Conquest in the Commonwealth (Part 2- It's A Garage Party! (Sort of)

We were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a rather sizable group of Trojans with the same idea at the very top of the garage. Having lost track of Mudslide, we just settled in and made the best of it.

This is what I love about the Trojan Family; no matter where you go there's instant camaraderie. We set up next to Don and his brother Bob, both of whom graduated about the same time as Lisa and me. During home games, they have a regular tailgate crew called Top of the Hour that gets together on campus in front of Leavy Library (which I'll always remember as Birnkrant Lawn) for every home game. Their core group travels to each away game. In fact, Bob had just arrived in DC directly from a project in Ethiopia, deciding that catching the season opener was more important than returning home after his absence. It makes me think of Giles Pellerin, the Superfan who was present at every single USC football game (home and away) from 1925 until 1998. That's 797 consecutive games including every single USC/fucla and USC/ND game ever played. Fittingly enough, this legend suffered a massive heart attack and passed away in the Rose Bowl parking lot during the 1998 game against the bRuins.

We also met Rosemarie, her husband Tom and daughter Caitlyn, who had recently moved to Northern VA. Caitlyn, who's eight and cute as a button, had attended the Junior Song Girl Camp and was well versed in all the cheers and some dances favored by the crowd. I too am a firm believer in early indoctrination and behavioral conditioning to achieve a desired outcome. Now if Pete Carroll ever decides to run a QB camp for 2nd graders and an LB camp for pre-K, you could definitely count me in.

We all had a blast. I introduced our new friends to the wonder that is Yuengling lager, and to a man, all were sorely disappointed that it could not be had west of Ohio. We had a blast eating, drinking and carrying on. Even the kids were bonding. Although he won't admit it, I know that my boy Rob was quite smitten with young Caitlyn, who if all goes according to plan, will be a sophomore when he's a freshman. The 'Hoos that were nearby also got a kick out of our party. Don was kind enough to give us a mix CD with a song their group came up with to the tune of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" called "I Love USC" and another hip hop track that samples Tribute to Troy. Thanks again guys.

There were some uptight UVA types though. I guess it's a Wahoo thing, but they actually dress up to go to the games. I mean, the dudes wear khakis, button-downs and ties, with the chicks wearing dresses with pearls and stuff. They may have been trying for classy, but it went over as pretentious. And considering the 90 degree heat with high humidity, kind of dumb too. One lady who was pretty well soused on boxed pinot grigio (classy!) came up and handed me a stack of cocktail napkins with the "V" logo. I wasn't sure what she meant by it. She was either talking smack (?) or thought I would need the a$$wipe later. The poor thing didn't realize that nobody does snobby better than 'SC. But what could you expect from a state school. In the backwoods. Where siblings are fair game.

Before we knew it, it was forty minutes to kickoff. We were actually almost sorry that we had to cut it short and head over. But that's what brought us all together. Game on!