Take a deep breath. You smell that, boys? If your team is one of the thirty that didn’t make this year’s Super Bowl, what you are breathing in probably smells a lot like defeat. Yes it hurts. And yes it’s probably time to move on to another sport for a while or begin preparations for the NFL draft. But before you get too far removed from game day traditions, let’s remember that there’s still one more pigskin Sunday this season that counts – the Super Bowl – and if you’re team isn’t in the game itself, the most important event is the Super Bowl party. If you threw one last year: good work. Let these three tips give you a few more ideas. If you’re the guy who continually goes to your buddies’ parties but never hosts your own, time to get into the game and show your friends your more than just a towel boy.

Project Self-Confidence: Cool. You have a flat screen. But so do all your other friends and the plasma, LCD, or whatever you have hanging in your living room probably isn’t that much cooler. So what do you do when you’re hosting the party for the biggest NFL game of the year? You take it to the next level. You go out and buy or rent a projector and make the broadcast bigger than the biggest big screen in town. Not only is it an awesome gesture of game day dedication, but when you have that many people at your house trying to watch the game at once, using a projector will mean you don’t need to crowd around the TV just to get a good view of the action on the field. Use a white sheet or a blank wall as a screen, or, you can take the action outside with this baby.

The Supporting Cast – Grub: The game itself is going to be the star of the show. At least that’s how it should be. The fact that it’s the last meaningful game until September also ups the value. But star 1A is easily the food, and no matter what’s happening in the game, the chow on the table will keep people happy. There are a few different strategies to the food. The traditional approach is “snack for the first half, gorge during halftime, digest during the second.” That works fine, but usually people get so filled up on snacks during the first two quarters, the real meal at the half becomes an afterthought. Shake it up this year and get the feast ready beforehand. Steaks, Burgers, Fish Tacos—it’s all good as long as plates are full so you can relax without worrying about cooking once the game starts. Let the feast commence at kickoff and offer some second-half snacks for anyone that can handle them after the main event.

The Real Game is at the Half: It could be Janet Jackson. It could be The Stones. It doesn’t really matter because historically no one has sounded great performing during the half time show, and the quality is always worse when watching from home. Since you decided to do lunch during the first quarter and everyone’s had an hour to digest, why not bust out the flag football gear you’ve craftily purchased in advance and get in a ten-minute match of your own. Kids will love the chance to get outside and you can prove to the guys that your skinny post route is still un-guardable. If cold weather is making it tough to rally the guys off of the sofa, why not try a friendly wager: losing team does the dishes.

TIP: WD-40_® Multi-Use Product is perfect for lubricating adjustment knobs on projectors, sound systems, etc.