For the first time in three years I attended a non-neutral site pre-season NBA game. The last two seasons I have attended pre-season games in London, England (2007) and Champaign, IL (2008). Last Tuesday, I also attended the Bulls game in London versus the Utah Jazz.
Last night, with the wife not getting back home until 9 pm, I decided to attend the Chicago Bulls pre-season game versus the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first NBA pre-season game I have attended at the United Center since October 12, …

If you are interested in attending a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight your only choice is the pre-season match up between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center. The game starts at 7 pm.

If you are interested in attending a sporting event in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area tonight your only choice is the Chicago Blackhawks game versus the Calgary Flames at the United Center. The game starts at 7 pm.

This year’s Chicago Marathon was much cooler than the last two with a start time temperature of 33 degrees – a far contrast from last year’s starting temperature of 64 degrees, which eventually warmed up to the mid 80s and 2007’s high temperatures in the 90s eventually causing race officials to close the course.
The MarathonAs was the case last year, I was mainly interested in seeing the men’s and women’s elite fields. The race started earlier than last year at 7:30 am. Once the race began, the Ultimate …

After being back in the United States for a few days it was time to attend American football. I have seen Northwestern host Miami (OH) twice in 1995 and 1999. Both times Miami defeated Northwestern. Thus, this time, I was apprehensive whether or not Northwestern could win even with Miami at 0-5.
ParkingI parked in my usual spot on Milburn St. since I could park for free – even though the walk is a few blocks from Ryan Field.
Tailgating and Obtaining TicketsTailgating is allowed in the main parking lot but you …

After attending 17 sporting events in 15 days in three countries it was time to go home. Here were my stats:
I attended 12 games in England, 3 in Scotland and 2 in Finland.
I attended 10 soccer matches consisting of 4 English Premier League, 2 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 Scottish Premier League and 2 Carling Cup.I attended 2 rugby matches – 1 in the Guinness Premiership and 1 in the Magners League.I attended 2 county cricket matches – both Division I and Division II.I attended 2 NHL games …

I extended my trip one day in order to attend the Chicago Bulls pre-season game versus the Utah Jazz at the O2 Arena on Tuesday night. In all practicality I probably should have flown back to Chicago instead, since I did attend the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics pre-season game two years ago at the O2 Arena.
The O2 Arena is located in zone 2 for underground purposes but is at the end of the zone. The station to get off at is North Greenwich.
Obtaining TicketsI had looked up …

Since I napped most of Monday afternoon, I spent Tuesday morning touring Birmingham. I walked through the Bull Ring Markets (one of Birmingham’s biggest tourist attractions) and Victoria Square. My train was scheduled to depart Birmingham New Street at 12:10 pm and arrive London Euston at 1:34 pm.
I made it back to Big Chris’ house without incident this time. I walked directly from Waterloo station to his house learning from my mistake last Thursday. Rather than relax at Big Chris’ I took the train over to …

This was a rare event where I had everything booked in advance – my train, my hotel and my game ticket. The Monday night football match in Birmingham was the main event on the schedule, so I always knew I would attend this game and no other event would be prioritized above it.
TrainI booked the train from London about one month ahead of time so it only cost £7 each way. It cost me £4 just to get from Lambeth North tube station to the Euston train station …

My flight from Helsinki was on time and we landed shortly before 9:10 am. In order to meet the Arsenal boys for brunch I hopped on the underground from Heathrow and got off at the Charing Cross tube stop.
Pre Game DiningBreakfast was scheduled for 10:45 am at the National Gallery Restaurant by Trafalgar Square. I arrived on time as more Arsenal boys showed up in the subsequent minutes. Breakfast was a much better experience than lunch two weeks ago.
Doubleheader PossibilityDuring breakfast we discussed the possibility of attending …