So, I've decided to do my own twist on the popular bucket list, sports edition! Throughout the series there will be different topics. For example this edition features Sporting Events. - What can I say, I was inspired by the Super Bowl ;) - Still brainstorming other topics, but I can tell you to be on the lookout for a few others: Sporting Venues (Read MLB Here!) Rivalry Games College Towns & More to come! For now, I hope y'all enjoy my bucket list of sporting events! Let's start with the obvious1. Super Bowl By now you all probably know that I prefer college football over the NFL, but every year for the past three or four years I've paid more and more attention to the NFL. The Super Bowl is just one of those unique events that, I think, most sports fans would agree is a dream event to attend. I guess the only down fall is that you miss Super Bowl commercials if you're actually in the stadium.. I think I could live with that though. 2. World Series Hello, if you don't know by now, I have an obsession with baseball and have been known to watch MLB playoff games during class, work, family dinners, or to skip stuff all together and watch the game instead.. Yeah, don't count on me being anywhere in October if my team is in the playoffs.. Anyways, the World Series, what a dream come true to be sitting in the stadium, game 7, bottom of the 9th, down a run, two outs. Sure you could see your team win or lose, but it would be LIVE! The environment inside a sporting venue cannot be topped by a family home, local bar, or following along on Twitter. To be in the seats for the World Series would just make the excitement of the MLB Playoffs that much sweeter. Side Note: If I could rewind time I'd spend all of my college tuition money on a ticket to Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. #Amazing #DavidFreeseIsStillMyHero 3. College Football Championship There are few things in this world I enjoy more than watching a college football game in a stadium. Add tailgating to that and it's REALLY hard for me to think of things that top it. - I've been a Mizzou fan through good and bad. Heck just the years I was a student at Mizzou were a roller coaster! 2012 = bad, 2013 & 2014 = SEC East Champs, 2015 = Painful, 2016 = Better? But still painful. With all things considered, I've been there to rush the field after beating A&M in 2013 and I've been there when we lost a heartbreaker to Georgia this year and an embarrassing loss to Middle Tennessee. Ya know what? I was right back at Faurot for the next home game either way! If that next game were a National Championship I can't even imagine the experience that would be! -- Now, I'm a realist and even though I have high hopes for my alma mater, I don't expect to be heading to the Natty to watch them in the next couple years. - As long as the National Championship I'm watching isn't Kansas vs Baylor or Tennessee vs Florida State, I'd still be ecstatic about being there! Now, the not so obvious.. (I think..)4. Summer Olympics Because they aren't a yearly occurrence, I think a lot of people want to attend the Olympics, but that's not my reason. The Olympics are so special because most of these athletes aren't going back to play one of the major American sports and most aren't coming back to million dollar yearly salaries. They've trained, sometimes, their entire lives for this one chance that may or may not ever happen again. Gymnasts are the ones that really stick out in my mind. One bad routine could ruin their Olympic hopes that they've trained 15+ years for. That's insane! - It's also telling to hear people like Keri Walsh-Jennings talk about her Olympic runs and what the Olympics mean to her. The passion and love for their sport is amazing. It's not just Team USA's stories that make me want to attend an Olympics, all countries have these stories and this passion. It would be really cool to see that live. 5. College GameDay Okay, okay y'all probably can tell how much I like College GameDay (and Sam Ponder), so it might not be that surprising.. but watch College GameDay and tell me that doesn't look like one of the most fun environments you've ever seen! I want to attend so bad! Unfortunately it never made it to Columbia, MO while I was here, but here's to hoping they'll make it to my graduate school during my two years with them! 6. ESPYs I used to think the ESPYs were just a night for elite athletes to continue to get praised (& hey I'm not dissing that because I praise athletes, no shame), so I didn't pay much attention to them. I could just watch SportsCenter every now and then and hear the same stuff right? Wrong. - There are athlete and team awards, yes, but the people they honor and award who have faced adversity and difficult times are what have drawn me to watch the ESPYs the last couple years. Sure it's a great place to see your favorite stars, but it would be really inspiring to see and hear the speeches after they honor people like Leah and Devon Stills, Stuart Scott, Craig Sager, and many more. 7. College World Series - Baseball We all know my love for baseball and when I remember it, I watch college baseball as much as I can. It's not the big names, but if you watch some of those names in college will be in the Big Leagues shortly (hey, hey Dansby Swanson!). Plus, it's another chance for that Cinderella to show up and win it all. What Coastal Carolina did last year was fun to watch! That left fielder became my favorite human for a couple days.. - I've heard Omaha is a great place to be during the CWS, so I'd like to experience it at least once! 8. College World Series - Softball As for softball, well I played softball for 12 years, it had, has, and will always have a special place in my heart. As much as I love baseball, I like watching college softball more. It's so fast paced, amazing defense, dominate pitching. Ah, I'm getting excited for the season to start just talking about it! The CWS has the best of the best and it seems like every May, every game played at the CWS is a good game. I watch as much as I can on tv, but I'd love to just head down to Ofor the week. Maybe some day! 9. Either Olympic Gymnastics Trials or College Gymnastics Championships Gymnasts are amazing, end of story. The athleticism and strength they have is unreal. I can just watch an entire meet and be in awe. Some may not agree, but I think watching a full day of championship gymnastics is something I want to do (at least) once in my life. 10. MLB All-Star Game.. & Home-Run Derby.. & Celebrity All-Star Game.. The MLB has a good thing going with the All-Star Game, and I pray it stays good with the, now non-existing, home field advantage rule. People actually get excited for All-Star Weekend, fans and players! The events are a great chance to see the best against the best and to see players take the game a little less seriously than they do during the regular season. I love watching the Homerun Derby and see all the players with their kids hanging out, it's a side of those guys you don't see a lot. Unfortunately I didn't make it to All-Star Festivities in St. Louis OR Kansas City so I guess I'll be traveling to a new part of the country to partake in these events! Is your bucket list of sporting events the same? What ones would you add?
Leave the comments below, I'd love to hear from y'all!
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1. There will be no Gronk even though the Patriots made it. Why even watch a Pats game without Gronk? Okay, I'm being ridiculous.. but he's entertaining! -- (Silly reason #1) 2. Tom Brady.. The guy is a living legend, I'm not going to argue that. I'm just over it. Sure, if I were a huge Patriots fan I would most likely have no problem with him being back in the Super Bowl, but I'm not and I think it is awesome to see a new guy like Matt Ryan in there. Congrats to Brady and all of his accomplishments, but new blood would be refreshing.. 3. The political statements might just be too much. Even if this hadn't been an election year with a new President now in office, having Lady Gaga as your halftime show just sounds like a recipe for disaster. But since it was an election year, we get to have Lady Gaga as the halftime performer, who, I'm pretty sure, has already said that she will be addressing issues or taking a political stance during her show. Greeeeeeat. I don't care what side your own or what your beliefs are, but is the Super Bowl really the place statements have to be made? 4. I wanted the Cowboys to be there.. Dak and Zeke kind of stole my heart this season.. sooooo I was pretty upset when they lost (especially since they lost to Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers.. haaaard eye roll..). - The season that those two put together as rookies was more than impressive and they were having fun doing it! Football is all of these players and coaches jobs, but it is also a game, and I like to see them have fun while they're working. 5. If (when) the Patriots win, the trophy presentation is not going to be awkward enough or funny enough for me. - I think we all have this picture of Goodell handing over a trophy to Belichick or Brady and how humorous that would be after all of the "Deflate-gate" drama, right? But let's be realistic, unless Belichick or Brady want more trouble and punishment they'll be on their best behavior and it's likely that Goodell is too stuck in his own little world to realize why such a situation would be awkward.. (I'm not a Goodell fan FYI!). It's just going to be a let down, and I am not looking forward to that. 6. I have to work the next day. Seriously, when will the day after the Super Bowl be a national holiday?!?! Disclaimer: This isn't the only day I think we should be given! We should package it as 1. day after Super Bowl, 2. opening rounds of March Madness, and 3. would it be too much to ask for the whole MLB Playoffs to be included? Eh, go big or go home right?! What are your Pre-Super Bowl thoughts? Leave them below, I'd love to carry on the conversation with y'all!
Oh, and I'd love for the Falcons to win, but I think the Patriots will walk away with it. They may not have Gronk, but they still have #TB12 so I'm sure they'll be fine. Basic question, we watch sports for entertainment right? So if the answer to that question is yes (which I 100% think it is) then why would you take the fun out of a sport? Let them play the sport and have fun while doing it! Oh, and watch yourself rake in the money while doing so! What do we hear ALL about when it comes to sports lately? I'm talking NFL, MLB, NHL, Collegiate Sports, the whole works. Safety is a buzzword for sure, but I'm talking on the financial side... TV ratings and contracts. Just from my own experiences I can tell you that sports organizations/schools are making their money from tv. As a sport management major, a student at a university that rakes in cash from the SEC Network, and as a sports fan in general, it's blantantly obvious how important tv is in the sports world. What does this have to do with the NFL being no fun? A lot actually. Sports are entertaining. Sure you can watch sports to become educated about that specific sport, or maybe even a culture (Olympics), but sports are watched for entertainment mostly. Trust me, an amazing play, walk off home run, hail mary pass, half court shot, or hard hit, grab my attention just as much as they do the next sports lover, but I also love seeing personalities, team bonds, inside jokes, celebrations, even some trash talk! That stuff is entertaining!
"That's funny there's no fine for that. i could only imagine if I was the one to do it. Just bein honest."
What has been behind the most talked about moments in the NFL this season? Winning.. unpredictable success.. superstars shining.. yes all of those are true, but the other things that have been frequently talked about are the entertaining acts. OBJ's multiple episodes with the kicking net, Travis Kelce's celebrations (and pouting quite frankly), Marquette King's punting dances (yes, punting. I don't get it either.), and some player's lack of celebration. - Score a touchdown and celebrate.....? Nope! Lay the ball down nicely and don't get a flag or a fine, but be dramatic about it! - The combination of the celebrations and personalities make the highlight reels, the ESPN video tickers, and the social media posts. I think it's fair to say viewers LIKE these things! They find them entertaining! And now we're back to the start.. sports are supposed to be entertaining! Don't take that entertainment away! Don't limit it!
often credited for a large part in this), but the NFL taking out the fun and personality is a big factor. Take a look at how many views Travis Kelce throwing the flag at the ref got, or how many people tweeted about OBJ's kicking net proposal. There is a reason why CBS played the clip of Zeke jumping in and coming out of the Salvation Army bucket last night more than any other play of that game. It's entertaining and people enjoy it. If people are entertained, they'll watch. So why, NFL, do you insist on taking this fun and entertainment out of the game? You want viewers and ratings? You want to keep your TV contracts and make big money that way? Want to keep fans and keep them happy? Don't take the fun out of the game! Let the players show their personalities and celebrate. Stop being the No Fun League for fans, for players, and for yourself! No one wants you to be the No Fun League, you're doing it to yourself.
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