Welcome to Saturday y’all. We made it. While you’re watching championship football games and great non-conference basketball games, allow us to recap everything that’s happened this week at TGS headquarters. Give ’em a read during commercials, share them with friends, and for the love of God, don’t take Tom’s advice and bet on the 76ers – like ever. Enjoy!
The consumer debt crisis is personal
It seems like all we do as Americans these days is go to work, so we can make money, so we can make payments. Tom Danielson writes that basic financial education, getting ourselves out of debt, and valuing money over material possessions can help us solve the consumer debt crisis. But the process starts with each person finding their ‘why’ to find the proper motivation to launch your journey of financial fitness.
Look at how crazy that above statistic is. If you expand that for 40 years of your adult life, the average household pays more than $250,000 in INTEREST during their lifetime. I’m not going to sit here and preach the gospel of Dave Ramsey (although his teachings are working for me), I’m not in a position to preach anything, because the debt crisis is 100% personal. However, I do think there’s a lot Americans can learn from some basic financial literacy.
Well, Actually 1.07: It’s Raining Doggos
‘Well, Actually’ is The Tailgate Society’s fastest growing podcast, touching on all sorts of cultural, political, and women’s issues. On this episode of the podcast, hosts Tami Dooley and Nicole Gustafson discuss the lack of female comedy available on streaming services, are joined by Arnold Woods to discuss a men’s birth control study, and banter about some college football involving their favorite schools to close it out.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or almost every podcast application to stay up to date on each of the four podcasts distributed by The Tailgate Society.
TGS Winter Fundraiser
The holiday season is upon us, and we here at The Tailgate Society feel that it’s important to remember that this is truly the season of giving. Last year Ted helped raise more than $1,300 for a local senior center. This year, we’re rallying around a family, who’s father is losing his eyesight and functionality of his legs. From now through the end of the year, we’ll be collecting donations in return for your choice of six different koozies, in order to raise money for medical expenses and living expenses as Erik and his family fight this fight together. You can read all about the cause, order your koozies and make your donation by checking out our Annual Fundraising Campaign.
POLLitically Incorrect – 11/29/16
Who doesn’t love rankings? In a new TGS series, Austin Narber and Tom Danielson take a look at the weekly AP College Basketball Poll and examine each team individually. Are they properly ranked? Should they be higher? Lower? Let these two college basketball junkies fight your POLLitical battles for you. As we learned this week, most teams stink.
#13 Indiana Hoosiers – I get that early season upsets happen, and the Hoosiers did beat Kansas, but y’all lost to Fort Wayne, and I can think of more teams than the twelve above Indiana that don’t have a loss that bad yet. They may well be #13 by season’s end, but they haven’t earned it yet.
I’m not leaving my red state
After the election, there was a lot of public shaming of middle and rural America. Soon after, a lot of democrats in red states felt alienated from their blue brethren. Why should people feel ashamed about where they live just because of the political beliefs of others in their state? Perhaps there’s more to consider here, and Sarah Kelly Shannon examines why her red state is worth living in and fighting for.
Because this is my home. Because I believe Kansans deserve the same access to health care, education, parental leave, and just plain equality that New Yorkers and Californians deserve. Because the color of my skin means I don’t have to fear for my personal safety as many Kansans do.
This week in the Group of five – 11/29/16
Last night, Western Michigan capped an unbelievable, undefeated season. Tami Dooley walks you through the rest of the G5 happenings this weekend, who could end up in what bowls, and what could the chaos gods have in store for college football this final weekend of the regular season?
Championship weekend is finally here. All that’s left are this weekends matchups, the Army/Navy game, and then bowl season. It’s been a long road, and like always – almost everything we thought we knew at the beginning of the season was wrong. After months of arguing, hundreds of games, it all comes down to this.
TGS Pro Weekly 1.11: Lions, Vikings, Packers – Oh My!
If professional sports are more your speed, we’ve got you covered with the TGS Pro Weekly Podcast. Austin Narber, AJ Speck and Jared Leeper take a walk around all the happenings in the NFL and NBA. The playoffs are lurking in the NFL and the Steelers (one of the preseason Super Bowl favorites) might not even get in if they can’t finish strong. The Motor City Kitties will likely win the NFL’s black and blue division, the Browns suck and the Bucs…don’t? All of that plus some NBA and NFL rounds of “Who am I?” in this week’s TGS Pro Weekly.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or almost every podcast application to stay up to date on each of the four podcasts distributed by The Tailgate Society.
You’re looking good, Des Moines
Travis Halm moved away from Des Moines years ago, and while it wasn’t a cultural hot spot then, things have definitely changed in his time away. Travis takes a pictorial look back on the physical and cultural transformation of one of the Midwest’s fastest growing metropolitan areas.
Take pride Des Moines! You’re cool, you’re hip, and you’re looking good. I can’t wait until my next visit home.
House vs. Home
Many of us have lived in some rather interesting places throughout the course of our lives. Tami Dooley takes a look back at all the different locations she’s resided in since leaving her childhood home. What made each place unique and different? What was there to love or hate about her various living situations, and most importantly, what’s the true difference between a house and a home?
After that, I met a boy and we decided to move in together. In a single apartment with an efficiency kitchen, in an old hotel next to the train tracks. Theoretically, it had been renovated, but I’m not sure moving a fridge in counts. We slept on a twin bed, may or may not have had cable of questionable origins, and basically lived on top of each other for a year. By the end, we were ready to kill each other. It was time.
NFL Week 13 Preview
Week 13 in the NFL actually features some pretty intriguing matchups. Giants/Steelers, Chiefs/Falcons, and Bills/Raiders are all matchups with major playoff implications featuring teams we don’t often see matched up against each other. There’s not one single divisional game on the schedule, and Dallas kicked it off with a nail-biting win in Minneapolis on Thursday night. Tom Danielson fills in for Janice to preview what else you might see this weekend.
The Dolphins are the anti-Eagles. They’ve won six in a row and they head to Baltimore where they haven’t won since 1997. In my time as a Dolphins fan I remember specifically celebrating one particular win over the Ravens. The game that prevented an 0-16 season.
Friday Degenerate Board – 12/2/16
Well week one for our resident degenerate gambler went much better than week two, thanks to a certain team from the Pacific Northwest. No fear, Tom Danielson gets back on the horse, and throws his money around on some risky bets and live dogs with this week’s Degenerate Board.
The Seattle freaking Seahawks, man. All they had to do was go and beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not even cover the 5.5 point spread. We had teased them to 0.5 point underdogs and had them winning outright in a 5-team parlay. Each of the other seven results in those two bets went our way. Had the Seahawks simply won (they were 5.5 point favorites after all), we would have pulled in $920 on those two bets. $920 bucks! That one result would have resulted in a $530 profit this week! Alas, we lost $390 – thanks a lot Seattle. Not only that, they threw up a fiver, losing 14-5.