By now, you’ve probably realized that this Bucket List is firmly rooted in reality. We’d all like to fly in a private jet, party with celebrities, jam a power chord with a rock star, meet the President, win the lottery, and visit the International Space Station. Regrettably, all of this is unlikely to happen, but that should not, in any way, deter us from a life well lived. Far more realistic, although mired in its own unique challenges, is the title of this chapter. A major sporting event needs bodies, for without the masses, it would merely be minor. These major sporting events appeal to a variety of interests and Bucket listers. If splintering your eardrum at a Formula One race in Monaco waxes your hood, take your seat in the stands. Perhaps you dream of following the peloton on the Tour de France in the rowdy caravan of bicycle fans. Or showcasing a strange hat at the Kentucky Derby, drinking light beer at a tailgate party outside the Superbowl, or watching India and Pakistan proxy a nuclear way on the cricket pitch. To paraphrase Dirty Harry’s immortal line: Bucket Lists are like assholes. Everybody has one.
Whether you choose to butter your wish toast entirely with sport jam is entirely up you, but any self-respecting Bucket List should include at least one event, even if it’s the World Junior Rowing Championship. I stumbled upon that one on the Tisza River in the Hungarian city of Szeged. Fans were few but entirely committed, accompanied by flowing pints of fine beer, cheese blintzes, and orchestral mayhem. Yes, your major sporting event can be random, and I’d further suggest that the more random it is, the more fun you’ll likely have.
FIFA’s World Cup and the Olympics are regarded as the Grand-Daddy of Bucket List sporting events. Both typically require extensive financial resources, not to mention precision planning to ensure you a) actually see an event and b) don’t end up sleeping with roaches in a makeshift hotel and c) figure out how to get to the stadium among the hordes of fans who have no idea how to get to the stadium either. A by-product of the sporting event is discovering the location in which it takes place. My sporting Bucket List took me to Melbourne for the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. While it lacks the iconic trademarks of Sydney, Melbourne is pleasingly and eclectically cultural. With the two cities competing to be Australia’s premier city, locals regard Sydney as being a beach without a soul. It’s essentially the same argument you might hear about Los Angeles and San Francisco, which shares Melbourne’s trams, lifestyle and schizophrenic weather. Melbourne’s beaches are lovely, although not in the league of those in Sydney or Adelaide. On the other beach sandal, neither of those cities have hipster-cool neighbourhoods with alley boulevards, pop art galleries and eye-popping graffiti.
Strolling the Princess Walk along the Yarra River takes you to Melbourne Park and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the most accessible major sport stadium in the country. I’d need another book to explain my love of cricket (three pages for the love, 497 pages for how the game works). As for the Australian Open, I watched a local player knock out an American player to raucous enthusiasm from the crowds, and a mid-seed Czech player see off a spirited challenger from Monrovasomethingstan. Absent were Wimbledon’s strawberries and cream, along with that tournament’s stuffiness, tradition, and prices. Fact is: more spectators show up to Melbourne Park each January than at any of the other Grand Slams. Bring your sunscreen.
More than one Bucket Lister has dreamed about watching their team win Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final (good luck getting a ticket). Others hope one day to see Alaska’s Iditarod (good luck with accommodation). A heavyweight title fight, the Open Golf Tournament in St Andrews, the Hong Kong Sevens, Best in Show in New York (stretching the sport analogy perhaps, but the dogs are wagging their tails). You don’t have to know the sport very well at all: my experiences at the Calgary Stampede, the world’s richest rodeo, busted all my myths about both the event, and the sub-culture.
Sport might be the ultimate distraction, but a major sporting event melts the pot of global culture, typically in an environment where everyone is in fine spirits, regardless of the results. Smear on the face paint, put on the silly wig, and lets add it to the Global Bucket List.