This past Tuesday, June 17th, we spent the day in the beautiful, medieval city of Bern, culminating in a glorious group stage match between Holland and Romania. The city of Bern, on most occasions, is quaint, quiet and charming. But with over 45,000 exuberant Holland fans celebrating in the streets for the entire day, there was nothing quiet or quaint about the visit.
But, who is complaining? These celebrations are part of the Euro Cup experience….well, the crazed fan pissing in the street…not so much. But the revelry…that is …

We are staying in Lucerne, Switzerland which is one hour from Zurich and 1.5 hours from Bern. On Tuesday night, Zurich was hosting Italy vs. France and and Bern was hosting the Netherlands vs. Romania. By looking at the game only, one may decide to drive to Zurich (a shorter distance and a better matchup). However, after looking at ticket prices, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I decided to drive to Bern (about $300 less per ticket).
We did not have tickets to either match, but wanted to visit Bern at …

Greetings from Europe. Andrew and I are in the great land of Switzerland…known for its chocolate, its cheese fondue and most of all, its neutrality.
Today, we are headed to the city of Bern in the hopes of scalping tickets to a Euro Cup match. If you ever find yourself scalping on a global front, be sure to bring plenty of cash, small bills included (scalpers do not make change) and a note pad and pen to write your price to a scalper who will NOT speak your language. Never be …

If the “thrill of victory” isn’t enough to motivate your country’s players, then how ’bout a little beer….Free Beer….FOR A LIFETIME?!?! Apparently, this is the lengths that one Vienna brewery is going to in order to motivate their Austrian national team in the Euro Cup.
As a co-host country, Austria is competing in the finals for the first time but doesn’t bode the most impressive record. They are ranked 92nd on the world stage.
Who knows if this nonsense will give the Austrians a competitive advantage? All I know is that by …

Last night the Ultimate Sports Wife and I had planned to go to the Cubs game. However, at 3 pm, Nicole called me stating her friend’s husband and two of their three kids were coming to the game. “Do you have parking available?” she had asked. I called the woman back and told her the spot was available. In exchange, she said they had an extra ticket for the Cubs game. We told her we had already planned to go using our two tickets. Then we decided one of us …

The more I write about life in Wrigleyville, the more I realize that bartering is part of the informal economy around the ballpark. Want rooftop access? Well, trade your garage for a season’s worth of fun. Want good ticket prices from a scalper? Well, trade your loyalty and some no-strings-attached tickets that you can’t use and you will get taken care of all season long.

Last night, I planned on going to the Cubs v. Braves game in our ordinary season ticket seats in the upper-deck, but, I got a fateful …

It is not everyday you witness a team clinching their league’s Championship. Last night, I attended Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals at Allstate Arena. The Chicago Wolves beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (not sure who agreed to that team name) 5-2 to win the 2008 Calder Cup – 4 games to 2.
Before the game, I bought my ticket from ticketmaster.com. I did so because I still had a $16 Ticketmaster gift certificate and the last time I saw the Wolves there were neither scalpers nor fans …

Looks like Peter Meehan of the N.Y. Times beat me to the culinary punch- reviewing the best (and worst) in ballpark food from around MLB. Of course, the action is on the field, but a perk of going to the park is the chance for great food- beyond the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Take a peak at the interactive map which has the highlights of the “culinary scorecard.” Beyond my favorite ballpark food at Miller Park, Safeco Field scored high for their planked salmon, Dodger Stadium for their …

In what might be a first, I am choosing to attend the Chicago Wolves game over the Chicago Cubs game tonight. In what should have been considered a no-brainer a few factors affected my decision.
1) I already sold my tickets to the Cubs game tonight.2) The Chicago Wolves are playing in the Calder Cup Finals – an event I have not attended. I did attend the Turner Cup Finals on June 2, 1998 when the Wolves were in the IHL Championship Series.3) The Wolves could clinch the League title tonight.4) …

We were supposed to make a trip to NYC for the Belmont Stakes and the chance to see Big Brown win the triple crown. My dissertation proposal kept me away, but it seems that it was a blessing in disguise. As if Big Brown’s last place finish wasn’t disappointing enough, this event had another damper, so to speak. 

The excessive heat created a demand on water that the park was not ready to handle. At one point, the water had to be shut off and the pressure was lowered …