I wanted to attend the first round NIT game Northwestern hosted on Thursday night but was unable. Instead, Northwestern surprisingly won that game and was scheduled to host Alabama on Sunday. Game time was 2 pm – meaning I would be able to attend the women’s NIT game before heading to the United Center for the 6:10 pm tip of the Men’s NCAA Tournament.
Pre Game Dining
Nicole needed to work on her dissertation all day so my plan was to bring the Ultimate Sports Baby to the WNIT game. Before the …

I had waited for this moment ever since I started at Northwestern as a freshman in the fall of 1994 – an NIT game at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The last time Northwestern hosted an NIT game was in 1994. I was a senior in high school living in San Francisco at the time. Thus, I had to attend Wednesday night’s game!
Beg, Borrow and Deal
I went with a friend so we needed to buy two tickets. I was unsure how the secondary ticket market would work for this game since tickets just …

The Ultimate Sports Baby was really sick when I got back from the Blackhawks game Wednesday night. Earlier Thursday morning the Ultimate Sports Baby was admitted to Children’s Memorial Hospital for a respiratory virus. But, the doctor’s said he just needed time to get healthy so there was not much to worry about.
Nicole and I agreed it did not make any sense for both of us to sit around the hospital for 48 hours. Nicole left Thursday afternoon to run some errands. When she got back, I went to the …

Nicole planned to take Dylan to her grandfather’s 90th birthday party in south Texas so I had a weekend home alone in Chicago. Of course, since it is Super Bowl weekend, there is only one sporting event in Chicago – Illinois at Northwestern on Saturday afternoon. This was the first game ever televised by CBS Sports at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
Since I thought I would be late after dropping the wife and baby off at Midway airport, I called Broker Ben and told him I would pay $20 for …

My friend, Todd Sermersheim, called me minutes before he was driving into my neighborhood with an extra ticket to the Northwestern basketball game. At that exact time, Nicole got home so I was free from taking care of the Ultimate Sports Baby. I got ready in five minutes and was off to Evanston. It’s a good thing that game started at 8 pm.
Michigan at Northwestern
John Shurna scored 22 points in the first half as Northwestern rolled to a 74-60 victory over Michigan.
Post Game Dining
After the game, we went to BlueStone …

Northwestern was playing their second straight afternoon game at Welch-Ryan Arena. This time it was the men’s basketball team as they hosted Mount St. Mary’s for a 2 pm matinee.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
As I wrote yesterday there is no secondary market for women’s basketball games. So technically, even though the box office price for a men’s game is much higher, it can be cheaper to attend a men’s basketball game than a women’s basketball game at Northwestern. That was the case today as I received a free ticket outside of …

It was a perfect day to attend a Northwestern women’s basketball game with a slow day at work and a Wednesday afternoon tip-off at 3 pm. The irony with women’s basketball games is that you always need to buy a ticket from the box office. There is no secondary market. Adult tickets for women’s basketball cost $7 each at Northwestern.
Toledo at Northwestern
Northwestern held a good lead throughout the game and defeated Toledo 70-60. Toledo got within nine points with 5:36 left in the game but they never really had a …

It was a Friday night and my parents were in town. Thus, we all decided to pack into the car and head to Northwestern’s Evanston campus. Nicole needed to prepare for her job interview on Monday and my parents, Dylan and I wanted to attend Northwestern’s first regular season game of the year.
Rather than park for free on city streets, we decided to pay for parking in the parking lot east of Ryan Field. As we approached the arena, there was a ticket scalper with a lot of extra tickets. …

Once again Northwestern was hosting an 11 am kickoff. However, rather than bring the Ultimate Sports Baby with me, I called Nicole’s cousin from East Chicago, IN to come over and babysit. Thus, without the Ultimate Sports Baby with me I headed up to my usual tailgate early.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
In what may be my most convoluted ticket scheme in a long time – I ended up making money attending today’s Northwestern football game. First, a fan contacted me through this website asking me the best way to buy tickets …

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. …