For those who love professional sports, Sunday was one glorious day.

Football in the afternoon, the World Series at night with hockey and basketball scattered throughout.

Sunday might have been a great day to plop down in front of the 52 inch high-def number, but try this one on for size: Four games, four sports, four states, one day. In person.

Why not?

Hockey at 1 p.m., then a quick cab ride to see the Dolphins in New Jersey. A flight to Boston for a basketball game, then back to Philadelphia for the Series. It may have been a crazy schedule, but it was plenty fun.

And everything had to fall into place. One accident on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx or a delayed flight into Philadelphia and good night, thanks for playing.

Sunday marked just the second time all four major North American pro sports leagues were playing on the same day -- the first coming on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2001. To see all four games that day, three (including Game 7 of the Series) would have been attended in the Phoenix area. To complete the Superfecta meant leaving baseball to fly to California for the lone West Coast NHL game: Atlanta at Anaheim.

Despite plenty of research, it isn't known if anyone did it. So it's possible I might be the first to try it.

And first to complete it.

I could have cheated and stuck around Saturday's Game 3 of the World Series in Philadelphia knowing it would end after midnight, thereby giving me credit for baseball. But that wasn't in the spirit of this challenge.

THE BIG CITY

I started Sunday by driving by Lincoln Financial Field to see tailgating in full swing at 8:15 a.m. Soon, I was in New Jersey, headed for the big city. Have to love a cool Sunday morning in New York -- especially on the morning of an Original Six matchup. Lots of Rangers blue mixing with the black-and-yellow of the Bruins in Manhattan. Truly a sweet a way to start this day.

Scalpers at the arena help me realize this trip is near impossible for the average person. Not only is the flight schedule tough, but in the cost prohibitiveness of the tickets alone. Thanks to this job and the teams involved, I have press credentials. Tickets at the World Series were going for more than $1,000. Factor in tickets to the other three games and that's quite a chunk of the allowance.

The Rangers and Bruins were scoreless when I left in the first, but I don't feel guilty for leaving early. Trust me, as the The Miami Herald's NHL writer I've seen a lot of scoreless hockey this season. And I hadn't been to a Dolphins game this year. It was time to roll back to Jersey.

One thing that had to make this trip work was a cabbie with a heavy foot. My man out of New York didn't know his way around New Jersey, but he knew how to get there quick. After a couple U-turns to avoid the Jersey Turnpike, it took only a few minutes to find a spot in the Giants Stadium end zone.

Miami might have won 30-25, but I only saw six of those 55 points. That's right, two field goals. But there's nothing like watching Miami and New York fans interact. Seems like those in the Miami colors were more feisty than usual, but I saw only one beer-fueled skirmish.

And the guy everyone was making fun of for wearing the Ted Ginn jersey? Bet he had some things to say after I left.

I raced down the ramp and out of the stadium right after Dan Carpenter's field goal tied it before halftime hoping to find a cab. Luckily there was one who, for a handsome fee, had no problem getting me to LaGuardia. I had worried about New York Marathon traffic, but again, no problem. I even saw some runners huffing away (bonus coverage!) not far from Yankee Stadium.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@