The 2008 SHAT Tailgate season kicked off with the 8^th Annual Harv Kappeler Golf Classic on August 23^rd @ Village Green Golf Course. A field of 100 took aim at the coveted trophy and when the dust settled, two new SHAT golf records had been set  - The winning foursome of Jon Hurey, Matt Connolly, Matt Stewart and Greg Gazella tour the course apart with a winning (-15) score to take home the championship. On a pathetic note, the foursome of Frank Verdecchia, Kurt Bruner, Pat Thompson & Larry Thompson finished with a SHAT record +10 score. They somehow managed to bogey the last 4 holes which included two par 3 holes. This was their 7^th last place finish out of 8 tournaments.

This offseason was no different than any of the others as we upgraded in a couple of different areas. Ron Bauer once again amazed everyone with his creative painting skills as he redid the generic beer pong table into a masterpiece SHAT/football field tabletop. Custom made SHAT-Mobile magnets were designed (by Bob Mish) for the main equipment hauling vehicle. This was the brainstorm of Mark Thompson after watching an episode of Scooby Doo and realizing the Mystery Machine logo needed to be SHATized. A Shaggy action figure was even provided by Claire Mish, but he didn’t last long as it was forgotten on the roof of the van and lost on the way home. A second Washoos board with custom-made SHAT washers was also added to the tailgating mix. But the ultimate addition was the hand-crafted Irish Car Bomb table designed by John Bruner as a gift to the tailgate. Joe Speeler no longer had to run all of his tremendous mixology skills out of the back of his vehicle. This table was designed with one operation in mind and it would be used over and over throughout the year as Irish Car Bomb records were shattered during the season.

Opening day was originally planned to be the Broken Bone, live band, kickoff game. Instead, the pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates threw a wrench into the plans by having a home game scheduled on the same date causing a start time conflict. So instead of a nice evening start for Pitt, we were treated to Bowling Green and an early morning tailgate to get things started. As usual, the tailgate kicked ass. Nothing starts the year of right like tons of beef (in numerous flavors/varieties) masterfully grilled up by Bob Gable and expertly carved by Aaron Kushner. Beer Pong was cranking, double wash-shoes were rolling and Car Bombs were flying. Mix in some Ron Bauer Blood Marys and you’ve got a great time on your hands.

Unfortunately that great time came to a screeching halt after Pitt took a 14-0 lead on Bowling Green and then decided that 14 points was a big enough lead and decided to sit on the ball and play not to lose the remainder of the game. Lose is exactly what they ended up doing before it was over. 27-17. An awful performance and a very shaky start to the season. Once again, when they had the city abuzz with excitement following the 13-9 victory over the Mountainqueers the previous season, they come out and lay an egg in front of the home crowd, effectively scaring away any non diehard Pitt fan for the remainder of the season.

Week 2 brought the Buffalo Bulls into town. This was also the scheduled date for Broken Bone to perform in Green Lot 22. And just like the year before, weather came into play once again. Forecasted thunderstorms threatened to postpone the show. At 10:00am on Saturday, the decision was made to go for it and the weather cooperated nicely for the remainder of the day. The Bone brought the heavy metal heat with a dominating performance that had the Pittsburgh Police stopping by and politely asking to turn it down as it could be heard from blocks away. The Pittsburgh Bulk Primanti Style tailgate was a huge success. We were even treated to our first SHAT scuffle when some idiot decided he didn’t want to take one of the numerous open parking spots available to him on the other side of the lot. He figured it would make more sense to drive into the one spot that was behind 100 people watching a concert and then try to drive through everybody. Nice job ass. Hope you enjoyed the ejection you got from the city cops.

Pitt was again shaky, though this time victorious 27-16. The offense was showing no signs of improvement from the previous season.

After an early season bye week, we were back in the lot for a 3^rd straight home game, this time the opponent being the Big 10/11 Conference member Iowa Hawkeyes. This tailgate was heavily attended with even a few Iowa fans on hand for the festivities. (They were permitted since they beat PSU on regular basis in that overhyped excuse of a conference). This game brought out the skewers. Meat on a stick – you can’t go wrong with that. Sausage, Beef, Shrimp, Chicken, you name it; it was skewered and grilled by Gable. This also brought out the wonderful Shot of the Day – Slivovitz - A Slovenian Plum Brandy provided by Jim Zaunick. Very dangerous stuff. The Panthers put together their first solid effort with good games from Shady McCoy, a fantastic QB draw TD from Greg Cross, the entire defense and punter Dave Brytus with some late game boots as the Panthers went on to win 21-20. This led to the first enjoyable post game tailgate of the season where we were joined by the legendary voice of the Panthers, Bill Hillgrove.

Pitt then hit the road for three consecutive road games. A shaky first half in which they trailed Syracuse before the running game led the way to a 34-24 victory. They followed that up with an impressive Thursday night victory over #10 ranked South Florida. Another gem for McCoy and the Pitt Defense as they prevailed 26-21 @ Raymond James Stadium. This road game was attended by SHAT-Heads John Lucci and Jim Zaunick. The finale of the 3 game road trip came with a resounding victory in Annapolis, MD over the Naval Academy 42-21. This one was a beat-down from start to finish. Anyone that is looking to make a college road trip - be sure to make a trip to the Naval Academy someday. It is a fantastic setting. In attendance were Dan Blocher, Aaron Kushner, Pat Thompson, Kevin and Stacey Kappeler, Gerry Delon and Mike Naumuk as well as a large contingent from W.H.A.T.?

Pitt returned to Heinz Field with an overall record of 5-1. One of their best starts in years. Struggling Rutgers would be the opponent and a huge contingent turned out for the late afternoon game and the Steak & Shrimp tailgate with Big Lar on the grill and Bob Gable getting the day off to enjoy beers and cigars. Unfortunately, Pitt’s defense was pathetic in this one. Rutgers went to the air nearly every play and met with success on most of their attempts leading to a 54 -34 track meet victory over Pitt.

With Bill Stull out of the lineup after a scary injury against Rutgers, Pitt turned to QB Pat Bostick for the following week’s game @ Notre Dame. In what turned out to be one of the more entertaining games of the year, Pitt prevailed 36-33 in (4) overtimes. They were led by tremendous efforts from Shady McCoy, Connor Lee and the entire Pitt defense/special teams.

Back home the following week against Louisville, it was fryer time in Lot 22. Keep your appendages away from the fryers or Gable may fry them too. Shrimp, Fish, Chicken, French Fries, Pork, Steak, Oreos & Twinkies all made the trip into the boiling oil. Pitt also put on a display on the field lighting up the Cardinals 41-7. Pitt put together one of its best overall efforts in a while. The defense even brought home a score with Scott McKillop returning a deflected interception for a td.

The following week was a road trip to Cincinnati. The Big East title was on the line and under the the lights @ Nippert Stadium. A very cool little Pitt Stadium like facility. Pitt got off to a quick start with a Shady McCoy touchdown but again fell victim to some big plays against the D and horrible quarterbacking from Bill Stull who appeared to really be struggling after returning from the Rutgers injury scare. The final was 28-21 in a game that wasn’t really as close as the score indicated. The only highlight was getting an up close look at ESPN Hottie - Erin Andrews from my horrible 2^nd row 50 yard line seats. (You couldn’t even see the field they were so low).

The Panthers returned to Heinz Field at 7-3 and ready to take on WVU in the 101^st Backyard Brawl. It was Italian Day at the Tailgate and we were treated to the Bob Gable specialty lasagnas, sausage & meatballs and the giant 150 cut pizza from Mama Lena’s, specially designed with 13-9 in pepperoni to remind any WVU fans about the lovely night of Dec 1, 2007 where their National Championship hopes were crushed to bits by Pitt’s upset in Morgantown. F U - Eers. The final tailgate was a huge success complete with the customary awards day ceremony. Bob Gable, Tom Spray and Kurt Bruner picked up 10^th Year Anniversary awards. Rookie of the year awards went to Chris Staub and Christie Windner. Dan Blocher continued his record streak of 11 perfect attendance awards in a row. On the field, Pitt trailed in the 4^th quarter 15-7 before a horrible pass from Pat White was intercepted by Jovani Chappel and returned to WVU’s 16 yard line with about 8 minutes to go. Two plays later Shady had Pitt in the end zone and cut the score to 15-13. After a defensive stand Pitt went with basically all Shady for the next drive and it culminated in another rushing td with 52 seconds left to give Pitt the 19-15 lead and sent Heinz Field into a frenzy. A last minute drive by WVU ended with an incomplete pass in the endzone as time expired. Another huge win for the Panthers over the Eers helped put them in the driver’s seat for a Sun Bowl invitation. The SHAT MVP of the day went to Aaron Kushner who was able to score me an unused ticket from someone two rows behind us. I was in need after being ejected for brawling some WVU idiot with his West F*&%ing Virginia tshirt in the Club Level @ halftime. Hope it was all worth it idiot. He started the entire mess and got housed and booted out for his pathetic effort. I was back in the game 5 minutes into the 3^rd thanks to Kush firing the ticket to me over the concourse railing down to the sidewalk below. (Moves like this are what led to his promotion to General Manager of Tailgate Operations). This win led to probably the most enjoyable postgame tailgate since Pitt/PSU in 2000.

The following week Pitt went to UConn and handed it to them 34-10 to secure a berth in the Sun Bowl in El Paso Texas on New Year’s Eve. (We won’t talk about that game).

All in all a nice season finishing @ 9-4 - Pitt’s best record since 1983.

Should be another interesting season coming up. Despite losing All American LB Scott McKillop, Pitt’s D should be a monster this year. Offensively, who knows, losing McCoy is huge and there is a giant question mark @ QB, but the Oline should be much improved, WR corps should be solid as should the RB corps (Tons of speed there).

SHAT Golf Outing takes place on August 29 at Village Green. Opening Tailgate on September 5 @ 8:30am vs Youngstown State. Broken Bone @ 2:00pm on September 19 vs Navy (Weather Permitting).

See you there.

PT