One of the main reasons for taking the trip to London this week, was that the San Francisco 49ers were hosting the Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium in the NFL’s annual regular season game in London. The game was scheduled to kick off at 5 pm on Sunday night.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
After spending the day with one of Nicole’s friends from high school I arrived at Wembley around 4 pm. Rather than check out the pub scene around the stadium, I decided to look for a ticket. I found an …

We landed in London on Friday morning and were planning to stay with our friends for five days. We chose London because our friends have a son eight months older than Dylan. Thus, it would be a good “first” trip to Europe to see how well we could travel. Arsenal was home against West Ham United on Saturday afternoon meaning I would be spending the day with the Arsenal boys.
Pre Game Dining
Nicole’s favorite part of hanging out with the Arsenal boys is the great lunch we go to before the …

The rare occurrence of last week was actually not that rare. My buddy, Mike Holzman, received his father’s South lot parking pass again. However, Nicole needed to move forward with her school work so we were on our own for this tailgate.
Since she did practically all of the work last week, Mike ended up putting this tailgate together. He brought burgers but the fact the grill worked was a major plus. I, with a 6-month-old at home, brought nothing to the table except a 12-pack of beer.
Washington Redskins at Chicago …

The Ultimate Sports Baby and I were off to Ryan Field as Northwestern hosted Michigan St. at 11 am for Northwestern’s homecoming game. As usual, we tailgated in the west parking lot on the corner of Central St. and Ashland Ave.

Beg, Borrow and Deal
I paid one of my friends, who I tailgate with all the time, $20 for his extra single (face value for season ticket holders is $36) rather than look for a free ticket.
Michigan St. at Northwestern
Northwestern took a 17-0 lead and was ahead 17-7 going into halftime. …

The wife and I have a temporary agreement. Or maybe it is just a one day agreement. Since traffic is so bad driving from the Northwest suburbs to Wrigley Field on a Friday night, I can now drive to Milwaukee for sporting events at the Bradley Center on most Friday nights. We’ll see how often this actually occurs. For example, even tonight I felt lazy to drive all the way to Milwaukee for a pre-season Milwaukee Bucks game. After seeing how long it would take to drive home, I made …

At the Bears game on Sunday, my friend Mike Holzman invited me to tonight’s Chicago Blackhawks game. He said his Dad wanted face value for the tickets which I said fine. In the past (when Mike brought me for free) the tickets had a face value of $95 or so. He also said he had passes to the Ketel One Club which is an area I have never been to before in the United Center. I have been to the bar upstairs several times (when they still sell beer in …

In a rare occurrence, my friend Mike Holzman had his south lot parking pass. So the Ultimate Sports Wife and I hired a babysitter and Nicole planned her own tailgate feast. On the menu was gorgonzola stuffed burgers, artichoke dip and stuffed mushrooms. On a food-only level, it definitely competes with Tailgate Rob’s menu, but our tailgate looks a lot worse than his does. Our main issue was the lack of a table and only having a small grill. To give you an example of the sad state of our …

It was a rare Saturday afternoon game for the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park – meaning the Ultimate Sports Baby and I were off to the game since Nicole would appreciate her usual nap after teaching skating on Saturday morning.
We arrived late to the game since Dylan napped later than I thought and we hit unexpected traffic on I-55 heading to the park. Arriving late is always nerve-wracking since there will be a lack of tickets on the secondary market (especially free tickets). I would never want to pay full …

In the past we have not done the Chicago Marathon correctly. We wake up, grab some coffee, and head out to the corner of Broadway St. and Addison St. to watch the lead runners’ whiz by and continue south. Then, we walk back home.
Today we remedied that situation. As usual, I headed out to the corner of Broadway and Addison to see the “elite” runners. But, rather than go straight home, the Ultimate Sports Wife met me with the Ultimate Sports Baby and we walked south down Broadway St. to …

For the first time since September 15, 2007 Northwestern was hosting a night game at Ryan Field. Thus, even though the Chicago Blackhawks were raising their championship banner at the United Center and the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team was playing Poland in a friendly at Soldier Field, we went to the Northwestern game – my third choice.
However, it became my first choice for three reasons. First, the Ultimate Sports Wife insisted that we attend the Northwestern football game. This was the first Northwestern football game she would attend since …