The sports world seemingly has no limit when it comes to bucket list candidates.

The Arizona Republic sports staff mulled this over and came up with a few must-see events for most any sports fan. For purposes of brevity, we did not include no-brainers like the Super Bowl, World Series and the like. We also limited it to events that the general public might be able to do – so, no, we didn’t include playing a round at Augusta National.

In no particular order:

The Army-Navy Game: “The true experience is in Philadelphia, but I saw the game in the Jersey Meadowlands and it was just as inspiring. There’s nothing like the energy you feel from the passionate Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen. I hope they bring the game out west again sometime soon.” – Mark Faller

The Opening Ceremony at any Olympic Games.

Duke-North Carolina basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Masters: Walking through the gates for the first time, or watching play at Amen Corner.

The Kentucky Derby: The singing of “My Old Kentucky Home,” and when the horses come around the last turn.

The Stanley Cup Final, when they bring out the Cup and the winning team skates with it.

NFL sidelines: Watch at least two minutes of an NFL game from the sidelines. “Just to see how fast and violent it is.” – Kent Somers

The Wrigley Field experience: “Walking through the main gate out front is like walking into another world for your first trip there. It’s so tiny, yet so perfect, so vividly colored with the ivy and the green grass and red dirty, and so cozy that it’s like taking a walk into Munchkin Land.” – Bob McManaman

The Indy 500: They still let you kiss the bricks at the start-finish line.

Attend the great college football rivalries: Notre Dame-USC. Alabama-Auburn. Michigan-Ohio State.

Attend a Penn State football “white out” at Beaver Stadium. “The Coyotes will tell you they invented the concept (in Winnipeg), but that’s nothing compared to 105,000 decked out in white for a night game.” – Faller

Hike Mount Kush at Camp Tontozona.

MLB All-Star Game: “It’s the only sport that gets it right – the game is played hard, the legends are everywhere. It happened to me in San Diego, where I spent the night at a hotel bar alone with the four greatest living legends at the time – Mantle, Teddy Ballgame, Banks and DiMaggio! Unreal.” – McManaman

What’s on your list?

Send your one bucket list sports event to [email protected] and we’ll publish a selection of responses during the Phoenix Open.

Mark Faller is sports editor of the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach him at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter @falleraz.

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