My dad and uncle are visiting me in Atlanta this weekend for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, a PGA tournament that pits the top thirty players in golf against each other. This is the third year in a row we’ve gone to the tournament, and I must say, as someone who doesn’t follow golf, I really enjoy watching it live.
Unlike other professional sporting events I’ve attended where I’m relegated to the nosebleed section, I can get right up in the action at a golf tournament. I’ve watched Tiger Woods tee off from twenty feet away. Why so close? Because golf courses are huge, and it’s only possible to view a tiny sliver of the action unfolding at any given time. So we might begin the day by watching people tee off on the third hole and then follow one golfer around for a while. As a casual spectator who doesn’t have much invested in any one player, it makes for a relaxing time.
In honor of my golf outing this weekend, I thought I’d dedicate this week’s Fantasy Friday to sports. In particular, if I could get front row seats to any sporting event in the world, which one would I choose? There are other golf tournaments I would like to see, the Masters Tournament in Augusta for one, but if I had to choose one event, I would default to my first love in sports, college basketball.
When I was in grade school, I was a huge fan of the University of Cincinnati basketball team, the Bearcats. I memorized the Bearcat records for scoring, passing, rebounding, etc., and I knew the history of their triumphs in the NCAA tournament (Champions in 1961 and 1962!). My dad and uncle had season tickets and every now and then one of them would take me to a game. If the Bearcats scored above a certain number of points (seventy-five I believe), we could use our ticket stub to get a free sandwich from Subway. As the points ticked toward this number, the crowd would chant, “Subway! Subway! Subway!” We’d stop to get our free sandwich on the way home from the game, and I’d take it to school for lunch the next day. For me, victory tasted like cold cuts and black olives.
In my sports fantasy, the Bearcats would make it to the final round of the NCAA tournament, and I’d cheer them to victory from a courtside seat, my dad and uncle by my side. I’d be twelve years old and look something like this:
What sporting event would you attend?
Sarah Zureick-Brown 