The Road to 592

By Andrew Hard

Hey everyone,

So those of you who know me well might be aware of my affinity for sports -- all sports. I'm starting this blog to take that to the next level. 592 represents the number of MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and NCAA Division I football (FBS) and basketball teams in existence today. My goal, from now until however long it takes, is to go see all of these teams play -- at home, against anybody, anytime of year. You may tell me I'm insane, that this isn't possible. And you'd probably be right. But I'm going for it, and as I knock off the notches on the Road to 592, you'll see it all right here. How am I going to do this? A few keys:

1. Two to three new college football venues per year. Right now, there are 123 FBS college football teams out there. That means it would take 41 years to see all of them if you went to 3 per year. So that's a minimum.

2. Eight to ten new college basketball venues per year. At a rate of eight per year, it would still take you 44 years to see all of the 347 Division I college basketball teams out there. That puts me at age 70. So anything less than that is going to make things very tough.

3. November, November, November. November is a glorious month, overlapping the last few weeks of college football with the first games of the new college basketball season. Hitting up a large urban area on a November weekend would allow me to knock out up to 5 games in a single weekend.

4. A lot of bad, uninteresting games, particularly in college basketball. For something like this, you have to just suck it up. Most of the venues I've seen in my lifetime have been for games involving my teams: the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Thrashers (RIP), and Vanderbilt Commodores. But there's going to be a lot of Sam Houston State vs. Stephen F. Austin in my future.

A few ground rules that I will abide by:

1. If a team moves to a different stadium, it still counts. I can't be expected to see every team AND keep current with new stadiums. For example, I saw the Mets and Yankees as a kid in their old digs, and I'm still counting that (of course I'll still want to see the new stadiums as they come in, except for Citi Field because the Mets suck).

2. If a pro team moves to a different CITY, it doesn't count. Sadly, this means the few Thrashers games I went to back in the day are wiped out and I still have to see them in Winnipeg. BUT if a team moves to a new part of the same city, it still counts. For example, if I see the Oakland Athletics in the O.co Coliseum and then they move to Santa Clara, it still counts.

3. I reserve the right to set cut-off limits if the NCAA starts letting in thousands and thousands of new D-I teams, including teams from Mexico (this is actually up for debate at the D-2 level right now). Right now, the number is 592, but I know of at least a couple new teams being let in in the next couple of years.

4. No teams facing postseason bans, whether due to compliance violations or low APR score (eligibility/graduation rate). If the team has nothing to play for, the fans won't care, and the fan experience at that venue will be much, much less than you would get in a normal season.

As a disclaimer, there will be a lot of sports talk on here: mostly positive as it relates to Vanderbilt and the Atlanta teams, and lots of unprovoked pot shots at the Saints (really, Who is "Dat"?) and Tennessee Volunteers (41-18!!!). Also, I'm just figuring out the whole blog layout thing, so bear with me on that. The next big game I'll hit will be the Vandy bowl game this December/January, so I'll litter the background with pictures from that.

For a full list of the 592 teams/venues, click here. For a running tally of the teams I've seen (until I can figure out how to scroll it on the sidebar), click here.

Here goes! I'll try to write a new post for each game/venue I attend as well as recommendations on tickets, food/drink, and other entertainment options in the cities I go to (in as un-Peter King fashion as I can -- no Allagash White in this space). I hope this will actually turn into something really cool, but if not, hey, at least I had a pipe dream, right? Looks to the sidebars for a running tally of the teams I've seen, and keep tuning in to see where I'll end up next!