Deciding where to go when I win the tickets

I rarely enter online contests, but I did so recently through a campaign urging citizens to be registered to vote. I verified my voter registration information and was apparently automatically entered.

The contest rewards one lucky person with two tickets to a sporting event with airfare and some spending money. I recognize I am unlikely to win, but just like the rare occasion when I play the lottery, it’s fun to think about what I would do if I did win. I have been doing exactly that ever since.

First, I had to look up the rules so I knew what my options were. The tickets cannot be to championship, playoff or tournament game. The game also has to be somewhere here in the contiguous 48 states.

This means no Super Bowl, NCAA Championships or home World Cup matches. The Super Bowl being excluded is no disappointment to me as that has always seemed like an event more enjoyable from home than the stands, but the other two possibilities would have been awesome.

That leads me to my thought process when choosing what of the available options I should choose when they call. There are several factors that have to be taken into consideration.

This is not only two tickets to a game with 500 bucks, but also airfare and hotel accommodations being awarded to the winner. If it were simply tickets to the game and some spending money, I would immediately cross off a bucket list item and go see Carolina-Duke basketball with my Blue Devil worshiping best friend.

I live in North Carolina though so the airfare and hotel would be largely wasted and that’s too big a part of the prize to go to waste. On the other hand, the trip can’t be all about the airfare either.

After all, it would be tempting to pick a nice San Diego State football game, check out Tony Gwynn Stadium while I’m there, and then take a short drive down to Tijuana for a few days.

Then again, I can’t waste free tickets to any sporting event on Aztecs football can I?

There’s also the concern about too much emotional investment. Have you ever given time, money and love to support your favorite team in person only to witness them get embarrassed live? If your answer is no, you either support better teams than I do or don’t go to many games.

I am emotionally invested in my favorite teams and my teams don’t always play well. Choosing a game that I am not overly emotionally invested in would increase the odds of having a great time because it wouldn’t be as dependent on a certain outcome.

I’ve been to what some call The Game, in Columbus, Ohio. It was the game that got Rich Rodriguez fired at Michigan and it was a good time.

I got to stand next to the Heisman Trophy, learned some vulgar but fun songs and experienced the Ohio version of cold weather. Got to see T.B.D.B.I.T.L in action too and having attended an HBCU, I respectfully disagree with the acronym but they were certainly impressive.

If I were to go back there, it would be to see an NHL Stadium Series game on March first of next year. I don’t care about the Columbus Blue Jackets or the Detroit Red Wings (Go Canes), but seeing a hockey game outside and in “the shoe” would be cool. Not cool enough and too cold to use my free trip on, but it would be cool.

The Red River Rivalry would be an awfully tempting choice. I would get to see a good football game in what will surely be a great football environment and enjoy the kind of meat sweats that can only accompany the Texas State Fair. For a man that loves football and barbecue, this seems ideal.

Here’s the problem with that though, it’s not Carolina and Duke basketball. I know what I said before about emotional investment and not wasting the airfare but only one of these items is truly on my bucket list. It’s got to be the blue feud on Tobacco Road for me.

I would love to hear where you’d go and who you’d take with you. Please reach out and let me know.