Tonight the Flyers will play their final preseason game, another thrilling match against the New York Islanders, this time at home in South Philly. There are ample tickets available should you choose to head on down to The Farg to enjoy a little low-stakes hockey but let’s be real with each other, dear reader.
It’s Tuesday.
It’s 50 degrees. And it’s raining.
You had a long, annoying day at work. And you just got home.
You’re not going to the game tonight, and you know what? That’s a good call. Because it is, as they say, preseason for everybody. And tonight’s preseason finale gives us the perfect opportunity to figure out what we can do to make watching Flyers games fun this season. Because we can have fun if we want to. We’ll just have to make the fun ourselves. And what is more fun than a tailgate?
A TAILGATE AT HOME. Your couch. Sweatpants. Free snacks. Your own toilet. It absolutely rules. So let’s talk about what Flyers fans can do to make watching games at home a good time, since spending money to go see this team feels like a non-starter — for now, anyway.
Step 1: Set and setting
Just because we aren’t going to watch the game at the arena doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a little ambiance, right? So first, get your mind right. You love hockey. You, unfortunately, love the Philadelphia Flyers. They’re going to play a game of hockey tonight and you know what? You’re going to enjoy the heck out of it! That’s the spirit! I know you might not be feeling it right now and that’s okay. If necessary, fake it ‘til you make it. It works, usually.
Once you’ve convinced yourself that you are capable of enjoying sport, throw a jersey on. But throw it on top of your comfiest, softest sweatpants. And those really soft socks that you probably have four pairs of because someone always gives them to you for Christmas. You’re super comfy but there is something about having a jersey on that really just gets you ready for the game, you know? Jersey on means game time!
Step 2: We need snacks
As we’ve said, it’s preseason. These are practice snacks. So let’s not stress about going to the supermarket or ordering a bunch of take-away or anything. No no — tonight, for this Tuesday night preseason game, we’re going to get creative with what we’ve got on hand.
Do you have chips of some kind? Literally any kind of cheese? Well then you’ve got nachos, friend. Do you have mayo and sour cream and a spice rack? It’s dip time, baby! Here’s one of my go-to easy-peasy dips, if you need some inspiration: Mix together equal parts sour cream and mayo (let’s say half a cup each), and then add a teaspoon or so of onion powder, garlic powder, salt, dried parsley, and dried dill. Feel free to add a pinch of cayenne if you like it spicy. Then add a little splash of red wine vinegar or lemon juice. Taste it, adjust, and when you’re done you’ve got homemade ranchy dippy goodness.
Anything crunchy and salty is a great call in this situation. Open the fridge and the pantry and cobble together something yummy the way Chuck Fletcher cobbled together the Flyers’ fourth line. But like, actually successful. And good. This metaphor got away from me; the important thing here is that just like at The Farg, you want to have a little something to pick on in between muttering under your breath about Rasmus Ristolainen and checking your Twitter timeline. Any you never know, you might end up stumbling upon a god-tier chip dip after getting reckless with the condiments. This is what preseason is for!
Step 3: Assemble the homies
Will you be able to get your besties to come over on a cold Tuesday night to watch a preseason Flyers game on your couch? Well… it might be a hard sell. Don’t take it personally; we’re all so very lazy at the end of the day. There are few things better than watching a Flyers game with a room full of other Flyers fans, but if we can’t make it happen for real we can make it happen in a preseason-y kind of way.
First of all, the cats and dogs in your life count as sports friends. They’ll be hanging around anyway since you have snacks. But let’s not stop there. Get a group text going with your Flyers pals. Everyone make their own at-home preseason tailgate on a Tuesday. Share pics of the weird snacks you Dr. Frankenstein’d together out of leftover spaghetti and a half-eaten bag of Lay’s. Discuss why you think Scott Laughton is a bad choice for the 2C. Virtually high-five each other if the Flyers get nuts and do something amazing like score more than one goal. Enjoy the game together, even though you’re apart. What a time to be alive.
Listen, we all know it’s going to be a long season. A probably a rough one. So if we’re going to choose to remain invested in this team, the season will be what we make it. We can make it good! We can make it fun! No better time to start than tonight.
