National plans firming up...

Nearly every team has put their 2018 schedule out, and so with that it's time for some calculations. It looks like Arron and I will be doing something like this...

Friday 7/27: 6 am, leave for Birmingham AL; go to Tennessee @ Birmingham (7 pm start?)

Saturday 7/28: 10am, leave for Lexington KY; go to Rome @ Lexington (7 pm start?)

Sunday 7/29: 9 am, leave for Charleston WV; go to Asheville @ West Virginia (2 pm start?); drive to Cleveland. If the WV game is a night game, we may hit Lansing at Dayton instead (2 pm start)

Monday 7/30: 2 pm, leave for Columbus OH; go to Indianapolis @ Columbus (7 pm start?)

Tuesday 7/31: 8:30 am, leave for Eastlake OH; go to Great Lakes @ Lake County (11 am start); 3 pm leave for Toledo OH; go to Louisville @ Toledo (7 pm start)

Wednesday 8/1: 4 pm, National begins!

Thursday 8/2: 9 am, National!; 4 pm, leave for Akron OH; go to Bowie @ Akron (7 pm start)

Friday 8/3: 9 am, National!; 4 pm, leave for Eastlake OH; go to Bowling Green @ Lake County (7 pm start)

Saturday 8/4: 9 am, National!; 3 pm take train downtown; go to Angels @ Indians (7 pm start?)

Sunday 8/5: 10 am, IF signers at National aren't needed, leave for Fort Wayne IN; go to Lansing @ Fort Wayne (3 pm start); 7 pm leave for Joliet IL. If signers are good, drive straight to Joliet about 3 pm.

Monday 8/6: 7 am, leave for Cedar Rapids IA; go to Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (12 noon start); 3 pm, leave for Des Moines IA; go to Las Vegas @ Iowa (7 pm start)

Tuesday 8/7: 10 am, leave hotel; go to Las Vegas @ Iowa (12 noon start); 4 pm, leave for Kansas City MO; Dinner with collectors Joel and Liz; drive until tired

Wednesday 8/8: 10 am, leave for Wichita Falls TX

That first game may get changed: Birmingham plays the next day in Mississippi. The good news though is that the last time they had a home game the day before playing at Mississippi, it was a 7 pm start (or was supposed to be before it got rained out). So here's to hoping they do the same this year. If not, Jackson TN is our most likely option, and I hear graphing sucks there.

As shown above, Sunday 7/29 will all hinge upon the start time of Asheville-West Virginia. 2 or 3 in the afternoon would be best. Noon or 1 is doable, as is 4, just nothing outside those ranges. West Virginia plays the next day at Columbis, so I'm thinking that travel combined with a Sunday game might bring about an early start. Fortunately the 2 pm Dayton contingency plan is a good option if it's too early or too late. I'd hate to possibly get Lansing twice while missing Asheville and West Virginia, but I'll take what I can get.

I'm assuming a 7 pm start in Lexington, Columbus, Cleveland, and Iowa since the same two teams play the next day. Seems logical.

7/31 and 8/6 have some potential for craziness with two games in one day, but hey, why not?

Sunday depends entirely on the signers at the National. If they're ones we don't need, we'll skip the day and just go to Fort Wayne. If we need them, we stick around and just drive straight to Joliet (or further)

We might skip the double-up of LV-Iowa, or just do pregame. We'll see. Might be nice to do a late lunch or early dinner in KC and see what the KC T-Bones or Wichita Wingnuts have on their schedule.

I'm sure I'll spend the next nine months completely overthinking this, writing a preview every month, excited posts every time an autograph signer is announced, creating seventeen different photo options each time one is named... I've already put a list together of each team's coaches-- some of whom likely will change before then

On the positive side, the NFL and NHL Drafts will both be right in my back yard between now and then. So I'll have plenty of things to keep my attention and preparation in between, along with TTMs.

Speaking of TTMs, I'll have my monthly update on those in about two weeks.