Is Thanksgiving just the ultimate tailgate? Think about it, tremendous effort is put into meal preparation. Even a modest Thanksgiving spread is going to dwarf most tailgate cooking. You still spend the entire day watching football with a bunch of people and you get to do it in the comfort of your own home.

You could make the argument that Thanksgiving is the ultimate tailgate. If you opened all the living room windows, you'd scarcely be able to tell the difference!

I kid of course... but there is a shred of truth in there. So enjoy yourself this Thanksgiving and ponder why two awful teams like the Cowboys and Lions get automatic games every year and no one in the NFL office has appeared to even consider changing such a pointless tradition. Take big hits out of the game? Sure! Change the length of the season? Why not?!

Not subject America to watching the Lions every year on Thanksgiving? Oh heaven's no, we could never change that tradition.

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So much of what we think of as tailgating is what takes place before the game. Getting there early, drinking, grilling, playing games... No doubt that's the tailgating experience 90% of people have. But I've always thought the post game tailgate was underrated.

Think about it. What is the rush to get home after the game? Especially if the game was at 1p. When the game is over it's only about 4:15 or so. You probably haven't eaten since noonish. There's 70,000 people all trying to leave a parking lot with very few little routes out all at once. Why not fire back up the grill, let everyone else fight the traffic, and if you've got a TV you can just enjoy the first half of the 4p games.

In some ways a post game tailgate can even be better than the traditional pre-game ritual.

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Every Friday, we'll be highlighting great tailgaters & essential parts of a great tailgate. Today, we tip our cap to the Eagles themed tailgate vehicles. Walk around the parking lot of the Linc any given Sunday and you'll see tons of these. Some are old buses, some are campers painted green, and in fact last time I was at the Linc I saw an old converted ambulance turned in to a tailgate vehicle.

You have to respect the commitment it takes to have a whole vehicle for the sole purpose of tailgating. After all, you probably aren't driving that midnight green school bus with "Go Eagles" on the side to work every day. That thing gets loaded with coolers Saturday night and fired up Sunday mornings and that's it. Probably not much more than 8 weeks a year.

Plus, these aren't the type of people who show up around noon for a 1pm guy. If you've got your own tailgate vehicle, you're in the parking lot at 7 or 8 o'clock. You're eating three meals in that thing. If it's a 4 o'clock game, no big deal... Half of these things I see lately have a flat screen on the back to show the early game. If not, they've at least got the pregame show cranked on the radio. So here's to the Eagles themed tailgate vehicles. If you've got one yourself, by all means show it off.

How about Marissa Miller with a sword now?

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For the next few Fridays we're going to be talking about what makes a tailgating experience truly perfect. But before we get into the best food, drinks ect. I want to kick it off by talking about a guy I met two weeks ago at the Eagles/Falcons game named Joe Cahn, or as he's better known "The Commissioner of Tailgating." He happened to park his enormous bus by the lads from the Eagles Fancast, who had generously invited me to tailgate with them before the game. We got to talk with the commish and basically found that his whole life is essentially driving this bus around to big sporting events and documenting people's tailgating adventures. How he is able to earn a living from this, I do not know... But he does and it's awesome. Oh and he was nice enough to give us some of his grill spice that he invented, which we sprinkled generously on our burgers. The spice was free of course... Again, how this guy survives is beyond me. He's like Cane from Kung Fu, just walking the earth and assisting people with their tailgating needs. Maybe "Tailgating Jesus" would be a more fitting name.

He actually left before the game even started because he was due to be in Virginia later that day for the Redskins Sunday Night game. Again, not to see the game... to be a part of the tailgating. So here's to you Joe Cahn, a true "Captain Of the Tailgate."

And now, Marissa Miller video.