Yesterday, the Chicago Machine game ended before 6 pm. I had hoped to drive straight to US Cellular Field to watch the White Sox host the Cubs in Sunday Night Baseball which started at 7:10 pm. However, my rational side took over.
On Sunday morning, I had researched ticket prices for the Sunday night game. Posts on craigslist.org were ranging around $100 per ticket for upper deck seats and stubhub.com and ticketsnow.com were a little higher.
Then I thought the following:1) By attending the game last night, that …

Nicole and I attended one of her best friend’s baby showers today. The shower was held in Downers Grove, IL – a 30 mile drive from Wrigley Field, but the highway that lead to the baby shower conveniently passed by Toyota Park. Toyota Park is the home of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire and the lesser known team Major League Lacrosse’s Chicago Machine who happened to have a home game today.
The shower started at 11:30 am and the Chicago Machine game started at 3:30 pm. Since the shower ended at …

Are free tickets really free?
Andrew recently wrote about my dumb luck. I found a free ticket on the streets of Wrigleyville during the first inning of a night game. If you read Andrew’s blog, you know that this almost never happens.  I had the urge to scalp it and grab some free beer money for a future game but had a “better” idea: why not surprise Andrew in the stadium and show up unexpectedly? Brilliant idea? Sure…and romantic, too. Expect for one small detail: Andrew randomly ended up on …

At one time, Shaggy was a hot commodity on the pop charts. Now, he has a new type of global fame-making the transition to global sports anthems.  
Every global sporting event (on the level of a World Cup, a regional cup (Euro Cup), Olympics, etc) needs a theme song to commemorate the event. They are often accompanied by a music video, and they are played before ceremonies, matches and during the fanfests.    Usually, these tunes are glorified marketing slogans, highlighting the event’s silly, (often forgettable) alien mascots.  They …

I never drive to US Cellular Field, especially for a sold out game. I always take the train (unless I am going with my grandfather who uses his old man tricks to park close to the ballpark). I believe the last time I drove to US Cellular Field for a sold out game was the 2003 Futures Game. Yesterday, I decided to attend the Cubs at White Sox game. Since I was working in the northwest suburbs of Chicago I had no choice but to drive.
The drive to the ballpark …

One night after flying back from Europe, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I attended the Baltimore Orioles’ first ever visit to Wrigley Field. However, we did not attend together. Initially, Nicole decided she would skip last night’s game and attend tonight’s (Wednesday’s) Orioles at Cubs game.
Without having any tickets for last night’s game, I had planned to buy a standing room only seat or a ticket from a scalper. But, first, I walked over to our favorite rooftop to ask about attending Wednesday night’s game from the …

It has taken a few days to recover since our vacation to Euro Cup 2008…or should I say our vacation to Switzerland and Austria.   I am partial to small towns in Europe-where the most active thing you do is take a stroll for a cappuccino.  

We balanced this trip with four days of rest and relaxation in Switzerland-taking in one exciting match in Berne and a glorious experience at the Tour de Suisse.  The rest of the days were spent in the charming and peaceful town of Lucerne- enjoying the amazing …

The Ultimate Sports Wife and I attended the Euro Cup Quarterfinal between Spain and Italy in Vienna, Austria on Sunday night. It was the first time Spain beat Italy in a competitive match since 1920.
We arrived in Vienna on Friday night along with a plane full of Spanish fans. Some of the fans stated they were traveling to Vienna to watch the match in the FanZone since tickets to the match were too expensive. This got us wondering how much tickets were selling for since we felt …

Yesterday, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I attended the 6th stage of the Tour of Switzerland – an event I discovered was taking place during our stay. When arriving in a new city or country, I try to find the local sports paper. The paper will list all of the main events that are important to the local country but do not reach the U.S. news. I picked up a copy of the Swiss sports paper (Blick Sport) at a local restaurant.
The paper had a section on the “Tour …

I have written about the amazing sport of cycling. Sure, there are the Lance Armstrongs, the doping dramas, the killer spills on the mountains and the admirable endurance of the atheletes. But, it is the fan experience that makes cycling on of the best events to behold.

Our intention was not to go to another sporting event except for two Euro Cup matches. We were hoping to take a leisure turn to Tocino, Switzerland- the Italian part of the country. Andrew did his research, of course, and found an …