Alamo Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Michigan St.

The drive from Dallas to San Antonio took four hours, which was perfect timing for the 8:00 pm kick off. I was near the Alamodome at 7:30 pm, but needed to find parking. Even though I have attended a sporting event three other times at the Alamodome, I have never had to find parking for the game. I usually walk from the River Walk.

Parking
After driving past a few lots that were already full, I found a parking lot on Crocket St. that was open. For $20 I parked by the Rivercenter Mall and the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter, which was good since I wanted to go out on the River Walk after the game.

Obtaining Tickets
I parked at 7:45 pm so I quickly walked to the Alamodome. There were not as many tickets on the secondary market as I expected. I figured this was the case since I was relatively late compared to the rest of the crowd. The first couple of guys I talked to wanted $50 for their single which was more than I was willing to pay.

I walked to the box office. The cheapest ticket available was $55. Within a few minutes, I bought a single ticket for $35 on the first level.

The Game
After a week of controversy surrounding Texas Tech’s fired head coach Mike Leach, Texas Tech rallied from behind to defeat Michigan St. 41-31. It was a back and forth affair as Texas Tech led at halftime 20-14 and Michigan St. led after the 3rd quarter 28-27. Michigan St. kicked a field goal to take a 31-27 lead with 8:05 left in the game, but Texas Tech scored twice within the final five minutes to win the game.


Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts threw for 372 yards – an Alamo Bowl record. That was before he left the game after injuring his non-throwing hand. Backup QB Steven Sheffield threw for 88 yards to lead Texas Tech to the win.

Post Game Dining
After the game I met Mr. Touchdown USA at Ritas on the River. We actually chatted during halftime of the Alamo Bowl, but decided it would be better to meet up after the game. Mr. Touchdown USA is attempting to attend 18 bowl games in 20 days – quite the feat since he needs to crisscross the country multiple times in order to attend as many games as possible. As of last night he was down to 15 games as flight cancellations and delays had caused him to already miss three bowl games. In fact, he was supposed to attend the Cotton Bowl earlier in the day but could not due to his flight.

After dinner
I was done eating “dinner” at 1:45 am. Before arriving at Ritas on the River, I stopped in at a few hotels on my way back from the Alamodome. Most hotels still had rooms available. The cheapest hotel had a rate of $99. Since I was not tired, I decided to drive as far as I could back to Dallas. I ended up pulling into a hotel in Buda, TX at 3 am – 15 miles south of Austin, TX. The hotel was only $49.

Emerald Bowl: Boston College vs. USC

There were three sporting events occurring at the same time in the San Francisco Bay Area today. First was the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco between Boston College and USC. Kickoff was scheduled for 5 pm. Second, the Golden State Warriors were hosting the Phoenix Suns in Oakland. Tip-off was scheduled for 7:30 pm. Third, the San Jose Sharks were hosting the Anaheim Ducks in San Jose. Puck drop was schedule for 7:30 pm. Since all of these games overlapped we could only pick one to attend.

The Emerald Bowl was the winner for three main reasons. First, as a rule, I try to attend the game is played the most infrequently. That was obviously the Emerald Bowl – one time per year versus 41 home games for the Warriors and Sharks. Second, the game started at 5 pm versus the 7:30 pm start times for the Warriors and Sharks. Nicole was not planning to attend any of the games but wanted to go out when I got home. Thus, it is easier to go out after a game that ends at 8:30 pm than a game that ends at 10 pm. Third, and most important, how many times do you get to see USC play in a non-BCS bowl game? Their last non-BCS bowl game was the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl.

Obtaining Tickets
In addition to attending the Emerald Bowl, I was planning to attend the San Francisco 49ers game on Sunday. We needed seven tickets for the 49ers game. Since seven tickets together are difficult to buy from scalpers outside the stadium, I decided to purchase them ahead of time. I found an advertisement on craigslist.org offering 10 tickets for sale. I agreed to buy seven tickets but the broker was located in San Francisco.

I told him we were going to the Emerald Bowl and that we could meet him in the city sometime before the game. He said he also had Emerald Bowl tickets and offered them for $25 each. Face value for the Emerald Bowl tickets was $40 and I did not believe we could beat that price too much so I agreed to buy four tickets for $100.

It turned out to be a good decision to buy tickets ahead of time as it was pouring rain when we arrived at AT&T Park. Trying to buy tickets from scalpers in a torrential downpour is not a pleasant experience – especially when your parents and brother are with you.

Rain and Our Seats
It consistently rained throughout the game. Thus, rather than sit in the seats we bought we sat down the left field line (where I sat when I attended a couple of Giants games in August). The seats down the left field line are usually empty, under the overhang (shade for San Francisco Giants games and out of the rain for the Emerald Bowl) and have a lack of ushers checking tickets.


The Game
After falling behind 14-0, Boston College scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to make it a 14-13 game at halftime. However, that was the end of Boston College’s scoring as USC won the game 24-13. It was USC’s 32nd bowl win which broke a tie with Alabama for the most all-time.

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.

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.

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.

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.