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Kudos to the Texans for bouncing back from the disappointing effort last week in Oakland. With the hometown boys playing for nothing but pride against a team with playoff aspirations, the Texans put together a beautiful game.

Your moderator was absent from the festivities but did collect a few details from the crew. First, happy birthday to Corey, the official PPT matriarch. Despite cold weather, rain and an uncooperative tent, the PPT rallied to celebrate.

Okay, tailgaters, it is up to you to tell the rest of the story. Pics, anyone?

Tim hates Urlacher	Sven loves Urlacher	Beautiful work
Wait, that's not Frenchy!	101 Uses for a BMW	The Return of the Kellys
Where's the candle?	Woman + Chocolate = Happy	Beat like it's Mike
	It's Official

The PPT gathered to welcome a very special guest this weekend, Niles Meza. Niles is the son of regulars, Kat and Mitch. He is in town on leave from the U.S. Navy. The Pooch Punters recognize the great sacrifice that all service men make on our behalf. We especially honor Mr. Meza and his service as a member of the PPT family.

A couple of things became apparent as we started setting up for this tailgate: 1) the dark prevented us from seeing the mess at the end of our last tailgate; 2) sandbags or cinder blocks are a prudent investment. But, these small obstacles did not prevent us from enjoying brisket, smoked chicken, boudin and sausage on a stick. Nor, did it distract us from consuming our pregame Snakebites.

Some of PPT faithful where not simply content with attending the tailgate and game. The Cripple Cracker and Melon scheduled to attend the AC/DC concert Sunday night making for a very long day. Kudos to these warriors. It takes epic drinking skills and a liver of titanium to pull off that double / double.

Lastly, and most importantly, the Texans won! Against the 12 - 1 Titans! Four in a row!  7 -7 for the first time! It may not sound that great to bandwagon Patriot fans. But for faithful Texans fans, this is huge.

No, I'm not going art school. The camera color was all f@#ked up so I had to convert all the pics to grayscale.

It's not a Hispanic thing. We all have to help.	The Crippled Cracker	Is that arsenic, Brooke?
The Justifiably Proud Parents	The Art of Snakebites	Dunta Robinson Approved
Steve and Mike with Bryan Pittman	A family that drinks together stays together	Beauty and the Kat
You know the drill	Group Shot	Flashin' Four

All tailgaters pray for good weather, great food, strong libations and a home team win. The Pooch Punters Tailgate prayers came true at the first Monday Night Football game hosted by the Houston Texans. Bacon Wrapped Quail, Boudin and Jalapeno Sausage headlined the menu. Enough Snakebites, beer and other various libations were consumed to fill the Astrodome. And, the Houston Texans delivered a convincing victory, trashing the Jags 30 - 17.

Some old friends showed up to tailgate. The Mock Family attended their first tailgate of the year while Chrysan returned from her brief hiatus.

The White Teeth Club	Line 'em up	Knock 'em down
Tim's MNF Upgrade	A Texans Birthday	Mmm...Good!
Mommy, this tailgate is off the chain	Mock is no longer a virgin	The Pooch Punters even invite the homeless
Drink. Drank. Drunk.	Bacon lovin'	Billy Idol is a Texans fan

There is really no reason to talk about this game. And, I  can't talk about the tailgate because of absence due to illness. So, other tailgaters, it is on you to fill in the blank.

Anyone get pictures?

I got nothin'. Anybody else care to comment?

First, congratulations to the Phillies. As Philadelphia fans will tell you, it doesn't matter that TV ratings were low, or that it took six nights to complete five games, or that their opponent wasn't the Red Sox or Yankees. No, it only matters that after 28 years of waiting the Phillies finally won the World Series.

As Brad Lidge fell to his knees in celebration, Astros fans may have experienced some different emotions. Regret. Joy. Jealousy. But what fans should feel is hope. Hope that what happened in Philadelphia can happen here.

Let's look at the facts. The Astros went 11 games over .500 this season with weak starting pitching and a hobbled offense. Imagine the results with just one more quality starting pitcher and a healthy offense. Surely, given those circumstances the Astros could win at least 10 more games. Winning 10 more games probably results in a wild card spot, if not a division title. And as baseball fans know, anything can happen in playoffs.

Let's hope.

There are certain members of the PPT that have yet to participate in the blog effort. In the interest of privacy, we will only refer to them as Zesta, Diaper, and/or Minx. No one expects weekly dissertations on the tailgate experience or analysis of the Texans Cheerleaders performance. A one line comment will suffice.

No doubt, we are all very busy with the day to day responsibilities of work and family. But let us be mindful of the responsibilities to our tailgating brothers and sisters. For they are the ones ready with a cold beer, warm meal and fresh insults at the end of a hard week.

Principal Pooch Punters	Indiana Cracker and the Plastic Skulls	You are going down!
Papa and his girls	Corey and Mike with cousin Eddie	Is that Dunta Robinson?
Game on!	What? These are my dad's friends?	Mr. Gemza provides beverage disposal services
Where is Cracker?	After all these years, Rob is still amazed by Shan	Dunta Robinson's older brother and his gangsta crew
The end is near, Mr. Bengal	Tim, you're scaring everyone

Tailgating got a late start this week with game time at 3PM. Despite our 11AM curtain call, some of us were a little less than enthusiastic about being there. Rumor has it that a couple of our principal tailgaters did not hit the pillow until approximately 3:30AM the same morning. Damn, fools!

Mich and Kat joined the tailgate for the first time this season. They had excused absences through the first couple of games. We really missed hearing Kat purr and watching Mich sleep. There were new faces as well. Tim invited some Detroit Lions fans. They were allowed to stay because of their generous food contributions to the tailgate.

And then, the Texans won. Again. All Cowboys fans residing in Houston: when you want to cheer for a team free of pre-Madonnas and criminals, come on over. The Texans accept all defectors. There is one condition though - you cannot go back. Penalty for doing so is death!

Tim going full Capri		Spread sampler	Gus, would you like some entertainment? (insert shirt here)
Melon, Frenchy, HCS and guest tailgater from somewhere other than Texas		Crackerlicious	Profile, Melon
The other half		Gus and Brooke	There is never enough Cracker to go around

Get that cookie!	No, Brooke, that is not a piece of bacon	Meow!
Mich had a beer. No, really. One beer.	First Game Photo	Football. Outside. Kinda.

Color Guard	Please, pray	Robin and Steve's seatmates
First touchdown of the game	Texans vs Lions Group Photo

The last quarter of the Texans game against Miami looked like a
funeral waiting to happen. Texans lead. Texans do something stupid.
Texans lose lead. Texans... Wait! What? The Texans won? Am I dreaming?
I swear I just saw Schaub lead the Texans down the field and score on a
quarterback sneak in the last 2 minutes of the game. Unbelievable!

The Pooch Punters Tailgate party started lethargically this week. We
were still a little shell shocked from last week's historic let down.
But spirits rose quickly as the smell of bacon wrapped quail and fresh
Red Fish hit the air. An ample supply of spirits of another kind didn't
hurt either!

This weekend was the home opener for the pathetic excuse for a football
team we call the Houston Texans. Hurricane Ike pushed back the original
opener which in a way was a blessing. The thought of having to witness
in person this assault on reason and decency during the steamy hot
month of September is unfathomable. Nonetheless, the Pooch Punters
Tailgate rose above the home team to provide friends and family with
good food, good drinks and good company.