Justin and his Huskie Tailgating Machines

Justin believes he is quite possibly Northern Illinois University's Football Team's biggest fan, and who are we to doubt him. After all, he has constructed not one but two tailgate fan vehicles, and has not missed a single game since the Silicon Valley Bowl game in 2004! Justin started things off simple. Like most fans, he began by flying flags off his car, he even added an actual NIU helmet to the top of the flagpoles. But unlike most fan and like us super fans, he felt he could do more. That was when the Huskie Mobile was born.

The original van, a 1989 GMC Vandura 3500, was bought on eBay in late 2002 for a mere $500. After hundreds of hours of labor and $5000, the Huskie Mobile was ready to hit the tailgate pavement. The Huskie Mobile had all necessary features for a kick ass tailgate party. Features included: outdoor speakers, Astroturf floors with replica field, hitch mounted barbecue, chrome wheels, and red neon lighting.

The biggest upgrade to the van was its collapsible roof deck. Now, most of you are thinking, when it comes to roof decks, you never want to hear the world collapsible, but we are willing to make an exception here. The deck is sitting on top of a Weather Guard roof rack which has railings that can be put down while the vehicle is moving, and put up when the party if ready to start. The roof deck also features goal posts made to 1/4th scale.

Now, Justin could have stopped there, and have been considered a pretty darn good fan of NIU's Football Team. But no, Justin wanted to take it to the next level. So in 2005, he went back to work on eBay and found a 1994 Ford E350 short bus in Buffalo, New York in pretty good condition. He immediately booked a 14 hour overnight Greyhound bus trip to Buffalo where he purchased the bus for $1800, and headed back home again with his new acquisition.

With his good buddy Joe, Justin pioneered the Huskie Road Crew. A group of NIU fans who travel out to all road games. They take the bus and their tailgate party to every possible destination under 500 miles.

Like we said at the beginning, Justin believes he is quite possibly NIU's Football Team's biggest fan, and who are we to doubt him.