Off-Topic Forum

At least you aren't an Arsenal or Manchester fan.

Yes for sure, i was born about a mile from my teams stadium so back home in england where your born is who you support.

Most Manchester United fans are plastic as we call them, they just support them because they do well not that its their local team.

The last sporting event I attended was the NASCAR Cup Series race in Martinsville, VA last October. My favorite driver won the race and locked himself into the Championship race (then he won that race and the title). My next event is the same thing this October (3rd straight year). I already have 8 tickets for the race and a bunch of family is going with me.

My last MLB game was in STL in 2013 when the Cardinals beat the Pirates in the 13th inning of a 5 hour game. I stayed for the whole game, even after the rest of my group left. My only other MLB game was in 2005 in Cleveland. I almost had to miss that one. The remnants of Hurricane Katrina rained out the game for which I had tickets. I was able to change my schedule and stay another day to see the game. It takes a long time to get to an MLB stadium from here, hence the gaps b/t games.

My last (and only) NFL game was in 2006 in Charlotte for a Panthers/Steelers game. I'd love to go to another, but tickets are SO expensive. The local news did a story last night about the Panthers/Bills game b/c the cost of parking in some spots is higher than the ticket prices. There is so much construction in the area that several of the parking lots not owned by the team aren't accessible. I paid $5 to park when I went and that was in a gravel lot right across the street from the stadium. The team really should buy that lot and build a multi-level parking garage there!

I used to go to MiLB games all the time. I have 2 diff. teams at diff. levels about 30 minutes away and a few more within a 1 hour drive. I don't really get to them much anymore b/c I work at the same time they play most of the games. I actually worked for my hometown MiLB team for a summer back in 2003. The pay sucked but the job was fun, especially the days I got to be an usher. You can't beat getting to watch the game AND get paid for it. After the first inning or so, there is very little to do but watch the game and observe the crowd.

I've also been to a WWE event and a college football game. Never been to an NBA, hockey or soccer game and haven't been to a high school game since I was in high school in the mid-90's.

Cool answers from everybody.  My New Years goal was 52 games, across all sports, for 2017.  I think I'm at 49 now.  I may shoot for 75.  I have a much more reliable car now than I had on January 1 or I might have aimed higher.

I'm probably hovering around 100, thanks to college summer league games.

Think the last game I went to was in 2009. At Bank of America stadium in Charlotte. The Panthers vs the Dolphins. The Panthers got clobbered. Too much walking, too many steps to climb, too expensive, too many damn drunks. Think I'll pass on going back. Paying for parking really rubs me the wrong way too. You want to get all these people in one place, and don't provide them with parking. Like getting robbed, my experience really tarnished my view of the NFL as well.

Been to quite a few Hornets games, back before Shinn ran away with the team in 2002. I thoroughly enjoyed those games, also didn't mind paying the 5 bucks to park compared to 20 for the NFL. I banned anything about the NBA until the name came back, and the Bobcats name died. I'd go now if I get tickets.

My father was into hockey big time. Said there was no other sport as exciting to watch, and you had to be there to really enjoy it. I wish I had gone with him before he passed away, was so unexpected, and there was always time later.

NASCAR is big around here, not interested in going to those, got my fill of dirt tracks. Rather just see the highlights.

I've been given tickets to go to the Charlotte Knights minor league games but gave them away. I won't watch baseball if the DH is in place, not real baseball, and any team that uses it is a joke. Can't stand the idea of some bum who just bats. But I'd go to an NL home game in a heartbeat if I ever get the chance.

Doc Floyd said  ...  "My father was into hockey big time. Said there was no other sport as exciting to watch, and you had to be there to really enjoy it. I wish I had gone with him before he passed away, was so unexpected, and there was always time later."

Sorry to hear of your pop's passing Doc, but I can tell you this ......... he was a very smart man. My dad hated sports in his grown up years but turn on a hockey game and he would say the very same thing. Not sure where the hate came from but he did play goalie for a few years back when he was young. He gave away his old pads (they had openings where you put catalogs and/or newspaper for the padding and he used a backcatcher's mask as his goalie mask. I proudly have it displayed in my basement.

Doc, your experience with the Panthers was about the same as mine. The Panthers got clobbered, something like 31-3 for the final score. But it was late in the season (about a week before Christmas) and most of the main starters on offense were injured. Starting QB, RB and #1 WR were all out and the team had no shot at the playoffs. Walking up the stairs to the nosebleed section was exhausting (even though I was 28 then and very healthy). I only got to go b/c I won 2 tickets from a contest Outback Steakhouse had. The face value on those nosebleed tix was $48/each and now the same seats are $85+. Thanks to Outback though b/c I got to go to the game and also got a $25 Gift Certificate to Outback that I used to pay for myself and my Grandfather on his Birthday the following April. I'd LOVE to go back to the stadium now to see all the upgrades they made the past 2-3 years. I've heard that they replaced the stairs with escalators and even added some elevators. My main problem is that I don't want to sit that high again. I'd rather watch from my couch where I can rewind a play or fast-forward thru commercials AND I don't have to spend $8 for a single beer. Plus, I don't have to spend 2 hours driving there and twice that long getting back home. Where I would settle for sitting in the stadium costs a minimum of $110/ticket. That's almost 3x the price of a ticket to the NASCAR race @ Martinsville. I'd love to go to a race in Charlotte too, but their prices are way too high and the races are all at night. I'd have to get a hotel or start driving home after midnight.

As for the Hornets/Bobcats, I wish I had gone to a game when the original Hornets were in Charlotte (especially in the days of Alonzo, LJ and Muggsy)! After the team moved to NO, I completely stopped caring about NBA and focused on NCAA for my basketball fix. I refused to go to a game when the Bobcats started and I still won't go to a "new" Hornets game until they can consistently win games. Or at least put together a consistent team. That team has more turnover every year than a grocery store hiring high school kids to run cash registers during the summer!

I do like minor-league baseball though. Especially when you watch a player live and a few years later he is on TV playing in the MLB. I got to see several future-MLB players and some possible HOFers when they were still teenagers. Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez both played for my hometown team right after they were drafted and I saw them play in-person. Derek Jeter played for the next closest MiLB team to me before going to the MLB, but I didn't get to see him play there b/c his stint with the team was very brief. I prefer to see baseball without the DH too, but it doesn't bother me as much as it did when I was younger. Why not let someone with old legs but a powerful swing get a chance to continue playing? In the NL, they just move that guy to 1st Base and let him bat clean-up.

If you are ever in St. Louis, go to a game there! You'll be staying in a hotel anyway and all the hotels have parking garages. You can walk to the game or take the Metro bus for $2 right to the stadium. When I went, we were in a hotel about 6 blocks from the stadium. We parked in the hotel garage and never used the car again until we left the city 7 days later. We walked everywhere. A short stroll in any direction can get you to food or something fun to do. We even walked 17 blocks (one-way) to the mall at the train station! That was me and my sister with her two children (both under 6 years old). We did use the Metro Bus once to get us to a Kids Museum that was farther away than the train station and bring us back to the hotel. Two dollars for the day!

It appears to me that I am rambling. I will wrap this up by saying that I'd love to go to a dirt-track race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. Something so close but I still haven't had the opportunity to do yet.

I use to love going to Martinsville when I lived down there. We would end up going to seven or eight races each year, but Martinsville was always my favorite. And they never raised there prices like the other tracks did.

Monday, September 11th - Kansas City Royals vs Chicago White Sox in KC. The Royals got clobbered. My son and I try to drive over and see a game every year. Then I was watching the Cardinals vs the Reds on Tuesday night. This time the Cards whomped the Reds. Friends invited my wife and I to see the game with them. My first ever experience of sitting in "Green Seats" at Busch stadium. Free food and drinks included with the seats. A great buffet dinner before the game, again included in the ticket price ($366). I also saw Ozzie Smith at the bar.  Front row seats, directly behind the Cards batting circle. I was about 6 feet from the players while they waited to walk up and bat. It was nice to see how the 1% get to experience a sporting event. Fun time, but back-back nights made for a long week at work.