How to Successfully Tailgate at a Football Stadium

Every major civilization constructs some kind of monolithic structure to satisfy the needs of its people. The Egyptians had the Pyramids, the Romans had their Coliseum, and the Americans have their football stadiums. American football is a relatively new sport on the timeline of civilization but it has already become a major contributing factor to American culture. Traditions, idioms, and lifestyles have been forged by the game of football and the largest football stadium is a cathedral where we go to worship these things.

One outstanding tradition that has sprung up from the popularity of American football in the Southern United States is that of tailgating. We’re social animals at heart and will find any excuse to gather around a fire pit, eat charred meat, and drink copious amounts of alcohol. A game of professional football just happened to be the perfect opportunity for all three of these things. The practice of tailgating has spread out from football and can now be seen before every single sporting event there is. People will stand out in the freezing cold cooking hot dogs and drinking beer in the parking lot before a hockey game just as they would in the blazing sun before Sunday Night Football.

If you’re new to the tailgating experience or want to give it a try the next time you go to watch a game at your college football stadium, here is all you need to know:

When You Should Get There:

Any good tailgater will tell you that the party doesn’t start when the game clock does; it starts way before then. To properly tailgate a football game you need to show up and get your spot at least four to five hours before kick off. This kind of time frame will insure that you are properly lubricated, dolled up, and ready to cheer when the game finally begins and it also gives you ample opportunity to hang out with friends and play some games of your own.

Where You Should Set Up:

Now, because you’ve come to the football stadium so early you will hopefully have wide open parking space to choose where you want to set up your tailgate. The general rule of thumb is that you want to set up as close to the action as possible. When we say action we’re not talking about the professional football players either, we’re talking about the pre-game festivities. Depending on the type of league you’re watching there’s going to be a different pre-game atmosphere.

At college football games the pre-game stuff tends to happen around the entrance to the stadium. Colleges want to inspire all of their students to get involved and the boosters play a major role in setting up fun activities for everyone to take part in. You want to set up your tailgate as close to all this cool stuff so that you can access it . . . → Read More: How to Successfully Tailgate at a Football Stadium

Football   , , , ,  

Cheap Football Gloves

Reebok NFL XG3 Football Gloves, Royal/Black, X-Large Lowest Price: $25.62 Reebok NFL Velocity Grip Football Gloves (Black/White, Large) Lowest Price: $24.97 Reebok NFL Velocity Grip Padded Football Gloves (Navy/White) Lowest Price: $37.01

Browse More

Football is one of those team sports where equipment matters. Football players need to wear the best quality padding, helmets, cleats, and football gloves not only to protect their bodies from injury but also to enhance their talents and improve their performance on the field. Quite often, since amateur football players and parents of young football players are already spending a fortune on other necessary equipment like shoulder pads, helmets, and various other pieces of equipment, people will scrimp on the football gloves to save a little money.

Even though you may think you are saving money by purchasing the discount football gloves you are actually going to spend more money in the long run when you have to replace them or worse yet repair injured hands.

A football player’s hands are his lifeblood. The entire game of football, no matter what position a player happens to be in, relies heavily on the skillful manipulation of those hands. When you give your child a pair of inexpensive youth football gloves or head out onto your recreational football field with shoddy gloves of your own you are risking the success of the team.

Here are four reasons to not dip into the bargain bin when it comes to purchasing American football gloves:

Enhanced Grip:

Let’s face it, the reason you are buying football gloves in the first place is to enhance your grip on the ball. Nature may have provided human beings with calluses and fingerprints to give us a tactile advantage but in the serious game of football nature just isn’t enough. Every player, from linebacker to wide receiver, needs to be able to grab and hold that pigskin as if his life depended on it.

Cheap football gloves may give you slightly better odds of hanging onto the football but the grips on most cheap brands are made out of poor materials that don’t hold their shape for long. The more you play in your cheap football gloves the less grip they will provide until they are actually worse off than your bare hands. You basically have a choice of either purchasing a new pair of football gloves to replace the worn down ones or just by a more reliable pair from the get-go.

Let’s be perfectly clear: a player wearing cheap football gloves is a handicapped player.

If you’re looking for a brand example, try Cutter football gloves. They may be twice the price of some other gloves but they will last at least three times as long.

Sweat/Moisture Reduction:

A main concern when catching a football is moisture. The term . . . → Read More: Cheap Football Gloves

Football   , , , , ,  

How to Choose the Right Pom Poms

Cheerleading Pom Poms Lowest Price: Price Not Found Royal Blue & Orange Pom Pom Lowest Price: $1.50 Glitter Cheering Pom Pom Lowest Price: $18.80

Browse More

You can’t have sports without cheerleaders these days. Even some Hockey teams, like the Florida Panthers, are getting into the cheerleading trend and organizing troupes where they never existed before. Some might say that it is a revolutionary step towards equality and others might jump up on their soap boxes about female role models and poor self-image but no one can deny the fact that a rise in cheerleaders means a rise in the sale of pom poms.

Pom poms, pom pons, poms, or whatever you want to call them, are staples in the cheerleader’s cheering arsenal. A cheerleader without a pom pom in her hand is hardly a cheerleader at all. Little girls know this, teenage girls know this, and all of the classic over bearing mothers know this, that’s why you can find football and track fields littered with pom poms almost every day.

Whether you are a first time parent purchasing pom poms for your daughter or whether you are a newbie cheerleading coach trying to make a name for yourself, you need to know how to choose the right type of pom poms for your girls. Pom poms come in a massive variety of sizes, colors, and materials and they are an important tool to use in differentiating your particular cheerleading squad from the others in competition.

Here are the three things you ought to consider when choosing your cheerleading pom poms:

What Color Should Your Pom Poms Be?

Most cheerleading squads are going to be aligned with a particular high school or sports team so it will be easier to choose the colors for your pom poms. Simply look at the colors of your parent organization and integrate them into the pom poms you buy. Those cheerleaders who are performing solo or in independent squads will have a more difficult time with the color choice.

If you want to be serious about the color of your cheerleading pom poms you need to pay attention to the minor details. Consider your performance area and how well your pom poms will play off of the colors found there. For example, blue pom poms would fade into the background of blue Astroturf while pink pom poms would stand out. You should also consider mixing the colors of your pom poms with flashy colors like silver and gold, glitter pom poms and flash pom poms are great examples.

Try to keep the colors of your pom poms as uniform as possible to avoid confusing patterns. The only reason you would want to have two different colored pom poms is if you have special choreography to make use of the color change.

How Big are Your Pom Poms?

Your cheer choreography . . . → Read More: How to Choose the Right Pom Poms

Football   , , , , ,