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Episode 510: Catch the Niks
Half Time Dine
A table that is perfect for a sports fan

Okay sports fans, this is it: the easiest way to throw a sports-related party. What do you have to do? Go into your garage, head to a local school or anywhere you think you might find some old sports equipment. The beauty of the half time dine party is that you can go all out and stretch your imagination while not stretching your wallet

Inexpensive astro turf works perfectly as a table cover. With great texture and colour, it can be bought in long sheets and then cut to the shape of your table. In addition, you can treat it with numbers such as mid-field, or the 20 or 30 yard line.

Place down an assortment of colourful linen or paper napkins so that the sports fans that come to your home can use whatever colour corresponds to their favourite team's colours (i.e. 'red' for St. Louis Cardinals' fans, or 'blue' for the Toronto Blue Jays).

Added enhancements are galvanized tin buckets, which work well as peanut dispensers. Fill them with shell peanuts and place additional empty buckets around so that people can discard their shells in them. Also useful as beverage receptacles, you can fill the buckets with crushed ice, place beer bottles into them and your guests can keep their drinks cool as they carry them around.

For plates, flying disks come in an array of colours and your friends can eat their hotdogs right off of them. The great thing about them is that your guests can take them home with them at the end of the night as souvenirs of the party.

Looking at sports equipment as potential serving pieces is a good idea. An old snow board would be perfect as a foundation for the table on which you could place the hotdogs directly. Find a skateboard and place the condiments on it. Old, colourful helmets can be lined with a napkin and become potato chip, pretzel or popcorn bowls.

Baseball gloves are also perfect for displaying stuff. Place items into the net on the end of some old lacrosse sticks and use them as a unique way to offer food, etcetera to your guests. Tennis rackets can become lovely service pieces as well if you want to place napkins on top of them and serve your guests that way.

A football might not have much use in terms of serving potential, but it will look great on display, as will baseballs and tennis balls. Old baseball bats can be positioned on your table to add dimension to your buffet. Keep an air horn handy so that everybody can make a lot of noise during the party.

Trust me, the one way to get those couch potatoes off the couch, away from the game and into your dining area is to put down a spread like this.

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