Polo in The Villages, FL

Yesterday, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I attended polo in The Villages, FL. We attended a polo match in May 2008 and I was not sure the level of competition. I am still not sure since when I did some research on the sport before attending I could not determine what the main competitions were for polo.

However, with a beautiful Sunday afternoon and $2 beers ($1 at halftime of both games and for the entire second half of the second game) we decided we had no excuse not to attend. Also, how many opportunities does one get to watch a polo match only a few minutes from home.
In the consolation match, Fort Knox defeated Preferred Care Partners 14-10. In the championship match, Morgan Stanley and Citizens went to overtime tied 10-10 after Morgan Stanley tied the game at 10 with an undefended penalty goal by Nick Cifuni. Morgan Stanley scored a goal immediately in overtime to win the 8-Goal Lamartina Cup 11-10.

CFB: Florida St. at Florida

For the past eight years I have wanted to attend the Florida St. at Florida game over Thanksgiving weekend. My wife’s family lives in The Villages, FL which is about a 75-minute drive from Gainesville, FL. However, logistics have caused me not to attend the game. We did not visit her family for Thanksgiving in 2001 and 2007. In 2003, we flew back to Chicago on Saturday during the game. In 2005, we hung out as a family and chose to go to Universal Studios for dinner and the Orlando Magic game.

This year was different. We were in town and the family did not feel like doing anything Saturday. Thus, my plan was to attend my first Florida St. at Florida game.

Researching Tickets
As I state in the ticket buying guide, you should always research tickets before arriving at the stadium. However, do not purchase tickets unless you have a good reason. Tickets on StubHub.com were a little above $200 – meaning with StubHub service fees the cost of each ticket would be around $250 each. Craiglist.org had a lot of tickets wanted ads or student tickets.
While researching tickets, I considered attending the Miami (FL) at South Florida game in Tampa scheduled for the same time – 3:30 pm. I knew tickets would be cheaper to the South Florida game but I decided I could not let price deter me from attending the game at Florida.

Parking
As I did last year when I attended Florida’s game versus Kentucky, I parked in the area east of SW 13th St. However, last year I paid some guy $10 to park at his house. This time parking lots were charging between $20 and $35. Instead of paying to park, I found an area where cars were parking on some grass in between SW 10th St. and SW 8th St. on SW 5th Ave. There were about 10 cars parked in the same area and another car pulling up as I was parking so I figured it was legal. It was as my car was still there after the game.

Obtaining Tickets
As I said I had researched tickets before the game and figured tickets would be around $200 each when I arrived at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. I was right.

After parking, I walked along SW 4th Ave. to SW 13th St. to W. University Ave. Scalpers are located along W. University Ave. starting at SW 13th St. and continuing west to the stadium. The first scalper I talked to wanted $225 for his ticket (I did not ask for location). The next guy wanted $150 for his ticket but I believe it was a student ticket. Each scalper on the walk towards the stadium either did not have tickets or wanted $200 each. To make matters worse there were hundreds of other fans also looking for tickets everywhere around the stadium.

Rather than buy a ticket from a scalper I knew I had time to look for a ticket on my own – in a sense, I became a scalper looking for tickets. I asked everyone I passed if they had an extra ticket. I walked around the stadium once and only found two people who had an extra ticket – each person wanted $200 each. I offered $150 each time and was turned down both times. After spending an hour looking for a ticket I realized I was not going to find an extra – especially with all the competition from other fans.

I walked back on W. University Ave. towards SW 13th St. to see if I the original scalpers I talked to had cheaper tickets now. I talked to one guy on the corner and he insisted I give him an offer. I usually make the scalper make the first offer and always negotiate them down. However, he made me state my price first. I offered him $140 and he accepted my offer immediately – meaning I either hit the exact price he wanted or I offered too much. However, with everyone else wanting around $200 I thought I had received a good price. It turns out I did as the man I sat next to sold it to him for $125.

Pre Game
I bought my ticket around 3 pm so I had 30 minutes until kickoff. I stopped in at Tijuana Flats to relax before heading into the stadium.

The Game
My seat was not bad. I was in the front rows of the South Stands Upper Bleachers and had a good view of the game. It was senior day at Florida Field. Before the game the seniors were honored as it was Tim Tebow’s final home game (and maybe Bobby Bowden’s last game).

During the game the seniors were honored by defeating Florida St. convincingly 37-10. Florida dominated Florida St. at every position as Tebow threw for three touchdowns and ran for two.

After the game the seniors had their traditional walk across the field as many of the 90,907 were still on hand to watch Tim Tebow as he left the field for the final time.

Sunday Night Football: Eagles at Bears

For the second week in a row I attended Sunday night football. This time the game was in Chicago as the Chicago Bears hosted the Philadelphia Eagles.

Parking
Once again the Ultimate Sports Wife and I were attending the game with Blackhawks Jim and, today, Blackhawks Jimmy Jr. Since Blackhawks Jim was driving from Wilmette, IL he picked us up. However, we did not have the Waldron Deck parking as we did two weeks ago so we parked in the Millennium Parking Lot. The best part of the Millennium Parking Lot is that they run a shuttle from the parking lot to Soldier Field. The drop-off spot is by the South lot which is perfect if you are meeting up for a tailgate. The worst part of the Millennium Parking Lot is that you have to wait in line to board the shuttle after the game. Since our seats are on the North side of the stadium we chose to walk to the parking lot after the game rather than take the shuttle.

Tailgating
As we did for the Arizona Cardinals game, we attended Rob Wipf’s tailgate before the game. However, this time Rob made a major mistake – he only brought one case of beer for seven guys and the Ultimate Sports Wife. This proved not to be enough as we started to run out of beer before we started grilling brats. Even though Rob is a great tailgater he did admit his rookie mistake.

As with any beer crisis at a tailgate we tried to buy beer from another tailgate. I first headed over to my buddy’s brother’s tailgate, Dan Logan, who owns the Halas Hauler. However, he was nervous they would run out of beer as well so he handed me three beers and sent me on my way. At this point it appeared we would run out of beer well about an hour before the game would start. But as we were coming close to the beer shortage the tailgate next to us shut down and had plenty of beer left over. Rob saved the day as he handed the guy $20 and beer was handed to Rob.

The Game
The Bears and Eagles had four lead changes in the second half as the Eagles defeated the Bears 24-20. With 5:31 left in the fourth quarter LeSean McCoy scored the game winning touchdown from 10 yards out.

Doubleheader Day: Tennessee St. at Northwestern

Since I have season tickets to Northwestern men’s basketball, I decided to attend yesterday’s game even though I was also planning to attend the Chicago Bears Sunday night football game versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Blackhawks Jim and Blackhawks Jimmy Jr. were planning to pick me up from Northwestern, pick Nicole up from home and then drive to the Bears game for Tailgater Rob’s tailgate which started at 3:30 pm – quite the feat given the Northwestern game started at 1 pm.

I had considered not attending the game since the Northwestern women were playing immediately afterwards on the same ticket. However, I realized that was a dumb reason not to attend the men’s game so I moseyed my way up to Evanston.

The Game
Michael Thompson scored a career-high 31 points. He scored his final 13 points in the last 5:04 of the game to lead Northwestern to a 16-1 run and a 69-62 victory.

Rushing Ryan Field: #17 Wisconsin at Northwestern

For the first time since October 2, 2004 I rushed the field at Ryan Field. That day, Northwestern defeated Ohio St. for the first time since 1971 and the first time at home since 1956.

The Game
Yesterday Northwestern defeated Wisconsin 33-31 to give the Wildcats three consecutive victories in November. Northwestern took a 27-14 lead at halftime and never relinquished the lead. Once time expired Northwestern students stormed the field and we followed suit.

During the second quarter of the game, a football was thrown in my friends and my direction. I grabbed the ball and thinking it was similar to a beach ball threw it to my friend to avoid the security guard who was after the ball. My friend in turn threw the ball a couple sections over. Security then ordered both of us to the lower level of the stadium where we had to talk with University Police. Of course, the police said no harm, no foul and we walked back to our seats. We even took a picture with the security guard later in the game. However, for a moment we thought we would be ejected from the stadium.

Tailgating and Obtaining Tickets
Once again I tailgated before the game with my friends from college. However, this time they did not have an extra ticket for me. But as I have stated in the past the best place to buy tickets for a college football game is in the parking lot while tailgating. While we tailgated, fans would walk by holding up their fingers – meaning they needed tickets. The game was not sold out so it was people looking for tickets that were cheaper than at the box office.

Around 1:45 pm I saw a guy holding up two tickets from a tailgate across the aisle – meaning he was trying to sell those tickets. I walked over to ask him how much he wanted. He said $20. Another guy at our tailgate needed a ticket so we accepted his offer. I decided to spend $20 since earlier in the day ticket brokers wanted either $35 or $40 each for tickets. Also, since a lot of people appeared to be looking for tickets I figured they also wanted to pay around $20 for tickets.

CBK: #11 Butler at Northwestern

Last night Northwestern hosted (#10 ESPN/USA Today, #11 AP) – one of the highest ranked opponents to come to Evanston for a non-conference game. I already had my ticket since I purchased season tickets before the start of the season.

Pre Game Dining
Before the game I ate at Chili’s in downtown Evanston. Downtown Evanston has many different restaurants to dine at before or after Northwestern basketball.

The Game
Even though Northwestern was playing their first game without Kevin Coble (their leading scorer and rebounder for the past three seasons), Northwestern played Butler tight during the first half. However, Butler went on a 14-2 run to start the second half and won the game 67-54. It was Butler’s first win in Evanston since 1947-48.

My Greatest NFL Regular Season Game: Patriots at Colts

After watching Iowa and Ohio St. go to overtime Saturday afternoon, it was hard to believe that the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts could play a more dramatic game, but Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Bill Belichick pulled it off.

Pre Game Dining
We arrived in Indianapolis around 2:00 pm and parked in a downtown parking lot for $20. We wandered around downtown for a bit before settling down at the Ugly Monkey located at 373 S. Illinois St. Surprisingly, the Ugly Monkey was a fun bar between the free shots and waitresses whipping (more like beating) every Patriots fan who walked through the door. I would definitely recommend it before a Colts game.

After the Ugly Monkey, I walked into the Slippery Noodle Inn which is another great bar. It has good music and seems to be built in an old house and trying to pass people in the hallways is not that easy.

Obtaining Tickets
When we first arrived in Indianapolis I went to the Lucas Oil Stadium box office to see if any tickets were available. There were, but the tickets cost $277 in the club level at the 50 yard line. That was too much for me.

About two hours before the game (6:20 pm), I started walking around Lucas Oil Stadium looking for a ticket. However, ticket prices were hovering around $150 to $200 each for upper deck seats. After a couple of loops around the stadium I decided to check with the box office again. I went to one ticket window and the cheapest seat they had available was $236. Since that ticket was cheaper than the ones they had earlier in the afternoon I decided to ask the next ticket window if there were any tickets available. Somehow she pulled up an upper deck seat for $74. I bought it immediately as I figured somebody must have returned a ticket and it would not last long. As it turned out Chris Baker, second string tight end for the Patriots, returned the ticket as I was sitting next to his cousin, aunt and uncle.

My Greatest NFL Regular Season Game
Last night’s game may have been the best regular season NFL game I have ever attended. First, it was between the Patriots (6-2) and the Colts (8-0). Below is a list of other games I have seen where both teams had at least twice as many wins as they had losses at the time they played. Only the Jets at Patriots game had a higher combined winning percentage:

October 24, 2004: Jets (5-0) at Patriots (5-0)
October 14, 1996: 49ers (4-1) at Packers (5-1)
November 15, 1992: Saints (7-2) at 49ers (7-2)
November 20, 2005: Panthers (7-2) at Bears (6-3)
November 27, 2005: Bears (7-2) at Buccaneers (6-3)
November 25, 2002: Eagles (7-3) at 49ers (7-3)

Second, the Colts won they game with 13 seconds left in the 4th quarter in dramatic fashion. The 49ers scored with 46 seconds left to win 21-20 on November 15, 1992 and the 49ers and Packers went to overtime on October 14, 1996.

Note: The worst NFL game I have ever seen was back on November 28, 2004 when the 49ers (1-9) hosted the Dolphins (1-9). While I have seen a lot of Bears games when they were bad, I do not think any of those games could beat that barnburner.

The Game
The Patriots and Colts more or less traded touchdowns during the game except for the second quarter then when the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns and a field goal to take a 24-7 lead halfway through the quarter.

All this helped setup the most controversial call of the season. The Colts drove 79 yards on 6 plays in 1:49 to score a touchdown and cut New England’s lead to 34-28 with 2:23 remaining in the 4th quarter. The Patriots had the ball with 2:23 left in the game and could just run out the clock with a decent drive. However, the Patriots drive stalled as they faced a 4th and 2 at their own 28 yard line. This is when Bill Belichick decided to take a chance and go for it.

Brady’s pass came up short to Keith Faulk and the Colts took over on downs. Manning now had a 29 yard field to work with to win the game for the Colts and he took advantage – scoring the final touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game to win 35-34.

NCAA Division I Hockey: Western Michigan at Ohio St.

For the second time, I attended a NCAA Division I hockey game. The last time was on January 20, 2007 when I was at the University of Minnesota for a Northwestern basketball game and realized that Minnesota was playing Denver shortly after.

Last night, after Ohio St. beat Iowa in overtime, I decided to attend the Ohio St. men’s hockey game versus Western Michigan. Before the game I went to Hineygate which is an outdoor party in between Thirsty “I” and the Varsity Club.

Tickets
Tickets for the game cost $11. If you had a ticket from the Ohio St. football game tickets were 2-for-1 but I was on my own at this point.

The Game
Ohio St. defeated Western Michigan 4-2. The crowd at the game (1,752) was a far cry from the 105,455 that attended the football game.

Big Ten Title: Iowa at Ohio St.

Saturday morning started early. Hawkeyes Bryon woke me up at 7:00 am ready for game day. We checked out of the Red Roof Inn, parked our car at the Renaissance downtown, grabbed breakfast and headed over to Ohio Stadium.

Pre Game Dining
We arrived at the Original Varsity Club at 8:45 am. However, the Varsity Club was not opened even though their website stated they were opening at 8:00 am. Instead we walked next door to Thirsty “I”. Thirsty “I” had a patio where we could ask scalpers how much tickets were. One guy said $200 to “get in” and a second guy said $150.

After about an hour there we headed back to the Varsity Club and grabbed a table until it was time to buy tickets.

Obtaining Tickets
It was not the easiest scalping market and I ended up paying $130 for a $63 ticket. However, rather than sit in my seat in section 37A, I was able to sneak into the club level of Ohio Stadium and eventually into one of the luxury boxes. As was the case with the FOX Soccer Channel’s luxury suite at the Home Depot Center where I attended some games, this box had multiple sets of people in it who did not know each. Thus, I could stand in it for part of the game.

However, I decided I should leave the luxury box at halftime rather than be caught without a ticket (I was checked for my luxury suite ticket when attending the CONCACAF semifinals this past summer in a luxury box at Soldier Field).

The Game
During the second half of the game, I sat directly at the 50 yard line in the platinum section of Ohio St.’s Club Seat Program. One seat for each season costs $3300 which equates to $471.43 per game based on Ohio St.’s seven home games this season.

Ohio St. won the Big Ten title by defeating Iowa 27-24 after one period of overtime. The fourth quarter was by far the most exciting of the game as Ohio St. scored two touchdowns to take the lead 24-10 and Iowa matched coming back with two touchdowns of their own to send the game to overtime at 24-24 (one touchdown coming on a 99-yard kickoff return – the fourth longest in Iowa history).

However, Iowa could not perform in the overtime session as they threw an incompletion on first down, lost 6 yards on second down and was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down which took Iowa out of field goal range. Rather than kicking a field goal, Iowa QB James Vandenberg, threw an interception on fourth down. This gave Ohio St. the perfect chance to win the game and they took advantage, kicking a 39-yard field goal to win 27-24.

As the kick went through the uprights, I decided to run on the field at Ohio Stadium with the Ohio St. fans. Not too often will you be able to storm the field at Ohio Stadium.

Game TBD: Ducks at Blue Jackets

It was a day of temporary departure times. Hawkeyes Bryon and I were driving to Columbus, Ohio for the Iowa and Ohio St. Saturday afternoon. However, we were debating on when to leave. The drive takes six hours from Chicago and with a one hour time change we would arrive seven hours after we left.

Bryon had to work on Friday and had said he could not leave until 5 pm. He wanted to leave Friday so we would be in Columbus early even though kickoff was at 3:30 pm. With possible (probably guaranteed) Chicago traffic, I was hesitant to leave at 5 pm because it could take us a few hours just to get out of Chicago. Plus I prefer not to leave Nicole for an extra evening if it is unnecessary. Thus, I was still debating on whether to leave Friday night or very early Saturday morning.

However, I would leave Friday if Bryon could get out of work earlier and he mentioned it was a possibility so I had determined two sporting events we could attend Friday night based on our departure time:

1) If we left before noon, we could attend the 7:00 pm Columbus Blue Jackets game versus the Anaheim Ducks in Columbus (six hour drive plus one hour time change).
2) If we left before 4 pm, we could attend the 7:00 pm Purdue Men’s Basketball game versus Cal State Northridge in West Lafayette, IN (2 hour drive plus one hour time change) assuming we did not have traffic leaving that late.
3) If we left after 4 pm, we could stay in Chicago, avoid traffic and attend either the Chicago Blackhawks game (7:30 pm start time) or Northwestern Men’s Basketball game in Evanston (7:00 pm start time) or hang out at home. We could then leave after the game to avoid traffic or leave early Saturday morning.

Friday morning, Hawkeyes Bryon said he could leave early and that I should pick him up in downtown Chicago around 11:00 am. That meant we would arrive Columbus about an hour before the Blue Jackets game was to begin.

We arrived in Columbus at 6:00 pm – one hour before the Blue Jackets game was scheduled to begin. We checked into the Red Roof Inn downtown which was a three block walk from Nationwide Arena.

Obtaining Tickets
Tickets outside Nationwide Arena are generally easy to purchase for less than face value. I went through my usual steps of buying tickets:

1) I checked to see what the cheapest seat was at the box office. Their response was $36. The cheapest seat the Blue Jackets sell is $10.
2) I waited a couple of minutes to see if a fan had an extra ticket.
3) I went to talk to a couple of ticket brokers rather than continue to wait for a fan that might have free tickets. I offered the scalper $10 each for tickets that had a face value of $20. At first he countered my offered with $20 each, then $15 each. I decided to walk away. As I was walking away he accepted my $10 offer.

Pre Game
After buying tickets, I met Bryon at O’Shaughnessy’s Public House – a few steps from Nationwide Arena. O’Shaughnessy’s had a 24 ounce can daily special for $4.50.

The Game
For the second time this week, the NHL game I attended went to a shootout. This time the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 after winning the shootout 2-0.

Nationwide Arena
In 2009, ESPN The Magazine’s Ultimate Standings determined Nationwide Arena was the ninth best stadium experience out of all four major sports (122 teams in MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL). There were a few differences I noticed about Nationwide Arena than other hockey venues.

First, the net that protects fans behind the goal was about 1/3 as high as it is at the United Center and other arenas. I’m not sure why other arenas cannot figure out how to have lower nets behind the goal.
Second, the Blue Jackets do not use Ice Crew Girls. Rather they had men in sweatshirts cleaning the ice in between play.
Third, Nationwide Arena sold 24 ounce beers – bigger than most arenas.
Fourth, those beers were not poured into plastic cups. Rather they handed over the can! I believe no other venue hands fans a can fearing fans will throw the cans on the playing service or at another fan.
Fifth, if you are interested in eating food only found in Ohio (and they have expanded to parts of Kentucky, Indianapolis and Florida) then stop by the Skyline Chili concession stand. You may not like it at first but it is an Ohio delicacy.

Post Game Dining
After the game, we met other Iowa fans at Barley’s Brewing Company located at 467 N. High St. for dinner. Then we headed to Bar Louie Tavern & Grill before heading to bed for our early morning.

CFB: Ball St. at Northern Illinois

For the first time ever, I attended a college football game at Northern Illinois. NIU is the third Division I football team in the Chicago area. The closest is Northwestern University; the most famous the University of Notre Dame and then you have Northern Illinois University.

The only reason I attended was because the game fell on a Thursday night. Northern Illinois had two games scheduled for Thursday nights this season. The first was last Thursday, November 5 vs. Eastern Michigan. However, that game started at 6:30 pm and Nicole and I had dinner plans. Last night’s game started at 5:00 pm (a much better start time when dealing with Chicago traffic) and we had no plans since Nicole was not even going to be home. I left our house by Wrigley Field at 3:15 pm and arrived just in time for the 5:00 pm kickoff after dealing with traffic.

Parking and Tickets
One of my concerns with arriving at a game close to or at kickoff is that anyone who would give away a free ticket will already have entered the stadium. Also, it could be more difficult to find close parking.

Neither was the case at Northern Illinois. For parking I pulled into a parking lot (which I believe was Lot C) about one block from the stadium. There was no attendant on duty and I did not have to pay. I’m assuming people paid for this lot since most cars had a “Lot C” parking pass dangling from their rearview mirrors and other parking lots that I passed on W. Lincoln Highway were charging $10 or $15.

Next up was finding a ticket. As I expected there were no ticket scalpers, since tickets to see Northern Illinois football were only $20. Before buying a ticket from the box office, I waited a few minutes to see if any fan had an extra. After about five minutes, I overheard a couple guys talking about their extra tickets and asked if they had an extra ticket. They did and handed me one ticket for free.

Huskie Stadium
Huskie Stadium was surprisingly nice and is the sixth largest team venue in Illinois. There are three motor speedways and a horse race track in Illinois that are bigger making Huskie Stadium #10 overall according to worldstadiums.com. The stadium has a strange way for the fans to enter. Fans walk into a main gate than must loop around ramps to get to their area of the section rather than having everyone enter through the same section entrance.

The Game
Ball St. struck early to take a 7-0 lead but Northern Illinois took over and won 26-20.

Post Game Dining
Although I did not attend, Fatty’s Bar & Grill advertised a post game party with drink specials. Fatty’s is within walking distance of the stadium located at 1312 W. Lincoln Highway.

A Fight Over Vince Vaughn: Avalanche at Blackhawks

There was drama both on and off the ice last night as the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Colorado Avalanche.

Obtaining Tickets
Blackhawks Jim, who buys his tickets from a friend, invited me to the game. His tickets are in Section 120, Row 11 which was the only reason why I could participate in any off ice drama.

On Ice Drama
Before the game Blackhawks Jim mentioned that both games between the Blackhawks and Avalanche this season have gone to a shootout. Thus, he thought this game would be close. I did not think much of the comment until Cam Barker tied the game for the Blackhawks five minutes into the third period and it appeared the game was heading for overtime. The game ended up in overtime and had a shootout.

Last night consisted of the minimum three shootout rounds as Patrick Sharp scored on the Blackhawks third attempt to win the shootout 2-1 and the game 3-2.

Off Ice Drama featuring Vince Vaughn
Off ice drama started once Vince Vaughn showed up shortly after the game started and sat in the front row of Section 118. We had a perfect view of Vince and could see everyone asking him for autographs or a picture during the entire game.

At the start of the second period, we noticed that two men were sitting in Vince Vaughn’s seat in the front row because two women (one we will call cute and the other not-so-cute) were sitting in their seats across the aisle from Vince. Once Vince showed up, the women were forced to move and that is when the musical chairs began.

The women moved from seat to seat in Section 118 after people would come back to their seats – even moving to empty seats in the middle of the section (breaking an unwritten rule that if you are sneaking down to a closer section you never make the people who paid for those seats move). At this point I mentioned to Blackhawks Jim, and his friend Brett, that these women may become more exciting than the game itself. They settled in Section 118, Row 6 for the second period until security finally got wind of them from other fans and kicked them out at the end of the second period.

The real excitement began at the beginning of the third period. The two women walked down “our” aisle between Sections 119 and 120. I turned to Blackhawks Jim and Brett and said, “This is going to be good.” Next they crossed Section 119 in order to get to Section 118. We pointed at the usher and said “go get them.” As security was after them they attempted to sneak by a woman and a few guys in Section 118, around Row 13. The woman in the row (we’ll call greenie since she was wearing a green Blackhawks jersey) said something to “not-so-cute.” “Not-so-cute” proceeded to spit in greenie’s face and grab “greenie’s” hair in order to yank her out of the row. That’s when the brouhaha began. The three women ran into the concourse followed by the guys greenie was with. I, of course, ran out as well to see the hubbub. At this point security had already grabbed “cute” and “not-so-cute” and brought them to the security office (aka United Center jail) but not after a lot of yelling and screaming!

Pre Game Dining
Before the game I met Blackhawks Jim and two of his friends at CrossRoads Bar & Grill, which appears to be our preferred place to meet over the Beer Bistro.

Parking
For the first time ever, I parked at People’s Stadium Lot. The cost was $18. The parking attendant collecting money asked for a tip, which is something I have not experienced since the mid to late 1990’s when I parked at the Red Top Parking lot located by Ashland Ave. and Madison St.

Replay Determines Victory: Nuggets at Bulls

The Bulls game ended in dramatic fashion last night as Brad Miller hit the game winning shot with 0.0 seconds left to give the Bulls the lead 91-90 – only to have it overturned by replay review which gave the Nuggets the win 90-89.

Referees used replay three times in the final 10 seconds of the game. First, with 10 seconds left they determined that the Nuggets in fact had possession of the ball. Second, after Chauncey Billups purposefully missed a free throw with 0.6 seconds left that allowed time to expire, the referees used replay to determine that Joakim Noah rebounded the ball and called timeout within 0.3 seconds. Third, the review of Brad Miller’s “supposed” game winning basket that was then overturned.

It is hard to believe that a team can rebound a missed free throw, call timeout and shoot the game winning shot, but I guess it is possible in the NBA these days – although it did not work out for the Bulls last night so maybe it is not possible.

Missed in all of this drama down the stretch was Noah’s career high 21 rebounds which is only the ninth time I have seen a player grab 20 rebounds in one game (the eighth time I saw it was last week when Luol Deng had 20 rebounds).

Obtaining Tickets
I had already purchased a $10 upper deck ticket for this game since it is difficult to find a ticket for less than $10 outside of the United Center.

Chicago / Milwaukee Sporting Events: Tue, Nov. 10

There are a slew of college basketball exhibition games tonight in the Chicago and Milwaukee area. I will be attending the Chicago Bulls game at the United Center this evening. Here is the list of games in order of priority to attend:

1) Chicago Bulls vs. Denver Nuggets at the United Center in Chicago, IL. Game starts at 7:00 pm (CT).
2) UIC Flames Men’s Basketball vs. Lewis in an exhibition game at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL. Game is the second game of a doubleheader with the women’s basketball team and starts at 7:30 pm (CT).
3) UIC Flames Women’s Basketball vs. St. Xavier in an exhibition game at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL. Game is the first game of a doubleheader with the men’s basketball team and starts at 5:30 pm (CT).
4) Loyola Ramblers Women’s Basketball vs. Robert Morris in an exhibition game at the Gentile Center in Chicago, IL. Game starts at 7:00 pm (CT).
5) NIU Huskies Women’s Basketball vs. Lewis in an exhibition game at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL. Game starts at 7:00 pm (CT).
6) Chicago Steel of the USHL vs. Des Moines at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, IL. Game starts at 7:30 pm (CT).

Chicago / Milwaukee Sporting Events: Mon, Nov. 9

Your best bet for attending a sporting event in the Chicago or Milwaukee area tonight is the Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings at the United Center. Puck drops at 7:00 pm (CT).

If you live in the Indiana area or want to watch women’s basketball, Valparaiso is home vs. Indiana Wesleyan in an exhibition game at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, IN. Game starts at 7:05 pm (CT).

Tailgating at Soldier Field: Cardinals at Bears

After attending Northwestern at Iowa on Saturday, it was time to turn my attention to the NFL and tailgating on Sunday. As I have written in the past, one of our friends, Bears Tailgater Rob, throws a great tailgate in the South lot of Soldier Field. However, he splits his season tickets with other people in his family and only attends three games per season. Thus, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I are sure to attend his tailgate when he is heading to Soldier Field.

In addition to the Ultimate Sports Wife attending, we invited my friends, Mike Holzman, Blackhawks Jim, his wife and daughter. As Bears Tailgater Rob says, “the more people, the better the party.”

Parking
As usual we wanted to get to the South lot around 8:15 am – when Rob arrives. And, as usual, my original plan was to take the train and meet everyone in the South lot. However, coordinating six people to meet up from multiple locations can be challenging. For example, last year two of the people we were supposed to tailgate with did not show up until 11 am – not much time before a noon start.

This is when Mike Holzman stepped up big with a parking pass of his own for the Waldron Deck. In the past we have used Mike’s Waldron Deck pass to throw our own tailgate. This time we used it so we could all drive (thus arrive) at the same time.

Tailgating
We arrived at Rob’s tailgate around 8:30 am – a little late but no big deal. Rob had his usual great tailgating menu available (everything made with Rob’s recipes):

Round 1: Jalapeno Poppers
Round 2: Buffalo Wings
Round 3: Bubba Burgers and Chicago style hot dogs

At 11:30 am, we headed back to the Waldron Deck to drop off some clothes as the weather was unusually warm for November.

The Game
Kurt Warner tied a career high by throwing five touchdowns as the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Chicago Bears handily 41-21 after having a 31-7 halftime lead. It was his first five touchdown game in 10 seasons. He also matched a Bears record for throwing the most TD passes without an interception as an opponent.

Even Matt Leinart was allowed to play in the fourth quarter with Arizona’s big lead, but his one pass attempt, an interception return, lead to Warner coming back to finish the Bears off.

Tommie Harris was ejected on the game’s first drive as he punched Cardinals’ offensive guard Deuce Lutui in the head as they were on the ground.

Chicago / Milwaukee Sporting Events: Sun, Nov. 8

The only game in town today is the Chicago Bears vs. Arizona Cardinals at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL. Kickoff is at noon (CT). We are leaving for a tailgate in the south parking lot in a few minutes.

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero, IL (post time 1:20 pm), harness racing at Balmoral Park in Crete, IL (post time 6:30 pm) or greyhound racing at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, WI (post time 1:00 pm).

The Chicago Steam of the ABA was supposed to have a game at 2:00 pm today. However, their website is currently redirecting to a spam site so not sure if they exist anymore – not surprising since those teams seem to come and go at will.

Northwestern Upsets Unbeaten Iowa

My alarm went off at 4:25 am. Hawkeyes Bryon, his wife and daughter were picking me up at 5:00 am to make the three hour and 45 minute drive to Iowa City to watch the Northwestern Wildcats take on the “first time in school history 9-0” Iowa Hawkeyes. In my opinion this game was just a warm-up for Iowa’s game next week against Ohio St. However, Bryon and Julie were not as confident as Northwestern had won in Iowa City in 2006 and 2008. In a scheduling fluke, Northwestern was heading back to Iowa City.

I hopped in the car and we were off for Iowa City. At 8:45 am we were pulling into a parking lot off of Melrose Ave. where Hawkeyes Bryon and Julie have a season parking pass. Since their family was not tailgating this week (it was Northwestern after all) we had figured out other tailgating options:

1) 1215 Melrose Ave. - www.normstailgating.com @ 8:30 am.
2) North of north end zone by the big Iowa tractor trailer @ 9:30 am.
3) Iowa friend tailgate we would need to find.
4) A tailgate my Northwestern friends had that was not at the top of the list for my Iowa friends.
5) The Magic Bus.

Norm’s Tailgating
Since 1215 Melrose Ave. was only a few blocks from where we parked we planned to meet Hawkeyes Jim there first and then head out for other tailgates. However, since we did not arrive at Norm’s Tailgating until 9:00 am we decided to stay at Norm’s since the game started in only a couple of hours. We did not want to waste our valuable pre-game time looking for the other tailgates.

Obtaining Tickets
Another reason I did not need to find the other tailgates was that Hawkeyes Jim sent me a text message asking if I needed an extra ticket while we were parking. I did since I always show up at the stadium without a ticket unless absolutely necessary. I told him I did and he said the ticket cost him $45. We headed over to Norm’s Tailgating immediately.

Also, it was a good thing Hawkeyes Jim offered me his ticket. As we walked from Norm’s tailgating to the stadium at 10:30 am there were a lot of people who were looking for tickets – meaning I would have had to pay more from a ticket scalper. Most Iowa fans would not sell their extra ticket to a fan wearing Northwestern colors.

The Game
As a Northwestern fan the game started out just as I thought it would as Iowa’s QB Ricki Stanzi hitting Marvin McNutt for a 74 yard touchdown pass one minute into the first quarter. Northwestern was able to hold Iowa to only a field goal through the rest of the first quarter.

However, the entire game changed with one play in the second quarter. In that play:

First, Stanzi was sacked by Northwestern’s Corey Wooten.
Second, Wooten also caused Stanzi to fumble the ball.
Third, Northwestern’s Marshall Thomas recovered the ball in the end zone for a Northwestern touchdown.
And fourth and most important for Northwestern was that Stanzi left the game with a high ankle sprain injury making him miss the rest of the game and most likely the remainder of the season.

After that play Northwestern was able to keep Iowa from scoring for the rest of the game and in the meantime took a 14-10 lead heading into halftime before taking a 17-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Iowa turned the ball over on downs with 48 seconds left in the fourth quarter and Northwestern beat their first top 10 opponent since defeating #6 Ohio St. in Evanston on October 2, 2004.

Post Game Dining
Since we did not eat before the game and only had a snack during the game, we grabbed food at the temporary food stands on Melrose Ave. after the game. Some of the stands lowered their prices since they would have to throw out the food if not purchased.

Chicago / Milwaukee Sporting Events: Sat, Nov. 7

Tonight there are multiple professional sports to choose from as the past week has been mainly filled with college basketball exhibition games. Today there are six games sporting events taking place in the Chicago and Milwaukee area.

1) Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution in a conference semifinals playoff game at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL. Game starts at 7:30 pm (CT).
2) Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Bobcats at the United Center in Chicago, IL. Game starts at 7:00 pm (CT).
3) Milwaukee Bucks vs. New York Knicks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. Game starts at 7:30 pm (CT).
4) Notre Dame Football vs. Navy at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. Game starts at 2:30 pm (ET).
5) Marquette Men’s Basketball vs. MSOE in an exhibition game at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. Game starts at 1:00 pm (CT).
6) Chicago Steam vs. Akron in their ABA home opener at South Suburban College in South Holland, IL. Game starts at 2:00 pm (CT) – note: nobody answered the phone when I called about tickets and the website appears out of date so they may not be playing.

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero, IL (post time 1:20 pm), harness racing at Balmoral Park in Crete, IL (post time 7:20 pm) or two sessions of greyhound racing at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, WI (post times 1:00 pm or 7:15 pm).

Attending One Game
The games above are ranked in the order in which I would attend. If I could attend only one game I would choose the Chicago Fire playoff game at Toyota Park. I always prioritize professional league playoff games over regular season games.

Attending Two Games
If I could attend two games tomorrow I would first attend the Notre Dame Football game vs. Navy at 2:30 pm ET (meaning 1:30 pm CT) and the Chicago Fire game at 7:30 pm CT. The drive between Notre Dame Stadium and Toyota Park is about 100 miles or an hour and 40 minutes meaning you would have plenty of time to make the drive after the Notre Dame game ends (approximately 5 pm CT) and the soccer match begins.

The Ultimate Sports Fan’s plan
However, rather than attend one of the games in the Chicago area I am planning to attend the Northwestern at Iowa game in Iowa City. Hawkeyes Bryon (and family) is picking me up in about 5 minutes before we make the four drive to Iowa City.

Chicago / Milwaukee Sporting Events: Fri, Nov. 6

With the weekend come many more sporting events to attend. Tonight there are five games to choose from in the Chicago and Milwaukee area.

1) DePaul Blue Demons Men’s Basketball vs. University of Chicago in an exhibition game at McGrath Arena in Chicago, IL. Game starts at 7:30 pm (CT).
2) Milwaukee Admirals vs. Peoria Riverman at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. Game starts at 7:00 pm (CT).
3) DePaul Blue Demons Women’s Basketball vs. Illinois Wesleyan in an exhibition game at McGrath Arena in Chicago, IL. Game starts at 5:30 pm (CT).
4) Notre Dame Men’s Basketball vs. Quincy in an exhibition game at the Joyce Center in South Bend, IN. Game Starts at 7:30 pm (ET).
5) Northern Illinois Men’s Basketball vs. Marygrove College in an exhibition game at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL. Game starts at 7:00 pm (CT).

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero, IL (post time 2:30 pm), harness racing at Maywood Park in Maywood, IL (post time 7:20 pm) or greyhound racing at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, WI (post time 7:15 pm).

The most interesting game to attend is the DePaul Men’s Basketball game at McGrath Arena – not because they are playing the University of Chicago but because they are playing at McGrath Arena. This is the only game all season the men will play in Chicago. All of their regular season games are scheduled for the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL.

Chicago / Milwaukee Sporting Events: Thu, Nov. 5

There are just two games going on in the Chicago and Milwaukee area tonight.

1) Northern Illinois Football vs. Eastern Michigan at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, IL. Game starts at 6:30 pm (CT).
2) UWM Women’s Basketball vs. UW-Stevens Point in an exhibition game at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, WI. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).

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

Exhibition CBK: Robert Morris at Northwestern

Tonight I attended my first exhibition college basketball game. I only attended because I bought season tickets to Northwestern men’s basketball Tuesday afternoon and the game was included.

Northwestern Season Tickets
The last time I bought season tickets was for the 2004-05 basketball season. That was Nicole’s first year as a graduate student and we were hanging out on campus a lot. That year I bought the graduate student season ticket and each game cost $4.

For the first time since that season, I bought graduate student tickets this year. Each non-conference game is $6 and each Big Ten game is $8. I usually cannot beat $10 when attending Northwestern men’s basketball games. First scalpers know the cheapest seat at the window is $20 so do not cave as easily in the negotiation and 2) I do not like to look for cheaper or free tickets when it is 10 or 20 degrees outside. So to avoid the hassle of negotiating with scalpers and freezing my tail off I chose to buy season tickets for this season.

The Game
Northwestern defeated the Robert Morris Eagles (who are ranked #1 in the NAIA Preseason Poll) convincingly 78-49. In the stands at the game was Northwestern football head coach Pat Fitzgerald and former Northwestern President Henry Bienen.

Chicagoland Sporting Events: Wednesday, November 4

Today is a bigger day for sporting events in Chicago and Milwaukee – although the Bulls, Blackhawks and Bucks are not playing. There are five events to choose from including horse or greyhound racing at three tracks.

1) Northwestern Men’s Basketball vs. Robert Morris in an exhibition game at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).
2) UIC Women’s Basketball vs. University of Chicago in an exhibition game at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).
3) Milwaukee Admirals vs. Chicago Wolves at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).
4) Rockford IceHogs vs. San Antonio Rampage at MetroCentre in Rockford, IL. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).
5) UWM Men’s Basketball vs. Cardinal Stritch in an exhibition game at U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, WI. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).

In addition, you can attend thoroughbred horse racing at Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero, IL (post time 1:20 pm), harness racing at Balmoral Park in Crete, IL (post time 7:20 pm) or greyhound racing at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, WI (post time 1:00 pm).

The games above are ranked in the order I would prioritize the sporting events – mainly based on distance from my house. Since I bought Northwestern men’s basketball season tickets yesterday I am planning to attend the Northwestern exhibition game versus Robert Morris tonight.

20 Rebound Night: Bucks at Bulls

Tonight Luol Deng had 20 rebounds. It was just the eighth time I have seen a player bring down 20 or more rebounds in a single game. The other seven can be found here. The Chicago Bulls ended up winning the game 83-81 but neither team wanted to win the game down the stretch.

The Bulls took the 83-81 lead with 21 seconds left. With 14 seconds left Derrick Rose blocked Brandon Jenning’s 12-foot jumper, Joakim Noah rebounded the shot and drew the foul. Noah proceeded to miss both free throws to keep the Bucks in the game. However, the Bucks could not come up with a good play to tie the game and Ersan Ilyasova missed a 27-foot three point shot with one second left to win the game for the Bucks.

Obtaining Tickets
When I attended the Bulls pre-season game versus the Bucks three weeks ago I bought $10 tickets to 10 games this season. Last night was one of those 10 games. Usually I advise showing up at the United Center to buy tickets for a Bulls game. However, with the next price point higher at $40 there are not many fans willing to part with their ticket for less than $20 and beating $10 is nearly impossible. Since you can sit nearly anywhere in the United Center I buy $10 tickets at the beginning of the season for games I know I can attend to save myself the hassle of negotiating with scalpers or fans. I then end up sitting in the $40 or $60 seats in the upper deck.

Chicagoland Sporting Events: Tuesday, November 3

Tonight there are three games to choose from if want to attend a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area.

1) Chicago Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center in Chicago. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).
2) Notre Dame Women’s Basketball vs. Indianapolis in an exhibition game at the Joyce Center in South Bend, IN. Game starts at 7 pm (ET).
3) DePaul Women’s Basketball vs. St. Xavier in an exhibition game at McGrath Arena in Chicago. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).

I am attending the Bulls game as an NBA regular season has much more importance than a women’s basketball exhibition game.

Chicago Sporting Events: Monday, November 2

If you are interested in attending a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight your only choice is the Loyola Ramblers men’s basketball exhibition game versus Robert Morris at the Gentile Center. Game starts at 7 pm (CT).

NFL: Cleveland Browns at Chicago Bears

It was a perfect day for an NFL game – sunny, cool and relaxing. Even though the Bears offense stuttered at times, they still defeated the Browns handily 30-6.

Pre Game Dining
I met my friend and neighbors at Wabash Tap (located at 1233 S. Wabash Ave.) before the game. Today they had a Sam Adams Winter Ale special for $4 and PBR drafts for $3.

Wabash Tap is not my favorite pre game bar but its location on Wabash Ave. and Roosevelt Rd. makes it the closest bar along the long walk from the Roosevelt red line stop to Soldier Field. That also makes it the easiest bar to meet at if your group is taking the ‘L’ to the game.

Museum Campus
I attended the game with my friend Irish Peter who I also attended the Six Nations match with in Dublin between France and Ireland in February. Peter was with his wife who did not want to attend the game. Under normal circumstances Peter may never have been able to attend the game with his wife in town. However, Bears games are setup perfectly for one spouse to attend the Bears game and for the other spouse to spend a few hours at a museum as Soldier Field is in the heart of Chicago’s museum campus.

The Museum Campus consists of three museums – the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. Peter’s wife chose the Field Museum. Before the game I met Peter on the steps of the Field Museum that face Soldier Field and we met his wife three hours later in the same spot. They then went to dinner downtown – a perfect compromise when planning a sporting event during a vacation.

Halftime
The Bears honored Walter Payton with a ceremony at halftime showing a video tribute on the scoreboard. It was 10 years ago to the day that Walter Payton passed away.