My final round viewing of the 2025 Masters was, perhaps, the most 21st Century thing I’ve done since watching the Detroit Tigers’ deciding playoff game against the Cleveland Guardians on a Dallas-area light rail train on my to the Texas State Fairgrounds and the Cotton Bowl to see the 2024 Red River Rivalry between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas (part of Event No. 8 of Around the World in 80 Sporting Events).
Huh?
Yeah, my Sunday Masters’ viewing began like so many others, on the living room sofa, leisurely finishing my Sunday Detroit Free Press reading, checking email, and futzing around the house.
It transitioned to streaming the CBS feed through my Ford Edge’s speakers on the way to meet a friend in order to carpool to the Jack White concert together. Once at the rendezvous location (his dad’s house) I was able to catch a few shots while we engaged in small talk.
Then it was me watching the stream on my phone as we headed into Detroit to meet other friends at the Motor City Brewing Works.
Imagine my surprise when I saw but one small television in this joint. A single TV, I must say, that was nowhere near the table the other two had secured between the restrooms and the brewing tanks.
Ugh!
I turned to the Masters app and followed the live scoring (because there was no public WiFi nor a strong enough cell signal to stream) and then, when I saw “17” turn to “F” next to Rory McIlroy‘s score of 11-under, I announced to the table that he and Justin Rose were headed to a playoff. One of the other fellas, who clearly had a better signal, began streaming and offered occasional play-by-play for the table.
Only after McIlroy had begun the walk to Butler Cabin did another tablemate hold the phone at arm’s lenght for the rest of us to see the emotional greeting with his wife, daughter, and best mate, Shane Lowry.
It was quite a way to experience the aptly dubbed “Rory Coaster” as Sunday afternoon turned into evening and the Irishman became the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam.
Shortly after seeing him take the walk up the hill to the Butler Cabin I texted my wife, Carol, whom I’d consider – generally – a non-golf fan, but there’s a soft spot in both of our hearts for McIlroy after she and I spent the better part of five hours enduring the wind, rain, and chilly temperatures in the grandstand at the 14th green at Royal Troon Golf Club during the first round of the 2024 Open Championship (Event No. 2) to see McIlroy’s group arrive.
There was a woman seated behind us who had this infectious way of yelling “ROAR-eee” as he made his way to the green that we continue to talk about to this day. While certainly a gallery favorite here in the United States, he’s held in much higher regard across the Atlantic and that was evidenced by the near empty grandstand at the 14th green after his group putted out.
Any Indy 500 Fans? I’ve Got a Pair of Tickets
Perhaps my eyes were bigger than my stomach some six months ago when it was time to purchase tickets to the 2025 Indy 500. When the dropdown asked how many I’d like I either …
- A. Panicked
- B. Over-estimated the number of friends I had
- C. Was overly optimistic about my network’s interest in auto racing
- D. All of the above
… and bought four tickets.
Well, two are accounted for and the other two need a good home. The seats are located in the Tower Terrace (see video clip below for an approximate view) and are $115 apiece. I’d love to have someone who’s acquainted with The Sports Fan Project and my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project, and is interested in the spectacle that is the Indy 500 get these. If this is you or someone in your network, please reach out to me at hilldouglast@gmail.com.
How Greedy is the NCAA? Let Us Count the Dollars!
As someone who has some lofty sports travel aspirations, it should surprise no one that I’m on just about every communication list to receive information once tickets go on sale, ticket lottery entries begin, and/or ticket application windows open.
Naturally, since we’re now a week removed from the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game, I received an email earlier today inviting me to apply for 2026 NCAA Final Four tickets.
Great, I thought. I’ll get in the mix to secure tickets the old-fashioned way without having to rely on the secondary ticket market.
I clicked on the link and was redirected to Ticketmaster – odd, I thought – where I entered a queue – strange – to apply for tickets.
Once I’d worked my way from number 363 in line into the actual room I was shocked – SHOCKED (though I shouldn’t have been) – to read that, for the tidy sum of $360 per ticket requested, I could apply for 2026 Final Four tickets. Well, I’ll let the NCAA tell you the rest of the story
You are purchasing an application and will be charged in full. If you are not selected you will be refunded, minus the $25 application fee, following random selection. Notification timelines for selected applicants are still being determined. ... All selected applications will be seated in the upper level. Exact locations will be provided to those selected.
So if I understand this correctly, I’m going to lend the NCAA (an institution that had an estimated $1.4 billion in 2024 earnings) at least $720 of my money (because I know I’ll have at least one traveling partner) for an indeterminate amount time for a chance that I might get seated in the outer-reaches of Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium for next year’s Final Four with a guaranteed loss of $25 per ticket if I’m not one of the lucky 20,000 or so random selectees. You can find the application yourself at this link.
Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I think I’ll keep my money under my control and take my chances on the secondary market in another 10 months or so.