Earlier this week, I received an email telling me that I won the lottery. Not the money lottery, unfortunately, but the chance to buy tickets for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Even better, my slot was days before my wife’s. Winning twice!

My slot opened today at noon. This was the first day and first time slot for Olympic ticket sales after locals had their crack at it. I went in cautiously optimistic. But some light doom-scrolling beforehand suggested a lot of events were already sold out, and the remaining ones came with ticket prices that required a small home equity loan plus service fees.

Still, hope springs eternal.

Finally, noon rolled around. I was at work at lunch, and I told everyone to leave me alone. I fought through the queue and got to the ticket selection page.

Mother. F—-er.

All the good stuff was gone. Anything remotely interesting that was still available was north of $1,000 a ticket.

Gymnastics? Nothing.
Swimming? I’m not paying $1,000 per ticket.
Triathlon? Sold out.

It was killing me.

Eventually, I called it a day and decided I’d just wait for the 2034 Winter Olympics, when I’ll be local. My new master plan is to buy up every decent ticket I can and then resell them like all the proper Olympic villains who bought up LA28.

But after teaching another class period, I cooled off and decided to take one more look.

My wife was pretty disappointed we didn’t get tickets, so I went back into the system to see if there was anything left.

Turns out there was.  Not the best events, but events I could live with.

First up: a soccer match before the Games technically start in Columbus, Ohio. It’s on a Monday, so we’ll spend the weekend visiting my mother-in-law and then go to the game. The tickets weren’t too bad, and lodging should be free… unless my mother-in-law decides to monetize the visit and Airbnb the guest room to us.

Then the real Olympic portion.

The following Friday, we fly out to Los Angeles for a small buffet of sports: badminton, judo, baseball, beach volleyball (mixed), women’s basketball, and track.

I’m actually pretty happy about the track session. It’s a medal day and includes the women’s 5K. Judo is also a medal session. The rest are prelims, but that’s fine. You still get to see world-class athletes doing world-class things.

Do I care about badminton? Not even a little.

But hey, table tennis was sold out.

Baseball should be a good day, though –  two games, sunshine, and an excuse to see Dodger Stadium. Track is at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is also pretty cool. It’s also a medal session and includes the Women’s 5K.

The tricky day is beach volleyball from 9 to 12 and basketball from 12 to 2 (also two games). These venues are not exactly neighbors, so we’ll probably have to leave beach volleyball early to make basketball.

My bad.

Depending on what my wife manages to get when her ticket window opens next week, I might unload the basketball tickets on the secondary market.

Still, overall, it should be a great trip.

Truth be told, my wife is way more excited than I am. Personally, I’d rather skip LA and attend the 2032 Olympics abroad if I’m still alive. The 2032 Summer Olympics in Australia sound a lot more interesting.

Though, to be fair, I’ve already been to Australia too, but it’s more interesting to me than L.A.

In any event, I’ve never been to ANY Olympics, and it’ll be an experience.  Plus, not to sound so simpy, but it’ll be a great week in the sun with my wife.