It wasn't too long ago that I was one of the worst tailgaters in all of Omaha, Nebraska during the second weekend of June every year. Getting black out drunk and getting separated from my only friend before nightfall; getting thrown out of Rosenblatt for not being "committed to a particular tailgate"....just about every move I made was bush league.
But now, I've attended the College World Series seven years in a row. And thanks in part to those other two knuckleheads pictured above, Addy and Gangel, we're a well-oiled machine. We're grizzled vets-- we know our roles, and we play them well. No more getting tossed from the premises, or forgetting why people are calling you 'Josh Beckett' at a party that you don't remember going to, or running out of supplies at the tailgate. It's smooth sailing now. Pack the car to within an inch of its life, be one of the first cars in Lot B, get the grill set up, throw up the beanbags and jumbo jenga and wait for the random strangers to roll in, make friends with the strangers, bing bang boom. Now, when ESPN comes by to record our tailgate during one of their lead-ins to commercial, we barely even bat an eye (especially Addy, amirite?) We're able to act like we've been there before. Lot B Champions. (I mean, we did kill the battery in Nicole's car before noon, but c'mon, nobody's perfect. Don't be a dick, man.)
So, even though by "growing up" I'm really talking about "sitting in a parking lot for 13 hours and drinking enough beers to drown a horse".....still, it feels good to be growing up.
