we three kings

of orient are,

drinking whiskey in the nude bar (Mojo Nixon)

the most inappropriate Christmas album award goes to Mojo Nixon hands down..... a complete insane rewrite of some classic tunes for the thick skinned.

i saw today that the Jets have a home game against the Redskins and it got me thinking back to a Christmas Eve game i attended in 1989. On an absolutely frigid day the Giants hosted the Raiders at the Meadowlands needing a victory to hold off the Feagles and clinch the NFC East. I didn't have full season tickets back then, but my Uncle Pat would give me tix for a game or two each year....so Donn and i were guests of his brother Mike and his tailgate crew. These guys were professionals....i have never attended a better tailgate before or since......from the roadkill chili-stew from the Chuck Wagon to the coolers of ice-cold beers aplenty. On this day that went one step further. I had to look it up for the official record.....game time kickoff at 1:00 was 14 degrees......when we left Bayridge at 7:30 a.m. it was probably single digits. The parking lot was only half full at that early hour....only the diehards were braving the elements a full 4 hours before game time. In Truth, as we drove around the lot; I hardly saw anyone standing around outside.  We took a spot but there was no sign of the guys......just a few unoccupied cars and a big box U-Haul truck......strangely enough there was an unmanned grill in the empty spot next to the truck........suddenly that back door of the Truck opened up and inside was about 7 or 8 guys with Beach Chairs, Coolers, blasting heat and the pregame show playing on the trucks radio......BRILLIANT !  They rented a truck for the weekend......we climbed aboard, grabbed a beer and joined the indoor tailgate circle. Every 15 minutes the door would open again and someone would check the grill and bring back a platter of Hot Dogs or whatever was cooking ......the ultimate answer to the elements.

As for the Game the Giants won.......Meggett had a punt return for a TD and the Defense shut the Raiders down in the 2nd half.....i remember that it was sooo cold in the stadium , that if you spilled a little beer on the concrete under your feet, it would freeze over in less than a minute.......i refreshed my memory thanks to the internet....the Giants would end up losing 2 weeks later on the Flipper Anderson runway touchdown in the playoffs to the Rams and the 49ers went on to win the Super Bowl.

Mike if you are reading this today, thanks for some Great Tailgate memories over the years....not just this one....but this one was my favorite....I can't remember the names of all the guys from that crew, but they were first class all the way....thanks again

remember.......2+3=BEEER

Merry Christmas to one and All !