For the fifth time, I attended an NFL game on a Sunday afternoon and then followed that up by attending Monday Night Football. Last night the Denver Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders 41-14 in the most lopsided NFL game I have witnessed since October 29, 2006.
ParkingWe arrived at McAfee Coliseum about an hour before game time. The stadium lots were already full so we had to park in the overflow lots on the other side of I-880. Parking Tip: Do not exit at Hegenberger Ave. if you know the stadium …

For the first time since 1999, I attended an NFL game on the regular season’s opening Sunday. We arrived at Candlestick Park early in order to tailgate. Parking cost $25, which seemed low for an NFL game.
Tailgating Tip at Candlestick Park: Try to arrive at Candlestick Park before 10 am if you are planning to tailgate. We arrived at 9:45 am and were able to park close to the stadium while ample parking was available. However, within an hour the lot was filling up and people had to “squeeze” into …

Two weeks ago, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I planned to fly to San Francisco to attend the 49ers game with my grandparents, parents and brother. There were two requirements that made buying tickets in advance a requirement.
1) We needed seven tickets. It is next to impossible to find seven tickets together from scalpers outside the stadium.2) We needed to buy tickets in a low row of the upper deck. My grandfather is 86 years old and not able to walk up very many steps.
I logged onto …

In 1993, at the start of my senior year of high school, I attended 4 race days at Bay Meadows. This summer, I have attended 5 race days at Arlington Park. With a slow work day and an evening flight to catch at Chicago’s Midway Airport, a couple of work friends and I headed to Arlington Park for a Friday afternoon of horse racing.
We paid the $7 admission and decided to watch the races from the picnic tables in the Miller Lite Party in the Park – Libido Funk Circus …

Last night marked Nicole’s and my 8th wedding anniversary. For the past few years, Nicole and I have coincidentally alternated years attending a sporting event on our anniversary. Since a wedding anniversary is an equal opportunity day to celebrate the past year and look forward to the year ahead, we have found this to be a good way to celebrate from time to time.
In 2004, Nicole’s gift to me was to attend the Pro Beach Volleyball competition at North Beach during the day in Chicago. The daytime event left …

In a hot and muggy night at Wrigley Field, the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 9-7 in 11 innings. The Cubs lost four straight games for the first time since June 26-29.
Before the game, I helped a friend sell four limited view seats (face value $28) he had bought on August 2. This was the same friend that let me sneak down to $300 seats that same day. We took a lap around Wrigley and could not find any buyers. Next, we stood on the corner of Sheffield Ave. …

For the second day in a row, I helped friends purchase tickets to the Cubs game. Probably fearing a last minute phone call for the third time in four days, the Ultimate Sports Wife planned ahead of time to attend today’s game. However, I could not find free tickets today, although I did find tickets for under face value. A fan on Sheffield Ave. had four bleacher seats that we ended up paying $30 each ($45 face value).
Ticket Buying Tip: Check ticketing websites before heading to the ballpark to get …

On Friday, I wrote about the strategy to get free tickets to a Cubs game. Yesterday, my friend and I were planning to use my season tickets to attend the Cubs game. Nicole’s friend Erin was also planning to go to the game and needed two tickets. Erin had wanted to buy tickets (for $65 each) from Stubhub.com on Thursday, but I told her we could probably get a better price outside of Wrigley Field. Everyone arrived in Wrigleyville around 12:45 pm for the 1:20 pm start.
Before they arrived, I …

We arrived at the Cubs game right on time. The train from Ryan Field to Wrigley Field took about 45 minutes. The Cubs lost to the Phillies 5-2 and Ryan Howard hit his major league leading 37th home run.
After the game, we headed to my favorite Wrigleyville dive bar on the corner of Sheridan Rd. and Byron St. – I still don’t know what the name of this place is, but it has and Old Style sign out front. The friend I was with requested we go to a bar …

There were a couple reasons why I created the attendance rule that you only need to attend half the game in order for it to count.
1) I worked for the San Francisco Giants in Candlestick Park as an intern for part of the 1997 season. I could only take a 2 hour lunch to watch the game which meant I could only watch around 6 innings before heading back to the office – still being able to hear fans cheer while I worked during the 7th, 8th and 9th …