Spanish La Liga: Sevilla at Valencia

The Ultimate Sports Wife and I decided to spend the afternoon touring Valencia since we had decided to watch Valencia square off against Sevilla at 7 pm on La Liga’s opening weekend.

Obtaining Tickets
I had already bought two tickets to Sunday’s match on Thursday night so we would not have to deal with buying tickets on Sunday evening. We may have been able to beat the 20 euros ticket price at the window but taking our time to get to Estadio Mestalla was worth the peace of mind for not much extra money.

Parking Part 1
Since it was a Sunday and we wanted to tour Valencia’s City Centre, I decided to park on a street in between the City Centre and the stadium. We found a nice area where other cars were parked and appeared to be free. It was (however, read parking parts 2 & 3).

Valencia City Centre
We started walking around Valencia at 3 pm. Something to note about Valencia during August and on a Sunday is that everything is closed. There was not one store open between where we parked and Valencia’s main Cathedral. Of course this was to the Ultimate Sports Wife’s dismay.

However, as we approached the main tourist area by the Plaza de la Virgen where the Basilica de la Virgen de los Desamparados (which was closed) and the Cathedral are located, the restaurants and stores were opened. Phew! Of course, the only tourist attraction open in the area was the Cathedral but after seeing many Cathedrals in Europe for free we chose not to pay the 4 euros to see this one. Even the Mercado Central, one of the largest markets in Europe, was closed until September 2.

Pre Game Dining
I was concerned that the Ultimate Sports Wife would not like the restaurants (also known as bars) around the stadium. So rather than risk eating by the stadium, we ate at Cerveseria Manyans. The restaurant was not located in the main tourist area by the Cathedral but rather on a side street a few blocks south of the Plaza de la Reina. We ate early for Spaniards at 5 pm, but since we were hungry and had a long drive back after the game, the timing made perfect sense for us.

Parking Part 2
With our tickets already in hand, we decided to drop off some items in our car and be sure we had not received a parking ticket, or even worse towed. We did not receive a ticket, but to our surprise, we had a car parked perpendicular right behind us! Since we did not need to move the car at the time, we figured we would go to the match and hope the car was moved by the time we got back – although a man was ready to move the car for us if we needed to leave at that time.

As we approached the stadium, what I had not realized when I attended the match on Thursday night was that there are no parking regulations during a Valencia football match. Cars were parked bumper to bumper on the sidewalk, on the street and a second row on the street – blocking in all of the cars that had parked “legally” on the street. So much for worrying about whether we had received a parking ticket.

The Match
With the pitch on Sunday evening just as bad as it had been on Thursday evening, Valencia scored two goals in the second half to defeat Sevilla 2-0. Sevilla was reduced to 10 men during stoppage time of the first half as Fredi Kanoute was shown the red card (after receiving one yellow card in the 22nd minute and one yellow in stoppage time). Valencia immediately took advantage of their advantage by scoring in the second minute of the second half. Pablo Hernandez ensured Valencia won by scoring the second and decisive goal in the 79th minute.

Parking Part 3
Just in case you were wondering, when we got back to the car, the car that had parked behind us was gone as was the man who offered to move the car for us. There were many other cars still parked in the middle of the street but we backed our car out of its parking place and drove back to Benimassot.

Europa League Play-off: Stabaek at Valencia

One part of Spanish soccer I do like is the late start times of soccer matches. La Liga’s weekly Saturday night contest begins at 10 pm (meaning it ends close to midnight) – no sporting event in the United States has that scheduled start time. Last season, I remember thinking it was crazy that Game 2 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs had an 8:37 pm start time at Wrigley Field.

Thus, I should not have been surprised when the Europa League Play-off match hosted by Valencia had a scheduled start time of 9:30 pm. I left Benimassot at 6:30 pm and by the time I found the Mestalla and parked the car it was 8:30 pm.

Parking at the Mestalla
The Mestalla is similar to Wrigley Field in that the stadium is in the middle of the city. There is no parking lot in the immediate vicinity as apartments, restaurants and bars surround the stadium. I found a parking garage (Garaje Primado Reig) within a few blocks of the stadium which cost .0329 cents per minute – a strange cost metric for a public parking lot but at less than 2 euros per hour I was not going to complain.

Obtaining Tickets
After walking the few blocks to the stadium, I headed straight for the ticket office. I remembered many extra tickets around the box office when attending games at Real Madrid and Barcelona in December 2004. As I had thought, scalpers and fans had extra tickets. However, with the cheapest seat from the ticket office costing 10 euros there was no reason to buy from a scalper unless they could beat the 10 euro price point. They could not so I bought a seat in the upper deck for 10 euros.

The Match
With Valencia already ahead in aggregate 3-0 from their match at Stabaek, Valencia did not have to worry about not advancing to the group stage of the Europa League. In convincing fashion Valencia won the second match 4-1 (7-1 on aggregate).

Miku scored three goals for Valencia – one in the 28th, 29th and 80th minute while Nikola Zigic scored the other goal for Valencia. Stabaek’s Pontus Farnerud made the match close towards the end of the first half as he scored at the 36th minute to cut Valencia’s lead to 2-1. However, Valencia was too much for Stabaek in the end.

Estadio Mestalla
The upper deck at the Mestalla is one of the steepest I have ever seen. I cannot think of another stadium that compares. Other stadiums would probably have three rows in the same height that the Mestalla has two rows.

The pitch at the Mestalla was a complete mess. It appeared to be a dirt pitch with patches of grass around the field. The pitch broke up every time a player would try to cut. At halftime the stadium crew came out to fix the divots created by the players in the first half. Also, they watered at halftime with the sprinkler system. They did that before the game as well, which at the time I thought was odd but finally realized it was necessary.

Formula 1: Valencia Street Circuit

After arriving in Spain Saturday night, we quickly got ready and drove to Valencia Sunday morning for the Grand Prix of Europe. Although the race started at 2 pm, I wanted to arrive early to see part of Valencia. We left the house at 9:30 am and finally parked our car at 11:30 am.

Parking
As we arrived in Valencia we followed signs to an “official” parking lot which was no where near the circuit. We paid 15 euros and then had a lengthy walk to get to the track. However, the walk did bring us by the Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciencies (City of Arts and Sciences) – one of the main tourist attractions in Valencia.

Obtaining Tickets
With the temperature in the 90’s and ticket prices between 150 and 200 euros each, the Ultimate Sports Wife decided she would skip the race and instead chose to go to the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe. Given the fact Formula 1 races are over within two hours and the museum was within a short walk of the track it made sense for us to enjoy the short afternoon separately.

I walked to the main box office figuring most people with extra tickets would try to sell their tickets there. Before arriving in Spain, I looked online and saw that the cheapest seats available were 195 euros. The actual cheapest seats were in the general admission section for 100 euros but those seats were already sold out when I checked online. With such a high price point, I figured I would be able to buy a ticket for under face value. When I arrived at the ticket office, the 195 euros seats were sold out and the cheapest seats were now 250 euros – quite expensive for any race if you ask me.

The first man I talked to had a 480 euros seat he wanted to sell for 300 euros – still too much money for me. The next woman (and men helping her) had a 375 euros ticket they also wanted to sell for 300 euros. In Spanish, I told them I only had 235 euros in my wallet and that was still more than I wanted to pay. They eventually agreed to sell it for 230 euros after a bit of haggling but that price was still too high. A third gentleman also had a 480 euros seat. I did not even ask how much he wanted for it. I began to get concerned that I might actually have to pay 250 euros for one ticket from the box office (I still needed money to buy lunch). However, as I was debating whether to walk around the track a bit, a young couple arrived with one extra ticket – face value 195 euros. They wanted 150 euros and we eventually agreed on 140 euros – still more than I wanted to pay but it was still less than face value and 110 euros less than the tickets available at the ticket office.

The Race
I entered the track after I bought the ticket. There was no point to walking around the track in the blaring sun. It was about an hour before the race was scheduled to begin so instead of sitting in my seat (there were no shade seats), I stood in the shade behind one of the temporary grand stands. I entered my section around 1:45 pm as the preliminary laps started.

At 2 pm, the race started. To my surprise, I actually did not need to use ear plugs. As opposed to NASCAR, which seems to blow out your ear drums, Formula 1 cars have a high-pitched tone that does not actually hurt your ears. Nevertheless, I used my ear plugs – thinking it was better to use them than not use them. However, most of the fans around me did not use ear plugs and were probably making fun of me.

Also to my surprise was the constant breeze that kept smacking me in the face coming from the Mediterranean Sea. This breeze kept me cool for the entire race which was a great plus since I thought I would be dying by the time the race ended.

A second difference Formula 1 has from NASCAR is that NASCAR tracks are mainly ovals – meaning as long as you are seated high enough in the stands you can see the cars race around the entire track. On the contrary, Formula 1 races are street circuits – meaning you can only see the cars as long as they are on the stretch of track you can see from your seat and you watch the rest of the race on the giant screens in front of your section.

The third and major difference between Formula 1 and NASCAR is that there were no yellow flags which always slow down the race in NASCAR. A couple of times, cars slid off the road but were able to gain control of the car, turn it around and keep racing. These lead to temporary yellow flags – where only the cars on that part of the track were told to take caution.

In the end, the race lasted about one hour and 40 minutes. Rubens Barrichello won the race and Lewis Hamilton finished second.

Viviendo en Benimassot, Espana

As with attending any sporting event, the location of where you live or where you decide to stay determines what sporting events you can attend. For example, if the Ultimate Sports Wife and I did not live less than one block from Wrigley Field, we would not attend nearly half the Cubs game we actually attend. Second, living in Chicago, allows me to attend many more Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks games than attending Chicago Fire or Chicago Wolves games (teams based in the Chicago suburbs), since a 20 minute drive to the events in the city makes a big difference than traveling 45 minutes or more.

Nicole and I chose to travel to Spain to study Spanish. And since our friends from London allowed us to use their vacation home in a remote village around the Costa Blanca region of Spain, the location for our trip was determined.

Given the fact we are about a 90 minute drive from Valencia and Alicante determines most of the sporting events I will attend while staying in Spain. For example, while we are here, the Spanish national soccer team is playing World Cup Qualifiers in La Coruna (a 10 hour drive) and Merida (a seven hour drive). But since those events are so far away, we will not be attending – even though they would be a top priority otherwise. However, the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) actually rides through our area of the country so we will be attending the tour as they come through the region with drives of up to 90 minutes for the starts of multiple stages.

The Ashes: Australia at England Day 2

When we decided to plan a trip for Europe, the wife checked U2’s tour schedule and realized they were playing in the United Kingdom the week we would be in London. She immediately wanted to attend a show. There were four shows to choose from – Friday, August 14 or Saturday, August 15 at Wembley Stadium in London, Tuesday, August 18 in Glasgow, Scotland or Thursday, August 20 in Sheffield, England. Ideally, we would have attended a show in London so we would not have to travel within the UK. However, that would mean we would need to leave Chicago two days earlier to attend the show on Saturday night in London. When I realized that Australia and England were playing the 5th test match of the Ashes at the Oval beginning Thursday, August 20 and running through Monday, August 24, Sheffield, England was the winner.

Day 2 of the test series started on Friday at 11 am. Thus, Nicole and I were on the 7:41 am train from Sheffield back to London – our estimated arrival time was shortly after 10 am. When we arrived in London, Nicole headed to our friend’s apartment where we were staying and I took the subway to the Oval.

Obtaining Tickets
Earlier in the week, my friend, British Mick, had warned me that tickets to the Ashes could run between 250 and 400 pounds. That price point was high for me, so I chose to do some research. I had assumed ticket prices would be like the India at England test match I had attended at the Oval in 2007 where I paid 20 pounds for a Sunday ticket.

Some Friday tickets for the Ashes were going for the price Mick had stated, but a majority of tickets were selling between 100 and 200 pounds – a much more reasonable amount.

As I arrived at the Oval I just missed buying a ticket from some Australians. I saw them sell their 65 pound ticket to someone for 85 pounds. I spent about 10 more minutes walking around and did not find any other extras.

I was about to walk back to where the ticket touts hang out by the Oval tube station, when I found what appeared to be a random fan who said he had an extra ticket – face value 65 pounds. He showed me the ticket and told me he had actually paid 140 pounds for the ticket. I offered him 100 pounds believing his story and we agreed on 120 pounds (a price British Mick stated was very good). The guy and his friend walked me to the entrance and said they would be in later. I never saw them again, so I was not sure whether they told me a real story or if they were ticket touts. Either way their story was believable.

Concessions at the Oval
One type of food that you do not find at concession stands in the United States is Indian food. Of course, you cannot Mexican food at an English stadium.

In what is a more liberal alcohol policy than United States venues, fans can buy up to four beers or an entire bottle of wine in a single purchase. However, since cricket lasts for hours (Friday’s match lasted close to eight hours), the alcohol sales stop twice during the day – once between 2:15 and 2:45 pm and again between 4:30 and 5:00 pm.

The Match
With the test series tied at 1-1 with two draws, the fifth test match was the decider – like game seven of the World Series according to British Mick. With that in mind, I was prepared to see some intense cricket. I saw the last two wickets of England’s first inning (which had started on Thursday) as England put a total of 332 runs on the board. Most of the writers in the paper had hoped England would score more than 400, so 332 runs were somewhat of a disappointment.

After a short break Australia came to bat around 11:30 am. Australia’s first two batsman, Shane Watson and Simon Katich, had 61 runs with zero wickets as the rains came three minutes before the scheduled lunch at 1 pm. The match was delayed for about an hour after lunch due to the continued rain fall and the teams gathered back on the pitch around 2:30 pm. Watson and Katich combined for 73 runs before Watson was out lbw (leg before wicket) by Stuart Broad. A run total that appeared Australia would eventually top England’s 332.

Next up was Australia’s #3 batsman, captain and supposedly the best batsman in the world – Ricky Ponting. Ponting only had eight runs before Broad threw a cutter that hit the ground then hit the wicket – Ponting was out and England’s day was looking promising. Broad got Australia’s #4 batsman Mike Hussey out lbw before he could even score one run. I had a feeling I was seeing something special even though I am not an expert at cricket in any means.

In the next over, Michael Clarke was dismissed for Broad’s fourth wicket within an hour as Broad bowled through Australia’s main batsmen. Within the next 20 minutes two more wickets were taken from Australia and Broad had five wickets during the inning (and within 80 minutes for that matter). During lunch I noticed a plaque at the Oval commemorating bowlers who had recorded five wickets within one inning – now I knew I was seeing something special.

Tea was scheduled for 4:30 pm – a much needed break for the Australians who only scored 133 runs with eight wickets. However, tea did not seem to help as England held Australia to a total of 160 runs in their first inning and came to bat again at the end of the day. Australia’s 160 run first inning total was Australia’s lowest test first inning since 1997 and their lowest first inning run total at the Oval since 1912.

England ended the day with 58 runs in their second inning with three wickets (15 total wickets were taken on the day) and appeared to be on their way to returning the Ashes to England by the end of the test series.

Postponed by rain: Pirates at Cubs

With our season tickets in hand, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I waited in our house for three hours and 15 minutes before the game between the Cubs and Pirates was finally postponed due to rain. As I have written before, the Cubs new day-of-game ticket policy is not friendly when it rains since one must enter Wrigley Field as soon as they purchase a ticket.

If it is raining, I would recommend buying a ticket from a scalper or a fan on the street if possible. That way you do not need to wait inside Wrigley Field for the entire delay.

The rain started just minutes before the scheduled 1:20 pm first pitch between the Cubs and Pirates which meant the umpires would not start the game in rain, but may have played through if the game had started.

Based on the interruption of the Cubs schedule this season, this must be one of the rainiest seasons in recent years. Not to mention numerous rain delays and two games called before nine innings (May 13 and May 26), this was the fourth game I have attended this season that was postponed by rain. The other three also occurred at Wrigley Field on April 19, May 15 and June 16.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs

As was the theme with the last couple Chicago Cubs home stands, I planned to meet a friend in the stadium so I decided to buy a standing room only (SRO) seat for $15. As I have mentioned before SRO at Wrigley Field is a good deal for multiple reasons.

1) It is the cheapest ticket in the ballpark.
2) Fans do not have to pay a premium buying tickets from a ticket broker or StubHub.
3) Although most people will plan to stand in the SRO areas, this is a bad idea. There are always plenty of empty seats in the 200 sections of Wrigley Field where 2 to 4 people who are attending together can almost always find seats to sit together. Remember that you may have to move two or three times before settling in but that is a small price to pay when considering you only spent $15 per ticket.

The Game
The Cubs defeated the Pirates for the second day in a row 3-1, behind the pitching of Tom Gorzelanny who the Cubs acquired from Pittsburgh on July 30. Wrigley Field was only buzzed a couple of times from Air Force jets on Saturday compared to the dozen or so times from Friday.

Air Show at Wrigley Field: Pirates at Cubs

Given all of the promotional days at Wrigley Field throughout the season, I would argue that if you only have one day to attend a Chicago Cubs during the season, you should attend the Friday afternoon game on Chicago’s Air and Water Show weekend.

Let me give you a visual – in the bottom of the 2nd and Cubs’ pitcher Randy Wells at the plate (the second batter of the inning), all the fans in the bleachers stood up and starting pointing towards the press box. I thought, “What is going on? What are they pointing at?” At that moment, seven U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flew overhead from the press box towards the bleachers – causing fans as well as the players to jump. You could see them make a turn left and minutes later they were buzzing Wrigley Field again, this time flying from the left field bleachers towards the first base line. This fly over was the biggest of the day, but continued for the entire game as solo and paired jets constantly buzzed Wrigley Field.

Friday’s game is better than Saturday’s or Sunday’s because Friday afternoon is flying practice – meaning the pilots have free reign to fly over Wrigley Field (or anywhere in Chicago for that matter) as much as they want. Saturday and Sunday are show days – meaning they will fly over occasionally but mainly only if it is part of their show routine.

Obtaining Tickets
With friends of mine going to the game, I just needed to buy any ticket to get into Wrigley Field since I was planning to sit with them. I bought a SRO ticket for $15 from the ticket office right before game time and immediately had to enter the stadium under the Cubs day-of-game ticketing rules.

As I have written in prior posts, the Cubs always have SRO ticket available on the day of the game. Friday’s announced crowd was 41,619 – the largest of the season – meaning that the Cubs have not sold out of SRO tickets on the day of the game yet this season.

The Game
The Cubs started the game out with a bang as the Air Force jets buzzed Wrigley Field. They scored four runs in the first inning and 10 runs in the second inning en route to a 17-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Derrek Lee led the charge driving in a career high-tying seven RBI. The last time the Cubs scored 14 runs in the first two innings of a game was on June 7, 1906.

Also, the 17-2 victory was the Cubs largest winning margin since they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 20-1 on May 5, 2001 and the most runs they have scored since defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 19-5 on April 30, 2008 – both games I attended.

The Cubs 10-run second inning was just the third 10-run inning I have witnessed in 896 MLB games attended. The other two occurred on:

June 28, 1992 – Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics – 4th inning (10 runs)
May 7, 1997 – Montreal Expos at San Francisco Giants – 6th inning (13 runs)

Post Game
After the game, I went on an unintended Wrigleyville pub crawl – although the bars and restaurants were a couple blocks away from Wrigley Field.

1) Immediately after the game, I went to Guthrie’s Tavern, located at 1300 W. Addison St, a few blocks west of Wrigley. Guthrie’s Tavern is a more relaxing location than staying in the immediate vicinity of Wrigley Field.
2) After Guthrie’s, I met Nicole and some other friends at Rockit Bar & Grill located at the corner of Clark St. and Waveland Ave. Rockit was not overcrowded when we arrived.
3) For dinner, we went to El Mariachi Tequila Bar & Grill located at 3906 N. Broadway St. between Sheridan Rd. and Clarendon Ave. Once again El Mariachi is located a few blocks from Wrigley Field meaning you can have a more peaceful meal if that is what you prefer.
4) After dinner, we went to Bar on Buena, located at 910 W. Buena Ave., a local hang out five blocks north of Wrigley Field.

Bleachers at Wrigley Field: Phillies at Cubs

The Philadelphia Phillies completed their three game sweep of the Chicago Cubs winning Thursday afternoon 6-1. It was the Phillies first sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field since June 14-17, 1984, when they won four straight.

Cliff Lee was the winning pitcher. Lee also pitched at Wrigley Field on June 19 when the Indians were in town. He should have won that game as well, but the Cubs came back from a 7-0 deficit to win 8-7 in 10 innings.

Obtaining Tickets
My original plan was to buy a SRO ticket from the Cubs box office before the game. However, I went to get my haircut before the game and on the walk back to the house I found a fan trying to sell his extra bleacher (face value $50). He wanted $40 so I offered him $30 (a fair price) and he accepted. This was the third time I sat in the bleachers this season – first on the Cubs home opener (April 13) and second versus the Minnesota Twins on June 14.

Bleacher Seats
As usual, I waited in my house until about five minutes before the game began to enter the bleachers. Most people line up for one block down Waveland Ave. or Sheffield Ave. to get a “good” seat in the bleachers. However, I am not a proponent of this practice.

Sure if you have a larger group (more than four people) and you like to sit in the sun and close to the field, then you will need to line up and get a “good” seat (defined as one close to the field). However, I normally enter at game time and am still able to find a seat underneath the scoreboard which is out of the sun and directly next to a small concession stand.

First Starts of the Season: P. Martinez vs. Samardzija

Last night the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs game featured two first starts of the season. For the Phillies, Pedro Martinez was starting for the first time since September 25, 2008. For the Cubs, Jeff Samardzija, Notre Dame’s career receptions leader with 179, was making his first career start.

Obtaining Tickets
I was planning to sit with my neighbors at the game, so I had planned to buy a SRO ticket for $15 rather than deal with scalpers. However, as I approached the Cubs day-of-game ticket office, a man approached me with a ticket in section 220 row 4 (a $56 face value ticket). I told the man I was planning to buy a SRO ticket for $15 and would not pay more than that. He offered me the seat for $20 and I accepted the price feeling bad for the guy.

Buying that seat worked out well, since it gave my neighbors and I a section to gravitate too after we moved from my neighbor’s seats.

The Game
Both pitchers starts could not have been more opposite as the Phillies cruised to a 12-5 victory after scoring eight runs in the fourth inning. Samardzija received the loss allowing seven runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings while Martinez received the win – giving up three runs in 5 innings. Martinez started his first game at Wrigley Field since June 8, 1996 when he was a member of the Montreal Expos.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, Jake Fox hit a sacrifice fly to center field in which Shane Victorino caught. While he caught the ball he was also doused with a beer thrown from a Cubs fan in the stands – another first for me.

Back to Chicago: Phillies at Cubs

I had an early morning flight back from Oakland Airport to Chicago so I could attend the Chicago Cubs game Tuesday night as they arrived back in town. Their last home game was the one I attended on July 30.

Obtaining Ticket
Rather than worry about finding a ticket for less than $15 (the standing room only [SRO] box office price), I relaxed in our house and bought a SRO ticket for $15 a few minutes before the first pitch. As usual, there were plenty of SRO seats available.

The Game
Rich Harden retired the first 16 batters of the game before walking Carlos Ruiz. Of course, two batters later, Harden followed up that walk by giving up a two-out, two-run home run to Jimmy Rollins which tied the game at two runs apiece.

In the top of the 9th, Ruiz hit a ball that third base umpire Dale Scott called a home run. However, Dale Scott used replay to review the play and made the correct call that the ball was foul. It was the first time instant replay has been used at Wrigley Field and the first game I have attended in which instant replay was used.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Cubs were able to score a run off of Brad Lidge who blew his 7th save of the season after a perfect save campaign in 2008.

For the fourth time this season, I attended a game that went into the 12th inning – the other three games ended in the 13th inning. Ben Francisco led off the 12th inning with a home run off of Cubs closer Kevin Gregg and the Phillies went on to win the game 4-3.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants

If you are coming from the suburbs south of San Francisco to a Giants game it may make the most sense to take Caltrain to AT&T Park rather than drive. That is what I did Monday night on the way to game one of the three game series between the Dodgers and Giants.

Obtaining Tickets
A main area for buying Giants tickets from scalpers is directly in front of the Caltrain station after getting off the train. I offered $10 for tickets from the scalpers but nobody would accept my offer. Then I waited to see if any fans had extra tickets but nobody did so I walked the few blocks to AT&T Park.

I had just past the Willie Mays statue headed for the ticket office, when I passed a group of three people with four tickets. I asked if they had an extra and the man said he did. He handed me the ticket ($25 face value) and I told him thank you. A free ticket!

The Game
The Dodgers used a four-run 4th inning to defeat the Giants 4-2. San Francisco’s manager, Bruce Bochy, was ejected after arguing two calls with first base umpire Bill Hohn. The first came in the 3rd inning and the second in the 5th inning. Both calls were out calls in favor of the Dodgers, but it appeared the Giants should have been called safe in both cases.

Manny Ramirez was booed by the crowd each time he came to the plate in Ramirez’s first game in San Francisco since coming back from his 50-game suspension after violating baseball’s drug rules.

Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants

With Nicole attending her sociology conference in San Francisco, I went to the Sunday afternoon Giants game with my Dad.

Obtaining Tickets
We needed to buy two tickets and again my goal was to find tickets for $10 each. However, I was only offering $15 for two tickets. None of the scalpers would accept my offer until one scalper got creative. He offered us two singles in the upper deck for $15. Since I had sat in the lower level Saturday afternoon and had planned to do the same, I accepted the offer.

As I thought, I sat in the same section I had Saturday afternoon and we were not asked to move once. The reason I chose these sections Saturday was because there were a lot of empty seats no ushers were checking tickets. The sections towards home plate all did.

The Game
Aaron Harang won his first game since May 25 as the Reds defeated the Giants in the rubber match of the three-game series 5-2.

Post Game Dining
After the game, I met the Ultimate Sports Wife at Union Square. Union Square is a 20-25 minute walk from AT&T Park if you want to do some shopping before or after the game.

After wandering around Union Square, we took a cab to the Mission District where we ate dinner at Café Arguello located at 2832 Mission St. and went to Laszlo, located at 2526 Mission St., for some post dinner drinks.

Game #3 of 3: Barcelona vs. Chivas de Guadalajara

The main event of the soccer doubleheader was between FC Barcelona and Chivas Guadalajara – a match that I attended at Soldier Field on August 3 last year. With Leo Messi and Thierry Henry playing for Barcelona, the first half of the game was exciting even though neither team scored a goal. After all of the star players were removed in the second half both teams scored a goal – Barcelona in the 49th minute and Chivas in the 63rd minute.

During the second half the Mexican fans lighted flares, which I do not believe I have never seen in a U.S. stadium, but have seen plenty of times in European soccer stadiums.

Soccer Doubleheader at Candlestick Park: Crew at Earthquakes

We arrived at Nicole’s presentation about 5 minutes early (if you need a recap click here). Nicole came over and told us she would be presenting second. I wanted her to present first, but since there were four presenters I was not about to complain. My parents and I would only be slightly late to the San Jose Earthquakes game at Candlestick Park. However, the moderator of the session announced that the first presenter did not show up and that Nicole would present first. On time to Candlestick Park here we come! The presentation was over at 4:50 pm and we left immediately.

Obtaining Tickets
As usual, we had to wait in traffic to enter Candlestick Park. Because of that I chose to buy tickets from the first scalpers standing in the middle of the road as you get off U.S. Highway 101. Normally I would wait until I enter the Candlestick Park parking lot. I knew the cheapest tickets at the box office were $40 each for an upper deck seat. The scalper I talked to had three together (although I knew it probably did not matter that we had tickets together) and wanted $40 each for them – face value was $60 each. I offered him $80 for all three and he said no. We finally settled on $100 for the three tickets – about half face value.

Parking at Candlestick Park
Now that we had our tickets, we needed to park. If you are planning to tailgate before an event at Candlestick Park (mainly San Francisco 49ers games), then you should park in the main parking lot. However, if you are not, then one parking lot you should consider are the dirt lots outside of the main parking lot. Since the main parking lot has so much traffic after an event, the alternative parking lots will allow you to walk past most of the traffic (even though you will still have traffic leaving your lot). If you really want to avoid traffic after a Candlestick Park event you either need to leave the game early or tailgate for awhile after the event is over.

The Game
The Columbus Crew defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 behind three second half goals by Alejandro Moreno, Robbie Rogers and Adam Moffat. The official MLS box score for the game listed the attendance as 61,572, but that was obviously for the game that followed.

Game #1 of 3: Reds at Giants

Something I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post is that the Giants do not always play at 1:05 pm on Saturday afternoons. They usually play at night – meaning this day would not be possible without a scheduled afternoon game.

Nicole and I drove to her conference on Saturday morning. We parked the car around 12:15 pm and I walked over to AT&T Park – about a 20 minute walk from Market St. and 6th St.

Obtaining Tickets
As with any baseball game that is not sold out, cheaper tickets can be found outside the stadium. I talked to a couple of scalpers on my walk to the stadium, but none of them wanted sell a ticket below $10. I figured I could find a $10 seat and waited to see if I could get a free ticket.

As I approached the Willie Mays statue, I found a guy with a $42 ticket who was willing to sell it for $20. The seat was down the left field line. I rejected the offer because I still only wanted to pay $10. However, I found it difficult to buy a $10 ticket. Scalpers wanted $15 or $20 – not too much more than I wanted to pay but enough when I knew I could buy a $10 ticket.

The line to buy tickets at the box office was incredibly long. That is when I discovered that the Giants now have ticket kiosks where you can buy a ticket. No need to wait in the box office line. In addition, I believe you can buy tickets at any time – day or night. I approached the screen and punched in the correct game – the cheapest seat was $26.50. “Yikes,” I thought. Let’s go back and talk with the scalpers. I even went back to the fan who offered me the $42 ticket for $20. Of course, he was gone.

After some haggling I finally bought one of the Giants variable priced tickets for $10. Not my best effort but the best with what I was given today.

The Game
I ended up walking over to the $42 seat area and found a bunch of empty seats down the left field line and in the shade where I sat for the entire game.

Barry Zito won his third consecutive decision for the first time since May 23-June 4, 2007 (he is 3-0 in his last four starts) as the Giants defeated the Reds 4-2 in 2 hours and 44 minutes – the perfect game ending time for me. The game ended about 3:50 pm and I was off to Nicole’s presentation.

Tripleheader Saturday in San Francisco

Today is a complicated day for three sporting events – at least two of them are at the same venue. The wife and my original reason for being in San Francisco is for Nicole’s sociology conference – the American Sociological Association’s annual event. She is giving a presentation scheduled for 4:30 pm this afternoon (Saturday) and to be a good husband I thought I would attend.

With the San Francisco Giants game starting at 1:05 pm and a soccer doubleheader at Candlestick Park (Game 1 is between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Columbus Crew and Game 2 is between FC Barcelona and Chivas de Guadalajara) starting at 5:30 pm, I need perfect timing in order to see the end of the Giants game and make the doubleheader on time.

There are a couple issues that could occur:

1) I am not sure when Nicole is presenting or how long she will present. The session is scheduled from 4:30 to 6:10 pm. If she presents late I can make the MLS game by halftime (in order for the game to “count,” I need to attend only half the game with extenuating circumstances – which today falls under).

2) The Giants game could go to extra innings. As stated in #1, I am not entirely sure when Nicole is presenting. Extra innings works if she presents later in the session, but then I will miss the beginning of the MLS game.

Next part I forgot to mention – my parents are attending the soccer doubleheader and coming to the presentation. They need to pick me up from the Giants game, drive to the hotel where the conference is located, find parking, watch the presentation intently, get back to the car and drive to Candlestick Park.

Ideal situation – Nicole presents immediately at 4:30 pm for about 20 minutes and we immediately leave for the soccer doubleheader.

Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics

After relaxing with my parents and grandparents for a few days it was time for some weekday afternoon baseball. The Ultimate Sports Wife and I headed to Oakland to see the Athletics take on the Texas Rangers.

Parking at the Oakland Coliseum
We chose to pay the $17 to park in the official Oakland Coliseum parking lots. However, if you are trying to save a few dollars you can park across the freeway for free. Get off at the 66th Avenue exit and instead of heading towards the stadium drive in the opposite direction and park where the other cars have parked along the road running next to I-880.

Obtaining Tickets
I did not see any scalpers in the parking lot or on our way to the ticket office. The cheapest seat at the box office was $9 so rather than try to find an extra ticket; we bought the $9 seats. Of course, rather than sit where we had bought tickets, we sat behind home plate in the shade.

The Game
In a fast get-away-day game, the Rangers defeated the Athletics 6-4 to avoid a four-game sweep.

WTA: Bank of the West Classic

After landing in San Francisco Friday night, my Dad and I were off to watch Venus Williams battle Elena Dementieva in the semi-finals of the Bank of the West Classic Saturday afternoon – the longest running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world.

In the same session, the doubles match featured both Williams sisters playing Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova.

Obtaining Tickets
We needed to buy two tickets for the match. Before we parked I got out of the car to look for tickets on the secondary market while my Dad parked. It was a good thing I did as a man handed me a free ticket as I approached the ticket office. Of course, I needed two tickets but as a steadfast rule, you should never turn away a free ticket. If necessary you can always give the ticket to someone else.

Now that I had one ticket, I looked for another. The scalpers were not easy to negotiate with as they would not budge on any of their pricing – a stance I agree with generally. Their prices were cheaper than the ticket office so fans need to decide whether to pay more at the window or pay their price. The cheapest ticket at the window was $45, but my dad wanted to sit in better seats, which was the ticket we had. Plus the section in which we had the ticket was sold out. We ended up trading our one ticket and $80 for two tickets in the sold out area – face value $65. Thus the free ticket saved us about $50 off the face value of the two seats – not my best work but when your father wants to get into see the start of the first match it compromises some ability to negotiate.

The Match
I will admit our seats were great – third row from the court to watch Venus Williams dominate Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-1 in the singles match.

One could have considered the doubles match better from a fan’s standpoint as both Venus and Serena Williams participated and defeat Mattek-Sands and Petrova 6-2, 6-2.

Tennis has added some strange rules for doubles stating that doubles is not nearly as important as singles – which is true. There is no advantage when a game is at deuce – the next point wins. Also, there is no third set in doubles if the match is tied 1-1 after two sets. They play an additional tie-breaker. The first team to 10 points in the tie-breaker is determined the winner.