With one of the Ultimate Sports Wife’s good friends just moving to Denver, CO a few months ago and a visit to see her long overdue, we decided to fly to Denver Wednesday afternoon for a weekend of skiing and Winter X Games in Aspen, CO.
Nicole’s friend Nicole Neuschler (who I will call “the Neusch” from now on in order to avoid confusion with the Ultimate Sports Wife’s first name) lives in Denver, so we had the option to fly to Denver or Aspen. We decided to fly to …

The Chicago Bulls are now 4-4 this season when I am in attendance at the United Center after losing to the Atlanta Hawks last night 105-102. The loss gave the Hawks their first season sweep of the Bulls in NBA history.
Chicago Bulls AttendanceTwo months ago when I saw the Atlanta Hawks play on a Tuesday night the attendance at the game was 21,738 and the arena was pretty full. However, the Bulls are now seven games under .500 after last night’s loss. Although last night’s announced crowd was 20,389 there …

As was the case five months ago, my friend Todd emailed me that he had a ticket for me to attend WWE Raw last night. I had planned to eat dinner at the Chili’s by the arena before the event. However, Todd called me earlier in the day to say I could eat dinner in the Hospitality room between 5:30 and 7:30 pm.
Rather than pay $20 to park in the Allstate Arena parking lot, I parked in the Target parking lot (by the Chili’s) as I did last time. Since …

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 …

For the second night in a row I drove down to the United Center. This time it was to watch the Chicago Bulls host the Portland Trail Blazers.
Pre Game DiningI parked in my usual Red Top Parking Lot on the corner of Ashland Ave. and Madison St. I decided to eat at the Taco Bell that is adjacent to the parking lot. This Taco Bell must be one of the slowest fast food restaurants around – tonight it took 20 minutes to order and receive one bean burrito.
The GameIt was …

Around 3:45 pm yesterday, the Ultimate Sports Wife checked her Facebook account and noticed that my cousin’s status read “Carl is going to the Hawks game!!” Having wanted to go to the Blackhawks game myself and get together with my cousins, I called Carl’s father, Jim, and asked if he was going as well. He was, as well as his wife and Carl’s girlfriend. Nicole realizing that her checking of Facebook was leading her directly to the Blackhawks game added “I don’t think I will state anyone’s status to you …

Last night the Chicago Bulls defeated the Sacramento Kings 99-94 (and miss giving the crowd free Big Mac’s by one point). It was the first time I have seen the Kings play at the United Center.
The Bulls converted 33 of 36 free throws. The Bulls converted their first 29 free throws which would have set a franchise record if they had not shot 4 for 7 to end the game. The previous Bulls record for free throws without a miss occurred on February 9, 1977 when the Bulls went 25-for-25 …

The NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field is an event not to be missed – especially for the Ultimate Fan. First, I was able to attend an outdoor hockey game. Second, it was at a new stadium for an NHL game. Third, it was New Year’s Day which is generally reserved for college football. I have been to four bowl games on January 1 – two Rose Bowls (1996 and 2007), the Citrus Bowl (1997) and the Outback Bowl (2003). Fourth, the event was held within one block of …

In my third consecutive NBA afternoon game, the Orlando Magic embarrassed the Chicago Bulls 113-94. Dwight Howard had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, just as he did on Christmas Day and in 23 of his 30 games this season. It was the second Bulls game I have attended on New Year’s Eve – the first coming on December 31, 2001.
Obtaining TicketsIn a round about way, I ended up paying $20 for a $110 face value ticket and sat on the first level. However, the process to buying …

The Falcons game ended around 4:15 pm, meaning I had 45 minutes until the start of the Atlanta Thrashers game. I left the Georgia Dome, walked across the park and was at the Philips Arena within 5 minutes. It was the shortest distance I have had to travel between two venues when attending two games in the same day.
Obtaining TicketsBefore the Falcons game I went to the Philips Arena box office to see if they had $10 tickets available. They did not, so I planned to buy a ticket for …