Month: September 2018

SPORTS DIVA’S GUIDE TO GETTING CHEAP SPORTS TICKETS

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Many thanks to blogger Itinerary Planner for suggesting a post like this.

(Check out her blog, Travel Itinerary for tips even if you aren’t doing a 30 Plus Teams Tour . )

You’re going to either Dallas, Houston , Los Angeles , Miami, or even Tampa – St. Pete for a little rest and relaxation , right?

ABSOLUTELY!

But this is a 30 Plus Teams Tour , remember, so you’ll be going to a sporting event whether it be a baseball , hockey, football or basketball game .

It might be your favorite team that you’re going to see, or a team that you really don’t like, but you want to see a game anyway .

Or it could be a team or sport that you know nothing about , but you want to take in everything in the city.

Besides, all the travel guidebooks about the United States and Canada all say that this is something you should do when visiting both countries, so why not?

Set some money aside and join in the fun at a game.

This is where the Sports Diva comes in.

I’m going to give you some tips for getting to a game on “the cheap”.

I should tell you that as much as I love to watch football and some of the stadiums are on my bucket list , attending an American football game, aka the NFL , can be VERY expensive , depending on the team.

A lot of fans either get their tickets from other fans who don’t go to the game or the majority of them are seasons ticket holders and there’s no way in hell they’re giving up those seats, unless the team is really bad or moves to another city, which seems to happen a lot in the National Football League.

I rarely go to the football games, because as much as I love football, the Sports Diva isn’t mortgaging the house for the most popular sport in the United States .

Instead, I’m going to tell you about the three sports whose games I attend the most, baseball, basketball and hockey.

Let’s say you’re in New York City , and you want to attend a New York Knicks basketball game.

Sounds good, but don’t even think that you’re going to get a cheap seat right on the basketball court so that you can yell and scream at Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, along with the rest of the Golden State Warriors .

That’s not going to happen in any basketball arena no matter if you’re in New York City to see the Knicks or if you’re in Memphis to watch the Grizzlies .

We’re talking cheap tickets, not blow your budget on your trip.

You have other things to do while on your 30 Plus Teams Tour .

You want tickets at a reasonable price .

Depending on the team, you can get tickets from the team’s own website, from NBA tickets.com, or a third seller .

I happen to use a site called VividSeats.com, but there are others.

I use VividSeats.com for hockey and baseball tickets also.

Don’t worry if you think these tickets are fake, they’re very legitimate and they’re the seats that ticket holders don’t want .

If you’re from another country, keep in mind that you might not be able to use some of the websites that I mention, so your best bet is to just go onto the team’s own website.

You want to attend a hockey game while you’re in town?

Depending on the city or team, tickets are fairly inexpensive.

If you happen to be in a city like Toronto , Montreal , or New York City , hockey tickets are some of the most expensive due to corporations buying up tickets and giving them to clients, who spend most of the game on their phones and not watching the game.

They hardly have a clue who any of the players are.

If you happen to go to a game, you can spot these “fugazy fans” a mile away .

They’re the ones in the suits or the team apparel that they just bought from the team’s store a few hours before the game started and they and the person they brought to the game with them , are taking selfies like they’re the newest hot model.

But I digress , and I’ll talk more about these posers passing as fans in another blog post.

When I go to a hockey game, I get my tickets in a couple of different ways.

You can go on the NHL ticket exchange, the team’s own website or have a friend that’s a season ticket holder.

That last option only works if you know someone in the city that you’re going to visit.

As with basketball , don’t get it twisted.

For some unknown reason, people who go to a hockey game either want to sit directly behind the glass or next to or behind the benches of either team.

These aren’t cheap seats, no matter how good or bad the team is.

The whole purpose of going to a game is to do it as cheaply as possible .

Sitting right behind the glass just isn’t it.

While I’m throwing out tips, let me give you a real important tip on seeing a hockey game on the cheap.

The higher up you sit, the more action you’ll be able to see, and believe me, this is a sport where you don’t want to miss ANY action.

If it’s too expensive to see a NewYork Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden , you’re in luck.

The New York and New Jersey area have two other hockey teams.

One plays in Brooklyn at the Barclay’s Center and the other one plays at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey .

Tickets for both of these teams are very inexpensive and the good news is that you can get to both of these arenas by public transportation if you happen to be anywhere in the New York City area.

The last sport, baseball, is the cheapest of all, no matter what stadium you watch it in.

You can sit in the bleachers, behind home plate, behind the dugouts, where the teams come out of, and the nosebleed seats.

You can even do standing room, which isn’t as bad as its sounds, and you’ll be able to see EVERYTHING.

For baseball, there are several different ways to get cheap seats if you want to see a game.

You can go to the team’s own website of course, a third party, and MLB.com.

(That stands for Major League Baseball . )

There’s another way as well.

Depending on the team, you can walk right up to the window at the stadium either the day of the game, or on a “do nothing in town” day and buy your tickets.

It’s hard to do this with any other sport but baseball, and who knows, you might be at a game where it’s “giveaway day”.

You might leave the game with a team scarf, hat, jacket or a bobblehead of the team mascot or a current or former player .

One word of warning though, and this applies to all three sports.

Beware of people approaching you and asking if you either need or are selling tickets.

Just say no and keep it moving.

These people are scalpers and by and large the tickets they’re trying to sell you are bogus.

You want cheap but don’t take it to the point where you’ll get embarrassed or in jail.

Scalping is illegal in most of the United States .

Do your homework before you leave.

Check the team’s schedule to make sure that they’re going to be in town.

If you have friends that live in the city that you’re going to, ask them if they want to go to the game too.

If so, send the money or give it to them at the game.

I dont need to tell you how many times I’ve done this.

Another thing you could do if you happen to have friends in the city is get a big group together and get a suite at the arena or stadium.

That might sound great, but do you really want to see the game in a place where you have unlimited food and drinks or do you want to be where the action is , near the other fans?

I can see many of you saying , “I’ll take unlimited food and drink for 1,000, Alex.”

Also in some of these cases, you won’t get a paper ticket.

It’s all mobile now so have your phone ready because it’s going to be scanned by ushers as you enter the building .

Don’t worry if the name on the ticket isn’t yours.

It’s the name of the person who sold the ticket.

Here are some of the websites to use:

MLB.Com

Ticketmaster.com

VividSeats.com

NBA tickets.com

SeatGeek.com

NFL.com – Good luck finding an inexpensive football ticket. If you find a seat for less than $100, depending on the team, go for it.

NHL Ticket Exchange is part of Ticketmaster, so let’s say you’re doing a 30 Plus Teams Tour of Vancouver , Canada and you want to see a game up there .

Go on your mobile device and plug in NHL Ticket Exchange Vancouver Canucks and it will bring you right there.

Whew!

Sorry that this post was so long and I want to thank Itinerary Planner for suggesting it.

Leave me a comment in the comment section if you want more ideas about seeing a game cheaply.

As usual , thank you so much for liking and supporting my blog .

MEMORIES OF SUMMERTIME 2018

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As I sit in my room, watching the rain and thunder strike everything in its path, I forget that we here in New York City might not get the devastation from Hurricane Florence that North Carolina got, but we can get her remnants and thats just what we’re getting right now.

The nights are starting to get darker earlier than usual, and those 90 degree temperatures with the just as high humidity are slowly going away.

(Truth be told, I won’t miss those.)

It’s the 19th of September and in two days we’re going to be saying goodbye (and good riddance) to those sweltering hot days.

The cooler weather is coming, which means stock up on all things that are Pumpkin Spice, whether it be tea, coffee, cake or even ice cream.

I’m taking a break from traveling for awhile, but who knows, that may change.

The summer months of May, June, July and August were full of good memories.

Smelling the flowers on the Bronx campus of Manhattan College, a place that I hadn’t been to since I was in college in the 1970’s.

Revisting Atlantic City , something I hadn’t done in 4 years and walking on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk , another one of the things on my bucket list .

Eating seafood and getting a history lesson in one of my favorite cities, Baltimore, Maryland .

Yeah, there was some baseball in there too, because no matter what the season is, there’s going to be a 30 Plus Teams Tour going on.

There was even some time to enjoy New York City , Roosevelt Island and the Brooklyn Bridge Park , another thing to cross off my bucket list .

Finally in June, there was one of my favorite memories.

Getting together with other sports divas at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas , another one of my favorite cities.

Summer went very fast, but then it seems as though 2018 is going by wicked fast .

But my great memories of 2018 will live on and I hope you enjoy these memories as much as I did.

MUSIC MAKES THE BLOGGING LESS TEDIOUS

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Okay I know the saying is “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”, but in the case of my blogging journey, this isn’t the case.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of blogs that talk about how boring and tedious writing a blog post is or has become .

There’s many reasons why but some of the reasons might be content, or lack there of, or you just don’t feel like writing a post and you need a break.

I’m one of those really rare bloggers who enjoy what I do and sharing my thoughts and all the places I go with all of you.

What’s my method to not getting bored by writing blog posts?

No, it’s not by writing posts when a game is on.

The Sports Diva would NEVER get a post done if I was watching a sporting event.

I’d be too busy yelling at the referees and players to concentrate on writing a post.

That’s where music comes in.

It can play a big or small part in writing your blog.

You can be listening to some soothing music as you’re writing a post about the sunsets in Hawaii or on Santorini , it’s up to you.

What you consider soothing music, might not be soothing music to another blogger.

You might even want it very quiet as you write or think about your post.

Personally , I hate a quiet room when I write a blog, but that’s just me.

I like music blaring all over the place.

The louder, the better.

No, not Heavy Metal music for me, that’s a little too loud for me .

I like it loud, but I’m crazy like that.

Or maybe I’ve been in too many sports arenas where it is very loud.

This is some of the music that makes writing my blog posts less tedious or even not at all.

You might not be surprised at some of my choices , but then again, yes you might.

1. Done For Me- Charlie Puth ft. Kehlani

2. The Fighter – Keith Urban ft. Carrie Underwood

3. Better Now – Post Malone

4. Girls Like You – Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B

5. G.D.F.R. (Going Down For Real) – Flo- Rida

6. Alone- Halsey ft. Big Sean and Stefflon Don

7. Havana – Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug

8. Feel It Still – Portugal . The Man

9. Thunder – Imagine Dragons

10. For The First Time – Darius Rucker

11. One Kiss – Dua Lipa ft Calvin Harris

12. Vegas Lights – Panic At The Disco

13. God’s Plan – Drake

14. Nice For What – Drake

15. Lucid Dreams – Juice Wrld

16. Ocean Drive – Duke Dumont

17. Mic Drop – BTS ft DJ Steve Aoki

18. The Middle – Maren Morris ft Zedd and Grey

19. Feels – Calvin Harris ft Pharrell , Katy Perry and Big Sean

20. Psycho – Post Malone ft Ty Dollar $

21. Trophies – Young Money ft Drake

22. Boo’d Up – Ella Mai

Not the music you expected from the Sports Diva , right?

I actually get my creative juices flowing with these songs believe it or not.

What about you?

Do you listen to music while you’re writing your blog posts?

If you do, just what songs or type of music do you listen to, if any?

Drop me a line in the comments section, and as usual, thank you for liking and following 30 Plus Teams , 30 Plus Dreams .

TEAM AWESOME REVISITED

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Almost a year ago, I wrote a blog post about some of the blogs that I really enjoyed reading.

Being the sports nut that I am, of course these blogs had to have a special name.

They’re known as my Team Awesome .

This blog post brings you some more of the blogs that I enjoy reading.

I hope you get the chance to see what these blogs are all about, so I’m also going to give you the web address for these blogs as well.

Definately check them out when you get the chance .

1. Tashnee V. Mavee- Journey of My Life

Tashnee’s blog is just that. Her own personal journey. Besides her inspirational stories, she makes my Team Awesome list because of her great fashion sense.

2. Forresting 365- Forresting My Cloud

Besides all that great art that’s on her blog, and the beautiful poetry, Katy and I share a love of all things football. Me, my New England Patriots , Katy, all things that are the Atlanta Falcons .

3. Renard Moreau- Renard’s World

I just really discovered this blog and I wish that I had discovered it earlier. If you’re thinking about starting a blog or even if you aren’t a newbie, this blog with its great blogging tips are for you. I highly recommend that you check it out.

4. Ayanna Robinson- Style in Full Bloom

Ayanna’s blog is about what her title says it is. Style. Music, fashion, lifestyle, etc. To say that I don’t enjoy reading her fashion tips would be a lie. I enjoy especially when she highlights what to wear for the different seasons.

5. Shamylah Zimuto- Shamylah’s World

Her blog introduces you not only to makeup tips, but also the movers and shakers in the business world, and quotes from them. The fact that the business people are mostly women is a plus in my book. My personal favorite posts of Shamylah’s are her music playlist posts, which occur every Wednesday and highlight some of her favorite songs and songs that you should be listening to. (Thank you, Shamylah for introducing me to the music of Post Malone, Cardi B and Dua Lipa.)

6. Airport and Hotels Blog

This blog is actually about what the title says. Any information you want to know about an airport or a hotel, this is your blog. It’s not only the well known airports they talk about, it’s even the ones that you’ve never heard of.

7. Globetrotting Grandpa

Don’t let the name fool you. Dan isn’t ready for the rocking chair just yet. He’s going to travel, and just like my motto, “Staying home isn’t an option “, it’s not for Dan either. He not only explores other cities and countries, he goes on his own 30 Plus Teams Tour of his home town. (Shout out to Dan’s home town of Kansas City , Missouri . )

8. National Parks With T- National Parks USA

If you live in the United States , chances are there’s a National Park in your home town, and T and her family have visited it. Many of the parks that T and her family have visited, such as Fort Sumpter, Bunker Hill, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are on my official and “unofficial ” bucket lists.

9. Ken Dowell- Off the Leash

If you want a blog that’s mixed with a little history, Ken’s blog is for you. He not only gives you tips on what to see, but the history of the place you’re going to visit. He also gives you some technology tips as well. Oh, did I mention that he blogs about baseball as well?

10. Sam, Living

His blog website is My life without religion. Please don’t let that possibly turn you off to reading this blog. It shouldn’t. Sam has a lot to say, and most of it has nothing to do with religion . He talks about his traveling experience , like working on a farm in Australia . He has done a lot of traveling and has even visited that most “foreign” of cities, Lubbock , Texas.

11. Bill Fonda- A Silly Place

What a cute title, you think. Bill is showing his humorous side, whether it be driving down the streets of Los Angeles in a bright yellow rental car that he called “the Banana Mobile ” or enjoying the Country and Western group Sugarland. His humor even helped him get through serious things such as a flood in his hometown . Bill writes from the heart, even though he calls his blog, “A Silly Place.”

12. Hunida’s Blog

You can’t keep it anymore real in your blog as my girl Hunida does in her blog, aptly called, “Hunida’s Blog.” She tells you EVERYTHING in her blog, the good, the bad, and the really ugly. Nothing is held back. I love her posts about her job, her food recipes , not to mention her life with her significant other and her cat. She reviews beauty products, movies, books, songs, t.v shows and my special favorite , where to go and what to eat in my favorite city , her home town, Las Vegas .

This was the latest edition of Team Awesome .

Since I really don’t do blogger awards anymore, this is as close as you’re going to get.

Team Awesome is going to be a new blog feature in 30 Plus Teams 30 Plus Dreams.

So if you didn’t get mentioned this time, no worries.

There are so many new blogs out there and I try to read as many as I can.

In case you want to follow some of these blogs, do so.

It’s important that bloggers support other bloggers , so show some love to these bloggers and any bloggers that you happen to come across and really enjoy reading.

Your own “Team Awesome ” so to speak.

In the meantime, I’m going to give you the websites of my Team Awesome .

Check them out and thank you and God bless you for following and liking 30 Plus Teams , 30 Plus Dreams .

Shamylah Zimuto – shamylahszimuto.wordpress.com

Globetrotting Grandpa – globetrottinggrandpa.com

Airports and Hotels – airportsandhotelsblog.wordpress.com

Living- mylifewithoutreligion.com

Renards World- renardsworld.wordpress.com

Hunida’s Blog – hunidasblog.com

Forresting My Cloud – Forresting 365.com

A Silly Place – billswritingplace.wordpress.com

Off the Leash – offtheleash.net

Journey of My Life – Tashneevmavee.wordpress.com

Ayanna Robinson – styleinfullbloom.com

National Parks with T – nationalparkswitht.com

WHAT IF???

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Now you might think that the Sports Diva spends a lot of time watching and attending sporting events in some city in the United States or Canada and not doing anything else.

You might be wrong.

It seems like it, but no I don’t .

As I’m retired with no children and no significant other , I spend a lot of time reading other people’s blogs .

I came across one of my favorite blogs, from Tausha, who’s blog is called The Globe Getter.

It’s a blog I think you should check out when you get a chance .

In her post, she was lamenting the fact that there were things that she referred to as ” her biggest travel regrets ” .

Now that I’m almost 66 years old , there are some things that I , too , regret .

Some of them aren’t travel related and I don’t refer to them as “regrets.”

I call them, my “what ifs ” .

What if I have had children , would I have been a good mother or given the fact that I was always traveling, would I have been a neglectful mother?

What if I hadn’t made the decision to leave home and move to Boston the first time ?

What if I had stayed in LosAngeles and never have moved to Las Vegas ?

What if I had continued to work for the airlines, would I have visited a lot more countries than the ones that I visited?

What if I hadn’t attended college and studied Sports Journalism ?

There are a lot of “what ifs ” in my life , and if I spent most of my life worrying about them, I’d be a real nervous wreck right about now, and sorry , life is too short and beautiful to think about all of my “what ifs”.

Given the fact that I’ve survived a heart attack and a mini stroke , I’m going to concentrate on the things that I can control, and not look back at all the “what ifs ” in my life .

Besides, as long as the good Lord allows me to , there’s a lot more 30 Plus Teams Tours to go on .