Pictures from the 2025 Season Opening Luau Tailgate

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Thanks to all that forwarded me these amazing pics!

This is Home: Michigan 34, New Mexico 17

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When you’ve been doing something a certain way in a certain place for 15 years, you kind of have it down. Arrival timing, ins-and-outs, food prep, packing, towing, unpacking, cooking, clean-up…I know that space at Pioneer High School like the back of my hand. But as the 2024 season came to an end, we blew it up. I mean, I blew it up. Nobody batted an eye as I told stories of a new place that almost no one had seen—and that a group of dozens of people didn’t even have the address to until three days before this weekend’s kickoff. Faith, I guess.

Making the roadshow a home show seems easier, and I’m sure it will be, but it has been a harrowing summer. As the construction team struggled with permitting and timing—and one set of workers waited for the next to finish—I wondered if we were going to make it, and what we would do if we didn’t. But the deadline was met at the buzzer, with the major work completed only last Thursday. Then came the disappointment of knowing the finishing touches just weren’t going to be there. A handful of tremendous people chipped in: my Sparty neighbor, who got a crew to lay the base for the turf; Cooper, Bryan, and Brian, who hung the TV and assembled a grill; Adam, who put together outdoor furniture; and Linda and Pammy, who cleaned the inside of my house. The Team. The Team. The Team. And while I sweated the details, the reality is, nobody cared about any of them. A friend told me today that I could have sent map coordinates to a back alley and folks would have come and had a good time with me. That means more to me than you could possibly imagine.

Yeah, in case you haven’t followed the exploits on social media, the Tailgate has a house now. A place to eat, drink, relax, and celebrate (or cry). Our place. It is, in fact, not a dark alley somewhere. It served us well in week one with just a couple of easily remedied hiccups, and an extremely bright future of expansion: partially weather-controlled space, large fences to keep the neighbors happy, and even an indoor bathroom. So much still to do, but so happy with the debut. And a nod to the cleanup crew. Maybe exchanging loading and unloading a trailer for having to clean up after ourselves is a net increase in work? I wouldn’t know. I came back to vacuumed field turf, trash in the cans, equipment wiped down, and a space that was ready for the Bacon Tailgate in a couple weeks. Thanks again to Bryan and (a one-footed) Pammy. Wow.

FULLER / MGOBLOG

And speaking of happy debuts and so much to do—Michigan took the field with a serviceable quarterback for the first time since walking out of Houston with the National Championship in January 2024. Bryce Underwood passes the eye test—previous QB mediocrity bias and cupcake opponent considered. Justice Haynes broke a couple big ones, giving him the best stat line for a UM running back debut in 55 years. The game was a little too competitive on the scoreboard for my liking, as defensive penalties (one of which in particular was bullshit—upheld bullshit at that) and a couple of concerning third-down conversions by the Lobos had it a 10-point game into the fourth. But Michigan prevailed, put nothing on tape for the impending tussle with the Sooners, and got a mistake-free game under Bryce Underwood’s belt. Box checked. Plenty of questions remain, and next week a good number of them could be answered. We’ll see what Michigan’s new offense (in particular the line) can do against an elite Sooner defense, and what the Michigan defensive backfield can do to stop a dude who went 30 of 37 for 392 yards on Saturday. See you all in Norman…or the following week for CMU!

GO BLUE!

Wayback When-sday was at My House

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OSU Tailgate 1997

November 22, 1997: The group gathers behind my college house on State St before Michigan’s 20-14 victory over the Buckeyes en route to an undefeated season and National Championship. This was the last time my bed was less than 20 yards from the tailgate, and I remember wondering what these idiots were doing showing up at the crack of dawn to start drinking and eating. Fast forward 28 years, and I am the #1 enabler of several levels of idiocy beyond these fine folks. The season is almost upon us my friends. Let’s go blue.

More pics and stuff from that fine day in 1997 live here.

Your 2025 UMTailgate Themes

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This year we celebrate the 25th(!) anniversary of the launch of UMTailgate.com, a crappy and often abandoned website that follows the Greatest Tailgate in the World through pictures, trash talking of rivals, and general shitposting. Ah yes, “a life’s work.”

In 2009, citing space-holding issues, waiting in a line of cars at 6 a.m., rainouts, and the fact that they trimmed the trees so we couldn’t pee in peace, the tailgate left the friendly confines of the golf course and rented a space on Snyder that just couldn’t contain us.

2009 Season Opener at our snyder st digs

In 2010, we moved to Pioneer High School and occupied a space known as The Cove for the next 15 seasons. So many great memories of our time there.

2010 season opener at the cove

But it’s time to move on — to reduce the wear and tear of packing, unpacking, and setup; to stop wondering where our power is going to come from, where our cable signal is going to come from, or where our internet signal is going to come from for the inevitable Peacock game. More importantly, it’s time for me to live out a lifelong dream: being able to see the stadium from my home — and live at the tailgate year-round. LOL. So, in 2025, the tailgate will move to a space that will affectionately be known as The UMTailgate House. External improvements have been underway since February, and while it will be a bit of a work in progress throughout the season, it will be tailgate-ready by the first kickoff. Having an actual kitchen to augment the outdoor kitchen will open us up to a new level of menus and capability, and having my clothes nearby will allow me to change out of my sweat-soaked cooking garb and enjoy the games.Looking forward to seeing all of the invited guests soon. :)

And so, for this year’s tailgate themes, we’ll take a trip back to 2010 and revisit that amazing season (off the field, of course), where the opening Luau was sponsored by Kraft and The Bacon tailgate actually got a visit from John U. Bacon.

Side note: Last year we started the season with FIVE CONSECUTIVE HOME GAMES. This year, we don’t have a single back-to-back, and we only have six games total. BREATHE.

Saturday, August 30, 2025: New Mexico State, 7:30 p.m.

Theme: The Luau

What better way to kick things off than under the lights? No longer hamstrung by time rules, all tailgates can start in the morning. Four meals? Don’t mind if I do. Extra decorations because I don’t have to jam them in a trailer? YES. Roast pig because I can start it the day before? HELL YES. Expect a season opener spam hash and typical luau fare throughout.

Saturday, September 6, 2025: at Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 13, 2025: Central Michigan, Noon

Theme: The Bacon

Noon kick means breakfast — and maybe a quick pre-game slider. On-site ovens mean we can bake fresh biscuits! Lots of bacon and bacon-related things… and God-willing, John U. Bacon.

Saturday, September 20, 2025: at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 27, 2025: BYE

Saturday, October 4, 2025: Wisconsin, Noon or 3:30 p.m.

Theme: The German

Fingers crossed for a 3:30 here, but we’ll do some waffles, bratwurst hash, schnitzel sliders, and hot pretzels. And we’ll cover our lederhosen-clad selves in various mustards.

Saturday, October 11, 2025: at USC, TBD

Saturday, October 18, 2025: Washington, TBD

Theme: The Carnival

Subject to change based on kickoff time, but if it’s not noon, we are a go. It’s been a long time since we had a carnival. There will be games. There will be elephant ears. There will be a slip-and-slide on the stairs into the tailgate basement.

Saturday, October 25, 2025: at Little Brother

Saturday, November 1, 2025: Purdue, TBD

Theme: The BBQ

Again, subject to change if time isn’t conducive to a full smoked menu, but I’d like to fire up enough smokers to have the neighbors complain — and knock out some competition-level brisket, chicken, ribs, and sides.

Saturday, November 8, 2025: BYE

Saturday, November 15, 2025: at Northwestern (Wrigley), TBD

Saturday, November 22, 2025: at Maryland, TBD

Saturday, November 29, 2025: THE GAME, Noon

Theme: The Steakhouse

You know the drill. Filet, tomahawks, steakhouse sides, and Michigan’s fifth straight victory over Ohio.

Photos Catch Up - 2024 Oregon, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio, Alabama

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My inability to keep up with posting after the season transitions from hopeful to disappointing is as rich a tradition as Boone’s Farm and Dennis showing up late. So, we’ve got a little housekeeping to do before we embark on the next season and launch the 2025 Tailgate Themes. After Michigan dispatched of Little Brother, they fell in back to back games to the Big Ten Champion Oregon Ducks and a top-10 Indiana team (remember them?) before a get-right game with Northwestern and the biggest upset in the storied history of The Game. Rewarded with a bowl game against a CFP-spurned and angry powerhouse Alabama team, Michigan went into Tampa without the bulk of their productive players and smothered them. A strong finish to a meh season, with tremendous tailgates and road trips throughout. Links in 2024 drop down menu above.

Oregon:

At Indiana:

Northwestern:

At Ohio:

Reliaquest Bowl - Alabama