I understand why the NCAA Tournament charges so much for their tickets – fans will pay. But in the next breath, fans will complain about the cost of tickets. The NCAA charged $71 for each ticket in Milwaukee. The fans overbought. The winners in this scenario are the NCAA, the ticket brokers and any fans who waited to buy tickets. The losers are the fans who bought tickets in advance – the exact people who make the NCAA so much money.
Think of it this way, …

For the third straight session, I left the Bradley Center in between games.  This time I planned to grab lunch rather than go to a bar.  I was looking for a subway, but stumbled upon Cousin’s Subs at State St. and Old World 3rd St.

#6 Xavier vs. #3 Pittsburgh
Xavier and Pittsburgh played the most entertaining game in Milwaukee all weekend long as Xavier narrowly defeated Pittsburgh 71-68 to advance to the Sweet 16.  Xavier lost to Pittsburgh in the regional semi-finals last season.

As was the case on Friday, I arrived close to the first tip of the first game. However, since today was a Sunday I knew I could park for free on city streets. I drove directly to Juneau Ave. where I used to park for free when I attended five Milwaukee Bucks playoff games back during their playoff run of 2002. I parked 6 to 7 blocks away from the Bradley Center on the corner of Juneau Ave. and Jackson St. – a walk that was probably too far even …

Once again, I left the stadium between games of the session with my “smoking” stamp. I wandered down Old World 3rd St. and ducked into Durango BBQ & Grill. I stopped in there because they had the best special of the bars on Old World 3rd St. – $3 20 oz. beers. Not only was every other bar overcrowded, but they were also charging at least $5 per beer. That also means that Durango is not nearly as popular as the bars on the street which I tend to agree. …

When planning to attend all four games of the NCAA Tournament’s first round, you need to determine where to go in between the two sessions. Milwaukee is especially convenient because there are so many bars and restaurants within a block or two of the arena.
As I wrote on Friday, I was planning to meet up with two guys I met two months ago at an Indiana Pacers game. I emailed them Thursday afternoon and wrote back stating they were planning a Fish Fry at Slim McGinn’s between the two sessions …

At halftime of the Xavier and Minnesota game, I realized that fans were leaving the stadium by getting a stamp on their ticket. Technically, you were only supposed to go outside to smoke in the immediate vicinity of the arena. However, security was not monitoring the “smoking area” outside so it was very easy to leave and wander around downtown Milwaukee in between the two games of each session (and halftime if you were really desperate). This is a key perk with attending games in Milwaukee as bars are located …

As I wrote on Friday, I expected tickets to be cheap in Milwaukee for the NCAA Tournament. Of course, my theory was based on my having time to walk around the arena and negotiate with several ticket scalpers. Instead, I woke up late yesterday morning and made it to downtown Milwaukee about 10 minutes before the scheduled first tip between Xavier and Minnesota.
I wanted to find a relatively cheap parking lot quickly and then buy my ticket to session one. However, I got turned around and ended up driving directly …

As you know, this is the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. With the first and second round being held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee (our neighbors to the north), I will be attending men’s basketball NCAA tournament games for the first time in five years.
My plan is to meet up with two gentlemen I met at the Indiana Pacers game before racing off to the Indianapolis Colts divisional playoff game versus the Baltimore Ravens. At the time they mentioned I could buy one of their tickets …

The best part about March Madness is the second game of the session – it makes for a strange secondary ticket market and an even stranger audience in attendance. Most fans seem to just show up for “their” team’s game – even though the Big Ten did charge them for the “other” game. I mean the cheapest tickets for the session were $40.
Another great part is when that game goes into overtime. The last time I attended a conference tournament, the second game of the session also went into overtime. …

My decision to attend the Northwestern men’s basketball game in the Big Ten Tournament rather than the Milwaukee Bucks game meant I needed to leave earlier than expected. I left my house at 2:00 pm in order to make the first tip at 6:30 pm (Eastern Time). The drive from Chicago to Indianapolis normally takes me about 3 hours, so I should have had 30 minutes to park, buy a ticket from scalpers outside of Conseco Fieldhouse and get to my seat – plenty of time, right?
Wrong! About 47 miles …