Tailgate Party Time is almost here, for the biggest tailgate party of them all. The Super Bowl.
Tailgate Party Time has become a really big deal. There are entrepreneurs out there who have figured out some clever ways of cashing in on the phenomenon of Tail Gate Parties. And these of course all lead up to the biggest, most baudy bash of them all – the Super Bowl.
The “Tailgate Guy,” aka Jay DiEugenio, came to us at the beginning of his tailgating career (back in 2007). We all hit the blacktop at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium together, prior to the Chargers’ last playoff game of the season. It was a lovely San Diego day. LaDainian Tomlinson was still playing back then and hopes were high. Would this finally be the year that our Chargers would make it to the Super Bowl?
Jay rounded up several tailgate cooks to compete in a contest for best dish. The winning dish was a platter of spicy sausages. Each was wrapped in a curl of bacon. The creator dubbed them “Dog Nuts.”
That’s San Diego Director of Photography and Camera Operator, Mark Schulze, in his LT jersey. He filmed the three guest judges as they tasted and voted on the various dishes. There was a mean New England cioppino and zesty Mexican carne asada.
Unfortunately, even a sea of number 21Tomlinson jerseys failed to grant the San Diego Chargers a win over the New England Patriots. Oh well, there’s always next year. That was the San Diego mantra until Dean Spanos shipped his team out of San Diego and into Carson where they are now the “Red-headed stepchild of Los Angeles,” whose preferred team is the LA Rams. And that is an entirely different story.
Production photographs by Crystal Pyramid Productions‘ Sound Technician and Digital Still Photographer, Patty Mooney.
Note: Years later, little did we know that our San Diego Chargers would leave town, breaking the hearts of all long-time fans.
