Tonight I am flying up to Minneapolis for a doubleheader day tomorrow. In the first game of the day, the Minnesota Golden Gophers host the Northwestern Wildcats at 11 am. Second, I am attending the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves game. Tip off is at 7 pm.
When I booked the ticket in August (and ever since) airfares from Chicago to Minneapolis have hovered between $400 and $450. Since that is an unreasonable amount of money to pay for a day trip to Minneapolis, I chose …

Last night was the NBA’s Opening Night. It does not have the same ring as Opening Day for Major League Baseball, but with the Bulls playing and Nicole spending her night working, I was definitely going.
As I was driving to the United Center, I texted “Old Style Tom” – could I stop by after the game? Remember he lives 3 blocks from the UC. He said they were going to bed by 9:30 pm for an early morning workout but were around beforehand if I wanted to …

With Gainesville, FL under a 90 minute drive from my in-law’s home, I drove up to watch Florida host Kentucky this afternoon. The game started at 12:30 pm which was the perfect time based on our “family plans” for the day. I arrived at the University of Florida a few minutes after noon. As with most college campuses there is no official parking lot. Thus, I found a house to park at for $10 and walked to the stadium.
Obtaining TicketsAs I walked to the stadium, I noticed that many fans …

With my hopes and realities of a Cubs World Series crushed, I found myself in a unique position to make the best out of a bad season.

In visiting my family in Florida, we were only a 2-hour drive away from Game 2 of the World Series. With tickets only $10 dollars above face value, you didn’t have to twist my arm to go. Yet, I had this strange pang of guilt; the Series was being wasted on an expansion team like the Rays and that …

Ideally I would be attending World Series games at Wrigley Field this weekend. However, when the Tampa Bay Rays made the World Series after beating the Boston Red Sox, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I decided to visit her family in Florida. Her family lives in Central Florida – less than a two hour drive from many major Florida cities – Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Gainesville and Daytona Beach. So with the World Series coming to St. Petersburg, FL, we flew down to Florida for Game 2.
Obtaining TicketsI did not wait …

Last night the Ultimate Sports Wife and I attended the Chicago Blackhawks game. They hosted the Edmonton Oilers. One of our friends mentioned we should stop by his place before heading to a game at the United Center since he lives only a few blocks away – along the 2200 block of Warren Blvd. We parked in front of his house and stopped in. With no parking restrictions on his block and only a three block walk we chose to take advantage of the free parking and walk to …

Rather than tailgating to start out a Bears game day I met some friends at Wabash Tap. Wabash Tap is conveniently located just off the Roosevelt Red Line stop on the corner of Roosevelt Rd. and Wabash Ave.
The GameThe Bears beat the Vikings 48-41. The 89 total points was the highest scoring NFL game I have ever attended. The second highest total points I witnessed was 73 when the 49ers defeated the Falcons almost 16 years to the day on October 18, 1992.
In addition to the total points record (not …

Yesterday was Northwestern’s homecoming and my 10 year reunion. As usual, I started my Northwestern game day at the tailgates in the west parking lot. And, as usual, one of my friends had an extra ticket they were not planning to use.
The GameNorthwestern score the most points I have ever witnessed in the 55 games I have attended in Evanston, IL. They beat Purdue 48-26.

For the first time since 1989, the Chicago Bulls played a pre-season game at Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL. Since I had not attended a game at Assembly Hall, I decided to drive to last night’s Bulls game rather than attend a University of Illinois basketball game. Last year, I had planned to drive to Champaign when the Fighting Illini hosted Northwestern on Sunday, January 27. Instead I went to the Chicago Bulls game that day.
The drive to Champaign from Chicago is about 2.5 hours. I have made the drive …

In my first NHL game of the 2008-09 season, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1. New at the United Center this season is a Jagermeister concession stand. Fans can buy straight shots of Jager or a Jagerbomb (the drink is pre-mixed).
Obtaining TicketsBefore the game, I checked craigslist.org and noticed fans were asking for $5 per ticket. Thus, I had planned to buy a $5 ticket outside the United Center. I held back and did not even ask how much tickets were from the scalpers …