It’s not very often when I can attend a Northwestern Football game and a Chicago Cubs game in the same day. Northwestern games generally start at 11 am meaning that in order to attend both the Cubs need to start at 3 pm or later. Today that is the schedule. Northwestern kicks off against Syracuse in Evanston, IL at 11 am and the Cubs first pitch against the Phillies is at 2:55 pm – leaving just enough time to watch the football game, take the train to Wrigley Field and …

It appears the secondary ticketing market around Wrigley Field has finally bottomed out (at least for a few days). I received two free tickets from a fan outside of Wrigley Field to today’s Cubs game. How did I get two free tickets in one of the toughest seasons to even buy Cubs tickets at face value? The steps are simple if you are able to execute them properly.
1) Look for people employed by the Cubs with tickets in hand. Today I found a Cubs employee holding an extra ticket by …

Kicking off a stretch of attending seven consecutive Cubs’ home games, I did something I rarely ever do – go out before and after a Cubs game. I was attending the game with Liam from New Zealand so I thought we should “experience” Wrigleyville.
Pre Game DiningIt is hard to argue that going to the Full Shilling before a Cubs game qualifies as “Pre Game Dining” but that is what we did last night. As I wrote a few months ago, the Full Shilling gives away free hot dogs …

Yesterday, I forgot to bring my lunch to work. So instead of eating in the building’s cafeteria I decided to eat lunch at Arlington Park and watch some horse racing. As I did the last few times, I brought my laptop so I could work using Arlington Park’s wireless network.
Before the day started, the announcer mentioned there maybe some money to be won because no horse in the field had proven themselves. She was right. In the first race, I bet the two favorites in an …

For the first time in two months, I watched the Cubs game from the Wrigley Field Rooftop Club at 3617 N. Sheffield Ave. As usual, we had to go through Nicole’s 10 steps for rooftop access. However, since today was less crowded than usual we did not have to find seats as soon as we entered the building. If you ever have tickets for Wrigley’s rooftops follow these steps for the best rooftop experience:
1) Arrive early. Most rooftops open 30 minutes before the first pitch. Try to arrive 5-10 minutes …

For the second day in a row, a player in the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs series had 6 RBI. Aramis Ramirex hit two 3-run home runs to lead the Cubs to a 9-2 victory over the Nationals. Ryan Dempster won his 15th game of the season and 12th game at home.
Before the game, I met some friends at Yak-zies. I did not realize that beers could be more expensive on the outside than on the inside. Yak-zies charges $6 per beer in a smaller plastic cup. The beers in …

Yesterdays Cubs game started out with a 63 minute rain delay. Since I did not have tickets to the game, I either needed to buy tickets from a scalper (so I could wait out the rain delay at home) or buy tickets through the Cubs new “day of game” ticket sales policy and enter the park immediately.
Cubs New “Day of Game” Ticketing PolicyBefore the second half of the season started the Cubs used to sell “day of game” tickets starting at 9 am. Fans (and scalpers) would wait in …

After successfully making it to the Cubs game in the afternoon, I was also going to Soldier Field to watch the Chicago Bears host the San Francisco 49ers.
Pre Game DiningIf you are looking for a sports bar close to Michigan Ave., then ESPN Zone is your spot. Located at 43 E. Ohio St., the bar is a 2-block walk from Michigan Ave. It’s also a good place to stop if you are taking the red line between Wrigley Field and either US Cellular Field or Soldier Field. I met Nicole …

On May 19, 2008 I had planned to attend the Chicago Rush game at the Allstate Arena. However, I was able to leave work early so decided to drive home rather than wait for the game to start. While driving home that day, a man rear ended me while merging and I ended up with a “Failure to Merge” ticket. After some shifting of court dates, my final traffic court date was yesterday afternoon. Knowing that the Cubs game was also yesterday afternoon, I bought a …

Ted Lilly had a no-hitter through 5 innings of last night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. Of course, I realized he was throwing a no-hitter as the top of the 6th began. Ryan Hanigan, the first batter for the Reds in the 6th inning, doubled to deep center field. Once again, as soon as I realized the possibility of a no-hitter the next batter hit safely.
With the wind blowing in the Reds beat the Cubs in a low scoring (3 runs total), low hit …