• Get in the mood for the game with a tailgate party.Football official standing next to football image by Pezography from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
  
  Tailgate parties are one way to gather game fans before a big event and pump them up for the sporting extravaganza. These go-anywhere parties are generally all about good food and friends. While you do not necessarily have to select a theme, doing so may make your gathering more memorable. As you prepare for your next trip to the stadium, consider organizing a themed tailgate party for your fellow fanatics as a way to pass the time leading up to the big game.
  
  

Sports Extravaganza

• Allow your tailgate party to reflect the sport that you are about to watch by centering your event around this pastime. Purchase or create decorations displaying footballs, basketballs or hockey pucks. Ask all guests to come dressed in their team best, as they likely would have anyways in preparation to root on their team. Create cheese balls shaped like the thematic sports balls. Rename common dishes to reflect elements of the game. For example, simple fruit salad, at a football event, might be "field goal fruit salad." Create signs to label these foods with your carefully selected names.
  
  

Classy Cocktails

• Give your standard tailgate party a more refined feel by turning the event into a cocktail party-esque gathering. Ask all guests to learn a classic cocktail recipe, and bring the fixins for the drink to the event. Ask each guest to craft her cocktail and present it to other partiers. Trade heavy cook-out food for lighter appetizers, which fit with frilly cocktail drinks. Purchase an assortment of decorative plastic cocktail glasses instead of using glass to ensure that no party-ruining mishaps occur.
  
  

Sweet Taste of Victory

• Make your tailgate party all about everything sweet with a sweet taste of victory tailgate event. When you send out invitations to your tailgate gathering, inform guests of the theme and tell them to come to the event armed with their most taste-tastic dessert. As guests arrive, lay out their dessert and number them. Allow all tailgate guests to sample each dessert and rate it for flavor. At the conclusion of the event, reward the creator of the best dessert with a special prize to commemorate his sweet treat creation skills.