Bob Cook

If your hedge fund collapsed and you're getting foreclosed on your $850,000 suite at the new Yankee Stadium, don't be sad. If times are a little tight because you called your credit-card company to get a lower interest rate, and it responded by cutting your limit, don't fret.

If you're looking at today's economic turmoil and wondering whether spending $100 on a Cincinnati Bengals ticket is the best use of your money, don't wonder any further.

Beyond the big leagues and college athletic factories, a cornucopia of leagues and teams are ready and waiting to provide you with your live sports fix for a lot less money, and perhaps leave you more satisfied as a fan.

So where do you go, and how little do you have to spend? We have a list that should satisfy your every sports need. These events might not provide the big-time kick of a pro or college team you've followed for years. But at least if the home team loses, you can at least be assured you didn't have to mortgage your house for the privilege (assuming you can get a mortgage). And let's face it, small children don't know the difference between the Chicago Bears and a bunch of teddy bears, so you also aren't feeling like you wasted your money putting pearls before whine.

1. Minor league baseball

Even if you live in a major-league city, you probably have minor-league options that are close by, places where you can enjoy a game and enjoy your kids enjoying the picnic-like atmosphere. In Chicago, I have five minor-league teams to choose from, not including the Cubs. Speaking of the Cubs, in September it cost me $150 in tickets, parking, train fare, and food and drink (no souvenirs) to take my 9-year-old daughter to her first Cubs game. Of course, they lost.

A few weeks earlier, it cost me $150 in tickets, parking (no train fare, because it's only a 10-minute drive from my house), food and drink, and souvenirs to take my 9-year-old daughter, my 11-year-old son and my 5-year-old son to see the Windy City Thunderbolts of the independent Frontier League. Plus, while my daughter squirmed in her Wrigley Field seat because there was nothing to do but watch baseball, my kids tried out an inflatable jump and a wiffle-ball batting cage, got some face time with Boomer the mascot, and watched a postgame fireworks show.

Plus, they all got free thundersticks, which my oldest son used to convert a Bud Light sign to say “Butt Light.”

Of course, minor-league teams, particularly at the lowest level, are known for their crazy promotions. The current king of comedy is the West Virginia Power, the Class A affiliate of Pittsburgh. Their promotions include their second annual Salute to Indoor Plumbing (featuring "poo" flinging contests), Salute to the Wheel (featuring a race in which fans push square wheels), and Election Night and Smurf Night (combining the sober task of voter registration with replacing players' video-board pictures with characters from the 1980s cartoon).

The St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League are fighting to regain their title, however, with such promotions as a free bobblefoot, a foot peeking out of the bottom of a bathroom stall, on National Tap Dance day as a tribute to Sen. Larry Craig's performance at the Minneapolis airport. However, the Saints missed out on a chance to have fans enter the batter's box to see who had the widest stance.

2. Other minor league sports

If you're a hardcore hockey fan, minor league hockey is hockey. If you're not a hardcore hockey fan, minor league hockey is a great way to learn and appreciate the game. For example, the Chicago Steel of the U.S. Hockey League, a junior league that has seen numerous players land in the NHL, for $35 will sell you four tickets, four hot dogs, four pops and four T-shirts. Meanwhile, the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, the NHL's top minor league, will sell you four upper-level seats, four hot dogs and four pops (but no T-shirts) for $59. By comparison, the average single-ticket price for the Chicago Blackhawks is $52.

In football, you think the only options for a player who can't make the NFL are the Arena league and the Canadian league? Not so. Nationwide, there are at least a dozen semi-pro leagues, and seven indoor football leagues, including the AFL and its own minor league, af2. Plus, there are at least four women's professional leagues. Most of the minor leagues will charge you only $6-$10 to get in, as well as answer any nagging questions you had about what happened to the football hero you knew in high school who became a backup at a small college.

3. Small-college sports, and non-revenue sports at big schools

Forget Bears-Packers or Texas-Oklahoma. You can pay $15 or less a head to see some of the greatest college football rivalries you've never heard of, such as Amherst-Williams, DePauw-Wabash, Rhodes-University of the South, or Knox-Monmouth, all of which predate the 20th century. How could you not want to go to Minnesota to see a newer rivalry, Carleton-Macalester, which fight for control of the Book of Knowledge?

Now that's putting the student in student-athlete. As for basketball, you can get great deals even at the Division I level, if you go to mid-majors and below. My alma mater, IUPUI, offers a season ticket for $130 that includes 10 men's games, five women's games and the intense smell of chlorine wafting across the hall from the storied IU Natatorium.

If you can't tear yourself away from Big State U., consider going to the nonrevenue sports, at least to see what the football program is paying for. I have a friend in Madison who has brought his young twins to numerous Wisconsin sporting events, which run him about $20 (including snacks) for a family of four. At softball, his 2-year-old son got a game ball and a cameo on the Big Ten Network coverage. At volleyball, the twins and the other kids get to line the court to get their hands slapped by the players as they come onto the court. By contrast, at Wisconsin football family day, my friend said, “There was nothing remotely interesting for a 2-year-old to do. And it wasn't like I could say, hey — just stand here patiently for 20 minutes and you can meet the strength and conditioning coach!”