Saturday, January 23, 2010

On the road with the big three - NFL, MLB, NBA


Last summer I went to a White Sox game in Chicago and tonight I made my way to EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City to watch the Utah Jazz destroy the New Jersey Nets.

In order to complete the trifecta this summer I plan to attend an NFL road game. Ideally I'd like to see a game in an outdoor stadium in a city I've never been too. However, seeing a game at Arrowhead in Kansas City would be awesome not to mention (relatively) close and convenient. Most of the cities I'm considering have less to do with the actually football team and more to do with the ease of getting tickets, lodging and airfare.

I don't want to break the bank, I just want to travel and experience the NFL on someone else's turf. Between now and summer I'll have to do my homework. Last year I considered going to Orchard Park, NY to see T.O. and the Buffalo Bills because I found some cheap flights to NY, but a friend of a friend gave me the scoop on Ralph Wilson Stadium and the surrounding area. Basically he said it was a shitty stadium and it's neither close nor convenient getting to and from most hotels.

On the other hand, I hear that Seattle is one of the best places to see a NFL game. The stadium is close to the downtown, hotels and lots of cool bars yet tickets are hard to come by and lodging is pricey. Destinations like Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are on the radar for the upcoming year because Florida sounds nice in Oct/Nov and those teams rarely fill their stadiums. Along those same lines a co-worker suggested a Cardinals game in Phoenix because Southwest flies there and airfare is cheap...

Part of me believes that football is meant to be played and to some extent experienced in the elements. Cleveland, New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay would all be magical places to drink a beer and eat a bratwurst on a cold, crisp fall Sunday afternoon. So we'll see... Regardless of where I go and which teams I see the NFL is awesome! Until then, I'll anxiously await the release of 2010-2011 NFL schedule.

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