The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.Good morning! Dip with gusto today. Inside:
Party Time: Five keys to a perfect football game dayFeel that? That slight crisp in the air?* That nearly imperceptible shift in the winds drifting from the nearest football stadium? A minor seismic event somewhere in the Pacific Northwest as the Lombardi Trophy arises from its slumber? Hear that? The harumphing bellows and tinny clash of a college marching band? The distant roar of a crowd?That, my friends, is the siren call of football season. She is finally here.* If you live in the continental United States, maybe the crispness was just a blast of A/C. But fall is coming, I swear.As any self-respecting person born in SEC country, I am ready to lose all sense of self in the festivities and feasts of game day, whether college or NFL. Thanks to a mix of personal gusto and Protestant work ethic, I have hosted my friend group’s Super Bowl party ever since I entered adulthood.And today, with the help of our friends at Wirecutter, The Pulse has a guide for throwing the perfect game day while avoiding whisper-fighting with your partner. Here are the five keys, whether you’re tailgating or living-room-gating:1. Get your sights and sounds on lockFor the tailgate, that means the best portable speaker you can get. For the living room, the right TV setup: Wirecutter made a guide for how to set up your TV for live sports during the World Cup, and the same rules apply to live American football. (Tom Cruise may hate motion smoothing for films, but it’s ideal for live sports.)The perfect game day playlist? Build it with us! Email us your favorite song for a football watch party, and we might add it!2. Focus on low-lift, high-reward foodHere are 21 of the best tailgating recipes from New York Times Cooking. (Y’all. That buffalo chicken dip. 🤤)Or, ever heard of Trader Joe’s? (Rhetorical.) Here are their best snacks.3. Think outside the [beer] boxI mean, obviously have beer. But some of your guests might be off the sauce, gluten-free or, like me, just plain high-maintenance (i.e., a wine-drinker). I love these lists of the best canned cocktails and the best NA beers.
