Halloween CFB: Penn St. at Northwestern

For the fourth Saturday in a row I attended a Northwestern football game. It was a rare 3:30 pm start for Northwestern football. Their games are almost always at 11 am unless they are planning one of the top teams in the Big Ten.

Northwestern stayed in the game for three quarters as they were tied with Penn St. 13-13 heading into the 4th quarter. However, Penn St. struck for three touchdowns in the 4th quarter to defeat Northwestern 34-13.

Obtaining Tickets
Once again I received a free ticket as I was tailgating in the Northwestern parking lot. Usually one of my buddies decides not to attend the game (to either continue tailgating or go home with their kids) and hands me there ticket.

If I had not received a free ticket, tickets would have been cheap on the secondary market. There were a lot of fans and ticket scalpers holding up there tickets meaning you could easily have paid $5 or $10 for a ticket (or maybe even received a free one).

Fireworks
In what must be a first, Northwestern had fireworks night at Ryan Field after the game.

Pacers Home Opener: Heat at Pacers

For the first time since May 30, 2004, I attended an Indiana Pacers game at the Conseco Fieldhouse. Hospitality Jim, who I attended the Chicago Blackhawks game with on Monday night, was in Indianapolis to see a kids concert with his wife and daughter. He wanted to attend his first NBA game so I decided to make the trip south on Friday. I left Chicago at 2 pm and arrived at 6:20 pm (one hour time change plus 20 minutes of traffic leaving Chicago).

Parking
Parking is free in downtown Indianapolis after 6 pm. I parked on Meridian St. by University Park. It was a few blocks away from the arena which is my preference since it allows me to pass any ticket scalpers along the way. On my walk to Conseco Fieldhouse, I found one parking lot on Pennsylvania St. that was only charging $3 for event parking and the lot across the street only charged $5. At least I did not have to sit in traffic leaving the parking lot after the game.

Obtaining Tickets
On the walk to Conseco Fieldhouse there were plenty of ticket scalpers along Pennsylvania St. I got to the corner of Maryland St. and Pennsylvania St. when I found some fans that had $25 face value tickets. I offered them $10 each for the tickets and after they tried to negotiate for more money a couple of times I paid $20 for both tickets.

Pre Game Dining
After buying the tickets I met Hospitality Jim at Scotty’s Brewhouse on the corner of Pennsylvania St. and Virginia Ave. – one block north of Conseco Fieldhouse. There are quite a few restaurants and bars within one or two blocks of the arena.

The Game
Miami led 49-47 at halftime before going on a 16-4 run to start the 3rd quarter. Indiana could not comeback from the run and never got closer than 10 points behind.

Dwyane Wade scored 32 points and Jermaine O’Neal had a double-double to lead the Heat to a 96-83 victory. It was the first time the Heat won in Indianapolis since 2001 and only their 6th win at Indiana in their 22 year history.

Deciphering Blackhawks Ticket Prices: Wild at Blackhawks

I was back at the United Center last night for the Chicago Blackhawks game versus the Minnesota Wild to see Martin Havlat’s return. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild 3-1 as Patrick Kane scored the 50th goal of his career in spectacular fashion. Minnesota became the first team since Pittsburgh in 1996 to earn zero points in their first eight road games.

I had planned to attend this game for awhile since Hospitality Jim of the Arsenal boys was in town with his family.

Pre Game Dining
Since Hospitality Jim has a 5-year old daughter I tried to think of a restaurant that was kid friendly, a tourist attraction, sold beer and downtown. I came up with either Ed Debevic’s (located at 640 N. Wells St.) or Gino’s East (located at 633 N. Wells St.). Since the restaurants are across the street from each other we met and then decided on Ed Debevic’s.

Obtaining Tickets
Since Hospitality Jim was with his family I chose to buy tickets through StubHub rather than buy tickets from scalpers on the street. As I wrote last week, the Blackhawks have a confusing pricing strategy this season. There are three different prices per seating category. I’ll use the tickets I bought last night as my example – Section 302 Row 12.

1) $50 – cost of the ticket purchased from the box office on the day of the game.
2) $45 – cost of the ticket if purchased in advance (before the day of the game).
3) $27 – cost of the ticket if purchased as a season ticket holder of four or more years.

We ended up paying $31.25 per ticket which was in total $55 cheaper than buying the tickets from the Blackhawks ahead of time. Based on this gap in ticket prices I would recommend buying tickets from StubHub or the secondary ticket market for most games this season since season ticket holders are able to sell their tickets (without losing money) for a lot cheaper than the Blackhawks.

Post Game
After the game Hospitality Jim and I went back to the Omni Hotel (located at 676 N. Michigan Ave.) for some post game drinks. If driving downtown after the game, street parking is available and the meters are not checked after 9 pm.

Homecoming: Indiana at Northwestern

In what I guess I should have expected Northwestern scored 26 unanswered points to come from behind against Indiana and win 29-28. This was the fourth straight game at Ryan Field where Northwestern came from behind versus Indiana to win the game in the 4th quarter.

1) Seven years ago (November 2, 2002) Northwestern’s Jason Wright rushed for his fourth touchdown of the day with 2:17 left to give Northwestern the win 41-37.
2) Five years ago (October 9, 2004) Northwestern’s Brian Huffman kicked the game tying field goal with 29 seconds left to send the game into overtime in which Northwestern ended up winning 31-24.
3) Two years ago (November 10, 2007) Northwestern’s C.J. Bacher threw the game winning touchdown pass to Ross Lane with 44 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter to win 31-28.
4) This year Northwestern fell behind 28-3 halfway through the 2nd quarter but won when Stefan Damos’ kicked the game-winning field goal with 21 seconds left in the 4th quarter. This was the biggest comeback in Northwestern football history. Their biggest comeback before yesterday was 21 points.

Tailgating and Obtaining Tickets
Yesterday was homecoming for the Northwestern Wildcats. Tailgating starts earlier than normal and lasts longer after the game on homecoming weekend at Northwestern. I arrived at our usual tailgate at 8:30 am and entered the game at the end of the first quarter.

As I have stated before, a good way to find extra tickets is to tailgate in the parking lot before games. Fans, who either do not know how to or do not want to sell tickets to scalpers, will have extra tickets in the parking lot and will either give them away or sell them for a deep discount since they have no other options. Yesterday was no exception as one of my friends decided not to enter the game and gave me his extra tickets – thanks Matt Swanson.

After the game the tailgate was still crowded as many of my friends did not end up going into the game. As opposed to other teams in the Chicago area who halt tailgating once the game starts, Northwestern University allows tailgating throughout the entire game. So if you do not want to pay $35 per ticket price for individual end zone tickets ($50 for sideline seats) and do not end up getting a cheap ticket you can always find a crowd in the Ryan Field parking lots.

MLS: Chivas USA at Chicago Fire

It is difficult for me to attend many Major League Soccer games throughout the season because their games often compete with many other sporting events that take place during the summer and they play on Saturday nights – normally a forbidden night for me to attend sporting events. Last night was an exception since the Chicago Fire was playing a Thursday night game versus Chivas USA and it was the main sporting event taking place in the Chicago area.

One problem with getting to venues in Chicago on weeknights is traffic. Plus last night’s bonus was the rain that fell throughout the entire evening. I left the house at 5:45 pm for the 7:00 pm start but did not arrive at Toyota Park until 7:10 pm – I should have been no later than 6:30 pm. I could park quickly since I had my media parking pass. As I walked towards the stadium the national anthem was playing so I had arrived on time.

Obtaining Tickets
This was the third Chicago Fire game I attended this season. The first game was the Fire’s home opener on April 5 and the second game was a SuperLiga match on June 27. Both times I received a media credential from the media gate. This time was no exception. My credential was not waiting for me, but after a short explanation I had a credential and made my way to the press box.

The Game
If there had not been a steady rain all evening I would have watched the game from the stands, but I chose to stay dry and stay in the press box. In September, when I attended two Villareal matches within five days, I wrote about the torrential rain and how it affected the pitch during the match. Last night was no exception as the field became water logged as the game continued. The ball and the players made a splash each time they made a sharp move on the field which definitely affected the play on the field.

The Chicago Fire needed a tie to clinch a playoff berth. It looked as though the game would end in a 0-0 tie until Cuauhtemoc Blanco turned a corner kick into an own goal for the only goal of the match. The Fire won 1-0 and clinched second place in the Eastern Conference.

At halftime, Chris Armas was inducted into the Fire’s hall of fame, which is known as the Ring of Fire.

Vancouver Canucks at Chicago Blackhawks

Last night the Vancouver Canucks were back at the United Center for the first time since losing Game 6 of the second round series against the Chicago Blackhawks 7-5 as the Blackhawks advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Last night’s game was different as the Blackhawks could not hang onto a 2-1 lead in the third period giving up two goals to the Canucks at 7:44 and 4:42 left in the game. The Canucks won 3-2.

Parking
Once again I parked for free along the 2100 block of W. Warren Blvd. which is on the opposite side of the United Center than where I parked last year – the Red Top Parking Lot on the corner of Madison St. and Ashland Ave. This difference in parking location changes what scalpers and fans I will end up negotiating with for tickets as I am now coming from a different direction from last year.

Obtaining Tickets and 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks Ticket Prices
Last night I saw a fan try to sell his ticket to a scalper but noticed that the ticket did not sell. I yelled at the guy to get his attention and asked if he had an extra ticket. He had a $12 upper deck single – the exact seat I wanted to buy since I believe it is the cheapest ticket available for Blackhawks games.

One note on Chicago Blackhawks tickets for this season is that the ticket price for new or non-season ticket holders are drastically different than the ticket price for season ticket holders of four years or more. The $12 face value was the “four-year-season-ticket-holder” price for the cheapest seats. The price for the cheapest seats for last night’s game would be $30 for me since I buy tickets on the day of the game ($25 if I bought in advance). To make things even more confusing for non-season ticket holder, prime games this season (mainly weekend games) cost $40 on day of the game ($35 if bought in advance). Of course these prices are the cheapest in the arena and seats closer to the ice go up from here.

Thus, with all of this information, I offered the guy $10 for his $12 (or $25 or $30) face value ticket. He countered saying he paid $20 and wanted $20 mentioning that tickets were more than $12 at the window. I offered him $15 and he accepted. I ended up paying more than the price on the ticket but half price based on the cheapest ticket at the ticket office.

CFB: Northwestern at Michigan St.

As I started to attend more and more games at each professional sports stadium, I decided to also attend a game at each Big 10 football and basketball stadium. However, one problem with attending games at Big 10 stadiums and arenas is that I only want to attend when Northwestern plays – giving me a limited number of games to attend. Another conflict that occurs is that there always seems to be some other sporting event, which I prioritize higher than traveling to see Northwestern play on the road (for example – a Chicago Cubs game which is across the street from my house rather than a few hour drive).

Saturday was a different story. With Nicole planning to teach figure skating on Saturday morning as usual and my parents planning to spend the afternoon with their friends from Naperville, I had the perfect opportunity to see a new Big 10 football stadium – Michigan St.

Kick-off was set for noon ET (11 am CT) and the drive was about 3.5 hours from Chicago to East Lansing. I left the house at 6:45 am and arrived at East Lansing around 11:15 am (10:15 am CT).

Parking
Initially I looked for free parking on some side streets around the stadium. However, all of the streets had parking restrictions so I ended up paying to park at an elementary school for $10. Most temporary parking lots in the area were also $10.

Obtaining Tickets
I only wanted to pay $10 for a ticket even though I knew face value for tickets was $49. As I was looking for a free parking space I saw a couple of scalpers on the main road. As I approached the scalpers, a fan with three extra tickets also approached them. The scalper offered the fan $30 for all three tickets. The fan said no and at the same time I offered the fan $10 for a single and the scalper offered him $40 for all three tickets. I told the fan I was going to the game (always a plus when buying tickets from a fan) and he sold me a single for $10. I did not stick around to find out how much he sold his other two tickets for but it could not have been more than $10 or $15 each.

The Game
After parking and buying tickets it was 11:40 am so I walked directly to the stadium. The ticket I bought was near the Northwestern fans section so I sat there rather than with the Michigan St. fans.

Northwestern started out the game well with a goal line stand on Michigan St.’s first drive as MSU had 1st and goal on NU’s 4 yard line but could only gain three yards in four rush attempts.

Northwestern took a 7-0 lead into halftime but that was the extent of Northwestern’s day as Michigan St. turned their play around. MSU scored 17 points in the third quarter and scored their third touchdown within 12 seconds of the 4th quarter beginning to take a 24-7 lead. Northwestern attempted a comeback but ended up losing to MSU 24-14.

Chicago Sporting Events: Friday, October 16

There are three sporting events to attend in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight.

1) Chicago Bulls vs. Minnesota Timberwolves in a pre-season match-up at the United Center in Chicago, IL – game time is 7:00 pm.
2) Rockford IceHogs vs. Chicago Wolves at the Rockford MetroCentre in Rockford, IL – game time is 7:05 pm.
3) Notre Dame vs. Providence in a college hockey game at the Joyce Center Ice Rink in South Bend, IN – game time is 7:35 pm.

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse (post time 2:30 pm) or harness racing at Maywood Park (post time 7:20 pm).

Chicago Sporting Events: Thursday, October 15

If you are interested in attending a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight your only choice is the college hockey game between Notre Dame and Providence in South Bend, IN. The game starts at 7:35 pm.

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse (post time 1:20 pm) or harness racing at Maywood Park (post time 7:20 pm).

Chicago Sporting Events: Wednesday, October 14

If you want to attend a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight there are two to choose from:

1) Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers at the United Center in Chicago, IL – game starts at 7:30 pm.
2) Chicago Wolves vs. Rockford IceHogs at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL – game starts at 7:00 pm.

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse (post time 1:20 pm) or harness racing at Balmoral Park (post time 7:20 pm).

NBA Pre-Season: Bucks at Bulls

For the first time in three years I attended a non-neutral site pre-season NBA game. The last two seasons I have attended pre-season games in London, England (2007) and Champaign, IL (2008). Last Tuesday, I also attended the Bulls game in London versus the Utah Jazz.

Last night, with the wife not getting back home until 9 pm, I decided to attend the Chicago Bulls pre-season game versus the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first NBA pre-season game I have attended at the United Center since October 12, 1999.

Parking
As I did a few times last year, I parked for free in the 2100 block of W. Warren Blvd. The spot on the street is directly across from a Red Top Parking lot making the walk from the car to the United Center quick and safe.

Obtaining Tickets
I thought I had a high probability of receiving a free ticket since it was a pre-season game. However, after walking around the United Center once I had no luck and instead bought a $10 ticket from the box office. I came up with a theory as to why there were not many extra tickets outside the arena – the tickets did not show up. With a regular season game, fans will show up with their extra tickets because they want to attend the game themselves. However, fans with tickets will not show up for a pre-season game.

The Madhouse on Madison
The 300-level at the United Center had a makeover over the summer – a throwback to the old Chicago Stadium. There are now three bars that over look the court (or ice in the case of a Blackhawks game) and 144 flat screen televisions around the concourse – although there are now 800 less seats in the upper deck for both the Bulls and the Blackhawks.

I was impressed with the new look and, given the fact I spend most of my time at the United Center on the 300-level, appreciate the new changes. Last night was a good night to try it out since not many people were in attendance. I’ll find out what it is really like once I attend a regular season game.

The Game
The Bulls hit a free throw with 24 seconds left in the game to win 87-86. Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Derrick Rose did not play again with a strained right ankle.

Chicago Sporting Events: Tuesday, October 13

If you are interested in attending a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight your only choice is the pre-season match up between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center. The game starts at 7 pm.

Chicago Sporting Events: Monday, October 12

If you are interested in attending a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight your only choice is the Chicago Blackhawks game versus the Calgary Flames at the United Center. The game starts at 7 pm.

Chicago Marathon

This year’s Chicago Marathon was much cooler than the last two with a start time temperature of 33 degrees – a far contrast from last year’s starting temperature of 64 degrees, which eventually warmed up to the mid 80s and 2007’s high temperatures in the 90s eventually causing race officials to close the course.

The Marathon
As was the case last year, I was mainly interested in seeing the men’s and women’s elite fields. The race started earlier than last year at 7:30 am. Once the race began, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I walked over to the 7.5 mile mark on Addison St. in between Lake Shore Dr. and Broadway St. since it was too cold to wait for them very long. The men ran by at the 35 minute mark while the women showed up at 43 minutes.

The main story line of the day was whether the 2008 Olympic gold medalist Sammy Wanjiru could set a world record with such cold temperatures. Wanjiru did not set the world record but did set a course record by one second – running the 26.2 mile course in 2:05:41. He also became the youngest runner with three World Marathon Major wins (the Marathon Majors consist of Chicago, Berlin, Boston, London and New York City).

CFB: Miami (OH) at Northwestern

After being back in the United States for a few days it was time to attend American football. I have seen Northwestern host Miami (OH) twice in 1995 and 1999. Both times Miami defeated Northwestern. Thus, this time, I was apprehensive whether or not Northwestern could win even with Miami at 0-5.

Parking
I parked in my usual spot on Milburn St. since I could park for free – even though the walk is a few blocks from Ryan Field.

Tailgating and Obtaining Tickets
Tailgating is allowed in the main parking lot but you need to have a parking pass that is usually distributed to season ticket holders only.

Generally it is a good idea to try and scalp tickets while tailgating in the parking lot at Northwestern games. In the past, I have talked to brokers who walk through the tailgates and give them a price I want to pay. They generally find a ticket and come back and sell me the ticket. As what happened last year, my friends who I tailgate with generally have a few extra tickets that they are not going to use so I ended up receiving one.

The Game
Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka ran for two touchdowns to lead Northwestern to a 16-6 win over Miami (OH) – finally!

Lost in the Wilds of UK Sports: Flight to Chicago

After attending 17 sporting events in 15 days in three countries it was time to go home. Here were my stats:

I attended 12 games in England, 3 in Scotland and 2 in Finland.

I attended 10 soccer matches consisting of 4 English Premier League, 2 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 Scottish Premier League and 2 Carling Cup.
I attended 2 rugby matches – 1 in the Guinness Premiership and 1 in the Magners League.
I attended 2 county cricket matches – both Division I and Division II.
I attended 2 NHL games – the first regular season NHL games in Finland.
I attended 1 NBA game – probably the least exciting from a global standpoint.

My flight was scheduled for 2:40 pm so once again I packed up my stuff, said bye to Big Chris and took the underground to London’s Heathrow airport. The trip was a great experience but it was time to get home to Nicole.

NBA in London: Jazz vs. Bulls

I extended my trip one day in order to attend the Chicago Bulls pre-season game versus the Utah Jazz at the O2 Arena on Tuesday night. In all practicality I probably should have flown back to Chicago instead, since I did attend the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics pre-season game two years ago at the O2 Arena.

The O2 Arena is located in zone 2 for underground purposes but is at the end of the zone. The station to get off at is North Greenwich.

Obtaining Tickets
I had looked up on ticketmaster.co.uk before the game and saw that the cheapest seats (£35) were sold out. Thus, I was hoping to find a ticket for that amount or less. When I approached the box office there was a man who had a £35 pound seat. This was promising since I would have to pay more if I bought a ticket from the box office. He offered the ticket for £35 at first but then dropped his price to £30 immediately after I hesitated. I probably could have bought the ticket for cheaper but decided not to negotiate. The guy ended up buying me a beer in the arena after I told him my ticket buying strategy. He was thankful I did not cut his price any lower.

Pre Game Dining
There are at least 20 restaurants within the O2 Arena, but are technically outside of the arena. I definitely recommend eating there if you are heading to the arena as most of the restaurants are crowded and have a good atmosphere. I chose to eat at S&M (stands for Sausage and Mash) Great British Pub – I figured my last meal in England should be English. After eating dinner, I went over to the pub that was the most crowded – the Slug and Lettuce.

The Game
Luol Deng was playing in front of a home crowd. However, it was James Johnson who sent the crowd home in a frenzy after he made the game winning shot at the buzzer to give the Bulls the 102-101 victory.

This was the second time I saw the Bulls and Jazz play a neutral site pre-season game. Last year I saw both teams play at Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL.

Post Game Dining
After the game I was hungry so decided to grab an appetizer at one of the many restaurants at the O2 Arena. I walked into Thai Silk since they had a £2 glass of wine or pint of beer special. I did not notice many other specials from the other restaurants post game.

I made sure I left the O2 Arena soon enough so I would not miss the tube going back to Lambeth North. I did not want to repeat my mistake of staying out too late and the only option being taking an expensive cab or the bus a long distance.

Birmingham Tuesday Morning

Since I napped most of Monday afternoon, I spent Tuesday morning touring Birmingham. I walked through the Bull Ring Markets (one of Birmingham’s biggest tourist attractions) and Victoria Square. My train was scheduled to depart Birmingham New Street at 12:10 pm and arrive London Euston at 1:34 pm.

I made it back to Big Chris’ house without incident this time. I walked directly from Waterloo station to his house learning from my mistake last Thursday. Rather than relax at Big Chris’ I took the train over to London Mick’s house in Battersea for one last visit before flying to Chicago Wednesday afternoon.

EPL: Manchester City at Aston Villa

This was a rare event where I had everything booked in advance – my train, my hotel and my game ticket. The Monday night football match in Birmingham was the main event on the schedule, so I always knew I would attend this game and no other event would be prioritized above it.

Train
I booked the train from London about one month ahead of time so it only cost £7 each way. It cost me £4 just to get from Lambeth North tube station to the Euston train station within London. Of course, that meant I had to take the actual train that I booked and did not have the freedom to just show up at the train station and take any train.

I arrived at the Euston train station around 11 am. I needed to eat anyway so I had enough time to eat breakfast before my train departed at 12:03 pm. The Britannia served breakfast in the train station.

Hotel and Lunch
As I wrote last week, I also booked the Britannia Hotel early – a single was only £28 pounds for the night as long as I paid in advance (£32 for the right to cancel). I was unable to check into the hotel when I arrived around 2:00 pm. My room would not be available for another hour. At this point I needed lunch, so I walked across the street to the Yard of Ale for some fish and chips and a pint. I arrived back at the hotel at 3 pm and took an unexpectedly long nap.

Obtaining Tickets
While I was at Manchester City last Monday I decided to buy an away ticket for last night’s match. An away ticket means I would sit with all the Manchester City fans in their confined space rather than sit with the Aston Villa fans and be able to wander around Villa Park. This turned out to be the correct decision as I ended up napping for 4.5 hours! I woke up shortly after 7:30 pm and raced to make the 8:00 pm start. Since I had no time to wait for the bus I ended up taking a taxi to Villa Park – cab cost was a reasonable £7.

The Game
The game was a low scoring affair compared to most of the Premiership matches I saw on this trip. This was the lowest scoring match and the only draw I saw as Manchester City and Aston Villa tied 1-1 – every other winning team had scored at least three goals.

Being an away fan did not have any real disadvantages except for the fact the lines at the one concession stand were incredibly long and they did not sell any beer in the section.

Transportation from the Game
Since I took a cab to the stadium, I decided to take the bus back to the city center. Taking buses to the city center is always easy because almost every bus runs there. The #7 bus took me back to where I needed to go.

Post Game Dining
By the time I was back from Villa Park most of the pubs were going to close in 30 minutes or so. Thus, once again, I chose to go back to the hotel.

EPL: Blackburn Rovers at Arsenal

My flight from Helsinki was on time and we landed shortly before 9:10 am. In order to meet the Arsenal boys for brunch I hopped on the underground from Heathrow and got off at the Charing Cross tube stop.

Pre Game Dining
Breakfast was scheduled for 10:45 am at the National Gallery Restaurant by Trafalgar Square. I arrived on time as more Arsenal boys showed up in the subsequent minutes. Breakfast was a much better experience than lunch two weeks ago.

Doubleheader Possibility
During breakfast we discussed the possibility of attending both the Arsenal and Chelsea matches that day. In fact, there were actually three EPL games in London on Sunday. West Ham United’s match was moved from Saturday to Sunday to accommodate Fulham’s Europa League match that I attended on Thursday night.

My original plan had been to attend both the Arsenal and Chelsea doubleheader on Sunday. However, multiple risks caused me to rethink this strategy.

1) Ticket Availability: Chelsea’s match was not just any match. It was versus Liverpool – a touch ticket to buy. By the time I arrived at Stamford Bridge there may not be any tickets available. Plus I already used up all of my “Chelsea luck” when I arrived late and got a free ticket to the match versus Tottenham.
2) Cost: Chelsea’s match was versus Liverpool and I did not have a ticket already. Todd, who I attended the Fulham game with Thursday night, stated that tickets on craiglist.org were hovering around £100 for the match. A price that was too high considering I was already attending the Arsenal match. If it was the only match of the day I would never let me price deter me.
3) Arsenal Boys: In my two EPL matches at the Emirates I was unable to go out after the game. This time I had all night to hang out. I decided I would have a much better time hanging out with the Arsenal boys after the game in one of the pubs by Emirates Stadium than going to the Chelsea match
4) Timing: As already stated the Arsenal match started at 1:30 pm – meaning the earliest the game would be over would be 3:15 pm. Chelsea’s match with Liverpool kicked off at 4 pm so there would be a maximum of 45 minutes to get from Arsenal to Chelsea. In order to get there I would need to either:

A) Find a cab immediately after the Arsenal match ended – estimated cost £25 to £30. But trying to find a taxi around Emirates Stadium as 60,000 people are leaving would not be easy.
B) Leave a few minutes early and hope the tube (describe route) would get you there on time.

Leaving Early
In either case, I would most likely need to leave the Arsenal match early or arrive to Chelsea late – a no-no for the Ultimate Sports Fan. While I agree with leaving games early, I do not agree with leaving one game early to get to another game. The reason I agree with leaving games early is that you may have a prior obligation such as dinner with the wife and/or family or another high priority engagement that does not allow you to attend the entire game. I feel attending and leaving early is more important than not attending at all.

In the end the final whistle was not blown until 3:25 pm – meaning there was only 35 minutes to get to Stamford Bridge – most likely an impossible feat.

The Game
Arsenal started out slowly, falling behind to Blackburn 1-0 in the 4th minute and 2-1 in the 30th minute. However, Arsenal scored five unanswered goals to defeat Blackburn 6-2 in the highest scoring game I have seen all trip. The fans were abuzz with the fact that Thierry Henry was in attendance at Emirates Stadium.

Post Game “Dining”
I use “dining” because as I wrote about my experience in Scotland is that I now understand why the Gastropub was invented in the United Kingdom. Some of the pubs around the stadiums do not have any food – only chips. This was the case Sunday afternoon as we went out after the game. The first pub we went to was The Bailey located at 81 Holloway Road. We watched the Chelsea/Liverpool match there before heading to The Compton Arm located at 4 Compton Ave. to meet the other Arsenal boys.

After staying in the pubs for a few hours, Big Chris and I took a cab back to his place. We went back to Kennington Tandoori – the Indian restaurant we ate at my first night of the trip. If you like Indian food, then be sure to dine at one of the many Indian restaurants in London.

Traveling to London from Helsinki

When I originally planned my journey around the United Kingdom, I knew I would attend the Arsenal match versus Blackburn Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm and Hospitality Jim had a ticket waiting for me for the game.

In order to partake in all of the festivities I needed to take an early flight as the Arsenal boys usually meet up for brunch three hours before kickoff. Thus, I booked an 8:00 am flight out of Helsinki that was scheduled to land in London at 9:10 am.

In order to get to my 8:00 am flight I needed to wake up at 5:00 am and take the 5:50 am Finnair bus from the Helsinki train station to the Helsinki airport. There were actually other people on the bus with me at that time.

We arrived at the airport before 6:30 am. I checked in and now had an hour wait before my flight would board. Not my ideal scenario but at least I was at the airport. I walked over the cafeteria to grab a soda or coffee and rest. To my surprise about 25% of everyone in the cafeteria had a beer, wine or cocktail of some sort. Had all these people stayed up all night and were still partying? Do Finnish drink this early when they fly? Rather than debate the issue I did as the Finnish and grabbed myself a beer to pass the time.

NHL in Helsinki: Blackhawks at Panthers

For the first time in ten days, I was attending two games in as many days in the same city.

Pre Game Dining
Since there was nowhere to eat around the arena before the game Friday night, I chose to eat at Zetor before getting on the train to Hartwall Areena. Zetor is just a couple of blocks from the Helsinki train station. The restaurant was recommended by Let’s Go as a good Finnish restaurant. I was disappointed with the “Finnish” meal I ordered at Zetor but overall the restaurant was good.

Selling Tickets
For the second night in a row I needed to sell the other three tickets I sold on Friday night. However, tonight proved to be more difficult as there was a group of kids undercutting the market. They had 139 euro tickets and were willing to part with them for as low as 25 euros which makes it difficult to sell tickets that are 120 euros face value. I ended up selling all 3 seats for 100 euros.

I actually learned quite a bit trying to sell these tickets in a cutthroat environment.

1) As soon as I arrived outside the box office a couple arrived and paid 150 euros for two tickets from the group of kids. I did not undercut the kids because the night before everyone was civilized and let you negotiate with the buyers you talked to first. What I did not realize was that these kids would steal my buyers from me later. At a point I had all three tickets sold for 150 euros but the kids shouted out a lower price which I did not want to sell at the time – 40 euros per ticket. I realized that I should have undercut the kids when the first couple arrived. I thought about it but backed off.
2) Remember to not hold your price too high for too long. As already stated, I could have sold my tickets for 40 euros each, but ended up only receiving approximately 33 euros each. Although you never know who is showing up next to buy tickets, if there are a lot of tickets being sold you will need to take any reasonable offer that comes your way. I use this approach when buying tickets all the time so I should have transferred my knowledge to selling tickets better than I did.
3) While trying to sell the tickets, a guy from Finland (who was also trying to sell tickets) and I started talking. We talked to each other about what tickets were selling for and what we were willing to accept. However, we never discussed being a team to sell our tickets. Just before I sold the tickets for 100 euros, a group of three guys came up to me and wanted to pay 50 euros each. But, one member of the group was talking to my “friend” as well. My friend offered him better seats for a lower price. If we were willing to split the profits we would have made more money.

Hartwall Areena
Last night I decided to check out the Silver Star Café during the first intermission. There were a group of Chicago fans sitting in the area where you could watch the game and order drinks at the same time. The best location is by the couches on the right side of the bar facing the ice.

During the first intermission, I met two guys from Finland and we ended up watching the remainder of the game from the café as we talked with the guys who had vacationed from Chicago to watch the games. The craziest part of the night was when one of the Finnish guys “supposedly” lost his wallet. At first I thought this was a scam to get me to buys some drinks but he ended up finding his wallet and bought a few rounds since he was so relieved.

The Game
While Friday night’s game went to shootout, tonight’s game was just the opposite as the Blackhawks shutout the Panthers 4-0 to split the two-game series in Helsinki. Once again, a Finnish player was the star of the game. This time it was Antti Niemi – the Blackhawks goaltender who blocked all 23 shots the Panthers attempted.

Post Game
After the game I took the train back to the city center with my new Finnish friends. They wanted to go to a club but since my flight was departing Helsinki at 8:00 am to get back to London I only wanted to go out shortly before heading back to the hotel.

As we got off the train, we walked by Sport Pub Chelsea. Sport Pub Chelsea is attached to the train station and turned out to be the “official” Blackhawks’ hang out. We watched the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues game from Stockholm, Sweden.

While we were watching the game we talked to three fans from Chicago who attended the game on Friday night, but did not attend the game Saturday night. The reason they did not attend Saturday night – tickets were supposedly too expensive (which they were if you only considered face value). I told them I had sold my three tickets for 100 euros total and they nearly fell out of their seats. They flew all the way from Chicago and only attended one game. Not because they wanted to attend one but only because of cost. If the tickets were cheaper they would have chosen to attend both games. This is why people should understand the secondary ticket market better than they do.

At 11:30 pm I headed back to my hotel as I needed to wake up at 5 am to get to my 8 am flight.

Day in Helsinki, Finland

For only the fourth time this trip, I had a free day in the town in which I was staying. The other three were my first day in London, a day in Newcastle and a day in Manchester. Today I decided to do some site seeing since I was not sure when I would get back to Helsinki in the future.

My day started by eating the breakfast that was included in my hotel room. It was a great European breakfast.

After that I went touring around Helsinki for a few hours where I saw the Esplanadi, a farmer’s market, Uspenski Cathedral, Senate Square and Tuomiokirkko and took a walk through the Botanic Garden and along the waterfront.

NHL in Helsinki: Panthers at Blackhawks

Even though my plane was on time I did not arrive at the hotel until 5 pm. After checking in, I left for the game immediately which started at 7 pm. In order to get to Hartwall Areena, I took the train from the main Helsinki train station to the Pasila train station (the first stop after the main train station). I paid for my ticket (2 euros) but quickly realized that there was no reason to buy one since nobody would actually check my ticket on such a short journey. I arrived at the arena shortly before 5:30 pm.

Pre Game Dining
There was nowhere to eat around the stadium. It was just a stadium in the midst of train tracks since we were so close to the Helsinki train station. Since I needed to sell three tickets to the game I did not have time to eat anyway but I would be sure to eat downtown tomorrow night.

Selling Tickets
As with any game that is not sold out I expected to receive less than face value for the tickets (97 euros each). However, another factor was involved that I did not expect – most fans attending the game had already purchased tickets as well. This meant that it was even more difficult to sell the tickets for the game. Not to mention the fact that there were about a dozen other fans trying to sell their tickets as well. Using most of the tricks I know from buying tickets, I tried to make as much money as possible selling these tickets. I ended up receiving 40 euros each for the tickets after spending about 90 minutes trying to sell them.

Hartwall Areena
Hartwall Areena is a regular European arena – there did not appear to be anything special. As was the case when I attended hockey matches in Prague in 2001, you can buy beer from the concession stands but cannot drink it in your seat. However, to get around that rule you can buy beer from the Silver Star Café. If you have a good spot in the café you can watch the game and buy drinks from the bar.

The Game
In the first regular season NHL game in Finland, the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers went to overtime and a shootout. Ville Koistinen, the only Finnish skater on either team, scored the winning goal in the shootout to give the Panthers a 4-3 win.

The Blackhawks had 55 shots on goal and was the only game I have ever attended where a team had 50 shots on goal in regulation time. I have only seen a team have 50 or more shots on goal twice before and both of those games were overtime games in the playoffs.

1) May 8, 1996: the Colorado Avalanche had 57 shots versus the Blackhawks in a three overtime playoff game.
2) June 6, 1995: the Detroit Red Wings had 51 shots versus the Blackhawks in a two overtime playoff game.

The attendance of 12,056 seemed low for the first regular season NHL game held in Helsinki. However, the low attendance was probably due to the fact the ticket prices for the game were ridiculously expensive with the cheapest ticket being 97 euros and it only went up from there.

Post Game
After the game I took the train back to downtown (no ticket this time) and went back to the hotel to go to sleep.

Tickets for Blackhawks and Panthers Games in Helsinki

In addition to booking hotels on Monday, September 28 while I was at the Britannia Hotel in Manchester, I did some research on buying tickets to the Blackhawks and Panthers games in Helsinki. Tickets were still available from Hartwell Areena where the games would be played. Since tickets were still available I figured I could show up at the arena and buy tickets on the secondary ticket market (I’m not sure why I was so confident I could buy tickets on the secondary market for the hockey games in Helsinki but not for the soccer matches I attended in the United Kingdom).

However, that same day I found a craigslist ad on the Helsinki site that stated a guy had four tickets to each game. His trip had been cancelled and he needed to sell his tickets. I emailed the guy and offered to pay him half price for one ticket to each game.

He wrote me back asking me if I was Finnish and if I would help him sell the tickets. I told him I would sell the tickets for him outside of the arena if he emailed me the tickets.

On Wednesday night after the Manchester United Champions League we talked on the phone – he wanted proof I was a real person. We agreed that I would receive a free ticket to each game and a percentage of whatever the tickets sold for.

He emailed me the tickets on Thursday and I printed them out after the Fulham match at Big Chris’ house. Now I needed to sell the tickets before each game in Helsinki.

Flight to Helsinki, Finland

On Thursday night I booked my hotel for Helsinki. I normally book hotels at this last minute. First, it limits my options if not many hotels are available – making my decision easier. Second, it allows me to receive good deals if the hotels discount their rooms since nobody will be staying in them. Third, if I change my plans I do not need to cancel one hotel room and rebook.

I made a reservation at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. The rate was 67.20 euros per night which was not much more than the hostels I considered.

I had originally booked the 10:20 am flight from London Heathrow to Helsinki rather than the earlier flight because, as I wrote in a prior post, I was unaware whether Fulham or Everton would be home on Thursday night in a Europa League match. However, it was a good decision as the London underground would not have gotten me to the earlier flight on time. The tube does not open until 5:45 am so I would have needed to determine another way to get to Heathrow.

Instead I left Big Chris’ house around 7:45 am and was at Heathrow at 9:00 am. My only concern with the flight was that if it was late I might miss some of the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks game I was planning to attend Friday night. The puck dropped at 7 pm so there was not much wiggle room with my schedule.

The flight took off on time (10:20 am) and landed on time (3:15 pm). FinnAir runs a shuttle from the airport to the Helsinki train station for 5.90 euros. It runs frequently and is a convenient way to get from the airport to downtown Helsinki.

Europa League: Basel at Fulham

One of the strange things about Europe is that someone you know from the United States is bound to be in the same location as you at some point. This was the case with my friend Todd San Jule. The last game Todd and I had attended together was the Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers NFC divisional playoff game on January 12, 2008.

This time we agreed to meet for the Fulham and Basel Europa League match at Craven Cottage. In order to get to Craven Cottage I took the underground to the Putney Bridge stop. The stadium is a far walk from the tube stop.

Obtaining Tickets
My original plan had been to arrive at Craven Cottage early, hang out at a pub by the stadium and meet Todd when he got off work. This plan changed when Todd got off work earlier than he thought and I arrived later than I thought.

While Todd was waiting for me I told him to buy tickets for the match. I thought the tickets were £20 since I had looked at ticketmaster.co.uk a few days before the match. However, that was the non-day-of-game price. The price at the box office was £30. If I had known of the price increase I would have bought tickets from the ticket touts I passed on the way from the Putney Bridge tube stop to the stadium – but I did not know.

It turned out ok though since our seats were a few rows from the field, halfway between mid-field and the top of the penalty box.

Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is a classic old English football ground. It is nestled up to a river and is small enough where you really feel apart of the action. In the lowest scoring game I had seen in over a week, Fulham defeated FC Basel 1-0.

Post Game
After the game Todd and I went to The King’s Arm located at 425 New Kings Rd. There are quite a few pubs in the area to try. After one pint I needed to head back to Big Chris’ house so I could pack and book my hotel for Helsinki, Finland.

Thrown off a London Bus

The scheduling Gods shined upon me when creating the Europa League schedule. Originally I debated whether to leave for Finland on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning since the Europa League schedule was not out at the time. I did not know whether Fulham or Everton would play Thursday night. My preference was Fulham since I could take the train to London Thursday morning and attend the match. If Everton had been home I would have to take either a late train Thursday night or an early train Friday morning to attend the match. It all worked out in the end as Fulham was scheduled for Thursday, October 1.

I was awakened early by the construction going on outside my hostel room. Thus, I relaxed in my room for awhile (I was not in a rush to get back to London) before checking out of the hostel and walking to the train station. Trains from Manchester to London run every 20 minutes so I could just show up and hop on one. I took the 10:35 am train.

The train from Manchester arrives at Euston train station in London. Before I left London last Thursday I had confirmed with Big Chris that I could stay with him tonight so I needed to take the train from King’s Cross to Waterloo train station and walk to his house. The journey should have taken no more than 30 to 45 minutes. It took me two hours!

First, I need to start by saying I made it to Waterloo train station just fine. I took the Northern underground line from Euston. It is a direct shot to Waterloo. The next part of the story is where things went awry.

Rather than walk to Big Chris’ house, I saw a bus coming and decided to get on with my day travel pass. The bus was not going to take me by Big Chris’ house so I asked the bus driver where I should get off instead. He proceeded to say he would tell me where to get off. After a few minutes I asked another patron on the bus where we were and she said we just crossed the river so I was now going the wrong way. I proceeded to ask the bus driver why he did not tell me to get off the bus at the correct stop and he said it was not his job to do so. Thus, I gave him the bird as I left the bus and you could tell he was not happy about that.

Now I had options. First, I could wait for the bus coming in the opposite direction. Second, I could walk to Big Chris’ place. Third, I could take a taxi. The third option was probably the smartest at this point and I was not sure how long the walk was. So I decided to wait since I figured the bus would be by shortly. However, after about 30 minutes the bus still had not shown up. But you know what waiting for the bus is like – you think as soon as I take a cab it will show up and I have already waited this long. This thought process started with me after waiting for 10 minutes.

Finally the bus showed up. And can you guess who the driver was? You are correct – the driver who did not tell me to get off and who I had flipped off. So I got on at the back of the bus as everyone was getting off. Of course, the bus started to clear out after a couple of stops so I made my way up to the front of the bus and asked the bus driver why he did not tell me to get off the bus in the first place. However, rather than listen to my question he stopped the bus and told me he would not drive the bus if I stayed on. I told him I would not get off. He told me he would not drive the bus and he was calling the London police to escort me off the bus. I could not believe this was happening. I believed his threat and got off the bus rather than deal with the London police.

I had officially been thrown off of a London bus. I ended up walking to Big Chris’ house instead. After my journey I needed a nap and went right to sleep.

After a couple of hours I woke up and met Big Chris at the Grand Union for a pint before taking the tube to the Fulham match. Big Chris found my bus story to be quite amusing.

Champions League: Wolfsburg at Manchester United

Rather than hang around downtown Manchester for a couple of hours before checking into my hostel, I decided to take the bus to Old Trafford to buy my ticket for the evening’s match. Even after seeing extra tickets in Glasgow on Tuesday night I still wanted to be sure I had my ticket for Manchester United.

Obtaining Tickets
Tickets were available for the match and I bought a ticket in the upper deck for £38. As I walked around the stadium looking for a restaurant to eat, there were a couple of guys who asked me if I needed an extra ticket. I should have figured there would be a secondary ticket market for Manchester United but I had already bought my ticket.

Lunch outside Old Trafford
I wanted to eat lunch before heading back to my hostel so I walked around Old Trafford to see what restaurants were in the area. I chose to eat at The Trafford which is a short walk from the stadium and has reasonable meal prices – for example, Fish & Chips was £4.

Back to the Hotel
At this point it was only 1:00 pm, so I took the bus back to my hostel to relax. I bought a day pass for the bus since the day pass was cheaper than even one round trip from downtown Manchester to Old Trafford. I was planning to make two round trips.

Pre Game
After hanging out in my hotel for a few hours, I took the bus back to Old Trafford. However, this time the area was completely different. The corner across the street from where I ate lunch was completely packed with fans hanging out before the game – where was this at Manchester City and Ibrox!

I believe the main reason so many people were hanging out on this corner was because of the beer store. The store had four commercial refrigerators (the kind you find at any convenience store) full of beer. For £2 you could buy a 16-ounce can and hang out on the corner – of course, the most expensive beer was Budweiser. Also, along this strip of stores was a bunch of English fast food restaurants but the main attraction was the beer convenience store.

Note: You can walk and drink your beer up until the police blockade but be sure to throw it out when you get there. No standing and drinking allowed.

Secondary Ticket Market
On the walk from the beer corner to Old Trafford were a few people holding an extra ticket in the air – meaning they had extra tickets. So for the second night in a row I could have bought a ticket for under face value but pulled the trigger too early.

Old Trafford
Old Trafford was a classic old stadium. However, I was in the upper deck meaning A) I had to walk up 170 steps and B) my view of the stadium was terrible.

First, as you enter the stair case to get to the upper deck there is a sign posted that reads “Access to the third tier stands involves climbing over 170 steps via 10 levels. Spectators who have vertigo or who have difficulty climbing are advised accordingly.” I’m not sure what stadium officials would do for you if you could not make the climb and I did not ask to find out. Second, my view of the game was fine, but the main reason I bought the upper deck ticket was so I could see Old Trafford as well and there was no view of the stadium from my seat.

The Game
The highlight of the night was Ryan Giggs becoming the ninth player in Manchester United history to score 150 goals for the team. His first goal with the team came in 1991. His 150th goal equalized the match at 1-1 after Wolfsburg took a 1-0 in the 55th minute. Michael Carrick scored the winning goal for United in the 78th minute as United defeated Wolfsburg 2-1.

Attendance at the match was 74,037 – by the far the largest crowd of any of the matches I have attended in England or probably will. A fan ran onto the field in the 2nd minute of the 2nd half for no apparent reason. Either most of the clubs have similar songs or it appeared that United had similar songs as Chelsea – only the words were different. Maybe the teams need to not only change the words but the tunes as well.

Post Game
For the third night in a row, I did not hang out in pubs after the game. Instead I did the same thing I had done on Monday night – buy a subway sandwich and chill in my hostel room.