Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
First of five Pac-10 locations; coming: Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix.
There are more expensive hobbies than following college football, but let’s not kid ourselves. It’s still pricey, once you factor in the season tickets, the school-mandated donations, tailgate accoutrements, the foam fingers, travel and time off from work.
Wanna buy two tickets to Louisiana State vs. Washington at Husky Stadium on Sept. 5? For a cool, $4,123.60, this cat on eBay will set you up.
Uh, no thanks.
We’re mindful of your fanaticism toward Pac-10 football, and your wallet. What can you do for a thousand bucks in the Pac-10 for the 2009 season?
We thought it would be fun to take a grand and see how far you could stretch it, from five different Pac-10 related cities. You could buy a season ticket and watch one school play all of its home games and have a good time at the tailgaters, but how much fun would that be?
To become an expert on Pac-10 football, you’ve got to see all of the teams. Make a bona fide road trip. Watch a must-see game. A rivalry game. See some not-so-good games.
For $1,000, living in the Portland area.
Here are the requirements/guidelines:
Must see every team in the league at least once; drive a car that gets at least 25 MPG, with gas at $2.50 a gallon (it’s going down, at least that is what the folks on CNBC say); local tickets: you’ll be able to find someone who will sell them to you at face value; find stadium parking somewhere for $10 or less; take at least one real road trip; tailgate and stadium goodies are extra (you’ve got to eat whether you’re at a football game or hanging out at home.)
Here we go, Portland:
Sept. 5: Stanford at Washington State
There are better games during the opening weekend, but we said every team in the Pac-10. Might as well get these two out of the way early. And besides, it’s the only league game of the day, and the winner gets first place to itself for two weeks. For you, it’ll be the longest day of the season. Leave Portland around 8 a.m. with a buddy, and the drive will get you into Pullman around two hours before the 5 p.m. kickoff. This is Labor Day weekend, so you’ll surely be able to pick up a ticket for $15. Gas runs about $70, $10 for parking, $10 for car munchies.
Total: $105.
Sept. 19: Utah at Oregon; Cincinnati at Oregon State
The most ambitious trip of the season. Two BCS bowl teams from a year ago invading the Willamette Valley is worth a little sacrifice. And yes, you’ll have to sacrifice some of each game, because Utah-Oregon kicks off at 12:30 p.m., and OSU-Cincinnati ‑ a 45-minute trip north of Eugene ‑ starts at 3:45 p.m. But plan your rout and parking right, and you should be able to catch nearly three quarters of both games. Tickets to both will run $105, gas $25 and parking $20.
Total: $150
Sept 26: California at Oregon
One of the Pac-10’s three biggest games of the season, on paper. Start working your sources early to pick up a $55 ticket. You won’t be disappointed, because Oregon and Cal usually put on a show. Gas is $25, parking $10.
Total: $90
Oct. 10: Arizona at Washington
Louisiana State and USC will likely expose Washington in Husky Stadium during September, so it shouldn’t be a problem finding a $60 ticket to this second-tier game. You’ll want to get a good look at UW quarterback Jake Locker, and an Arizona defense that should be one of the Pac-10’s best. Gas will run about $40, and parking $10.
Total: $110
Oct. 31: USC at Oregon
The Pac-10 Game of the Year? We’re thinking you’ll get lucky and find a friend who wasn’t so lucky and has to attend a wedding or bah mitzvah and must part with his $70 ticket. Frankly, this one game might be worth the entire $1,000 budget. Gas runs $25, parking $10.
Total: $105
Nov. 21: Arizona State at UCLA
Road trip! Two teams you haven’t seen, and what better time to hang out in the Pac-10’s nicest stadium than late November? Southwest often has DING! specials where you’ll be able to snag a Portland-Burbank round-trip ticket for $200. Rent a car from Enterprise for $32, plus $10 in gas. The Good Nite Inn in Sylmar will run you $54 plus tax. It shouldn’t be a problem picking up a decent $36 ticket. Don’t forget the $10 parking.
Total: $348.
Dec. 3: Oregon State at Oregon
After a year of Ducks fans woofing “65-38! 65-38!” do you really want to miss this game? It won’t be easy to get a ticket, particularly if the game has significant meaning. But it is played on a Thursday night, and you have to figure some ticket holders can’t skip work or don’t want to turn Thursday and Friday into a four-day weekend. Take that $70 ticket off their hands, plus $25 for gas and $10 for parking and you’re gold.
Total: $105
Grand total: 8 games, $1,013
(About that $13: leave early for one of the games and stand with a sign by a freeway exit for an hour. You’ll make up the difference.)
Nick Daschel covers the Pacific-10 Conference for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com
This is your idea of PAC-10 Football coverage? I applied for this gig months ago. Why don't you hire someone who actually knows where to go, where to tailgate, where to get tickets and how to really spend $500 bucks and do all of this? This is a fucking joke of an article!
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