Tailgating Tips that are Borderline Genius

Full article can be found at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/tailgating-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius

Football season is one of the greatest seasons of the year! As the summer heat fades and the seasons start to change, we exchange our swimsuit and flip flops for face paint, pompoms, and an Aggie game day shirt. 

During this time, Saturdays in Logan, Utah become the best day of the week. Tailgates come down, grills get fired up and pregame festivities abound. To make the most of your home game experience, here are a couple of tips that are boarder line genius to successfully prepare the best football tailgate party. Make sure you grab a good spot and celebrate with the rest of your Aggie family!

PREP and PACK

Plan to arrive plenty of time before the game starts. Start eating about two hours before the game so you have plenty of time to set up and clean up.

 Label your coolers so guests can find drinks easily.

Freeze water bottles to use in place of ice in coolers so you have cold water to drink after they  melt.

Pack a mini first-aid kit into an old prescription bottle or Altoids tin.

SETTING UP CAMP

Float a big random helium balloon on a long string from your car, so friends can find you.

 Use an empty laundry detergent dispenser as a hand-washing station.

Bring a pre-packed set of drawers so everything is handy and organized while you’re cooking.

Don’t be afraid to go overboard on the AGGIE apparel and decorations!

Most importantly, make nice. Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Relax, and have fun!

Always Remember… GO AGGIES!

Winning Team, Losing Team

A Man's view: 5 Ways to make the most of the game, with kids

I vividly remember our first USU basketball game as a family. It was a chilly, snowy day in Logan.  I dropped the family off at the Spectrum and had to drive quite a distance to find a parking place.  I parked the car and nearly floated to the Spectrum in excitement. As I neared the Spectrum the electricity could be felt from the HYPER fields. However, after finding my family the excitement diminished. Three of my four kids looked quite bored. In fact our oldest daughter (six at the time) never even looked at the court the entire game.  She sat sideways and had a blank stare.  I knew then that something must change. To get the kids ready to love USU sports we did the following things:

Tradition: We started in 1888 and highlighted the 1940s when their great grandparents attended USU and cheered for the Aggies, the 1960s when their grandparents attended and cheered for the Aggies, and the 1990s/2000s when their parents cheered on the Aggies. A favorite story we tell the kids is how Amber and I would meet at the Merrill Library and study together. We have a memorial brick from the library that sits on our bookshelf and reminds us of the beginnings of our family.

Pageantry: Taught them "The Scotsman." Need I say more.

Legendary Moments: Shared stories about memorable Aggie sports moments. For example, one of my favorite basketball memories happened on March 4, 2000. I was in the Spectrum with a capacity crowd to witness the Aggies defeat Boise State and go undefeated in league play. A magical moment.

Aggie Blue: For the next Game we all wore Aggie Blue. For Christmas that year we bought all the kids Game Day T-shirts. The kids were delighted to dress up in their T-shirts for the next game. This definitely helped add to their excitement level.

Bribery: On the way up to the next game we got pizza and ate it on the way up. The kids couldn’t eat the pizza until they practiced yelling out cheers. This definitely made an impression. The kids yelled so loud that game they could hardly talk the next day. Our three-year-old screamed “GO AGGIES” so loud she had everyone sitting by us energized.

Taking the family to Aggie sporting events is a great way to bring up the next generation of Aggies and to relive some of the fun moments from our days as students. Go Aggies!

What works for your family?

Post provided by guest writer and USU alumnus, Kade Minchey '01 

A woman's view: 5 Ways to get the most out of the game, with kids

As my family and I have attended USU events (sporting and otherwise) I have learned through out each event how I can make it better/easier/more enjoyable with and for my kids.  At USU sporting events it is hard to miss families getting along and enjoying themselves.  So, I try to observe for a few moments how these families are “getting along” with their kids at the events.  I try to see what is making it work for them (food, activities, personal attention) so that I can hopefully use it sometime or immediately with our family while we are out.  These are a few things that I have come up with:

Bring plenty of Snacks/Treats with you to the event - Food is always a good way to entertain, distract, and make people happy!  Especially Kiddos!  Easy snacks to bring with you to a game would be: bottled water, little juice packs, fruit snacks, granola bars, dry cereal in a baggie, string cheese, pretzels.  Basically anything that is easy and light for you to tuck in your bag.  Make sure you follow the rule: “pack out what you pack in”.

Make sure you wear your Aggie Gear - Our kids LOVE to have anything “Aggie” to wear at any time of the week.  We especially like to make sure we wear our Aggie gear to the games that we attend.  I love getting ready for a game and our kids are running around the house searching for their shirts and making sure the other sibling has found their own shirt to wear.  Wearing “Aggie Gear” also helps the kids to feel like they are a part of the game and they will want to participate more with cheering and enjoying their time.

Talk to them about the game before hand - USU is a big part of our lifestyle between education, sports, volunteering, and being an Alumni…so it is not unusual for us to have conversations with our kids or at least in ear shot range of our kids about USU and what is going on with it.  Our kids know when/where/what we are doing when we are heading for a game or an event with USU.  They have been prepared for the fun & excitement of the event.  We also place expectations on them….they know that we are all at the game to watch and listen to it.  They know that we are going to try and stay the entire game, and they know that we will cheer and support the USU team playing.

Cheer Loud & Enjoy Game - With all the time that was needed to prepare to get to the game (planning, driving, food, etc)….you need to make sure that when you are there you are enjoying it!  When we are excited about the game/event we are attending our kids are so much more excited about attending it with us.  We also tell our kids that this is a place where they CAN be LOUD!  We are always telling them to talk more softly….NOT AT THE GAMES THOUGH!  We encourage them to be very loud.  It’s fun to hear/see them cheer loudly.

Have a Love for USU - We have found as long as we are excited and have a true love for something…it can become contagious.  Our kids already LOVE USU and they love any event that we participate in with USU.

I hope these suggestions will help you get your kids/family up to a USU sporting event soon!  It is a great way to create “Future Aggies” and family memories.

What works for your family?

Post provided by guest writer and alumna Amber Minchey '01