But Ashmore wanted to change that last part, and wanted to attend as many sporting events as he possibly could.
Mike, who lists his favorite sport as hockey, had a successful tour of the NHL during their 2003-04 season, going as far south as Nashville, Tennessee to see a game between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings. Ashmore also visited New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington D.C. during that tour.
But with the National Hockey League season temporarily on hold due to a lockout, Ashmore determined that he wouldn't let his sporting event dollars just sit in his wallet. On November 1st, 2004, Ashmore launched this very website announcing his intentions to attend as many sporting events as humanly possible. He plans to travel all across the country to take in some of the finest sporting events in the land. Baseball, basketball, football, hockey and many other sports are sure to be included.
The tour kicked off in Washington, DC for a three day stay that saw Mike attend his first Washington Wizards game and third event at the MCI Center.
Since then, Ashmore's been anywhere from Hartford to Miami.
Ashmore currently attends a local community college, majoring in communications. He has been a sports writer and photographer for the past three years, covering both the independent Somerset Patriots and the Trenton Thunder, the Double A affiliate to the New York Yankees.
Mike would like to stay in the writing field and hopes to become a successful writer for a newspaper one day. He's already interviewed such legends as Rickey Henderson and Sparky Lyle in his two years of covering baseball.
Mike recently branched out and has now covered all four major professional sports, including two of them at the highest level possible. Ashmore has interviewed Allen Iverson and Chris Webber while covering the NBA, Jimmy Rollins and Ben Sheets while covering MLB, Tony Graziani and Michael Bishop while covering the AFL and Marc-Andre Fleury and Ron Hextall during his AHL coverage.
Ashmore collects sports memorabilia, primarily focusing on acquiring programs and other assorted items while attending a game. He lists his most prized possession as the stick that his favorite player, Mike Richter, used during the first Rangers game he ever went to, a 1-1 tie against the New Jersey Devils on February 11, 2001 in Madison Square Garden.
You can usually find Mike with a camera in his hands at a sporting event, taking as many pictures as possible to capture all the memories and players he hopes to never forget. Mike lists the Fleetcenter and MCI Center as the best places to shoot photographs in from his experience on the NHL tour.
Favorite Sport: Hockey
Favorite Teams:
MLB - Boston Red Sox
NBA - Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks
NFL: Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants
NHL: New York Rangers
Mike has covered games for the following teams:
MLB: Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies
NBA: Philadelphia 76ers
AFL: Philadelphia Soul
AHL: Philadelphia Phantoms, Hartford Wolfpack, WBS Penguins
AL: Somerset Patriots, Newark Bears
EL: Trenton Thunder
IL: Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons