Merrimack at Lehigh Tailgate Report 9/28/2019: Beating Cancer, Eating BBQ To Support Your Linemen, And More

Welcome back to the Lehigh Tailgate Report, a free public service from your pals over at Lehigh Football Nation.

The idea of the Lehigh Tailgate Report is to provide a fun report on what to expect at the game, or not at the game, for this week's upcoming game.

If you're planning to go to the game, great! It's at Murray Goodman Stadium this Saturday at 12:30PM.

If you can't make it to the game, the game is available to watch or listen in a variety of ways.

 The local radio broadcast, which starts an hour before kickoff and sets the table for the day's game, can be caught on your AM dial on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230 or 1320. Matt Kerr, Jim Guzzo, Tom Fallon and Matt Markus are on the call this Saturday.

Through internet radio, the pregame, game, and postgame can be streamed through TuneIn or just simply going to the LVFoxSports.com webpage. Full disclosure: When I'm at home, this is my preferred method to catch the game action. Streaming the audio is #LFNApproved.

If through your cable service you get Service Electric 2 (this is available through Service Electric Cable in the Lehigh Valley), you can watch the TV feed on that station. Steve Degler, Doug Heater and Kristi Fulkerson are on the call.

 If not, you can stream the game over the internet through the Patriot League Network. PLN is the streaming service that broadcasts the Service Electric 2-produced broadcast. PLN is free and allows you to stream most Patriot League home games and league football games. It can be streamed in a web browser, or if you have a Roku box, you can access all the Patriot League Network games through the WatchStadium App.

Weather Report

This weekend is going to be a picture-perfect afternoon for football and tailgating, with kickoff occurring on a day with abundant sun in the upper 70s, with temperatures and humidity ticking upwards to the low 80s.

It's hard to imagine a better day weather-wise to head to Murray Goodman - especially because Lehigh's next home game, at the end of October vs. Georgetown, might be much different weather.

Beating Cancer

To get serious a moment, this weekend is also Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Tackle Cancer Day at Murray Goodman, presented by Red Robin.

Justin Lafleur of Lehigh Athletics wrote a tremendous article on the family of DB Will Kalmbach on this subject that got the attention of the NCAA.  Go over there and read it right now, but here's an excerpt:

Cancer patients are remarkably resilient as they fight to have the opportunity to enjoy the little things in life.

Cancer puts life into perspective. On Saturday, Lehigh football hosts Merrimack in its Tackle Cancer Game. Both teams will square off on the field, but are in the same battle off it.

Beat Cancer.

That battle is especially close to Will Kalmbach's heart.

"My mother Tiffanie developed a brain tumor and was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2000, a year before I was born," said the freshman defensive back.

Maybe not THIS Lineman

Recycling and Lineman Day BBQ

Lehigh will once again be participating in Game Day Challenge, a friendly nationwide competition for colleges and universities to promote waste reduction at their football games.  The overall goal is to reduce trash generation inside/outside the stadium and to increase recycling rates. Help Lehigh win the Game Day Challenge by recycling as much as possible!   Volunteers in green vests will be engaging fans with recycling games and giveaways. Visit the Game Day Challenge table inside Goodman Stadium for more information and to participate.

Also, the Lehigh football partnership is celebrating their 4th annual Lineman day, as they honor the members of the Offensive and Defensive Lines from Lehigh football history. Tickets, food and beer are provided - and they say to bring the whole family down!  The signup sheet is here.

We're 2️⃣4️⃣ hours from kickoff as @LehighFootball returns to Goodman Stadium to battle Merrimack.

Lots going on that you won't want to miss!

🎟: https://t.co/hSEvqQtwY8#GoLehigh #beGREAT pic.twitter.com/HIXkkqiGPa

— Lehigh Sports (@LehighSports) September 27, 2019

(You might want to get their early, because the linemen I've known pretty much have kept their appetite for BBQ the same as their playing days.)

Also, as Steve Degler told you above, the Lehigh Alumni band are coming back to join the Marching 97 with stand tunes and other tomfoolery you'll want to experience.

LFN's Tailgate Grub of the Week

It's Lineman Day, and BBQ day, so my "Tailgate Grub of the Week" is going to be my favorite low-heat, smoky meat I make in the BBQ - dry rub beef brisket.

Though my dry rub recipe is a closely-guarded secret, this brisket rub recipe is about 85% of the way there.  I've found that applying the dry rub to a small brisket, letting it marinate overnight, and putting it on a small charcoal grill through the indirect grilling method with wood chips, I surprisingly can get a shockingly good smoke ring and a fully-cooked brisket in under 4 hours.  (My record, incredibly, is 3 hours.)

Brisket made in this way, especially with my homemade mopping sauce, is dynamite, definitely one of my LFN fave's.

LFN's Drink of the Week

The only real "Drink of the Week" in a week where we're featuring my favoite brisket is Harpoon Brewery beer, located in Boston but close enough to North Andover, Mass to apply for our Merrimack tailgate this week.

Conveniently, Harpoon has a "Tailgater Pack" that is perfect for a Lehigh tailgate, a variety of their seasonal beers that almost always are inspired.  I really enjoy a good Harpoon beer, and they're not paying me to tell you this.

As always, Drinks of the Week have a place in responsible tailgates, but only if you behave yourself, don't get behind the wheel while impaired (or worse), and are over 21. Please do that.