Super strategies

(New Orleans Times-Picayune)

Like most sports fans, I’d love to go to the Super Bowl someday. Strangely enough, though, it’s not that high on my priority list. It’s not that it wouldn’t be super-cool (yeah, bad pun), but let’s face it — it’s something that’s just as fun to watch at home, and then I could save the gobs of money I would be spending on going to the game and use it to add about six or seven new venues to this list. And, unlike events like this and this that I would contemplate blowing my budget for, the Super Bowl happens every year.

What if my team makes it? Still an iffy proposition for me. I’d have a little more than a week to plan once I knew it was a sure thing, and then I’d have to figure out how to get there if the game was being played clear across the country from me like it is this year. Of course, maybe I’ll change my tune if my team actually does get there one of these years.

But if you are a Colts or Saints fan and you are willing to spend, it can be done. (A little aside: In the last two weeks I’ve had two people I know tell me they’re gonna dust off their Saints gear now that the team’s doing so well. Just so you know: You are not true Saints fans. You are front-runners. Thanks for listening.) Being a season-ticket holder would increase your odds of getting tickets, but not by much. The Indianapolis Star gave its take on helping fans get to the big game, and CNBC’s Darren Rovell offers a little glimmer of hope to people wanting to spend a bit less money on tickets. And there’s always all-inclusive travel packages, so that you can at least spend your truckload of money all at once.

By the way, there’s probably a good reason why the Super Bowl is held in Miami every third or fourth year, and I can attest, having seen the Orange Bowl there, that Whatchamacallit Stadium is a terrific venue to watch a football game. Plus, you don’t have to fly into Miami’s airport or stay on South Beach to get the full Florida experience. But getting to the stadium stinks because the only way you can do so is by car, and the only freeway access you have to it is via toll road. If you’re going, be forewarned that these hassles exist, but I’m sure there’ll be shuttles aplenty, and you won’t care too much once you realize you’re at the freakin’ Super Bowl! Someday, I will envy you, but not this year.

Soaring like a Jet

In the interest of fairness, and since I strive to operate as nonpartisan a blog as possible, I’m letting my buddy Jersey Boy write a guest entry on attending the Jets-Chargers playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium last Sunday from a visiting fan’s perspective. After all, he was the one who flew cross-country to be there, not me. So I’ll let him take it away, and I’ll stand back and try not to let the twisting of the knife hurt me too much…

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Jersey Boy and the thrill of victory

From the time I turned 16 through my 24^th birthday in 2003, the New Jersey Devils won three Stanley Cups, which for many sports fans is more championships than their teams will combine to win during their lifetime. For that reason, I try to keep the complaining to a minimum when griping about my teams – the Mets, Jets, and Devils (the Knicks and I have had a rocky relationship since the start of the 2000s, and I don’t see it ending anytime soon).

With that said, these last few years have left me to wonder if I really did sell my sports soul to the Devil in exchange for those three championships. Since that time, I have seen the Mets blow a Game 7 at home in the NLCS (Thank you, Yadier bleepin’ Molina), then collapse in consecutive seasons on the final day of play. I’ve watched Doug Brien miss a pair of field goals in the AFC divisional round in Pittsburgh in 2004 – either of which probably would have propelled Gang Green into the AFC Championship Game, and then last season’s collapse from 8-3 to 9-7 and out of the playoffs (thanks, Brett Favre). Last April, the Devils blew a 3-2 series lead and a 3-2 lead in Game 7 to the Hartford Whalers – eh, Carolina Hurricanes – when Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur inexplicably allowed two goals in the final 120 seconds of regulation. Stunning doesn’t begin to sum up that loss for a team that captured the Atlantic Division crown despite Brodeur missing approximately 50 games due to injury.

Investing in your (team’s) future

(Renato Guerreiro)

Trying to see your team in the playoffs is an odd thing. First off, you get those generic-looking tickets where an opponent isn’t listed — instead it says something like “Home Game B, Date and Time TBA.” Then you have to be very cognizant of when the game is so that you aren’t that guy who shows up at the stadium or ballpark or arena and there’s nobody around. And then there’s the matter of buying tickets, probably at a huge markup if you’re not a season-ticket holder or you’ve missed the release of the few hundred tickets the team had left, for a game you aren’t certain will be played. Unless you have a crystal ball, you’re taking a chance buying tickets.

Take the NFL playoffs, for example. There are three possible sites for both the AFC and NFC championship games on Jan. 24, and an unscientific survey on StubHub reveals there are tickets on sale for games at those sites. Here’s a rundown of the cheapest listed tickets at each site:

AFC

• Indianapolis: $180
• San Diego: $219
• New York Jets: $60

NFC

• New Orleans: $315
• Minnesota: $150
• Dallas: $75

The variation in prices among the sites probably is a reflection of two things: 1) The probability that a game will be played next week there, and 2) The confidence sellers have that there will be a game there. Based on the numbers above, people who have tickets in hand feel pretty confident the NFL will be coming live from San Diego and New Orleans next week.

The question for fans is this: Is the prospect of saving a few — or many — bucks worth the risk of buying tickets now? Say you do so because you’re brimming with confidence that your team is going to win this weekend. Then they lose, probably in dramatically awful fashion (at least in your eyes). Not only are you left disappointed (or furious) that your team lost, but now you’re left with tickets that you overpaid for and can’t use, and have to go through the hassle of getting a refund from the team — and only getting face value back for them. So now not only did your team upset you by not coming through for you, but now they’ve cost you money. And you didn’t even bet on them! (At least in the traditional sense, you didn’t.)

There is one interesting concept out there that tries to get around this. Anyone interested in going to the Rose Bowl this year could have registered here to give yourself a chance to buy tickets at face value on condition that your team made it. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t have been able to buy tickets. Of course, if you read the fine print you’ll see that you have to pay to register, and you’re only entitled to one ticket at face value. But hey, it’s a start.

As for me, I’m going to one of the NFL divisional games this weekend. I’d consider going to the conference championship game if my team makes it… but I don’t want to be the one disappointed and with a worthless ticket in hand.