My dad and I in front of the clubhouse at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo by The Masters)
My number finally came up this year having been drawn in the annual Masters’ Lottery.
I received the notification as my family and I drove down a mountain near Estes Park, CO, in July 2025 and – quite frankly – have been nervously excited about the experience ever since.
When I registered for the aforementioned lottery, I selected every possible session (Augusta National Women’s Amateur, three Masters‘ practice days, and all four competition days) and when I learned I’d been selected for Wednesday, well, I attended Wednesday.
This bonus Conversation is just my dad and I (my friend Wayne and his father also attended) briefly discussing what it was like to be there as Event No. 51 of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project. (Spoiler: It did not suck!)
Albeit a tad road weary, here are some initial thoughts about our time on at Augusta National Golf Club during Masters Week.
Word has it, Augusta National Golf Club is even prettier in person than on our screens. (Photo August National Golf Club)
In all likelihood, as you read this, I’m about to enter Augusta National Golf Club for a day on the grounds as the place (and players) readies itself for The Masters which begin tomorrow.
It will be Event No. 51 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project and I really don’t care that I won’t see any competitive golf (aside from some Par 3 Tournament action, possibly).
It’s Augusta Frigging National!!!
I’d entered the lottery for 13 straight years and, finally – mercifully! – I did not receive a “We’re sorry” letter this time.
So the kid who grew up in a mobile home in Adams County Indiana and his octogenarian father (along with another father-son pair) will walk into this place I’m told is even more magificent in person than today’s High Definition screens show.
Cell phones are strictly forbidden for us patrons so you won’t see the usual updates from an event on my social channels. Instead, you’ll just have to wait until I figure out how to get the photos off my son’s digital camera onto my computer.
The opening tip of the 2025 Indiana 4A Boys Sectional Championship at Muncie Central Fieldhouse featured Braylon Mullins (24) on the far side of the court.
My phone began blowing up nearly as soon as I left the parking lot at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, MI, and, for good reason after watching the frantic finish of Connecticut’s 73-72 East Regional Final victory over Duke.
As I watched Mullins’ shot a few times, I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d seen it before.
I had.
It was March 8, 2025, and my cousin, Brandon, and his daughter, Calah, were attending an Indiana Boys’ 4A Sectional Final at Muncie Fieldhouse. The game that night featured Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon. Mullins was a senior at Greenfield-Central while Mt. Vernon featured a junior who’d already committed to Purdue, Luke Ertel. It was the final night of Event No. 14 that took me to Indiana to watch as much basketball as I could fit into a week.
The two were throwing haymakers at one another most of the game (Mullins finished with 38 points, Ertel with 36), but it was this sequence at the end of regulation that I recalled 55 weeks later watching Mullins drain that 35-footer to set up a homecoming for him next week in Indianapolis at the Final Four.
Quite a sequence to close regulation at that 2025 Sectional Final. Note Braylon Mullins’ last-second triple that would have won it for Greenfield-Central.Look familiar?
My final betting slip from the madness of March in Las Vegas.
I’d considered not putting any wagers on Sunday’s action. There really weren’t any men’s or women’s games that we’re talking to me as I reviewed the matchups.
Oddly, though, as a lifelong Indiana Hoosiers’ fan, I found myself returning time and again to the Purdue-Miami (FL) game. I wasn’t convinced the Boilermakers would cover the seven points they were giving the Hurricanes, but I really liked the look of the 148 Total Points. Surely Purdue’s senior trio of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn would go to work against one of Division I’s worst 3-point defenses.
As a happy bonus this was the day’s first game, meaning I’d be able to cash in the winning ticket before heading to the Las Vegas Strip for the lions share of my day.
The wager was placed; I took the Over.
Get busy everybody!
My friend Rob, a high school math teacher, outlined what would be needed by quarters of the 40-minute game to get to 149 points. Somewhere north of 37 points would get the job done.
Things were just ducky through the first three-fourths of the game and I figured a walk in the park was occurring.
Then the defense in both ends ratcheted up, the pressure mounted, and invisible lids were placed on both baskets.
When Loyer hit two free throws to give the Boilermakers a 79-69lead with 12 seconds left, I figured an uncontested Miami layup (and a wager win) was in my future.
Inexplicably, Miami began to dribble out the clock then had a change of heart when Tre Donaldson drive to the basket for a layup only to be met with some half-hearted defense from Purdue causing him to miss.
Ballgame!
And a push. All I was getting was my wagered amount returned.
Here’s what transpired Sunday:
$10 wagered on the Over of 148 Total Points by Purdue-Miami (FL) – 79-69 final for 148 points (A tie! $10 returned.)
For the four days, nine total wagers were made totaling $90 of the $100 I’d allocated myself. The outcome was $17.50 to the good.
Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner’s last-second shot was this close to clinching a Commodore victory and a clean sweep for our wagers on that game.(Photo from a CBS Sports Screen Grab)
And on the third day, the “2017 South Point Sports Book Customer Service Agent of the Year,” Therese, pulled out a roll of Scotch Tape from behind the counter and re-assembled my torn winning betting slip from Friday’s Alabama-Hofstra game and I was $19.10 better off.
Of course, Therese’s turn as miracle worker came afterGeno Auriema and his UConn women’s basketball team couldn’t ever find their rhythm during its first-round match up with Texas-San Antonio and merely won by 38 points and not the 55 the oddsmakers thought it would.
Hubris, thy name is Doug for laying 55 points.
Our day ended in fantastic fashion sitting at the Steak ‘n Shake in South Point gnoshing on burgers and shakes and fries while watching the end of the Vanderbilt-Nebraska game on a phone screen. A game in which three of us had some interest😉
One of our group had the first-half Over which was set at 68.5 points. His palms were sweaty and his knees weak – though there was no sign of mom’s spaghetti;-) – as the teams slogged their way to 71 first-half points.
I had the Nebraska getting two points in the game while another had Vanderbilt giving those same two points.
A scenario did exist where all three of us could be winners: The combined 71 first-half points followed by a Vanderbilt 1-point win.
Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner nearly delivered just that at the buzzer with his shot that was that close (see image above) from going in and giving the Commodores a 75-74victory. (Check out the shot below.)
Instead we had to settle for 2-for-3.
Here’s what transpired Saturday:
South Point’s Saint Therese rescued my accidentally torn betting slip from the trash heap and turned my stupidity into a victory (Win! Payout $19.10)
$10 wagered on UConn women -55 points against Texas-San Antonio – Final Score: UConn 90, UTSA 52. (Loss!)
$10 wagered on Nebraska +2 points against Vanderbilt – Final Score: Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72. Win! Payout $19.10)
So, as I type this early Sunday morning (praying to Saint Therese, of course) I am currently up $17.50 for the three days.
The fantastic finish to the Nebraska-Vanderbilt game.
Day 2 embracing the madness that is March in Las Vegas was a tale of wins, wonton disregard for reading comprehension, and a bad beat as part of Event No. 49 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project.
My dad watches a lot of mid-major men’s basketball thanks to ESPN+ and he provided me with two schools to keep an eye on before I headed here: High Point University (Big South) and Wright State University (Horizon League).
If you recall from my Day 1 Ledger, High Point won its game outright and me a whopping $9.10. I figured, who am I to disregard my father’s advice at this point.
Of course, dear old dad would have encouraged me to read the final scores of games for content carefully before decided to rip up a betting slip (see above). I still swear I saw the Alabama-Hofstra final score on the ticker as 90-80. Imagine my shock when I noticed that 80 was really a 70. I wonder if my six pieces will get me paid? I think I already know the answer to that question but it must be asked.
And then there was the St. John’s-Northern Iowa game. Convinced Coach Rick Pitino would not endure another early exit like he did a year ago when his group didn’t escape opening weekend, I took the Over of 132.5. The final total … 132!!! All I needed was one of those 13 combined missed free throws to get made!
Here’s what transpired Friday:
$10 wagered on Wright State +17 points against Virginia – Final Score: Virginia 82, Wright State 73 (Win! Payout of $19.10)
$10 wagered on Alabama -12 points against Hofstra – Final Score: Alabama 90, Hofstra 70 (Win! But I tore my ticket up:-( Payout TBD)
$10 wagered on the Over of 132.5 in the St. John’s-Northern Iowa game – Final Score: St. John’s 79, Northern Iowa 53 (Loss!)
So, as I type this early Saturday morning I am down $2.70 pending the outcome turning in my torn betting slip.
With this knowledge, I fully understand the other shoe is about to drop, but for at least one day my bottom line during Event No. 49 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events is a positive.
Subscribers of the Project will recall from Inside Baseball – March Edition that I’d allocated myself one $100 bill to wager on NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament action here in Las Vegas.
Here’s what went transpired:
$10 wagered on High Point +10.5 points against Wisconsin – Final score: High Point 83, Wisconsin 82 (Win! Payout of $19.10)
$10 wagered on McNeese State +12 points against Vanderbilt – Final score: Vanderbilt 78, McNeese State 68 (Win! Payout of $19.10)
$10 wagered on Gonzaga -20.5 points against Kennesaw State – Final score: Gonzaga 73, Kennesaw State 69 (Loss!)
So, as I type this early Friday morning I am up $8.20.
Let’s see what today brings:-)
Part of my winnings from Day 1 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
My friend Rob and I in front of Michigan Stadium aka The Big House.
When I earmarked the annual Michigan-Ohio State football rivarly – known simply as, “The Game” – for attendance in Michigan Stadium on November 29, 2026, I knew I might be living dangerously in terms of seeing the host Wolverines win a fifth consecutive in the series.
A year earlier, my friend Wayne and I had watched on a phone the improbable conclusion of unranked Michigan’s 13-10 upset victory over the sixth-ranked Buckeyes in Columbus, from the upper deck of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium in advance of that afternoon’s Iron Bowl (Event No. 10 on the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project.).
Anyhow about that living dangerously thing.
Michigan had not won more than four in a row in this rivarly (which dates to 1897) since it won six in row from 1922-27.
Ohio State was also rolling, having won all 11 games this season and 15 straight in total dating back to the 2024 FBS Playoffs. Only one of those wins was decided by a touchdown or less (the 14-7 season-opening victory against Texas).
So, when I say that winter was coming to Ann Arbor that day, I’m not merely referencing the lurking snow storm that would ultimately cover the playing surface and put down a few inches of fresh powder by Sunday morning.
All the Shows
Coach Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreidt break down some film on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay.
Prior to embarking on the Around the World project, my recent attendance at college football games had been next to non-existent. So it should come as no surprise that I’d not experienced either ESPN’s famed “College GameDay” nor FOX Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff.”
Both happened to be in Ann Arbor for The Game.
After visiting both, my friend Rob commented that one seemed more akin to a fraternity tailgate while the other hosted by your grandparents.
I’ll let you guess which was which;-)
In fairness, we weren’t there for the start of either show and didn’t spend an appreciable amount of time hanging around.
ESPN’s is, of course, the established brand, debuting its on-location show in 1993. FOX entered the fray in 2019 and, certainly, seems to skew toward a younger audience.
Both were enjoyable to witness in person. The ubiquitous GameDay bus was, of course, present but, alas, no Lee Corso image on the side as the 90-year-old retired earlier this season. Meanwhile, across the way, the FOX Sports football robot was on display and Rob Gronkowskiwas making a cameo on the Saturday show (perhaps because his main man, Tom Brady, was in attendance for the game?)
Clockwise from upper left, the throng of people surrounding the Big Noon Kickoff set at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School; one of the FOXBots; the Washington State Cougars’ flag (aka Ol’ Crimson) flying at its 313th consecutive GameDay; who let the fella in between Reece and Coach?; the fella in the beanie is Rob Gronkowski; I’m partial to GameDay so I had no trouble hoisting a sign for the show.
Tailgating with an Old Buddy
Rob, me, and my friend, Paul, at his tailgate prior to The Game. (Photo by James Dodd)
Before Rob and I made our way to the television sets, we stopped by and saw a buddy from my days working at The Ann Arbor News.
Prior to his youngest son’s wedding on the west coast the weekend of Michigan’s 2025 home-opener against New Mexico, Paul Dodd’s streak of attending UM home games rivaled that of Ol’ Crimson flying over GameDay. He’d not missed a Wolverines’ home game since 1991!
His usual tailgate spot got displaced this season due to construction so he found an alternative spot sharing a backyard in a neighborhood not too far from Michigan Stadium.
While I covered the University of Michigan hockey beat for the News, Paul was doing the same for UM’s in-house magazine, The Wolverine. We enjoyed plenty of good hockey, overly nitrated hot dogs, and lots of laughs in the pressbox at Yost Ice Arena through the years, so I made it a point to – finally – accept his weekly Facebook invitation to swing by his tailgate.
A bottle of water and a famous Washtenaw Dairy doughnut hit the spot as did catching up with Paul and meeting his eldest son James.
Mmmm, doughnuts:-)
The Outcome
There were a lot of OSU fans in attendance.
It went about the way I expected.
Michigan was scrappy for much of the first half, but then the top-ranked Buckeyes’ exerted their will and ended the No. 15 Wolverines’ winning streak in this series at four games. The final score, 27-9, was probably an accurate reflection of how the game went for both teams.
What was unexpected – to me at least – was the volume of OSU fans in Michigan Stadium.
I realize this is one of those regional rivalries and a game that’s traditionally played over Thanksgiving weekend, so there will always be visiting fans making their way into enemy territory. That said, there was a lot of scarlet and grey visible throughout Michigan Stadium’s announced crowd of 111,373.
Other Observations
Clockwise from top left, a recent star at UM, Aidan Hutchinson is featured prominently along the concourse; unfortunately our seats were on the opposite sideline of the camera to be able to fully recongize the intricate images the Michigan Marching Band created during its halftime performance; the captains meet at midfield for the coin flip; the two most-recent football national championships are afforded prime location in the concourse; though never elected President, UM remains loyal to its former offensive lineman and POTUS; if it’s a big game then there must be a flyover; the UM team buses outside the Bo Schembechler Football Building wait to take the team across campus; note the police officers’ helmets; our seat view as the snow continued fall during the second half.
A major college game day Saturday experience is much, much more, than simply rolling up and watching a football game.
As noted above, Rob and I were hanging with over 110,000 others which, technically, made Michigan Stadium the seventh largest city in the state for a few hours.
With that, there is a sea of activity all over not only the stadium and surroundings, but also the entire community.
For a noon game like this, traffic builds from as early as 8:30-9 a.m. as it did for us commuting in. We missed out on the recommended street parking several Ann Arbor lifers had suggested, so we settled for a paid spot about a half mile from the Stadium for the not offensive price of $30.
From there, Rob and I visited Paul’s tailgate and then roamed around much of the U-M athletic complex people watching. We saw the Wolverines’ team busses getting ready to load in and shuttle the team across campus to the stadium. Fun observation there, the motorcycle police officers’ helmets looked like Michigan’s unique football helmet design.
As we made our way toward historic Ferry Field (Jessie Owens once had a day there, setting or equalling four World Records in under 2 hours back in 1935!) where ESPN’s College GameDay was set up we checked out Yost Ice Arena and Ray Fisher Stadium. From there it was through a sea of paid on-campus tailgates, past the UM drum lines, up and around Michigan Stadium before we made our way to Pioneer High School where FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff was situated.
And when I say there were throngs of people every step of the way, I do not exaggerate.
Once inside the Stadium, we took a lap on the concourse which is, to say, under the vast majority of the structure. (Michigan Stadium is a bowl where the lion’s share of the seating is, actually, below ground.) Prior to massive expansions and renovations through the years, folks who were unfamiliar with where they were could drive by the Stadium and never realize the largest (by capacity) football stadium in the United States was outside their car window.)
As this was my first time back in the Stadium for a game since 1995, I enjoyed seeing some of the additions that had been made; mainly signage for National Championships and All-Americans and/or players earning UM honors.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note the marching bands.
In many ways, the marching bands are what distinguish college football from its professional brethren.
It was no surprise, really, that the OSU band traveled for a rivalry game such as this (I saw the bands from Mississippi State and Auburn travel to their rival stadiums a year ago) and I’m happy it did. Although I saw the OSU band up close at the 2025 Rose Bowl, watching it form script O-h-i-o and then having a sousaphone player dot the “I” is one of the this game’s – and college football’s more widely – traditions that I hope everyone reading this can experience one day.
Dotting the “I’s.”
For “The Game,” The Ohio State University Marching Band (aka The Best Damn Band in the Land) split into two regiments to create a pair of script Ohios facing both the east and west sidelines. Following the OSU festivities, the Michigan Marching Band performed a salute to the holidays with a variety of holiday-themed songs and plenty of inflatibles on the field … not to mention some unique creations with the MMB members.
There were a lot of inflatibles on the field during the MMB’s halftime performance.
Postscript
Of the 111,000 of us in Michigan Stadium that Saturday, I’m uncertain what percentage of us knew what was going to occur 11 days and a few miles down the road in Saline, MI.
Of course, that was December 10 and Michigan’s head football coach Sherrone Moore was, first, fired for allegedly having an improper relationship with a staff member and, second, was arrested following an altercation at said staff member’s home in the nearby community of Saline.
Moore was later charged with felonious third-degree home invasion and two misdemeanors: stalking in a domestic relationship, and breaking and entering. He was in court again just this week for an evidentiary hearing that was suddenly canceled following a plea deal reached by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office and Moore. He pled no contest to a pair of misdemeanor charges: “malicious use of a telecommunication device in a domestic relationship” and “trespassing” in exchange for the three other charges being dropped. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14.
Michigan hired Kyle Whittingham, formerly head coach at the University of Utah, on December 26 to replace Moore.
Forty-six years ago (to the day, actually!), I was a 12-year-old in my family’s Michigan living room watching a tape-delayed prime time broadcast of the USA-USSR men’s hockey game from Lake Placid, NY.
We, of course, know how that ended.
It was the stuff of Hollywood.
Today, I watched the first USA men’s hockey gold medal victory since that 1980 team bested Finland a couple nights after defeating the Soviets.
I did not view it from the comfort of my recliner, but rather from 35,000 feet above the U.S. on Delta Airlines Flight 523 bound for Los Angeles where later today I’ll see LeBron James and Luka Doncic’s Lakers host their longtime rival, Boston Celtics.
If I could hop into Bill & Ted’s phone booth and head back to that living room and tell myself I’d be watching an Olympic gold medal victory by the USA from an airplane … well, I’m convinced I wouldn’t believe it.
And, further, if I’d tell myself that I was in that Italian ice arena where the game was played just six days ago watching the USA Women win its semifinal game …
Here’s hoping my fellow passengers didn’t notice me delicately dabbing my napkin at the corners of my eyes.
To say the past two weeks have been special would be a gross understatement.
