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 …

After work I drove to the United Center for my second hockey game of the day. Corey Crawford had his third career shutout as the Blackhawks defeated the Avalanche 4-0.
The second period ended with 2:07 left, when the glass above the boards shattered. At that point both teams headed to the locker room for the second intermission. After the intermission, the teams played the end of the second period, the goalies switched ends and the third period started. I know I have seen this before but …

For the first time ever, I planned to attend two hockey games in the same day. I had always planned to attend the Chicago Wolves game since it was starting at 11:00 am – nothing better than weekday afternoon sporting events. But, Hospitality Jim also invited me to the Chicago Blackhawks game on Wednesday night so the doubleheader was set.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
There are no scalpers at a weekday afternoon minor league hockey game (let alone an evening minor league game) so I had to buy a ticket from the …

Last year at this time I drove down to Indianapolis twice to see the Colts in the playoffs. This year was no exception except for the fact they were playing on Wild Card weekend rather than later in the playoffs. This worked out for my schedule since the Chicago Bears are now playing on the Divisional Playoff weekend. For this road trip, I was able to get a babysitter so I was set to drive to Indianapolis for the evening.
Pre-Game Dining
I arrived in Indianapolis early to give myself plenty of …

On October 17, 2008 I drove to Champaign, IL to see the Chicago Bulls play a pre-season game at Assembly Hall for the first time since 1989. I thought this would replace my need to attend an actual Illinois men’s basketball game. But with Illinois hosting Northwestern last night, I decided I wanted to go. However, I had an issue. Nicole was not going to be home and all three babysitters we normally use could not babysit Dylan. Plus, to make matters worse, Nicole needed the car Dylan rides in.
Thus, …

NFL Game Day is “slightly” different when traveling with a baby. We woke up early and had to take care of Dylan rather than sleeping in and going directly to the bars before the game.
Pre Game Dining
Since we were up early we decided to drive around Green Bay to check out “the sites.” Of course, there really weren’t any, so we stopped at Titletown Brewing Company located at 200 Dousman St. Our hotel’s magazine listed this place as one of the top places to eat at in Green Bay.
Beg, Borrow …