Friday I'm in Love with Tailgate Technology

Yes this post is sponsored by Samsung, but I would've gotten to writing about this eventually, so there.  Anyway, tailgate technology has increased exponentially in the past decade.  No longer is it good enough to have .38 Special blaring from a tricked-out pick-up, as the Lord of the Tailgate in 2010 has at least one flat screen television, a satellite dish on top of the SUV, and an iPod hooked up to a PA system.  A few advances, however, have been very significant for the tailgates of today.  Here are three:

The Modern Satellite Dish

Once upon a time, during and even before the days of the BTN-ComCast battle, not all Michigan State football games were televised.  How people were able to exist in these days I have no idea.  Anyway, the invention and mass production of the compact satellite dish in the past decade has allowed tailgaters to catch several different games from throughout the nation in the comfort of their lawn chairs/couches.   Technology can have its downsides though, and it comes in the form of a Indiana-Northwestern game at noon.

Cooler Scooters

Here the word "cooler" is not used as an adjective, but as a noun, as in "HOLY CRAP IT HOLDS MY DRINKS AND IT'S A MODE OF TRANSPORTATION!"  While some smaller schools might find such a glorious mode of transport irrelevant, on a spacious campus such as Michigan State University these drink holders of the driveways are both functional and fashionable.  These should've been around for years, and why humanity has only now gotten around to inventing these greatly saddens me.  If you would like to learn more about cooler scooters, visit your local library, or to buy one, click HYUH.

The Flat Screen TV

Important not only because of high definition, but also because of the logistics of tailgate - a flat screen TV takes up less room, and less room for a TV needs more space for other tailgating essentials.  I used to be a tailgate Mennonite.  I advocated against the use of electronics, and was quite happy with my propane grill, ladder golf set and beer-stocked cooler.  After catching the Michigan-Michigan State game this year on one of these babies on the U of M golf course however (and whoever's tailgate I crashed - a million thank yous, I hope my cheering wasn't too aggravating), I'm a convert.

Those are some of my favorite tailgate advancements.  What are some of yours?