Attempting to become a member of Club 122 — seeing a home game for every team in the four major North American sports leagues, if you missed our earlier post on the subject — is not an easy thing. Travel and tickets can cost a bundle, of course, and time can prevent you from making a ton of progress. But then again, you can look up and all of a sudden you’ve made a ton of progress, and reaching the finish line suddenly seems more possible.
That’s where I feel at the moment, after re-examining my list for the first time in a year and realizing I’ve added 16 new venues in the last 14 months. I’m now at 77, still quite a ways from 122 but I’m chipping away. Here’s my updated list:
MLB: 30
ARI, ATL, BAL, BOS, CHC, CHW, CIN, CLE, COL, DET, HOU, KC, LAA, LAD, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYM, NYY, OAK, PHI, PIT, SEA, SD, SF, STL, TB, TEX, TOR, WAS
(Finished the circuit of current ballparks on Opening Day, when I visited Marlins Park. So until the next new park opens, Atlanta’s new palace in 2017, I’ve got a beautifully complete list.)
NFL: 13
ARI, CAR, CHI, DAL, DEN, GB, MIN, NYJ, PHI, PIT, SD, SEA, WAS
(Progress on this will continue to be painfully slow until I somehow finagle an entire fall off from my job, but managed to up my list by three in the last year.)
NBA: 14
BKN, BOS, CHI, DEN, GS, HOU, MIA, NYK, OKC, PHI, PHX, SA, SAC, TOR
(Making better progress here, but the many markets out there that are NBA-only present a challenge. Being an L.A. resident, I still have the Lakers and Clippers to knock out. And it’s pathetic that they aren’t already on my list, but life gets in the way sometimes.)
NHL: 20
ANA, ARI, BOS, CGY, COL, DAL, DET, EDM, FLA, LA, MTL, NYI, NYR, OTT, PHI, PIT, SJ, STL, VAN, WAS
(Hoping that this is the next circuit I complete, maybe within a year or two.)
Yes, as hobbies go, this can be a time-consuming and expensive pursuit. But as a sports fan who likes to travel, I can’t think of too many things out there I enjoy more. Fans like Twitter pal @sportsroadtrips (who introduced me to the Club 122 concept and is a member himself) keep me motivated just by reading about their experiences. And then every once in a while, I get messages like this:
@itinerantfan Hey, wife and I decided to try and become members of #Club122. We’ve just started but it looks like fun
— John Felty (@bamajohn99) March 25, 2015
I know John and his wife will have a blast, just like I am.