On a normal night, I would not attend a Northwestern men’s basketball game instead of a Chicago Blackhawks game. However, that was not the case tonight. Earlier this year, I bought Northwestern men’s basketball season tickets for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
My reasoning was the same as it was that year – the Ultimate Sports Wife is a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern University. By having season tickets, we could drive to Evanston together. Then I drop her off at the department before the game so she could work, …

Since I have season tickets to Northwestern men’s basketball, I decided to attend yesterday’s game even though I was also planning to attend the Chicago Bears Sunday night football game versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Blackhawks Jim and Blackhawks Jimmy Jr. were planning to pick me up from Northwestern, pick Nicole up from home and then drive to the Bears game for Tailgater Rob’s tailgate which started at 3:30 pm – quite the feat given the Northwestern game started at 1 pm.
I had considered not attending the game since the …

Last night Northwestern hosted (#10 ESPN/USA Today, #11 AP) – one of the highest ranked opponents to come to Evanston for a non-conference game. I already had my ticket since I purchased season tickets before the start of the season.
Pre Game DiningBefore the game I ate at Chili’s in downtown Evanston. Downtown Evanston has many different restaurants to dine at before or after Northwestern basketball.
The GameEven though Northwestern was playing their first game without Kevin Coble (their leading scorer and rebounder for the past three seasons), Northwestern played Butler tight …

Tonight I attended my first exhibition college basketball game. I only attended because I bought season tickets to Northwestern men’s basketball Tuesday afternoon and the game was included.
Northwestern Season TicketsThe last time I bought season tickets was for the 2004-05 basketball season. That was Nicole’s first year as a graduate student and we were hanging out on campus a lot. That year I bought the graduate student season ticket and each game cost $4.
For the first time since that season, I bought graduate student tickets this year. …

It was Senior Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday afternoon as Northwestern recognized seniors Craig Moore, Sterling Williams, Patrick Houlihan and Marlon Day. Northwestern defeated Iowa 55-49 after a sloppy first half of play.
Pre Game DiningBefore the game, we ate lunch at Buffalo Joe’s located at 812 Clark St. Although Buffalo Joe’s has three locations around Evanston, the Clark St. location is the only location that serves beer.
Obtaining TicketsI met a former colleague at Buffalo Joe’s to purchase his extra tickets to the game and paid face value. …

Since the Ultimate Sports Wife is also a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern University, we find ourselves on campus periodically throughout the year. One thing that has become a Sunday tradition during cold Chicago winters is to spend the day on campus. Nicole studies at the Sociology department while I attend a basketball game at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Until this season, only the women’s basketball team played on Sunday afternoons. However, with the creation of the Big Ten Network, the men are beginning to play more consistently on Sunday afternoons. Today the Northwestern …

In my first men’s college basketball game of the season, Northwestern defeated its first ranked opponent since it defeated then #18 Iowa on February 8, 2006. Northwestern used a 16-0 run early in the second half to take a 47-37 lead over Minnesota and never looked back, defeating the Golden Gophers 74-65.
The arena was mostly Minnesota fans who (after the 16-0 run) began complaining about each referee call that went against them. However, they were not nearly as bad as the Wisconsin fans I sat next to last year.
Obtaining TicketsI …