By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk
FOXBORO – Surely, you’ve heard the question before. Everyone has. Everyone thinks and dreams, but very few can check them off the list.
The Bucket List.
The question: Can you name your Top 10 Bucket List of Sports Destinations and Events?
It’s a tough one.
Those of us lucky enough to call New York and Boston as home base can check off a few by jumping on the “4” Train or the Green Line T to arrive within minutes at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, respectively.
To delve into this topic, there will be three sets of 10 Bucket List choices. First will be a very typical list of all the obvious “bests.” Second, will be my good friend Mark’s choices and lastly, the WWYI columnist will list the ultimate Sports Bucket List, with an attempt to be more obscure. The lists will be in order of preference.
Here we go:
Top 10 Sports Destination/Event Bucket List
- The Super Bowl (any location)
- The Summer Olympic Games (any location)
- The Kentucky Derby
- The World Series (any location)
- The Masters
- Ryder Cup (in Europe)
- The Winter Olympics (any location, but Europe ideal)
- World Cup Final (any location)
- Wimbledon
- The Final Four (any location, any four basketball teams)
Mark’s list, and it’s a good one:
- Buffalo Bills home opener (annually, said the die-hard Bills fan)
- Wimbledon (Men’s and Women’s Semis
- The Winter Olympics (anywhere)
- Monaco Grand Prix – Formula One
- The Super Bowl (anywhere, especially if the Bills make it)
- Pebble Beach Pro-Am
- Green Bay Packers home game at Lambeau Field
- The Masters
- Army vs Navy Football Game
- The Kentucky Derby
The TL Bucket List of Sports (WWYI edition) – Not Your Average List
- The Army vs Navy Game – But, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- The Little League World Series
- The Travers and The Hopeful at Saratoga Race Course
- The French Open
- The Ryder Cup (Bethpage, Long Island, NY)
- Pebble Beach Pro-Am
- Monaco Grand Prix – Formula One (Monte Carlo)
- The BIG EAST Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden
- Wrigley Field – any Cubs home game
- The Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston, Massachusetts)
Do any of the events and destinations on this final list need an explanation? I doubt it, but for posterity’s sake, here’s a line on a few of the events selected by yours truly.
Army v Navy – The impact of this event doesn’t hit you until you are there, in other words, until you’ve attended one … especially if it’s in Philadelphia. The pomp and rivalry is unmatched, but the ceremonies also stress the camaraderie of the cadets and midshipmen, often standing with alternating uniforms of the officers to be. … The game goes on, and the intensity builds (depending on the score), but as a civilian looking at the players – and more notably, the sections of cadets and midshipmen in dress gear – you can’t help but think that the young men and women will soon be putting their lives on the line, whether they are in training or deployed in war times. Some of those you gaze at – in respect – might not be around in another five years. It’s a daunting feeling, and because of it, the Army vs Navy game tops my list.
The Travers – The setting at the Saratoga Race Course is delightful, especially if you catch a nice summer day. The Travers brings the crowds, and the tiny town (and the bars) remains packed. The food is good, and the atmosphere is fantastic. Sure, the Kentucky Derby is more famous, the Belmont could determine a Triple Crown, and Delmar is unmatched, but I’ll take Saratoga, and the last Monday Hopeful was always a get-away day. It’s a favorite of my favorite Railbird, too.
The Ryder Cup at Bethpage (Black Course) is a driver and a long iron away from the hometown of WWYI’s author. Combine the familiar grounds with golf’s best event, and you’ve got something very special. It edged out a trip to Augusta, Georgia for The Masters.
The BIG EAST Championship/Tournament is a longtime favorite. The setting is the key at The World’s Most Famous Arena. Other college conference/teams can only dream of playing at The Garden.
The Boston Marathon, staged on Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth (new hometown) is the best day of the year. The event is inspiring to all who run and spectate. Friend of the column, 1967 Boston Marathon champion, Amby Burfoot, calls the race “the Carnegie Hall of Marathons,” citing New York’s prestigious Music Hall constructed between 1889 and 1891. And don’t forget, the Boston Red Sox play at historic Fenway Park at 11:00am on the holiday, and guess what? The bars are OPEN!
A FEW HONORABLE MENTIONS: (In no particular order) are: The Travellers(Cromwell, Connecticut) near Hartford. Once the Greater Hartford Open, the Travellers has fast become a favorite of the players on the PGA Tour because of the great TPC River Highlands golf course and the hospitality put forth by the organizers; the Frozen Four is NCAA ice hockey’s version of the Big Dance. It’s a must for college ice hockey fans. Similarly, the Beanpot Tournament in Boston pits Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern on consecutive Mondays in February. The winners get the famed Beanpot. It’s just a great event. Of course, there are hundreds of others, such as the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Final, the Rose Bowl, the NHL Winter Classic or simply a game at Montreal or Toronto.
FEEL FREE to post your own top 10 in comments on Substack or the Digital Sports Desk Twitter (‘X’) page or on Face Book. So, go ahead! Name yours.
ARMY BEATS NAVY – 2023: The vast majority of the 2023 Army vs Navy game at Gillette Stadium, here in Foxboro, was a predictable three yards and a cloud of turf. It wasn’t until Kalib Fortner’s 44-yard fumble return with 4:49 remaining in the fourth quarter that made a 10-3 game a 17-3 advantage for Army.
Navy did not give up and made the final three minutes a most memorable finish, scoring at the 2:47 mark on a Jayden Umbarger 14-yard pass reception from Tai Lavatai. A final drive fell short on the one yard line, and Army took control on loss of downs. The Black Knights opted to take a 2-point safety to run out the clock, making the final score 17-11, Army.
From the march on to the field to the singing of the Navy, then Army alma mater songs, there was enough drama to last all the way to next year’s game to be held in Washington DC, as event organizers are rotating destinations from year to year.
The Army song ended the gorgeous New England day:
“Hail, Alma Mater dear,
To us be ever near.
Help us thy motto bear
Through all the years.
Let Duty be well performed.
Honor be e’er untarned
Country be ever armed.
West Point, by thee.”
TIDBITS: The Los Angeles Dodgers won the Ohtani Bowl, concluding the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville with a Saturday announcement (posted on Shohei Ohtani’s Instagram page).
The signing came at a $700 million for 10-year price tag, the biggest deal in sports history.
Said Ohtani in his post: “To all the fans and everyone involved in the baseball world, I apologize for taking so long to come to a decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team.
“First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the Angels organization and the fans who have supported me over the past six years, as well as to everyone involved with each team that was part of this negotiation process. Especially to the Angels fans who supported me through all the ups and downs, your guys’ support and cheer meant the world to me. The six years I spent with the Angels will remain etched in my heart forever.
“And to all Dodgers fans, I pledge to always do what’s best for the team and always continue to give it my all to be the best version of myself. Until the last day of my playing career, I want to continue to strive forward not only for the Dodgers but for the baseball world.
“There are some things that cannot be conveyed in writing, so I would like to talk more about this again at a later press conference.
Thank you very much.”
TIDBITS TOO: With Ohtani signed by the LA Dodgers, attention now turns to the future destination for Japan’s pitching ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is testing the market in Major League Baseball.
The Dodgers have to be concerned with their team salary structure (think MookieBetts and Freddie Freeman, too) while the New York Yankees landed slugger JuanSoto in a trade with the San Diego Padres and will be looking at a $450 million or more payoff to the soon-to-be 26 year old star.
The Yankees are claiming they’re ‘“all-in” and are still pursuing Yamamoto.
If the signing goes down on NYY stationary, it could be a two-horse race in the 2024 World Series Derby.
O’NEILL & ASSOCIATES: You’ve heard of the legendary Speaker of the House in the late Tip O’Neill, and you might’ve heard of his son, former Former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Thomas O’Neill, but now Bostonians will need to root for another O’Neill in newly acquired Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neill.
The Sox acquired outfielder Tyler O’Neill from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for right-handed pitcher Nick Robertson and minor league right-handed pitcher Victor Santos.
O’Neill, 28, has played in 477 games for the Cardinals (2018-23), batting .248 (363-for-1,464) with a .776 OPS, 78 home runs, 40 stolen bases, 239 runs scored, and 217 RBI. A Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner in 2020 and 2021, he has made 324 career starts in left field, 36 in center field, 12 in right field, and five as the designated hitter. The right-handed hitter finished eighth in 2021 National League Most Valuable Player voting after he hit .286 (138-for-482) with a .912 OPS, 26 doubles, two triples, 34 home runs, 89 runs scored, 80 RBI, and 15 stolen bases in 138 games.
In 72 games during 2023, O’Neill batted a rather low .231 (55-for-238) with 14 doubles, nine home runs, and 27 runs scored while ranking in the Majors’ 89th percentile in arm strength and 80th percentile in sprint speed. The British Columbia native represented Canada in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics, batting .615 (8-for-13) with five runs scored, four RBI, and two doubles in four games during this year’s tournament. Originally selected by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, he was traded to St. Louis in July 2017 for left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales.