies.

October 5: Mean Green Octoberfest. Get out your leiderhosen and your cowboy boots. Reprise of a tried and true theme. Welkommen North Texans!

October 12 (ECU): Columbus Discovers Bacon (or Seafood). I'm still fleshing this Columbus Day theme out. A pork and bacon centric tailgate menu could be very fun with BLT pasta salad, or pulled pork sliders. But Coach Hullabaloo wants shrimp cake sliders. Hmmmm, we'll see.

October 27 (Aslut): Halloween. Boo: Aslut is coming to Nola.

November 23 (UTEP): Tex-Mex, because who doesn't like tex-mex?

So, my chamudis? What do you think? Cute, right?

YOU BETCHA

Postcard From The Edge

Welcome back, Mrs. Bad Fan here breaks her silence.

I almost asked Preacherman to just drive his minivan with all of us aboard straight into Bayou Lafourche last nite, but then I thought of you and how much y'all have missed me.

A group of us road tripped out to Thibodaux for our "away" baseball game with Harvard on the Bayou. Jesus, Joseph and Mary and all of the angels and saints: What is Going On Here?! We lost in the most humiliating fashion to a school who's press box is a card table set up on metal bleachers and a shed for a ticket window.

See, here's photographic proof. This is it. This is the expanse of Didier Field. Where we lost like fools.


I wish I'd snapped a picture of Graf in his hoodie trying to broadcast from that card table. It was hilarious.

Speaking of hilarious: On the way to Thibodaux Peggy was telling me the story about of Tulane's last away game at Didier Field which I did not attend. I was laughing so hard I almost pee'd my pants. Did you know Coach Jones got kicked out of Nicholl's stadium? Twice! Apparently Coach Jones got hot about some call during the game, so the ump told him to leave. But as you can see this stadium is not exactly a fortress. So Jones snuck back in somehow into a corner somewhere in the stands and didn't even have a mustache disguise or potted fern to hide behind or anything. So he got discovered and walked back out to the bus, but Tulane fans made a human tunnel for him to leave through causing much aggravation to the Colonels and their fans. So afterwards a stupid LSU fan tries to taunt Big Mike because that's how they roll in Baton Rouge - you get aggravated with games and so you taunt the opponent's fans. So Big Mike turned to the sorry squirt and said "Yeah?! Well, I peed on your truck. So there." He didn't really, but OMG ha!

But alas...after the humiliation of the past 4 games, Coach Hullabaloo is going to refuse to go to Tuscaloosa for the series with Alabama and that makes me sad.

Anyways, I just have to say: All of you have been so kind and patient during my many months of silence following the end of that whackadoodle football season we had in 2012. After the umpteenth person asked about Hullabaloo Huddle last night and during our first weekend series at Turchin, I decided to just post already. My silence has been kind of on purpose, save a few outbursts on twitter. And save some some booty shaking over the Bowl Season Upsets that warmed my heart so. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank YOU Clemson and, well, um, thank you, begrudingly, Louisville. Bowl Season can make strange bedfellows of even some of us most hardened fans. But by the way, did you know that Tulane has a vastly larger endowment than Clemson?

So, anyways, what has mostly contributed to my silence has been the ever changing landscape of our future. Paying attention to and following conference negotiations, media deals and our recruiting inroads has been like running with the bulls. The fluctuations of each and every twitter newscycle has been like totally cray. At this point in our lives it even appears that the Big East is about to shred all sense of dignity and acquiese into selling it's name (!) to the Seven Whiny Babies also informally known as the Catholic 7.

Yes, you've emailed, texted and cornered me on social media for my opinions. I value that you value my ole little opinion so here is a summation:

To Whom It May Concern: Mrs. Hullabaloo approved of the Big East news. Made Lorenzo Doss' takeaway in the final game of the season a glimmer of the possibilities. But the shine's kinda worn off with the implosion that ensued and now that the 2013 schedule's been announced, plus with Robert Kelley being academically ineligible it forces me to remember that we are talking about Tulane here and not some mythical land of manna that has decided truly once and for all to get it's act together.

Plus, forgive me for not busting out a ticker tape parade about Aslut following us to the Big East and the whole excrutiating C7 Death Spiral. Although I did pause to do my best Vincent Price MUWAHAHA! that we were asked first over the remaining members of Ex-Cusa. Witnessing the apoplexy of the haters was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s for the moments that it lasted.

But then, I was confronted with a most ratchet* development in Tulane Contemporary History: Our 2013 football schedule. It SO blows. I'm a schedule elitist y'all, so sue me.

*Ratchet is actually word y'all. It's the twitter bastardization of wretched. hilarous, right? kids!

Anyways, back to my regularly scheduled bitching: What has further cemented my gossip fueled and cynical opinions is that at the tail end of the conference capers and what not, Tulane's AD pipes up and finally "had something to say."

Ok, Listen up folks! A Member of TPTB Feels It Imperative To Announce, Above All Other Absurdity of Our Making, That - wait for it ........ Boisie State Is Inappopriate and Unreasonable.....

Y'all. !

With the awkward level of crap heaved at Tulane over the winter from every corner of ESPN and national newspapers (and that unfortunate Marquette interview) about how we were responsible for the demise of the American College Conferences As We Know It for daring to accept the invitation to the Big East, this is what merited an outburst of outrage from Wilson Center: That Boisie State's PTB aren't shy or demure about strong arming a deal to benefit themselves. Look who's looking out for number one! How Shameful. And We Won't Stand For That Behavior!

Talk about a lost opportunity to Jujitzu all of the bad publicity into something positive. When's the last time we trended in the newscycles?

Anyways, moving on. I gotta reserve some ire for this Inappropriate and Unreasonable Football Schedule and this just most truly sad start to the baseball season. (But honestly, lost in all this if you can take a break from your wrist slitting appointments, Tulane Baskeball has been winning. Shhhh! though. We can't mention it or it will break the mojo. So everybody remain silent ok.)

2013 HOME Southernmost Alabama, ULM, Jack(who?)son State, East Carolina, North(of Denton) Texas, Aslut, UTEP

2013 AWAY Boca Raton Community College FAU, Louisiana Tech, Rice, UTSA, Syracuse

This is what an inaugural member of the SEC has come to: Road trips to Ruston!. I won't lie: I won't be shedding a tear about going to Boca Raton with Coach Hullabaloo, we're big fans of Miami. I can't wait to make all of my favorite restaurant reservations and hit up my favorite shops. The lone bright spot. And what's more is that with the awfulness that has befallen my Slugger Birds, we now have to turn our minds and get pumped up about opening up against South Alabama. boo.

The silver lining in all of this is my spiritual edification. In that this all makes my fog of disappointment about morning games last season just all the more tragic. God sure learned me to question a game time against Ole Miss. (What was I thinking??!!!) A sure lesson in gratefulness and humility, because even if TPTB scheduled 6pm games to make up for this ratchet-ness, it is not going to rectify a schedule packed 100% with directional schools. Lord, please forgive me and show us mercy. There is still time though for TPTB to Rise Up and walk back an agreement with one of these schools like Alabama and the Outhouse did to us. Our Lady of Football Schedules, pray for us. Amen.

Anyways, my dears: 7 months to plan so I just need to get over it and Echa Pa'Lante!