When in Rome....

Prelude - Travelling can be fun. But, time can drag when the day is done. If you are travelling with sports fans, chances are that they have looked up to see if the local team is in town. Therefore the question is, if the group you are with wish to check out a sports event, what do you do?

Sport - Soccer, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball

Event - Attending a live sporting event.

Point to say - "I head the (insert home team here), is playing the (insert away team here)?"*
*Tip - use the team`s last names if possible. Makes you look better.

Follow up point - "I read in the paper that... insert fact ie important game, star player is in town etc.."

Get out of the conversation - "What kind drinks do they serve? The drink I like best is...."

Backgrounder
First, some sports events are not to be missed. How to know if this is case with your situation? Grab a sports page and see what is on page 1. If they are talking about the event you have ticket for, you are on the right track. Second, check out the standings. Is this team at the top of their league? If so, then crowd will be lively, excited and the game might actually be entertaining.

Ensure you have the team name and know where they are in the standings. Best to know one thing about them, like if they are on a winning streak. Your hotel will have newspapers all over the place, so researching the event won`t take long.

Next, well there is always drinks. Check this story out:
"Working in NC, the heart of Nascar country, I was invited to go to the track. I abhor Nascar but was invited by the client so felt obligated to go. They went to see the race for real, I could have cared less. I made sure the drinks kept flowing all day, that was my task for the day. I asked them questions too. They knew I didn't know anything about it so I asked them because people like to talk about the things they're passionate about. It turned out fine, can check off Nascar from my life list now." (submitted by a friend of Sports and the City blog)

You never know, you could attend a really special event thereby making your sports fan at home super jealous!