Arizona State Sundevils 5 at UCLA Bruins 1 - NCAA Baseball, April 30, 2010

I'd seen the Dodgers and Pirates in a snoozer the night before and wanted to avoid another expensive evening, so I headed to the west side to catch some NCAA baseball. The #3-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (35-5) were in town to start a 3-game set against #5 UCLA (30-7). Jackie Robinson StadiumThe ballpark is located west of the UCLA campus on Constitution Avenue. Take the Wilshire exit off the 405 and go north on Sepulveda one block, then left...

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Pittsburgh Pirates 2 at Los Angeles Dodgers 0 - April 29, 2010

When I do these roadtrips, I usually pick a few games that I am interested in and then fill up the empty days with nearby events. Sometimes I am lucky and get some classic matchups such as the NBA games in January, but other times I end up at a game that I wouldn't be too interested in otherwise. Such was the case yesterday when the 9-12 Pittsburgh Pirates were in town to take on the 8-13 LA Dodgers. I was so excited about this game that I forgot to recharge my camera battery, so there's no pics. Dodger StadiumLocated at the confluence of the 101,...

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California League Doubleheader - Two Ballparks, Long Wait - April 28, 2010

One of the great joys of a sports road trip is the early morning minor league game. These are scheduled to give school kids a chance to attend and perhaps build some brand loyalty. The good side is that the game is over by 1pm, so you have the afternoon and evening to tour. But the best thing though is when there is an evening game close by; there's nothing better than two games in two stadiums on the same day. So it was with great anticipation that...

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Oklahoma City Thunder 87 at Los Angeles Lakers 111 - Western Confernence QF Game 5 - April 27, 2010

Sports media are notorious for a "one-day story" mentality. Take the Los Angeles Lakers for example. They only won the NBA championship last season and finished first in the West this season. But they dropped a couple of playoff games to 8th seed Oklahoma City, including a blowout in game 4, and suddenly they are "finished". All around LA I heard talk of how the Thunder were younger and faster and the Lakers were old and tired. An ESPN poll (always...

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High Desert Mavericks 2 at Lancaster Jethawks 6 - April 26, 2010

Minor league baseball is my favourite road trip sport. There are 160 teams in affiliated ball and with games nearly every day, it's easy to plan a trip in almost any area of the country. Tickets are cheap, you can sit where you want, and you often to get to places that you'd never stop in otherwise. So it was with some chagrin that I realized that last year I only saw one full minor league game, in Colorado Springs. I did see a few innings in Manchester...

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Vancouver Canucks 4 at Los Angeles Kings 2 - Western Confernce QF, Game 6 - April 25, 2010

One of my favourite experiences is flying from Japan to the US and immediately watching a sporting event that day. This can most easily be accomplished when flying to the West Coast as the flights arrive early enough that you can make an evening game without any worry. Being in a high-energy environment of pro sports keeps you awake and helps with the jet lag. So when I realized that I'd have to visit LA as part of the London trip, I knew I could...

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