In a miraculous turn of events, I felt somewhat ok when I woke up Sunday morning for my 8 am flight to Oklahoma City. This was a day that could have turned into a disaster. I was flying solo with the Ultimate Sports Baby to Oklahoma City Sunday morning, attending the Thunder game at noon, then flying back to Chicago Sunday evening. Not many people would take their nine month old son on a trip like this but I had no choice but to continue at this point.
My only savior …

It was supposed to be a quick trip to Dallas and Oklahoma City. The schedule was perfect. Fly Saturday morning to Dallas, attend the Dallas Mavericks game Saturday night, fly to Oklahoma City Sunday morning, attend the Oklahoma City Thunder game Sunday afternoon and fly back to Chicago Sunday evening. Of course, that was my plan alone. Then Nicole somehow convinced me to take the Ultimate Sports Baby with me – “it’s a short trip just like you said”…”plus he flies free”. I fell for her argument.
We landed in Dallas …

It was the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field! Since I became a Bears season ticket holder in 1999 the Bears have advanced to the playoffs four times. Once as the #1 seed and three times as the #2 seed (including this year). The first two times the Bears were the second seed they lost. However, the Bears won last week while the Green Bay Packers defeated the #1 seed Atlanta Falcons which sent the NFC Championship game to Soldier Field.
My original plan for today was to attend the Flyers …

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 …

It was the Bears first playoff game since the 2007 NFC Championship game. As I had done throughout the regular season, I tailgated with the friend Mike Holzman and the Ultimate Sports Wife before the game.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
I already had my season tickets for the game today. However, I have noticed that the secondary market in Chicago for the divisional playoff weekend is soft in the days leading up to the game. I am not sure why it is soft, but wait to buy tickets to a wild card …