Mission accomplished! Kulyk and Farrell kings of the Road Trip!

By Peter Farrell and Andrew Kulyk

It started as a lark back in 1999… two guys following the Sabres on the road in Tampa, sitting in a sports bar in Treasure Island, Florida sharing beer and wings. A question is raised, "What if we were to visit all 30 NHL arenas?" The discussion continues and Major League Baseball is added to the list. Several pitchers later, the back of three paper placemats are scrawled with lists of all the NFL, NBA, NHL and baseball franchises. "Where do the Golden State Warriors play?" "Isn’t McNichols Arena in Denver gonna be replaced soon?" That night we didn’t even know all the places where the teams played. But we did know this… to complete such an odyssey, we would have to make the trek to such outposts as Edmonton, Sacramento, Green Bay, Salt Lake City and Anaheim, a task that seemed daunting at the time.

As crazy as it seemed then, the Ultimate Sports Road Trip was hatched, and four years later on December 15, 2002, this once in a lifetime dream of every sports fan became a reality when we set foot in Ford Field to attend a game featuring the Detroit Lions. Our 121st and final stop – all NFL, NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball teams – DONE! We… had… been… EVERYWHERE!

To commemorate the occasion, the Kulyk and Farrell families accompanied the roadtrippers to Detroit and the festivities began with a celebratory dinner at the Stoney Creek Brewing Company in downtown Detroit. Fellow Detroit roadtrippers Jim Vigeant, Bob Kelly and their spouses joined the group, as we unveiled the official banner of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip.

But the evening did not end there, as a few of us made the way to Detroit’s Greektown Casino for a little gambling and fun. Wouldn’t you know it! Peter plays a 50-cent slot machine and two lucky sevens and a wild card pop up. The machine lights up and within seconds two attendants show up and offer congratulations. The payout – 5,000 coins, a cool $2,500! The Ultimate Sports Road Trip karma works in unusual ways.
Sunday morning, the game day we had been dreaming about for four years. We rode the monorail from our hotel, and the gang met outside Ford Field about two hours before kickoff. After taking lots of photographs outside the venue and across the street at Comerica Park, we step into the rotunda, had our tickets scanned and were in the building!

So here’s the skinny on Ford Field – this is a new venue which just opened this past summer, and for the Lions it represents their new home after playing at the Silverdome in Pontiac for the past 30 years. Situated in downtown Detroit, the stadium is right next door to Comerica Park and is close to the cool, new neighborhoods emerging in the area – the theatre district and Greektown.

The nicest thing about Ford Field is the seating bowl. Even though this is an indoor venue, the entire roof is ringed with skylights, which flood the seating with natural light. Two corners are open with views to the outside, so you can actually see the weather right from your seats. The main entrance is a breathtaking rotunda on the Brush Street side, with terrific views and an area which serves as a great meeting place.

The old Hudson’s Warehouse is built right into the facility, That side of the building offers the coolest concourse – with wrought iron gates, cobblestone walkways, old-fashioned marquees and plenty of shops, which include a team store and concessions to please every fan.

The Lions honored us with a terrific scoreboard and PA tribute to the Ultimate Sports Road Trip during the third quarter, and as the final seconds ticked down to end the game, we stood up and applauded, high-fived, and celebrated the end of this terrific journey!

So what now? Some have suggested we write a book (maybe), others have suggested that we start a consulting business to work with sports teams (we could start by helping out our home teams here in Buffalo). But we can say this for sure… the Ultimate Sports Road Trip is a journey that has no end. In the four major sports, shovels are in the ground for nine new venues… six will open this year and three more in 2004. We will visit them all. We will continue our tour of International League ballparks, following our Bisons on the road. A tour of spring training baseball venues in Florida is planned for March. We love Canada, so checking out CFL and junior hockey venues is also on the radar screen. And in 2006, perhaps a trip to Germany to attend soccer’s World Cup.

121 Teams… 102 Venues… 49 Cities… 4 Sports. We are the Ultimate Sports Road Trip, and for two sports fans from Buffalo, it has been an adventure and a collection of memories, which we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Peter and Andrew have now completed a five-year tour to attend a home game of each of the 121 franchises in the four major sports. For more information on the Ultimate Sports Road Trip, log on to their website at www.thesportsroadtrip.com.

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