Tag: sports

NCAA March Madness

I attended the Western Regional Division Championship games this past Thursday and Saturday.  Our seats weren’t too bad and two out of the three games were actually exciting so I can’t really complain.  Would I go again, absolutely.  Who knows when the NCAA will bring games back to the area though.  We had so many empty seats, it was kind of ridiculous.  Granted, the games were taking place in the football stadium but still, we hardly broke 18,000 spectators.  A view from my seat below.

basketball1

I also had to take a photo of this guy that was sitting a few rows in front of me.  I wish I could have gotten a better photo but there just wasn’t any opportunity.  He was cute.

basketballguy

NCAA Tournament

My mom’s a huge fan of college basketball so guess what she talked me buying tickets into going and seeing?  The Western Regional Finals being held here in Arizona at the end of March.  It should be good times.  I have no idea how good/bad our seats will be but whatever.  The experience is half the fun, right?

basketball

Vancouver 2010 – Tickets

Vancouver 2010 tickets go on sale starting October 3rd to Canadian residents.  As most of you know, I love the Olympics and going to the Winter Games is something I’ve done since Salt Lake 2002.  Anyway, I hate how you have to purchase or commit to purchase tickets so far in advance.  I find that most people that I try to recruit into going to the big event with me have no idea what they’ll be doing in 2010 or if they’ll even be able to afford it now.  That’s fine, I totally understand.  At the same time, we’re talking about something that’s a year and a half away, you can’t save $$?  I digress.

Tickets go on sale soon and Vancouver has posted their Olympic Experience Packages, which are sports packages that the organizing committee puts together to make your trip planning much easier.  I have gone through and chosen packages that meet my requirements and now I have to send them out to the people who are interested.  I think I’m going to allow them to vote on the select few and see which ones come out on top.  I’m also going to have to decide if I want to add some separate sports on top of the sports that are included in the packages.  Some of the packages I like don’t include Curling and there’s no way I’m going to miss out on that!

Anyway, I’m hoping that the whole thing doesn’t end up costing too much $$.  My good friend in Canada is doing me the favor of ordering the ticktes and what not for me since (obviously) I don’t live in Canada.  After these ticket decisions are made, the next big issue will be lodging.  That’s where the total price of the event will really begin to take shape! Here’s the tentative plan for that:

  • Fly to Seattle
  • Drive to Vancouver
  • Stay outside the city and drive

So much planning to do!

Matthew Mitcham Wins Gold

Congrats to Matthew Mitcham from Australia (and only openly gay athlete in Beijing) for winning gold in the men’s 10m platform diving event last night.  The event was amazing and came down to the last dive of the night.  He scored 112.10 out of a possible 114.0 points on his last dive, propelling him past the Chinese favorite.  To read more about Matthew, check out his profile located on NBCOlympics.com.  You can watch the final dives here.  Video below of Matthew taking with reporters outside the diving venue in Beijing.

USA Relay – WTF!?!?

Seriously?!?  Both the US Men and Women drop the baton during the qualifier race in the 4×100 relay!?  This doesn’t happen!!

Maybe it was the handmade country tags that both teams were wearing on their chests?  Seriously, what the hell was that about?  Does Beijing provide those or do the teams themselves?

4th of July – 2008

fireworks

Okay, I realize that this post is a bit behind schedule.  I’ve been very busy with work and Mike.  :)  Anyway, the 4th of July this year was full of good times.  My friend Erin had come up from Sierra Vista for a weekend of Diamondbacks baseball and invited me to go to the game on the 4th.  There were going to be fireworks after the game and I figured, why not!?  Last year I spent the 4th sitting out at Tempe Town Lake from 7pm in 100 degree heat*, let’s just say that this was much better.  For my $10, I got to see a baseball game (we lost) and fireworks in an air conditioned ballpark?  What could be better?!  The photo above is one I took of the fireworks after the game.

baseball

I also attended another game with Erin on Saturday.  Again, the D-Backs lost.  Oh well, it was still fun!  I’ve been to more baseball games this year than I have in the past two years.  I think the thing I like most about going to baseball games is that you don’t really have to watch the game.  Don’t get me wrong, I watch the game but I also spend a fair amount of time socializing.

*For those of you not familiar on how things work in Phoenix, Arizona, it can easily be over 100 degrees for hours after the sun has gone down.

National Anthems

One thing I love about watching the UEFA Euro Championships are the national anthems in the beginning of the matches. Each side sings and it’s just kind of an awesome thing to see.

Anyway, that got me thinking about a few of my favorites and, if you can imagine, they are all on YouTube for our viewing pleasure.

God Save The Queen

Das Deutschlandlied

Oh Canada