Cole's First Terps Basketball Game

Yesterday, my wife and I took our 8 month old son, Cole, to the Maryland vs. Florida State game. We had taken him to a football game in September, but he was only 3 months, then, so he just slept and spit up the whole game. He won't remember this game either, but he was old enough to take in the sights a little bit more.

My baldfaced campaign to be INRCP's "Fan of the Week"

The plan was to scalp tickets outside Comcast Center. I had heard from a bunch of different people that scalping tickets to basketball games was easy. There were plenty of scalpers around, who had obviously scooped up all the available extras. They were asking outrageous prices ($100 each for lower level) at first. But by following the first rule of dealing with scalpers (wait, wait, and wait some more), we were able to get some decent upper bowl seats for $30 a piece. I'm sure if we had waited another 10 minutes, we could have done even better.

Cole was a little bit overwhelmed when we first went into Comcast Center. The first time the crowd cheered, he burst into tears because it surprised him. After that, he settled down and seemed to enjoy the rest of the game. He was much more interested in staring at the people sitting around us than the game, but he was really well behaved. By the end of the game, he was exhausted, but there were no tantrums or crying fits, so I consider the trip a success.

The game wasn't pretty, but it was great to see the Terps win. I was disappointed by the number of empty seats I saw. There's no reason a season ticket holder can't find someone to take his tickets for a Saturday afternoon ACC game. If you have season tickets and let your seats go empty for a game like that, you're a bad fan, I don't care how much money you give the university.

Cole in front of his namesake.

Even though there's no way he'll remember seeing the game when he grows up, it was really cool to share something that's such a big part of my life with my son. He's still too young to pick up on that kind of stuff, but as he gets older, I think a common fanhood will make us closer. Sports have always been a big part of my relationship with my dad, and I'm looking forward to having that same bond with Cole.