NCAA Division I Hockey: Western Michigan at Ohio St.

For the second time, I attended a NCAA Division I hockey game. The last time was on January 20, 2007 when I was at the University of Minnesota for a Northwestern basketball game and realized that Minnesota was playing Denver shortly after.

Last night, after Ohio St. beat Iowa in overtime, I decided to attend the Ohio St. men’s hockey game versus Western Michigan. Before the game I went to Hineygate which is an outdoor party in between Thirsty “I” and the Varsity Club.

Tickets
Tickets for the game cost $11. If you had a ticket from the Ohio St. football game tickets were 2-for-1 but I was on my own at this point.

The Game
Ohio St. defeated Western Michigan 4-2. The crowd at the game (1,752) was a far cry from the 105,455 that attended the football game.

Big Ten Title: Iowa at Ohio St.

Saturday morning started early. Hawkeyes Bryon woke me up at 7:00 am ready for game day. We checked out of the Red Roof Inn, parked our car at the Renaissance downtown, grabbed breakfast and headed over to Ohio Stadium.

Pre Game Dining
We arrived at the Original Varsity Club at 8:45 am. However, the Varsity Club was not opened even though their website stated they were opening at 8:00 am. Instead we walked next door to Thirsty “I”. Thirsty “I” had a patio where we could ask scalpers how much tickets were. One guy said $200 to “get in” and a second guy said $150.

After about an hour there we headed back to the Varsity Club and grabbed a table until it was time to buy tickets.

Obtaining Tickets
It was not the easiest scalping market and I ended up paying $130 for a $63 ticket. However, rather than sit in my seat in section 37A, I was able to sneak into the club level of Ohio Stadium and eventually into one of the luxury boxes. As was the case with the FOX Soccer Channel’s luxury suite at the Home Depot Center where I attended some games, this box had multiple sets of people in it who did not know each. Thus, I could stand in it for part of the game.

However, I decided I should leave the luxury box at halftime rather than be caught without a ticket (I was checked for my luxury suite ticket when attending the CONCACAF semifinals this past summer in a luxury box at Soldier Field).

The Game
During the second half of the game, I sat directly at the 50 yard line in the platinum section of Ohio St.’s Club Seat Program. One seat for each season costs $3300 which equates to $471.43 per game based on Ohio St.’s seven home games this season.

Ohio St. won the Big Ten title by defeating Iowa 27-24 after one period of overtime. The fourth quarter was by far the most exciting of the game as Ohio St. scored two touchdowns to take the lead 24-10 and Iowa matched coming back with two touchdowns of their own to send the game to overtime at 24-24 (one touchdown coming on a 99-yard kickoff return – the fourth longest in Iowa history).

However, Iowa could not perform in the overtime session as they threw an incompletion on first down, lost 6 yards on second down and was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down which took Iowa out of field goal range. Rather than kicking a field goal, Iowa QB James Vandenberg, threw an interception on fourth down. This gave Ohio St. the perfect chance to win the game and they took advantage, kicking a 39-yard field goal to win 27-24.

As the kick went through the uprights, I decided to run on the field at Ohio Stadium with the Ohio St. fans. Not too often will you be able to storm the field at Ohio Stadium.

Game TBD: Ducks at Blue Jackets

It was a day of temporary departure times. Hawkeyes Bryon and I were driving to Columbus, Ohio for the Iowa and Ohio St. Saturday afternoon. However, we were debating on when to leave. The drive takes six hours from Chicago and with a one hour time change we would arrive seven hours after we left.

Bryon had to work on Friday and had said he could not leave until 5 pm. He wanted to leave Friday so we would be in Columbus early even though kickoff was at 3:30 pm. With possible (probably guaranteed) Chicago traffic, I was hesitant to leave at 5 pm because it could take us a few hours just to get out of Chicago. Plus I prefer not to leave Nicole for an extra evening if it is unnecessary. Thus, I was still debating on whether to leave Friday night or very early Saturday morning.

However, I would leave Friday if Bryon could get out of work earlier and he mentioned it was a possibility so I had determined two sporting events we could attend Friday night based on our departure time:

1) If we left before noon, we could attend the 7:00 pm Columbus Blue Jackets game versus the Anaheim Ducks in Columbus (six hour drive plus one hour time change).
2) If we left before 4 pm, we could attend the 7:00 pm Purdue Men’s Basketball game versus Cal State Northridge in West Lafayette, IN (2 hour drive plus one hour time change) assuming we did not have traffic leaving that late.
3) If we left after 4 pm, we could stay in Chicago, avoid traffic and attend either the Chicago Blackhawks game (7:30 pm start time) or Northwestern Men’s Basketball game in Evanston (7:00 pm start time) or hang out at home. We could then leave after the game to avoid traffic or leave early Saturday morning.

Friday morning, Hawkeyes Bryon said he could leave early and that I should pick him up in downtown Chicago around 11:00 am. That meant we would arrive Columbus about an hour before the Blue Jackets game was to begin.

We arrived in Columbus at 6:00 pm – one hour before the Blue Jackets game was scheduled to begin. We checked into the Red Roof Inn downtown which was a three block walk from Nationwide Arena.

Obtaining Tickets
Tickets outside Nationwide Arena are generally easy to purchase for less than face value. I went through my usual steps of buying tickets:

1) I checked to see what the cheapest seat was at the box office. Their response was $36. The cheapest seat the Blue Jackets sell is $10.
2) I waited a couple of minutes to see if a fan had an extra ticket.
3) I went to talk to a couple of ticket brokers rather than continue to wait for a fan that might have free tickets. I offered the scalper $10 each for tickets that had a face value of $20. At first he countered my offered with $20 each, then $15 each. I decided to walk away. As I was walking away he accepted my $10 offer.

Pre Game
After buying tickets, I met Bryon at O’Shaughnessy’s Public House – a few steps from Nationwide Arena. O’Shaughnessy’s had a 24 ounce can daily special for $4.50.

The Game
For the second time this week, the NHL game I attended went to a shootout. This time the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 after winning the shootout 2-0.

Nationwide Arena
In 2009, ESPN The Magazine’s Ultimate Standings determined Nationwide Arena was the ninth best stadium experience out of all four major sports (122 teams in MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL). There were a few differences I noticed about Nationwide Arena than other hockey venues.

First, the net that protects fans behind the goal was about 1/3 as high as it is at the United Center and other arenas. I’m not sure why other arenas cannot figure out how to have lower nets behind the goal.
Second, the Blue Jackets do not use Ice Crew Girls. Rather they had men in sweatshirts cleaning the ice in between play.
Third, Nationwide Arena sold 24 ounce beers – bigger than most arenas.
Fourth, those beers were not poured into plastic cups. Rather they handed over the can! I believe no other venue hands fans a can fearing fans will throw the cans on the playing service or at another fan.
Fifth, if you are interested in eating food only found in Ohio (and they have expanded to parts of Kentucky, Indianapolis and Florida) then stop by the Skyline Chili concession stand. You may not like it at first but it is an Ohio delicacy.

Post Game Dining
After the game, we met other Iowa fans at Barley’s Brewing Company located at 467 N. High St. for dinner. Then we headed to Bar Louie Tavern & Grill before heading to bed for our early morning.