Gameday Ritual

Hawkfromnorwalk

Hawkfromnorwalk

Well-Known Member
What's your ritual/procedure on gameday?

Mine is getting up at 4:30 in the morning, kicking the wife out of bed, throwing on the bibs and my hawkeye straw hat, and getting loaded up and on I-80 headed east. Listen to 1040 AM news on the way over. Stop at the rest area just west of Iowa City around 6:45 to meet the other car of tailgaters that join us. Roll into Finkbine when they start letting people in at 7:00. Crack the first beer as soon as the cooler gets unpacked and get the sausages and bacon on the griddle. Sit back for a second, look at the rising sun to the east, and get a big smile on face because the season is on!
 
When not in Iowa City: Wake up around 10:00, try to recover as much as I can from the beer the night before, watch Hawks.

When in Iowa City: Drink a lot of Friday, Tailgate early, Kinnick for about 4 hours, drink more.
 
Mine is easily sitting in my seat and hearing the first chord of BIB and then looking at Hawk Vision and watching the Hawks walk down the tunnel, hearing the roar of the crowd as the Hawks walk out of the tunnel, listening to the whole song as the Hawks stand holding hands at the bottom of the tunnel, watching Herky run over the other team's mascot in the equipment truck as "Enter Sandman" plays, then... THE SWARM!!! Oh my God I get goosebumps just thinking about it!!!

EDIT: I got so excited that I thought it was "what is your favorite gameday ritual" Haha!

Sorry guys... I wake up around 4 here in DSM, on the road by 4:30, meet the boys at the tailgating spot around 6:15-6:30, drink, eat, drink some more, walk to Kinnick around 9:45 (especially on opening day) just because I want to get inside the stadium.

Post-game we tailgate as long as we can while listening to SoundOff during the tailgate and all the way home.
 
Last edited:
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
What's your ritual/procedure on gameday?

Mine is getting up at 4:30 in the morning, kicking the wife out of bed, throwing on the bibs and my hawkeye straw hat, and getting loaded up and on I-80 headed east. Listen to 1040 AM news on the way over. Stop at the rest area just west of Iowa City around 6:45 to meet the other car of tailgaters that join us. Roll into Finkbine when they start letting people in at 7:00. Crack the first beer as soon as the cooler gets unpacked and get the sausages and bacon on the griddle. Sit back for a second, look at the rising sun to the east, and get a big smile on face because the season is on!
Click to expand...

Are you the twin brother of DrakeBulldog93? Because this sounds eerily like his previously-posted game day ritual. :D
 
As a student, I used to wake up at 8:30, put on my "In Heaven There is No Beer" T-shirt, make sure I've got my ticket (I forgot it in my room for the Michigan game last year and had to walk back to Currier from the stadium to get it), and be out the door by 9 am. I walk downtown, hop on a shuttle, and get to the stadium almost as soon as the gates open, and get to my spot above the concourse tunnel at the section 220/219 border. Then I call my dad back home and talk about what we want/expect to see during the game. Once the stands start filling up, we hang up and I wait for BIB.

Now I live in Parklawn (on the west side, near the band's practice field), and have parking right next to the building. I have a charcoal grill in my trunk, and brats/burgers/steaks in my freezer, just for gameday. I won't tailgate for every game, but I plan to get out for the ISU game (got a couple friends from Wartburg and UNI coming down), and probably a few others. So my routine will change this year.
 
slip into Kinnick just before kickoff, yell myself hoarse for 3.5 hours, get out of IC
 
Since I'm out here . . . wake up EARLY to catch College Gameday and watch as I try to open my eyes. After about 30 minutes I'm wide awake and making eggs and bacon. Crack open a beverage around 9 (that's when the kickoff starts). I sit on my couch with every piece of Hawk gear I own. I also make sure I have two different Hawk hats nearby. (I switch depending on the flow of the game).

My Kinnick ritual is a lot longer.
 
HawkfaninWA said:
Since I'm out here . . . wake up EARLY to catch College Gameday and watch as I try to open my eyes. After about 30 minutes I'm wide awake and making eggs and bacon. Crack open a beverage around 9 (that's when the kickoff starts). I sit on my couch with every piece of Hawk gear I own. I also make sure I have two different Hawk hats nearby. (I switch depending on the flow of the game).

My Kinnick ritual is a lot longer.
Click to expand...

Ditto in Oregon. Love the rainy weekend days during football season, built in excuse to not work in the yard and to watch football all day.
 
Wake up turn on college gameday, put on my Brad Banks jersey then head down to the stadium. After spending about 2 hours grazing on melrose avenue i head over to the stadium just in time to see the Band and Herkys entrances.
 
-Wake up at 5 am (who can sleep the night before gameday?)
-dig up my lucky underwear in the back yard (that keeps the flies from collecting)
-Spray them with a combination of Lysol/deet/carpetfresh (it took years to get just the right combination)
-go outside and look for some fool to tackle (the longer I have lived here, the fewer people there seems to be on gamedays)
- Pop in my copy of Married With Children (Al Bundy Football episode)
-mix up the bloody marys (i dont tell anyone else that I actually put blood in them. Once cut my finger slicing pickles and the Hawks won. a ritual is a ritual)
- get the wife and kids loaded up and away we go
- scream at all the other tailgaters on the road that are keeping me from my tailgate (i know its not their fault but I did this one morning when I was really late getting on the road and the Hawks won)
- if I follow this ritual and the Hawks lose, someone else screwed up theirs and jinxed us (all I can do is my part)
 
VintageHawkeye said:
Are you the twin brother of DrakeBulldog93? Because this sounds eerily like his previously-posted game day ritual. :D
Click to expand...

I must be a long lost triplet of these 2 because it sounds just like my ritual as well. Up at 4 am on the road at 4:30 meet others on the way and pull into our spot at 7.

It is actually an amazing sight seeing all the traffic going east on I-80 at 5 am.
 
Usually wake up on the floor of my buddies house in North Liberty, surrounded by a bunch of dudes that also used his floor as rest-stop. Pretty much still drunk by this time, so trying to be cool, I mix up a Jack n' Coke leftover from the night before. Almost puke, not so tuff are we?? Decide to go bloody mary style. Much better. Get the dudes together, call Marco's cab, and head to Melrose. Stop at the Kwick-E-Mart on the way to pick up libations and a pack of smokes.(smokes are important and they go hand-in-hand with socializing. Plus, they are my one and only vice so BACK OFF!) Proceed to walk up, down, side to side on Melrose making the rounds to visit with 5 or 6 different groups of people. This is a great opportunity to scope out hot babes in between the rounds. Last stop is always the stop where I pick up my tix, whether it's scalping, grabbing them from my parents ect.. Go to Kinnick. Scream for 3 hours. Try smoke a cancer stick at half-time, get caught by the rent-a-cops. Wait until rent-a-cop leaves. Re-light cig, Rock n' Roll. Somehow find my way out of the stadium after the win. Hit the bars for a few hours, realize It's impossible for me to get drunk, then head back to NL and pass out. Another successful gameday in Iowa City.
 
When I lived in Slater, we could roll out of bed at 10:15 and be there at 10:30. That was pretty awesome.
 
lightning1 said:
-Wake up at 5 am (who can sleep the night before gameday?)
-dig up my lucky underwear in the back yard (that keeps the flies from collecting)
-Spray them with a combination of Lysol/deet/carpetfresh (it took years to get just the right combination)
-go outside and look for some fool to tackle (the longer I have lived here, the fewer people there seems to be on gamedays)
- Pop in my copy of Married With Children (Al Bundy Football episode)
-mix up the bloody marys (i dont tell anyone else that I actually put blood in them. Once cut my finger slicing pickles and the Hawks won. a ritual is a ritual)
- get the wife and kids loaded up and away we go
- scream at all the other tailgaters on the road that are keeping me from my tailgate (i know its not their fault but I did this one morning when I was really late getting on the road and the Hawks won)
- if I follow this ritual and the Hawks lose, someone else screwed up theirs and jinxed us (all I can do is my part)
Click to expand...

you are comedy my friend.....good stuff:p
 
Get up at 5 feed the calves, finish any last supplies, pick up the rest of the crew. Get on the IWV and head for NORM's cook and drink and watch the Hawks win again. So excited!!!!
 
hawkeyescott said:
I must be a long lost triplet of these 2 because it sounds just like my ritual as well. Up at 4 am on the road at 4:30 meet others on the way and pull into our spot at 7.

It is actually an amazing sight seeing all the traffic going east on I-80 at 5 am.
Click to expand...

Mine is pretty close to theirs as well.

Get up at 4. Try to be on road by 4:30, but usually end up leaving about 4:50. Pull into our spot right about 7.

Only real differences are: I usually pack up the truck (everything except coolers) the night before and the people that tailgate with us either meet at my house or in IC.
 
only ritual out of the norm is stop by hy vee in iowa city and take a shot with the liquor store clerk..the guy loves us
 
In our tailgate spot NLT 0700, first Red Bull/Vodka poured BEFORE unloading the car, second one poured WHILE unloading the car, third one poured AFTER unloading the car, but before the first bag is thrown.
 
Nothing too different for me than whats been stated. Dental lot at 7 am, beer at 7:01, bags at 7:15

Throw the mini football into a few cars, more beer, into the stadium right before BIB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top