It's Sports Bucket List Time

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Another four years passed, another dream deferred. With the Opening Ceremonies of the London Summer Olympics just hours away, I’ll be one of the estimated 1 billion people expected to tune in from afar, hoping for the day when my vacation schedule, financial means and get-up-and-go coincide to land a spot in Olympic Stadium. With every major athletic event that comes around, I find myself reflecting on my sports bucket list. As a spectator, what events would I most like to see live?

In keeping with this forum, I’ve narrowed my list down to the top three women’s events. These would be dream destinations regardless of location or which team or athlete plays in the finals. Sure I’d love a Women’s World Cup final that much more if Hope Solo and Co. take the field in say, Sydney, but no caveats here.

Interesting side note–a quick Google search of “Sports Bucket List” referred me to The Ultimate Sports List website. Filtering by female-specific events, the highest-rated experience was the FIFA Women’s World Cup final at…number forty-eight!? One below a Cincinnati Reds opening game. Really? But moving on… 

1. FIFA Women’s World Cup Final

It was a close call between choosing the World Cup over the Olympics, but ever since the nail-biting, jersey-ripping penalty kick shootout in 1999, soccer has been a lifelong passion. I was twelve at the time, into my second year of competitive club soccer and thought I was destined to be the next Mia Hamm. Attending a World Cup final seems like a more realistic aspiration. This might actually be the most feasible event on my bucket list, given that our Canadian neighbors to the north will host the 2015 tournament. BC Place in Vancouver, here I come!

2. Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Games

The Opening Ceremonies tops other displays of actual competition for sheer grandiosity. Who doesn’t get chills watching the Olympic torch lit with the knowledge that a full two weeks of competition are still to come? The Parade of Nations offers its own brand of entertainment value. For geography geeks like me, guessing what nation comes next alphabetically is a fun mental teaser. As a French major in college, “les Jeux Olympiques” is proof that French is not, in fact, a dying language. And apart from a visit to the Epcot Center, is there any display more culturally reductive and sartorially challenged than the fashion show Parade of Nations?

3. Wimbledon Championships, Ladies’ Final

Prim meets Pimm’s at the grandest of all Grand Slam tennis events. By attending a final on Centre Court, you would be in the presence of athletic and actual royalty. The chance for a Kate Middleton and Serena Williams sighting on the same day? Sign me up! Women’s tennis has always been a closely followed sport in my family. We McCulleys know our Azarenkas from Radwanskas, so a true Breakfast at Wimbledon definitely makes my top three.

Have you experienced any of these events before? What’s on your sports bucket list?

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• Olympics
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Summer Games
• Travel
• FIFA

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