Before I Die...

In these opening days of 2007, thoughts often move towards resolutions for the new year, something I've generally avoided. Although I've actually made a couple resolutions for the first time in about a decade, neither is interesting enough to write about here...

So instead I thought I'd come up with a list of sports-based resolutions that would last for much longer than a year. Here's a list of eleven sports-related things I'd like to see or do before I die, which gives me about sixty years to get it done -- why can't all deadlines be that generous? So here we go, in no particular order...

1. Baseball Stadiums
Once upon a time I thought it would be pretty cool to spend a summer driving around America visiting every major league park. (Alright, who am I kidding? That would be about the coolest thing ever.) Anyway, since that's probably not too realistic, I'll narrow the list down a bit to three: Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Camden Yards. I've been to Wrigley before, but I was only eight years old at the time. Fenway might be a run-down dive, but it's an historic, run-down dive.

2. Yankee Stadium
This is the only item on my list that has a separate clock. The current incarnation of Yankee Stadium is set to close its doors for good following the 2008 season. I've been there twice before, but it's hugely important that my children get there before it's too late. It is my Mecca.

3. Cooperstown
When I was six years old my family took a vacation to New York City, and I only wanted to do two things: see a Yankee game and visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. We made it to the Bronx (Yankees 5, Royals 3; winning pitcher Sparky Lyle; game winning home run for Chris Chambliss; a Yankee fan was born), but missed the Hall of Fame.

4. Derek Jeter Day
My wife doesn't know this yet, but our entire family will be in attendance on the day that Derek Jeter's monument is unveiled beside his retired #2 jersey. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2015, give or take.

5. The Big House
I was born in Detroit, and even though I've lived in California since the fifth grade, I've still always been a Michigan Wolverine fan. I've been to lots of college football games, but I don't think the atmosphere of west coast college football can compare to what goes on east of the Mississippi. I'd love to know what it's like to sit in a crowd of more than a hundred thousand people singing "Hail to the Victors" on a crisp autumn afternoon.

6. Duke-Carolina
Again, I've been to dozens of college basketball games, and even attended the 1998 Final Four, but I don't think anything I've experienced would measure up to what happens when Duke gets together with North Carolina. Ideally I'd like to catch a game on both campuses, but if I had to choose I'd take a game at Cameron Indoor Arena. I think the Crazies have fallen in love with their own shtick just a bit, but it's still pretty good shtick.

7. Cubs Win!
When the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, the world changed forever. It was almost as if someone all the sudden told you there were only eight planets instead of nine. I'd love to see the Cubs win the World Series, and I expect it to happen within the next seven years.

8. Yankees in the World Series
I'd like to see the Yankees win the World Series before I die. I don't mean that as an insult to the Cubs fans I was talking about above, I mean that I'd like to actually see it. I want to sit in Yankee Stadium during a World Series game.

9. Marathon Man
I'd like to run a marathon. A friend of mine once asked me what the odds were that I would ever run a marathon, and I thoughtfully told him that I didn't think it could be zero, because it was theoretically possible that some scenario could unfold in which I was forced to run 26 miles, like to save the world or something like that, so I put the odds at "as close to zero as possible." Now I find myself thinking about that distance every day. I will never be able to dunk a basketball, but someday I think I'll be able to do this.

10. Weekly Golf
I used to be a golfing fiend and never missed a chance to hit the links. When I was single I even played nine holes on Christmas morning. And so like many men, I organized a golf outing for the day before my wedding seven and a half years ago. I've played exactly once since then. Although I miss the game, I certainly don't regret the choice I've made to spend my weekends with my three children. But when I came across my clubs as I was cleaning out the garage this afternoon, I dismissed the inclination to put them in the Goodwill pile. Instead I'll keep them until that day we drive our youngest off to college. I'll find space for them in the trunk so that after we drop the child off and meet her new roommate I'll be able to head straight for the nearest course.

11. Golf With My Son
This follows from number ten, I guess. My boy is four years old right now, about to turn five, so he's more interested in toy cars than pitching wedges, but I'd still like to play a round of golf with him before I die. There are two reasons why people love to golf. First, there is the connection with the game. I've played golf alone on a darkening course with only my thoughts and frustration to keep me company, and it's been beautiful. But the time spent walking from one shot to the next, waiting for the group ahead, or killing time in the clubhouse is just as much a part of golf as the struggle to square your club face at impact. I've shared those times with friends on both sides of the country, but when I think about walking a course with my son somewhere thirty years from now, it gives me goosebumps.

So there they are, ten things I'd like to do before I die. It's possible that someone else might be reading this, and it's further possible that that person might be formulating a list like this in his or her head. If that person is you, don't be shy -- share.