How to get into the BCS Championship Game for free? A step by step story

Step 1. You must decide that you want to go to the game and travel to the city in which the game will be played.

I did this by booking my ticket to Miami to see the Gators play in the BCS championship game. I had decided a while a go that I was going to go with or without a ticket in order to spend the game watching with friends, fans, and other football enthusiasts. Unfortunately, in Nicaragua, there just aren’t that many big American football fans.

Step 2. You must then find good tickets for a good price.

My uncle George emailed my little brother and me a few days before the game and told us that he had found 2 club seats for face value. We debated the price for a while (350 dollars each, or enough to feed a family of 4 in Nicaragua for at least 3 months) but then ultimately decided that if the tickets were good, then we could always trade the two tickets for 3 or 4 upper deck tickets, allowing my daddy and Phil to go to the game as well.

Step 3. Go to the stadium on gameday.

After arriving into Miami International Airport at 11pm on Wednesday night and eating some munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, I slept and then with my family, went to the game the next day around noon. We had everything set….the food, the Nicaraguan rum, the frisbee, the parking pass, and the two tickets.

Arriving at the stadium was just an incredible experience. The parking lot was decked with orange and blue. It was exactly like a Gators’ home game, only in Miami instead of Gainesville. A few Oklahoma fans would pop up every now and then but Gators outnumbered the Sooners probably 20 to 1.

Beanbagging

Step 4. Try to exchange your two good tickets for 3-4 tickets.

This is the most challenging step of all. What it requires are two tickets in hand and two scalpers that deserve to go to the seventh level of hell. So this is how I did it. After arriving at the stadium and partaking in the normal tailgating activities of drinking, eating, throwing the football, and playing bean bag games, Phil, Louis, and I decided to head out and see what we could get for the tickets. We had absolutely no intention of selling the tickets without assurance that we could get 3 or more tickets for the same price. So we just started holding up the tickets and seeing what people had or what they were willing to pay for our tickets.

After some time of looking a scalper approached us and told us that he may have a friend who had three tickets and would be willing to exchange. So we waited for a few minutes and it turns out that this man did have a friend with three upper deck tickets…exactly what we were looking for. So while Phil inspected the tickets, I asked the guy how much he wanted for them and he told me $600 for the three….face value. Face value for our two tickets was $700 so it was almost an even swap. In my warped, honest mind, I just assumed that it would be easier for them to sell the pair of good tickets and they could make more money so that’s why this deal was being made. So and it still enfuriates me to say this, but the one scalper gave me the $700 and then I gave him the two tickets. Then the other scalper refused to sell us the three tickets after he had already said it was a done deal. Oh how royally I screwed up the transaction! They were straight up scam artists and I got scammed. Why in the world did I give the one guy the tickets before I had the other three tickets in my hand?!? What was I thinking? Was I out of the country for too long, was I just too honest? The guy said that he just sold the tickets to someone on the phone which was complete and total bullshit. He was actually “talking” to someone on the phone and told us that they were willing to pay $600 for each ticket. Seriously I wanted to punch them both in the face not only for insulting my intelligence but for being horrible horrible people. If I had a gun, I think they would be dead. Well if karma holds up to be true, they may be dead already.

For the next hour or so, I stalked the two scalpers. I was in their face, yelling, pleading, begging, chatting, trying to do something to get them to just give me back the two tickets or even just give me two upper deck tickets. I knew that with the $700 we were not going to be able to buy shit and I was just hoping to get into the little piece of heart that these guys might have left in their bodies. Even though they were big men, I still got in their face as close as possible without turning to violence. I also ruined their sales for the next hour as I told each and every person that approached them, how sleazy they were. Just writing this right now, three weeks after the fact, still gets me very riled up. After an hour of pleading and feeling like the dumbest man on planet Earth, I finally threw in the towel and returned to my tailgating spot. Devastated, furious, and disheartened would be the three adjectives to describe my emotional state at the time.

Step 5. Cry a little.

I got back to the car and told my dad what happened and then just went to the front seat, put my head in my lap, and just cried. I lost our two tickets, the two tickets that my Uncle George got for me at face value, the two tickets that my little brother and I were going to use to watch the Gators win, the two tickets that represented a night of memories. And I lost them in incredible fashion. I had money for them but I had lost. The cheapest two tickets we could find that anyone was selling were about $1000, a price that neither of us was willing to pay. Really, I just felt terrible that I had lost my brothers ticket and had been a complete dumbass in doing so. I honestly did not even want to pay the $300-$350 for the ticket in the first place because I do not believe any football game is worth that price. I live for practically two months with that money…I just couldn’t justify it.

Step 6. Have good friends.

After 10-15 minutes of crying and feeling sorry for myself, and the 1-2 hours of getting scammed, trying to recuperate, then trying to find new tickets, I got a hold of myself and went to eat more food and drink more beer. I had already wasted part of my day, the day that was supposed to be glorious, the day to remember for all times, and I wasn’t going to let those two fuckers ruin my day any longer.

We, including my dad, my uncle, and other friends, went out trying to find two tickets for $700 and everyone was trying their hardest to cover for my terrible mistake. But in the end, there were no tickets to be found. So Louis, Phil, and I resigned ourselves to watching the game on tv, my dad and my sister went back to my uncles house, and my uncle went into the game with his ticket. Louis, Phil, and I decided to watch the game from the parking lot, in which there were at least 20,000 Gator fans with plasma tvs, beers, food, etc. We were still going to have a damn good time.

Then I received the call….

Step 7. Have big balls and a fearless little brother.

One of my best friends, Russ, called me and asked me where I was. I said I was in the parking lot and wasn’t able to find any tickets. He then told me that I should be in the stadium and gave me the details. He told both my brother and I that there was a bathroom next to Gate 4 (it could have been Gate J, F, or G…I don’t remember) and that next to the bathroom was a curtain. Inside this curtain was a guy who was charging $100 per person to enter the stadium. You just went up to the curtain, told him that you wanted to go to the game and then gave him the money. That simple.

So Phil, Louis, and I just looked at each other and I said that we should go for it. My brother was in as well. Phil was way more skeptical and he is just conservative by nature but eventually I convinced him to give it a shot. The only problem that was between the three of us we only had $250. I just figured the guy would take 3 people at a discount.

So off we went to the area where the bathroom and the curtain was. Sure enough, the curtain was next to the bathroom but first we went into the bathroom to scope out the area. Then we just were hovering around the curtain deciding what to do next. Finally I told Louis to just walk in and tell whoever was inside that we wanted to go to the game. So he did it. Fearless.

Heaven's Gate

According to Louis, he said exactly that and then two women who were working as part of the catering staff asked he had already paid. Being intelligent, he responded yes and then the women just said to go through the door in the back. He called out to Phil and I and immediately I went to the curtain and then had to call Phil in a few more times before he came through. At least the three of us were in this little catering kitchen…..

Step 8. Just walk right into the stadium and BCS national championship game.

We walked to the back door, opened it, and were immediately inside the stadium, walking up the ramps along with all the paying customers. Un-friggin-believable. It was like walking through the doors of heaven and we didn’t even have to die. We were inside the stadium for FREE!!!

The Zero stands for FREE

Step 9. Enjoy the game, a beer, and an arepa while you’re at it.

The Game

After overcoming the shock of how easy it was to get into the BCS Championship Game, Phil, Louis, and I had to get to our seats. But wait, what seats? Aha, the only real problem with sneaking into the game is that you do not get assigned seats. But as we all know there are ALWAYS some seats at a big game, whether it be corporate seats that no one used, a family that missed its flight, or fans that got too drunk in the parking lot. Yet, we decided to opt out of looking for seats and instead made our way up to the surest bet, the top row of the stadium, and we stood in the aisle. We were happily standing in our seats to hear the national anthem, see the teams storm the field, etc. For the first quarter, we happened to end up in a very Oklahoma section and although the people were very nice, I convinced the group to move to a Gator section for the next quarter. From there we basically just switched section to section following the action on the field. It was actually pretty efficient and successful. But then we got a text message before the halftime from Tio Jorge letting us know that he had empty seats next to him so we headed down to his section.

Arepas and Beer

Before getting to the seats, we made a pitstop for some arepas and beer, my first arepas in a long time. I absolutely love arepas. I seriously want to move to Venezuela just so I can eat them whenever I want. I need to learn how to make them.

So with arepa and beer in tow, we headed to the seats and enjoyed the rest of the game from there. The game was close and relatively low scoring but in the end the Gators prevailed as I knew they would all along. Seeing my team win the BCS Championship Game live was a moment that I had always wanted to experience and I can now cross it off my bucket list for good. Well, I may end up in California next year considering that the Gators will be #1 heading into the season.

I also want to end on a happy note by lifting up my middle finger to the scalpers. I hope you get hit by a car and die. Go Karma! Go Gators!

We are number one. Sorry Utah!

Richman Family Goes to Nicaragua

Feliz Año Nuevo 2009! Happy New Year 2009! Just the other day I had to write 2009 for the first time while writing the date and it felt really strange. Where did 2008 go? For me, it was almost a blur. I remember celebrating the coming of 2008 just like it was yesterday. I had flown home from Guatemala to celebrate New Years with my best friends at a club in South Beach and then headed off on a family cruise. Since then, I returned to Guatemala, joined Peace Corps, returned to the US and visited with my family and friends, and officially moved to Nicaragua, first living in Masatepe and now in my home, Granada. And to celebrate the change of 2008 into 2009, I was lucky enough to once again be with family and friends, but this time they were with me here in Nicaragua. And allow me to have a bit of chutzpah, when I say that our New Year’s party in Granada was the best party out there. South Beach could not light a candle to our party nor New Year’s in Central America.

New Year’s Eve in Central America is just awesome. There may not be as many crazy parties as there are elsewhere in the world but as there are few rules in these countries, you can do pretty much whatever you want, including shooting off real fireworks straight off the boat from China. At the strike of midnight (actually the show starts 15-20 minutes beforehand), the entire nighttime sky turns into a sea of neon reds and greens, squiggly white lines, showers of golden flames, and enough bombs to feel like you are back in World War II. Just imagine hundreds of thousands of people shooting off fireworks at the same time…..well you just pictured Central America on New Year’s Eve (maybe South America as well but I cannot speak on its behalf as I do not know).

The Richman family took its part in the celebration by throwing a kick-ass party at our rented house in the middle of Granada. Among the honored guests were the Hochdorf family (friends of ours from ATL), many Peace Corps volunteers, my friends from Granada, and a few random kids and baby’s daddies. We started things off around 7:30pm by ordering many pizzas from Telepizza, one of my favorite joints in Granada and pouring ourselves the first of many rum and cokes to follow. Then around 8:30pm, the band (yes, I rented a Nicaraguan brass band to play at the party!) started to play a few sets and we started to dance. The dancing and drinking continued during until 10pm when the band stopped playing and we busted out the piñata that my family had brought all the way from the US specifically for this occasion. We filled it with chocolates and then took our swings. My little brother, Louis, ended up delivering the death blow and we celebrated with more rum and beer. We then proceeded to the sparklers and small fireworks we had purchased earlier in the day building a croscetto for the big boys of the midnight hour.

Midnight came and went and I could not have been happier as my family was there to enjoy the moment with me. It was the first New Years that I had spent with my family since….well….the beginning of time.

The New Year’s Eve Party was just one of the highlights of the Richman/Hochdorf family vacation in Nicaragua. Here are some more:

The Airport Pickup: It had been 8 months since I had last seen my family. The longest I had ever gone before without seeing my family was maybe 3-4 months. I anxiously awaited on the other side of the glass at the airport trying to catch the first glimpse of my family in Nicaragua. I saw my Mom first as she cleared customs and then headed directly into the nearby bathroom…typical! Then I saw the rest of my family and we waved and blew kisses from opposite sides of the glass. They looked so out of place…it was comical. I could have been slightly embarrassed as they were dressed like typical sloppy Americans, sweatpants, shorts, tennis shoes, t-shirts, etc. (when flying most Latins dress nicely) but I just relished the fact that they had actually made it to Nicaragua, a country far down on most people’s places to visit list.

Canopy Tour: While staying in Granada, we took a day trip to Volcano Mombacho, did some hiking and everyone but the dads did the canopy tour. This was the first time anyone, Richmans or Hochdorfs, had done a canopy tour and we enjoyed it thoroughly. There were about 10-15 platforms, all located in the treetops of the natural reserve and the scenery was beautiful. Even more beautiful was getting to hear and see my mom scream the whole time through the ziplines. But she made it all the way through and I will bet it was one of the more adventurous moments of her life. I also give props to my sister, Sara, who was pretty fearless up there and did everything from go Superman to hang upside down on the zip lines.

Chanukah Party: The day after my family arrived was the last night of Chanukah and luckily for us, the Jewish community had organized a party to celebrate the last candle. All six of us (my sister’s boyfriend, Brian, joined us on the trip) piled into one cab and headed out to a neighborhood just outside of Granada. We arrived a bit late, but on time according to Nicaraguan time and I like to think we helped kick the already buzzing party into another gear. My family got to meet the Nicaraguan Jewish community, my dad got to light one of the candles, my brother serenaded the crowd with some Jewish songs, and we all had a wonderful time.

The Houses: Due to the fact that we had a total of ten people, I knew a long time ago, that finding places where we could all stay together was a priority. Houses would make the vacation more familiar and for around the same price, if not cheaper, than hotels. Well, I must say that the 3 houses ended up being not too shabby. I think the collective jaws of my family dropped when they walked into the house in Granada. At first they thought that the first half of the house WAS the entire house, only to discover that there was an entire other house in the back complete with full kitchen, pool, balcony, exercise room, pool table, etc. We did a fair amount of cooking at the house and although we experienced problems with water shortages, bathrooms not working, doors not closing, etc, the house served its purpose well and definitely enhanced the vacation.

In Selva Negra, we had the Chalet Viejo Otto. It was a small cute house that maximized its space by sleeping up to 13 people. There was a fireplace that was utilized both nights of our stay in order to warm us up and to make s’mores. The house, although one-tenth of the size of the one in Granada, also was fantastic.

In the hills next to San Juan del Sur, we found our third house of the vacation. I say found because it took us a good hour to actually find the house due to nonexistent directions from the management company. But of course we finally arrived and marveled at the infinity pool, modern style of the house, and unbelievable views of the ocean and harbor. We also experienced some water problems in this house, but that’s Nicaragua for you. Even the wealthy cannot avoid the problems of a poor country.

Selva Negra: I loved Selva Negra. Nestled in the mountains between Matagalpa and Jinotega, it was like a paradise for someone coming from the tropical climate of Granada. It was warm during the day and cold at night. I actually got to wear a jacket and use blankets in bed! The best part of the huge plantation were the trails that led through the property. I went on a couple of hikes, one easy and the other strenuous, and saw wild howler monkeys on both of them! I also went horseback riding with my family (my dad excluded) and got pooped on by Brian’s horse. Still, the poop washed away but the memories will last forever….haha.

Masatepe: Of course, my real family was going to meet my host family. But first, I made them all ride the bus, the yellow school bus. I think they got to see and feel a bit of the chaos that surrounds those buses. Little children begging, vendors aggressively trying to sell, speeches being made from the front of the bus, and little to no personal space. It is always an experience. We got off the bus in front of my house in Masatepe and the adrenaline was pumping as I made my way down the steps to the house. I was sooo excited for both families to meet each other.

Christina, my host mother, was finishing up making lunch and after initial introductions it was a bit awkward given that no one in my family spoke Spanish and no one in my host family spoke English. I did my best to translate but after eating a great lunch, I think everyone’s nerves calmed down a bit and Valery begin singing for the crowd while Christina did her best to communicate with my mom. We took a quick walk around town, stopping for some ice cream in central park, and then headed back to Granada. I tried hard to get my host family to come back and spend New Year’s eve with us but in the end, I guess they just feel uncomfortable leaving their house along for a night.

According to both my family and the Hochdorf family, Masatepe was one of the favorite places to visit.

Rice and Beans: The mothers of the trip were obsessed with eating rice and beans. Granted, I enjoy the combination but they LOVED it. I think they ate them with every single meal. And I think my mom said it best in her impressions of the trip by stating that the food was generally unimpressive but the rum and beer were fantastic. Still, we did have a few very good meals….we had fish, chicken, plantains, fried cheese, paella, pizza, and rice and beans.

Toña and Flor de Caña: Nicaragua’s pride and joy. Beer and rum. They are delicious and throughout the course of the trip, we finished off at least 10 liters of rum and probably 6 dozen bottles of beer. We had Toña and Flor de Caña before, during, and after every meal, event, and boggle game.

Hope you all enjoyed the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009. Avirichman.com thanks you for reading all the entries posted during 2008 and knows that 2009 will be even better. Pictures from the trip will be uploaded soon. Stay tuned!

Impressions of Nicaragua (written by Deena Richman, my mom)

We landed in Nicaragua on Saturday evening, the 27th of December.  While waiting for our luggage I gazed thru the darkened window and saw Avi jumping up and smiling.  What a wonderful sight!  The main reason our family chose to spend our winter vacation in Nicaragua was because of Avi.  We wanted to see him and what his life was like in his new surroundings.  The trip satisfied that goal 100%.  Not only did we get to see Avi speaking fluently in Spanish, but we got to see him interacting in his environment with confidence and knowledge.  He became our tour guide for the 12 days we visited…We were dependent on him for getting us places and exchanging our money.  It was strange for me as his Mom to have the roles reversed…He was now in charge of my schedule!   Of course, this was also difficult for Avi as he had nine of us asking him numerous questions, wanting to know our plans, and our schedules.   He immediately informed us that we were on “Nica Time”  and that the saying in Nicaragua is: “There is more time than life.” (I can’t remember how to say this in Spanish!)  Nica Time was the most challenging part of the visit for me….nothing runs on a schedule, no one is in a hurry, things happen when they happen.  Of course, I think Avi has been running on Nica Time even before he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, so this suits his personality well.  I believe I did gain at least a small amount of patience during my visit.

Nicaragua is a very poor country.  The infrastructure of water, sewage, electricity, garbage pickup, is poorly developed.  Trash on the streets, lack of hot water, lack of electrical appliances, inconsistent electricity was part of what we experienced.  We were living in the places of the wealthy (our rented house in Granada, our chalet in the mountains) but even those places experienced these problems.  How strange it was not to be able to put toilet paper in the toilet,  or not to see dishwashers, dryers, or electric stoves.  The outdoor markets are crowded and filled with all types of foods and wares. The Nicaraguans carry baskets on their heads to transport their goods.  On the streets are many people walking, riding bicycles, or riding in the back of pickup trucks.  Firecrackers were heard throughout the day as well as announcements in Spanish coming from the intercom of a truck announcing events such as the circus. It truly felt like we had moved back in time, maybe back to the 1800’s.

Avi showed us one of the schools where he worked.  School is out of session until February, so the rooms were empty except for desks.  The school was a simple concrete structure with small classrooms and dirt courtyard in the center of the building.  Avi said it is very hot and noisy and difficult to get the students to attend to the lessons.  Most of the students could not afford to buy the workbooks that were recommended to them for Avi’s course he teaches on Creative Enterpise.  How sad to see the lack of priority for education.  How amazing to realize what some of Avi’s students accomplished with minimal resources!

We also visited one of the NGO’s (nongovernmental organizations) where Avi works.  We met a woman who sews shirts, pillow cases, and purses.  They were creative and unique.  The NGO is trying to help individuals learn to set up their own businesses and market their products.  They learn how to keep track of what they sell.   It took a while for the woman and her co-worker to write down our purchases on their notepad and total the costs with their calculator.  We also bought some bamboo products that are made by another man who Avi is helping.  The potential is there to sell the products;  the people just need to learn how to run a business!

Nicaragua was a beautiful country.   It has many volcanoes, rain forests, mountains and lakes.  We were fortunate to experience many aspects of  its natural beauty.  We walked in the cloud forest and ziplined across the canopy of trees!  All of the kids even ziplined as Superman and upside down!  They were fearless.  We rode on a boat and toured the iselets.  There are 250 or so mini islands in Lake Nicaragua.  Many of them have houses on them, some quite beautiful.  On one island are howler monkeys, brought their by someone.  They were swinging all through the trees!   We didn’t have any food to give them, but they would reach out for it from other tourists on boats.  We hiked in the forests of Selva Negra, and took a tour of an amazing self sustaining organic coffee plantation.  We also rode horses on the trails.  Some of us saw more howler monkeys in the wild.  They get their name from the sound they make.

We ate rice and beans, plantains, fried cheese and pizza!   We cooked eggs for breakfast (the eggs dont have to be refrigerated).  The bananas were sweet and delicious. We washed down all of our meals with either bottled water, Tona (nicaraguan beer) or Rum ( made in Nicaragua)!  The meals were nothing to brag about, but the beer and rum were excellent, and  everything was very inexpensive compared to the USA.

The best part of the trip to me was spending quality time with our family and friends.  How wonderful to see all of our children laughing and talking together!  How wonderful that we got to bond with everyone including our long time friends who we met in Knoxville, before Avi was even born!
I left in a hurry, because of a family emergency, but I left feeling happy I had been able to have this nice vacation and have time with my children.  I am so proud of Avi, and also still somewhat surprised that he has chosen to give up all of the comforts and luxuries he has known in the last 23 years to move to a foreign country where he has only the bare minimum of necessities.  I am impressed with Avi’s ability to adjust to this new environment and to make the best of his situation.  He has mastered the language and has used his social/communication skills to develop new friendships.  Wherever we went Avi knew people, either another Peace Corps volunteer, a student, a native Nicaraguan…He has the ability to connect to people and to enjoy life.  I know this will always be an asset for him.  I also know that this experience will be life changing for him…He will certainly be able to appreciate the comforts of living in the United States of America as I have been able to do since returning home!