Ralph Wilson Stadium - Fowling comes to Buffalo

This year, for our annual family weekend retreat, I decided it was time to introduce a few new wrinkles to our tailgate agenda. Along with our first attempt at cooking up the ever popular beer can chicken, as the self-appointed commissioner of fowling, I decided I needed to bring the game Western New York. So gathering up the traditional cast of characters, we met at my parents house on Saturday morning, loaded into the rented RV, and were on our way to the parking lot at Ralph Wilson Stadium by noon. Arriving on Saturday has it's perks including getting a jump on gameday preparations and libations, but unfortunately due to the weather, we were restricted to staying in the RV for most of the afternoon. Scattered showers and cold temperatures kept us from our traditional Saturday tailgate activities, but with plenty of movies, meal prep, and willing participants in the lost art of conversation, there was still plenty to do (if that were to fail us, we still had plenty of beer).

Sunday morning came quickly and the weather had turned in our favor. With sunny skies, and warmer temperatures, we setup the fowling lanes allowing for exhibition tournament play throughout the day. surprisingly enough the game was incredibly popular. several strangers approached us during each fowling frame asking if they could try the game as well and before we knew it the fowling lanes were full and we were enjoying our ice cold beverages of choice from the sidelines. All in all a very successful introduction.

Later in the morning, I needed to stop in on Kenny "Pinto Ron" Johnson, the guy that cooks all of his meals on his 1983 Ford Pinto. When it comes to creative tailgating, Kenny blazes the trail for all others to follow. Using household items and tools in uncommon food preparatory practices has become his trademark. Old ironing boards serve as tables and cutting boards, a garden rake to cook hamburgers, the file cabinet pizza oven, even an old hub cap to cook sausage in. these are Kenny implements of mass destruction. The ketchup opening ceremony is one that's not to be missed. At 11:30 Kenny emerges through the crowd with a naked hamburger. when he asks for some ketchup, he's sprayed from head to toe by condiment snipers perched on the roof of his truck. so that's Buffalo, if you're a Questor, be sure to make this one of your first stops.

Stadium #4 - Bank of America Stadium

Week 7 took me to Bank of America Stadium to revisit stadium 4 onthe Quest for 31. My best friend, Jermain, has lived in the Charlotte area for years and my brother, Erik, recently moved his family out that way, so we may make Charlotte and annual stop on the Quest. Along with the family connections, the other attractive aspect of a return trip to Bank of America Stadium is the tailgating. With Lots scattered throughout the city, sometimes it can be difficult to zero in on the tailgating hotspots, but there are several areas that are worth hitting. I always like to stop in on Coach Dan Ortel and folks at PantherFanz.net. They consistently provide, great food, local beer, and they're always entertaining. With characters like Joe the Cedar Street Seeer, Patrick, Mad Mike, James, and Barbecue Pit boss Clay workin' the spits, visitors will appreciate the southern hospitality. But Premiere tailgating in Charlotte doesn't just stop there, Hall of Famers, Pantherman and Catman host a great tailgate along with the Tailgate Resuce Crew who have an awesome custom Tailgate Cruiser. Outfitted with dual beer taps, a rockin' paint job and a fire-rescuse pole inside their vehicle, the Tailgate Rescue Crew is in a very enviable as one of the top spots for Panther fans to take in the pregame libations.

My Buffalo Bills happened to be in town this weekend, so dressed in my Quest for 31 jersey, and flanked by legions of Bills fans, we watched a very mediocre performance that ended in a rare Bills win. For that I am truly grateful.

Fowling, the Football-Bowling Tailgate Game

Looking for a new tailgate game idea for your next parking lot party? How about the tailgate game of Fowling. This combination football-bowling tailgate game is a great way to bring the competitive nature of the gridiron to an asphalt playing surface near you. Played on a set of fowling lanes which support ten regulation-sized bowling pins that are configured in the standard 10-pin triangular arrangement, competitors from a distance of forty-eight feet launch an NFL football at their opponent's bowling pins in an attempt to knock ‘em down. First team to knock down all the pins wins the frame. Fowling matches are a race to three frames or a best three out of five frame series.

It’s sheer genius! You build a set of fowling lanes from 2x4’s and some plywood, go to your local bowling alley and ask to buy their bad pins (the ones that are cracked at the base after years of collisions), bring a football with you to the lot, and you have everything you need to set up a Fowling Tournament.

I couldn’t help myself, I built a set of Quest for 31 Fowling Lanes, acquired the necessary bowling pins, and will be loading up the Hummer H31 with these implements of mass destruction for a tournament in Buffalo on November 1. We will be playing in the RV lot during my family’s annual weekend retreat at The Ralph. Fowling is a great time, and it will easily supplant your propensity bean bag tossing the first time you chuck the football at those pins. If you’re interested in trying it out, just go to http://www.fowling.org/, they have all the rules and regulations, plans for building the fowling lanes, and everything to get you started.

Tailgating in the Motor City

Detroit Rock City is the spot for Halloween Tailgating, as once again I found myself compelled to plan my Quest for 31 road schedule around the Halloween tailgate of Kevin Nowak and DetroitTailgate.com. As always, Kevin and the boyz throw a kick-ass tailgate party especially when the Black Sabbath Tribute band, Banned from E.A.R.T.H. is in town to rock out Ozzfest in Detroit. It’s really incredible if you think about it. They setup a full stage right in the middle of the lot and Stonecage and his crew evoke the dark lord himself through a tribute performance that is like you’re watching the golden age of rock played out in the Motor City.

Our day began early in the morning as we vied for pole position next to the DetroitTailgate setup in the eastern market parking area of Lot 1. A little Keggs and Eggs to kick off the morning while Banned form E.A.R.T.H. setup for their first set, and soon the parking lot was humming with some vintage Sabbath.

Although the team continues it’s decade-long rebuild process, the Detroit Lions fans remain unfazed and faithful. Tailgating is certainly alive and well in the eastern market. Lions fans put meat to flame utilizing the prime fresh cuts thy purchase from eastern market butcher shops as they guzzle their preferred cold beverage of choice. Eventually the Ford Family will field an organization worthy of this diehard group of fans, but until that day, the Lions faithful will continue to keep the flame of vintage Silverdome Tailgating burning bright.

My Trip to Jerry World

After spending the night in Houston, we got up early and raced 300 miles northward to Arlington, Texas, home of the largest stadium in the National Football League, Cowboys Stadium. Much has been made of the $1.15 billion dollar Texas Temple, and rightly so. The Palace in Dallas, built by the most recognizable owner in the NFL, for one of most celebrated fan bases in the country, had to be larger than life to measure up to all the preseaon hype. I'm excited to report that it deserves all the accolades it's been getting. Jerry Jones set out to built the biggest and baddest stadium the league has ever seen to offer his fans an experience unlike anything they might have sitting in their living rooms. With its massive HD scoreboard (the largest in the NFL), $30.00 party passes, and signature hole in the roof, "to allow God to watch His team", Cowboys Stadium is every bit the spectacle and tribute to the Dallas Cowboys organization that Jerry Jones had envisioned when construction began. I actually entered the stadium an hour and half before gametime just to make sure I had enough time to take it all in. My advice, if you get the oppotunity to take in a Cowboys home game, by all means DO IT!

Back to Houston - Best BBQ in the Land!

On Friday after work, I picked up Jeffrey "The Shirt" Ross and we hit the road for what would be a 24 hour road trip down to Houston in my new Quest Machine, rightly dubbed the H31. the drive was fairly uneventful (which is a good thing), and before we knew it we were in Houston basking in 90-degree weather. Our weekend mission: To hit up Reliant Stadium for a Houston Texans game on Sunday and then drive up to Dallas for the Cowboys matchup on Monday Night Football in the brand new Cowboys Stadium.

Reliant Stadium is a great place to watch a football game. the facilty is brand new, built in 2002, and features all of the amenities of the modern pro football temples that make each gameday a much more palatable experience in the heat of the southern states. With a natural grass field, retractable roof and impressive climate control, the 72-degree weather inside was far more preferable to the 90-degree blistering heat we tailgated in all day.

Tailgating in Houston is also some of the finest you'll find in the National Football League. That southern hospitality of the Texas sports fan really shines through as you make you way through the lot on gameday. I had several offers for beer and food, and tasted plenty of both. The Texas barbecue culture of the fans in Houston really places them amongst the best tailgating venues in the league. With every from of meat imaginable and a variety of dry rubs, homemade marinades, and family recipe sauces, the blacktop culinary arts are alive and well in southern Texas.

J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

I kicked off the 2009 regular season edition of the Quest for 31 at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey for the New York Jets home opener. I had never been to New York City before, so attempting to decode the bus and train scheduling in order to make it out to the stadium in time for the game proved a unique challenge. As it turns out, although a new rail line has been built which is intended to shuttle football fans to the stadium from the city, this new line begins running at 10:30am. I couldn't beleive they would actually start running football fans to the stadium at 10:30 in the morning. How do they expect anyone to get in a fair amount of tailgating before game time? Trying to park in the lot is not even an option as onsite parking is severely restricted due to the construction of their brand new football stadium opening in 2010. I ended up taking a bus which worked out extremely well and got us into the lot at 8:00am primed and ready for a full day of NYC tailgating.

Linking up with Frank Conway from Jets Tailgate lot 5A and Joe Maino from TailgateJoe.com I was able to absorb the full New York Jets tailgating experience. These seasoned vets guided us through the subtle nuances the full New York Jets home team experience and there was some incredible tailgaitng to take part in at the Meadowlands. The Jets opened up the season with an impressive win over the Newengland Patriots and the New York Jets chant, led by Fireman Ed earned him a gameball for his efforts. Awesome day! Great tailgating! Be sure to check out our video on YouTube.