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Sportswriter Bucket List ...

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by daytonadan1983, May 7, 2009.

  1. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    May 24th this year. They've been messing with the F1 calendar a lot in recent years, but Monaco is pretty untouchable.
     
  2. pressboxer

    pressboxer Active Member

    As much as I've had the good fortune to do already in life, there are still several things I would like to add to (or is it mark off) the list. While many are sports-related, they are things I would want to do whether I was in this business or not.

    1. Spend an evening with Dan Jenkins just to hear the stories he could tell. I'd even be willing to pick up the tab at the barbecue joint of his choice.

    2. Wimbledon/British Open. With a little planning, this could be done in one trip. Catch the final weekend of the fortnight and still have three days before the golf starts. Bonus points if the Open is in Scotland, especially St. Andrews.

    2a. Tour through the UK -- Cornwall to the Highlands -- before, between and after the above events, possibly catching a cricket match. Unfortunately, that would be the wrong time of year for Premier League.

    3. Tour Australia and New Zealand. Depending on the time of year, I could be convinved to catch the AFL Grand Final or a Test match. This would require several months to allow for stints in all the major cities as well as visits to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs (I don't know why, I just always wanted to get off the train in Alice Springs). As for NZ, an All-Blacks match would pretty much be mandatory and I'd love to try one of the great tracks.

    4. Catch game at Fenway (missed old Yankee, Tiger, Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, etc., but got in a full series at Wrigley).

    5. Island hop through the Mediterranean -- Majorca, Ibiza, etc. -- and the Pacific -- Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, etc.

    6. Hit all the old colonial cities along the Eastern Seaboard, working my way up from Savannah to Charleston to Virginia to Baltimore to Philadelphia to NYC to Boston and points north.

    7. Drive the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down and the radio blasting. This would include side trips and significant layovers for all the intersting places along the way.

    8. Make an extended tour of South America -- Brazil, Argentina and Chile in particular.

    9. Attend the other golf majors. Bonus points if the U.S. Open is at Pebble Beach (see No. 7).

    10. Visit British Empire sites in Africa and India. As a history nut, I'm throughly fascinated by events like Cawnpore and Isandlwana. How could the Brits maintain the empire with so many military catastrophes?

    As for what I've already done:
    Spent six months in Europe in 1987 (would love to go back to a) catch the things I missed the first time; b) see how much has changed since the fall of communism).

    Bought a convertible and drove U.S. 1 out to Key West (with the top down and the radio blasting).

    Sailed the Caribbean (Windward Islands on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise; would love to see some of the other islands as well).

    Spent six months in Vegas and never lost a bet. Of course, I never made one, either.

    Attended NFL playoff games. Maybe not the same as a Super Bowl, but a conference championship was pretty cool.

    Attended a New Year's Day bowl game.

    Attended a USMNT international match (a friendly against Guatemala on a frigid February day, but still ... my first cap).

    Discovered some neat little towns in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado.

    Eaten extremely well.

    And, most significant, made love to beautiful women (one at a time ;)).
     
  3. jeff.pearlman

    jeff.pearlman Member

    Daytona, first, I hope everything with you goes well.

    Recently I went skydiving to force myself to do something that scared the living hell out of me (I blogged about it here: http://jeffpearlman.com/?p=1537). It was the most terrifying, magical, electric, explosive seven-minute span of my life. I know it's not for everyone, but I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend the experience for anyone looking to, for lack of a better term, break free. It reminded me of the importance of challenging myself; of stepping outside of patterns and routine.

    As for pro and college sports, I could make a list of 100 things I need to do pre-death, and I don't think any of the items would relate to seeing so-and-so game or meeting so-and-so athlete. To me, that's not an indictment of what we do for a living. It's just a lifetime of seeing the man behind the curtain.

    God bless, Daytona. Truly hope all works out.
     
  4. SockPuppet

    SockPuppet Active Member

    Jeff, aka Ripcord:

    Great point about "behind the curtain." In that case, the bucket list kinda works in reverse. It's kinda hard to plan out getting "behind the curtain"; it just happens.

    It would be great to have a bucket list of events/accomplishments/trips, etc. to check off; then in the final days, be able to look back at a bucket list of things that "just happened."

    Thoroughly enjoyed Boys Will Be Boys, BTW.
     
  5. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Checked off
    - Saw NHL playoff games.
    - Saw my team play in the Super Bowl - even if on TV and working the desk solo.
    - Saw Genesis, Rush and Billy Joel in concert.
    - Saw an ACC Tournament - the whole thing.
    - Visited the Pro Football HOF (Hey, Sam's number was shown as "retired" on the Panthers spot)
    - Visited the Hockey HOF (Big thanks to JR, HC and Huggy ... superbly done)

    Still to do:
    - See a World Cup match in person, preferably the U.S. national team
    - See my team in the Super Bowl - in person
    - Visit Great Britain/Scotland, Japan (again ... stopover in Tokyo wasn't long enough) and Australia
    - See the Open Championship at the Old Course
     
  6. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    I've pretty much covered everything I wanted to cover, and there are just a few things sports-wise I'd like to see, and if/when I do, if I have my way, I won't write a word about them: Game at Wrigley. Game at Fenway. Touchdown Jesus. Tour de France. Wimbledon. Hall of Fame.

    Is the Running of the Bulls a sporting event?
     
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Did this with the wife six years ago. Rented a convertible and put over 2k miles on it in eight days, camping out every other night and stopping a zillion times. Not sure we'll ever have a better vacation.
     
  8. Walter Burns

    Walter Burns Member

    Mrs. Burns and I did this on our honeymoon. She loved the scenery. I thought I was going to die. No guardrail, drop straight down into the Pacific. I've done it, I'll never do it again.

    Y'know, if there's one thing I've realized in looking over these lists, it's that I on honeydew hath fed, and drunk the milk of paradise.
    I saw Tiger Stadium and Yankee Stadium before they closed (I was on the field before the game at Tiger Stadium. I wanted to take off my shoes and socks and scrunch my toes in the grass. I could actually feel the history come up through the ground). I went to Fenway and Wrigley. I've been in the press box for an NFL game, a couple MLB games (including an All-Star Game), an NBA playoff game (and what a game it was) and Mrs. Burns and I were able to buy tickets to last year's Stanley Cup Finals.
    I've been to a prizefight. I've played golf where pros played. I've interviewed governors, senators and people with more power than they deserved.
    But when I make the list of memories that make me a wealthy soul, those don't crack the top five. I think of the day I, in mock anger, bitched to my grandfather -- who at the time had about a month to live -- that once again, I'd been passed over for Time's Man of the Year. "You're young yet," he said.
    I think about my first trip to New York City, stepping off the train to Grand Central and finding a strawberry blonde waiting for me.
    And I think about driving to see the woman who's now my wife (NOT a strawberry blonde, so let's keep this to ourselves) with an engagement ring in my pocket. Everyone knows what's coming but her, and that makes me the happiest -- and most terrified -- man in the room.
    And I think of being 19 years old, getting my first job at a newspaper. I stopped to see my father at work. His office was across the street from the paper. He introduced me to his friends as "my son the writer."
    If I win the Pulitzer, it won't be as sweet.
     
  9. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    If a banker had a bucket list, would you expect it to contain financial-related stuff?
    Or a teacher? Would you automatically assume everything they want to do points to education?
    You think an gas station attendant doesn't want to do anything outside of pumping gas into fancy cars?

    Honestly, what makes the sportswriting field any different. It's a JOB. It's not your life.

    Your interests play a big part in your life, sure, but so do other things, like your your family, outside interests, hobbies and hopes and dreams.

    It kills me that people -- even sportswriters -- think that sportswriters should think of nothing but sports.
     
  10. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    Hey, I thought I was probably the only person in the world, or at least, on this board, who wanted to do that!

    I also hope to:

    Go to Africa (would love to be part of an animal research/conservation team, but would settle for going as a tourist)

    See Elton John perform live (the guy's a musical genius, and probably one of the best pianists alive).

    Go sky-diving once (if I can ever actually get myself to voluntarily step out of a plane...somehow, I think this one's not gonna happen).

    Learn to SCUBA-dive (This one is gonna happen).

    Sports-wise, I'd like to:

    Complete a marathon

    Compete in a triathlon

    Cover the Olympics

    Cover Wimbledon

    P.S: Dan,

    It doesn't matter what's on your list, and what's not. Everyone's list is/would be different, and only you can make and work through your bucket list. The key is just to actually get going on it.

    Whatever happens in life, when it comes to the end, you don't want to have regrets. Or, at least, you want to feel like you did the best you could to accomplish whatever it was you would have liked to do.
     
  11. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    You've gotta try.

    Friend of mine and his wife have never been. He's in the air as I type this, for a four-day tourist debauch down there. I gave him the
    must-do list. Hope they survive it.
     
  12. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    We did this over three days last summer from San Fran to Laguna. Unbelievable scenery, great places to stop like Cambria. I don't drive and I wondered how the wife would handle all the sharp turns etc. but she loved every minute of it. Think we'll do it again, going north next time.
     
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