As I wrote this morning, my plan for today was to attend both the Chicago Blackhawks playoff game this afternoon and Chicago Fire game this evening.

Beg, Borrow and Deal
Blackhawks Jim volunteered to pick me up so we could drive to the United Center together. On route, I checked craigslist.org and found the following ad, “Just found out I have to work and can’t go to today’s game, I’ve got two standing room only tix available $60 for the pair which is less than face+fees. I live at Wells/Division and can meet to exchange tix. Be there for this pivotal game 5! Call me at 312-xxx-xxxx if interested.”

I called him and offered $30 for one ticket. He accepted so Blackhawks Jim and I detoured a few blocks to buy the ticket.

Buying Parking Passes
Blackhawks Jim prefers to park in the official United Center parking lots. Something I have never done on my own since they are a few dollars more than the Red Top Parking lots and traffic is much worse when leaving from the official parking lots.

As we approached the parking lot, a “parking scalper” approached us and said she had a parking pass available for $20. Parking for Lot C was $25. I told her we only wanted to pay $15. So she called her “partner” over and he had a parking pass for $15 in which we used to park in the lot – an immediate savings of $10.

Until the last year, when I started parking for free on neighborhood streets, I had parked at the Red Top Parking lot on the corner of Ashland Ave. and Madison St. for 15 seasons. For some reason, even though I always “scalp” tickets to games, I never thought of “scalping” a parking pass. Moving forward whenever I pay to park at the United Center I will buy a parking pass on the street before parking in the Red Top Parking lots.

Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks Game 5
Needless to say the game ended in dramatic fashion. First there were negatives. The Predators had a 4-3 lead with less than two minutes remaining – meaning the Blackhawks were looking at trailing the series 3 games to 2. Then Marian Hossa received a 5-minute major penalty for boarding Dan Hamhuis with 1:03 seconds left in regulation – meaning the Blackhawks loss was pretty much guaranteed.

Then, there were major positives. First, Patrick Kane somehow managed to stick the puck in the net with 13 seconds left in regulation. Second, as soon as Hossa’s penalty was over in overtime, he scored the game winning goal and sent the Blackhawks back to Nashville with a 3-2 lead in the series.