25 by 75: Two Guys’ Unlikely Journey aka “The Global Sports Bucket List”

The Premise

The premise, albeit partially (entirely?) half-baked – at least initially – arose as I began wrapping up my MLB stadium tour with my daughter in late 2015.  Once George fully and finally dealt with his pent up jealously regarding the baseball pilgrimage to visit every ballpark, he was intent to uncover a journey of our own.

Over a few (too many?) glasses of wine at Sophie’s Place we began hatching the idea of a global bucket list, one conceivably to include visiting many of the world’s most famous and storied places; landmarks and events connected to sports, entertainment, and culture in any one of a number of ways.

Shortly after realizing ‘culture’ was but a modest contributing factor to the bucket list given our oft demonstrable lack of sophistication, we refined our focus to identifying 25 sporting events that we could attend, at least one per year, until the age of 75 at the latest.

We discussed and debated how best to witness, in person, events near and far; those that were to be participatory (especially in early years prior to our bodies fading right along with our minds) and those that were not; events large and small covering all corners of the world; and those that decidedly carried a “wow” factor – at least in our feeble and troubled minds.

In essence, the events had to be iconic and/or preeminent.

And so, against our better judgement which, in and of itself, remains quite elusive, it began in Pamplona in July 2016 with The Running of the Bulls.