It's your decision, but you can only pick one

Can you imagine how many decisions you have made in your lifetime? We make so many every day. They range from the trivial to incredibly important. From deciding what to wear on any given day to the possibility of moving or changing jobs. For some, the choice of buying medicine for illnesses or food to feed the family is a legitimate problem. However difficult it is to imagine that last scenario, there are some that face it. In this column I am going to ask you to make some decisions. Fortunately this hypothetical situation is not serious at all, nor even significant, as the likelihood of ever having to do this for real is remote indeed. I am going to give you a list of 10 sporting events. You then get to decide which one you would choose to attend – assuming you had the chance. Of course, you only get to pick one, but for fun you will put them in order of preference. Something could prevent you from getting your first choice, so what is plan B? The list I have created came from my own thoughts. I will let you decide how much thought I put into the offerings. A couple of events that crossed my mind included the Kentucky Derby and the Indy 500. Since I have been to both of those, I decided (see; decisions, decisions) to omit them. The Derby was fun, though I was in the infield and didn't see a single horse. It might be different from the grandstands at Churchill Downs where the women wear dresses and gaudy hats, while the men are often seen in suits. That might keep me at home as I can't see me wearing a suit to any sporting event. I have been to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 500 several times and it is incredible. If you get the chance to go, by all means do so. It is worth it. That twenty minute time frame from Taps to Back Home Again in Indiana to the command to start the engines and the drop of the green flag is perhaps the most thrilling thing I have ever experienced. It will literally make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Without those two events, I still came up with ten pretty well known choices. Here they are in alphabetical order. The Daytona 500, March Madness, Masters, NBA Finals, Olympics, Ryder Cup, Super Bowl, Wimbledon, World Cup and the World Series. Since you might need help in sorting out these events I will give you my choices in reverse order. WORLD CUP. I have to admit that I am not a big soccer fan, thus the World Cup falls last on my list. The one thing that would interest me is the craziness of the crowd at these events. Watching their antics might be better than watching the action on the pitch. WIMBLEDON. Now I suppose you could pick any of the four majors in tennis for this slot, but I went with the one in Britain. Again, tennis is not my cup of tea but the thought of getting a glimpse of royalty and partaking of strawberries and cream intrigues me. Watching the best tennis players in the world would be really cool as well, but for me other events topped this one. NBA FINALS. I do enjoy basketball, but for whatever reason the NBA just doesn't excite me. Maybe it's the length of the season. In my mind playing for a basketball championship should not take place in June! It would be fun to watch LeBron perform in person, but again other events interest me more. RYDER CUP. I love the game of golf. The chance to see the best players in the world compete is intriguing. But I have never been one to judge the success of the Ryder Cup on whether the U.S. wins or not. It is interesting to see the emotions of the golfers who normally are playing just for themselves, but now have teammates and a country to represent. That part is cool, but the behavior of the fans at recent Ryder Cups has turned me off. The display put on by American fans at Bethpage Black puts this event farther down my list. SUPER BOWL. This might rank higher on my priority list if "my" team was playing. Assuming the Browns won't be in the Super Bowl in the near future (not an outlandish prediction), to go watch two teams that I really don't care who wins is a stretch for me. The halftime show might be fun to see in person, but I can't imagine paying too much money for the privilege of attending this annual event. WORLD SERIES. See my first sentence for the Super Bowl. Put the Guardians in the World Series (another far fetched thought) and this might jump to the top of my list. Otherwise if you give me a Yankees – Dodgers World Series, I likely would just stay home. And yes, I would watch it on TV! MASTERS. This event ranks high on my wish list for the course as much as anything. I have been told by those who have been there that Augusta National never has a blade of grass out of place. I would head for Amen Corner to view the prettiest picture in golf which is the 13th green with sand traps, azaleas and Rae's Creek. Yes, watching the best golfers in the world would be appealing as well. DAYTONA 500. I have been to the track, but not for a race. To see those stock cars racing door handle to door handle in three rows going just short of 200 mph would be a thrill indeed. Though I likely would, I wouldn't need to see the Big One, as just being there would be thrilling enough. OLYMPICS. Another decision. Summer or Winter? Either would suffice, though I would prefer the former. My first destination would be track and field though any competition would suffice. As always, U.S. domination would be nice, but not necessary to provide the excitement of watching the best athletes in the world. One caveat… I would prefer to not have professional athletes in the Olympics. Then again with NIL deals reaching into the high school ranks these days – are there any amateur athletes left? MARCH MADNESS. Maybe it's the time of year that makes me choose this one as my first choice. If you have been watching the games – both men and women – the action has been great. To be in the arena to see – for example – the Kentucky/Santa Clara game would have been fantastic. Eight points by the two teams combined in the last ten seconds of regulation to send it into overtime… it's hard to imagine seeing that in person. Well, there is my list. Yours may be completely different and may include other events as well. That's OK – after all it is your decision!