Year 1 Recap

Apel Sports Tour Year 1 Recap:

First of all, I want to thank everyone for donating as part of my fund-raising efforts and I encourage anyone else reading this to donate as well.  To date, I have raised $2,074.54, of which $883.00 is from me as part of my pledge of $1 per point in the games I attend.

As many of you know, finding a cure for cancer is something that I am very passionate about and this is my small way in which to raise awareness and funds to someday wipe this disease out.  Since starting this tour in May 2010, I have lost my grandfather to the disease, watched as my uncle begins his battle against brain cancer and have seen numerous other friends go through their own experiences with family members.

I thought I would take this time to update everyone on the progress I have made in one year (May 2010 – May 2011).  The goal of course is to raise as much money as possible, while attempting to watch a home game of all 122 professional sports teams (baseball, basketball, football and hockey).  I hope to complete this goal in 15 years, but as you can see below, so far I am well ahead of pace.

1 Year Recap:

·         21 games completed.  To keep pace, I need to complete 8 / year.  At this rate, I will finish in February 2018 (9 years ahead of schedule), but I’m not sure I can keep going this quickly over the long haul.

·         9 Baseball games, 6 hockey games, 3 football games and 3 basketball games.

·         883 points scored in the games I have seen.

·         Total miles traveled:  17,762.

·         Total attendance at the games I have seen:  631,718.

·         Total teams seen (both home and visitors):  35.  I have seen the Orioles, White Sox, Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Hurricanes, Capitals and Steelers twice (each at home and on the road).

·         In the 21 games, 58 people have attended with me.  Only the Colorado Avalanche did I have to go by myself.  For the Pirate game, 14 family members attend with me.  People that have attended the most games with me – Deb (8); the kids (6); Aaron Depew (4) and Chris Petersen (4).

·         Number of hotels stayed at:  Only 7 for 21 games….not bad.

·         Record of the home teams in the games I have attended:  12-9.

·         Largest crowd:  Baltimore Ravens – 71,432.

·         Smallest crowd:  Phoenix Coyotes – 11,172.  Indiana Pacers were a close second with 11,337.

·         Of the 9 baseball games, 3 went into extra innings.  I have not seen a shutout yet.  The White Sox scored the most runs (10) in a game (at Cubs).

·         Of the 6 hockey games, 3 have gone to over-time; 1 to a shoot-out (win by the Penguins).

·         Indiana Pacers scored the most points in a basketball game:  124 vs. the Nets.

·         The Steelers scored the most points in a football game:  35 vs. the Raiders.

·         5 times I combined 2 games into one trip:  Penguins & Steelers; Ravens & Capitals; Bobcats & Hurricanes; Suns & Coyotes; Rockies & Avalanche.

·         Best seats:  Row 3 behind home plate at Reds game (great time with the Huots); Suite at center ice for Predators (fun weekend with the family); Suite at Ravens (thanks Jeremy and Karen); floor seats at Pacers (kids loved the view).

·         Newest venue:  Consol Energy Center (opened in 2010) – Home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

·         Oldest venue:  Fenway Park (opened in 1912) – Home of the Boston Red Sox.

·         Ironically the two venues listed above (newest and oldest) are two of my favorite that I have been to so far.

·         Other highlights:

o        Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles) - love the warehouse in the outfield.

o        Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs) is a classic, much like Fenway.

o        Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) – many great views of the Arch.

o        Florida Marlins – glad they are getting a new stadium….I will leave it at that.  A great opportunity to get together with a long lost friend (Anthony Jardina).  Thanks for the tickets Heidi.

o        PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates) – great views of downtown, rivers and bridges.

o        M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens) – too much purple, but thanks to Jeremy Kahn for the opportunity to hang out in the suite.

o        Heinz Field (Pittsburgh Steelers) – great museum under the stadium.  Fun weekend with fraternity brothers, Aaron Depew, Matt Boyle and Chris Petersen.

o        Conseco Fieldhouse (Indiana Pacers) – the quietest crowd ever.

o        Coors Field (Colorado Rockies) – love the water fountain in the outfield and the “mile-high” row of seats.  Thanks for the hospitality Raleigh and Laura.

o        US Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox) – great monument park in the outfield.

o        Phoenix – great trip with the guys – Chris Petersen and Aaron Depew.

o        Multiple trips with the family – St. Louis, Chicago, Baltimore, Nashville, Boston, Pittsburgh and North Carolina.             

To donate, please visit:  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

To read my blog, please visit:  http://apeltour.blogspot.com/

Game 21

This post is two weeks late, but Derby activities seemed to get in the way and I am just now getting around to writing about a recent trip, nonetheless, here it is.  The weekend of April 30th, Deb went to Virginia for her grandmother's 98th birthday party.  Sure I could have hung out at the house all weekend with the kids, but I decided to brave a road trip with them to Chicago for some "kid-friendly activities" and a White Sox game.

Out of bed early on Saturday morning, we drove the 4 1/2 hours and arrived at the Chicago Children's Museum for the afternoon.  I highly recommend the museum if you get the chance as there were tons of fun activities for them to participate in.  After the museum, we went to our hotel - a little hidden gem I found online - called the The Hotel at the Buckingham Athletic Club.  The entire hotel has only 22 rooms located on the 40th floor of an office building a few blocks from the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).  An hour or so of swimming at the hotel pool and then it was time to get ready for the baseball game.



View from our seats.


We took the subway to US Cellular field to watch the White Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles.  Despite lower level seats and feeding the kids hot dogs and cotton candy, they were still a bit restless.  We took a great deal of time to explore the entire ballpark. 

In the outfield, there is a monument park of many former White Sox greats.  The kids loved posing for pictures with each and every statue.  There is also a very nice standing-room only area in the outfield in which to watch the game.  More pictures are available on Facebook.  We also spent some time visiting all of the team stores for the perfect gift for Uncle Jeremy. 

I've now been to both the Cubs and White Sox games and when comparing the two, it felt as if the Cubs fans were a bit more passionate about their team.  Of course a lot of that could be the fact that we went to a Friday afternoon game at Wrigley and perhaps the fans were just so excited that they were drinking beer and watching a game as opposed to being in the office.

Unfortunately the Whitesox lost to the Orioles 6-2, but it was a great night at the ballpark. 

Official Boxscore.

My current record of the home teams I have seen play is 12-9.  Nothing scheduled for the near future.  I may be taking the summer off because I am significantly ahead of schedule for baseball games (9 completed so far in less than a year).  I'm working on some plans for the fall to catch a football game and double-up with another game (NBA, MLB or NHL) on the same trip.  I am always open to suggestions.

Our trip to Chicago was not yet complete.  We woke up early on Sunday morning to get breakfast and walk over to the Willis Tower.  The weather was perfect and the views from the top of the city and lake were incredible.  The kids even braved the little glass box that hangs over the edge at 103 floors above the street.  Once again, more photos of this are available on Facebook.












After the Willis Tower we went over to Navy Pier to visit the Shedd Aquarium.  We briefly stopped in the Field Museum as well, but did not have enough time to complete both.  The kids chose the aquarium and we had a great time there.  I will be back in the area at some point because Soldier Field (home of the Chicago Bears) is located near Navy Pier as well.

A great trip...sorry Deb missed out on all the fun, but when your grandmother turns 98, you've got to be there to celebrate.

Please visit my fundraising page.  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel