Soccer Doubleheader at Candlestick Park: Crew at Earthquakes

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

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

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

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

Tripleheader Saturday in San Francisco

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

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

There are a couple issues that could occur:

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

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

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

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