After having to buy tickets on the secondary ticket market to Olympiacos I was a little nervous about attending the Panathinaikos match at Olympic Stadium Saturday night. On Friday night, I talked to the hotel receptionist about both Panathinaikos matches I wanted to attend. He stated the basketball match Sunday night would probably be sold out and that the soccer match Saturday night would not. He was right, attending the Panathinaikos was a completely different experience from the Olympiacos match Nicole and I attended last Sunday night. Of course, what …

Nicole and I arrived in Athens at 1:40 am Sunday morning after our day in London. We hopped in a cab driven by an associate of George Taxi and Limo, otherwise known as George the Famous Taxi Driver recommended by Matt Barrett. The cab took us immediately to the hotel and we were asleep by 3 am.
I had Sunday all planned. We would wake up, drink some coffee, get dressed and head to the Monastiraki Flea Market – the place to be in Athens on a Sunday. We would then …

The Ultimate Sports Wife and I landed at London’s Heathrow airport at 6:30 am. With a 13-hour layover before our 8 pm flight to Athens, Greece, I had already planned to attend the Arsenal and Aston Villa match at Emirates Stadium Saturday afternoon – kickoff was set for 3 pm.
Our friend, British Mick, had made all the plans for the day. He insisted on picking us up from Heathrow at 7:30 am (which was definitely a good decision) and drive us back to his place. From there …

In the third game of the day, the U.S. Women’s National team beat Ireland 2-0. The match set a record for the U.S. women for wins in a calendar year. They won their 29th match of the year moving their 2008 record to 29-1-1. Defender Kate Markgraf scored her first international goal in her 193rd international match (cap).
Getting to the gameWe had a ride back from Toyota Park since Jim Cook’s wife and friend were driving to the stadium. From Wrigley Field, we took the Red Line to the Orange …

Today I am attempting to attend three sporting events at three different stadiums – Northwestern Football kicks off at 11 am, the Chicago Cubs first pitch is at 3 pm and the US Women’s National Soccer team hosts Ireland at 7 pm. I have only attended three sporting events at three different venues once before – June 5, 2004. That day I attended the Chicago Cubs game at noon, the Chicago Fire game at 3 pm (good thing the Cubs game only lasted 2.5 hours) and the Milwaukee …

If you are looking for an international soccer match where the tickets are available and affordable, you do not have to travel far and the match has meaning, then check out the World Cup qualifying schedules. World Cup qualifying begins about two years before the next World Cup – meaning most countries are already participating in qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Last night, in the first World Cup qualifier I have attended, the US Men’s National Team defeated the national team of Trinidad & Tobago 3-0. …

As I wrote yesterday, I had hoped to beat the $30 face value price buying from ticket scalpers outside of the Soldier Field box office. However, the box office through me for a loop when we arrived and the cheapest ticket was now $60 – Soldier Field had doubled all the ticket prices for buying day of game at the box office. This gave the scalpers a tremendous advantage since they had a $60 price point to work with rather than $30. No scalper would accept under $50 per ticket …

Last September, I attended my first Wrigley Field and Soldier Field doubleheader. That day the Cubs played on Sunday afternoon and the Bears played Sunday night football.
Today, I am attending my second Wrigley Field and Soldier Field doubleheader. However, this time the Cubs are playing on Sunday afternoon and Barcelona is playing Chivas Guadalajara Sunday night.
I already have a ticket to today’s Cubs game. My friend, Mike Holzman, called me Friday and said he had an extra ticket.
We do not have tickets yet for the soccer match. Tickets are still …

In the second game I attended yesterday, Mexico beat Peru 4-0 in an international friendly at Soldier Field. After leaving Grace O’Malley’s, I made the 20 minute walk over to the Soldier Field ticket office. On the way, I talked with a few scalpers – most who wanted around face value for tickets.
Once I was at the ticket office, I again ran into the woman who recognized me at a Northwestern basketball game. This time we started chatting about how ticket sellers outside the stadium always save …

For the first time since 2004, I am planning to attend a Chicago White Sox game and a soccer match at Solder Field in the same day. Today, the White Sox are hosting the Minnesota Twins at 1:05 pm and Mexico is playing Peru at Soldier Field at 7 pm.
The Ultimate Sports Wife, who is only attending the soccer match, is planning to meet me at Weather Mark Tavern located at 1503 N. Michigan Ave. in between games.